Chapter 117: The Might of the Sacred Physique

"Scatter, everyone! Watch out for a sneak attack!" The man in yellow in the center warned his two companions to spread out and surround Leng Tian, fearing he might suddenly flee or launch a surprise assault.

Leng Tian found it rather amusing. Three Xuan-stage martial artists were facing him, a lone man, yet they acted as if they were the ones on the defensive, while he had become the aggressor.

"I have matters to attend to, so I won't be staying here. Please, stop blocking my path!" Leng Tian had no interest in wasting time with these cowardly fellows.

"Don't even think about it! You've slaughtered several experts. With the three of us here today, dreaming of leaving is just that—a dream!" The youth in yellow gripped his long sword, his aura surprisingly imposing.

"Brother Long, I don't think we need to wait for reinforcements. Our combined strength is more than enough to take him down!" a mustachioed youth said with arrogant disdain.

"Exactly! If the three of us capture him, we'll be able to walk tall throughout this Blue Sea and Heaven’s Reach! Ha ha..." Another man added, even more conceited, lost in his daydreams.

"Boring..."

"Idiots..."

The scorn of You Da and Xue Han echoed in Leng Tian’s mind. "Boss, let me out to devour their souls directly; it’ll save us the headache! Don't worry, Boss, devouring their souls here won't get us expelled by the laws of this realm!"

"No..." Leng Tian replied with a stern face. He turned to the three men and said, "I do not know you, and I am not the Shadow Demon you speak of. Please, do not make things difficult for me. Farewell."

With that, he channeled his energy, flashed ten zhang away in an instant, and then flickered continuously, flying a hundred meters in a blink. A white-gold escape light shimmered as he headed toward the island housing the exit of the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

"Brother Long, what do we do? Should we chase him or not?" The mustachioed youth asked, feeling uncertain as he watched Leng Tian retreat.

"Let me think. Don't panic..." The youth in yellow, named Di Long, was the leader of the trio. He found himself in a dilemma; he wanted to pursue, but he feared provoking the opponent and ending up devoured himself, which would be a catastrophic loss.

"Brother Long, I’ve already sent the message via the communication talisman. Reinforcements should arrive in no time! I agree with Brother Hua’s proposal: we attack first to stall him and buy time for the reinforcements!"

"Very well. We will keep a distance from him to prevent a sudden counterattack. Our mission is just to intercept; let the elders of the various factions handle the capture."

Once their strategy was settled, Di Long and the others drove their light to pursue Leng Tian.

*This is undoubtedly Hu Cuishan’s doing. I underestimated her back then; she’s managed to mobilize so many experts to hunt me down. The 'Formless Shadow Demon'—a convenient excuse with great rallying power. If I'm not mistaken, every major power in the Blue Sea and Heaven’s Reach has likely dispatched experts to track me down.*

Leng Tian had already guessed why these three called him the Shadow Demon the moment they saw him. It must be that shameless woman, Hu Cuishan. Having lost everyone else but herself to him and You Da, and having suffered immense humiliation from You Da’s threats, she was using the combined strength of all factions to take her revenge.

"Boss, those three are catching up. It looks like they intend to stall you until the reinforcements arrive."

Leng Tian smiled dismissively. "I was worried they wouldn't come. Since my strength has leveled up, this is the perfect chance to test my skills. I’ll leave a resounding reputation behind in this Blue Sea and Heaven’s Reach before I depart—one they won't soon forget!"

"You aren't escaping today..." Di Long, now a hundred meters behind Leng Tian, swung his sword three times. Three sword beams, each a zhang long, surged toward Leng Tian’s back with terrifying power.

The two companions arrived shortly after and launched a barrage of blade energy to seal off his path. One brandished a thin sword, while the other held a bronze-colored long spear.

Leng Tian didn't even look back. He simply threw a punch, and a white-gold fist aura flashed out. The three sword beams shattered upon contact with his strike, utterly unable to withstand its power.

Di Long turned pale with shock. His full-force attack had been obliterated in an instant by a casual punch. His heart turned icy cold.

The white-gold energy tore through space, causing the very air to tremble and hum. A series of muffled explosions rang out, leaving Di Long’s ears ringing so violently that he nearly dropped his sword.

Just as he panicked and considered fleeing, Leng Tian’s fist aura reached him.

In his panic, he raised his sword to block, forgetting to even release his protective energy. The fist aura slammed into the blade, causing a massive explosion. The sword shattered into pieces, and the violent energy tore through Di Long’s body like razor-sharp needles, turning him into a blood-spraying human fountain.

Di Long let out a miserable scream and plummeted from the sky, losing consciousness on the spot. With a single casual strike, Leng Tian had neutralized a mid-stage Xuan martial artist, a testament to the terrifying power he now possessed after attaining the White-Gold Saint Body.

The barrage of blade energy struck Leng Tian’s protective barrier, but the white-gold light merely shimmered, and the blades dissipated into nothingness.

The other youth with the bronze spear surged forward, his spear tip glowing with brilliant emerald energy. He let out a roar, riding a violent gale as he lunged for Leng Tian’s left shoulder.

The mustachioed youth’s thin sword surged with dazzling light, unleashing a three-zhang-long red sword aura that slashed down from high above, the force of it creating a deafening whistle before it even landed.

Both attacks were imposing and struck with lightning speed.

Leng Tian remained calm. Facing their powerful assault, he simply threw two punches, each aimed at one of the attacks.

*BOOM! BOOM!*

Two earth-shaking explosions rang out, scattering violent energy everywhere. Both youths turned pale, coughing up blood as they were thrown backward by the shockwaves, their weapons ripped from their hands.

"No challenge at all..." After the short exchange, Leng Tian gained a new understanding of his own strength. He was certain he was now among the elite of the Xuan-stage martial artists; anyone average would only be crushed by him.

Glancing at the three fallen men on the icy ground, he resumed his journey.

Di Long and his companions were all deathly pale. Di Long, in particular, was riddled with wounds, looking like a sieve. One blood-drained hole had grazed his dantian; a hair's breadth closer and he would have been crippled. The other two suffered internal injuries, their energy chaotic and stagnant. Unable to heal themselves, they could only grit their teeth and wait for reinforcements.

Leng Tian hadn't traveled far before he was intercepted by six more experts. "Shadow Demon, do you still think you can leave?" One of the men, a middle-aged man in blue, was one of the leaders from Flame Island who had departed earlier.

"The real masters have arrived..." Leng Tian smiled and replied, "I don't understand. I am a dignified human martial artist, yet you call me a Formless Shadow Demon. I wonder if my brain is broken or if you all have water in your heads."

"You're courting death..."

The man in blue roared and struck out with his palm from a distance. A powerful pressure erupted, and an invisible force crashed toward him.

"Child's play..." Leng Tian struck back with a palm of his own. The two forces collided with a thunderous boom, the invisible energy turning into a gale that whipped both their clothes.

"The kid has some strength!" The man in blue was slightly surprised that Leng Tian had easily neutralized his strike. He leaped into the air, produced a gleaming broadsword, raised it over his head with both hands, and brought it down with a shout.

A zhang-long, solid-looking blade aura tore away from the steel, accompanied by immense force as it slashed toward Leng Tian.

"Good momentum, lacking in power!" Leng Tian roared as well, throwing his right fist forward. A massive white-gold fist aura shot out like a white meteorite to intercept the blade energy.

His white-gold figure flickered. In a flash, he drew the long-forgotten Blood-Scar Saber. "Take this blade..." As he threw his punch, he flickered above the middle-aged man. Gripping the saber with both hands, he channeled the surging, milky-white energy from his dantian, flooding it into the blade.

A solid white blade aura erupted from the tip, reaching nine feet in length. It radiated an ancient, heavy pressure. The middle-aged man’s face changed dramatically, his heart skipping a beat. *What kind of energy is this? Its aura is even fiercer than my own!*

"Slash!"

Leng Tian stared at the man, swinging his saber down with all his might. The nine-foot white blade aura detached, carrying a world-shaking weight.

The man below opened his eyes wide, pouring his energy into his broadsword. "Go to hell!" Two zhang of brilliant, terrifying blade energy radiated outward as he let out a roar, swinging up to meet the descending strike.

*BOOM!*

A cataclysmic sound shook the heavens. The violent energy turbulence obscured their vision. The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief, for the blade energy Leng Tian had unleashed had made him feel the icy touch of death.

Suddenly...

A glimmer of white pierced through the turbulent air, reaching him in an instant. "How is this possible!" The man’s face turned ashen; the white light was Leng Tian’s blade aura.

In his desperation, the man swung his sword to deflect the heavy strike.

Another thunderous explosion occurred. The energy from the bursting milky-white aura instantly engulfed the man. "Painful screams..." echoed, chilling the hearts of the five others watching from afar.

As the energy dissipated, the middle-aged man was revealed, his hair disheveled, his clothes torn to shreds, and his chest stained with blood. "Such tyrannical energy... Boy, you’ve wounded me. I will—"

"Too noisy..." Leng Tian appeared above the man’s head, delivering a downward kick with his white-gold leg that slammed into the man’s shoulder. The sound of shattering bones echoed clearly.

"AHHH..."

Before the man could finish, his shoulder bone collapsed, and two of his ribs shattered into pieces!

"Strike while the iron is hot!" You Da took the opportunity to manifest from the void and slipped into the man’s body, devouring his soul while he was critically injured.

You Da’s sudden appearance startled Leng Tian, but upon realizing the creature had materialized from the void, he relaxed and allowed him to proceed.