# Chapter 1053: Ancient Xiao
"Autumn Moon!" Qiu Yuexin saw that person charging toward Lin Feng to kill him, and spoke coldly. Her Autumn Moon martial soul burst forth with cold light, enveloping his body under the moonlight. The desolate chill instantly slowed his steps by several degrees.
"Humph!" Lin Feng let out a cold snort. With a thought, he released the Void Demon Art, and in an instant, a snowy path appeared. The man fiercely struck out with a palm, but discovered that the destructive killing force seemed blocked by the power of void, unable to approach Lin Feng at all. Even the demon eye technique released by his pupil martial soul felt much weaker.
Brilliant radiance bloomed forth, dazzling and resplendent. The Celestial Fate Sword reappeared in Lin Feng's hand. A Seventh Layer of Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator wanted to suppress him with strength, so he would use a sacred artifact to suppress him in return.
The sword continuously tapped in the void, in a brief moment carving out the character for "kill." Instantly, a terrifying killing force erupted from within. Although it was not as intense as the kill character Lin Feng had slowly carved before, using the Celestial Fate Sword to inscribe it still carried a hint of sacred mark power within it, extremely terrifying.
"Sacred artifact!" That person's expression stiffened. He saw what seemed like starlight power interweaving in the sky, transforming into a fearsome killing aura that seemed to lock onto his body. His pupils sharply contracted. This person not only possessed the Demon Sealing Stele, an ancient broken treasure from the ancient era that could instantly obliterate a Fifth Layer of Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator, but also had a terrifying sacred artifact.
"Moon Shadow Cold!" Qiu Yuexin coldly spat out a frigid sound. Instantly, a bitterly cold moon shadow froze that person's body stiff, making his soul tremble. This Moon Shadow Cold seemed to contain the power to freeze the soul itself, extremely cold.
"Yuexin, move aside!" Lin Feng spat out a sound. Then, the Celestial Fate Sword in his hand burst forth with terrifying starlight. The starlight interwoven with killing intent transformed into a beam of light, slashing toward that person. Space itself was illuminated by this beam of light, dazzling and brilliant, yet it carried an immensely powerful force of annihilation.
"No!" That person roared in fury as he felt this terrifying power, but it was already too late. The Moon Shadow Cold had frozen his body and soul stiff, slowing his movements and dulling his reactions. Then, the Celestial Fate Sword slashed out with a killing sword light, annihilating everything, utterly unstoppable. His body was instantly swallowed by the killing sword light woven from starlight. Dead!
Qiu Yuexin's body flickered as she arrived beside Lin Feng, saying: "You clearly possess such a powerful sacred artifact, why have you never used it in battles before?"
"A sacred artifact is a weapon, an external force. Although having it on you counts as part of your own strength, it is ultimately not the most fundamental aspect of martial arts. In the future, I may have to face powerful experts from major forces who also wield sacred artifacts. If I don't have an advantage in martial arts itself, how can I defeat others?" Lin Feng said calmly. "If it weren't for these people who like to bully the weak, I wouldn't want to use a sacred artifact to kill them. Fighting with my own strength better tempers myself."
"Your dedication to martial arts is indeed greater than most. No wonder your combat power surpasses Xuanyuan Potian at the same level." Qiu Yuexin smiled. Holding a sacred artifact yet refraining from using it, instead tempering his own strength—this was the persistent heart for martial arts driving Lin Feng forward, constantly advancing, seeking a higher realm.
"Let's go. I should thank those few people. Now that the mission is complete, returning to the Heavenly Terrace, I should be granted the status of Martial Emperor's Disciple. That's a bit of a relief." Lin Feng said with a faint smile. Hadn't he traveled thousands of miles from the Qian Domain to the Eight Wastelands precisely for the first batch of Martial Emperor's Disciples being recruited by the Stone Emperor and Yu Emperor? He needed a broader stage to contact the vast world, to encounter people and things he couldn't reach before. Becoming a Martial Emperor's Disciple was imperative, something no one could shake or stop.
"Mm." Qiu Yuexin nodded slightly. Now that the mission was complete, they could finally leave.
Their bodies flickered as the two continued hurrying toward the teleportation altar.
At this moment, in this Trial Ground, the place where the teleportation altars were located was a huge arc-shaped area. Altars stood in an arc formation, with figures guarding each one. These people were all at the Sovereign Martial Realm, disciples under various Martial Emperors.
This arc-shaped area was very spacious. Not far in front of the arc stood several figures. At this moment, one of them had an ugly expression, releasing a terrifying aura.
"Ancient Xiao, what's wrong?" Someone beside him asked: "Ancient Li and those two fellows still haven't arrived. Aren't there only two people left?"
"Ancient Li's soul jade... has shattered!" The young man called Ancient Xiao said.
"What?" That person's face trembled, his expression instantly turning extremely cold: "Shattered!"
Ancient Li's soul jade shattering meant that he had been killed.
"How could this be? There were only two people left. We just needed to wait for any two to come by and hunt them down. With Ancient Li's strength, he shouldn't have failed." Another person said with an ugly expression, speaking coldly. Ancient Li and Ancient Xiao were brothers. Ancient Xiao's strength was very formidable. He had brought Ancient Li to the Trial Ground for training, planning to return and enter the Star Tower to improve their strength. But they never expected that at the last moment before leaving, Ancient Li would be hunted down.
"I don't know. They were hunted on the way here. If anyone comes here now, it's very likely they were the ones who did it." Ancient Xiao coldly spat out a sound, filled with a strong killing intent.
"Mm. Ancient Li's death can't be undone. We'll wait here and kill whoever comes, avenging Ancient Li." Another person responded. Ancient Xiao nodded. That was all they could do. His eyes were filled with bloodthirsty killing cold light.
The three of them waited outside the arc. Besides them, there were many other people in this vast area. Those who dared to stay here were not good people. Many only needed to kill a few more to leave, but were too lazy to search, so they directly waited here. If some weaker people came by, they would directly hunt them, using ruthless methods, killing people just as they were about to leave, using others as stepping stones.
When they heard Ancient Xiao's words, their hearts tightened. It seemed there would be good drama to watch. Someone had actually killed Ancient Xiao's younger brother. Ancient Li's strength was decent, so the one who killed him must be no weakling. Hopefully, they would have a good fight with Ancient Xiao—that would be entertaining.
Lin Feng and Qiu Yuexin were unaware of this situation. This was their first time in the Land of Slaughter. They had never experienced its dangers, so naturally there were many things they didn't understand. They thought they could safely leave the Land of Slaughter. However, when their bodies flickered and arrived here, they found many people gathered around the outer arc space of the teleportation altars, as if blocking the way completely. Moreover, these people were all very strong; otherwise, they wouldn't dare stand here so brazenly.
Seeing the scene before them, the two stopped their steps, pausing at a distance from the crowd. Their eyes flickered uncertainly. At this moment, they clearly felt many gazes focus on the two of them.
Especially one icy gaze in front, filled with strands of killing intent, as if wanting their lives.
That gaze naturally belonged to Ancient Xiao. He stared at Lin Feng and Qiu Yuexin, somewhat uncertain. Qiu Yuexin's cultivation was at the Seventh Layer of Heavenly Martial Realm, Lin Feng at the Fourth Layer. Ancient Li and his two companions were at the Seventh, Sixth, and Fifth Layers of Heavenly Martial Realm respectively, clearly superior to Qiu Yuexin and Lin Feng. Could it be that woman's combat power was very strong, allowing her to kill Ancient Li?
"You two, come here." Ancient Xiao's gaze fell on Lin Feng and Qiu Yuexin as he coldly spat out a sound, carrying a commanding tone, as if Lin Feng and Qiu Yuexin must obey his order and come over.
Qiu Yuexin's expression was cold as she stared at Ancient Xiao. Although this person's cultivation was at the Eighth Layer of Heavenly Martial Realm, he was being far too presumptuous.
Lin Feng also frowned, looking at Ancient Xiao with an unfriendly gaze. This man's body was constantly shrouded in a cold aura. Moreover, this man seemed to have some resemblance to the person he had just killed. This gave them some suspicions in their hearts.
"Is there something?" Lin Feng asked indifferently, but his feet didn't move an inch.
"I told you to roll over here—didn't you hear?" The person beside Ancient Xiao coldly spat out a sound, carrying a strong threatening intent.
Lin Feng's gaze slowly turned, landing on the person who had spoken. He looked at that person with contempt, then chose to ignore him, causing the other's eyes to stiffen. This Fourth Layer of Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator was far too arrogant!
PS: Asking for some support. It's quite quiet here!