Chapter 38: Betting It All
The sky was azure blue, with clouds drifting by.
A gust of wind swept across the grassland, curling up a few blades of grass.
Layers of cold air dissipated. Su Xiao grasped the hilt of the blade at his waist, drawing it in silence. Before a fight to the death, he had no habit of wasting words.
Clang~
Dragon-Slaying Flash left its sheath. Su Xiao held the blade with one hand, the long sword slanting toward the ground.
No verbal exchange was needed. Bubu Wang had already blended into the environment, while Amu stared at a man standing diagonally behind Xi. That man wore a languid expression, looking as if he hadn’t woken up yet.
As for Baha, it was sizing up Mi Tang from top to bottom. It would prioritize killing the healing-type, then the perception-type. Clearly, Mi Tang was the perception-type.
“Xi, you never told me we’d have to deal with guys like this. This is… gonna cost extra.”
Mi Tang spoke indistinctly, a lollipop in her mouth.
“This is no longer just a matter of extra pay.”
Old Wolf took out a piece of equipment resembling a gas mask, put it on, took a deep breath, and continued, “I’ll handle that bull-headed one.”
“Then I’ll lure away the bird. Its gaze toward me is clearly unfriendly.”
Mi Tang crunched the lollipop in her mouth, her body gradually dissipating into the air.
“Much obliged.”
Xi said in a low voice. Diamond-shaped crystals appeared around her, transparent throughout, with faint red marks at their cores.
“Assimilation.”
As Xi’s voice fell, the ground around her visibly crystallized, spreading rapidly outward.
Crack, crack, crack…
The crystals instantly reached Su Xiao. He flipped the long blade in his hand, reversed his grip, and stabbed it into the ground before him.
Boom!
Crystal shards flew in all directions. The crystal spread stopped right at Su Xiao’s feet, with large cracks radiating outward.
With a roar, Amu charged straight at Xi’s teammate, Old Wolf. Baha soared into the sky, both to track the perception-type’s whereabouts and to prevent any Tianba Clan members from appearing nearby.
In an instant, Su Xiao and Xi were locked in a one-on-one duel. This let Xi breathe a sigh of relief—at least this time, her teammates were reliable.
Clang!
The blade hummed sharply. Su Xiao suddenly appeared before Xi, like a ferocious beast pouncing on its prey, his entire body radiating blood energy.
“Roar!”
The Blood Beast instantly coalesced and lunged straight at Xi—a ‘greeting’ with a big move right off the bat.
Boom!!
Blood energy exploded. Crystal fragments scattered everywhere. Xi flew backward, her body fully crystallized. Her right arm and left leg shattered, and her torso was covered in cracks.
In just one exchange, Xi was stunned. The enemy was far stronger than she had anticipated. Back in the Siren Star, she had briefly clashed with Su Xiao and felt evenly matched. But now, that feeling was completely gone.
She would die. If she didn’t use ‘that,’ she would die soon. This was Xi’s most immediate instinct.
With a thud, Xi crashed onto the crystallized ground. The next moment, she abruptly straightened up, floating about a meter above the ground.
The shattered crystals reversed course. Xi’s right arm and left leg regenerated. She broke free from her crystallized state, returning to flesh and blood.
Crystal threads snapped apart. Su Xiao swept his long blade across his left arm, severing the crystal threads entangled around his metal bracer.
Su Xiao walked forward slowly. After just two steps, he suddenly leaped up.
Boom!
A crystal spike thrust up from beneath Su Xiao’s feet. Instead of dodging, he used the momentum from his leap to cushion himself, landing atop the crystal spike—a precise control of force.
Seeing this, Xi hesitated no longer. She pressed one hand to her chest. Her pupils turned sky-blue, and her silver hair seemed to ignite with invisible flames.
Crystal Flame blazed. First, it burned Xi’s life force. When that was exhausted, it began to burn her soul. Once her soul was half-consumed, she would die.
In Xi’s view, there was nothing left to hesitate about. After just one exchange, she had judged that she was no match for Su Xiao. So she had to give everything, betting it all on this battle. Hesitation would only hasten her death.
Xi’s silver hair stirred without wind. Two rapiers appeared in her hands, Crystal Flame also burning on the twin blades.
Xi’s aura changed, becoming aggressive. The crystals on the ground around her gradually dissipated.
“Defeat you, then… kill you.”
Xi crossed the twin rapiers before her. A magic circle appeared in midair. No strange phenomena occurred; the circle was still brewing.
Clang~
A blade aura slashed forth, nearly unstoppable. Xi stomped the ground, and a crystal wall nearly ten meters thick rose abruptly.
The blade aura plunged into the crystal wall, cutting nearly five meters deep before stopping, embedded like a solid object.
Three flashes of blade light passed, and the crystal wall collapsed with a roar. A figure burst out from the shattered crystals.
Clang!
Dragon-Slashing Flash was caught between the twin rapiers. The moment she blocked it, Xi regretted it. Ultimately, she was better at mid-range combat.
In truth, Xi had no choice. When Su Xiao charged at her, the pressure was overwhelming. That was unavoidable—close-combat types suffered early on, but in the later stages, they began to show their advantage.
Xi leaned back slightly. The blades of the rapiers scraped against the long sword with a grating sound.
Just then, Xi’s body suddenly shattered. A gleaming crystal appeared behind Su Xiao.
Xi materialized behind Su Xiao, thrusting her twin rapiers downward toward his neck.
‘Blade Path Sword: Time.’
‘Blade Path Sword: Azure Demon.’
With a swish, a cyan-blue blade aura swept over Xi’s head, severing a few strands of her silver hair.
Su Xiao crouched slightly, shifting his weight to his feet. The ground around him cracked with a rumble.
He delivered a side kick aimed at Xi’s abdomen. Xi’s eyes grew even bluer, but she was a moment too slow.
Boom~
Su Xiao’s kick landed on Xi’s side. Xi burst through a shockwave, flying sideways.
Crack, crack, crack…
Crystal threads formed, wrapping around Xi, but were instantly snapped by the kinetic force.
She flew at least thirty meters before crashing to the ground. After tumbling several times, she steadied herself in a half-crouch.
“Cough…”
Xi coughed dryly, quickly covering her mouth. Crimson blood seeped through her fingers.
Crack~
A brittle sound came from the magic circle Xi had conjured earlier. She had nearly courted death by fighting Su Xiao in close quarters, all to buy time.
The air around the magic circle split open. A crystal dragon crawled out from within. Its body was enormous, its wingspan at least fifty meters.
“Roar!”
The crystal dragon reared its head and roared, spreading its wings. Everything around it froze.
Xi pointed the rapier in her right hand forward, the tip aimed at Su Xiao.
Four crystal spears appeared before Xi, shooting out with a bang, tearing through layers of air to reach Su Xiao.
Su Xiao raised his arm slightly. He could feel the space around him frozen solid, temporarily immobilizing him. Raising his arm was the limit.
Boom, boom, boom, boom…
The four crystal spears pierced through Su Xiao’s body and exploded. Dust rose, and shattered crystals flew away with a whoosh.
When the dust settled, a crisp crack sounded beside Su Xiao. The surrounding air shattered like a mirror. Su Xiao was completely unharmed. In that instant, he had pierced through space, dodging the incoming crystal spears.
‘Blade Path Sword: Blood Blade.’
Crimson feathers surged around Su Xiao. He vanished on the spot, reappearing on the crystal dragon’s shoulder.
Boom.
The crystal dragon was shattered into pieces. Seeing this, the corner of Xi’s mouth curled up.
“Crystal Empress.”
Xi raised one of her rapiers high. All the crystals around her surged toward her.