Chapter 41: Near Death
The moonlight sword pierced through Su Xiao's chest, its edge even cutting into his heart. Not only that, the power of moonlight filled his chest cavity, first penetrating his various organs before bursting out from his back.
Su Xiao's mind spun with dizziness. Compared to the extensive damage to his organs, the moonlight force harmed him more severely. But this wasn't the most dangerous part. Given the size difference between him and the Moon Wolf, after thrusting this sword, the Moon Wolf was about to slice upward with the blade, completely shredding Su Xiao's heart through the wound.
The Dragon-Slaying Flash in Su Xiao's hand pressed against the top of the moonlight sword. The Moon Wolf's claw, wrapped in moonlight, swung upward. With a bang, it sent the Dragon-Slaying Flash flying from Su Xiao's hand. Having his chest pierced through inevitably caused brief weakness, and combined with the actual strength gap with the Moon Wolf—more critically, compared to losing grip on the Dragon-Slaying Flash, if he chose to hold it tightly, this claw strike would have shattered his right hand and most of his forearm.
The Dragon-Slaying Flash flipped backward, eventually embedding itself in the reed-covered ground over ten meters behind Su Xiao.
The intense pain filling his chest grew stronger. Su Xiao sensed that the Moon Wolf was about to slice upward with the moonlight sword. At this moment, Dragon Shadow Flash was in cooldown.
A crystal layer formed on Su Xiao's left hand as he pressed it against the moonlight sword's blade.
Crack.
The crystal layer on Su Xiao's palm was cut through by the moonlight sword, but he still pressed down forcefully. His palm was also protected by the Black King Bracer. Besides, compared to having his heart shredded, losing half his left hand meant nothing.
Due to the strength gap, Su Xiao's single-handed press on the moonlight sword's blade only halted the greatsword for an instant.
With a tearing sound, the moonlight sword sliced upward. A large spray of blood splattered from Su Xiao's chest as he flew backward. With a thud, he hit the ground, his heart stopping.
Crack~
A faint brittle sound came from within Su Xiao's chest—the sound of the crystal layer breaking, or rather, the crystal layer enveloping his heart shattering.
Thump, thump, thump~
Su Xiao's heart resumed beating. His heart had just endured the moonlight sword's upward slice. Given the sword's sharpness, his heart should have been shredded.
As a human constitution, even if Su Xiao was very strong, his survival time after his heart was destroyed would be limited—insufficient to endure this battle. This was the risk that came with human constitution's immense potential and ability compatibility: the heart and head were unavoidable vital points, unless Su Xiao developed in a non-human direction.
The reason Su Xiao's heart wasn't shattered by the moonlight sword was his combat adaptability. This wasn't innate but forged through countless life-and-death battles.
In the instant the moonlight sword was about to slice his heart, Su Xiao pressed his crystal-layer-wrapped hand against the sword, causing it to pause for a moment. In that moment, his heart happened to contract. He generated a crystal layer inside his body, enveloping both his heart and the surrounding aorta. This was also why his heart had stopped beating earlier.
For this crystal layer generated to protect his heart, Su Xiao consumed a full 6000 points of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
This was the upper limit of the crystal layer's strength. Additionally, protecting the heart required only a small amount of crystal layer. Smaller area meant greater density. Even the moonlight sword couldn't break through crystal layer of this intensity.
Su Xiao slapped the ground beneath him and leaped up, landing one foot on the end of the Dragon-Slaying Flash embedded behind him.
In the center of his chest was a vertical wound, over thirty centimeters long. Through this wound, one could even see the scenery behind Su Xiao—imagine how severe the injury was.
"Big dog, watch this."
Baha swept past from behind the Moon Wolf, buying Su Xiao time.
Baha's shout of "big dog" had an unexpected effect. The half-human, half-wolf Moon Wolf froze in place, as if a female voice appeared in its mind—the voice of a deceased female Law Destroyer.
'Big dog, how have you been lately? I've come to see you again. Don't look at me like that. Just because I beat you up last time? You sure hold grudges. I brought you a bundle of Black Maple Tree branches. Have them as a snack.'
Recalling these memories, the Moon Wolf pressed a hand against its head, its claws digging into flesh as it let out a pained roar.
It wasn't just Baha; Amu also charged in. Even Bubu Wang rushed over from afar. Beini would have joined too if she were present, all helping to block the Moon Wolf and buy Su Xiao time.
In the distance, Su Xiao stood on the end of the Dragon-Slaying Flash, one hand pressed against his chest. An icy blue color appeared around the wound. The injury on his chest healed at a visible rate—or more accurately, it was being stitched together.
This technique couldn't really be called a technique; it was a reasonable utilization of his own abilities. First, during the conversion of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy into the crystal layer, the energy gradually approached solidification.
Su Xiao stopped this process and used these semi-solidified energy threads—which had lost their attack properties—to construct micron-level energy filaments, many times thinner than hair.
These energy filaments were too fine. The power of Cyan Steel Shadow wasn't about fine control. In his spare time, Su Xiao had tried imbuing these micron-level energy filaments with the 'Soul Thread (Passive)' effect.
With Su Xiao's soul strength, after imbuing the energy filaments with the Soul Thread state, he could control even these micron-level filaments. This was a benefit derived from his soul strength of 500 points.
What Su Xiao was doing now was using these Soul Thread-imbued, micron-level energy filaments to stitch together his damaged internal organs—prioritizing the heart, then the lungs, liver, and so on.
Su Xiao pressed his hand against his chest. Fine, dense pain came from within. After 1.7 seconds, he took a deep breath, even creating an air vortex.
After inhaling, he began to exhale slowly, this time expelling blood energy. Not only from his mouth, but blood energy also drifted from the unstitched wound on his chest.
This blood energy was produced through the passive characteristic of his innate ability, Blood Beast. He converted the pooled blood from severe internal bleeding in his chest cavity into blood energy, expelling it from his body.
Whether it was Cyan Steel Shadow, Soul Thread, or Blood Beast, it all came down to one principle: abilities are fixed, but people are flexible. No one said you couldn't use the derivative characteristics of attack-type abilities to rescue your own dying body.
Zzzt~
The energy filaments stitched together the wounds on Su Xiao's chest and back, tying themselves off. Not only that, but Su Xiao crushed a bottle of [Vitality Essence] in his hand. After multiple improvements, he had long developed a skin-penetrating type of [Vitality Essence].
The potion penetrated his skin, directly entering Su Xiao's bloodstream, taking effect faster than drinking it. Since his damaged internal organs were all stitched together by energy filaments, with the nourishment of [Vitality Essence], the organ injuries recovered at a gratifying speed.
Su Xiao leaped down from the end of the Dragon-Slaying Flash. His right hand reached sideways, and the Dragon-Slaying Flash flew to him on its own. He caught the hilt with a snap.
Su Xiao vanished in a trail of blood-red afterimages, appearing before the Moon Wolf. The wind pressure hit his face, lifting the strands of hair on his head.
Clang! The Dragon-Slaying Flash blocked the descending moonlight sword. The ground beneath Su Xiao's feet cracked in a large concave pattern. Viewed from above, this scene would appear particularly spectacular.
Su Xiao gripped the hilt with his right hand, his crystal-layer-wrapped left hand pressing against the blade's spine. The long sword parried the moonlight sword. His upper body leaned back slightly. At this moment, he could hear all the bones in his body creaking. Suddenly, he exerted force forward from his entire body, the power converging on the Dragon-Slaying Flash, then transmitting to the moonlight sword—perfect counter!
Bang!
A shockwave spread. The Moon Wolf staggered back a large step. The perfect counter succeeded, temporarily reducing the Moon Wolf's True Strength attribute by 5 points.
The counter was successful, but Su Xiao's entire body ached. The internal organ injuries that hadn't fully healed showed signs of rupturing. Compared to all this, the most direct experience was that he felt his waist was about to break. If countering an enemy normally was like pushing a heavy tank, then countering the Moon Wolf was like shaking a mountain.
The Moon Wolf, a few meters ahead, showed signs of brief weakness. Su Xiao didn't press the advantage. Not because he didn't want to, but because he was barely holding on himself. Just standing was an achievement. Rushing in now would be an 80% chance of feeding himself to the enemy.
Su Xiao stamped the ground. With a boom, the shockwave spread. Amu, lying not far away, was blasted backward. Amu had almost been split in two by the Moon Wolf. It was Amu and Baha as the main force, with Bubu Wang providing interference—the three of them holding off the Moon Wolf gave Su Xiao the chance to suppress his injuries.
The battle briefly paused. Su Xiao's condition had mostly recovered. The Moon Wolf opposite him had clearly recovered as well. The Dragon-Slaying Flash and the moonlight sword met each other.
Boom!
Pale blue Cyan Steel Shadow clashed with cyan moonlight. Reed flowers flew across the lake island. This battle wasn't about hatred or vengeance, but about farewell and trial—either the Moon Wolf would find eternal rest, or the last Law Destroyer would sleep forever in this place.