Chapter 404 - 247: Strong Enemy

Chapter 404: Chapter 247: Strong Enemy

If he could avoid it, Su Xing didn’t want to trouble others like this.

But his current strength was insufficient to face every powerful foe. Since Li Longxuan was on his side, this was indeed the best approach.

"Okay."

"Wait here for a moment."

"If anything happens to me, you can pinpoint my location and teleport over."

Li Longxuan left a trace of his blade intent on Su Xing, then slipped out the window and vanished from sight.

Su Xing let out a heavy sigh and slowly pulled over a chair to sit down. Though his strength had improved at a remarkable pace, he still felt it wasn’t enough. The enemies he encountered were getting stronger and stronger.

He silently glanced at the system panel. Seeing that his Sword Dao Points had barely increased because he’d been asleep, his already irritated mood grew heavier.

The moment Li Longxuan left Dragon Gate, he caught the stench of blood. He wasn’t sure if it was because the smell was overpowering or because his own heightened strength had enhanced his senses. He had no time to ponder it; he simply followed the scent toward its source.

!!!!!

When he arrived at the source, Li Longxuan’s expression turned grim.

On the plains just ahead, a massive figure was impaled on a staff, dangling like a grotesque human kite. Several other bodies lay near the base of the staff; judging by their clothes, they were all disciples of Dragon Gate.

Blood slowly trickled from their bodies, forming a pool on the ground so ghastly it made one’s eyes narrow. The corpse impaled on the staff was none other than Ao Shi.

"Tsk..."

Li Longxuan’s eyes narrowed.

He never imagined things would reach this point.

Ao Shi was dead.

Even for someone as experienced and worldly as Li Longxuan, it was hard to believe. A Tier Eight Powerhouse—and a high-ranking master among them at that—had died in a place like this.

Every Tier Eight Powerhouse had trump cards up their sleeve. If they wanted to escape, it wouldn’t be so easy to kill them. To be killed in battle could only mean there was a significant gap in strength.

Yet Ao Shi had just been in the audience for Su Xing’s fight, and now he was lying here. Not much time had passed, which meant Ao Shi was likely killed instantly, or defeated in just a few moves.

...

At this thought, Li Longxuan didn’t dare to think further. As an Extraordinary Being who had touched the fringes of the Source, he was far stronger than Ao Shi, but this also meant he knew exactly what kind of power it would take to kill a man like him.

Ao Shi was known for constantly seeking out spars. Based on his records against other Tier Eight Powerhouses, he was by no means mediocre. Defeating him would require someone with considerable mastery even among Tier Eights.

Beings of that caliber were terrifying entities, each one capable of destroying a city. They possessed monstrous destructive power and combat instincts beyond the imagination of ordinary Extraordinary Beings. Their might was comparable to a nuclear weapon, making them figures of immense importance even to the entire Xia Country.

And now, a Tier Eight Powerhouse had died here under mysterious circumstances, barely half an hour after he was last seen. It was utterly absurd. If Li Longxuan hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought he was dreaming.

’This is dangerous! Extremely dangerous!’

’Wait!’

Li Longxuan suddenly realized something. If Ao Shi was dead, where was his killer? At that thought, his expression turned exceedingly grim.

’Don’t tell me...’

Just then, the voices of Ao Lin and two others sounded from behind him. They seemed extremely surprised to find Li Longxuan there. After all, Ao Shi had died here, and Li Longxuan was the only one around.

"Old Li, what are you doing here?"

Ao Lin’s voice was strained. He and Ao Shi had never gotten along, but they were still born of the same parents. Despite their clashing personalities and the age gap, they were brothers. Now, seeing his brother’s corpse, Ao Lin felt a sickening churn in his gut.

Violent waves of emotion, like a turbulent sea, crashed against his heart, threatening to shatter his reason. If he wasn’t certain that Li Longxuan couldn’t possibly have killed his brother, he would have attacked already.

"Are you alright?"

Yao Yixiao was afraid Ao Lin would do something irrational. Although Dragon Gate had been absorbed by the special organization and could now be considered a part of it, Li Longxuan was a prominent figure within that organization. Moreover, he had made contact with the Source. Even if Ao Lin managed to shatter Li Longxuan’s projection right now, he would never be able to bear the consequences.

It might even bring ruin upon Dragon Gate.

Lin Tianhan remained silent, but his gaze on Ao Lin conveyed the same message as Yao Yixiao’s words. He, Yao Yixiao, and Li Longxuan were all part of the same system; they naturally understood one another.

They knew Li Longxuan would never do something like this. Besides, it would be completely nonsensical, as he had nothing to gain from it.

Killing Ao Shi would bring Li Longxuan no benefits; on the contrary, it would severely damage his reputation.

"I’m fine," Ao Lin said, forcing down his anger.

He knew all this, of course, but he couldn’t control the rage welling up inside him. The long lifespans of Extraordinary Beings meant he was long accustomed to partings of life and death. If Ao Shi had died of natural causes, he wouldn’t have been so shaken. But for a Tier Eight Powerhouse, the strongest Extraordinary Being in Dragon Gate, to die like...

So ignominiously.

"I don’t know either."

Li Longxuan shook his head. "You know as well as I do, the stronger the Extraordinary Being, the sharper their intuition for danger. I simply sensed a crisis and came to investigate on my own."

"On your own?"

Hearing this, they realized Su Xing was absent. That lent a great deal of credibility to Li Longxuan’s words. If he hadn’t considered it dangerous, he would have surely brought Su Xing with him; after all, Su Xing was now a formidable presence in his own right.

"Did you see anything?"

"Who killed Ao Shi?"

Ao Lin demanded, suppressing his rage. In his fury, he failed to realize that anyone capable of killing Ao Shi was far beyond what he could ever hope to handle.

The other two, however, turned pale. They had realized it. They knew exactly how powerful Ao Shi was. For someone that strong to die so silently... just how terrifying was the one who killed him?

’Could it be someone from the ancient races again? If so, why would they infiltrate the Dragon Gate Secret Realm?’

"I don’t know."

Li Longxuan shook his head. "It was already like this when I arrived. Did you notice anything unusual about Dragon Gate on your way here?"

"No."

The three exchanged glances.

Li Longxuan had assumed the killer went to Dragon Gate, but the fact that these three had found their way here without knowing what had transpired made him reconsider. Perhaps the killer hadn’t gone to Dragon Gate after all. If so, what was the motive for killing Ao Shi?

Just then, a massive explosion suddenly erupted from the direction of Dragon Gate!

"This is bad!"

Li Longxuan’s expression changed drastically.

’Damn it! Su Xing is still in there! If he gets hurt, how could I ever face myself? How could I break the news to Su Yu and Lu Anning?!’

The others’ expressions were just as grim, especially Ao Lin’s. The initial wave of fury had passed, replaced by a chilling realization of the enemy’s power. He knew now that he was facing impossible odds.