Xia Fei and Clean Knife no longer concealed the killing intent within them, releasing their utmost fighting spirit which overwhelmed their surroundings.
What was surprising was that the seemingly overly refined Clean Knife was actually so intense that his killing intent did not lose to Xia Fei’s; in fact, it could be considered even stronger by comparison.
Both parties stared at each other as they stood a dozen or so meters apart, neither acting rashly.
A true expert did not need to be overtly adversarial. This time of peace between the two might turn into bloodshed the next moment.
At the same time, Phantom was still frantically searching for the node. After all, this was Clean Knife’s spatial plane, and fighting here was as good as Xia Fei digging himself deeper into said trap. It would hardly be beneficial for him at all.
“You’re very strong.” Clean Knife’s cheeky smile was gone, his comment serious.
“You’re very strong, too. I suppose anyone who can make it out alive from Heritage Planet isn’t a weakling,” Xia Fei answered.
“Indeed. Heritage Planet is a place many are crazy about. Since one of us has got to die, why don’t we leave our last words with each other.”
“Fine.”
“I’m Clean Knife, a man without any worries. The only thing that I will feel regret over is this Butterfly Lifetaker knife. It’s a very important knife to me, so I hope that you’ll take it from me if you happen to win,” Clean Knife said very earnestly.
Xia Fei gave himself a moment’s thought before pointing to the blood-red Moore Stone. “Wear this if you win.”
Clean Knife nodded. “I can promise you that.”
Phantom was stunned. He was a spirit who lived in the Moore Stone. Without Xia Fei, it would mean that he could only remain in one place, all alone, until the end of time.
Xia Fei’s condition was to let Clean Knife carry Phantom with him, in order not to let him be too lonely. Though he would not have anyone to talk to, he would at least still be able to see the sights.
Phantom’s eyes were red as tears welled up.
“Xia Fei, I will use this spirit life of mine to help you find this node and break this spatial plane,” Phantom firmly swore.
Xia Fei shook his head. “This is my business; you don’t have to intervene.”
Phantom was livid. He knew how stubborn Xia Fei was, and there was no way anyone could change his mind once he had made his decision.
Almost at the same time, Clean Knife and Xia Fei slightly nodded to each other.
And almost instantly, the two men acted.
Xia Fei darted forward; a keen screech could be heard as he unsheathed his Celestial Moon, turning into circular blades that sealed Clean Knife in every possible direction.
These silvery blades glinted in the light, like a pack of hungry wolves baring their fangs, pouncing on Clean Knife with great ferocity.
*Whoosh!*
Clean Knife flashed him a smile and turned himself into dust, disappearing into the air without a trace.
All eighteen circular blades struck nothing but air.
Xia Fei knitted his eyebrows and retracted his Celestial Moon. He was looking everywhere around him, alert.
“Just what sort of ability was that?” Xia Fei asked into his consciousness.
“Must be a stealth type.” Phantom offered.
“That’s not right.” Xia Fei shook his head. “Celestial Moon has sealed off all possible routes of retreat just now, so even if he’s on stealth, there shouldn’t be any way for him to escape my attack. I don’t think that his special ability is stealth, but something that really causes him to vanish.”
“Could it be teleportation?” Phantom wondered aloud.
Xia Fei shook his head. “Not like it, either. Teleport will leave behind an afterimage. Plus, I’ve cultivated the Beast Spirit Codex, so my eyes are far keener than anyone else’s. If he really teleported, I should be able to locate the direction he teleported to and kill him accordingly.
“No matter the case, this opponent’s very dangerous,” Xia Fei said gravely.
As he said this, the Butterfly Lifetaker Knife suddenly appeared above Xia Fei’s head, and it was even more frightening than a scene from a horror film. An arm had appeared without a sound in mid air, and it was even holding onto that knife. There was no head or body attached to this. It was just a lone arm clutching onto the knife.
The knife flashed as fast as lightning, going straight for the top of Xia Fei’s skull.
“Just in time!” Xia Fei bellowed. His two legs bent as he used his two hands to clash against the blow from the top. He was holding his Lifeseeker Tri-dagger in his left hand with the Celestial Moon on his right, crisscrossed together right before he went right to cut off this incoming arm.
A shocking scene developed once again.
Just as the tip of Xia Fei’s weapons drove into where Clean Knife’s body ought to be, the arm in the air and the knife abruptly disappeared, as if everything had turned into dust.
Taking a step back, Xia Fei bit his lip. Evidently, Clean Knife would be a very difficult opponent. The latter’s ability to attack and retreat without a trace was not something that the former had come across before, and it was completely unpredictable.
An invisible opponent was the most dreadful thing to face. There was no telling if Clean Knife would just appear in the next second, launching a fatal blow at Xia Fei while leaving him completely unaware where the assailant was.
“If you want to hide from me, then so be it!” Xia Fei roared, opening his two arms wide.
Celestial Moon went flying, its eighteen blades sweeping across the entire spatial plane like streaking meteors.
This was an aimless attack, and the circular blades were dancing all around as the sound of tearing wind could be heard as loud as thunder.
At the same time, Xia Fei pulled out the third weapon from his spatial ring, Bloodthirsty Screech.
Bloodthirsty Screech had quite the appearance of uninhibited brutality, and adding in the Lifeseeker Tri-dagger that Xia Fei was holding in his left hand, it made for the weirdest weapon combination evern this was even as Celestial Moon continue to wreak havoc everywhere around Xia Fei.
“Xia Fei has plenty of weapons on him, but just what is he trying to do?” Clean Knife furrowed his brows and muttered to himself this while still in his dust form.
Celestial Moon’s aimless yet violent flight all around Xia Fei was making it impossible for him to get near Xia Fei, since he would be sliced by that ever present circular blade formation if he were to show himself. Similarly, Xia Fei could not injure Clean Knife, for he simply had no clue where he was hiding.
This was what was so great about the dust ability; by turning himself into something as small as a molecule which was one with the air, it was as if this spatial plane itself was Clean Knife.
“Is he trying to buy himself more time? That makes no sense; he isn’t going to win no matter how long this goes on. I’m totally capable of waiting till he expends all his energy before making my attack, and it’ll save me a lot more effort than attempting it now.” Clean Knife was still talking to himself.
That was when Clean Knife suddenly noticed that Xia Fei had raised that savage longsword in his hand high up, seemingly about to deliver an attack right at the node.
Every spatial plane could not be completely sealed off from the outside world, and this very connection was also known as the node.
Normally, the higher the cultivation, the smaller the node. In fact, it could even be as small as micrometers long and not something any average human could easily find.
Since Xia Fei had managed to locate the node, it also meant that as long as he continued his attacks, he would be able to break his Butterfly Ten-steps formation.
“Break!”
The tip of his sword slashed the air, and though there was nothing around, this one cut he delivered actually caused the entire space around to tremble violently.
The scene all around became twisted as that long path ahead started to writhe like a snake.
The corner of Xia Fei’s mouth curled, and he knew that he had discovered the node. As long as he put in a bit more strength, he would most definitely be able to break this d*mn spatial plane.
Clean Knife panicked; the person who made the spatial plane would be one with it, and breaking this plane essentially meant his death as well.
He suddenly appeared some dozens of meters away from Xia Fei, his palm lightly touching his bosom as he pulled out a black mechanical snake.
“Crap. That’s an immortal weapon that the ancient civilization created, the Butterfly Serpent!” Phantom anxiously yelled when he saw that black metal snake.
Xia Fei was startled. He did not know what this Butterfly Serpent was, but he knew very well about weapon grades. This seemingly unremarkable little black snake was actually an Immortal-grade weapon, and he knew without even asking that it would most definitely have an incomparably powerful combat strength.
Clean Knife lightly tapped the Butterfly Serpent with his finger, as if switching it on.
The black snake promptly came to life.
It bent its body backward and shot toward Xia Fei like a beam of laser.
“BREAK, D*MMIT!”
Xia Fei yelled so loudly it was as if he had gone insane. He actually chose not to dodge or evade this incoming attack and continued to strike the node.
Just as the Butterfly Serpent was about to reach Xia Fei, the man suddenly did an unimaginable motion; he swung out Bloodthirsty Screech with all his might as he followed it up with the Lifeseeker Tri-dagger in his left hand.
A longsword, which was well over 1.5 meters, and a short and powerful dagger struck the node in succession; just as these two weapons were unleashed, Celestial Moon, which was still dancing in the air, exploded into action.
Every single weapon that Xia Fei had in his arsenal was all sent to the same target, all sharing the same mission: break Clean Knife’s spatial plane.
Xia Fei threw caution to the wind and made his attacks, but that also caused him to lose his chance of escaping. That Butterfly Serpent was like a very agile little snake, rapidly coiling itself around Xia Fei’s torso as it tightened its grip.
Bloodthirsty Screech stabbed right into the node, and it caused the entire world around Xia Fei to spin.
*Crack*
The Butterfly Serpent suddenly started to contract, and that sound came from Xia Fei’s bones.
“FINE. GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO DIE TOGETHER!” Clean Knife bellowed, the Butterfly Lifetaker knife in his hand going right for Xia Fei’s throat.
The Butterfly Serpent was still growing in length, and it was beginning to envelop Xia Fei’s knee, essentially immobilizing him on the spot.
Logically speaking, it was very hard for anyone to evade Clean Knife’s plunging Butterfly Lifetaker knife given the present circumstances, yet what Clean Knife had no idea of was that Xia Fei still had his Sly Thrust technique to rely on.
It was the most unpredictable body technique in the living world, which completely disregarded common sense.
Digging in with his toes, Xia Fei’s body was able to lean backward and turn to his side, reclining it as if he was lying down. Clean Knife completely did not expect this person to be able to twist his body despite being completely immobilized. His Butterfly Lifetaker knife barely caught the tip of Xia Fei’s hair in that one strike, still a centimeter away from Xia Fei’s scalp.
This unbelievable mid-air rotation won Xia Fei about 0.5 seconds, and in a fight between experts, 0.5 seconds was more than enough to turn the tide of combat.
*Ping ping ping!*
Several dull thuds rang out. Lifeseeker Tri-dagger and Celestial Moon had struck the node one after another. After taking two slashes from Bloodthirsty Screech, this node lost half of its defenses and it was already shaking.
As Xia Fei’s body plopped down on the ground, Clean Knife’s spatial plane also disappeared.
As the spatial plane shared its life with its owner, Clean Knife only felt a suffocating feeling overwhelming his chest. He staggered, barely managing to take several steps before collapsing down on the ground. His face paled, as his breathing became shallower by the second.
Tried as he might to free himself from the Butterfly Serpent’s coiled grip, this metal chain was sturdy and simply refused to budge.
“There’s no need to struggle anymore… What you have on you is an Immortal-grade weapon… Not just you; even a super expert won’t be able to free themselves from it—” Phantom consoled Xia Fei.
Before Phantom could even finish his speech, Xia Fei saw Furball climb out from his bosom, a look of anger etched across its face, seemingly unhappy that this black metal chain had awoken it from some wonderful dream. With a tiny harrumph, Furball turned to this immortal grade weapon and gave it a vicious bite.
