Martial Sovereign of the Turbulent World

Chapter 188: Chapter 186: An Interesting Ability

Under the corridor light, He Xin’s body melted into a shadow and seeped into the cracks beneath his feet, vanishing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

The moment he left, the study door creaked open from within.

An alert gaze shot out from the crack in the door, scanning the area. A moment later, it slowly withdrew, tinged with confusion.

...

He Xin had never felt such an intense craving, an overwhelming urge to feed.

This feeling came from the Guardian Demon that lived in symbiosis with him. Its cold, cruel consciousness, usually dormant, was now frantically urging him toward the source of the scent.

It was like a man starved for days who had suddenly caught the aroma of a piping-hot feast. His stomach even began to rumble with hunger.

’Closer, closer... It’s just ahead...’

The scent pulling He Xin forward was intermittent, as if it were being rapidly contained, concealed, and weakened. This caused the Guardian Demon’s consciousness to shift from anxious to frenzied.

Finally... He Xin abruptly darted into a room.

In a corner of the dim room, He Xin’s figure slowly materialized.

He scanned his surroundings. It was a spacious and luxurious bedroom decorated in a classic Western style—crystal wall sconces, walnut furniture, a brass-posted bed, jacquard silk curtains, and a thick cashmere carpet laid over the marble floor.

The main lights were off, and the scent vanished completely here.

He Xin sniffed greedily, catching a faint trace of the scent lingering in the cold air.

His gaze followed the lingering "trail" of the scent, finally settling on a frosted glass door through which a hazy light glowed.

’It must be the bathroom for this room.’ He could smell a fragrant mixture of bath salts and warm, moist air wafting from within.

He Xin moved silently toward the bathroom, a hint of anticipation on his pale face.

He reached the bathroom door and extended his hand, about to push his way inside.

Just then—

CLICK—

A crisp, soft metallic click sounded from behind him.

WHOOSH—

He Xin spun around. His pupils constricted the moment he saw what was behind him.

In the corner of the bedroom near the window, a dark green glass lamp had been switched on, casting a gentle, warm yellow halo.

In the center of that glow, a handsome Young Master, dressed only in a simple velvet bathrobe, was casually reclining on a sofa.

His posture was languid. He held a freshly lit cigar, its tip glowing and fading in the darkness.

"Are you..."

The man’s calm gaze landed on He Xin. "...looking for me?" he asked faintly.

He Xin froze for a second before recognizing the man as his second assassination target.

His shock lasted but half a second. Then, he split his lips into a grin, a cruel and excited smile. The next instant, his body moved like a phantom, leaving an afterimage as he lunged straight for the sofa!

The Young Master on the sofa casually set his cigar on the rim of the crystal ashtray beneath the lamp, then rose unhurriedly and strolled forward to meet He Xin.

One fast, one slow, the two figures converged in the center of the room.

SWOOSH—

With a flick of his wrists, a gleaming triangular bayonet appeared in each of He Xin’s hands. In the space of a single breath, he unleashed dozens, nearly a hundred, thrusts at the man before him. His movements were a blur, a veritable whirlwind of death.

The bayonets tore through the air, carving out countless cold trajectories of death that targeted all his opponent’s vital points.

This had been his favorite method of torture and slaughter even before he acquired the Spirit Shell. Wounds from a triangular blade are notoriously difficult to heal, and he loved nothing more than to poke a living person full of holes, turning them into a human honeycomb and watching them bleed out in agony and despair.

Yet, in the face of this terrifying, storm-like onslaught, the Young Master simply raised his hands and casually parried.

His movements seemed light, even languid, yet he always managed to precisely bat the bayonets away with the back of his fist or the edge of his palm just an instant before they made contact.

A rapid-fire staccato of impacts, like rain drumming on banana leaves, rang out before abruptly ceasing.

He Xin’s flurry ended. He retreated two steps, only to see that the Young Master had barely moved. Not even his bathrobe was disheveled. The man simply continued to watch him with that same placid expression.

He Xin’s eyes narrowed as he remembered his opponent was a powerful Martial Artist. The next moment, his pupils contracted into cold, vertical slits. Reversing his grip on the bayonets, he moved his feet and lunged once more.

This time, his speed was not his primary weapon. The moment he lunged, he silently dissolved into the surrounding gloom.

He then reappeared without warning, like a splash of ink materializing from thin air, above and behind the Young Master. The attack transition was seamless, his bayonet aimed directly at the center of his opponent’s back!

The Young Master’s reaction was incredibly fast. His eyelids barely twitched, yet he had already spun around and thrust out a palm at the exact instant He Xin materialized.

But in the instant before the palm could land, He Xin’s body again dissolved into an ephemeral shadow.

Seeing his palm strike empty air, the Young Master paused, slightly taken aback.

In that tiny opening—when the old momentum was spent and the new had yet to be gathered—He Xin solidified for a third time, now positioned slightly behind and to his opponent’s left!

Two phantom-like "blinks" had allowed him to complete an intricate circular maneuver. The bayonet in his reverse grip was now poised like a fully drawn bow.

A cold smile touched He Xin’s lips. His arm lashed out like a whip, thrusting the bayonet viciously at his opponent’s left temple!

To date, no one had ever dodged his "Three-Stage Position Change" surprise attack. Not even the intuition of a top-tier Martial Artist could keep up.

The Spirit Shell had turned him into a half-human, half-demon, granting him superhuman strength and speed, as well as... the Demon Evil Force, which transcended the mundane.

The triangular bayonet, its surface shimmering with a ghostly light, tore through the air and, in the instant it struck, felt as if it had punctured something.

He Xin knew what it was: the Protective Qi Membrane unique to Martial Artists. It could block sharp weapons and even ordinary handgun bullets, but... when faced with an attack infused with Demon Power, it was no stronger than paper.

He could almost feel the warm splash of blood and brain matter on his face as the bayonet pierced his opponent’s skull.

And yet, the next instant—

CLANG—

He Xin’s attack came to a dead stop. The bayonet felt as if it had hit an incredibly hard, thick steel plate, and the resulting shockwave sent a numbing jolt up his arm.

He froze, his confident expression solidifying on his face.

He then saw that the bayonet from his reverse-grip thrust had, indeed, landed squarely on his opponent’s temple.

But a strange, small patch had appeared there—dark red with flowing, orange-gold patterns—and it had completely stopped his Demon Power-infused bayonet.

He Xin staggered back several steps, his expression one of pure horror, as he watched the man slowly turn to face him.

By the time the man had turned fully, the dark red patch on his temple had expanded to cover nearly half his cheek. It looked like a fragment of some ancient, barbaric tattoo, lending his handsome face a strange, demonic air.

"An interesting ability."

The words emerged from beneath thin, well-defined lips, his voice as cold and clear as striking jade.

Before He Xin’s widening eyes, the glowing sigil on the Young Master’s face spread rapidly. With a series of CRACKS, his entire body shot upward and expanded outward...

"But now... the game is over."

BOOM!

An indescribably terrifying aura, like massive, invisible clouds of miasma, instantly flooded the entire room.

What little light remained in the room was utterly devoured by a vast, dense shadow that suddenly rose to fill the space.

As the terrifying Demon Fiend aura washed over him—an overwhelming, crushing force like a black tsunami—He Xin felt as if an invisible hand had clamped around his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed, but he couldn’t force a single word out.

...

WHOOSH—

A hot breath, exhaled slowly from his lungs, instantly dispelled the chill in the room.

Since he was in his own home and facing a suspected Demon Minion, Fu Juemin saw no reason to hold back. He directly activated his Three Souls in One Body [Demon Body] state.

His transformation complete, he didn’t hesitate for a second, striking out at He Xin with an open palm.

The instant his palm shot out, the air in the room rushed toward its center, forming an invisible vortex.

A terrifying suction force erupted, locking firmly onto the bizarre Demon Minion in the black military-style uniform!

This was the opening move of the Ape Form, one of the Five Forms of Dynamic Skills from the Five Beasts Skill. The Ape Form specialized in grappling, and this technique was called—[Moon Grasp]!