At the same time, Ma Qiao also saw that his underlings were all gathered around.
But instead of coming to help him, they were pointing and chatting with each other as if they were watching a show.
This was the problem with being bandits.
Since they had only banded together to fight, pillage, and steal. There was literally no loyalty in between them, and all they cared about was their personal benefits.
And if Ma Qiao ended up dying, not only could one of them become the next leader. They'd also have access to all the riches, women, and treasures Ma Qiao had stored up.
Given that Jian Shen wouldn't take them all away.
Gritting his teeth, Ma Qiao decided to no longer evade, and fight.
Swinging his halberd at full strength to push Jian Shen back, Ma Qiao tried to use his leg and kick him, but Jian Shen used the side of his sword to slap the incoming leg away.
At the same time, Jian Shen who managed to close the distance by a bit too much, used the Sword of Despair's hilt to strike it against the back of Ma Qiao's neck.
Evading it hastily, Ma Qiao began panting heavily to try and recover his breathing.
Not giving the chance for Ma Qiao to recover. Jian Shen followed up by using the Total Decimating Slash.
The next moment, Ma Qiao's eyes widened and his body almost froze from fear after seeing the deadly scarlet haze surrounding the white sword.
Just the look of it made Ma Qiao feel as if he was already dead.
By the time Ma Qiao could come back to his senses, the Myriad God Sword was already too close to completely escape.
Therefore, he decisively chose to sacrifice an arm and escape from the life threatening strike.
Shhhh!
Dropping the halberd and clutching his right shoulder which had been cleanly cut from the top to bottom, Ma Qiao was starting to see that if he didn't escape this situation, death was all that awaited him.
Coughing up blood and faltering in his step which almost got his body split into two, Ma Qiao who started to think about risking his life and taking Jian Shen down with him, suddenly felt something change.
Other than the warm current flowing through his body, Ma Qiao felt as if he now understood more of the world. And the way he perceived Qi had already changed a lot.
This was when Ma Qiao realized, that the lock like barrier which had kept him from breaking through to the Dharma Realm had started to loosen up.
At the very same time, Qingyu's urgent voice sounded inside Jian Shen's head.
"If you don't kill him now, you won't be able to beat him anymore Jian Shen."
Not asking any questions, despite wanting to know if a Dharma Realm Cultivator could compare to a Desolate Beast in strength, Jian Shen spoke to Juewang.
'Remove the second seal, little wifey.'
Hearing those calm words, Juewang also didn't question him, and immediately undid the second seal.
Due to the increase in Jian Shen's cultivation, even though he couldn't use the Sword of Despair with two seals removed continuously, he could now use it for a little longer than before.
Though not much longer, Jian Shen could perform a total of four strikes before fainting from overusing his Qi.
"Hahahahahaha.... I need to thank you for helping me breakthrough brat! That's why I'll grant you a quick death as your reward! Hahahaha... "
...
"Should I step in?"
Not too far away from the location of the fight, Mei Xing began thinking that she should make a move, because even though Ma Qiao was just about to enter the Dharma Realm, just his brute strength would be more than what those at the peak of Mystic Realm could defend against.
As for Jian Shen who was still in the Earth Realm, it was ready a miracle that he was able to force a Half-step Dharma Realm Cultivator into such a desperate situation.
Hoping for anymore would be stupid.
Thus, it was best for her to interfere and kill Ma Qiao.
With such thoughts, Mei Xing was just about to make a move when her blood froze from an overbearing aura of bloodthirst and despair suddenly came out of nowhere.
Just the terrifying presence was able to make her whole body scream and beg her to run away.
Wanting to see what was the cause of this, Mei Xing moved her eyes to the source of it and saw Jian Shen who was shrouded in a mist of darkness looking like a demon who crawled out of hell.
"Sorry to cut into your happiness, but I can't let you breakthrough."
After she heard those words, all Mei Xing saw was a flash of lightning after which Jian Shen was already in front of Ma Qiao who had a mocking smile and wanted to say something, but stopped midway after sensing the same terrifying presence as the one Mei Xing felt.
Next, before any words could be said the block sword which was the source of the fearsome phenomenon, sliced through Ma Qiao's neck and separated it from his body.
Dying with a face full of regret and despair, since despite finally obtaining the chance to break into the Dharma Realm, he just wasn't able to do so.
Ma Qiao wanted to do nothing more than kill Jian Shen who crushed his hopes with such despair.