A headless body dropped to the ground, splashing water everywhere. There was still a puzzled expression on the now-severed head of Shao Yi.
He was thinking, "Didn't the kid already let his guard down? How was he able to react in time?"
He was thinking, "Why would a sword shoot out of a person's chest?"
He was thinking, "The kid was completely unable to resist even that one attack of mine, so why was I sent flying?"
Thump.
Water splashed as the head bobbed in the puddle.
Xu Xiaoshou clenched the muscles in his chest as he rose from the ground. He pulled the sword out of his chest and took a look at the hole there, which almost went straight through him to his back.
"Sh**, this hurts…"
[Innate Level Physique], [Sharpness], [Spiritual Source Shielding]. All three of these added together, and still that man had been able to punch a hole right through him.
"The peak of [Origin Court Level] really is insanely powerful!" he noted to himself.
The injuries all over his body were almost completely done healing.
He waved his head and burned the dead body away, leaving only that head with a puzzled look on its face behind.
"Puzzled, huh?
"You should be.
"If you'd been able to figure everything out, I'd be lying on the ground now instead..."
Xu Xiaoshou was still reeling from shock and fright. If it hadn't been for [Recoil] coming into effect at the very last moment, he would have probably suffered yet another stab.
If one of his vital organs had been hit, he thought that not even [Eternal Vitality] would have been able to heal him.
He touched his chest. Deep down, he was impressed.
"[Innate Level Recoil] sure is something. The more damaging the opponent's attack, the further away they'll be sent flying."
That meant if anyone out there wasn't able to kill him with one shot, that first shot would widen the distance between them.
And when he apparently had more information than the other, he would definitely be able to buy more time to get prepared, just like with the Reverse Style he'd just pulled.
That was simply no way out of such a predicament.
Furthermore, with both [Eternal Vitality] and [High Spirits] at work, no one would be able to fight a war of attrition against him, so long as his opponent didn't manage to score a one-hit kill.
He rescinded the [Infernal Spiritual Source], which was wrecking the place, after [High Spirits] came to mind. The rain was no longer vaporizing, and was able to fall normally.
"That [Fundamental Passive Skill] sure is terrifying," he thought.
It had enabled him to maintain the harrowing mood throughout the entire ordeal all on his own, and had even burned that assassin almost to a crisp with the [Infernal Heavenly Flames].
When he checked on his energy reserve, he found there was only a small bit of spiritual source left.
Yet, that bit was regenerating at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Who would be able to withstand something like this, eh…"
Xu Xiaoshou mourned his future enemies, as those three major [Fundamental Passive Skills] of his were utterly insane.
Even [Breathing Technique] had been converted into a method of attack.
He wondered just how dejected that man had felt when he'd sucked the pill dry right then and there.
He shook his head. His face was drenched by rainwater, which cooled him down somewhat.
Peak of [Origin Court Level]…
Despite the fact that someone at such a level was very powerful, they were still weaker than what he'd expected.
He wondered if that perception had anything to do with the fact that the man he'd fought had only been able to pull one effective attack on him from start to finish.
After that battle, he'd become fully aware that the huge gap between himself and those [Innate Level] veterans wasn't so big that he couldn't close it as he was.
This made sense. Conventional powers were indeed not his forte. In fact, one could even say that they were his greatest weakness.
Yet, conventional wisdom dictated that one's powers were the basic determining factor that decided how well one could do in combat.
This explained the fact why, despite knowing his situation and knowing that he had more up his sleeve, people would nonetheless somehow underestimate him one way or another.
He deemed that so long as he could make good use of this, he could bring enemies far stronger than him down all the same.
The rain kept falling, and he stood under it in silence, sorting out all the thoughts in his head.
Soon, he forcibly suppressed his thoughts and came back to his senses.
"There's one more…
"The battle may not be over yet."
Xu Xiaoshou looked at the ground. The only loot he'd gotten from the battle was two short swords and a head, as he'd burned the rest.
Interrogating the man hadn't been very useful. Even though the man had willingly answered all of his questions, he didn't dare to believe any of what he'd said.
The only thing he knew with certainty was that the man who'd run away was probably of a level higher than the one who'd died.
Worse still, that man might come back.
He was more inclined to believe that people were cold-blooded, and more so in the case of those two, given that they were killers. There was no certainty that the one who'd run would come back to retrieve his partner.
But then again, what if he did?
In actual fact, a lot of what-ifs that he'd speculated in that battle had come true. The cunning one who'd run was the truly meticulous and calculative one—the type to fight with their brains.
Huff…
Xu Xiaoshou exhaled heavily, feeling worn inside and out.
Yet, he had to keep alert all the same, as that other man might just be waiting for him to let his guard down.
"How should I go about this?
"Pre-emptive strike, wait for the assassin to come, or trap him?"
In a split second, dozens of thoughts raced through his head, yet he rejected them all.
If he were unable to bear overwhelming force down on that assassin and kill said assassin before he was able to react, then these thoughts would've been for nothing.
Furthermore, the one who'd escaped was still nonetheless at [Voidness Level].
That was two whole levels higher than the level he was at.
Xu Xiaoshou was exasperated. He wondered who exactly he'd offended to warrant them sending such terrifying assassins at him.
Furthermore, according to his experience, the assassins sent at him should've only been a little stronger than he was, and he could've then used them as stepping stones to facilitate further growth.
"This really isn't working as it should. How should I go about it, then?
He started pondering. If the one who'd escaped were to return, what should he do in order to kill him?
Developing powers were out of the question.
[Innate Level Physique]…
"Yeah, this may be of some use," he thought.
But, when fighting up close and personal, one or the other would definitely end up killed. Too risky.
"Well then, that leaves [Infernal Heavenly Flames] and [Innate Sword Will]…"
He could afford to splurge with the former, yet he definitely couldn't use it as his main attack, as it would simply take too much time.
As for [Innate Sword Will]…
Xu Xiaoshou wracked his brains. He would be able to win.
Only something like that would enable one to kill someone of a higher level, no?
[Acquired Sword Will] could already take on those at [Innate Level], so with his [Sword Will] now at [Innate Level], it wouldn't be preposterous to think that it could kill someone at [Voidness Level].
"Very possible indeed.
"I can't afford to get close, yet I have to score a one-hit kill…"
Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up. "[Blade-Draw]!"
"Indeed.
"Only the [Fourth Style, Blade-Draw], that I've created would allow me to do that!"
However, he quickly became dejected again.
After making it into [Innate Level], the spiritual source it would cause to use that technique was simply too terrifying. That battle with Mo Mo had ended up with him depleting his energy reserve with just two such moves. Useless, then?
He guessed that not even [High Spirits] would allow him to instantly recover from such a splurge.
"And what if the guy survives after me using that move twice?" he thought. "Am I gonna just fight him barehanded, then?
"Well, it's not like it's not an option.
"I guess that guy probably doesn't have some [Innate Elemental Power] as ridiculous as [Sealing Power] right?
"No, no, no. Too dangerous."
Xu Xiaoshou shook his head, thinking that unless he had a great deal of Spiritual Source that he could field in an instant, he would otherwise…
"Huh?
"Hold on!
"Recovering large amounts of Spiritual Source in an instant?
"That seems possible, no?"
He then shuddered, and his legs wobbled, as he came up with this terrifying thought.