Eddie executed his strongest sword strike, targeting the Purple Gold Marquis's forehead, where the innate sword energy exploded, piercing a bloody hole.
At the same moment, he used all his speed and strength to grab the Marquis's head and violently twisted it, breaking his neck.
When the binding effect ceased, the Marquis's fist, still carrying its destructive force, continued its forward trajectory.
However, it was no longer a threat to Eddie, who had already soared upwards after his successful ambush.
"Phew, that was close!" Eddie's heart, which had been suppressed until now, suddenly burst into rapid beats.
The Purple Gold Marquis was undoubtedly the strongest enemy Eddie had ever faced.
Fortunately, he hadn't seen through Eddie's true strength, allowing Eddie to successfully assassinate him with the dual surprise attack of his binding talent and innate formless sword energy. Otherwise, Eddie couldn't be sure of the outcome of this battle.
By launching his strongest attack against the enemy's weakest point, Eddie's risky move had paid off.
Though he had slain the Purple Gold Marquis, Eddie's heart was still racing, grateful for the success of his stealthy attack.
Had the Marquis summoned his strongest beast from the start or not fully exposed himself, Eddie's sneak attack might not have succeeded.
The Marquis wasn't one to be careless; his failure stemmed from underestimating Eddie, mistakenly believing he could easily eliminate him.
Just as Eddie was regaining his composure in mid-air and preparing to land, he glanced down and, to his astonishment, saw the supposedly dead Purple Gold Marquis eerily standing on the surface of the lake.
Eddie witnessed something utterly shocking.
Despite having his neck twisted and a hole pierced through his forehead, the Purple Gold Marquis was not only alive but also standing on the lake's surface. Such a scene was beyond comprehension.
With his neck broken and blood oozing from the wound on his forehead, the Marquis, without giving the stunned Eddie a chance to react, instantly summoned his Platinum Grimoire.
After a protective barrier rose, he summoned a blazing, enhancement-type beast into his body.
He then slowly twisted his neck back into place, reconnecting his skull to his spine, and used a golden headband to tightly bind the wound on his forehead.
Eddie watched, dumbfounded and utterly bewildered. Was this man even human? How could he survive such an attack?
"I have fought in 1,328 battles from my youth till now, and no one has ever managed to wound my face. You are the first," the Marquis said, removing his shirt to reveal a body covered with hundreds of scars, crisscrossing his torso.
Yet, compared to the rest of his body, his face remained unscathed.
He pointed to five healed finger-shaped scars on his chest, "These were left by 'Night Empress'. She nearly killed me. Fortunately, I managed to escape. But even then, I was never as close to death as I was today at your hands. You are the first human to pose such a severe threat to my life. Just a bit stronger, and I would have been in real danger."
"You're not human?" Eddie was almost certain that this being wasn't human. His tactics for combating humans were ineffective against him.
"I admit, I underestimated you, which almost led to my demise. But fortunately, you also miscalculated what I am," the Marquis spoke softly, showing no anger, as if talking to a friend.
Eddie, feeling a chilling sense of danger, quickly summoned his Silver Grimoire, raising a protective barrier. The Purple Gold Marquis was too unpredictable and dangerous to take any chances with.
Just as Eddie raised his protective barrier, he realized that within that critical second, a fiery blood-red scythe had fiercely slashed at his back, only to be blocked by the barrier at the last moment.
Had he been a fraction of a second slower, he might have been severed in two. Turning around, Eddie saw a blood scythe demon over five meters tall, wielding a burning scythe and glaring at him ferociously. When did the Purple Gold Marquis summon this blood scythe demon?
Using his keen eyesight, Eddie's heart rate skyrocketed. The demon was a Golden Level Seven – a level that represented the very limit of creatures existing in the Dragon Teng Continent. Eddie had heard many versions of the classification of beast levels.
Mercenaries generally believed that ordinary beasts couldn't exceed Level Eight, and only elite ones could.
This misconception was widespread, as creatures like the Millennium Ancient Tree, which resembled a forest; the Sea King Whale, seen only in the ocean; and the Island Turtle, whose shell could host a city, were beyond their recognition as beasts.
These creatures were typically beyond the reach of mercenaries, and even if spotted, wouldn't be recognized as battle beasts.
However, the teachings of Granny Wendy radically altered Eddie's understanding. She made it clear that under normal circumstances, the Dragon Teng Continent would not have creatures exceeding Level Ten.
While she didn't explicitly state it, Eddie understood the implication: a natural law on the continent prevented the existence of beasts beyond Level Ten.
To surpass this limit, beasts had to undergo humanization.
Through humanization, beasts could learn and progress like humans, breaking through to realms beyond Level Ten.
Otherwise, Level Ten was the ultimate limit for beasts.
Those who didn't undergo humanization would remain within this threshold, becoming colossal beings and invincible entities in certain regions of the continent.
The concept of beasts turning into humans was a profound secret, only accessible to the truly powerful. Ordinary people were not privy to such mysteries.
Eddie suspected that the Purple Gold Marquis before him was actually a supremely powerful creature that had undergone humanization to assume a human form.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for a regular human body to survive after having its brain destroyed and neck twisted.
Most importantly, the Purple Gold Marquis's own words subtly confirmed this.
The Purple Gold Marquis was definitely not human!
Could he be the very dragon whose roar the mercenaries had heard earlier?
Without hesitating, Eddie immediately pulled out a teleportation scroll, infused it with spiritual energy, and prepared to teleport away.
Engaging in combat with a dragon capable of evolving into a human, or an opponent who could survive despite severe injuries, was not something Eddie was interested in.
What's more, the Purple Gold Marquis possessed a Golden Level Seven blood scythe demon as his battle beast – who would want to fight him?
Surprisingly, although the Purple Gold Marquis should have been furious with Eddie, he showed no reaction when Eddie prepared to teleport away.
As Eddie entered the teleportation gate, he instantly felt something was amiss.
To his horror, he didn't appear at the bottom of the valley where the mercenary camp was located, but right in front of the Purple Gold Marquis.
The blood scythe demon in the sky seemed to have anticipated Eddie's teleportation spot, and its scythe came slashing down ferociously.
Eddie panicked, trying to dodge, but found his body moving in the opposite direction, as if he was willingly offering himself to the scythe. This had to be the Purple Gold Marquis's doing – his control over space.
In less than a tenth of a second, Eddie realized he couldn't summon his Silver Codex in time to raise a protective barrier.
Could Little Wenli withstand a slash from a Golden Level Seven blood scythe demon? And there was also the Purple Gold Marquis's powerful palm strike looming behind.
In this life-threatening moment, Eddie raised his arm, using the metal beast's bracer to meet the terrifying blood scythe head-on, while simultaneously attempting to bind the Purple Gold Marquis again with his other hand.
However, the grotesque creature from the lake suddenly surged upward, its giant sword aimed to slice Eddie in two from below.
With the blood scythe above and the giant blade below, and the most terrifying palm strike behind, Eddie realized he was in the gravest danger he had ever faced – his life hanging by a thread!
As the Purple Gold Marquis's eyes revealed a cruel intent to kill, and the blood scythe demon was about to unleash its greatest strength to slash down, while the grotesque creature was preparing for a sneak attack, suddenly a shield spread over Eddie, blocking everything outside. Xiao Wenli had timely summoned the Diamond Codex.
"Good treasure!" Eddie excitedly embraced the figure in front of him but then realized something was amiss. Xiao Wenli was a loli; her chest shouldn't have such protrusions. Instead, he felt two impressive mounds. This was clearly not a loli, but a voluptuous woman!
Could it be the City Lord of Luo Hua who had come to his rescue? Or was it Princess Jean? The feel was too wonderful, much larger than apples. The only certainty was that this was not the young girl, Inan. While Eddie was lost in his thoughts, the owner of the beautiful eyes who had summoned the codex and saved his life turned around, her eyes frosty, almost freezing Eddie into an ice sculpture.
"Let go!" The owner of the beautiful eyes was furious, her anger different from the ordinary, becoming colder the angrier she got.
"Sorry, it was a natural reaction!" Eddie was shocked, his heart almost leaping out. This beauty was neither the City Lord of Luo Hua nor Princess Jean, nor Inan, but the book-loving female thief Eddie had encountered before.
At this moment, Eddie's wolfish paw was still on her chest, a position that even he found a bit contemptible and lecherous.
"This is my natural reaction too!" The female thief raised the ancient book in her hand and slapped Eddie to the ground with a "whack."