The Xing sisters looked at Huang Ying's bloody grin with pupils so shrunken that they resembled pinholes. A broken nose, a bruised and cut up waist, his injuries weren't something that could be considered light in a battle like this. And yet, he still stood there and grinned at them in such a cheerful manner, his expression not even twitching from pain. The gaze of the green-eyed Xing Gao momentarily drifted past Huang Ying and onto Ying Feixu, who was struggling to stand up since Huang Ying had broken her leg before throwing her away.

"Are you sure that was all that smart? With her leg broken like that, she'll definitely die before she can finish off the others, and then you'll be forced to resist the attacks of everyone who's still alive."

The Xing twins had of course seen how Ying Feixu attacked Huang Ying, so even though they arrived together, they certainly weren't as close as they originally expected. Xing Gao only spoke up now to give them some breathing room, while also wasting a bit of time so that the other remaining people could finish off Ying Feixu.

And even if that didn't work, it would at least sow a small seed of worry in Huang Ying's mind, which would open more opportunities as they fought. But sadly for them, they quickly learned that such conventional ways of thinking were insufficient in front of Huang Ying, whose grin only grew a bit larger.

"And? If she dies from something like that then it just shows that trying to train her will be nothing more than a waste of my time, she'll never be able to give me a fun battle. As for resisting the attacks of everyone who's still alive, that might just be a fun little challenge, so it might not be that bad."

Not just the expressions of the Xing twins twitched softly at his arrogant words, the others in the room also halted for a short second. Looking at his bloody grin and demeanour that was so carefree that it bordered on arrogant, Xing Gao quickly realized exactly what sort of entity was standing in front of them.

"You're a little beast with a few screws loose, aren't you?"

Huang Ying only chuckled in response to Xing Gao's statement, not even trying to deny it.

"Probably more than just a few."

The youth from Green Willows who had bent his waist and just accepted things had already died in a dark and damp cell, and something within him inevitably broke along with his death. That was a fact that Huang Ying would never deny, he had changed, whether he had wanted to or not. And he embraced that change, because that change signified that he had stepped onto his own path, abandoning that child with a bent and cowed frame.

Xing Gao opened her mouth to speak up again, but Huang Ying kicked off of the ground and shot forward before she could utter any words. The brown-eyed Xing Jueli immediately stepped forward and smashed one of her metal glove-covered fists forward at Huang Ying's face. Xing Gao also moved into action at the same time, moving in an arching manner around her sister and approaching Huang Ying from the side.

Huang Ying knew that Xing Jueli cultivated a strength-based law, he had also personally experienced the weight of her fists so he knew that blocking the attack head-on wasn't the best choice. His left hand shot out and smashed into the side of Xing Jueli's outstretched fist, pushing it aside and diverting it towards the incoming Xing Gao. But Xing Gao had already lowered her body, anticipating Huang Ying to at least launch a retaliatory attack that would force her to duck anyway.

As a result, she dodged right beneath Xing Jueli's diverted fist and reached Huang Ying's side, her fist smashing into the gash that Ying Feixu had left on him with her dagger. Xing Jueli also attacked at the same time, pushing out her other fist and aiming at Huang Ying's face, the force of the attack a fair bit weaker than the previous one due to how hasty it was.

Huang Ying spat out some blood that hit Xing Jueli's face, forcing her to close her eyes while also leaving her a bit taken aback, resulting in the force behind her punch weakening even further. This allowed Huang Ying to raise his hand and catch the punch, but the force within it still caused his wrist to ache and pushed him several steps back. A straightforward punch like this was always harder to just block than a descending on like the first one she had launched at the start of the battle.

A bit of distance was opened between Huang Ying and the Xing twins again, the sisters casting a sideways glance at Ying Feixu's battlefield to see how it went. And to their shock, her broken leg had healed as if it hadn't just been shattered. Ying Feixu cast a few hateful glares at Huang Ying, but she didn't seem to be planning on launching any more sneak attacks so the Xing twins knew that it would be pointless to hope for any more assistance.

But they were confident that if things continued like this then there was no need for any assistance, they alone would be enough to deal with Huang Ying. But if he could heal in the same manner as this Ying Feixu could, then things would become a bit more troublesome and they may have to wait for reinforcements from above.

Huang Ying placed his hand on his waist, rubbing the gash that Xing Gao had just smashed her fist into. His gaze focused on the two orange-haired women, who had already returned to the simple formation that consisted of Xing Jueli covering Xing Gao with her own body. He spat out another mouthful of blood and then licked his lips, his eyes flashing as he charged forward once more.

The Xing sisters immediately responded, Xing Jueli heavily stomping the ground as she sent both her fists smashing forward, one aiming for Huang Ying's head while the other aimed for his abdomen. And while Xing Jueli took the role of main attacker, Xing Gao once again moved in an arching manner around her and aimed for Huang Ying's waist. And looking at the actions of the two sisters, the only expression that could be seen on Huang Ying's face was disappointment.

"Is that all you have to offer? You're more boring than I had hoped, far too simplistic and stiff."

The sisters immediately felt a terrible sense of foreboding, but the attacks were already about to land so it was too late. Xing Gao's fist landed on Huang Ying's waist, but it didn't sink into his flesh as it had previously. A very thin layer of earth appeared on his skin, constantly moving in a rolling motion.

A layer of twisting wind appeared above this layer of earth, the two moving forces causing Xing Gao's fist to slide along the layer of earth and harmlessly move past Huang Ying's stomach. He stomped the ground at the same time, a thick layer of earth covering his legs and practically nailing him to the floor as Xing Jueli's attacks hammered into him.

His torso swayed slightly and he spewed up more blood, his nose practically becoming completely flat. But thanks to the earth around his feet, he wasn't pushed back, meaning that he was still right next to Xing Gao and right in front of Xing Jueli. His eyes carried a bored expression as his left hand swept out, his double-headed spear appearing in his grasp.

Xing Gao had been forced to take an involuntary step forward as her hand slid along Huang Ying's body, resulting in her right leg becoming somewhat exposed. And the heavy handle of Huang Ying's spear smashed directly into the side of Xing Gao's knee, the weapon augmented by the strength of both Huang Ying's body and his law of earth.

Her right knee was obliterated and her leg gave out beneath her, Huang Ying immediately storing the spear back into his interspatial ring while still continuing the sweeping motion of his arm. He grabbed onto Xing Gao's face, some of his fingers entering the mouth that she had opened since the pain made her scream.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

The rest of his fingers latched onto her lower jaw like a vice, the veins on his arm bulging as he exerted all his might. Xing Gao was raised up from the ground and swung sideways at the shocked Xing Jueli, Huang Ying using her body as a club.

Xing Gao's waist smashed into Xing Jueli's side with such force that Xing Jueli was launched several steps away, not terribly injured, but certainly tremendously fearful. And her fear was proven correct immediately when she saw that Xing Gao's lower jaw was unable to resist the force that Huang Ying had forced it to endure as he flung Xing Gao around.

Her entire lower jaw was practically torn directly off the moment she smashed into Xing Jueli, her body falling to the ground while the jaw remained in Huang Ying's grasp. And even worse, Xing Jueli saw that Huang Ying maintained his bored expression all the while, he just raised his foot and stomped down on Xing Gao's head, shattering it to end her life.

But Xing Jueli's horror didn't end there, a black sludge covered in small crimson eyes and gleefully grinning maws stretched out from Huang Ying's shadow. The sludge stretched out several tentacles that looked like thick mud, each one latching onto Xing Gao as the chittering maws greedily devoured her body.

And as Xing Gao's body vanished, so too did the wounds on Huang Ying's body. In only two seconds, he looked as if he hadn't suffered any injuries, the energy radiating from his body even seemed to have grown a little stronger.

The sudden change in the situation didn't leave just Xing Jueli shocked, Ying Feixu and the others in the room were also caught off-guard. Just like that, a youth at the 8th Mortal Step had brutally butchered an adult at the 2nd Stair of Ascension. And that was the only word any of them found suitable for what they had just seen, brutal, it was a beast-like action that shouldn't show up in a battle between humans.

But Huang Ying didn't care about the reactions of the onlookers, his two-headed spear once again appearing in his grasp. He maintained his bored expression as he spoke up, no one quite certain if he was reprimanding Xing Jueli or if he was trying to teach a lesson to someone else.

"You can't just keep using the same move during combat, if anyone does so then it means that one of two things is going on. First, they're a bloody idiot who doesn't want to live anymore and are thus praying for their enemy to take advantage of it. Second, that person is luring the enemy in so that they can catch them off guard and end things in one fell swoop."

Xing Jueli's expression distorted violently, partly from anger due to Huang Ying's scolding and partly due to the pain she felt from losing her sister. Huang Ying grabbed his spear tightly and paid no mind to Xing Jueli's expression, fully done with this boring fight after realizing that this pair of sisters were only capable of that one single response of theirs.

He gathered all his might and threw out his spear, twisting it slightly with his law of wind to increase its penetrative force. Xing Jueli quickly stretched out both arms and caught the spear, her elbows bending slightly due to the violent force contained within it. But Huang Ying had chased right after his spear and reached Xing Jueli just as she grabbed onto his spear, his eyes making it clear that he had no intention of showing mercy.

He already had one possible enemy hanging around him, namely the soul hidden away within his body, Li Jun. He had already made Li Jun swear an oath, but if Li Jun somehow had a way of going around this oath and once again tried to manufacture a scenario where Huang Ying might die so that his soul could move on, then Huang Ying would be left with no choice but to find a way to locate Li Jun's soul so that he could get rid of it.

Xing Jueli obviously didn't know about these thoughts of Huang Ying and swiftly moved to push him back, her left foot shooting up and towards Huang Ying's groin. But with most of her force focused on holding back the heavy spear, how much power could she really put into a hasty kick like that?

Huang Ying simply clenched his right fist and smashed it down on Xing Jueli's exposed knee, the power contained within his hand erupting and shattering the bones beneath his fist. Her foot continued to move upwards, but her knee bent downward, resulting in her shattered leg taking on an unnatural curve.

Her grip on the spear loosened somewhat as the pain from her shattered leg assaulted her mind, a scream involuntarily escaping her lips. But that scream was quickly cut short, Huang Ying grabbing onto the spear and pushing it forward. Xing Jueli's grip had loosened so much that he could easily push the weapon forward, the sharp tip entering her open mouth and piercing directly through her head.

Huang Ying quickly reached out and grabbed onto Xing Jueli's throat with his free hand, the sludge-like darkness that was the law of devouring stretching up from his shadow again. The sludge moved up his body with jerky movements, pulling itself along his arm and latching onto Xing Jueli's body so that it could start devouring her.

Her corpse quickly vanished, Huang Ying putting away his spear and switching into a clean robe. He then turned his gaze onto Ying Feixu, who was working on finishing up the last eight enemies. The number of corpses in the room didn't quite match up with how many people she should have killed so Huang Ying stretched out his perception to scan the surrounding rooms.

And sure enough, five or so people had scurried away and hidden within the rooms that were scattered along the edge of the circular lobby. Huang Ying had sealed the exits so they couldn't escape through there, they could only hope that they could hide in these rooms and wait for reinforcements.

The death of the Xing twins drained the last of the hope that the remaining eight fighters still had, their despair resulting in them revealing far too many openings. As a result, Ying Feixu was able to quickly finish off and devour the last man, her breathing somewhat ragged when the job was done.

Even with her devouring the dead, a battle involving so many enemies would inevitably leave her somewhat tired and drained, even if that tiredness was mostly a mental belief. She quickly calmed her breath, sending Huang Ying a sharp glance before she turned her gaze onto the rooms where the remaining people were hiding. But Huang Ying waved his hand as she started to move, his voice still calm and casual as he headed for the entrance they had used.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, their reinforcements should be here within 40 or so seconds. But if you feel like you're fast enough to get to those people, kill them, and then escape before the reinforcements catch up, then go right ahead."

She would definitely be able to kill those hiding people within 15 to 20 seconds, but escaping after that would become much more troublesome. Just having a 20-second headstart on the reinforcements was not enough to guarantee that they could leave the area before the reinforcements could catch up with them.

If the reinforcements were just as strong as the Xing twins, then it wouldn't be much of a problem. But the Xing twins weren't the strongest cultivators present within the building, and while Huang Ying more than welcomed a good fight and exhilarating fight, he would much rather live for longer so that he could experience more fights.

Ying Feixu's gaze moved between Huang Ying and the closed doors, her eyes flickering slightly. She was the same as Huang Ying, she didn't want to leave too many enemies alive, especially ones that had seen her. But she didn't even have to raise this point, as Huang Ying had already prepared for it.

He stopped just as he walked past Ying Feixu, half turning his body and sweeping out his arm, launching out several chunks of earth. The somewhat soft and almost mud-like earth collided with the doors and covered the handles, sinking into the keyholes and then hardening, sealing the doors. The people he had ordered to remain unharmed had already escaped so the only people remaining in the room were enemies, so Huang Ying wasn't bothered about the order he gave.

"Torch it."

Ying Feixu's eyebrow involuntarily rose for a second as she glanced at Huang Ying, understanding exactly what his plan was. The more time she spent with him, the more she realized that he was truly more similar to her kind than he was to the humans he surrounded himself with. But at the same time, he exhibited traits and ideologies that wouldn't be found in Demonic beasts like her, nor in most humans for that matter, so he was a rather peculiar existence.

Ying Feixu pushed out her palm, crimson flames roaring out from her hand and scorching the circular lobby. The fire moved underneath the small openings of the sealed doors and entered the rooms where the people were hiding, shrieks quickly sounding out as the fire continued to spread rampantly.

By the time Ying Feixu pulled back her arm, the fire had already spread to fill the entire lobby, its roaring drowning out any screams and shrieks. But as she turned around, she saw that Huang Ying hadn't even bothered to glance at the blazing inferno, he had already descended the stairway and started to walk along the earthen hallway connecting the various business owned by the Xing family.

What's more, a layer of earth was starting to spread out from the edges of the entrance, slowly sealing it up again. Ying Feixu stepped down the stairs before the entrance was fully sealed and quickly caught up with Huang Ying again, reaching him just in time to hear him mutter casually.

"Now, exactly how much should I include in my message? Would she be worried if I just said it all?"