Hearing his name reverberating in the chamber, Long Batian faced the seething fury in the room like a lone ship in a storm, his smirk a defiant lighthouse against the crashing waves of killing intent.

  "Yes, it’s good you remember me," he drawled nonchantly, his words a taunt wrapped in velvet. "I told you, didn’t I? Your woman, I’ll make her—"

  Before he could finish his cruel sentence, shurikens whistled through the air like vengeful spirits, aimed directly at his heart and face.

  Swish! Ding! Ding!

  An ornate dagger expertly deflected each of the deadly notes and Long Batian’s grin widened, remarking in a voice as sharp as the dagger’s edge, "Feisty one, aren’t you? Just like this piece of jade here."

  With a rough pull, Long Batian brought the beauty onto his p.

  "Keh! But no matter how feisty, didn’t she still end up being pyed by me in the end?"

  The voice honeyed with malice set Bubai’s heart abze, his killing intent growing heavier and heavier…

  But Bubai stood frozen, trapped in pce by the dagger pressed against the throat of the hostage held to block his way.

  Feeling the chilling eyes wanting to freeze him from afar, the evil dragon chuckled darkly. "Oh, don’t give me that look. Plenty have given me the same. But now..."

  As if to savor the tension he had sown, Long Batian buried his face against the beauty’s fair neck in a vile dispy of dominance.

  Then, with eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure, he provocatively gnced at Bubai, “Now… their graves have overgrown with green grass. Your ending won’t be much better. Kekeke!”

  The evil cackle was just as mocking as his free hand that was wantonly giving a massage.

  Both were the man’s way to say: What can a wimp like you do? Nothing!

  Bubai’s grip tightened around his dagger, knuckles white with the strain as though gripping a viper ready to strike.

  He locked eyes with Xiao Lan, her blue pupils like gssy ice reflecting an unyielding coldness that chilled him to the bone.

  Those eyes gleaming like polished blue jade… they belong to a strong woman.

  Barring any surprise, she was a survivor with a hundred scars, and this extra bite from a rabid dog wasn’t something she couldn’t endure.

  As… that doesn’t make new scars hurt any less.

  So, inside those eyes, Bubai could almost hear the faint echoes of her silent plea reverberating in his mind—Do it.

  The message was like a maestro conducting a sinister symphony where pain and domination danced as partners.

  It was an insistent melody that cshed discordantly with the rising tide of his murderous intent!

  Yet, the stillness around Bubai was a stark contrast to the storm that was gathering strength...

  Each beat of the jarring melody drummed against his sanity and heart, yet Bubai remained as cold as a machine, as if lounging in the calm eye of the tempest…

  But his muscles were coiling like springs… coiling and coiling until-

  Like thunder breaking a stifling silence, Bubai’s foot smmed the ground and the blood-lust exploded-

  Whoosh! In a blur of motion, Bubai bsted off toward the bed, tracing an arc and aiming to end the nightmare from an unexpected angle!

  The illusory afterimage left standing at his former position was barely fading away, but Bubai had already reached the bedside!

  But just when Bubai thought his opponent had no time to react, his instincts bred a warning!

  Swoosh! In an instant, an ornate dagger closed the gap to his face with lightning speed!

  Time seemed to slow as he watched it growing rger and rger in his eyes-

  Cng! Dagger met dagger!

  To Bubai’s shock, the force from opponent’s dagger was so strong that it halted the momentum of his charge, chipping his own dagger and even forcing him to stagger backwards several steps!

  Stabilizing his stance, Bubai watched the ornate dagger ricochet away before zipping back to the enemy’s waiting hand like a loyal falcon to its master’s glove.

  Bubai’s pupils constricted at the telltale signs. Magic tool!

  Taking into account its flight capability and the deep gouge it had left on his steel-like dagger… at least a mid-grade combat artifact!

  With this alone, the combat power of Long Batian was far beyond conventional early-stage foundation establishment realm cultivators!

  With the hovering dagger spinning zily over his upturned palm, Long Batian’s smug smirk held all the arrogance of a nobleman surveying peasants from atop a lofty throne.

  "Keke, that face of a country bumpkin. It’s priceless. I never tire of seeing it. Each and every one of you is the same, especially when you realize your feeble attempts mean nothing against my feidao!"

  The man condescendingly looked at the peasant and dragged the purplish lips closer. “Keke, that face! It’s so good that I can’t bring myself to end you so fast-”

  Before he could finish his gloating, the chamber erupted once more with the whistle of deadly projectiles! But the ornate dagger whirled into action!

  Ding! Ding! Ding! The barrage of shurikens were intercepted fwlessly once again!

  But with the precious moments bought by the distraction, the angry beast surged forward once more, intent on closing the ever-so-small gap!

  As, this gap was like the gap between heaven and earth.

  Seemingly dancing with a life of its own, the flying dagger greeted the bloodthirsty beast head-on- Cng!

  For a brief instant, Bubai’s dagger managed to hold back the flying dagger, but- Snap!

  His already damaged dagger shattered like brittle porcein under the relentless force!

  But there was no time for Bubai to care about the loss!

  The airborne menace was already surging forward, a red-tinted streak aimed unerringly as if it had never been stopped in the first pce!

  Whoosh! Bubai sidestepped with instinct born from training, letting the deadly bde narrowly whiz past him, its edge barely grazing his robe…

  Instinctively, Bubai’s hand darted down to his pouch, symbolically brushing over it to pull out another dagger.

  Without missing a beat, Bubai resumed his charge towards Long Batian!

  But only a few steps forward, Bubai felt a chilling tingle on the back of his neck!

  Danger! Behind!

  Hastily twisting his body, Bubai spun around, his newly drawn dagger raised just in time to deflect the dagger that swam back for his neck.

  Screeech! The high-pitched protest of metal on metal screamed into Bubai’s ears as the other dagger skidded against his, still stubbornly maintaining its threatening trajectory until- Snap!

  Seeing his dagger being scrapped once more, Bubai’s other fist didn’t hesitate to sm down into the ornate dagger, finally knocking the dagger away from its beaten path and winning a breather!

  Wanting to expand on this short window of opportunity, Bubai unched another flurry of shurikens towards the man on the bed!

  It was a gambit to dey the flying dagger’s next assault and buy himself some more time!

  But to Bubai’s dismay, Long Batian had another solution!

  Like a sorcerer summoning a shield, he merely patted his storage pouch and withdrew what appeared to be a rge wok-size turtle shell, using it to swat aside the shurikens with contemptuous ease.

  "Keh! Petty trick. If this is all you have, struggling is futile."

  As if to mark his dismissive decration, Bubai wasn’t given any time to dwell on his thwarted strategy.

  Since the flying dagger didn’t need to return to defend its owner, then- Whoosh!

  Bubai hastily shifted his body, attempting to dodge the oncoming dagger mercilessly drilling toward his heart, but-

  Puff!

  Agony flooded his senses like ice-cold water.

  But amidst the searing pain, Bubai inwardly breathed a silent sigh of relief when he found the unforgiving bde nced through the palm of his hand and coming to a rest just inches from his heart.

  His hand was rendered temporarily disabled, but the vital organ was safe!

  As, the battle was far from over!

  The malevolent force behind the dagger persisted, as if determined to drive itself deeper and cim its intended target.

  With sheer grit, Bubai gripped the hilt of the dagger with his uninjured hand, fighting to prevent the dagger from sinking its fang any deeper!

  As, Bubai could keep the dagger in pce, but he can’t stop the inexorable force acting on the dagger!

  As if he stood on slippery ground, Bubai was shoved backward across the chamber, only stopping when his back smashed against the white jade walls with bone-jarring force! Thud!

  His back scraped against the wall, but at this moment, that was the least of his worries.

  Bubai thought the worst was over, but a new horror emerged!

  He actually felt something sucking the blood on his penetrated hand like a hungry vampire feasting on a virgin!

  Bubai was no virgin to pain, but his throbbing flesh’s screams of pain was enough to elicit a grunt from him.

  Worse yet, the growing weakness from his hand told him he must pull out!

  With resolve burning fiercely, Bubai’s other hand strenuously wrenched the dagger free from its lodging in his injured hand.

  Just when it came free, the dagger took advantage of the moment to break free from his grasp!

  With a firework of reddish-green blood to celebrate its liberation, the dagger streaked back toward its master, leaving behind its victim who was hastily wrapping a cloth around the gaping wound on his hand.

  Staunching the flow of blood, Bubai quickly tracked the dagger back to his enemy.

  There, Bubai saw the dagger spinning nguidly over Long Batian’s palm, the dagger’s once-bloodied stains gradually fading as though absorbed by the very metal itself!

  Witnessing the bde return to its pristine state, Long Batian’s sadistic grin widened.

  "Keke, it’s been some time since my Lifeblood Fang tasted such high-quality blood. It’s not every day I find blood that can refine it, let alone in a mere Qi-refiner..."

  Long Batian appraised Bubai as if he was a monkey in a zoo.

  “Good. Good. Such a good blood bank, it’s a waste if I send you to take the underworld ferry so soon. How about this? Why don’t you obediently let my feidao drink from you? And as a reward...”

  The man donned the “be honored” expression of a lecherous noble, cruelly thrusting his offer to the peasant as if he was granting some holy favor.

  “I’ll grant you the pleasure of living long enough to watch my seed of pleasure bloom in your woman! Kekeke!”