Chapter 93: I Smelled the Scent of a Sword

Ji Huo and Xia Ning Shang exchanged a glance, showing no mercy whatsoever as the two of them charged toward the sword maniac again.

“Ha!”

Xia Ning Shang gave a clear shout, her long spear drawing a spray of spear blossoms in the air. Under the circulation of her inner power, the spearhead formed a black dragon-shaped surge of force, like a giant serpent coiling through the sky, rushing straight at the sword maniac.

Driven by that technique, Xia Ning Shang’s speed was astonishing. Yet she controlled the long spear with one hand, while her other hand seized Ji Huo by the arm and dragged him into the spear’s momentum as well.

The two of them sped forward together, carried by the dragon formed from the spear force.

Ji Huo felt the effect of the spear technique especially clearly. There was almost no resistance at all; his body was simply carried ahead by the dragon-like force. Rather than an attack, this was more like a movement art.

A spear technique both wondrous beyond belief and terrifying in destructive power.

It seemed she must have obtained a martial art that complemented the Demon Dragon Spear. Even without the spear itself, she could still unleash this kind of spear force—though it was not as powerful as the dragon-shaped spear aura he had seen that day... Ji Huo observed silently in his heart.

The dragon-shaped energy bared its teeth and claws as it charged toward the sword maniac on the ground. At that very moment, the fallen man suddenly sprang up from the ground like a nimble ox kicking over, madness blazing in his eyes.

“Sword! I want a sword!”

His right hand formed a sword-finger, and he thrust it out!

At first, the sword-finger was only a tiny red glimmer, much like the sword energy he had unleashed before. But once it left his hand, that red glow expanded in an instant, shattering the outer layer of the dragon-shaped spear energy in the blink of an eye!

The red light from the sword-finger and the spear’s sharp aura hung in the air, half a meter apart, locked in a stalemate!

The ground at the point of impact was instantly blasted with flying sand and stones, and wild gusts of wind snapped the surrounding trees one after another!

Crack!

Crack!

Xia Ning Shang’s expression turned grave. Her left hand remained clamped on Ji Huo’s arm, while her right hand strained to maintain the thrust of the spear, keeping the spear force from dispersing. Yet her arm was already trembling, and fine beads of sweat had appeared on her face.

Meanwhile, the spear light in the confrontation was being chipped away inch by inch by the red sword energy, sounding like shattering glass.

Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Ji Huo suddenly reached out with his left hand and grabbed the spear shaft.

At once, flecks of lightning appeared in the dark spear glow, and faint beastly roars echoed within it, barely halting the collapse.

The two sides were locked in a tenuous deadlock.

“I want a sword! The world’s greatest sword! It is mine... it can only be mine!”

The sword maniac kept muttering under his breath. His eyes were bloodshot, and the red light in his hand grew even brighter!

Crack!

A crisp sound came from between them. The exquisite spear shaft, unable to withstand such force, actually developed a few fissures!

In almost the same instant, the red light swallowed the two of them.

With a thunderous blast, Ji Huo and Xia Ning Shang were sent flying dozens of meters before landing at last.

Ji Huo held the flashing Human Emperor Sword in his hand. Just now, at the critical moment, he had used the scabbard to block the sword maniac’s attack. The cloth wrapped around the Human Emperor Sword had long since been shattered, yet the sword itself remained completely unharmed.

“How did this bastard suddenly get so fierce?” Xia Ning Shang tossed aside the broken spear in her hand and ran to pick up another long spear lying nearby.

Ji Huo guessed, “He’s only at half a step from grandmaster. Normally his strength is only at the peak of first rank, but as his obsession with the sword deepens, his power rises accordingly to the half-step grandmaster realm. He can already achieve a small degree of unity between man and heaven, reaching the state of being reinforced by the world.”

“Then how are we supposed to fight him? We joined forces just now and still couldn’t beat him,” Xia Ning Shang said, a trace of solemnity flashing in her eyes.

“Don’t worry. I can’t pull this Human Emperor Sword out, but it still works as a shield.” Ji Huo twirled the scabbard twice in his hand.

At that moment, another streak of red light flew toward them. Ji Huo simply slapped it away with the scabbard, and sure enough, the red light shattered at once.

Ji Huo’s eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, “This thing works better than a brick.”

Xia Ning Shang: “...”

Since the Human Emperor Sword appeared, the sword maniac’s eyes were instantly completely flooded with blood red. He became wildly deranged, charging straight at them.

“Give me the sword!”

“Come and get it! Nyah nyah nyah!” Ji Huo held up the Human Emperor Sword and said smugly, “You’ve been going ‘sword, sword, sword’ ever since just now—afraid nobody knows how cheap you are or something.”

Suddenly, the Human Emperor Sword flew out of Ji Huo’s hand and vanished into the distance as a streak of golden light.

Ji Huo: “...”

Xia Ning Shang: “...”

Sword maniac: “...”

Ji Huo reached out into the void and groped as though the sword were still in his hand. His smile froze as he blinked at the sword maniac.

The bloodshot in the sword maniac’s eyes rapidly receded, a trace of clarity appearing in them. His tone turned unfriendly.

“Boy, who did you just call cheap?”

Wait, you can talk? Ji Huo said awkwardly, “Did I just say anything? No, I didn’t.”

Xia Ning Shang silently looked up at the sky, pretending not to know him at all, though she still unconsciously moved a little closer to Ji Huo. If the sword maniac got red-faced and tried to beat him, she could still lend a hand.

“Die, you little brat!”

The sword maniac struck with a sword-finger, and Xia Ning Shang instantly rushed over, sweeping her long spear to knock the sword energy aside.

His sword energy wasn’t as fierce as before—had he regained his wits? Xia Ning Shang wondered.

Ji Huo’s eyes lit up. His figure shot out, dragging a trail of afterimages, and he appeared before the sword maniac in an instant, throwing a punch.

The sword maniac showed no fear at all, firing out a stream of sword energy. Yet Ji Huo suddenly shifted the force of his fist, avoiding the sword energy and landing the punch squarely on the sword maniac’s body.

The sword energy struck Ji Huo’s chest in the blink of an eye, blood streaming down.

The sword maniac, on the other hand, spat out a mouthful of blood with a “puh,” terror flashing in his eyes: What kind of freakish strength is this little monster? Was he raised on rice?

He was certain that if he took another punch from Ji Huo, he would basically be unable to walk.

“Hahahahaha!”

Standing on the earth, Ji Huo relied on its support to recover from his injuries at terrifying speed. He was simply bullying the other man with a style of trading wounds for wounds.

Ignoring his injuries, he seized the sword maniac by both shoulders. The sword maniac only felt as though he had been pinned down by a monster, unable to move an inch.

He wildly unleashed sword energy at Ji Huo’s chest, but these attacks could only punch half-inch-deep bloody holes into Ji Huo’s body. The pain, however, only further roused Ji Huo’s ferocity!

Savage light flared in Ji Huo’s eyes. Grabbing the sword maniac’s body, he swung and smashed him toward a mountain wall not far away!

In that instant, his gaze swept toward Xia Ning Shang. Xia Ning Shang immediately understood. The shaft of her spear turned in the air, tracing a mysterious trajectory before flying from her hands and transforming into a black dragon that lunged straight at the sword maniac’s chest, which was now pinned and unable to move!

“Aaaaaahhhhh!”

The sword maniac only felt death rushing toward him head-on. The threat radiating from that spear made his martial instinct scream madly at him: if he was struck by that spear, he was dead for sure.

He struggled frantically, but at that very moment he had already been smashed by Ji Huo into the mountain wall. The powerful impact left his body stiff for an instant.

“Roar!”

The black dragon shot forth in a flash!

Whoosh—

From the edge of the sky, a streak of golden light suddenly flashed and flew over at high speed.

The panic and fear in the sword maniac’s eyes vanished instantly, replaced in a blink by frenzied bloodshot madness. His entire body turned into a red beam of light and disappeared.

Boom!

The black dragon struck down, and the mountain wall instantly shuddered under the overwhelming force. Massive slabs of stone were pulverized into dust.

“Sword!”

“My sword!”

“I smell the scent of a sword!”

“Give it to me!”

“Give it to me!!!”

Not far away, the red light changed back into the form of the sword maniac. He stood atop a rock, eyes bloodshot, mouth agape, drool spilling from his lips.

He spread his arms wide and darted about wildly, his body writhing like hand-pulled noodles, while crimson sword energy shot everywhere from his hands, endlessly popping and whistling through the air.