Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Phoenix Steps Toy with Bloodrock

Xu Hao’s hands flashed through seals. Pale yellow qi surged into a barrier in front of him.

The spear struck the barrier.

Azure flames burst outward from the spear tip—dazzling, bright, and sharp.

Xu Hao scoffed. It was only qi-formed fire. The temperature wasn’t high. The attack wasn’t strong.

He forgot one thing.

Fire didn’t need to be strong to spread.

The azure flames crawled along the barrier and licked onto Liu Bo’s body. Liu Bo, already unable to circulate qi without worsening his injury, was helpless.

He screamed until his throat tore raw, rolling on the ground like a living torch.

The Li brothers stared, stunned.

Xu Hao’s hatred twisted into something feral. “What are you two standing there for?!” he barked. “Go help him! Put out the fire and break that slut’s trick!”

The Li brothers exchanged a look and moved to help, forced by rank and fear.

Xu Hao dispelled the barrier and yanked his spear back into his grip. His stare at Lin Zhao was the stare of a man looking at a corpse.

“Little slut,” he snarled, “there’s a road to heaven and you won’t take it, but you barged into hell with no gate. Fine. Today I’ll capture you and add another achievement to my record!”

By now, the tournament wasn’t about rankings.

It was a life-or-death game.

Lin Zhao tightened her grip on the Bone Sword, eyes like frost. “Then we’ll see whether you capture me for your ‘record’… or whether I use you as my first stepping stone.”

This battle would shake Heavenlink Mirror no matter the outcome.

If Xu Hao won, Jia Lan’s trio would rule the tournament completely. Qu Shu, Ming Yue, her cousin—everyone on Lin Zhao’s side would become lambs waiting for slaughter.

If Lin Zhao won, she would prove she had the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with the so-called Five Newcomer Kings. Then gathering the remaining newcomers into an alliance would no longer be a dream.

Xu Hao knew it even better than she did.

Whoever lost was going to die.

Xu Hao slammed his spear butt into the ground and shouted. The earth beneath his feet cracked, fissures spidering outward. Gray-yellow light seeped up through the splits, wrapping sand and dust, condensing into a colossal giant.

At its center was a single blood-red eye.

In the giant’s hand formed an enormous spear of sand and stone, mirroring Xu Hao’s own.

Seeing it stabilize, Xu Hao laughed loudly. “Taste the power of my Bloodrock Giant!”

He formed seals and snapped his hand forward. “Bloodrock—tear her apart!”

The Bloodrock Giant charged. Each step shook the forest floor. With Xu Hao’s motion behind it, the giant lifted its massive spear, ready to crush Lin Zhao into paste.

Lin Zhao’s eyes narrowed.

This was no lower than a Seventh Grade skill.

Her earlier intel had said Xu Hao’s strongest technique was only a Sixth Grade Lava Earthsplit. So this—this had been his hidden trump.

He thought highly of her, using his ace at the start.

The azure Phoenix Wings behind Lin Zhao snapped once. In a few breaths, she shot to the front of the Bloodrock Giant’s head.

Her speed—and the wings burning with azure flames—made Xu Hao’s expression shift.

His information hadn’t included movement like this. And when had her wings turned azure? Weren’t they supposed to be blue?

“Looks like she switched to a better cultivation art,” Xu Hao ground out. When he sensed her qi’s quality faintly suppressing his, his certainty hardened into hatred.

He cultivated Sixth Grade Bloodrock Qi. For her qi to suppress his, Lin Zhao’s qi was either Seventh Grade—or the absolute peak of Sixth.

“I didn’t expect a fallen Noble House to still have this kind of foundation!” Xu Hao spat through clenched teeth. “But don’t think you can escape just because you grew some feathers! I’m Enlightenment ninth level—three whole levels above you!”

He drove the Bloodrock Giant’s spear down at her.

Lin Zhao raised the Bone Sword to block.

The Bloodrock Giant was massive, but it wasn’t slow. Its strength was brutal enough that even Lin Zhao’s body began to feel pressured as the exchanges piled up.

After a hundred clashes, Lin Zhao’s figure flickered with afterimages, dodging like a phantom—yet she still got battered back several steps by the giant’s spear wind.

Xu Hao watched and laughed, breathless with glee. “Some Phoenix Maiden of destiny. You’re nothing but trash that has to beg men for mercy! Fine. Today I’ll dispose of you, you fraud!”

Lin Zhao steadied herself midair. Her gaze locked onto Xu Hao’s wild grin, and her lips curved into something strangely calm.

“You think you’ve won?”

For the first time, Xu Hao felt a chill.

“Stop playing tricks!” he roared. “Die!”

Golden light burst from the center of Lin Zhao’s brows.

Under Xu Hao’s shocked stare, Lin Zhao put away the Bone Sword and charged barehanded into the Bloodrock Giant’s killing range.

“Courting death!” Xu Hao screamed, driving the giant to strike faster.

Lin Zhao’s feet flashed with azure light.

Her posture turned graceful—almost elegant—as she slipped past the spear by the smallest possible margin, avoiding it as if she were dancing.

Xu Hao didn’t believe it. He unleashed strike after strike, hundreds of spear shadows smashing down.

Lin Zhao moved as if strolling through a garden. Her footwork grew unhurried, her body sliding through fatal gaps with casual precision, like she was brushing past flowers and willows.

Xu Hao panted, fury turning his eyes red. “You slut!”

An azure streak dropped into Lin Zhao’s hand—the Bone Sword returning like it had been called.

Still using Heavenly Phoenix Steps, Lin Zhao formed seals and swung.

An exquisite lotus of ice-wreathed flame slammed into the Bloodrock Giant’s brow with sword qi.

Thousand Spirit Blossom.

The Bloodrock Giant froze.

Then—

Boom!

Xu Hao spat blood as the Bloodrock Giant shattered into mud and sand, collapsing across the ground.