Chapter Fifty: Blood Sacrifice

An arrogant man always has the means to justify his arrogance, and Hao Po possesses exactly such means.

Hao Tian looked at Xiao Shan, who was struggling to cope, and said with complete seriousness.

Means.

Indeed, becoming a martial artist was easy enough.

Out of ten people, five might awaken internal power, but very few could open the central and governing meridians and step into the innate realm. In this world, many were shut forever outside that threshold, unable to cross it for a lifetime until old age brought their end.

Only a handful could break through the divide between mortal and transcendent and enter the innate realm, while Hao Po stood ahead of countless others. This world belonged to the strong, to those who mastered martial arts.

That was capital.

Hao Tian and Hao Yun exchanged a glance and nodded. They too were martial artists, and in their hearts they longed to stand atop the multitude and become the heroes in the eyes of men.

Just as a poor man, unable even to secure three meals a day, has only money in his heart.

And their goal was that distant one who would save the world.

This was not only their wish, but also the deepest yearning in every heart.

A streak of sword light slowly grew larger in Xiao Shan's pupils. His expression grew grave. Gripping his sword with both hands, he leveled the pointed blade toward that radiance.

Darkness began to creep from his arm onto the sword's edge. The ground trembled at once, and the surrounding meteors unexpectedly rose into the air.

In an instant, they gathered around Xiao Shan, floating all about him. Dark patches spread across the sword in increasing number. With a sudden movement, he drove the tip into the meteor on his left.

At once, a colossal phantom extended from within the meteor. To the naked eye, it seemed to swell slightly as its arm swung, sending the meteor hurtling straight toward that immense blade of light.

Yet beneath the brilliance of the sword light, the meteor seemed so small. The two met like an egg striking a stone, utterly unequal in weight.

The black meteor collided with the sword light, but no sparks flew. It was as if the meteor had been swallowed whole by the blade of light in the blink of an eye.

A sharp crack rang out in the silence.

The meteor dropped to the ground.

Compared with before, it now bore more red upon its surface, like streaks of blood, resembling veins of fresh gore.

As for the sword light, it seemed to have dimmed considerably. On the other side, Xiao Shan did not hesitate in the slightest; the blade struck the meteor again.

The meteor suddenly released a vast phantom, then in the next instant merged back into the stone and vanished.

Xiao Shan's arm moved at great speed, and one meteor after another flew out in response. If one looked closely, it was as though they were lining up to be "devoured" by the sword light.

In the blink of an eye, the sword light shrank at a visible pace, until the black patches on Xiao Shan's sword disappeared one by one and the meteors fell away in succession.

The sword light had reached him. Xiao Shan panted harshly, gripping his sword with both hands and holding it before him, hoping to withstand the blow.

The sword light struck the blade instantly. Blood energy burst forth. Xiao Shan shut his eyes, the teeth at the corner of his mouth already bared.

His entire body was driven back by the sword light. His mouth opened and bright red blood sprayed out, staining the ground.

His face went deathly pale in an instant. He dropped to one knee, the sword tip stabbed into the earth, and gasped for breath.

Hao Po on the opposite side was instantly astonished; clearly, he had not expected this outcome. Slowly, he raised the sword in his hand, and the blade that had already dimmed began to shine again.

His expression turned solemn, and once more a cloud of blood mist circled the sword.

Blood had begun to seep from his hand, drop by drop falling to the ground.

"He is using blood sacrifice!"

"His sword is no ordinary sword!"

As soon as the words fell, the bloodstains upon the meteors were slowly drawn out, and the blood energy gradually flowed back into the sword.

Seeing the scene before him, Xiao Shan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slowly rose.

The blood energy once again fused into the sword, which resumed emitting a red glow.

"That sword of his is sealed, otherwise he would never be able to control it," Hao Yun said with a sigh.

"Only after the seal is placed can he bring out part of its power."

After hearing this, Hao Tian's eyes sharpened. Xiao Shan had actually forced Hao Po to this extent.

The situation changed in an instant. Xiao Shan lifted the sword in his hand, and the darkness in his pupils deepened. He began to attack.

It was as though the injuries he had just suffered had never existed. His steps grew even more agile, and he shot forward like a fierce tiger.

The last wisp of blood mist merged into the sword. Hao Po's wounds had already clotted and no longer bled. With his left hand, he drew the sword, and the secondary blade was now in his grasp.

The paired blades lifted together, and Hao Po's aura changed at once. He became suffused with killing intent, so formidable that it inspired caution in all who saw him.

Strangely enough, the right half of his body was blood-red, while the left half retained its normal color.

Then he lightly raised his ankle and shot forward like a leopard, already fully prepared.