Neither the Di Alliance nor the Overlord Legion had expected Xiang Shaoyun to kill the moment he attacked. His act of killing had greatly shocked them all. He was behaving as an overlord should, displaying terrifying overbearingness.

The crisp "crack" the Di Alliance people had heard caused their heartbeat to accelerate and their hairs to stand on end. Because of that, their momentum was suppressed in their battle with the Overlord Legion.

When two armies fought, the brave would be victorious. The people from the Di Alliance were no longer valorous, while those from the Overlord Legion had their courage boosted by Xiang Shaoyun's overbearingness. Hence, the Di Alliance people approached defeat as well.

Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun was engaged in fighting Xia Qiuhua. Originally, Xia Qiuhua had wanted to have a fair fight with Xiang Shaoyun to see who was stronger. But Di Tong had insisted on joining the fight, turning it into a two-versus-one.

At that, Xia Qiuhua wanted to pull out, but when he recalled Di Shang's death, he had no excuse to withdraw. If they couldn't take revenge, the reputation of the Di Alliance would plummet. Their members would leave, and it would be hard for them to rebuild themselves.

Xia Qiuhua had thought that by working with Di Tong, they would be able to take down Xiang Shaoyun easily. After all, Xiang Shaoyun was only a second-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator. Even if he could punch above his class, it wouldn't amount to much.

But the longer he fought Xiang Shaoyun, the higher he evaluated Xiang Shaoyun's strength. Without the heavy armor burdening him, Xiang Shaoyun's speed and offensive had become much scarier.

His claws flew everywhere, leaving claw marks around him, displaying a dreadful destructive might. Yun Flame's power made his claws even scarier, as the moment one was struck, it would be very hard to remove the flame.

Although Xia Qiuhua's simplified attacks were powerful, he was still forced into repeated retreat by Xiang Shaoyun, his attacks ripped apart again and again. As for Di Tong, he was doing even worse. Although he was fighting with all his might, Xiang Shaoyun only needed to make use of his speed as he dodged and left numerous wounds on Di Tong.

If it wasn't for the academy rules, he would have killed Di Tong as well. Of course, even if he couldn't kill, he would still vent some of his anger and beat Di Tong up real nicely. At the very least, he needed to plant a shadow in Di Tong's heart and create a mental block that would make his future advancements difficult.

With one claw, blood sprayed out of Di Tong's arm. With another claw, flesh was ripped off his thigh. With the next claw, cracks appeared on his armor. Each claw was powerful and domineering, and its flame energy invaded and damaged Di Tong's meridians.

"Ahhhh!"

Di Tong wailed like a pig being slaughtered. His entire person was dyed red with blood, looking incredibly miserable. As for Xia Qiuhua, he was forced to watch as Di Tong was tortured, his attacks failing to even touch the corner of Xiang Shaoyun's clothes. Hatred filled his heart.

"Xiang Shaoyun, take my attack!" Xia Qiuhua was completely infuriated.

With a roar, he threw his sword out.

Sword steering!

The sword steering stage was the second stage of sword intent. Had Xia Qiuhua comprehended it? That was not the case. It was merely a special ability unique to the battle technique he cultivated. It only worked within a short range, and it even had a time limit to boot. It was much weaker than the true sword steering stage.

Even so, it was still an astonishing attack. After separating from his hand, the sword increased in might as it trailed through the air like a flaming rainbow, aiming straight for Xiang Shaoyun with an astonishing might.

By the time Xiang Shaoyun sensed the sword, it had already arrived in front of his face at an unbelievable speed. He quickly reacted by leaning backward, barely avoiding the stab. However, the sword actually turned around and stabbed toward his back.

It was an uncanny attack that did indeed resemble the sword steering stage. Xiang Shaoyun was still able to react speedily, but he failed to cleanly avoid the sword as it brushed past his waist and opened a bloody gash.

It was evident Xia Qiuhua's strength was not to be underestimated. The sword turned around yet again, but this time, Xiang Shaoyun did something different and kicked out his leg, leaving an afterimage in the air.

Hurricane Kick!

The afterimage turned into a hurricane that dragged the sword in, causing it to lose control before sending it flying. The sword stabbed into a distant bounder. But by then, Xia Qiuhua had already approached Xiang Shaoyun. Using his fingers as a sword, he sliced at Xiang Shaoyun's throat.

Swordfinger Killing Technique!

He lived up to the name of a sword expert. Even when using his fingers as a sword, he could still release an exceedingly sharp sword energy. Furthermore, he attacked with ingenuous timing, attacking while Xiang Shaoyun was dealing with his sword.

Just as Xiang Shaoyun was about to be killed, the six Goldplates appeared, blocking the finger sword.

"Helper of a villain, scram!" Xiang Shaoyun roared and clawed at his opponent with both hands.

A pair of flaming palms clawed Xia Qiuhua, who couldn't retreat in time. Blood sprayed as wounds deep enough to show his bones opened on his arms, the pain so intense he could hardly make another attack.

Just as Xiang Shaoyun was about to press on and cripple Xia Qiuhua, a sword energy shot toward him from not far away. The sword attack was even stronger than Xia Qiuhua's. Taking the form of a flaming cloud, it was extremely destructive.

Xiang Shaoyun immediately sensed the threat behind the attack and was forced to let go of Xia Qiuhua and step away.

When he looked over at the new attacker, his eyes gleamed with even thicker killing intent. "Xia Yunxi!"

The newcomer was none other than Xia Yunxi, the woman Xiang Shaoyun had once loved most. Face delicate and hair drifting about in the air, she floated down as her light muslin veil rippled lightly in the wind. She was akin to a fairy, her person graceful and her temperament elegant, causing the world around her to dim before her beauty.

Over the past two years, her strength had grown rapidly. She was now a fourth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator. Her temperament had also grown, and her former self was incomparable to the current her.

Of course, it was not surprising for her to reach such heights. She had a mid-grade eight-star physique. Even in the entirety of the academy, her physique was considered excellent. The only reason she wasn't as well known was Di Lin. She had voluntarily sacrificed fame to become a silent woman behind Di Lin.

"Xiang Shaoyun, stop," said Xia Yunxi.

She looked at Xiang Shaoyun with a complicated gaze. Once, she saw this young man as a useless wastrel, which was why she had abandoned him and picked Di Lin. When Xiang Shaoyun's physique was revealed, she was greatly shocked and even felt slight remorse.

But it was too late for her to change her mind. Thus, she had no choice but to hide her remorse. She tried her best to assist Di Lin, hoping to keep Xiang Shaoyun suppressed. But now, it seemed Xiang Shaoyun simply refused to die. Di Lin had plotted repeatedly to have him killed, but all the attempts had failed, and Xiang Shaoyun had grown to the point he could pose as a threat.