C19 Phantom Waltz!

Xing Yun was vastly outnumbered, with no opportunity to tame new Hellbeasts for the battle. Confronted by tens of thousands of Hellbeasts, his only option was to break through their ranks.

Ling Ji failed to grasp that even without Lee Xiao'er's assistance, Xing Yun would have unleashed his Hellbeast forces to wreak havoc. The casualties, though, might have been halved.

Disturbing the Beast Tide's direction was crucial. If successful, Grimgarth could avert this extraordinary threat. Meanwhile, Xing Yun could exploit the turmoil to engage in battles across the region and subjugate numerous Hellbeasts.

Lee Xiao'er's arcane ritual was nearing completion, her fingertip glowing with an ominous black light.

She stole a glance at Xing Yun, noticing his grave demeanor—a stark contrast to his earlier playful taunts.

Carrying Lee Xiao'er, Xing Yun kept pace with his pack of Stormblade Wolves, his senses fanned out to monitor their surroundings.

"I hope Mother arrives soon... If I can save his life, we'll be square," Lee Xiao'er mused silently.

A black beam erupted from Lee Xiao'er's fingertip, streaking northeast. The eerie glow startled the Scarlet Flame Eagles above, sending them swooping towards Xing Yun.

"No escape from the skies, no entrance on the ground! Well, if Mother saves him, I'll consider my debt for his breakthrough assistance repaid," Lee Xiao'er thought, feeling disheartened as she pondered sacrificing herself to enable Xing Yun's escape.

"What's on your mind?" Xing Yun's sudden inquiry jolted Lee Xiao'er.

She responded, her voice tinged with anxiety, "Nothing... The ritual is complete. You can put me down now!"

Without hesitation, Xing Yun set Lee Xiao'er atop a Stormblade Wolf. Her heartbeat quickened, emotions swirling, she avoided Xing Yun's gaze.

Preoccupied, Xing Yun simply cautioned her, "Don't rush into action. Stay with the troops; I have a strategy in mind."

"Oh..." Lee Xiao'er responded, materializing two more daggers in her hands.

Xing Yun unsheathed his long sword and said sternly, "Stop using the Phantom Waltz from now on, understood?"

"I can't promise that! Plus, it's my trump card. Why shouldn't I use it?" Lee Xiao'er protested, feeling aggrieved.

"I've told you, it's a flawed version of the Phantom Waltz. It's not just lacking in power, but it can also corrupt your will!" Xing Yun insisted with gravity.

"I don't buy it! It's the revered secret technique of our sect, our most formidable move!" Lee Xiao'er shook her head, clearly upset.

Could it be that this sacred technique of her sect was being dismissed by a mere teenager?

"Just watch me!"

Xing Yun shot Lee Xiao'er a frustrated look, disregarding her feelings, and charged ahead.

Hellbeasts from the sky and the rear were closing in, with Stormblade Wolves blocking the path ahead. Xing Yun's forces were surrounded on all sides. If they failed to break through, they were doomed!

The eastern Stormblade Wolves howled with excitement upon seeing Xing Yun approach. They unleashed a barrage of wind blades, attempting to overwhelm him with their assault.

Xing Yun executed the Phantom Step to evade the attack and reached the Greedy Wolf. With one swift strike of his sword, he bisected a Stormblade Wolf.

Observing Xing Yun's fluid swordsmanship and footwork amidst the wolves, Lee Xiao'er's brow furrowed. "His skills are so refined; he's clearly a prodigy. Why would his family cast him out here?"

She was increasingly intrigued by this young man. According to what she had learned in the Order of the Celestial Veil, only the outcasts of a family were sent to the Shadowlands for training.

In the Upper Realm, the elite scions of powerful families trained in formidable Planes, protected and accelerated in their growth by their family's guardians.

In both character and strength, Xing Yun had completely overturned her preconceptions of him as taught by the Order of the Celestial Veil.

"Why did he attack the saintess?" Lee Xiao'er grew even more curious, yet she managed to suppress the impulse to ask.

Despite the ferocity of Xing Yun's troops' assault, the pack of Stormblade Wolves succeeded in slowing their escape.

Among the wolves, there were three Stormblade Wolf Kings. Xing Yun's Greedy Wolf faced off against one, while Xing Yun himself confronted another.

"Sword from the West!"

As they clashed, Xing Yun soared into the air, gracefully passing by the Stormblade Wolf King, which had also leapt up, spewing wind blades.

In an instant, the Stormblade Wolf King, renowned for its speed, was severed head from body, with a shower of blood raining down from above!

And Xing Yun? He emerged completely unscathed!

"What kind of move is that?" Lee Xiao'er was filled with a mix of awe and fear.

Had Xing Yun used that move on her, even at the peak of the Awakened Soul Realm, she would have been beheaded due to a moment's inattention!

It was all about sheer speed and precision—no elaborate flourishes. With these alone, Xing Yun was able to slay a second-tier Hellbeast, as powerful as one in the Awakened Soul Realm!

"Pay close attention!"

In that instant, Xing Yun issued a cold command and plunged into the midst of the Stormblade Wolves. He was shrouded in a swirling black mist of Astral Power, which enveloped him completely.

The wolves launched their wind blades at Xing Yun, only to find them absorbed by the black mist, vanishing into nothingness.

Lee Xiao'er gasped in utter astonishment!

The black mist, keeping pace with Xing Yun's rapid movements, swept through the wolves, leaving decapitated bodies in its wake.

Upon reaching the heart of the pack, hundreds of Xing Yun's black silhouettes burst forth from the mist, each wielding a sharp sword and striking out like arrows in every direction.

Each silhouette targeted a Stormblade Wolf, beheading it with a single strike!

"Impossible! That's a secret technique of our order..." Lee Xiao'er murmured in disbelief.

Xing Yun was executing the Phantom Waltz!

His version, however, was executed with greater precision and power than Lee Xiao'er's. With his singular might, he had instantly slain four to five hundred Stormblade Wolves, including two second-tier Stormblade Wolf Kings!

The chasm between the Awakened Soul and the Profound Soul Realm was vast, encompassing not only physical strength but also the cultivation of spiritual energy, which in turn influenced the potency of martial techniques.

The ultimate power of a martial technique is determined by its inherent strength, the user's level of cultivation, and their proficiency with the technique. The more powerful the warrior, the more formidable the technique becomes when wielded by them.

An incomplete Phantom Waltz?

Watching Xing Yun continue to battle amidst the wolf pack without showing any signs of fatigue, Lee Xiao'er's thoughts turned to his earlier words, and her expression darkened. His actions had revealed a harsh truth: the move she had diligently practiced for years, which she believed she had mastered, was in fact incomplete.

"If my mother finds out about this, his life would be in jeopardy..." Lee Xiao'er resolved to keep this secret from her mother.

"Now do you understand what the Phantom Waltz is?"

Xing Yun's challenging call echoed from a distance, drawing Lee Xiao'er's gaze. She saw that Xing Yun had carved a massive breach through the wolf pack, which the troops swiftly exploited to break through.

The Greedy Wolves on either side were still paralyzed with fear, unable to regroup.

This human had effortlessly slain hundreds of their kin, and now none of the Stormblade Wolves dared to engage him in combat.

"Retreat!"

At Xing Yun's command, the wolf pack finally broke free from the encirclement and began to move northward.

"Huh?"

Lee Xiao'er, completely baffled, pulled out a map and struggled to determine their direction. She couldn't help but ask, "Which way are you going?"

"And you claim you're not directionally challenged? I'm heading north," Xing Yun chuckled heartily.

Lee Xiao'er's face flushed with a mix of embarrassment and irritation. "You're the one who's directionally challenged! Isn't Grimgarth to the east? Have you lost your mind?"

Xing Yun was charging toward the north, directly into the path of the oncoming beast tide!

"If I head east, wouldn't that just lead the beast tide straight to Grimgarth?" Xing Yun retorted, leaving Lee Xiao'er at a loss for words.

He was willing to risk his own safety to divert the hellbeasts, altering their pursuit to protect Grimgarth from invasion.

The mightier the warrior, the more prodigious the talent, the more they tend to value their own lives. To them, others are mere ants, easily discarded without a second thought.

Xing Yun's behavior prompted Lee Xiao'er to reflect on the warnings her mother and the others from the Order of the Celestial Veil had drilled into her:

"This man is a wastrel who holds no one in esteem. His hubris knows no bounds, and he will surely meet his end at the hands of his enemies."

Xing Yun paid no mind to Lee Xiao'er's musings as he directed the remaining Stormblade Wolves to sprint northward.

The Hellbeasts were hot on their trail!

Thousands of Scarlet Fire Eagles had amassed in the sky, poised to swoop down at any moment and deliver a lethal strike to Xing Yun's forces!

Lee Xiao'er's Stormblade Wolf trailed behind Xing Yun. She spoke up, "I don't care how you came by the Phantom Waltz, but please refrain from using it in front of others."

"So you're saying you're not an outsider?" Xing Yun replied with a chuckle.

With a blush creeping across her cheeks, Lee Xiao'er pouted, her voice lacking its usual confidence, "As the legitimate successor to the Phantom Waltz, I certainly have the right to witness it."

"That technique must have been pilfered by your sect," Xing Yun declared, astonishingly.

"How dare you defame my sect!" Lee Xiao'er responded, her anger flaring.

"Do you still not grasp the disparity between us?" Xing Yun asked earnestly.

Lee Xiao'er was taken aback. Clearly, Xing Yun's rendition of the Phantom Waltz was indeed the complete version, and she was no fool; she could see that.

Could it be that the technique her sect took such pride in was actually purloined?

"I can teach you the Phantom Waltz," Xing Yun offered abruptly.

"Really?" Lee Xiao'er responded instinctively, but then quickly shook her head, "It can't be that straightforward."

"You must pledge yourself to my command and become my disciple," he stipulated.

Upon hearing this, Lee Xiao'er shook her head, "Strictly speaking, my mentors are my mother and the Sect Master. In life, I am a person of the Order of the Celestial Veil; in death, its spirit. I apologize, but the Phantom Waltz is certainly not a stolen technique from our sect. I stake my life on that assurance!"

Xing Yun shook his head in resignation. Though the girl was naive, her long-term indoctrination with the doctrines of the Order of the Celestial Veil was not something that could be easily undone.

The Phantom Waltz was, in fact, a technique born out of necessity by Xing Yun during a brutal campaign of slaughter. At that time, Xing Yun's forces were ambushed by the demon army in the devildom. Outnumbered and facing severe casualties, Xing Yun's troops were decimated, and in a fit of rage, he daringly absorbed an immense amount of demonic energy from the devildom. This act of desperation led to the creation of the Phantom Waltz, with which he vanquished tens of thousands of foes, sending shockwaves throughout the devildom.

The technique was subsequently passed down to his second disciple, Xiao Ying, and preserved within his family lineage. However, Xing Yun soon sensed that something was amiss: could there be descendants of Xiao Ying within Lee Xiao'er's sect?

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