PAINTING OF THE NINE IMMORTALS

53

"Tell me, how would you like to die?"
The voice of calmness and tranquility, the words of agony and death. The air suddenly tightened around them.
All gazes fell upon Ling Xian, gazes of admiration, adoration, and amazement.
Everyone knew Ling Xian was a student protégé. Breaking the code of Sang Lang and defeating the top Prefect Ling Chen were achievements enough to land him in the pages of the Ling Family's History. No one doubted him, but no one expected him to be this good.
Killing nine warriors of the enemy clan by himself in the blink of an eye.
There were seven cultivators of the fifth realm, two of the sixth realm, all nine of them working together with the same goal of killing one individual. This was unheard of inside the City of Qing. However, Ling Xian, with a few swings of his sword and a few flaps of his wings, had eliminated this horror with unimaginable ease.
Brave!
Mighty!
This was the feeling shared by everyone who witnessed the events that unfolded, including the arrogant genius himself.
"Dead, all dead... The best and brightest of the Fang Clan, all dead in the blink of an eye..." Fang Han eyed the scattered, mutilated corpses of his comrades, overcame by a grave sense of sadness and fear.
One on one, or even two on one, would be no obstacle to him. But slaughtering nine warriors of the highest caliber training without encountering any resistance was a feat that surpa.s.sed his abilities.
His confidence was completely shattered. The devilish speed and the bloodiest word had certainly injected fear into his soul. Though presently, he could feel nothing but anger, anger that would drive him to avenge his clan and murder the culprit who slaughtered them in the worst possible way.
How do I want to die?
Fang Han's face was as calm as the surface of an undisturbed lake. He was contending to become the next Clan Leader of the Fang Clan. He was a cultivator of the seventh realm. He had grown in the midst of endless praises, respected even by the Elders of the Clan. No one had ever dared to speak to him this way.
Fang Han could also tell that Ling Xian was speaking neither deliberately nor conceitedly. Instead, his tone was one of pure indifference, confident that he would follow through.
This made Fang Han feel utterly disrespected. The youth protégé of the Fang Clan, the strongest of all pupils, who would dare disrespect him in this way?
"You've decided your manner of death? Let's hear it. One shall always honor a man's dying wish," Ling Xian said peacefully, the Sword of Extinction flashed in against the dark backdrop. Ling Xian's glare exuded no contempt or disdain, but for those observing from the sidelines, his calm demeanor had added an unexpected boast of divinity.
Shame!
Great shame!
Never in his life had he ever been so publicly shamed and humiliated.
Fang Han finally lost his composure. A mess of emotion erupted in a volcanic display of fury, he shouted, "I want you dead!"
"But I'm not ready to die yet, so..." Ling Xian extended his wings and instantly appeared inches away from Fang Han. His sword left a bright trail across the air it had pierced. "I suggest that you die."
A touch ignited the murderous instinct of the bloodstained sword.
"Lightning speed!"
Fang Han's pupils contracted, his face numb. He had never personally experienced the speed of Ling Xian's attack. Now, having experienced it with his own eyes, he could not fathom how such skills and techniques could appear on a cultivator of the sixth realm.
However, reality cannot be disputed. At this moment, Fang Han finally understood that his fallen comrades stood no chance against this horrid creature.
It was safe to say that below the Foundational level, no cultivator in the world could surpa.s.s Ling Xian's speed.
Confronted with Ling Xian's lightning attack, Fang Han had no time to react with an evasive technique. His only option was to take the force head on. But he wasn't overly concerned. He had plenty of fight left in him, the strongest of his generation. He had nothing to fear.
Fang Han sealed his palms together and summoned a giant wave of smoke. From this thick smoke emerged an emerald colored shield. He positioned the shield in front of his body, separating himself temporarily from harm.
The Emerald Shield!
The mightiest weapon of the Fang Clan! The artifact was forged out of the purest Qi of Heaven and Earth, injected with the unworldly skills of its previous owners. It was amongst the top ten most treasured artifacts of the City of Qing.
"Kaaaaaaaa!"
However, before the crowd could fully appreciate the Shield's awe-inspiring form, the object exploded into a million specks of emerald dust, vanishing into thin air.
"How is this possible? What is this witchcraft?!" Fang Han screamed in astonishment. He was stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. The most sacred artifact of the Fang Clan, destroyed in a flash, reduced to dust by a b.l.o.o.d.y sword?! What is this sword?
Ling Xian shook his head impatiently, unwilling to waste his time explaining. The Emerald Shield was indeed an incredulous artifact and powerful weapon, but only within the City of Qing itself. Against the Sword of Extinction, a weapon of the Eyes of Execution, the Shield could only be perceived as a child's toy. To use it against the Sword would be an insult to the Sword.
Fang Han had no one to blame but himself. He lacked knowledge of the world. Having lived a sheltered existence within the walled of the Fang Clan, of the City of Qing, he had mistaken a small speck of stardust for the Milky Way.
What a waste to pull the poor Shield out against the mighty Sword of Extinction.