Martial Saint with Passives

In the nick of time, Jiang Che didn’t retreat—he charged forward!

He funneled every last bit of his Qi Force into the Kunji Saber!

The blade instantly let out a low hum, as if groaning under the immense strain.

All his Talents were pushed to their absolute peak. In that instant, it was as if all the killing intent in the world had condensed upon the edge of his blade!

"Sever!"

The explosive shout was like a sudden clap of thunder!

The Kunji Saber transformed into a black bolt of lightning, Tearing through the night sky. It carried a tragic, unyielding aura of mutual destruction. Ignoring the palms striking for his head, it thrust toward the gray-robed man’s throat with unparalleled speed!

A life for a life!

A flicker of horror finally crossed the gray-robed man’s eyes! He never imagined his opponent would be so reckless! The power and speed concentrated in that black saber made him feel the threat of death! He instinctively pulled back the palms striking for Jiang Che’s head to block, desperately leaning his body backward at the same time!

PSSHT!

The saber’s light flashed past!

A thin red line appeared on the gray-robed man’s throat.

He touched his neck, his face a mask of disbelief and horror.

He had blocked the vast majority of his opponent’s Strength and avoided a fatal blow, but the incredibly sharp tip of the Kunji Saber had still managed to slice open the skin on his throat in the last instant of his evasion!

Just a bit more, and his windpipe would have been slit, leaving him grievously wounded and dead!

After a wave of lingering fear, he was instantly consumed by rage.

’To think I was actually wounded by a mere junior from the Force Integration realm!’

"You’re courting death!!" the gray-robed man roared, his eyes shot with blood. The gray-black Qi Force around him began to churn violently, like boiling lava.

An even colder, more tyrannical aura erupted from him! An unnatural, dark-red hue flushed his face, and the veins beneath his skin bulged, squirming like earthworms.

"Blood Burning! Bone Decay! Demon’s Advent!"

Amidst the hoarse roar, the gray-robed man’s aura erupted like a volcano, instantly shattering the shackles of the Late-stage Bone Forging Realm and reaching the terrifying state of Great Success in the Bone Forging Realm! The price, however, was his temples turning gray before his eyes, his very lifespan burning away at a maddening pace!

BOOM!

He took a single step, and the stone slabs beneath his feet exploded! The palm, wreathed in dense, gray-black Qi Force and carrying an aura of utter annihilation, seemed to ignore the Space between them and instantly struck the chest of Jiang Che, who had just managed to steady himself!

CRACK!

The sickening crack of breaking bone was horrifyingly clear!

"PFFT—!" As if struck by a sledgehammer, Jiang Che violently spewed a mouthful of blood mixed with chunks of his internal organs. He was sent flying backward like a broken sack, smashing heavily into the cracked wall behind him and causing the already crumbling structure to collapse entirely! Dust billowed everywhere.

Jiang Che lay in the Broken Stone and rubble, his chest deeply caved in. He didn’t know how many ribs were broken, and it felt as though his organs had all been shifted out of place. Excruciating pain wracked his body.

He struggled to prop himself up, but the movement only aggravated his injuries, causing another surge of blood to escape his lips.

Feeling the heavy injuries and the Qi Force within him that had been all but shattered, a bitter look crossed his face.

"Cough, cough... I guess it wasn’t enough..." Jiang Che’s voice was faint, tinged with self-deprecation.

’The chasm between Realms... is truly impossible to cross, after all.’

The gray-robed man approached step by step, treading over the scattered Broken Stone like Yama himself, come to claim a soul.

He looked down upon the struggling Jiang Che in the ruins, his eyes radiating chilling killing intent, yet also betraying a hint of fatigue from his exertion and a sliver of unconcealable astonishment.

"You’re quite impressive, for someone merely at the Late-stage of Force Integration to have forced me to burn my own lifespan." The gray-robed man’s voice was bone-chillingly cold. "But unfortunately, you provoked the Demon Sect. Daring to kill a member of my Holy Alliance and ruin our affairs means your death today is guaranteed!"

He raised his palm, gathering a terrifying gray-black Qi Force, and aimed it at Jiang Che’s head.

This single strike would be enough to turn Jiang Che’s head into pulp.

However, just as he was about to deliver the final blow, the gray-robed man saw the corners of the supposedly dying young man’s mouth curve into a slight smile.

’He’s smiling?!’

The gray-robed man froze, alarm bells screaming in his mind. "You’re about to die! What are you smiling at?!"

But in the next instant, the savage sneer on his face froze, replaced by boundless horror!

BOOM—

An aura far more violent and savage than before, like an ancient Fierce Beast waking from a long slumber, suddenly erupted from Jiang Che’s seemingly broken body!

"ROAR—"

Accompanied by a low, inhuman roar, Jiang Che’s body began to expand at a terrifying rate before the gray-robed man’s disbelieving eyes!

CRACKLE! SNAP!

Bones popped and muscles bulged! His shredded clothes were instantly torn asunder, revealing the jet-black Scale Armor that was rapidly spreading to cover his form!

The Scale Armor was thick and grim, shimmering with a metallic, eerie glint in the dim moonlight and exuding a terrifyingly primal aura!

In the blink of an eye, a giant over three meters tall, completely covered in menacing Black Armor like a Demon God incarnate, burst through the dust of the ruins and stood towering before the gray-robed man!