After cutting the Rock Lord in half with a single strike, Fang Yuan stepped into the castle hall. His gaze was sharp as he swept over the women who were so frightened they were frozen in place. His voice was deep yet clear, "Are you planning to stay here and wait for death?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the women, as if awakened from a trance, came to their senses and screamed, scattering in all directions.
They were just ordinary people, and Fang Yuan noticed that some of them still had the label above their heads: [People of the Summer Kingdom].
Were they captured by that Rock Lord...? It seems I overestimated him. I thought, as a grandmaster, he would have some dignity, but he's no different from a street thug.
However, when Fang Yuan changed "Yan" to "Xia," the information labels of these people also changed accordingly. It's quite considerate. Since they are my people, I'll save as many as I can.
Fang Yuan then moved his mind, and the white sword light he had just slashed with swept back through the air, once again forming the shape of a [Earth Sword] before merging into his body.
This was a strike made using the [Taibai Swallowing Soldier Body]. This body technique greatly enhanced the power of weapons and also allowed Fang Yuan to absorb them with his own body.
In other words, he didn't even need a storage bag; he could store the Earth Sword directly inside his body, hiding its sharp edge and catching the enemy off guard.
With the added ability of [Slash], this technique made it the ultimate move, practically impossible for the enemy to react in time.
Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had already perfected [Slash] to its peak. After all, it was a martial art created by a grandmaster, and its potential was ultimately limited.
To continue improving, Fang Yuan would have to develop it himself, but that wasn't too difficult for him—after all, he was a genius who could create black hole gravity techniques just by contemplating the void!
"Vroom, vroom, vroom..."
At this moment, the [Earth Sword] hidden inside his body emitted a buzzing sound, continuously sending a message to Fang Yuan: "Fake, fake!"
"No need to remind me. I know it's fake," Fang Yuan replied softly. Not far away, the Rock Lord, who had been cleaved into two, slowly began to melt, eventually turning into a pile of mud.
Fang Yuan wasn't surprised by this at all. He lightly tapped the ground with his toes, and in an instant, his body shot out of the castle like an arrow.
Hundreds of meters beneath the ground, the Rock Lord, now fused with the earth, became a yellowish light that moved swiftly like a fish swimming in water.
As a grandmaster, he had mastered a powerful death-substitution technique. When faced with a fatal blow, he could instantly switch to a mud clone to save his life.
This lifesaving technique had not been used for a long time, but when facing Fang Yuan, he had been forced to use it.
Fang Yuan was simply absurdly strong and incredibly unreasonable!
Yes, you said you'd kill me when we meet again, but I didn't even show myself, and you came looking for me first! How can you blame me for that?!
"The Summer Kingdom Emperor... The Summer Kingdom Emperor! Why is his power so terrifying?! And didn't the intel say he was busy with the Taishan Fengshan ritual?!"
The Rock Lord growled, "Why is he here?! Damn it, I've been played by him!"
The Rock Lord wasn't stupid. After a brief moment of thought, he quickly figured out the reason: the so-called Taishan Fengshan ritual was just a smokescreen. Fang Yuan's real target was their Ice Plains!
However, the Rock Lord had never encountered an emperor of a country secretly sneaking out to perform an assassination!
With the Summer Kingdom Emperor's strength, it seemed his trip was not just to kill him alone!
"No matter, I'll just distance myself from him for now," the Rock Lord thought. "My earth clone should be able to fool him for a few seconds. Even if it doesn't, I've already fused with the earth; he'll never find me!"
Feeling the solidity of the earth around him, the Rock Lord felt a bit more at ease.
Merging with the earth was the Rock Lord's signature technique. It allowed him to defend with the earth, attack with the earth, and move silently beneath the ground.
He was unstoppable in this state!
Suddenly, the Rock Lord felt a surge of impulse: "I'm at my strongest now. Maybe I don't need to run. If I can kill that Summer Emperor here, I'll achieve unparalleled glory!"
"All I need to do is stay a hundred meters underground, stay hidden, and keep attacking him with Stone Hands!"
"In this way, only I can attack him, but he won't be able to reach me. I can grind him down to death!"
As the Rock Lord considered this battle plan, he was hesitating whether to strike back when suddenly, a deafening hum echoed from the sky above!
He instinctively looked up, only to see a silver-white sword ray, like a surging wave, accompanied by fiery red flames, descending from the nine heavens!
The sword energy was like thunder striking the earth. Wherever it passed, the ground was split open, crushing all obstacles in its path, and it shot directly toward the Rock Lord's hiding place!
The Rock Lord's heart nearly stopped in fear, but thanks to the earth's cover, he finally reacted: "Stone Hands!!"
In an instant, a giant hand made of stone emerged from the rock layers, resembling a towering Five Finger Mountain, and reached out to grab the sword ray.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion shook the heavens and earth. As soon as the Stone Hand touched the sword ray, it instantly collapsed like foam. The remaining sword energy continued downward, hitting the Rock Lord directly!
The earth shook violently!
The Rock Lord let out a tragic scream. Despite his strong defensive powers, the protection of the earth, and his formidable earth-based body, he was still severely wounded and on the brink of death with this one strike.
At this moment, his body was torn apart, revealing deep wounds, blood mixing with the surrounding earth, making for a miserable sight.
The thought of counterattacking vanished instantly. The Rock Lord desperately tried to activate a healing body technique to save his life.
However, he hopelessly found that this technique had no effect. The wounds didn't heal but instead bizarrely sprouted blood flowers, and his flesh began to rot further!
The enemy's techniques were simply too numerous!
Just from that one strike, the Rock Lord could feel several different techniques at play! Even though he was a grandmaster specializing in defense, he couldn't withstand it!
But what confused him most was... why was Fang Yuan able to find his position?
He had hidden a hundred meters underground, and not a sound had been made! Yet Fang Yuan's attack had precisely hit the mark!
With great difficulty, the Rock Lord raised his broken head and yelled angrily at the white figure standing high in the sky: "Why... why were you able to find me?!"
Fang Yuan answered nonchalantly, "No need for nonsense. If there's a frame, why not hit it?"