Chapter 607: Arrow Battle (Two in One)

"How does this armor look on me?"

Xue Kai rolled his shoulders and looked at the youth beside him.

"Eldest Brother, you look as dashing as ever. No, even better than back then."

The youth gave Xue Kai a thumbs-up.

Xue Kai smiled.

"Third Brother is awake."

"I didn't expect him to catch up right at the very end."

"But it's a pity. He woke up too late."

"The times have changed."

With that, he sighed, as if he genuinely felt sorry for Xue Mo.

"Third Brother is quite the figure, but he overthinks everything. A man like that can't lead our Family forward anymore."

"I didn't want to be the boss either, but I'll just have to force myself."

"Let's go."

After exchanging false pleasantries, Xue Kai and Sixth Brother, Xue Zixun, walked out of the mansion together.

Taking a single step, they blinked directly into the sky above the Xue Family Compound.

They called it the Xue Family Compound, but it actually covered tens of thousands of square kilometers—no different from a sprawling city.

Right now, clad in blood-red armor and a golden cape, Xue Kai surged with blood Qi. The moment he appeared, the entire Xue Family Compound erupted into a commotion. "He's here! Finally!"

"The Eldest Young Master really looks in much better shape than he did a few years ago. I remember back then..."

Someone lowered their voice:

"The Eldest Young Master was as thin as a twig. He couldn't even lift his head to look people in the eye."

"He was suppressed."

"The Heir Apparent's brilliance was too blinding. Aside from that heartless lioness, who else could lift their head under his radiant shadow? Let alone someone with as much pride as the Eldest Young Master."

"Yeah, I remember a long time ago, the Eldest Young Master was also a heavenly prodigy. He always had a smile on his face and was known as Little Demon Xue, comparable even to the Grand Patriarch, Old Demon Xue."

"Until the Heir Apparent made his debut... then everything changed..."

Everyone who heard this sighed.

Fate was a fickle thing. If the two had been born in different eras, perhaps Xue Kai could have defended their legacy while Xue Mo forged new paths, pushing the Xue Family to even greater heights. But as luck would have it, they were born in the exact same generation.

This was destiny.

Even the slightest shift could have changed everything entirely.

"It's a pity. Things have changed, and the people with them."

"The Eldest Young Master has already reached the Tenth Tier. In the end, the Heir Apparent was surpassed."

The chatter below was deafening, but Xue Kai acted as if he couldn't hear a word.

A faint smile played on his lips—a sign of absolute confidence in today's battle.

He knew that as long as he won today, he would never have to hear voices like those again.

He gazed toward Xue Mo's mansion, quietly waiting for his Third Brother to arrive.

Minutes ticked by.

Just as the crowd's murmurs grew louder, Xue Kai, who had been resting with his eyes closed, snapped them open. A blood-red light flashed in his pupils. Yan Jing appeared.

Under the crowd's astonished gaze, Yan Jing's figure materialized directly in midair. He wore a blood-red robe styled like sleepwear, yet there was nothing discordant about his appearance.

His eyes were as cold as ice; even in pajamas, he exuded no sense of warmth, perfectly fitting the imminent battle.

So fast...

The crowd couldn't clearly see how either man had arrived, but it seemed... Yan Jing, who appeared later, had been even faster.

"Third Brother, you've been lying in bed for so many years, but it seems you haven't regressed much."

Xue Kai smiled as a blood-red halberd materialized in his hand.

On the surface, he remained impassive, but internally, his guard was raised to the absolute limit.

He had never once underestimated this younger brother who had suppressed him for over a decade.

The slightest movement was enough to put him on high alert.

He looked at Yan Jing and smiled as he spoke:

"Could it be... you're actually not my brother?"

"Eldest Brother, back then, you stood by my bed and swore that after I was gone, you would never harm our kin."

Yan Jing's gaze was frigid:

"You broke your word."

"Heh." Faced with Yan Jing's interrogation, Xue Kai simply laughed.

"You really aren't my brother. When I stood by his bed back then, I never heard him say such sentimental nonsense."

"He only told me that after he was gone, I was to take over as the next patriarch and take good care of our younger brothers and sisters."

"Eleventh Brother was only fourteen, and Tenth Brother was just seventeen," Yan Jing said softly.

Xue Kai's brow twitched for a fleeting second, but he quickly regained his composure, offering a cold sneer:

"In a Blood War, participants don't distinguish between family and kin. Eleventh Brother and Tenth Brother were bewitched into making a move against Sixth Brother and me. I was very saddened by it, too." "I have already properly laid their bodies to rest and taken good care of their people. Some things are unavoidable. I know you wouldn't understand."

"Hand over my brother's body."

Xue Kai raised the halberd in his hand. His armor clattered with a sharp, metallic ring—a truly heroic display.

Yan Jing nodded:

"Understood."

"We still have to fight first."

"Hahaha, exactly!" Xue Kai laughed:

"We'll talk after we fight."

The moment his words fell, Xue Kai's eyes narrowed, and he swept his halberd horizontally.

In the next second, as if struck by a heavy blow, he was knocked several meters back through the air. Only by swinging his long halberd fiercely did he manage to disperse the kinetic force. Yan Jing lowered the Bow in his hand.

He hadn't drawn any arrows. Just pulling the bowstring alone sent out surging blades of air.

Xue Kai's gaze darkened. He swung his halberd, instantly whipping up a sky full of roaring winds. Beneath the countless gathering storm clouds, a massive tornado formed and swept toward Yan Jing.

Yan Jing's expression remained placid as he drew his longbow again.

This time, a silver-white arrow materialized on the string.

The arrow was incredibly long and thin. The moment it appeared, it drew down starlight from the heavens, causing silver-white petals to bloom all around Yan Jing.

The fierce winds battered them, making the silver-white petals tremble, yet they ultimately refused to scatter.

Swish!

As the arrow left the string, the countless silver lights seemed to dim all at once.

It was as though all the light in the sky followed this single arrow as it shot toward Xue Kai.

[Silver White]

That was the name of this arrow.

And its effect was...

Facing the incoming strike, Xue Kai's expression changed. To everyone's surprise, he twisted his body aside, no longer choosing to take the hit head-on.

The arrowhead merely grazed Xue Kai's waist. In that instant—

The armor around Xue Kai's waist transformed into a solid patch of silver-white.

Whoosh!

The wind stopped, and the clouds scattered.

The tornado that had just been uprooting massive trees and churning the grass into waves came to an abrupt halt.

Revealed before the crowd was a silver-white statue of a tornado, stretching from the earth to the sky, blotting out the sun and clouds.

The members of the Xue Family craned their necks, staring at this indescribably magnificent spectacle. They all couldn't help but gasp in shock.

Xue Kai was injured.

No one had expected that the Xue Family Heir, who had been in a deep slumber for years, would immediately injure a Divine Envoy with his very first shot upon returning.

"Heh, heh."

Looking at the portion of his flesh that had completely petrified, Xue Kai suddenly burst into loud laughter.

He reached out, grabbed the flesh around his waist, and ruthlessly tore at it.

Rip!

He actually tore that chunk of flesh away with his bare hands.

Blood dripped from his waist, but a deep, ferocious smile stretched across his face:

"You really aren't my brother!"

"If you were my brother..."

"I'd already be dead right now."

As his words fell, Xue Kai's figure dissolved into crimson flames, instantly closing the distance to appear right in front of Yan Jing.

Waves of heat surged, instantly incinerating the surrounding air. In the wake of this massive vacuum, the atmosphere rushed inward, crushing toward Yan Jing at a terrifying speed.

This was a technique Xue Kai had spent a long time researching specifically to deal with Xue Mo.

Xue Mo's physical body was immensely strong, and his weird energy was nothing to scoff at either.

But his true threat lay in the Bow and arrows in his hands.

As long as one could interfere with his arrows and drop their accuracy...

...then the threat he posed would naturally plummet.

In the next second, the halberd in Xue Kai's hand shot straight into the sky, transforming into a heaven-toppling waterfall that crashed down toward Yan Jing's position.

With Yan Jing's position locked down, this strike was essentially guaranteed to hit.

This wasn't just ordinary water.

The moment it poured down, it corroded space itself, leaving pitch-black trails in the air.

But to Xue Kai's surprise, Yan Jing didn't dodge at all. He simply raised his hand and aimed at the sky.

Another arrow.

This arrow was pitch black.

It forcefully tore a massive rift right through the air.

The torrential downpour plunged entirely into the gap, draining away into the Space Rift.

[Star Swallower]

Immediately after, Yan Jing aimed at Xue Kai in midair, raising his hand to fire again.

Even though it was two successive shots, the crowd couldn't even track Yan Jing's motion of drawing the bow.

Xue Kai took a deep breath. Even though he had already turned his body into a searing flame, facing Yan Jing's arrow, he still opted to evade.

He understood this brother of his.

Xue Mo had exactly three favorite arrows, and his first three shots almost never changed.

[Star Swallower], [Silver White], and finally, [Scentless].

Now, Xue Mo had already used two, and there was no visible arrow resting on the bowstring.

Which meant this shot... was [Scentless].

Scentless was formless and laced with hundreds of poisons. Even if his body was currently transformed into heat waves, and even if he had reached the Tenth Tier, his safety was far from guaranteed.

His entire form scattered into fierce winds, dispersing into the air.

In the very next instant, countless dark thunderbolts manifested above Yan Jing's head, crashing straight down upon him.

For a moment, lightning flared and thunder roared.

Yan Jing stood rooted to the spot, drawing his Bow to loose another arrow.

[Myriad Beasts]

An arrow etched with countless totems materialized on the bowstring.

It surged toward the dark thunder.

An instant later, innumerable phantoms of savage beasts sprang to life, pouncing on the lightning and devouring the bolts in a few quick bites.

"You haven't regressed." Suddenly, Xue Kai's voice echoed directly into Yan Jing's ear:

"But I have definitely progressed."

"Third Brother."

Vines suddenly sprouted from the winds behind Yan Jing, violently piercing toward his heart.

Swish!

An arrow rained down. Before those vines could even fully grow, they withered and died. Their roots turned pitch black and rotted, quickly crumbling into ash.

[Wither]

Right after firing that split-second shot, Yan Jing aimed at the empty air and released yet another.

This arrow was a dark crimson. The moment it appeared, it caused the blood Qi in the air to violently churn.

[Blood Scent]

In the previously empty sky, Xue Kai's figure was forcibly revealed.

Guided by the blood Qi, his body stiffened for a split second.

And it was exactly in that split second.

The arrow struck him directly in the heart.

Crack!

The sound of shattering ice rang out. Xue Kai shook himself, stepping out from the broken chunks of ice completely unharmed.

He looked at Yan Jing and roared with laughter:

"Three arrows left."

"What, are you trying to see who runs out of moves first against your big brother?"

Down below, the crowd finally broke free from the trance of the dazzling exchanges, barely managing to catch their breath.

"The Heir Apparent is terrifyingly strong, but the Young Master has reached the Tenth Tier after all."

Most people came to a similar conclusion. Although the battle appeared completely one-sided, with Yan Jing endlessly pressing the attack against Xue Kai...

...Yan Jing only had nine arrows in total.

Having used six arrows already, Xue Kai had taken no substantial damage aside from being grazed by [Silver White] at the very beginning. While being able to push a Tenth Tier combatant this far was a feat worthy of absolute pride...

...this was still a battle to the death. Many couldn't help but sweat on Yan Jing's behalf.

"Shameless... utterly shameless!!!"

Amidst the crowd, Xue Shi cursed furiously in her panic:

"A Tenth Tier bullying a Ninth Tier, what kind of skill is that!!!"

"Damn it, just you wait..."

Xue Shi pulled out a knife, preparing to plunge it right into her own throat. The people beside her turned pale with fright and hastily grabbed her arms.

But Xue Shi's mind was made up, and she had the strength of ten oxen:

"Goddamn it, once Third Brother reaches the Tenth Tier, see if he doesn't pin you to the ground and beat you half to death!!!"

"Second Sister, Second Sister!!! Even if you die, Pops might not necessarily give the bloodline power to Third Brother!!!"

Xue Rou pulled at Xue Shi's hand with everything she had, and her words finally managed to halt Xue Shi's struggle.

It was true...

If she died and her bloodline power went to Xue Kai, not only would she fail to help Third Brother, but she'd actually be aiding the tyrant.

Moreover, knowing the temperament of that old undying bastard in their family, it was highly likely to happen.

Xue Shi's hands trembled with anxiety:

"Tell me, what do we do? What do we do now?"

"Don't panic, don't panic."

Xue Wan repeatedly consoled her:

"Third Brother hasn't even wiped his sweat yet."

The moment she said that, Xue Shi froze.

She looked up at Yan Jing in midair and finally realized the anomaly:

"Right... why is Third Brother so calm?"

The Xue Family Heir despised sweat.

This was an unspoken secret within the Xue Family.

It was said that sweat would reduce his archery precision and mess with his mental state. Therefore, the moment Xue Mo started sweating, he had to wipe it dry instantly. But right now...

Xue Mo hadn't wiped his sweat even once.

"Third Brother, stop putting up a brave front."

Xue Kai had clearly noticed this as well. Though he acted impossibly arrogant on the surface, he was secretly on high alert.

Yan Jing sighed:

"Let's end it here."

What did he mean, end it here...?

Xue Kai's pupils shrank.

He saw Yan Jing draw back the bowstring.

Shockingly, there were two arrows on the string at the exact same time.

[Shattered Moon] [Godspeed]

The effect of Shattered Moon was disruption.

And the effect of Godspeed was extreme velocity.

If drawn individually, neither of these two arrows was particularly terrifying.

But now, they had been drawn together.

Xue Kai's mind blanked out for a split second.

Third Brother's arrows... could they be fired at the same time?

How did he not know about this?

But... it was already too late.

The presence of Godspeed meant he had to make an immediate decision, while the presence of Shattered Moon meant any defense he conjured would be completely useless. And Xue Kai had been genuinely stunned for a second by Yan Jing's maneuver.

It was exactly this one second of hesitation that made him miss his final chance.

Both arrows plunged into Xue Kai's chest simultaneously.

Blood spurted wildly.

"Is it over?"

The crowd sucked in a collective breath, their gazes filled with disbelief.

It was over, just like that?

Was fighting above one's tier really this simple?

But in the very next second, Xue Kai, who had been falling backward, abruptly stopped. He reached out, grabbed both arrows, and mercilessly yanked them out.

Blood splattered the ground.

Xue Kai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and flashed a hideous, savage grin:

"I really am an idiot."

"To think I was actually still afraid of your arrows, Third Brother."

"I completely forgot... I'm already at the Tenth Tier."

He laughed uproariously, as if he had finally broken through his inner demons.

From now on, he would never have to dodge Yan Jing's arrows again.

He had won.

He was finally going to win.

Tears welled up in the corners of Xue Kai's eyes.

A stream of pitch-black tears trailed down his face.

Black tears?

Suddenly, as if realizing something, Xue Kai wiped the corner of his eye.

He stared down at his palm, where the tears were already causing his skin to rot away.

He looked up at Yan Jing in sheer disbelief.

Scentless.

That volley of three arrows had actually included Scentless.

Then what was that previous invisible shot...?

An empty draw?

Motherfuc—

Xue Kai's entire body jerked violently, and he plummeted toward the ground below.