Stranger Danger

Chapter 646: Xingtian Finale

The blood gushing out of Slaughterer’s neck hadn’t poured to the ground. Instead, it swam across his torso and formed all sorts of anomalous, mysterious, and savage-looking pictures and runes.

The blood squirmed unnaturally for a bit before forming a human face with no eyes and no mouth. Suddenly, Slaughterer’s nipples split open into a pair of eyes, and his belly button widened into a mouth.

When the unholy transformation was complete, the face slowly began to move as if it was alive. It was none other than Slaughterer’s face.

The next moment, the face looked in Ye Qing’s direction, eyes smoldering with seemingly infinite hatred and killing intent. At the same time, a vast amount of baleful aura gushed out of his body like a volcanic eruption.

The thick fog in the area was dispelled instantly, and the air turned cold, stifling, and smelly. Indistinct illusions of corpses and blood began appearing all over the place as if hell itself was surfacing to the yang world.

Not only that, Slaughterer’s aura was many, many times stronger than it was before. It was as if he had awakened as some sort of demon king of Asura.

“RAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!”

Slaughterer let out a mighty roar, and a massive, blood red axe and a demonic-looking shield descended from the black sky. When he caught the axe with his right hand and the shield with his left, the illusion of blood and death stirred ominously, and his fighting spirit pierced the heavens. A powerful shockwave washed out of the warrior and annihilated the surrounding walls, sand, and plants into dust.

As soon as he was ready, Slaughterer swung his axe at Ye Qing.

BOOM!

The mountain of bodies and sea of blood overwhelmed Ye Qing instantly.

“Hahahahaha!”

Slaughterer laughed savagely from his belly button at the successful ambush, the large face on his chest looking crazed and savage.

Slaughterer was a member of the Asuras, and the word “Asura” was defined as “anti-heaven”. Although their men were ugly, and their women were beautiful, both genders were tall, massive, and extremely warlike. Originally an evil god, they possessed Seven Emotions and Six Desires like a human, but they weren’t humans. According to the myths, the Asuras and the Devas were originally enemies. The continuous strife eventually resulted in the Asuras being exiled from the heavens and forced to reside in the caves of Mount Meru. Despite waging many battles against the Devas, they were never able to gain the upper hand.

It should not need to be said, but the Eight Legions of Devas and Negas were no divine god or celestial. They might call themselves the People of the Divine, but they were well aware of the fact that they weren’t the true gods of the ancient times. At best, they were humans with a very small percentage of divine blood in them.

The Asuras Slaughterer hailed from were humans who inherited the bloodline of true Asuras. It was why they possessed some of the abilities and characteristics of the true Asuras. For example, their men were ugly, their women were beautiful, and both genders were tall and massive. They also possessed supernatural strength and were naturally predisposed toward conflict. Assuming someone’s bloodline was sufficiently thick, they could even become unkillable just like the ancient Asuras.

Of course, there was no such thing as power without a cost. In exchange for immense power, an Asura was naturally violent, impulsive, warlike, cruel and bloodthirsty.

In the Asuras, the thicker one’s bloodline, the higher their position and status. Slaughterer was a blood relative in the direct line of descent of the Asura King, so his Asura blood was very thick. Not only that, he also cultivated their supreme martial art, the ‘Unkillable Asura Body’ and forged an extremely tenacious body. He could regrow his body parts and even stay alive without a head.

That was why he didn’t die even after Ye Qing had beheaded him, destroyed his head, and annihilated the Yin God within.

Right now, he was executing a secret technique in the “Unkillable Asura Body” known as "Xingtian Finale".

A long, long time ago, the war god Xingtian fought against the Yellow Emperor to claim supremacy over all living things. However, the Yellow Emperor was able to behead him and bury him in Changyang Mountain. Unwilling to die, he transformed his nipples into eyes and his belly button into his mouth so he might continue his war.

To put it simply, "Xingtian Finale" allowed the practitioner to stay alive without a head and even borrow the power of the war god temporarily. For a short time, the practitioner would gain the power of a Half-Step Grandmaster and become strong enough to battle even a Grandmaster for a time.

Of course, as strong as "Xingtian Finale" was, its activation conditions were extremely stringent. First, it could only be executed when the practitioner was in a life-or-death crisis. Second, the practitioner’s will must remain strong even after their head was gone. Three, the practitioner would gain immense power and be able to stay alive even without a head, but their body would forever be fixed in its current state: a headless body where the nipples became their eyes, and their belly button became their mouth. It was a tragic state to say the least.

Finally, "Xingtian Finale" could be executed only once in a lifetime. Moreover, the practitioner would enter a prolonged state of weakness after the effects had passed.

Despite its flaws, "Xingtian Finale" was without a doubt a powerful offensive and defensive art. Even among the Asuras, only those with outstanding talent and rich bloodline could learn it.

Slaughterer had learned “Xingtian Finale” just a while ago, and he never expected to use it so soon. It was a stroke of luck though. If he hadn’t learned the “Xingtian Finale”, he would already be dead. Although he would never be able to use this secret art again, and his current appearance resembled a Stranger far more than a human, it was worth the price considering that it gave him a second chance at life and the opportunity to take revenge against his hated foe.

Or so he thought. The sea of blood suddenly stopped dead in its tracks as if it had crashed against an impassable wall. Then, it started rolling back toward him!

Caught off guard but not a novice, Slaughterer immediately raised his shield in defense. The sea of blood crashed against it but failed to inflict any damage to him.

However, the second the bloody waves were crushed, a human figure abruptly appeared in front of his shield and threw out a punch.

Thump!

It sounded like a drumbeat, except this one was loud enough to deafen one’s ears. Slaughterer’s body trembled, and an unstoppable force penetrated the shield and into his body. His arm snapped like a twig, and the runes and picture covering his body abruptly distorted and disappeared into nothing. At the same time, the ground beneath his feet rolled like waves.

The next moment, Slaughterer found himself flying through the air uncontrollably. He crashed through countless buildings before he finally hit a hill and stopped.

“Cough! Cough! Impossible!”

Blood was dripping down Slaughterer’s belly button. His eyes were blank with shock and disbelief as well. After transforming into the war god Xingtian, he was now a Half-Step Grandmaster whose power was on par with an ordinary Grandmaster. So how was it possible for his enemy to send him flying in one punch?

“IMPOSSIBLE!”

Slaughterer roared as fighting spirit exploded from his body. He raised his arms, and the hill he was embedded in collapsed just like that.

It was at this moment a demonic ape descended from the sky while clutching its hands high above its head. Then, it brought its hands down on Slaughterer’s head like a hammer.

The sky shook, and the earth trembled. Slaughterer barely managed to raise his shield in time before the demonic ape struck him.

BOOM!!!

The earth within tens of meters of the point of impact split into a million pieces like glass. Slaughterer’s axe and shield too crumbled into smithereens.

Slaughterer himself was still alive, but his body now looked like it was made of porcelain. Cracks covered him from head to toe, and his presence had become terribly weak and shriveled, though his fighting spirit remained as strong as ever.

“You... You’re not an early-stage Spirit Master?!”

Slaughterer asked. Every time he said a word, his body would gain a new crack.

“I am an early-stage spirit Master.”

Ye Qing released his “Chaos Demon Ape Body” and returned to his normal appearance. While looking down on Slaughterer, he answered, “However, I’m a little different from the early-stage Spirit Master you know. You see, I have the body of a body-tempering Half-Step Grandmaster. I sure got you good, didn’t I?”

“A body-tempering Half-Step Grandmaster?!”

Slaughterer’s eyes widened in disbelief. “This is impossible... this cannot be possible...”

“Why not?” Ye Qing’s lips curled into a devilish smile. “There is no such thing as impossible in this world.”

“I should thank you for your Nanke though. Without it, I would never have reached the heights I have and become strong enough to kill you.”

Ye Qing said sincerely, “So seriously, thank you.”

“You bas—!”

Rage consumed Slaughterer as he tried to stand, but the sudden movement was the last straw. His entire body started crumbling in earnest, and he dissolved into ash before the pieces could even hit the ground.