Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

He looked down and saw the sword energy still struggling at the edge of the sword wound on his chest.

That sharp power emanating from Clement was like a slender, venomous blue snake, coiled within the flesh and blood.

In the past, Hanxi could only contain it.

Now, the chill emanates from the flesh itself.

It's not about surrounding.

It is buried.

The cyan sword energy was gradually frozen.

Crack.

It cracked.

In reality, a stream of dark red blood suddenly gushed from the old wound on Xilun's chest, which then quickly solidified into an ice scab.

The edges of the wound on my left rib also began to slowly close up.

It is not fully healed.

But the sword energy that had been hindering recovery was finally suppressed.

At that very moment, Xiren's breathing changed.

Extremely light.

Extremely cold.

With each exhale, fine frost rises to the surface of the water.

With each breath he took, the chill from the underground reservoir seemed to gather around him.

Mysterious Yin Breathing Technique, Extraordinary Level.

There was no joy in Siron.

It didn't even open its eyes for a moment.

The flowing water told him that someone was coming from outside.

A lot of people.

Clement found this place.

……

Outside the abandoned mine, Clement, wearing a dark cloak, stood beside a broken stone pillar.

He held the last Blood Compass in his hand.

The compass needle stopped shaking violently.

It steadily points towards the underground main canal.

The deputy whispered, "He stopped."

Clement stared at the dark entrance with a grave expression.

"It's not about stopping."

The deputy was taken aback.

Clement slowly drew his rapier.

"He's making a breakthrough."

The expressions of the surrounding guards changed simultaneously.

breakthrough.

At this moment, this word is more chilling than any curse.

What would a second-tier fighter who has been on the run for nearly a month and has been relentlessly pursued by a third-tier fighter be do if he were to break through at this time?

Nobody wants to think about it.

The deputy urged, "Should we attack immediately?"

Clement did not answer immediately.

The underground main canal is narrow and damp, filled with water.

That's where Xilun is.

But if we don't go in, everyone might die by the time he completes his breakthrough.

Clement hesitated for only a moment.

"Fragments of the water-sealing net clear the way, while crossbows hunt the tides from behind."

He raised his sword and pointed it towards the entrance.

"I'll go in first."

The second-in-command gritted his teeth, "Captain, your right hand hasn't fully recovered yet."

Clement said calmly, "That's why we can't wait for him to recover."

The hunting party moved swiftly.

Metal mesh was thrown into the main canal, and the water flow immediately became heavy and slow. Two tide-hunting crossbows were set up at the entrance, the bolts wrapped with fine silver chains, and the arrowheads coated with a gray ointment specifically designed to suppress extraordinary recovery.

Clement stepped into the darkness.

The water was up to the soles of the boots.

A chill swept in from ahead.

He frowned slightly.

This chill is different from before.

Previously, Xilun's chilling breath was sharp and fierce, like a short knife thrust out when cornered.

The chill is now very quiet.

It was as quiet as a frozen lake.

The quieter it is, the more dangerous it is.

Clement quickened his pace.

He must kill him before Xilun truly completes his ascension to the third rank.

……

Inside the reservoir, Xilun opened his eyes.

The last wisp of cold mist disappeared into his palm.

He slowly got up.

The thin ice on the surface of the pool broke and drifted outwards along his body.

The extraordinary Xuan Yin breathing technique temporarily stabilized his injuries, suppressed the sword energy, and restored some of his spirit.

But this is not the end.

It's just the last stepping stone in front of the door.

He is still second-order.

Clement is still third-order.

The hunting party has already entered.

Xilun stepped onto the stone platform, dried his hands, and took out a sealed metal box from the innermost layer of the oilcloth bundle.

The box was prepared by Rod.

It contained items that Rena had sent back and then passed on through various channels.

A small tube of lunar phase silver marrow.

The silvery liquid flowed slowly in the thin tube, like solidified moonlight.

Beside it were the prepared water beast heart powder, water spirit bone fragments, slumber fluid, blue-veined bone powder, cold-type stabilizer, and other auxiliary materials listed in the easy-to-dissolve potion formula.

These things were scattered and hidden in different oil-sealed bags, and they were soaked in seawater, buried in mountain mud, and drenched in blood.

Fortunately, they are all still intact.

Xilun looked toward the main canal.

The water flow was heavy.

The remnants of the water-sealing net are approaching.

Clement's sharp aura was like a needle, piercing through the darkness, slowly pricking at us.

There isn't enough time.

But he had already rehearsed it countless times in his mind.

Xilun took out a small silver pot and lit a smokeless alcohol lamp.

The first step is to put the water beast heart powder into the pot.

The dark red powder did not burn when heated; instead, it gently rippled like a living thing.

The second step is to collect the fragments of the Water Spirit's remains.

Pale gold fragments fell into it, and the dark red powder immediately shrank, emitting a damp, fishy smell.

The third step is to add three drops of the sleeper's cerebrospinal fluid.

The moment the transparent liquid dripped down, all movement inside the pot fell silent, as if enveloped in a deep sleep.

The fourth step involves preparing blue-veined bone powder, cold-type stabilizer, and half a tube of dust-removing agent.

The color gradually turned into a deep blue.

Step 5, Lunar Phase Silver Marrow.

Xilun opened the thin tube.

The silver liquid fell into the pot.

No sound.

However, a cool halo emanated from the pot.

The chill in the underground reservoir paused slightly before converging entirely towards the silver pot.

Xilun's breathing was steady, and his hands did not tremble.

The footsteps outside grew closer.

The sound of the crossbow's metal winch echoed in the main canal.

Clement's voice came through.

"Silon".

It's very close.

"If you stop now, you can still leave a complete corpse."

Xilun did not respond.

He added the last auxiliary ingredient according to the recipe order.

The deep blue liquid inside the pot suddenly surged, and silver patterns formed a crescent moon on the surface, which quickly shattered into countless tiny scales.

The facilitator is ready.

But it is not stable yet.

Xilun raised his hand and slashed open his palm.

A drop of blood fell into it.

The power of the Blood Seal, the aura of the Water Dividing Talent, and the underlying essence of the Profound Yin Cold Breath converge in this drop of blood.

The medicine finally calmed down.

It turned into a color that was almost blackish-blue, but in its deepest part, there was a faint silvery-white light.

At the end of the main canal, Clement could already see the light of the reservoir.

His face darkened, and he suddenly raised his rapier.

"Tidehunter Crossbow!"

Two crossbow bolts pierced the air.

The silver chains tore through the air and headed straight for the stone platform.

Xilun picked up the silver pot and poured the liquid medicine into the prepared glass bottle.

There was no pause.

No hesitation.

Just before the crossbow bolt struck the reservoir, he tilted his head back and drank the entire bottle of evaporative potion.

boom!

The first crossbow bolt pierced the stone platform beside him, the chains snapped, and gray ointment splattered on the ground, making a corrosive hissing sound.

The second crossbow bolt grazed his shoulder, taking away a piece of flesh.

Siren simply stood there.

The medicine was ingested.

Icy.

Scorching hot.

Sleep.

distortion.

The wildness of the water beast's heart, the merging and diverging water currents of the water spirit's remains, the cool pull of the moon phase silver marrow, and the deep stability of the slumbering spinal fluid all exploded simultaneously within his body.

The blood began to boil.

The bones made a series of subtle sounds.

The chill spread uncontrollably, and the reservoir froze instantly.

Countless chaotic scenes flashed before Xilun's eyes.

deep sea.

moonlight.

The heartbeat of a different species.

Whispers in the darkness.

And there's the door within my own body that leads to the third tier.

It is no longer far away.

It's right in front of you.

Clement plunged into the reservoir.

The rapier, with its pale blue sheen, pierced straight at Xilun's heart.

Xilun raised his eyes.

Those eyes, a mix of black-blue and silver-white, resembled the sea before a storm.

He raised his hand and grasped the golden spear.

The tip of the gun lightly touched the ground.

A long crack appeared in the frozen reservoir.

Xilun opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of frosty mist.

The promotion has begun!

The moment the medicine entered his stomach, Xiren heard his own heartbeat.

Pfft!

There is a heart that belongs to him now, beating deeply in his chest.

It has a heart like that of a water beast, heavy and savage, with a sound like the crashing of tides.

There was another one even further away, seemingly hidden beneath the deep sea, entangled by countless dark blue seaweeds. With each tremor, the ice layer of the entire underground reservoir trembled.

Clement's rapier has arrived.

The azure blade sliced ​​through the cold mist, aiming straight for Xilun's heart.

This sword strike had no extra variations.

Quick, accurate, ruthless.

Like Clement, he never showed his anger on his face and rarely wasted a word.

Since it is believed that Xilun will become a calamity for the Tusol family, then he should be eliminated.

Since the Third Elder's order is to kill, then leave no survivors.

Xilun raised his gun.

A golden spear was held horizontally in front of him.

clang!

The sword tip touched the gun barrel, sparks flew, and then it was swallowed by the cold mist.

Xilun slid half a foot backward, the frozen ice beneath his feet cracking with spiderweb-like patterns, and his old chest wound began to bleed again. Before the blood even hit the ground, it condensed into dark red ice beads on his clothes.

Clement's eyes narrowed slightly.

He should have pierced Xilun with that sword.

But the other party blocked it.

It is not by means of full strength, nor by means of quick reflexes.

It's more like some kind of instinct being reshaped, sensing the location of death before the sword is even upon you.

"kill!"

Inside the main canal, Tusol's guards roared in unison.

The two crossbows were cocked again, the silver chains tightened, and the winches of the crossbows made a piercing metallic clanging sound.

Fragments of the sealing net were pushed into the edge of the reservoir, their dark metallic patterns unfolding underwater like the scales of a group of dead fish.

The pool water suddenly became heavy, and the water flow that had been following Xilun's breathing was forcibly pushed back to its original position.

Xilun did not retreat.

He didn't even look directly at Clement.

After the drug's effects exploded in his body, his vision became somewhat strange.

The reservoir in front of us is still there.

Broken stone pillars, rusted rails, slippery walls, guards rushing in, and the faintly gleaming rapier in Clement's hand.

But behind these real scenes, another world slowly unfolds.

Black Icefield.

Deep blue ocean tides.

A shattered silver moon hung in the very low sky.

The ice field and the ocean tide overlapped, their boundaries indistinguishable. Moonlight fell, illuminating countless tiny scales, which were not on the outside, but emerged little by little from the depths of his bones, flesh, and internal organs.

The pain was overwhelming.

It's not the pain of being cut by swords.

Instead, the body is disassembled, and every bone, every blood vessel, and every breath is remeasured.

The water beast's heart powder awakened a brutal life force, and the fragments of the water spirit's remains drew out streams of water in the blood, while the slumbering spinal fluid tried to suppress the restlessness deep within. The lunar silver marrow, like a cold hand, held down his soul, guiding all the distortions towards a more stable form.

A muffled groan escaped from Xilun's throat.

His grip on the gun tightened suddenly, and faint silver lines flashed across his knuckles.

Clement saw it.

That wasn't ordinary frost.

Rather, it's a trace of promotion.

"Don't let him gain his footing!"

Clement's voice was as cold as a sword's edge. "Crossbowmen, shoot him in the leg! The rest of you, push forward!"

Both crossbows fired simultaneously.

The crossbow bolts, trailing silver chains, hurtled through the air; one aimed for Siron's knee, the other for his right shoulder.

The gray ointment on the arrow left a murky trail in the cold mist, carrying a nauseating medicinal smell.

Xilun raised his hand.

The pool water did not respond.

The remnants of the water-sealing net suppressed the water flow in the vicinity, as if putting a heavy shackle on the entire reservoir.

The crossbow bolts were closing in.

Clement charged forward simultaneously, his rapier concealed behind two crossbow bolts, aimed at Siron's throat with a sinister angle.

This is a deadly trap.

Externally, there was mechanical suppression; internally, there was a powerful third-tier attack; and behind them, there was the uncontrollable effect of the enhancement drug.

Xilun suddenly released his right hand.

The golden spear slipped from his palm, its butt striking the ice.

thump.

The sound wasn't loud.

But it felt like striking the depths of a reservoir.

The next instant, Xilun's left foot cracked the ice, and he shifted half an inch to the side.

The first crossbow bolt grazed the side of his knee, tearing away a large chunk of flesh.

The second crossbow bolt pierced through his shoulder.

The silver chains tightened instantly and were pulled back sharply.

Xilun swayed, but was not pulled down.

He turned halfway following the force, gripped the gun barrel again with his right hand, and swept the tip of the gun horizontally to meet Clement's rapier hidden behind him.

clang!

Another loud bang.

Clement's pupils constricted slightly.

By using the crossbow bolt to pull back, Xilun managed to dodge a fatal blow to the throat and even shifted his body into a position suitable for drawing his spear.

Such a reaction is almost impossible to achieve in the midst of serious injury and promotion riots.

Unless his body is calculating the flow of water, the sound of wind, the vibration of metal, or even his own murderous intent in another way.

Clement's wrist twitched slightly, and the rapier slid out along the gun barrel, its blue edge flashing back like a snake, slicing towards Siron's fingers holding the gun.

Xilun did not dodge.

He let the sword cut through the back of his hand, and grabbed the silver chain with his other hand.

A chill ran through the air.

It is not spat out from the palm of the hand.

Instead, it seeped from the blood, grew from the cracks in the bones, and gushed out from the crossbow wound that pierced the shoulder.

The silver chains were covered in frost.

The frost surged back along the chains, closing in on the crossbow in the blink of an eye.

The two crossbowmen at the entrance paled and quickly released their grip and retreated.

Too late.

The chain made a fine crackling sound, and the cold air flowed along the metal and wrapped around the crossbow mechanism, instantly freezing the crossbow arm.

The guard standing next to him felt a numbness in his arm, white frost on his skin, and even his bones felt like they were being pierced by ice needles.

"Get out of the way!"

The deputy kicked over the crossbow, saving the crossbowman.

The guards who could be touched by the cold air had already knelt on the ground, their jaws chattering, and half of their arms were a strange grayish-white color.

Clement's face darkened further.

Mysterious Yin Breathing Method.

He knew that Xilun practiced this extremely difficult cold-type breathing technique.

During the more than twenty days of pursuit, he witnessed Xilun using his cold breath to stop bleeding, frostbite the guards' knees, seal the sword energy, and destroy the compass.

But at that time, the cold breath needed to circulate, needed to accumulate, and needed Xilun to actively stimulate it.

Things are different now.

The chill was like his blood.

Wherever he was injured, wherever his blood fell, ice would form.

"He hasn't been promoted yet."

Clement suppressed the chill in his heart, his voice as steady as iron, "This is the leakage of medicinal properties, not third-level control. If you continue to suppress it, he won't be able to hold on for long."

This was not only said to Konoe, but also to himself.

Clement knew that the more terrifying Xiren was, the less he could back down.

Once such a person becomes a third-tier individual, the Tusol family will have an extra sword hanging over their heads.