"My only pursuit is to challenge all the heroes under heaven!"
This Tarnished, who claimed to be from the Land of Reeds, was filled with the intent of a Shura. He had killed countless people in his life, and his heart had long been corrupted by the path of the Shura. His only goal in returning to The Lands Between was to find someone who could kill him and resolve the Shura in his heart.
Thus, under the gaze of the two demigods, Xiao and Morgott, the Ashina samurai, wielding a blood-red katana, moved his body in a bizarre, ghost-like manner, launching an attack toward the two of them in an instant.
His movements were as fast as lightning. The blood-red katana in his hand drew a brilliant arc through the air, followed by a fierce slash that instantly formed a cross-shaped cut.
This was an Ash of War from The Lands Between: Double Slash.
However, this was no ordinary Double Slash. The range covered by his blade was wider, and it was accompanied by the spilling of blood-red Bloodflame power.
"Hmm? Blood Slash!"
Morgott immediately recognized the power carried by the samurai's sword technique, which was similar to the Bloodflame power of the Formless Mother.
This greatly surprised him.
This mortal had actually comprehended a trace of law merely through slaughter. He was practically a natural saint of the Formless Mother.
But unfortunately, although such an attack was fierce, in Xiao's eyes, it was rather weak.
He didn't even make much of a move, simply raising his hand and extending his index finger, lightly flicking it to precisely strike the samurai's blade.
In that instant, an irresistible immense force came from the blade, causing the Ashina samurai to instantly lose control of his weapon, and the blood-red katana flew directly out of his hand.
Seeing this, Xiao quickly stepped forward. His right hand formed a claw, and a ball of black flame ignited.
He unhesitatingly plunged his claw into the Ashina samurai's body.
In the blink of an eye, the Ashina samurai's soul was forcibly pulled out by Xiao.
The Tarnished, now devoid of his soul, instantly collapsed to the ground, becoming a lifeless corpse.
Subsequently, the corpse rapidly melted away, transforming into a drop of essence blood and a piece of bone jade, both of which flew into Xiao's hand and disappeared.
At this moment, Morgott squinted at Xiao.
"Return the Grace on him!"
Normally, the Tarnished possess a stronger Grace ability than the Golden Lineage.
For the Golden Lineage to resurrect, they must wait for the transition between the old day and the new day.
However, the Tarnished can successfully resurrect at a Site of Grace within a few hours.
But now, the Ashina samurai killed by Xiao had not only lost all his Grace but even lost the chance to resurrect.
Xiao had actually completely stripped him from the Golden Order.
This was practically stealing the foundation of the Golden Order.
However, Xiao completely ignored Morgott's words, instead picking up the Ashina samurai's sword and carefully examining the blood-stained weapon.
"Famous Blade: Rivers of Blood… No, it's just a nascent form carrying a trace of Bloodflame power. There aren't many traces of the Bloodflame power on it. Is it because he hasn't met Mohg yet?
But it's just the Way of Blood. I know it too!"
Within Xiao's Necromantic Law, there already existed the Way of Blood.
However, unlike the Bloodflame power of the Formless Mother, which focuses on wounds and bleeding, the Way of Blood comprehended by Xiao primarily focused on the seizing and manipulation of blood.
After all, it was transformed from the original magic of the Blood Clan, and its function was to seize the blood of others to nourish and strengthen oneself.
It could even change its own form and gain power bonuses based on the different types of blood absorbed.
What's more powerful is that it can, through power traction, detonate the enemy's blood within their body, causing internal damage.
Although this Way of Blood might not be as effective in single-hit damage as the bleeding power of the Formless Mother,
as long as the Formless Mother cannot instantly kill Xiao, then in a prolonged battle, the final victor would definitely be the Necromantic Law.
Xiao casually embedded his Necromantic Law, as well as the Ashina samurai's essence blood and bone jade, into his accompanying sword,
and activated the weapon's Ash of War: Crushing Heart Strike against Morgott, who was still muttering.
Xiao's figure instantly dashed forward a great distance, and he swung a blood-red rising dragon slash from bottom to top.
"Puff~~~"
The sound of a blade cutting into flesh rang out, and a neat cut appeared on Morgott's abdomen, continuously extending upward until it reached his head.
A large amount of blood, like the opening of a floodgate, sprayed out from the deep wound on Morgott's body.
However, before Morgott could even attempt self-healing, the blood power buried deep within the wound exploded again.
"Bang~~~"
A muffled sound echoed within Morgott's body.
Countless streams of blood, like blooming flowers, sprayed out from all parts of Morgott's body.
These streams of blood did not scatter but, as if drawn by gravity, all surged into the newly born Rivers of Blood in Xiao's hand.
With the nourishment of a demigod avatar's blood, the Rivers of Blood, which had become mottled and damaged from years of use by the Ashina samurai, was instantly repaired.
Not only did it become as bright as new, but the blade also became stained with a hair-thin crimson line, becoming even more graceful and magnificent.
Xiao twirled the sword with one hand, returning Rivers of Blood to its newly forged scabbard, and mocked Morgott:
"Boy, when the Shattering War ended and the Valkyrie and Radahn perished together, that's when you should have learned humility toward your elders!"
With the end of the Shattering War, all the demigods in The Lands Between were either crippled, disabled, or ridiculously weakened.
Aside from Morgott, all the other demigods had lost their power, so Xiao naturally no longer needed to continue acting humble.
"A completely new law? How is this possible?!"
Morgott's avatar, with only a single breath left, widened his eyes and looked at Xiao in disbelief.
He had never seen such a thing happen.
Someone who had lost their own law could actually comprehend a new law.
Was this the previous generation of Empyreans?
What extraordinary talent this was!
He and Radahn had only comprehended the most basic laws with the help of the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
And no one knew how many laws the Gloam-Eyed Queen truly mastered.
Clearly, compared to the Empyreans of the previous generation, their generation was too weak and too naive in terms of both talent and ability.
"Learn humility, Omen King!"
Xiao stopped wasting words with Morgott. Instead, he directly summoned his steed with the Spirit Calling Bell, mounted it, and continued toward the Chapel of Anticipation with his small shop.
He had deliberately stayed near Stormveil Castle this time not only to obtain this Rivers of Blood, but also because he knew the Ashina samurai carried the coordinates to Ashina.
He wanted to see whether he could find a path to the Land of Ashina through those coordinates.
If he could succeed, then Xiao would no longer be limited to the Great Firmament Arena as his only means of finding other worlds.
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