Chapter 310: Xiongba's Doubt
Both opponents wore the ceremonial garb of the World Society's incense masters.
Xue Antian, true to his name, looked like a walking skeleton—gaunt, dark-skinned, his body corrupted from years of cultivating yin-based inner energy.
Beside him stood Cold Bufang, a man with two brightly colored venomous snakes coiled around his neck, their eyes fixed coldly on the crowd.
"A lord-tier and a commander-tier."
Shanks was shocked but not surprised.
He and Mihawk weren't exactly pushovers. Sending basic enemies would've been pointless.
Luckily, they still had Huo Butian and the disciples of Huo Manor on their side.
For someone to become the manor lord, they couldn't be weak.
"I bring a final message from Master Xiongba of the World Society:
Submit to the Society and serve the Master, and Huo Manor will be well-fed and worry-free.
Refuse, and there will be no mercy!"
As Xue Antian spoke, his body radiated an icy aura that pressed down on everyone, making it hard to breathe.
"The World Society is evil to its core. How many martial sects have you butchered? How many innocent lives lost?"
Huo Butian's face turned dark as he shouted, "Huo Manor and the World Society are enemies to the death!"
Crack.
He was met with a strike of chilling inner force.
The energy solidified into a black sphere shaped like a skull, hurling itself toward Huo Butian.
"Huo Family Sword Art!"
Huo Butian drew his longsword, his strikes fierce and fast, blocking the dark inner force.
It looked like an even match—
But his arms hung low, frostbitten at the wrists.
Xue Antian's inner force had corrosive and freezing effects. Though the energy blast was blocked,
the chill and corrosion had already begun to damage his body.
The two clashed in close combat. Within a few exchanges, both of Huo Butian's arms were covered in frostbite.
"Mihawk, go help Huo Butian. The beast tamer's mine."
Shanks unleashed his aura.
It made everyone around him turn to look.
"What a unique aura… Is it a spiritual cultivation technique? He can project willpower? Too bad it's so weak."
Xue Antian looked intrigued but quickly lost interest.
He didn't recognize Conqueror's Haki—he assumed it was some rare technique.
But in Fengyun World, where Tier-2 martial arts were everywhere, it was hardly impressive.
Just peculiar.
"Divine Evade!"
Shanks took a deep breath, channeling all his energy.
He swung his blade—Griffin—unleashing his signature move.
The technique combined Asura's wave energy with the pinnacle of his three-color Haki.
A griffin-shaped light construct erupted, baring fangs and claws as it lunged toward Cold Bufang.
"Heh, party tricks!"
Cold Bufang, though commander-tier, was only slightly weaker than Xue Antian.
As one of Xiongba's trusted incense masters, he too was a dangerous and cunning fighter.
He stroked the twin snakes around his neck, infusing them with inner energy.
They rapidly swelled like balloons, growing into sea serpent–sized monsters.
They lashed out and spewed purple-red venom, neutralizing Shanks' energy strike.
"These Blackhorn Vipers are elite beasts I found deep in the mountains.
They can endure my most poisonous inner force—even Master Xiongba praises them."
Bufang spoke Xiongba's name with pride and reverence.
Shanks lifted his eyes.
Even at commander-tier, the giant snakes were serious business.
Three commander-tier threats at once—it was no wonder they had come with Xue Antian.
"Flame Burst Wave Slash!"
Shanks gripped his blade with both hands.
The sword glowed red-hot, sparks flying. A geyser of flame erupted like a volcano.
"Fire-based inner energy?"
The snakes' scales flared open like spines.
Poisonous mists oozed from beneath the plates, consuming the fire pillar.
Cold Bufang frowned.
Two moves in, and his opponent had already shown two different attributes.
Was he cultivating multiple inner energies?
He sneered inwardly.
Dual cultivation required either incredible talent—or utter stupidity.
Shanks, in his eyes, was the latter.
Neither technique was refined.
This kind of flashy, shallow player was no threat.
"It didn't work?"
Shanks looked grim.
The enemy was far stronger than expected. Even the Flame Burst Wave Slash had no effect.
Good thing he had broken through to Tier-2.
Otherwise, he might have lost immediately.
This wasn't like fighting monsters.
This enemy was intelligent—and the martial world had far more battle-hardened fighters.
To win, he'd need to go all out.
"Trying to play hero?
Helping Huo Manor after we've already claimed it? How suicidal."
Cold Bufang smiled darkly.
The twin snakes coiled like scissors, unleashing a poisonous storm.
"Twin Serpent Shadows!"
"Immovable Vajra Array!"
As the serpents lunged, Shanks unleashed his strongest wave-based skill.
An array rose from the earth. Complex wave seals pulsed with violent energy.
Chains shot outward, wrapping around the snakes and Bufang.
Then came two massive orbs of energy, spinning like crushing boulders.
"Two Wave Orbs… that's my limit."
Shanks was drenched in sweat, energy visibly draining from his body.
Thank goodness for the herb he found in Huo Manor's vault.
Otherwise, he'd have needed two more potions.
BOOM.
The array exploded.
In front of him lay a bloodied Cold Bufang and the limp bodies of the snakes—scales cracked and leaking fluid.
But almost instantly,
the snake-beasts rose again, slithering back into the fight.
At the World Society's headquarters—
Mountains like dragon spines held countless palaces and banners that fluttered in the wind,
declaring the Society's dominance.
"Huo Manor should be gone by now, yes?"
On the throne in the central hall sat a middle-aged man in regal golden robes.
He barely opened his eyes, yet his aura was suffocating.
A natural-born tyrant.
Overwhelming in presence.
"Master, by the travel estimates, the incense masters should be at Huo Manor now.
We expect good news soon."
His advisor, Wen Chouchou, dressed like a comedic scholar, spoke respectfully.
A black eagle swept through the sky and landed on Xiongba's shoulder.
He read the message tube.
His face darkened. "Xue Antian and Cold Bufang are dead."
"What?!"
Wen Chouchou was stunned.
"Both incense masters were far stronger than Huo Butian. And they went together. Did someone aid him?"
Xiongba's eyes turned icy.
Two incense masters dying meant nothing. They could be replaced.
But someone daring to defy him—
that was a direct slap to the face.
"Witnesses say the killers vanished without a trace."
Xiongba frowned.
Vanished?
Ridiculous. No technique was that fast.
Even with his Wind God Legs, he couldn't just disappear.
Perhaps the witnesses were simply too weak.
"Golden carp shall not remain in shallow ponds—when the wind stirs, it becomes a dragon."
He muttered the prophecy given to him by the Mud Buddha.
He was that golden carp, soon to ascend.
No one would stop him.
No one could.
He would be ruler of this continent.
Inside the Reincarnation Space—
Afu snacked on Fengyun's Blood Bodhi fruit and sipped Elixir Dew. "Master, will you recruit Xiongba as a player?"
A destiny-chosen figure in the Tier-2 Fengyun world,
he'd be a powerful weapon against the corrupted continent.
Fang Yi shook his head.
"In worlds like Fengyun, where the world's awareness is already corrupted,
recruiting major figures would immediately alert the enemy."
"That's why we use derivative world projections—
to gradually purge Xiongba's corruption. Once it's low enough to avoid detection,
we recruit."
"At this rate, players will need to kill derivative Xiongba four more times to make that happen."
He wasn't about to expose the Reincarnation Game just to recruit one powerful character.
So far, the enemy was in the dark—just how he liked it.
And Xiongba wasn't easy to recruit either.
[Xiongba – Lv.45 (Dark Gold Lord)]: Favored by destiny, ruler of the World Society. Master of Frost Fist, Cloud Palm, Wind God Legs, and Threefold Returning Qi.
In the current game,
he rivaled the strongest lords like [Light City Lord Seigheart] and [Hammer King Borodin].
Conquering the World Society would be no easy task.
Elsewhere—
Butterfly Shinobu, sent by the Demon Slayer Corps to contact Claymore members,
had just arrived by steamship at Claymore Island.
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