Chapter 349: Musi Te

"Send my brother to the city of Ning on Earth, and I'll hand over [Eclipse]," Hong Xi continued.

Musi Te laughed. "I said the two of you could live, but I'm certainly not letting either of you go."

Hong Xi frowned, then suggested. "In that case, let my brother down. I'll be your hostage instead."

Musi Te cocked an eyebrow, then motioned for his bodyguards to do as Hong Xi suggested.

"Hong Xiao!" As Hong Xiao was pushed toward her, she strode forward, supporting his body as she stuffed a soulshard in his hand.

Musi Te grinned evilly. "Take good care of Hong Xi. Don't harm her—I plan on getting to know her well tonight!"

Now that Hong Xiao had been secured, Hong Xi would have some agency. "[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!"

The entire warehouse trembled, and the force of water from her fists sent some of Musi Te's bodyguards flying into the wall.

Musi Te was impressed by her strength. "Not bad! You've really improved quite a bit."

His bodyguards were all hunters from the second realm who were at over half their superior gene capacity, and even if they were caught by surprise, it was still quite impressive that Hong Xi had managed to send them flying with just one blow.

As far as he could recall, Hong Xi wasn't a particularly strong hunter. A few months ago, any of his bodyguards could have beaten the two siblings bloody. How had she become so strong? The conclusion was obvious—it had to be the power of [Eclipse]!

As expected of the Eclipse Sage's genius, to be able to enhance the abilities of even a useless fool like her… Musi Te's eyes gleamed. He had to acquire [Eclipse] for himself!

Of course, the greater part of Hong Xi's strength came from Zhang Lie's instruction, but that wasn't something she would reveal.

"Not bad, not bad! No wonder it's a technique my father wanted so badly—it's a waste to leave such a treasure in the hands of the Hong clan! Only the Musi clan will be able to make full use of its strength." He turned to his bodyguards. "You trash, be more serious!"

The bodyguards stumbled up and rushed toward Hong Xi.

"Hong Xiao, activate that superior-grade dragonscale turtle soulshard and protect yourself!" Hong Xi materialized a fan in her left hand and a sword in her right. She activated [Eclipse] and instantly reached the peak of her strength.

She waved her fan frantically, causing the winds to dance around her; her sword flashed as erratically as the moon, causing her enemies to become momentarily dazed. [The Elusive Moon] allowed her to avoid all the attacks directed her way.

In what seemed like the flash of an eye, Musi Te's bodyguards all dropped to the floor. Hong Xi pointed her sword at him. "Now, it's your turn."

Musi Te seemed a little surprised, but he couldn't help laughing. "You think you can take me on?"

Hong Xi waved her fan straight at him, sending a howling twister to swallow him up.

As the air cleared, however, she found Musi Te standing unharmed in the center of the twister. "A rather relaxing wind. Want to send more my way?"

"What?" Hong Xi could hardly believe her eyes. She waved her fan again, summoning another twister of wind with which to overwhelm Musi Te.

Musi Te dodged the attack. "Do you really think you can take me down just with a single soulshard of that caliber? Hand over [Eclipse] and stop trying to fight back, and I might consider making you my wench!"

Hong Xi gritted her teeth. Waving her sword, she sent countless sword slashes flying his way, all of which Musi Te deflected with ease with a gigantic shield that materialized from his left arm.

"Do you really think that you can beat me, scion of the Musi clan, in terms of accumulated soulshards? And do you really think that I'm weak just because I'm escorted by a posse of bodyguards wherever I go?"

Hong Xi's face couldn't help turn serious—she could sense Musi Te's aura growing stronger and stronger, as though it were about to erupt like a volcano.

"Do you really think I would still be a scion of the Musi clan if I weren't good at fighting myself? I don't like getting my hands dirty, but that doesn't mean I'm weak—in fact, none of my bodyguards are any match for me! Well? How does it feel to have your plans ruined?" Musi Te grinned as though he had already vanquished Hong Xi.

In truth, given the Musi clan's tremendous resources, they could even train a pig to fly. Among the pigpens of the Musi clan, Musi Te was just a fatter pig than most.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Our young master's long since been undefeated in his generation—do you think that girl will be able to survive three blows with him?"

"Even three blows is more than I'd expect—I doubt it'd take more than one!"

"[Black Sun]!" Musi Te shouted.

The domain of [Black Sun] seemed to be a perfect counter to [Eclipse], and the fluctuations of genetic energy surrounding Musi Te's body grew stronger by a significant margin. This was the secret technique of the Musi clan, [Black Sun].

Unlike [Eclipse], which devoured the genetic energy in the user's surroundings, [Black Sun] augmented the user with the surroundings' genetic energy. Allegedly, the reason the Musi clan wanted [Eclipse] so badly was because it was an immaculate technique, the magnum opus of the Eclipse Sage himself.

In contrast, [Black Sun] was still an incomplete technique, one that was far less impactful on the battlefield than [Eclipse]. Furthermore, there seemed to be some mysterious connection between the two inverted techniques, and the Musi clan believed that the synthesis of the two techniques could produce a marvel never yet seen, perhaps even something that would allow the Musi clan to gain complete control over the third realm.

As he activated his domain, Musi Te materializd a sharp, black polearm in his hands, one burning with netherworld flame. "Take this—[Glaive of Black Sun]!"

He shot a burst of fire straight toward Hong Xi, who attempted to deflect it with her fan and rapier Her fan gleamed with a soft, silvery light, while her sword shone with reflected moonbeams. Fire and wind filled the room.

In the end, Musi Te's weapon and technique were stronger than Hong Xi's, and the flames roared toward her. Hong Xi activated her iris peacock soulshard, which pierced Musi Te's glaive. He had no idea just what that soulshard was, so he didn't deliberately avoid it.

With a sudden burst, the glaive flashed and reverted to its soulshard form, causing Musi Te's eyes to widen. He could sense that the connection between him and the soulshard had been temporarily severed.

The superior-grade iris peacock soulshard was a particularly versatile soulshard that Zhang Lie would have kept for himself if not for the fact that it couldn't affect soulshards of a higher grade. Furthermore, it wouldn't be able to sever the bond between soulshard and wielder for too long; Zhang Lie didn't think it would be all that useful to him, but it could well be an ace up Hong Xi's sleeve.

Musi Te clearly hadn't expected such a trick. While he was flustered, Hong Xi shot forward, waving fan and sword alike—but Musi Te's shield was able to deflect her blows.

"Let's see just how many other soulshards you have!"

Upon seeing Musi Te pull out yet another soulshard, Hong Xi repeated her trick, and Musi Te had no choice but to dodge. The two combatants' fight ended up in an unstable equilibrium.

As they clashed with glaive and sword, with wind and fire, a rainbow-colored beam shot toward Musi Te, dispelling yet another soulshard from his possession.

Musi Te was honestly quite shocked that Hong Xi had held out for this long; he was even slightly on the losing end. His face turned dark as his eyes gleamed with greed. How long had she had [Eclipse]? Surely not more than a few months—and she was like a different hunter entirely already! No wonder his father wanted it so greedily!

He had to acquire this technique at all costs!

Musi Te suddenly howled. Black flames rolled off his body, devouring everything in sight. The sturdy warehouse, built of reinforced material, even began to melt in the frightening heat.

"Die! [Midnight Sun]!" Black beams shot toward Hong Xi, evaporating all that surrounded them.

Hong Xi's hasty defense was no match for it, and her attacks broke apart in an instant. She activated her iris-peacock soulshard once more, but Musi Te didn't bother avoiding its beam as he swept downward with his glaive.