Naked Sword Art

Chapter 527: Cannibal Turning The Tide

"Kill!"

The soldiers shouted in unison, charging down the hill and straight into battle. Their battlecries were full of vigor, patriotism, and vengeance.

Nearly everyone had lost a loved one to the beast wars over the past decade. Now that they knew the Song Clan stood behind it all, they were committed to killing every last one of those bastards with no remorse.

Weapons fell upon beasts and Song clansmen alike as the army crashed into the battlefield, carving a path of slaughter.

Li Huxin and the captains fought desperately against the advancing beast wave, but there were simply too many of them.

"Father!" one of his sons shouted. "Grab Li Lian—we have to retreat!"

Li Huxin frowned. He didn’t understand why the Heavenly Realm cultivator had fled the moment he ordered the beasts and Song Clan forces to attack. But now, with his army fully engaged and locked in combat, retreating was no simple matter.

Still, his priority was clear.

His children came first.

He reached down, lifting Li Lian into his arms as the captains immediately shifted formation, preparing to carve a path out of the battlefield.

They had only taken a few steps—

When an unsettling roar rolled through the valley.

It wasn’t just the Li clansmen who froze. Even the Song Clan cultivators and the charging beasts faltered, fear rippling through the battlefield.

Something massive descended from the sky.

With a thunderous crash, a three-meter-tall beast slammed into the center of the battlefield—humanoid in form, with grotesquely oversized arms that scraped the ground as it rose.

The moment Xun Wei and Xiao Hei saw it, their expressions changed.

"That’s Fang’s!"

A ninth-tier cannibal abnormal beast with a gold core and illusory techniques.

The sight of the Cannibal Abnormal Beast tearing through the horde sent shockwaves of terror through the battlefield. Beasts that moments ago had charged without fear now scattered in panic, fleeing in every direction.

The appearance of the Cannibal Abnormal Beast single handedly turned the tide of the battle.

The Li Clan soldiers didn’t understand why such a monster was fighting on their side, but they didn’t need to. As the horde broke apart, the Song Clan cultivators hiding within it were laid bare.

Li Huxin’s eyes hardened.

"Kill!"

The army roared with confidence, victory was within reach!

...

Far from the chaos, the Heavenly Realm cultivator finally slowed, convinced he had put enough distance between himself and the battlefield. His racing heart began to steady.

"That girl..." he muttered darkly. "Not only can her flames burn me to that extent, she even possesses a Daoist Conception. I need to report this to the clan."

A voice answered him.

"Trying to escape?"

The chill that ran through his body was instant.

Above him, the clouds split apart—as if pierced by something small, precise, yet utterly catastrophic. He snapped his head upward and saw it.

Panic surged.

He hurriedly forced his remaining strength upward, trying to counter the descending strike. But after suffering too many injuries at Li Lian’s hands, his power fell short.

Tearing through his defense, a golden spear pinned him in midair as blood sprayed outward, before his lifeless form was driven down and smashed into the ground with devastating force.

The battle was over before it even began. Killing the heavenly realm cultivator with a decisive strike. This was war, not a time to be flashy.

...

Xiao Fang had been watching from above the battlefield the entire time, waiting patiently for the right moment to intervene. He had known the beast wave was coming. He had known that remaining in seclusion would force the Li Clan to move. And most importantly—

He had known the [ Demon Eye ] was watching.

Now away from any eyes, Xiao Fang made his move.

The only miscalculation was his failure to fully absorb the seven-stone Heavenly-Grade soul crystal. He had fallen just short. Now, with only six Heavenly-Grade Soul Stones remaining, he no longer had enough for another attempt.

Xiao Fang looked down at the impaled cultivator, expression unreadable as he pulled his spear out of the cultivator’s body.

"...If I had one more chance," he murmured quietly.

The Heavenly Realm cultivator was dead—and with his death, his soul lay exposed, ready to be devoured. Yet the moment Xiao Fang drew it out, he hesitated.

His soul sea was already strained, packed with restless souls he could barely keep contained. Absorbing another Heavenly Realm soul now was a risk he couldn’t afford. There was no telling what kind of backlash it might cause.

Then, unexpectedly, one of his soul stones reacted.

Xiao Fang took it out and watched as it gravitated toward the soul in his grasp. Understanding dawned on him. He allowed the soul to enter the empty stone.

In the next instant, the stone flared with crimson light.

"This..." Xiao Fang murmured in surprise. "Is this how Heavenly-Grade Soul Stones are created?"

With this, he now had 7 Heavenly-Grade soul stones, just enough to make another attempt at learning the Weapon-type attack formation.

The realization was tempting, he wanted to begin right away.

However, as much as he wanted to make another attempt at absorbing the Heavenly-Grade attack formation, there was still something he needed to do first.

.

.

.

When Xiao Fang returned to the battlefield, the Li clansmen were finishing off the last remnants of the Song Clan soldiers. Smoke still lingered in the air, but the outcome was already decided.

This had been the first true clash of the war against the Song Clan, and it had ended in an overwhelming victory.

Inside the infirmary tent, Li Lian sat propped up as healers worked frantically to tend to her injuries. Xiao Fang headed straight for her—but before he could reach her, Li Huxin stepped into his path.

"Young man," Li Huxin said sternly, "do you understand the danger you put us in? If not for that rogue cannibal beast appearing in their horde, this battle could have been lost just as easily."

Xiao Fang didn’t respond.

Instead, Li Huxin noticed what Xiao Fang was dragging behind him.

His breath caught.

The body that slid across the tent floor was unmistakable.

"This—" Li Huxin froze. "That’s a Heavenly Realm cultivator... How did you—"

Before he could finish, Xiao Fang raised his hand.

In the next instant, the Cannibal Abnormal Beast manifested behind him, towering over three meters tall. A suffocating wave of fear swept through the infirmary as healers and soldiers alike stiffened in terror.

"That beast—!"

"It’s back!"

Just as quickly, Xiao Fang dismissed it, returning the beast to his soul sea.

Silence fell. But everyone finally understood what truly happened.

’So this victory...’ Li Huxin thought. ’was because of him.’

He looked at Xiao Fang again, his expression complicated, words failing him for once.

"May I see her?" Xiao Fang asked quietly.

"You want to see Lian?" Li Huxin replied after a pause. "Yes... of course."

"Fang," Li Lian said softly as watched him approach.

But Xiao Fang stopped short.

His expression hardened.

Beneath the blindfold, his golden eyes glowed faintly as he observed her—not her body, but her soul.

And what he saw was wrong. That was not Li Lian’s soul.

Li Lian sensed the shift instantly.

"Fang...?"

Before anyone could react, Xiao Fang stepped forward and seized her by the neck, lifting her effortlessly from the bed.

Gasps erupted throughout the tent.

"You dare!"

But Xiao Fang ignored their words, as he only paid attention to Li Lian.

"You..." Xiao Fang’s voice was cold and dangerous. "Who are you?"