Chapter 68 | The One Who Devours All

The one-eyed man sneered. “The one wasting his effort is you. Mental attacks are useless against me!”

With that, he grabbed Yue Shi’s leg and swung with all his might, intending to slam him against the wall.

In a flash, Yue Shi grabbed the nearby desk to stop the man from succeeding.

He then exerted his strength, hoisting the entire desk and smashing it violently toward his opponent.

Crash—

The wooden desk struck the floor, shattering into splinters instantly.

The one-eyed man’s figure vanished in an instant, and Yue Shi’s leg was freed. Sensing something, he spun around immediately to find the man appearing behind him like a ghost.

The one-eyed man’s chest heaved violently, his breathing heavy and ragged. His muscles were taut, as if he were preparing to launch a new round of attacks.

Yue Shi didn’t want to waste any more time in a close-quarters struggle. In the next second, a massive flock of ravens made of shadow took flight, surging from every corner of the room toward the one-eyed man.

The one-eyed man, who had been about to strike again, was startled and instinctively took a half-step back.

But more ravens were already surging toward him from behind.

Countless ravens converged from all directions, submerging him in an instant until he looked like he was trapped inside a black sack.

“Get off me!”

Trapped within the flock, the one-eyed man roared. He swung his short sword relentlessly, and under his indiscriminate attacks, several ravens were sent flying or even sliced in half.

However, the ravens summoned by the Shadow Soldiers were not real creatures. Simple physical attacks could not kill them. Even if they were dispersed, they would merely return to the shadows, ready to be summoned again shortly.

An endless stream of ravens clung to him like maggots on a bone. They surrounded the one-eyed man completely, and the sounds of cloth and flesh being torn echoed through the living room, sending chills down one's spine.

The one-eyed man’s outer jacket was the first to be shredded by the ravens, revealing a sturdy, muscular body covered in scars.

Realizing what the ravens intended to do next, the one-eyed man’s movements suddenly became constrained. But the more he hesitated, the more opportunities the ravens found to tear at the fabric of his pants, as if he had fallen into a vicious cycle.

Yue Shi slowly approached the man. He sincerely felt that his repertoire was still too limited. Most of his abilities were utility-oriented. Although he wasn't weak, it clearly wasn't enough; he had to obtain more aggressive powers.

Just then, a sharp whistle pierced the air.

From within the flock, a cold light shot forth as the one-eyed man hurled his short sword at Yue Shi with all his might.

Yue Shi only had time to tilt his body slightly to dodge. The short sword grazed his ear and buried itself deep into the wall.

Another layer of the Demon Feather Barrier broke. A flash of sinister, violent intent instantly erupted in Yue Shi’s eyes.

Turning to look at the short sword stuck in the wall, he immediately reached out and pulled it free.

The moment he gripped the hilt, a cool sensation spread from his fingertips. The blade wasn't long, about a foot in length, but its entire body emitted a strange, dark glow, as if some flowing darkness were contained within.

The edge was visibly sharp, and the blade was covered in dense, strange patterns that looked like ancient, enigmatic runes.

The hilt was made of an unknown black material, resembling the bone of some creature. The surface was rough but fit his hand perfectly, as if it had been custom-made for him.

Two characters were engraved on the hilt, their forms twisted like writhing snakes, glowing with a faint, dark light. Yue Shi glanced at them and saw that the two characters read “██”.

The moment he tried to read those two eerie characters, low, overlapping murmurs echoed faintly in his mind. The short sword was like a living thing, trying to communicate with him, enticing him to hold it tight, and tempting him to speak its name.

Yue Shi even had the illusion that this blade had always belonged to him and had been waiting for him for a long time.

He looked at the one-eyed man struggling within the flock of ravens. The man, who had just been a top-tier martial arts master, now appeared somewhat clumsy. His movements were no longer as fluid or swift as before, and the power in his strikes had weakened significantly.

In contrast, from the moment Yue Shi gripped the short sword, he felt his body become as light as the wind, with every movement bursting with explosive power. The blade danced in his hand, tracing arcs of cold light as if it had become one with him.

Yue Shi was filled with wonder and uncertainty. He felt incredible, as if he had suddenly gained the combat skills that would normally take years of life-and-death struggle to master.

Almost simultaneously, he understood that this short sword was extraordinary and deeply demonic. Anyone who held it would see an immediate improvement in their physical skills and a massive boost to their reaction speed.

Having lost his short sword, the one-eyed man looked as if he had gone mad. Even though he was the one who had mistakenly thrown the blade away, he now completely ignored the ravens attacking him and lunged desperately at Yue Shi, intent on reclaiming the weapon.

He grabbed Yue Shi’s wrist like a drowning man clutching at a final straw and yanked hard.

Yue Shi remained motionless, while the one-eyed man used the momentum to temporarily break free from the ravens. His condition was wretched; his clothes were shredded, leaving only tattered rags barely covering his vital areas. His skin was covered in wounds, and blood flowed freely, making him look extremely pathetic.

Yet, the one-eyed man didn't care about his injuries at all. With one hand gripping Yue Shi’s wrist, he clenched his other hand into a fist and swung it toward Yue Shi’s temple.

Whether with the blade before or his fist now, every move he made was a killing blow, intended to end a life directly.

However, Yue Shi remained calm and unhurried. Because the opponent's close-combat ability had been drastically reduced, the man had lost his greatest advantage.

Yue Shi leaned his body back while simultaneously exerting force with his wrist to pull the one-eyed man. The man’s punch missed, and the pull caused him to stumble, falling forward.

Yue Shi took the opportunity to drive his knee upward, slamming it hard into the man’s face.

The impact deformed the one-eyed man’s face, and his nose broke with a sickening crack.

Immediately after, Yue Shi grabbed the man’s wrist and swung his entire body up like a dead dog, slamming him into the ground with a heavy shoulder throw.