Chapter 309: Showdown

A thunderous roar shook the arena, making the onlookers’ eyelids twitch involuntarily. They almost wanted to cover their ears. Lin Xiao bore the brunt of it as the sound waves condensed into a blast and struck his face directly.

Lin Xiao felt his head spin, golden stars flashing chaotically before his eyes, his ears ringing. His body slowed for just an instant.

In that fleeting moment, Wang Changguang seized the opportunity. Drawing his chest inward with a sharp inhale, he forcefully contracted his torso by several inches, narrowly evading Lin Xiao’s powerful attack. His five fingers then curled into a claw, aiming straight for Lin Xiao’s crown.

With a sharp tearing sound, Wang Changguang’s claw appeared before Lin Xiao’s eyes.

As the master of the Golden Claw Sect, Wang Changguang’s Eagle Claw Technique, in his hands, was incomparable to when performed by others like Duan Changhan.

At this moment, Wang Changguang’s hand was like a colossal eagle’s talon, both in form and spirit. It was fierce and unstoppable, capable of crushing steel with a single grasp.

Just as the claw was about to seize his crown, Lin Xiao’s eyes blazed with a sharp glint. His legs twisted at an astonishing speed, crossing over each other in a dazzling blur—like a dragon swaying its tail. His body flickered, leaving an afterimage as he vanished from Wang Changguang’s sight.

“What?!”

The confident strike missed. Even with his deep composure, Wang Changguang’s expression shifted slightly. As he sought Lin Xiao’s figure, an intense sense of danger suddenly surged from behind him!

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Wang Changguang sprang sideways, twisting mid-air like a startled wildcat, agile beyond belief. He leaped more than five meters and spun to look behind him.

There stood Lin Xiao, precisely where Wang Changguang had been moments before—poised in an offensive stance, yet not pursuing further.

Wang Changguang spread his arms and landed steadily, his gaze toward Lin Xiao showing a flicker of wariness for the first time.

Moments earlier, he hadn’t even seen how Lin Xiao had evaded his attack. In his mind, there should have been no chance for his strike to miss.

As Lin Xiao and Wang Changguang separated after several swift exchanges, the surrounding spectators stood frozen, dumbfounded.

The less skilled disciples could barely follow their moves, seeing only blurred shadows. Their speed was beyond comprehension.

However, Duan Changhan and the other advanced experts, though inferior in strength, had sharp eyes. They watched the duel with pounding hearts, their mouths agape in awe and fear.

“What was that movement technique just now?” Wang Changguang narrowed his eyes. “You actually dodged my Eagle Claw?”

Lin Xiao, naturally, didn’t respond.

Though he suppressed his inner power to the peak of the Dark Force stage, it was hard to conceal his sharp reflexes and elusive footwork. Wang Changguang’s attack, swift as it was—enough to trouble most peak Dark Force experts—was nothing extraordinary for him.

“No matter,” Wang Changguang sneered coldly. “You got lucky once, but I don’t believe your luck will hold forever.”

His voice turned icy. “Now, let me show you the true power of my Great Eagle Claw.”

With a sudden leap, Wang Changguang soared, his twin claws striking downward with deadly force. The momentum alone seemed capable of rending Lin Xiao in two!

The Fierce Eagle’s Descent!

Faced with this devastating strike, Lin Xiao drew a deep breath, his knees bending slightly, hips sinking low, shoulders relaxed. He neither dodged nor retreated—both fists surged upward to meet the claws.

Boom!

The collision was deafening. Wang Changguang’s razor-sharp claws carved faint gashes into Lin Xiao’s iron-hard fists, drawing a few threads of blood—the defense had been breached.

Yet, Wang Changguang fared no better. Lin Xiao’s twin-fisted strike sent him hurtling backward.

The clash, however, proved Wang Changguang’s prowess. Even though Lin Xiao restrained his cultivation to the Dark Force peak, managing to wound him—an expert of the Flowing Force—was a testament to Wang Changguang’s terrifying strength.

But Wang Changguang was unaware of Lin Xiao’s true power. He assumed Lin Xiao was merely a genius who had just broken into the peak of Dark Force.

As he landed, Wang Changguang felt his chest roiling and his hand numb with pain. Several fingernails had shattered from the impact.

“How… how is this possible?” Wang Changguang’s mind reeled. “Even if he’s a prodigy, he’s only just reached the Dark Force peak. How can he be this strong?”

Before he could fully process his shock, the earth trembled—Lin Xiao launched himself off the ground, his body cutting through the air like a missile. His cold, detached gaze burned with twin infernos of determination. His fists, now faster and more ferocious, tore toward Wang Changguang.

Wang Changguang’s face twisted with a flicker of rage and killing intent. Without retreating, he countered. One hand intercepted Lin Xiao’s fist, while the other clawed silently for Lin Xiao’s heart.

The sound of impact echoed as Wang Changguang’s claw caught Lin Xiao’s fist. He began to tighten his grip, aiming to crush Lin Xiao’s knuckles—until his expression abruptly contorted, and he instinctively withdrew his hand with lightning speed.

Too late!

Crack!

A sickening crunch followed. Several of Wang Changguang’s fingers shattered under Lin Xiao’s blow, blood gushing from the jagged breaks.

“Impossible!” Wang Changguang flipped backward mid-air, his wounded hand recoiling as he retreated swiftly, his face a canvas of disbelief. The sudden escalation in Lin Xiao’s power struck him like a tidal wave.

His heart pounded violently.

Because, in that brief exchange, Lin Xiao’s strength had doubled compared to before.

It was this surge that caused Wang Changguang to miscalculate and attempt to meet brute force with brute force.

What terrified Wang Changguang even more was that, while he suffered numbness and turmoil within his body from their collision—Lin Xiao remained steady, bearing only surface wounds.

Wang Changguang landed in a stagger, retreating several steps. Yet, before he could stabilize, Lin Xiao had already closed in again. His eyes burned with cold, unyielding fire.

Seeing those eyes, Wang Changguang’s heart skipped—a pang of dread. Then, shame and fury ignited within him.

Who was he?

He was Wang Changguang, master of the Golden Claw Sect, a towering figure in Jiangdong Province’s martial world—a peak Dark Force expert on the verge of transforming mastery.

Yet here he was, facing a mere upstart, a youth who had supposedly only just reached the Dark Force Jin peak—and he felt fear?

“Arrogant brat!” Wang Changguang’s eyes blazed with killing intent.

With a sharp growl, he surged forward instead of retreating. His uninjured hand lashing out, talons poised for Lin Xiao’s throat.

Though wounded, Wang Changguang’s power remained terrifying. This claw, fueled by wrath and malice, tore through the air with a screeching hiss.

Yet, no matter how deadly, a missed strike was meaningless.

Lin Xiao’s body blurred, vanishing from the path of the claws as though he had melted into shadows. The attack barely grazed his cheek, then—

Boom!

Both of Lin Xiao’s fists, brimming with unstoppable power, slammed into Wang Changguang’s chest.