<h4>Chapter 352: The Pride of the Hong</h4>


    Hong Xi countered, "And what of the enmity between the Hong and Musi ns? I hardly think there''s any possibility of repairing our rtionship."


    "Repairing our rtionship? Oh, no, no—I''ll simply tell the n that you''re all dead. The two of you can''t be thinking of taking revenge on the Musi n, surely?"


    Hong Xi narrowed her eyes. "Why not? Should I allow the Musi n to kill those of the Hong n without retribution?"


    Musi Fughed. "Come, now— how many hunters are left in the Hong n? Just you and your brother, no one else! On the other hand, the Musi n''s at the height of prosperity. Even if you kill Musi Te, there''ll still be a Musi Ke, a Musi Zhan, a Musi He—far too many young masters for me to name. Do you really think you would be able to take revenge on the Musi n as is?"


    Hong Xiao roared, "In that case, we''ll ughter them one by one, until they be as decrepit as the Hong n!"


    "Lad, it took your sister all she had to kill Musi Te. Do you think you''ll be able to kill Musi Ke, Musi Feng, and Musi Lu, who are said to be at the peak of the third realm? And after that, how about the Musi n head? Do you really think you can get rid of him too? The Musi n will only grow more and more prosperous with every day he remains alive, but on the other hand, if the two of you die here, the Hong line will end with you!"


    Musi F was quite good at persuasion, and his words left both Hong Xi and Hong Xiao silent. Indeed, they wouldn''t be able to aplish much beyond killing the young masters of the Musi n. The head of the Musi n was a hegemon in the third realm, and his continued presence would only strengthen the n. On the other hand, the Hong n was already on itsst legs.


    Musi F was confident that he would be able to secure the two youths'' cooperation, but Hong Xi remained unconvinced.


    "I admit that you''re right, that the Hong n consists only of us siblings. As descendants of the Hong, we should do our best to protect our line, but my master has taught me never to sumb, and the Hong n needs no cowards." She stared at Musi F firmly, steely resolve in her eyes.


    Hong Xiao nodded. "The n''s honor is more important than our lives."


    Musi F shook his head in regret. "Ah, the naivete of youth! You wouldn''tst three blows against me with your current skills. Believe me, you don''t have any other choice but to cooperate with me. I''m trying to be nice here—don''t force me to hold you here until I find a hunter who has a summoned soulbeast with them!"


    Hong Xi cocked an eyebrow. "So you were scheming against us from the very beginning! Don''t you worry—regardless of whether we live or die, there''s no chance at all that you''ll be able to acquire [Eclipse]."


    The hunters of the Musi n began tough.


    "This girl''s crazy to think that she can stand up to Musi F!"


    "Who does she think she is? Does she really expect to be able to take on Musi F just because she managed to defeat Musi Te? They''re on a different level entirely!"


    Musi F sighed. "A foolish woman you are. Even ten of youbined wouldn''t be able to touch me—this sort of fight would be meaningless!"


    He continued to try to persuade Hong Xi, but she refused to listen. With a fan in her left hand and a sword in her right, she activated the domain of [Eclipse].


    Musi F shook his head and pulled out his long sword in exasperation. "It looks like you won''t ever be obedient if I don''t teach you a lesson!"


    Hong Xi shot forward with a flurry of moonlight strikes, but Musi F countered her attack with nothing more than a simple wave of his sword.


    Hong Xi shot out a beam from her iris peacock soulshard. Before it struck him, he vanished from sight, then appeared immediately in front of her.


    "I told you, there''s nothing you can do against me." Musi F impaled Hong Xi with his sword.


    Hong Xiao cried out in fear, "Sister!"


    Strangely, however, not a single drop of blood leaked out of the wound. Musi F frowned. Before he could react, Hong Xi''s body shattered, and she appeared by his side, shooting out another beam from her iris peacock soulshard at him.


    Musi F had been observing the match between her and Musi Te, and he had devised a strategy to counter hers in the meantime. He dodged the beam once more, then swept his sword in an arc all around him, revealing the cloaked Hong Xi.


    "[Fists of the Silent Sea: Tremor]!" Ripples of gic energy collected on her fist, sliding down and stacking over her arm.


    Musi F had watched Musi Te die to such a blow, and he was naturally careful not to take it head-on. He swiveled his body, but, to his surprise, Hong Xi also pulled her arm back and sent a kick in his direction instead.


    With his left arm, Musi F caught and hooked her leg, then made to attack her with the sword in his right. The attack was so rapid that Hong Xi had no chance of evading it.


    A long, fiery robe suddenly materialized over her body. mes red where Musi F''s sword touched it, forcing him to stumble back in shock.


    He narrowed his eyes. "To think you were hiding this even in your fight against Musi Te."


    He inwardly cursed Musi Te for being such a useless hunter that he wasn''t even able to force Hong Xi to reveal her armor-type soulshard. It was evident that she had considered Musi Te beneath her all this time.


    The short-ranged explosion didn''t hurt Musi F, but it did singe part of his hair. He tsked in annoyance. "It looks like I have to take this somewhat seriously, too. [ck Sun, luded Skies]!"


    A ck sun rose into the air, one far stronger andrger than Musi Te''s pale imitation of the technique. Under the ck sun, Musi F''s aura grew tremendously. His body swelled; he seemed to turn into a deity of ck me, with an aura that forced Hong Xi to stagger back.


    Musi F clenched his fists. Just how much stronger would [ck Sun] grow with the inclusion of [Eclipse]? He stared greedily at Hong Xi.