Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 397 Bai Ren Vs Half-Qilin!

With Gou You eliminated, it was only natural for Bai Ren to shift his focus toward the Half-Qilin.

The Half-Qilin narrowed its gaze, inspecting the blade gripped in Bai Ren's hand.

Although he could detect a formidable power emanating from the weapon, he remained unconvinced that it would alter the final outcome.

"You wish to be the next to die?"

The Half-Qilin questioned with blatant arrogance.

"You are welcome to try!"

Bai Ren countered, his voice steady and devoid of terror.

Naturally, despite his outward display of bravery, he was well aware of the monster he was up against—a creature that had slaughtered an Earth Immortal with ease.

"Zhao Wujin! Yu Xuande! I need your support!"

Bai Ren shouted. He lacked the vanity to believe that even a Saint-Grade Sword would allow him to defeat the Half-Qilin single-handedly.

!!!

Zhao Wujin jolted out of his daze. He looked at Bai Ren’s sword, his heart swirling with a volatile mix of longing and jealousy.

He knew that regardless of how this conflict concluded, they would eventually return to being rivals of the Bai Clan.

The realization that the Bai Clan held such a devastating hidden card made him tremble. Had they actually launched an assault on the Bai Clan and faced this sword—he might have shared Gou You's grisly fate.

"U-Understood!"

Yu Xuande called back.

Zhao Wujin gritted his teeth, forcing his chaotic thoughts into a corner of his mind. The immediate threat took priority over everything else.

Taking a sharp breath, his eyes grew focused as his aura began to swell.

"Very well," Zhao Wujin uttered solemnly. "Let us begin!"

Yu Xuande was already in motion.

"We will pin it down just like before!"

Yu Xuande yelled, his tone strained yet filled with determination.

"Bai Ren, strike while we hold it in place!"

Zhao Wujin acted without a second thought.

He lunged forward, his blood essence igniting as his aura erupted with violent intensity.

"Sky-Binding Suppression!"

The firmament shook as ethereal chains coiled around the Half-Qilin's massive frame, attempting to lock it down.

Simultaneously, Yu Xuande’s blade blurred through the air.

The fabric of space twisted and folded, creating layers of restrictive barriers that enveloped the Half-Qilin from every angle—a repeat of their previous tactic.

For a fleeting second, it appeared to be effective.

The Half-Qilin’s movements grew sluggish.

Zhao Wujin’s eyes sparkled with hope.

"Strike now!"

Bai Ren lunged forward—

But then, the Half-Qilin let out a laugh. It was a low, resonant sound dripping with absolute scorn.

BOOM!

A tidal wave of aura blasted outward from the creature.

The restrictive chains snapped like dry twigs, shattering into nothingness. The warped space collapsed with such force that Yu Xuande was hurled backward, coughing up a spray of blood.

Zhao Wujin’s face drained of color.

"What?!"

He was baffled by how the Half-Qilin had broken free so effortlessly when it had seemingly struggled moments ago.

"How fragile," the beast remarked coldly.

With a mere step forward—

CRACK!

The earth for hundreds of meters around them disintegrated.

With a lazy swipe of its arm, a devastating shockwave was unleashed.

Zhao Wujin took the full brunt of the impact.

PUFF!

Blood sprayed as he was tossed through the air like a ragdoll, crashing through multiple mountain ridges before finally coming to a halt.

"Zhao Wujin!"

Yu Xuande barely had a moment to breathe before a colossal claw lunged toward him from the sky.

BOOM!

His defensive treasures shattered one by one. His formations were wiped out instantly, and his body was driven into the dirt, blood leaking from his lips.

"Argh!"

Both men were left severely wounded.

The Half-Qilin looked down at them with total apathy. It was now clear that it had been playing with them earlier, purposely letting them believe they had the upper hand.

The Half-Qilin bared its teeth at Yu Xuande.

"Enough. I have humored you for long enough."

Yu Xuande’s pupils contracted.

His defenses were gone. He was too slow to dodge and too weak to block.

(Is this the end for me...?)

The claw fell.

But just as the lethal strike was about to connect—

CLANG!!!

A thunderous metallic clash echoed across the battlefield.

The resulting shockwave flattened the terrain and sent Qi spiraling in violent gusts. The Half-Qilin’s claw had been halted mid-air.

Bai Ren stood firmly between the beast and Yu Xuande, both hands clamped around the Saint-Grade Sword, his feet buried deep within the shattered earth.

Fissures radiated outward from his position for hundreds of meters.

Despite the pressure, he did not budge.

Yu Xuande watched in shock.

"B-Bai Ren...!"

The Half-Qilin’s eyes narrowed in intrigue.

"Oh?" it noted with surprise. "You actually stopped that?"

Bai Ren let out a slow breath, a thin trail of blood running from his mouth. The collision had rattled his very soul, and his arms were vibrating from the sheer weight of the blow.

"Get back," Bai Ren commanded softly, his eyes never leaving the enemy. "Both of you!"

The Half-Qilin snorted in derision.

"How noble," it sneered. "And how utterly useless!"

It increased the pressure of its claw.

The ground beneath Bai Ren sank further, forcing his knees to buckle slightly—yet the sword remained unyielding.

"Move!" Bai Ren bellowed.

Zhao Wujin, battered and covered in blood, forced himself to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed Yu Xuande and dragged him away from the danger zone immediately.

The second they were clear, Bai Ren shifted his weight and propelled himself backward. He disengaged just as the Half-Qilin’s claw slammed into the earth, creating a massive crater.

A thick cloud of dust and debris obscured the sky.

When the air cleared, the three cultivators stood together again. They were panting, wounded, and blood-stained—but they were still standing.

Bai Ren stood tall, using his sleeve to wipe the blood from his face. While he had easily dispatched Gou You with the Saint-Grade Sword, the Half-Qilin was proving to be a nightmare even with three of them fighting together.

This was the terrifying gap between a standard Earth Immortal and a creature like this.

"Give it everything you have!" Bai Ren warned.

Yu Xuande and Zhao Wujin nodded solemnly.

The trio fanned out, creating a triangular formation around the Half-Qilin.

Yu Xuande channeled every drop of his remaining Qi.

"Void-Sealing Domain!"

The atmosphere shuddered. Invisible walls materialized around the Half-Qilin, crushing the space and stalling the flow of its demonic Qi. This was a technique purely for restraint.

The Half-Qilin felt the weight immediately.

"Hmph!"

It stepped forward, flames erupting as the domain began to crack under the strain.

"You bugs truly think this can hold me?"

Zhao Wujin didn't let it finish.

"Skyfall Suppression Art!"

This was a Heaven-Grade Technique, far surpassing the power of his earlier move. He slammed his palm toward the ground.

The heavens answered his call. A massive, invisible weight crashed down, forcing the Half-Qilin to slow down for a mere heartbeat.

That split second was all Bai Ren needed.

He stepped forward, condensing his Sword Qi to such a degree that it felt as though it could sever the laws of reality. Nearby cultivators felt a prickling sensation on their souls, as if an executioner's blade was at their necks.

"Keep it pinned!" Bai Ren ordered.

Yu Xuande roared, blood leaking from his mouth as he strained to maintain the seal. "Holding it... now!"

The Half-Qilin's eyes glowed a murderous red as it fought against the combined suppression, its massive body trembling.

"How dare you—!"

Even if it only lasted a millisecond, the beast was enraged that these "ants" had managed to stop its movement.

Bai Ren raised his blade with both hands.

"Nine Shadows Flowing Light Sword!"

The single blade fractured into nine.

Nine identical phantoms of the sword erupted, each infused with enough Sword Qi to level a mountain. Like light refracting through a gem, the nine shadows moved along impossible paths, striking from every conceivable angle—above, below, and from the void itself.

Unlike Bai Zihan, Bai Ren had reached the state of Perfect Mastery, leaving even the Half-Qilin momentarily confused.

"Attack!" Zhao Wujin screamed, pouring his entire cultivation base into the suppression art.

The crushing pressure doubled.

The Half-Qilin snarled, "So many annoying tricks!"

It swung a massive arm in a wide circle. BOOM! A blast of flames incinerated two of the sword shadows instantly. Another was crushed under a claw, turning into scattered sparks of light.

However, the remaining shadows did not falter. They flowed around the beast's defense like water.

CLANG! CLANG!

Several shadows struck the creature's scales. Sparks flew as if metal were hitting divine iron, but the shadows failed to leave a mark and eventually dissipated.

The Half-Qilin laughed, its voice full of contempt. "Pathetic!"

But then—Bai Ren moved.

Unlike the distracting shadows, his true body approached in silence, merging with the fading light. The Saint-Grade Sword swung in a flawless, lethal arc.

SLASH!

The blade finally bit deep into the Half-Qilin’s hide.

Blood erupted. A jagged wound tore across its flank, slicing through scales, meat, and Qi. Dark blood sprayed into the air, sizzling as it hit the earth.

The Half-Qilin’s laughter died instantly. Its pupils shrank as it stumbled back, letting out a roar that caused the heavens to tremble.

ROOOAR—!

Zhao Wujin watched in awe, and Yu Xuande gasped for air. The wound did not close. The creature's flesh pulsed as it tried to regenerate, but the injury remained wide open, resisting all healing efforts.

The Half-Qilin stared at the wound in total disbelief. "This... this is impossible..."

It had been hurt before, even by Li Zhenhe’s final stand, but those injuries had vanished in seconds. This one remained. Slowly, it looked up at Bai Ren.

The arrogance was gone. The amusement had vanished. In its place was a burning fury—and for the first time, a sense of caution.

It wasn't afraid of Bai Ren, but it was wary of the Saint-Grade Sword. It realized that the blade was the reason its natural healing had failed.

Zhao Wujin’s heart hammered against his ribs. Yu Xuande’s legs gave way as he struggled to breathe.

"It... it actually felt that."

Hope flickered in their eyes. If the beast could be wounded, it could be slain. For the first time, the impossible seemed achievable.

The Half-Qilin’s gaze locked onto Bai Ren with murderous intent. It stood tall, its Qi boiling over as its power surged to new heights.

"You may be able to hurt me," it said coldly, "but killing me—"

It took a step, the overwhelming pressure of a supreme being radiating outward. "—is far beyond your capabilities."

Bai Ren tightened his hold on his weapon. Sweat ran down his temple, though he remained composed. While drawing blood was a victory, he knew the Half-Qilin would not be caught off guard again. The real battle was only just beginning.