Lin Zhao stared at the blood-stained head, his mind going blank. He had never imagined the Fei Yun Sect would be so utterly ruthless. He had been so careful when Chen Changsheng's mother was placed with the hunter, erasing every trace, yet the Fei Yun Sect had still found them. Their attack was so vicious, leaving no room for leniency.
He slowly looked up at the seemingly venerable ancestor of the Fei Yun Sect, Qin Fei, his eyes blazing red.
"How is it?"
Qin Fei looked down at the young sword cultivator, whom he saw as merely a sixth-realm practitioner, and sneered, "Apart from your talisman-drawing skills, what else can you do? Soon, I will let that country boy die before your eyes, showing you, the so-called chivalrous hero, the consequence of your actions. Who do you think you are, Lin Zhao, to stir up trouble within Cui Wei Mountain?"
Two Fei Yun Sect attendants, their eyes fierce, gripped their long swords and stared menacingly at Chen Changsheng.
Lin Zhao rose, drawing his sword, Li Quan. He spoke to Chen Changsheng in his mind, "I will use my flying sword to send you a distance. Escape east along the main road, and do not look back!"
"Immortal Master Lin..."
The boy slowly removed his outer garment, carefully wrapping his mother's head within it. His eyes were bloodshot as he whispered, "If I survive this, will you teach me swordplay? I want... I want to kill all these beasts..."
"Speak of that later, leave now."
In an instant, Lin Zhao waved his hand. The flying sword Hong Ye transformed into a fiery red glow, enveloping Chen Changsheng's body and carrying him eastward.
"Stop him!"
Qin Fei raised his palm, which materialized into a colossal hand tens of feet long. His fingers spread, poised to crush the flying sword Hong Ye in mid-air. But at that very moment, a sword light surged from Lin Zhao's Jian Yun Lake. It was the flying sword Hao Ran. The sword light tore through the heavens and earth, instantly creating a miniature Confucian realm that enveloped Hong Ye and Chen Changsheng. They transformed into an imperceptible aura, escorting Hong Ye eastward, as if they had vanished from existence. Even a mighty cultivator like Qin Fei, a great cultivator of the Hundred Flowers Realm, could not detect any trace. DAFENG NOVEL NETWORK
"Hm???"
Qin Fei's expression grew more ferocious. He chuckled, "Excellent. It seems you've been holding back. You possess such a skill. Very well, after I kill you, I shall see how many more trump cards you have, how much more potential you can reveal!"
With that, Qin Fei abruptly raised his sleeve, and a flame-wreathed battle saber descended from the air. Simultaneously, two elders of the Golden Core realm, split into two paths, attacked from the sides. One unleashed a resounding palm strike, while the other delivered a leg sweep imbued with surging flames. In an instant, the surrounding aura around Lin Zhao seemed to be sealed, rendering him immobile!
"Die!"
It wasn't just the Fei Yun Sect. On a large tree behind the wilderness inn, a figure hidden in the darkness descended from the air. It was a sixth-realm sword cultivator assassin, their sword light chilling. They swung their sword towards the back of Lin Zhao's head, their attack already a killing blow.
Facing imminent death, Lin Zhao suppressed his rage. Anger would only cloud his judgment. As he looked up, a surge of potent sword intent erupted from his body, instantly disintegrating the sealed aura from his attackers. His sword, Li Quan, let out a resonant dragon's cry, bursting forth with a sword light aimed at the culprit in the sky, Qin Fei.
A Sword Strike to Slay Immortals!
"Ah!?"
The moment the sword intent of "A Sword Strike to Slay Immortals" erupted, Qin Fei felt an icy chill in his heart. How could such a sharp sword intent exist? He, Qin Fei, had sparred with Xu Beilin, the number one sword cultivator in the world. Compared to this strike, Xu Beilin's swordsmanship seemed like mere showmanship, unworthy of mention.
Under the impact of the immense sword energy, Qin Fei's lifeblood item, the flame battle saber, was directly repelled. Immediately after, Qin Fei let out a pained cry. A sword pierced the top of his head. Although it only depleted about 3% of his health bar, blood trickled down his forehead. His entire head felt as if it had been pierced by the sword intent, giving him the sensation of having died once. If the opponent's realm had not been lower, his head would have been severed with this strike!
"How dare you?!"
Qin Fei roared.
However, in the very next second, Lin Zhao's body sank, and he used his sword energy to close the distance. Another transcendent sword intent surged forth – this time, it was "Ascending Dragon Slash." In the next moment, Qin Fei's body was in mid-air, covered by countless fine sword energies, rendering him immobile, trapped in a controlled state.
"Crack!"
Lin Zhao ignited a Heavenly Thunder Talisman and affixed it to Qin Fei's forehead. Immediately after, he took a palm strike from a Golden Core elder on his shoulder!
"36762!"
The damage was devastatingly heavy!
Lin Zhao's body was sent crashing to the ground. He staggered backward dozens of steps, his retreat clumsy amidst the ruins of the shattered wilderness inn. Not far away, the sword cultivator, the Golden Core elder, and several other seventh-realm attendants attacked him from both sides. Above, bolts of lightning descended from the sky. The Heavenly Thunder Talisman had invoked the heavens' wrath, striking Qin Fei. Qin Fei's health bar dropped by nearly 25%, but it seemed unrealistic to kill him with just the Heavenly Thunder Talisman.
"Rustle rustle..."
Behind Lin Zhao, an old man holding a handful of wild vegetables stared at him blankly. He was the owner of this wilderness inn.
"Shopkeeper?"
Lin Zhao, seeing his strange demeanor, frowned and called out.
However, the tip of a sword silently protruded from the old man's chest. In the next second, the old man's body was split in two. Immediately after, the sword tip, like lightning, pierced Lin Zhao's abdomen, dealing over 20,000 damage. Before him stood a blood-soaked assassin, who had used the innkeeper's corpse as a shield for this fatal blow against Lin Zhao. How cruel!
Lin Zhao felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Without thinking, he unleashed a "Drawing Sword Slash" that pierced through the assassin's body. He then spun, executing "Sweeping Thousand Armies," "Universe Toss," and "Leaving Sword Style" in succession, cutting down the fifth-realm assassin. Simultaneously, his own health bar was replenished by 85% due to life-steal. It seemed that in this Hundred Flowers Realm, the health bars of these NPCs were weakened. Otherwise, Lin Zhao's combo would not have been enough to kill a fifth-realm opponent. Furthermore, the life-steal effect was also weakened; otherwise, Lin Zhao should have been able to regain full health.
"Boom!"
He was struck by another palm on his back, dealing over 30,000 damage. Following that, the Golden Core elder swept out a leg, hitting Lin Zhao's lower back. Under the impact of over 20,000 damage, Lin Zhao coughed up a mouthful of blood. His body flew out, crashing through a tree as thick as a bowl, before landing ignominiously in a patch of grass that had recently rained.
"Swish~~~"
In an instant, the surrounding grass blades seemed to grow at an accelerated rate. Tender vines entwined themselves around Lin Zhao's legs, and his body suddenly felt several, even ten, times heavier. The ninth-realm sword cultivator felt as if he were struggling to walk!
Earth Master!
Lin Zhao's gaze flickered, and he saw several figures in black robes standing amidst the trees. They were Earth Masters, rarely seen in the martial world. These Earth Masters possessed extraordinary talent and, after studying array formations, became highly sought-after, being kept by great powers on the mountains and by princes and nobles. Historically, the highest level of pursuit in the martial world involved Earth Masters and assassins, ensuring an unassailable success rate.
"Die!"
From behind, a Fei Yun Sect Golden Core elder ripped through the void and unleashed a vicious whip-kick towards him.
Lin Zhao didn't hesitate. His body sank as he entered defensive mode. Simultaneously, the "Fiery Demon Wolf Phantom Armor" and "Sword Qi Protection" were activated. His sword intent instantly exploded into countless fine sword energies. The moment the opponent's leg struck Lin Zhao, he had already shattered the entwining vines with his sword energy. Twisting his body, he leveraged his momentum to fly out again. This time, however, he controlled his trajectory, crashing directly into the embrace of a female Earth Master.
"Ah?!"
The woman, seeing the handsome young sword cultivator's face approaching under the moonlight, felt a surge of wicked thoughts. This damned wretch, how dare he take such liberties with her? Was he seeking death?!
The next moment, the woman, enraged, opened her mouth to scold him. But just as she did, a streak of flying sword light flashed, piercing her mouth and exiting from the back of her head. It was the sharp edge of the flying sword Ming Yue, and it had triggered a critical hit, instantly killing this third-realm female Earth Master.
"Bang!"
Lin Zhao's body, after pushing off the female Earth Master's corpse, rolled to the ground, evading a sword light from the sixth-realm assassin. The moment he regained his balance, he unleashed "Sword Qi Cage," engulfing the remaining three Earth Masters in the distance. Without hesitation, he ignited a Heavenly Thunder Talisman and threw it. Immediately, heavenly lightning descended from the sky, turning the bodies of the three Earth Masters to ash. A single Heavenly Thunder Talisman could not kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it was far too simple to kill these lower-realm Earth Masters.
The moment the Heavenly Thunder Talisman was thrown, Lin Zhao's abdomen was struck by a palm. This strike came from the Fei Yun Sect ancestor, Qin Fei. A phantom image of a Flood Dragon's head appeared within the palm print. This strike was immensely powerful and held significant origin. It was said that Qin Fei had comprehended this technique from a Flood Dragon's natal bone during his travels in the martial world in his early years, and it was one of Qin Fei's killing moves.
Therefore, as Lin Zhao flew out, his health bar was already near empty. Qin Fei's palm had drained over 70,000 health points from him. In fact, the series of injuries was so fierce that he had entered a 'lightly injured' state, with all his attributes weakened by 10%. He felt generally unwell, no longer in peak condition.
"Pfft..."
He knelt beneath an old tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his mind buzzing and blank.
...
At the Mountain Summit Villa, Tian Ran Ju.
"..."
Su Qingjiu held her sword, Ling Xi, her delicate face shrouded in frost. She narrowed her beautiful eyes, watching the blurry images appearing on the Stone of Fate in the large fish tank. She clenched her teeth so hard they ached, her eyes red as she looked at the old gentleman. "Can you send me to the Hundred Flowers Realm?"
"Little Jiu'er, don't rush..."
The old gentleman said softly, "You must believe your Brother Lin Zhao. He can overcome this danger. This is his trial, and also the tribulation of his fate in the Hundred Flowers Realm. We outsiders should not interfere."
In fact, if he could, the old gentleman would have been the first to rush into the Hundred Flowers Realm and punch Qin Fei to death.
Beside him, Lin Wanhua, Zhuo Zhi, Chu Yu, Tong Yu, Huang Tingyu, and others were also radiating killing intent. Who could endure witnessing the scene before them?