16: Plans can't keep up with changes

At this critical juncture!

Swoosh—!

An extremely shrill sword whistle, accompanied by the sound of air being torn apart,

sounded like a reaper's sigh as it suddenly rang out from the entrance of the mountain stronghold!

That sword light! Fast! It was faster than the limits of vision!

Carrying a sharp intent that could cut through anything, it pierced with incomparable precision toward Wu Huan's withered claw-like wrist as he reached for Liu Rumei!

"Hmm?!" The lecherous grin on Wu Huan's face instantly froze!

His whole body trembled slightly, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet up through his bones to the top of his head!

This sword strike was too fast! Too tricky! More importantly, the sword intent contained within it... was cold, pure, and carried an unquestionable will of destruction!

This was definitely not a sword light that could be emitted by someone at the Qi Refinement Stage!

He abruptly retracted the hand reaching for Liu Rumei, twisting his body at an incredible angle,

narrowly avoiding that fatal sword light!

But the sharp aftershock of the Sword Qi still left a bone-deep bloody gash on his wrist!

"Who is it!?" Wu Huan turned around abruptly, his small, mung-bean-like eyes shooting out terrifying glints as he stared intently in the direction the sword light had come from!

At the entrance of the stronghold, a dark figure had appeared at some unknown point.

Dressed in black night-traveling robes with a black cloth covering his face, only a pair of cold, sharp eyes were visible.

In his hand, he held a rust-covered iron sword, its tip pointing diagonally toward the ground.

This unremarkable rusty sword brought a heavy sense of pressure to Wu Huan.

The Aura of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage spread out without any concealment!

Cold, condensed, and carrying a blood-and-iron intent of slaughter!

It was indeed Yao Delong after taking the Improved Violent Spirit Pill; at this moment, he was cursing incessantly in his heart!

His original intention was for Wu Huan to completely finish off Fierce Tiger, ending it once and for all to save himself from that eyesore of a guy who targeted him at every turn.

Who would have thought that Wu Huan would only knock Fierce Tiger unconscious and then immediately turn his lust-blinded eyes toward Liu Rumei!

Moreover, he was determined to get his hands on the storage ring of this evil Foundation Establishment cultivator, Wu Huan!

Seeing his plan disrupted and Liu Rumei's life in danger, he had no choice but to take action!

He masked himself to prevent Fierce Tiger from looking for trouble later, and also to monopolize Wu Huan's "legacy"!

Having narrowly escaped death, Liu Rumei stared at the suddenly appearing black-robed figure with lingering fear,

her beautiful eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

This... who is this? How could a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator appear near Desolate Earth Village? And even step in to help?

"Playing tricks! You dare ruin my business? You're looking for death!"

Wu Huan was both shocked and furious; the opponent's aura made him feel threatened, but even more so, he was enraged by having his fun spoiled!

He didn't dare underestimate the opponent; with a flick of his wrist, the crescent-shaped short blade that had just killed Tang Er appeared in his palm.

The blade glowed with a cold, dark light, turning into a strange and tricky arc as it slashed fiercely toward the black-robed Sword Cultivator!

"Be careful!" Liu Rumei couldn't help but cry out.

Facing this strangely floating blade light, the black-robed Sword Cultivator's cold eyes didn't flicker in the slightest.

His body remained still, but the rusty iron sword in his hand suddenly moved!

Buzz—!

A sword light that seemed simple and unadorned, yet contained the intent of the Five Elements' endless cycle, suddenly lit up!

As the sword light first rose, it carried the sharpness of metal piercing through armor; mid-way, it changed, becoming as strange and tenacious as vines wrapping around wood;

approaching the blade light, it transformed into a thousand layers of waves, a majestic aura where each wave was stronger than the last!

Finally, as the sword intent was withdrawn, it turned into a steady, heavy weight, as immovable as a mountain!

The Five Elements rotated, a Perfection as seamless as a ring!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew in the dark night; every collision made Wu Huan's arm feel slightly numb, his blade techniques utterly suppressed!

It was as if that black-robed Sword Cultivator had already seen through every flaw in his blade techniques!

"Perfection Realm of a basic sword art? Impossible!" Wu Huan became more alarmed the more they fought!

The opponent's control over sword techniques had reached an inconceivable level!

Every sword strike was as fine as a hair, without a single flaw! Even more terrifying,

the opponent's degree of Qi condensation and application of moves were actually superior to his!

Just then!

The cold light in the black-robed Sword Cultivator's eyes intensified! For the first time, his body moved!

He stepped forward, shrinking the distance as if the earth itself had contracted! The rusty iron sword suddenly erupted with a blinding silver light!

The sword intent instantly shifted from heavy to extremely explosive! Like a scalding aura bursting forth, it burned through the eight directions!

"Blazing Flames Incinerating the Void!"

The sword light was like fire! Carrying a momentum that destroyed everything, its speed increased several times over!

In an instant, it pierced through Wu Huan's layers of defensive blade nets, aiming straight for the vital point of his heart!

There was no way to dodge!

"No—!" Wu Huan let out a desperate roar, frantically urging his Qi to gather in front of him for defense!

Puchi!

The seemingly rusty sword, like cutting through tofu, penetrated Wu Huan's condensed protective spirit light without any resistance!

It accurately pierced into his heart!

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The terror and unwillingness on Wu Huan's face were instantly frozen. He looked down at the rusty sword in his chest,

then looked in disbelief at the cold eyes so close at hand; he opened his mouth, but only large gulps of fresh blood gushed out.

Rumble!

Wu Huan, at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, collapsed as if all his bones had been removed! He breathed his last!

Fast! Ruthless! Accurate!

From the moment he struck to the kill, it had not even been ten breaths!

An evil cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage had actually been cleanly and efficiently killed on the spot by this mysterious black-robed figure with a rusty sword and a set of basic sword arts!

Liu Rumei and Bai Xiaoqiao were both stunned!

Looking at the black-robed figure standing with his sword, his Aura cold and sharp, it was like looking up at an insurmountable mountain!

Yao Delong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but his movements didn't stop at all.

He quickly put away the blood-stained rusty sword, his gaze landing precisely on Wu Huan's finger.

With a slight output of Qi, Wu Huan's Storage Ring instantly fell into his hand.

This was his most important objective in this battle! As for exposing his identity? Absolutely impossible!

His figure flickered, disappearing from the spot like a phantom,

leaving behind only a faint scent of blood and the weak fluctuations of the Five Elements Sword Qi.

"Senior! Please wait!" Liu Rumei came to her senses and hurriedly called out.

But that black-robed figure had already disappeared into the vast night.

"Senior Sister... that person... was so terrifying..." Bai Xiaoqiao's voice trembled,

"But what he used... seemed to be our Yin Yang Sect's Yellow Rank Martial Skill, the Five Elements Basic Sword Art? But... how could it be so strong?"

Liu Rumei looked in the direction the black robe had disappeared, her beautiful eyes filled with shock, gratitude, and deep confusion.

That sword technique... she would definitely not mistake it! It was indeed the Five Elements Basic Sword Art!

But when used by that person, it actually had the power to turn the mundane into the miraculous!

Especially those slightly thin and withered hands at the end... that figure... she always felt that... it seemed a little bit familiar?

Just then, a weak sound of coughing came from the stronghold entrance.

Liu Rumei and Bai Xiaoqiao looked over warily, only to see Yao Delong's hunched figure,

leaning on an ordinary bandit's longsword he had picked up from the ground, stained with blood, as he walked in with staggering steps.

His face was pale, and he was panting heavily, as if he might fall over at any moment.

"Martial Niece Liu... Martial Niece Bai... are you all alright? I... *cough cough*... saw a thief at the stronghold gate trying to slip away from the valley entrance, so I chased him all the way and just finished him off... here... everything is settled?"

Yao Delong looked at Wu Huan's corpse on the ground and the unconscious Meng Hu nearby, a "shocked" expression appearing on his face!

Looking at the unconscious Meng Hu on the ground, Yao Delong cursed in his heart:

"Useless Wu Huan! Why didn't you just kill this eyesore Meng Hu!

You wasted one of my opportunities to take action for nothing! I almost got exposed too!

If it weren't for the fact that this girl Liu Rumei couldn't die, and the storage ring was truly tempting..."

On the surface, however, he wore a look of relief as if he had just survived a disaster.

Liu Rumei looked at Yao Delong's appearance—relieved, weak, and old,

then thought back to that fleeting, god-of-death-like black-robed Sword Cultivator... She shook her head, suppressing that absurd thought in her heart.

How could it be? The difference between them was simply like clouds and mud!