98: Chapter 98 Physical Cheat, the Most Deadly

The ground looked as if a Dragon had rolled over.

Soil mixed with gravel erupted wildly in all directions, centered on where Lin Qi's sword landed.

That vibration wasn't elemental fluctuation caused by magic, but purely the transmission of kinetic energy.

The four assassins hiding in the shadows felt their soles go numb, their originally light footsteps instantly thrown into disarray.

This was the advantage of a heavy weapon.

As long as the force is great enough, there's no need to aim.

Smash it down, and a ten-meter radius becomes the attack range.

"The two on the left, their footsteps are messy."

Lin Qi's ears twitched slightly, capturing those two extremely faint stumbling sounds.

He didn't pause for a second.

He lifted the zhan ye heavy sword stuck in the ground with one hand, twisted his wrist, and swept it horizontally.

Whoosh—

The air was violently compressed, emitting a shrill whistle.

The three-hundred-jin meteorite iron, combined with Lin Qi's terrifying arm strength, made this sword swing produce the effect of a cannonball.

The sword hadn't arrived yet, but the wind pressure struck first.

It was an invisible wall of air.

The first assassin, who was in a stealth state, was preparing to dodge sideways, but discovered that their body had been forcibly shoved by this violent airflow.

The originally perfect stealth trajectory was shifted by half a meter.

When experts clash, half a meter is the distance between life and death.

The assassin discovered in terror that their previously transparent body outline had produced a distorted water ripple effect due to the violent airflow disturbance.

Stealth had failed.

It wasn't that the skill was interrupted, but that the optical camouflage couldn't adapt to such drastic environmental changes.

"Found you."

Lin Qi's voice was as cold as a block of ice.

Utilizing the momentum of the horizontal sweep, he twisted his waist and hips violently, rotating his entire body like a spinning top for half a circle.

The heavy sword, originally sweeping horizontally, traced an eerie angle in mid-air, backhanding toward the patch of distorted air on the right.

This strike used no technique.

It was just a slap.

Like swatting a fly.

Bang!

A dull thud—the sound of metal striking flesh and bone.

A mist of blood suddenly exploded in the Void Realm.

The assassin didn't even have time to scream before being sent flying backward like a broken ragdoll.

They revealed their true form in mid-air.

The leather armor on their chest was completely shattered, the sternum collapsed into a terrifying crater, and the blood spewing from their mouth was mixed with fragments of internal organs.

After landing, they rolled twice and stopped moving.

The System notification sounded in the ears of the remaining three assassins.

[Teammate "Shadow No. 3" has died.]

The remaining three froze visibly.

They couldn't understand.

Clearly, no detection skills had been used, and True Sight hadn't been activated, so how could Lin Qi have hit them?

"Don't space out! Spread out!"

The assassin captain roared in the channel, their voice trembling slightly.

But this brief moment of stiffness had already been caught by Lin Qi.

He didn't bother with the unlucky guy who had been swatted to death, instead dragging the heavy sword and striding forward.

The sword tip dragged along the gravel-filled ground, carving out a series of blinding sparks.

Zzzzt—

The ear-piercing friction sounded like sawing wood, enough to make one's teeth ache.

The second assassin was a ruthless character.

Seeing their companion die a miserable death, they didn't retreat, but instead utilized the opening of Lin Qi's charge to activate [Silent Steps].

Their body merged into the darkness again, silently circling behind Lin Qi.

The deadly poison coated on the dagger gleamed with a faint blue light under the moonlight.

As long as a little skin was broken, this fight would be over.

Getting closer.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

The assassin held their breath, their dagger stabbing toward Lin Qi's lower back like a viper.

Just as the dagger was about to touch the corner of his clothes.

Lin Qi suddenly stopped.

This transition from extreme motion to extreme stillness was very abrupt, completely violating the laws of inertia.

Immediately after, he kicked his left foot backward violently.

This kick had no warning, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

Pow!

A dull thud.

The sole of Lin Qi's foot landed solidly somewhere in the Void Realm.

A muffled grunt came from the air.

The assassin preparing to ambush was kicked into visibility.

They hunched over like a giant shrimp, clutching their lower abdomen, their eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out.

This kick landed right on their Dantian, the intense pain causing them to lose their grip on the dagger, which clattered to the ground.

"How... is it possible..."

The assassin squeezed out a few words with difficulty, their face full of disbelief.

Lin Qi didn't answer.

He didn't even look back.

He twisted his right wrist, and the heavy sword previously dragging on the ground was swung up with one hand, held vertically above his head.

Then, it fell heavily.

Like a human pile driver.

Thwack!

The wide blade pierced directly through the assassin's body, pinning them, armor and all, into the soil.

The ground vibrated again, spiderweb-like cracks spreading from the center of the blade.

Blood gushed out along the fuller of the sword, quickly staining the ground red.

Lin Qi pulled out the heavy sword and casually shook off the bits of flesh hanging from the blade.

The movement was chillingly practiced.

"Second one."

He turned around and looked at the remaining two spots of air fluctuation.

The two assassins who had originally intended to pinch him had already retreated more than ten meters away.

Their hands were shaking.

The hands holding the daggers were trembling violently.

This wasn't a fight at all.

This was a one-sided slaughter.

In their data panels, Lin Qi was just a Lv.1 Blank Slate without even a class.

But the reality was that their stealth skills were like the Emperor's New Clothes in front of this Blank Slate, completely useless.

"Why?"

The assassin captain finally couldn't help but shout, their voice hoarse: "You clearly have no detection skills! How could you possibly see us!"

This was the common failing of all data-based professionals.

They relied too much on their panels.

As long as the panel displayed "Stealth Active," they felt like the whole world was blind.

Lin Qi shouldered the heavy sword, his eyes terrifyingly calm.

"Who told you that you must use your eyes to kill?"

He pointed to his ears, then pointed to the ground.

"As long as you are still breathing, as long as your hearts are still beating, as long as your feet are still stepping on the earth."

"In my eyes, you are bright."

Lin Qi took a step forward.

The two assassins, like startled rabbits, retreated three steps violently.

Their psychological defenses had collapsed.

Facing a monster that could ignore the rules and land critical hits with every blow, their pride-and-joy assassination techniques had become a joke.

"Run!"

Someone shouted, though it wasn't clear who.

The two remaining assassins no longer cared about any mission, turning and sprinting in two different directions.

They activated all their speed-boosting skills, wishing they could grow two extra legs.

Lin Qi didn't chase them.

He stood in place, watching the two panicked backs fleeing, a cold arc pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Can you get away?"

He sheathed the heavy sword back onto his back.

His hands hung naturally, two bone-piercing nails forged from deep-sea sinking silver sliding silently into the gaps between his fingers.

"Since you've come, you might as well stay and act as fertilizer."