81: Chapter 81: One Sword Once Defeated a Million Soldiers!!!

Seeing Lin Yan agree, Li Qingxiao flicked his folding fan open, laughed boldly, and began to recite a poem, launching the battle first!

"The wind follows my will, the sword rises with the spirit of the poem!"

The poem spilled from his lips!

In an instant, blue light surged around Li Qingxiao, and a poetic wind swept across the ground!

The original 15% movement speed penalty of the Corrosive Swamp was instantly torn apart by the gale of his poetic path!

Li Qingxiao's figure suddenly blurred, free and easy as the wind, his movements erratic and sharp, completely unhindered by the terrain. He stepped on the wind and dashed out, the long sword at his waist unsheathed. A streak of cold, clear sword light pierced through the miasma, tricky and sharp, slashing straight at Lin Yan's head!

The speed was extreme!

Facing the surprise sword light, Lin Yan reacted extremely quickly!

His heavy-armored body did not dodge or evade; he held his battle-axe horizontally, blocking steadily!

Clang—!!!

Metal clashed, sparks flew everywhere!

A terrifying recoil force traveled back along the blade, causing Li Qingxiao's figure to pause slightly, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

This sword of his was imbued with poetic rhyme, and its speed, sharpness, and penetrating power were all top-tier, yet it had been blocked head-on by the opponent, who hadn't moved an inch!

"What a tough shell!"

Li Qingxiao laughed loudly, his madness intensifying. He was completely unafraid; instead, his fighting spirit soared to the heavens.

"Sleeves embracing the wind and clouds, the sword slashes the frost of the turbid world!"

The second poem rang out!

Layers of poetic rhyme stacked around him, the sword light surged, and dense sword shadows instantly filled the area. Thousands of sword strikes intertwined, piercing, slashing, and picking, pouring down crazily onto Lin Yan's tyrant armor!

Ding ding dang dang—!

Dense metallic clinking continued incessantly!

Sword light filled the sky, poetic energy surged, and the offensive was dazzling to the extreme!

Yet Lin Yan stood still, his feet rooted in the mud, his body towering and unmoved.

His eyes were cold and indifferent, letting the myriad sword shadows hack at his tyrant armor, letting the poetic energy wash over his body.

No pain, no itch!

All the dazzling and sharp attacks were completely neutralized by his thick armor and unbreakable body.

Taking advantage of the gap in his opponent's combo, Lin Yan finally moved!

There were no flashy moves, only the simplest, most brutal physical counterattack!

The battle-axe swept horizontally, carrying the terrifying brute force accumulated from nearly 300,000 HP and over 6,000 attack power. The wind exploded, slashing straight at Li Qingxiao's waist!

This axe was enough to split mountains and cleave the earth, crushing countless monsters!

Li Qingxiao's pupils constricted slightly. He dared not take it head-on, so he unleashed his poetic movement technique to the limit, gracefully sidestepping and leaping into the air, retreating with the wind, narrowly dodging this domineering strike!

The mud was blown into a huge crater by the axe wind!

Li Qingxiao flipped in mid-air and landed several yards away. Looking at the heavy-armored figure standing steadily like a mountain, his expression turned truly serious.

"To rely solely on your physical body to withstand the force of a poetic sword—interesting!"

He had always been free-spirited and loved to fight. He grew stronger when facing the strong and would cut down anything hard!

"A thousand forces rise with the poem, the sword opens ten thousand obstacles!"

The third poem of slaughter rang through the heavens and earth!

A hundred-zhang poetic domain instantly spread out, blue and white spiritual light suppressing the swamp. Countless phantom images of poetic swords hovered in the void, layered one upon another, pressing down!

The entire airspace was completely sealed by his poetic power!

There was nowhere to dodge in any direction!

Lin Yan remained extremely calm.

He scanned the phantom swords pressing down from the sky, his expression without a ripple. He planted his feet firmly, held his battle-axe vertically to block, and waited quietly for the attack to land.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless poetic swords bombarded his tyrant armor one after another. The energy was monstrous, mud and water surged, and the miasma shattered!

The radiance in the sky dissipated, and smoke and dust rose everywhere.

When the fog cleared—

Lin Yan was still standing in the same spot, his tyrant armor clean, his body unshaken, his health stable, without even the slightest wobble.

Having witnessed him take the entire combo of poetic swords, all the Contestants in the distance were completely stunned.

Others ran out of mana, wasted their skills, and were gasping for breath.

Li Qingxiao could recite poems to recover mana, had sword light filling the sky, and was elegant and invincible.

Yet such a heaven-defying, powerful poetic genius couldn't break through the physical defense of that heavy-armored man!

Just then, Lin Yan found an opening, suddenly stepped forward, and brought his battle-axe down with a boom, tearing a crack tens of meters long into the swamp.

Li Qingxiao dodged in a panic, the hem of his white clothes shredded by the axe wind.

In the battle, Li Qingxiao finally put away his playful expression, his white clothes fluttering, his fighting spirit climbing to its peak.

He had exhausted all his poems, yet none could break the defense.

He looked up at the sky, his free-spirited madness permeating his body and mind, and opened his mouth to recite that epoch-making, world-renowned masterpiece!

At this moment, it was no longer a subtle artistic conception, but peerless slaughter, with the heavens and earth roaring!

"In one body, I have fought across three thousand miles, with one sword, I have held back a million troops!!!"

Boom————!!!

An earth-shattering phenomenon exploded suddenly!

Unlike all the gentle poetic rhymes before, once this famous poem was uttered, the heavens and earth trembled violently!

The gloomy sky of the entire Corrosive Swamp was instantly illuminated by endless, brilliant golden sword light!

Ten thousand poetic sword shadows condensed from the void, merging into one, transforming into a supreme sword light that pierced the heavens and earth!

The vast aura of slaughter suppressed the surroundings, clearing the miasma for a hundred miles in an instant. This was the terrifying power of a world-renowned poem!

It was enough to reverse the environment of heaven and earth!

Li Qingxiao was surrounded by poetic intent, his combat power surging several times over. He was like a poetic immortal descending to the mortal world, his slaughtering power peerless!

The supreme sword light, carrying the might to destroy everything, crashed down onto Lin Yan's body!

A monstrous explosion swept in all directions, the airwaves turning the sea and rivers, and the entire swamp trembled violently!

The hearts of all the watching Contestants stopped, staring dead at the center of the battlefield!

They were certain that no one could block such a terrifying, earth-shattering strike!

But when the blinding light slowly faded—

The golden sword pillar that pierced the heavens and earth finally disappeared.

In the swamp, smoke and dust rolled, and the miasma surged backward.

All the onlookers stared dead at the center of the explosion.

They were certain that with such a terrifying sword strike—

Even if he didn't die, he would definitely be seriously injured!

But the next moment—

A tall, domineering figure slowly appeared from the smoke and dust.

Lin Yan was still standing there, a pit dozens of meters deep exploded under his feet, and his tyrant armor was covered in fine sword marks.

But his body was still as straight as a spear.

He hadn't retreated a single step. He hadn't fallen at all.

Only a huge damage number slowly popped up above his head.

-81263!

The pupils of the onlookers in the distance shrank.

Over eighty thousand damage!

This was the highest single-hit damage they had ever seen since entering the Dungeon!

However, the next second, everyone's expressions changed completely.

Because after that damage number appeared—

The health bar above Lin Yan's head had only dropped a small section.

It hadn't even fallen by a third!

"How is this possible?!"

Someone exclaimed in shock.

"That's over eighty thousand damage!"

"Just how much health does he have?!"

"If that kind of damage landed on me, it would be enough to kill me seven or eight times!"

"A monster... this guy is simply a monster!"

The battlefield was in an uproar.

And as the one who swung the sword, the free-spirited smile on Li Qingxiao's face also froze slightly for the first time.

No one knew the power of that sword better than him. This was his strongest finishing move, and it was the first time he had used a world-renowned poem since entering the Dungeon.

According to his estimation, even if this sword couldn't kill the opponent, it should at least have severely injured him.

But reality left him shaken; it had taken away less than 30% of the opponent's health.

It didn't even count as a serious injury. Li Qingxiao's gaze fell on Lin Yan.

He saw that terrifying body slowly straighten up, dark red blood energy surging on its surface.

It was as if that earth-shattering sword had only made him bleed a little.

At this moment, Li Qingxiao finally understood what kind of monster he was facing.

Poetic swords could cut down geniuses.

But the person before him was like an immovable mountain.

Let your sword energy surge.

Let your poetic intent shake the world.

He remained unmoved.

Lin Yan himself was not surprised. Rage of the Barbarian King had long since stacked to 50 layers under Li Qingxiao's repeated attacks, granting him a terrifying 50% damage reduction and 50% damage bonus. Coupled with his high health, the damage dealt to him was negligible.

He lowered his head and glanced at his own panel.

[Current Health: 196437/294014]

[Rage of the Barbarian King 50 stacks, gained 50% damage reduction, 50% damage bonus.]

Even with the tyrant set and his own defense, that sword had still taken away nearly eighty thousand health.

This was the first time since entering the Dungeon that someone had truly been able to injure him.

Lin Yan slowly raised his head and looked at Li Qingxiao, a trace of seriousness finally appearing in his eyes.

"This sword, not bad."

Just a few short words.

But they made Li Qingxiao freeze for a moment, then suddenly throw his head back and laugh. The laughter was free-spirited and bold, but there was no longer any desire to win.

"What an invincible body!"

"I have used my poetic sword to challenge geniuses my whole life; today, I have truly opened my eyes!"

He sheathed his sword gracefully, stepped back twice, and frankly yielded the path to the elite resource point.

"In this battle, I lose. The treasure is yours!"

Still unrestrained, still free-spirited, still possessing a proud backbone.

Even in defeat, his style did not lose a single bit!

"Meeting depends on a sword, leaving let the wind roam."

Another line of poetry fell, but his figure was already gone.

The wind in the swamp returned to silence, and the miasma slowly gathered back.

One used poetic rhyme to defy the rules, suppressing the heavens and earth with a single sword, free-spirited and peerless.

One used his physical body to suppress all techniques, breaking ten thousand skills with brute force, domineering and unrivaled.

In the desperate Corrosive Swamp, the battle between these two heroes completely shocked everyone present.

(PS: The same damage dealt to different people has different effects. For example, a punch dealing 8000 damage might only make a tank with 100,000 HP grunt, but it might send a squishy character with 10,000 HP flying, leaving them seriously injured on the ground.)