155: Chapter 155 Drawing the Sword

Lin Tian drew his sword.

The autumn water sword slid from the scabbard at his waist, its blade casting a cold, chilling gleam beneath the water.

The resistance of the water was dozens of times greater than that of air. Where the blade swept, the water was sliced into a visible fissure, only to close rapidly behind it, emitting a low hum.

That strike was straight and unadorned. The tip of the sword pierced through layers of water, carrying an unstoppable sharpness as it aimed directly for Jin Ze's throat.

Jin Ze kicked his legs violently, his body rolling sideways in the water, narrowly dodging the strike by a hair's breadth.

The blade grazed past his ear, and the resulting current scraped against his earlobe, causing a stinging pain.

After stabilizing his body, he did not retreat. Instead, using the momentum of his roll, he shook his arms, unfurling two azure chains in the water that whipped toward Lin Tian from both left and right.

The spikes on the copper balls glinted with a faint, cold light in the dim water, and the sound of the chains cutting through the water was sharp and dense, like two venomous snakes attacking simultaneously.

The two men became locked in a struggle at the bottom of the pool.

Although Lin Tian's sword techniques were affected by the water's resistance, making the flow of his moves less fluid than on land, he alternated between the Xiaguang Sword Technique and the Thunderclap Sword Technique, drawing dazzling arcs of light through the water.

Every strike precisely parried the entangling chains while simultaneously counter-attacking toward Jin Ze's vital points.

Jin Ze's chains faced almost no resistance in the water; he wielded them like two living creatures, sometimes entangling and sometimes lashing out.

The spikes on the copper balls grazed Lin Tian's robes several times, tearing several holes in the hem.

The more they fought, the clearer Lin Tian's judgment became. This Jin Ze's strength was truly formidable.

Judging by the fluctuations of Internal Energy when his opponent attacked, he was a Late Stage Fourth-Grade Martial Artist, with a cultivation level one minor Realm higher than his own.

The gap between the Late Stage and Middle Stage of the Fourth Grade was real—the thickness of Internal Energy, the intensity of explosive power, and the capacity of the Meridians were all on different levels.

If they were fighting head-on on land, Lin Tian might not have been able to gain any advantage; his opponent's palm force and chains would only be faster and fiercer in the air.

But this was not land.

This was a pool dozens of zhang deep.

In the water, both men's strength was suppressed. The water's resistance weakened the explosive power of their fists and palms, the water pressure limited the time they could hold their breath, and the turbulence of the currents interfered with the precision of their attacks.

However, Lin Tian had already trained his White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique to the Minor Achievement Realm; his agility and speed in the water were not only not weakened, but were even more effortless than on land.

He maneuvered nimbly at the bottom of the pool, every dodge perfectly timed—when the chain coiled in from the left, he twisted his waist, his body flipping over the top of the chain like a loach.

When the chain lashed out from the right, he tapped his foot against a reef, using the force to dash several zhang away.

He circled around Jin Ze, the sword light flickering in and out of sight in the water, each strike forcing Jin Ze into a flustered defense.

The two had been fighting for dozens of moves, and the silt at the bottom of the pool had been stirred up, turning the originally clear water muddy.

Lin Tian found an opening. Jin Ze had a subtle habit when attacking—every time both chains were unleashed, his right hand would have a brief retraction movement, and the chain in his left hand would lag by half a beat.

This gap was extremely short and would have been fleeting on land, but in the water, the resistance magnified it. This was exactly what Lin Tian had been waiting for.

The moment Jin Ze unleashed both chains, Lin Tian did not retreat; instead, he charged forward toward the chains.

His body flipped violently in the water, drilling through the gap between the two chains and crashing into Jin Ze's inner circle.

Jin Ze's expression changed. He wanted to retract the chains to defend, but his right hand was in the middle of retracting, and his left hand had not yet had time to cover the position, leaving his center wide open.

Lin Tian's autumn water sword had already arrived—the tip of the blade pierced through the water's resistance, slicing a wound deep enough to see bone on Jin Ze's right upper arm.

Fresh blood gushed from the wound, instantly dyeing the surrounding pool water red.

The red color expanded rapidly in the dim water, like a giant red flower blooming suddenly, before being torn into wisps of red ribbons by the undercurrents.

Jin Ze's entire right arm convulsed in pain, and his facial muscles twisted into a ferocious expression beneath the water.

He looked down at his bleeding arm, then looked up at the autumn water sword in Lin Tian's hand that was still gleaming with a cold light, his pupils contracting sharply.

He had actually been wounded.

His cultivation was one Realm higher than his opponent's; in this water, he should have been the hunter, and the other party the prey.

But now the hunter had been bitten by the prey. The sword in the other party's hand was too sharp—so sharp that cutting through his protective Internal Energy was like cutting through a piece of paper.

He could not fight in the water anymore.

Jin Ze gritted his teeth and made a decision. In the water, Lin Tian's advantage in movement techniques was too great, and the advantage of his chains could not be brought into play. If he continued to fight, he would definitely be the one to suffer.

But as long as he reached the shore, the water pressure would be gone, the resistance would be gone, and his advantage as a Late Stage Fourth-Grade cultivator could be fully unleashed.

On land, he was confident he could kill this brat under his palm within three moves.

He stopped attacking.

The wound on his right arm was still seeping blood. He gripped the chains with his left hand, kicked his legs violently, and dashed rapidly toward the surface of the water.

He unleashed his Swimming Fish Movement Technique with full force, his body pulling into a streamlined wake in the water, his speed astonishingly fast.

Seeing this, Lin Tian's expression changed slightly.

Not good. If Jin Ze was allowed to leave the water and face him head-on on land, his chances of winning would be much smaller.

The gap in Internal Energy between a Late Stage and a Middle Stage Fourth-Grade could not be completely made up by sword techniques and movement techniques alone. He had to finish him in the water.

Lin Tian stomped his foot against a reef behind him, and his entire body shot after him like a cannonball leaving the chamber.

The White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique exploded in the water. The power from his waist erupted from the base of his lumbar spine, and his body acted like a whip being lashed out; every twist of his waist and kick of his legs allowed him to dash several zhang away.

Jin Ze, ahead, looked back and saw Lin Tian chasing him at an unbelievable speed—not swimming, but dashing, springing, like a true Flood Dragon breaking through the waves in the water.

Wherever the young man passed, the pool water was sliced into a visible white mark, and the water on both sides of the mark churned violently, emitting a low, rumbling sound.

Jin Ze's expression changed completely. How was this a person swimming? It was simply like a Flood Dragon in the water!

He dashed upward with all his might, but Lin Tian's speed was more than a notch faster than his. In the time it took to take a dozen breaths, Lin Tian had already caught up behind him.

The autumn water sword thrust out from the muddy pool water, the sword light drawing a bright, snow-white arc in the dim mid-water layer, striking precisely on Jin Ze's back.

The dull thud of the blade entering flesh traveled through the water. Jin Ze felt a chill on his back, followed by an explosion of excruciating pain beside his spine, hurting so much that his whole body curled up like a shrimp in the water. He opened his mouth to scream, but only icy, bone-chilling pool water poured in.

He dared not stop and gritted his teeth as he continued to dash upward. But with the wound on his back added to the wound on his arm, he was losing more and more blood, and his speed was becoming slower and slower.

Not long after, Lin Tian's third sword strike arrived—this strike pierced into his left rib, the tip of the sword penetrating the muscles of his flank and coming out the front.

Jin Ze's body shuddered violently, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, mixing with the pool water and turning into a cloud of dark red, murky mist.

His breathing was completely disrupted. The long, even rhythm of the Divine Turtle Breathing Technique was maintained steadily by Lin Tian, but Jin Ze could not do the same.

Three wounds, massive blood loss; both his physical strength and Internal Energy were being consumed rapidly.

His breathing became more and more rapid, each inhalation carrying a sharp wheezing sound, and bubbles kept bubbling out from the corners of his mouth.

Not good. If this continued, he would likely be dead. Jin Ze's head began to swim; blood loss and suffocation made his limbs feel heavier and heavier.

He refused to accept it—he was a Late Stage Fourth-Grade expert; he had trained underwater skills in the Bailong River for over a decade; how could he die in a pool?

How could he die at the hands of a brat whose cultivation was inferior to his and who was younger than him?

He felt the water behind him fluctuate violently again; it was Lin Tian catching up once more. This time, Jin Ze did not continue to flee. He turned around abruptly, his eyes bloodshot, his eyeballs filled with dense red capillaries.

He poured all the remaining Internal Energy in his Dantian into his palms, then struck out with both palms simultaneously, slamming them fiercely toward Lin Tian's direction.

This was a suicidal tactic. He would not dodge. He would not block.

He would take Lin Tian's sword with his chest, but his palms would also strike Lin Tian. The palms of a Late Stage Fourth-Grade Martial Artist striking with full force, with the palm power combined—even if it didn't kill Lin Tian, it could at least severely injure him.

Even if he died, he would drag someone down with him.

Lin Tian's autumn water sword pierced into Jin Ze's chest. The tip of the sword entered from the center of his sternum and came out through his back.

Jin Ze's palms also slammed in front of Lin Tian at the same time—the palm wind pressed a visible shockwave into the water, and the pool water was pushed to both sides by this palm strike, forming a brief vacuum cavity.

Before the palms arrived, the palm wind had already reached him.

The corner of Lin Tian's eye twitched violently.

A full-force strike from a Late Stage Fourth-Grade, even if weakened by the water, was not something he could take head-on.

At the critical moment, he twisted his waist violently, fully unleashing the "Flood Dragon Turns Over" from the White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique.

His body rotated around its longitudinal axis, and he did a 360-degree somersault in the water.

The palm wind of the two palms roared past his back; although it did not hit his body, the shockwave of that palm wind still slammed solidly into him.

With a dull thud, Lin Tian was sent flying horizontally by the shockwave. His body somersaulted twice in the water before he barely managed to stabilize himself; the Qi and blood in his chest surged violently, and a metallic, sweet taste welled up in his throat.

He gritted his teeth and suppressed that metallic sweetness, but a trace of blood still seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, internally shocked. The strength of a Late Stage Fourth-Grade was indeed strong.

If he had taken that palm strike head-on just now, even with the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt protecting his body, he would have been at least severely injured.

Fortunately, his movement technique was fast enough; the Flood Dragon Turns Over allowed him to avoid the direct palm force, and he was only grazed by the shockwave, suffering some minor injuries.

After stabilizing his posture, he looked up. Not far ahead, Jin Ze's body was slowly sinking.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils already beginning to dilate, and the sword hole in his chest pierced by the autumn water sword was gurgling with blood.

That sword strike had pierced through him and completely broken the rhythm of his breathing.

His mouth was wide open, and the pool water poured in.

The water line on his body rose rapidly, and his whole body became heavier and heavier, sinking deeper and deeper.

He stretched out his arm and grabbed futilely toward the water surface above, his fingers twitching in the water, but his body sank unstoppably toward the bottom.

After struggling a few times, the arm reaching toward the water surface hung down limply.

The blood-red color in his eyes gradually faded, leaving only a pair of gray, dull eyeballs still open, containing lingering unwillingness, despair, and a trace of confusion that he hadn't understood even before death.

He probably couldn't figure out how, despite his cultivation being higher than his opponent's and having trained in underwater skills for over a decade, he could die here, and how he could die at the hands of a young man who looked to be no more than twenty years old.