206: Chapter 206 Hidden Weapons vs. Hidden Weapons

Lin Tian casually picked up a dark gray robe from the edge of the valley battlefield, dropped by a Disciple of some unknown School, shook off the dust, and put it on.

He also picked up a bronze mask from beside the corpse of one of the Demon Sect's The Black-Robed Man and fastened it over his face.

From this moment on, he was no longer Elder Lin of the Yunhai Fishery under the Qixia Sect; he was merely an anonymous Martial Artist wandering the Taixuan Mountain Range.

The small gray-feathered bird that had been leading the way flew down from the treetop, circled him once, and flapped its wings, flying off toward the northwest.

Lin Tian used Cloud Shadow Step to follow behind. His footsteps on the fallen leaves made only the faintest rustling sound, and his figure flickered in and out of the tree shadows, as fast as a gray shadow blown by the wind.

Half an hour later, the dense forest ahead grew even thicker. Ancient trees towered, blocking out the sun, and vines hung down from the canopy like green curtains.

The little bird stopped on a crooked old pine tree, turned its head, and chirped softly at him.

Lin Tian slowed his pace, using the cover of the bushes to approach silently. Through the gaps in the branches and leaves, he saw a thick layer of vines hanging over a moss-covered stone wall ahead. A cave entrance was faintly visible behind the vines; it wasn't large, barely enough for two people to pass through side by side.

If the little bird hadn't locked onto the location beforehand, he might not have discovered this cave even if he had walked past this stone wall ten times.

On a dead tree branch a few meters outside the cave entrance stood another gray-feathered bird, its dark, bead-like eyes staring unblinkingly at the gaps in the vines. It was the other Puppet he had deployed in advance.

Lin Tian crouched behind the bushes and slowly raised his hands, two moyuan flying daggers sliding silently from his sleeves into his fingers. The Wanling Seal pulsed gently in his Sea of Consciousness, and both little birds flapped their wings and flew away simultaneously.

Immediately after, he flicked his wrists sharply, and the two flying daggers turned into two extremely thin black lines, piercing through the gaps in the vines and shooting deep into the cave.

With two muffled thuds, a frantic roar erupted from inside the cave, mixed with the crisp sound of weapons clashing against the stone walls and pained grunts.

The vines were suddenly ripped open from the inside, and two figures rushed out, one after the other.

The person in front was a thin, tall man wearing the gray training uniform of the Iron Sword Sect, but the clothes clearly didn't fit well; the cuffs and shoulder seams were stretched tight.

There was a deep, bone-visible gash on his left arm, and blood dripped down from his elbow—the exact spot hit by the flying dagger. He held a narrow-bladed iron sword in his right hand, with a few fresh blood droplets still clinging to the blade.

After rushing out, his gaze swept across the surrounding dense forest like a hawk, instantly locking onto Lin Tian, who was standing under an ancient pine tree a dozen meters away.

Following behind him was a pale-faced woman, also dressed in the male Disciple uniform of the Iron Sword Sect, her hair tied up haphazardly in a male-style bun. However, Lin Tian recognized her instantly by the pale red bloodstain on her left cheek and those cold, sharp eyes—the Black-Clad Woman, the leader of the Demon Sect in the Taixuan Mountain Range.

Her complexion was even paler than it had been at the back gate of the valley, her lips almost devoid of color, and the veins at her temples were throbbing gently. It was clear that the symptoms of her Mental Energy damage were still persisting.

Her left shoulder had also been grazed by a flying dagger, leaving a shallow bloodstain that dyed the gray coarse cloth red.

The tall, thin man held his iron sword horizontally in front of the Black-Clad Woman, glaring furiously at Lin Tian: "Who are you! How dare you attack our Iron Sword Sect? Do you have a death wish!"

Lin Tian stood in the shadows of the ancient pine, the half-mask obscuring his features.

He looked at the tall, thin man before him, who was still trying to put on the tone of an Iron Sword Sect Disciple, and sneered: "Iron Sword Sect? Stop the act. Remnants of the Demon Sect; you might fool others, but you can't fool me."

The tall, thin man's expression changed abruptly. While his excuses were still stuck in his throat, the Black-Clad Woman behind him gasped in shock.

She stared fixedly at Lin Tian. The mask covered his face, but his figure, his temperament, and the technique he had just used to silently infiltrate the cave were exactly the same as the mysterious person who had defeated her with a Mental Energy attack in the dense forest earlier.

Her voice was sharp and hurried: "It's him! It's that brat we failed to kill twice before! He really is one of the people from these Schools!"

"Run!" She turned and darted into the depths of the dense forest. Although she stumbled due to her injuries, her survival instinct allowed her to unleash speed far exceeding her current physical state.

The tall, thin man no longer cared about any disguise. He threw his iron sword to the ground—that refined iron longsword was a burden he wasn't used to anyway—and turned to run after throwing it.

Lin Tian sneered. Want to leave? Keep dreaming.

His Cloud Shadow Step exploded beneath his feet, leaving an afterimage where he stood, and his figure chased after them like a ghost. At the same time, he flicked his hands again, and two more flying daggers flew silently from his sleeves.

Hearing the sound of the air being pierced behind him, the tall, thin man spun around abruptly. With a flick of his right hand, he drew his true weapon from his waist—a scimitar as black as ink. His wrist snapped rapidly, and with two clangs, he narrowly parried the flying daggers.

But because of this, his momentum faltered, and Lin Tian caught up to him.

The tall, thin man looked up and scanned, confirming that only Lin Tian was chasing him, and a flash of ferocity instantly crossed his eyes.

He stopped running and lunged back at Lin Tian, gripping his scimitar: "Brat! You dare to chase us down all by yourself? You're really looking for death!"

This person's strength was significantly greater than when he had been caught off guard earlier. The scimitar was wrapped in a layer of dark red Blood Evil Qi, and his sword style was tricky and vicious, with every strike aiming for Lin Tian's vital points.

Lin Tian did not retreat. He flipped his right palm, and his Great Strength Vajra Palm, wrapped in pale cyan Qi, met the attack head-on.

The palm force and the blade light collided continuously in mid-air, each impact exploding into a visible ring of air waves.

The more they fought, the more shocked the tall, thin man became—Great Strength Vajra Palm; this was the authentic palm technique of Jinxia Peak of the Qixia Sect. He shouted sternly: "Great Strength Vajra Palm! You are from Jinxia Peak of the Qixia Sect!"

Lin Tian sneered without speaking. He was not afraid of exposing the Great Strength Vajra Palm; this set of palm techniques was not unique to Zixia Peak among the seven peaks; Disciples of Jinxia Peak and Chixia Peak also Cultivate it.

The opponent could at most narrow it down to the Qixia Sect, but it was absolutely impossible for them to trace it back to Zixia Peak just based on one palm technique. Moreover, he would not give them the chance to return alive to report the news.

He struck repeatedly with both palms, the palm momentum rising wave after wave. The Great Strength Vajra Palm at the Major Achievement Realm was pushed to the limit in his hands. Every palm strike was heavy and powerful, the pale cyan Qi condensed but not dissipating, shaking the tall, thin man's scimitar until it hummed and trembled, causing the webbing between his thumb and index finger to split and bleed.

The tall, thin man was forced into a steady retreat. Seeing that his scimitar was about to be knocked out of his hand, he struggled to parry while screaming: "Junior Sister! Come help me!"

The Black-Clad Woman, who had already fled some distance away, turned back. She saw her Senior Brother being forced into a precarious situation by Lin Tian, gritted her teeth, and turned to rush back.

When she rushed nearby, she raised her right hand, and three poisoned flying needles shot silently toward Lin Tian's side ribs in a triangular formation.

At this distance, given Lin Tian's movement technique, it was impossible for him to dodge them all—she had seen him dodge hidden weapons with her own eyes, but right now he was fiercely attacking her Senior Brother with all his might, and this was a sneak attack from the side.

Lin Tian indeed did not dodge.

He didn't even glance at the three flying needles. The needles hit his ribs precisely with three muffled thuds.

The Black-Clad Woman felt a surge of joy in her heart, and then she saw that Lin Tian's body didn't even sway.

The three flying needles bounced off the robe at his ribs and clattered onto the gravel ground. The tips of the needles were all bent, as if they had struck something extremely hard.

Dragon Roar Iron Shirt, Major Achievement Realm.

Before rushing over, Lin Tian had already pushed this hard-body technique to its limit. The layer of pale cyan tough membrane beneath his skin could withstand even the blade of a Rank 5 Qi expert; mere poisoned flying needles could not pierce it at all.

This was the moment Lin Tian had been waiting for.

At the same time the hidden weapons hit him, his body stumbled forward, creating the illusion of being hit, and he took the opportunity to fall toward the ground.

Seeing Lin Tian hit and fall to the ground, the tall, thin man's eyes filled with wild joy. He stepped forward, raising his scimitar high: "Brat, go to hell!" The blade light, wrapped in Blood Evil Qi, slashed fiercely toward the back of Lin Tian's neck.

Just as the scimitar was about to strike the back of Lin Tian's neck, Lin Tian, who was lying on the ground, opened his eyes abruptly.

His body sprang up from the ground in a posture that completely defied common sense—his hands slapped the ground, the power from his waist exploded from the base of his lumbar spine, and his entire body flipped suddenly like a Dragon that had been compressed to the limit.

He brought his left index and middle fingers together to form a sword, and five streaks of scorching white lightning burst from his fingertips. Thunderclap Sword Technique, Five Thunders Overlaid, using fingers as a sword.

The tall, thin man's scimitar was still held high in the air, his chest completely exposed, and Lin Tian's sword finger had already landed solidly on his heart.

With a boom, a thunderclap exploded in the dense forest, the sound wave shaking the withered leaves from the trees, causing them to fall with a rustling sound.

The tall, thin man's chest was pierced by this finger, which condensed the Five-Fold Thunder Sound, and his heart was instantly shattered.

He didn't even have time to let out a scream before his body fell straight backward like a chopped-down wooden stake. The scimitar flew out of his hand and stuck into a tree trunk, and his body slammed into the fallen leaves, never moving again.

The Black-Clad Woman froze in place.

She looked at her Senior Brother's fallen corpse, then at Lin Tian, who stood up from the ground and brushed the scattered leaves from his robe, his movements unhurried.

How is this possible—those three flying needles clearly hit him just now, yet the opponent is completely unharmed?

He wasn't wearing inner armor; judging by his free movements, he definitely wasn't wearing any heavy armor. But how did her hidden weapons bounce off?

Lin Tian turned around, his gaze from beneath the mask landing on her. The Black-Clad Woman trembled all over; from those eyes, she read unmasked killing intent.

She no longer cared about finding the answer and turned to flee.

Lin Tian's figure flickered as he followed, the last two flying daggers in his sleeves already sliding into his fingers.