137: Chapter 137 The Former Martial Arts Champion

A crack split open in the clouds, and a purple lightning bolt struck down from the gap, aiming straight at Lin Duwu.

Lin Duwu tried to dodge, but the speed of this purple lightning was simply too fast.

The purple lightning exploded on his body, knocking Lin Duwu flat on the ground. He rolled several times and lay prone on the earth, panting heavily.

A large section of his robe was scorched, his hair was also burnt, and his face was smeared with mud.

When the second bolt of lightning fell, Lin Duwu's body bounced up from the ground.

His hands crossed over his head as blood qi surged from the depths of his Qi Sea, condensing into a thick, dark red light film on the surface of his body.

The lightning struck the light film, and with a loud "Boom", the light film trembled violently, splitting into several cracks, but it did not shatter.

Lin Duwu's arms were numbed from the shock, the webbing between his thumb and index finger split open, and blood flowed out from between his fingers.

He did not put his hands down; gritting his teeth, he patched up the fractured light film once more.

The third, the fourth, the fifth.

Bolt after bolt of lightning struck down from the clouds, becoming denser and faster, as if the sky had leaked a hole.

Lin Duwu dodged, parried, and rolled amidst the lightning. His blood qi grew weaker and weaker, and that layer of dark red light film became thinner and thinner.

His movements began to slow down, his footsteps began to stagger, and more and more blood flowed from his hand, dripping onto the charred earth and being evaporated by the lightning.

But no matter what, Lin Duwu still managed to block this martial dao lightning.

The commoners on the city wall watched with their hearts in their mouths.

They had not expected Lord Qinling to still be able to control lightning.

But come to think of it, as a divine being, it was nothing strange for Lord Qinling to control lightning.

The lightning finally stopped.

The dark clouds scattered, the purple light vanished, and only a mess remained on the overgrown wasteland.

Lin Duwu stood on the ground. His black robe had already shattered into powder and been blown away by the wind, revealing his upper body.

His figure was emaciated, skin draped over bones, and bones propping up skin.

His ribs protruded one by one like a washboard, and his collarbones looked like two scimitars stabbing into his shoulders.

This kind of physique truly should not belong to a rank-five martial artist.

There was a scar on Lin Duwu's shoulder.

That wound was not big, only about the length of a palm, slanting from the top of his shoulder down to his collarbone.

But the wound showed no signs of healing, and evil qi was still rising from it in wisps.

Qin Ling stood a few steps away, his gaze falling upon that wound, his eyes flashing slightly.

Of course he recognized that it was evil qi, identical to the evil qi he had seen so many times before.

He recalled what Pei Se had said and made an inference about Lin Duwu's current state.

Presumably, this fellow either had suffered enough pollution to reach this state, or had been injured by evil spirits.

Right at this moment, a figure leaped down from the city wall, the wine gourd at her waist clinking and clattering together.

Pei Se landed behind Qin Ling, steadying herself on the charred earth. Her gaze crossed over Qin Ling's shoulder and landed on Lin Duwu, who had lost his black robe.

She looked at that face no longer concealed by the black robe, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.

"You are Lin Duwu."

Her voice was not loud, but it was certain.

It was not a question, but a statement.

Lin Duwu's body moved slightly. He raised his head, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the woman carrying a wine gourd in front of him, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"You know me?"

"Lin Duwu, the legitimate eldest son of the Lin family in the Capital, displayed stunning martial dao talent from a young age. When his peers were still at rank one, he had already reached rank two."

"At sixteen, he came first in the provincial martial arts examination; at eighteen, first in the metropolitan examination; and at twenty, he claimed first place in the palace examination, personally appointed by the emperor as the Martial Champion. Galloping on horseback through the streets, how dashing he was."

Pei Se looked at Lin Duwu, looking at his body that had grown so emaciated it was no longer human shape, and looking at the evil qi rising from the wound on his shoulder as she continued.

"Everyone thought he would stay in the capital with a boundless future, but he did not. He petitioned the imperial court to go garrison a local region."

"During his garrison in the locality, evil spirits appeared. Lin Duwu did not choose to evade the evil spirits; instead, he fought them to save the commoners."

"After this battle, the evil spirits left, and Lin Duwu was never seen again since."

After listening to Pei Se's words, Qin Ling roughly deduced the whole process.

This extraordinarily talented Martial Champion should have been injured while fighting evil spirits, suffering the invasion of evil qi.

Then this Martial Champion Lin Duwu wanted to suppress the evil qi, but until now he had not been able to do so.

Being polluted by evil qi was completely a dead end for a martial artist.

However, Qin Ling was quite surprised by Lin Duwu's character.

Looking at it this way, what he said earlier inside the temple—"

"There are too many people here, and it is not convenient to move about. There is no need to let them throw away their lives for nothing. Let us change places to fight."

Should also be sincere.

Hearing his own deeds, Lin Duwu's expression turned cold.

Those words spoken by Pei Se, those past events he thought he had already forgotten, were dug up one sentence at a time from the mud by Pei Se.

He was the legitimate eldest son of the Lin family in the Capital, the provincial champion of the martial examination at sixteen, the metropolitan champion at eighteen, the Martial Champion at twenty, and the dashing young lord of the entire capital when he galloped through the streets on horseback.

And now?

He was merely a pitiful person plagued by evil qi who had been cut off from the martial dao for many years, whose life was even hanging by a thread.

No!

He was going to change all of this!

He wanted to return to the martial dao!

Something was churning within Lin Duwu's eyes.

He only knew one thing: he must kill this Lord Qinling today.

As long as the evil qi was sucked away, he could regain everything he had lost!

Lin Duwu urged the blood qi within his body, swinging his fists to attack the golden figure once more.

This time, Qin Ling did not use Divine Travel Across the World to dodge; instead, he directly cast the divine art Undying Divine Light to forcibly withstand Lin Duwu's attack.

The golden light collided with his fists, producing a muffled, tremendous sound, like two mountains crashing together.

Undying Divine Light trembled violently, ripples spreading across the surface of the light film.

Qin Ling stood there, Undying Divine Light circulating across the surface of his body.

He looked at the wound on Lin Duwu's shoulder that was still venting evil qi.

Then, separated by Undying Divine Light, he once again pointed his fingertips, used for Summoning Lightning, back toward the sky.

Dark clouds surged over from all directions once more, gathering above the wasteland outside the city. Purple light flashed deep within the clouds, and thunder rolled down.

Lin Duwu did not dodge; he did not even raise his head to look at that patch of dark clouds.

He also thrust his other fist out from his waist, smashing his two fists alternately onto Undying Divine Light.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The lightning struck down. The first bolt cleaved onto his back, his body staggering forward a step, but his fists did not stop.

The second bolt cleaved onto his shoulder, tearing open that wound with lightning. Even more evil qi surged out from the wound, yet his fists still did not stop.

The third, the fourth, the fifth.

Bolt after bolt of lightning struck his body. His back was charred black from the strikes, and his flesh was torn open on his shoulders.

Lin Duwu's fists still smashed into Undying Divine Light, their speed unabated and their force undiminished.

He was like an enraged beast, his eyes filled only with that layer of golden light, and the person behind that layer of golden light.

Undying Divine Light began to show cracks.

Spreading outward from the spot where Lin Duwu's fist struck.

"Boom!"

Finally, Undying Divine Light shattered.