26: Chapter 26 Fast and Slow Blades

"Run!"

A shrill voice echoed through the deep valley of the dense forest, startling countless birds into flight.

Mo Yunzhu's heart sank instantly.

She looked at Lin Yuan and the other, gritting her teeth.

"I will stay behind to cover the retreat; Young Hero Lin Yuan, you and my cousin go first!"

Lin Yuan shook his head.

"I have never had the habit of abandoning my teammates. Besides..."

He glanced at the forest, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"It's too late."

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

In the darkness, a set of footsteps rang out abruptly, neither hurried nor slow, as if a beast king patrolling its territory, fearless.

A moment later, an exceptionally burly figure emerged from behind a large tree.

He had a head of crimson hair, leopard-like eyes, and a curly beard, wearing a skull necklace with his chest exposed, his bare muscles as hard as armor.

It was none other than the thirty-first ranked on the Heroes Ranking, the "Blood-Hand Butcher," Hong Tianming!

Mo Yuntian's figure was nowhere to be seen; he was likely dead.

To kill the brothers Mo Yuntian and Mo Yunhai in such a short time showed that this Demonic Technique was profound and powerful to the extreme.

The key was that his presence had already spread out, completely enveloping the three of them; once they made any move, they would face Hong Tianming's tempestuous attacks.

The weakest of them, Mo Lianchong, was frightened pale, his breathing even coming to a halt.

He did have a treasure in his hands, but since even Mo Yuntian had fallen, the treasure would likely not save his life.

Only Lin Yuan's expression remained normal, showing no fear at all.

At worst, it was just death!

It wasn't as if he hadn't died before.

Back when he was merely a Mortal, he dared to take on great fate head-on.

Now that he had reached the True Aperture Realm, could he really be living backward?

What a joke!

In the dictionary of us Martial Artists, there is no such word as "coward"!

With a long blade in hand, one possesses the world!

Thinking this,

Lin Yuan lunged forward, starting with his signature sweeping strike, slashing his blade toward Hong Tianming's head.

Hong Tianming said with great interest.

"Hoho, you actually choose not to run, but instead attack me? You have courage."

Does that even need to be said?

The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage.

Lin Yuan's blade speed was extremely fast; even without using a Martial Skill, it had reached a level difficult for ordinary people to see.

But to a master on the Heroes Ranking, this strike was at best a greeting, posing no major threat.

Hong Tianming reacted after him but arrived first, raising his palm to strike the side of the white snow blade, neutralizing Lin Yuan's attack with a move that borrowed strength to strike back.

Then he joined his fingers into a sword shape and pointed into the void toward Lin Yuan's head.

"Startling Tremor Finger!"

An invisible finger force erupted, piercing straight at the center of Lin Yuan's brow.

Lin Yuan lowered his waist, dodging the strike, then adjusted his blade stance and turned to strike.

Profound Rank Martial Skill, Soundless Blade!

The white radiance tore through the air, emitting a muffled hiss, with visible air ripples condensing around the blade, as if wanting to sever the world.

"Not bad!"

Facing this fierce and unparalleled offensive, Hong Tianming still had the energy to offer a critique.

He opened his five fingers, and a pitch-black vortex appeared in his palm; not only did he not avoid it, but he met the supersonic slash head-on.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive strikes stirred the atmosphere, inciting layers of air ripples.

They spread in all directions, blasting away everything in their path!

Uprooting giant trees and sending rocks weighing several tons flying into the sky, within three zhang of them, nothing remained.

"So strong!"

Mo Yunzhu and Mo Lianchong watched the scene before them, dumbfounded.

Hong Tianming's ferocity went without saying; being on the Heroes Ranking said it all.

But why was Lin Yuan also so formidable, fighting him for dozens of rounds without falling behind?

You must know, he was only at the first level of the True Aperture Realm!

Mo Yunzhu felt she had already held Lin Yuan in high regard, but now it seemed she had been too conservative.

This person not only had the potential for the Heroes Ranking but also had hope of entering the top ten.

"Your strength has exceeded my expectations."

Hong Tianming deflected Lin Yuan's slash again and took the initiative to create distance.

"Compared to those two idiots, you are at least a person."

"If we were of the same Realm, I might not be your match. Unfortunately..."

Hong Tianming revealed an evil smile at the corner of his mouth: "There are no ifs."

A high-Realm Martial Artist is meant to humiliate a low-Realm one!

Lin Yuan said nothing, simply continuing his offensive; he erupted with all his True Qi and slashed through the air.

Followed immediately by the second slash, the third, the fourth...

Swinging eighteen slashes in a row, each stacking on top of the other to form a massive blade aura that stretched for several meters like a crescent-shaped band of light, continuously bombarding Hong Tianming.

Crack!

The earth was slashed with a deep scar, and dozens of tons of soil erupted into the sky before slowly falling back down.

This was Lin Yuan's most powerful move aside from "Flying Sky Shadow Slash"; although it lacked ultimate lethality, it excelled in endurance.

But as the dust settled, Hong Tianming's figure walked out, completely unscathed.

"It's useless; relying on you, it is absolutely impossible to be my match..."

"So that's it."

Lin Yuan's expression was calm, not shaken by the enemy's words.

"You can absorb my True Qi during the fight, right!"

Hong Tianming raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you discovered it, but so what!"

His physical fitness was not exaggerated, only slightly stronger than experts of the same level; in terms of base stats, he was not even as good as Lin Yuan.

But the "Wuji Demonic Technique" he Cultivated was terrifying; outsiders thought it could only absorb True Qi during Cultivation, but they never expected it could also absorb it during battle!

This meant that all True Qi-based Martial Skills had their damage greatly reduced against him, and even if one only used True Qi to strengthen the body, it would be stolen during the engagement, making one weaker the longer they fought.

The Mo Yuntian brothers had fallen due to this.

Unless one possessed superb True Qi control ability, or was a pure Body Cultivator who used no True Qi at all, one would not be affected by him.

The bad thing was that Lin Yuan's True Qi control ability was not ideal, and fighting purely with the body without using True Qi was not enough in terms of stats.

It was a dilemma, difficult to handle.

At this critical moment, his world-shocking wisdom finally came into play, winning over the reckless, world-shocking brute force mindset.

He thought of a solution almost instantly.

Trigger force, use inch power!

Circulate True Qi before the attack, and withdraw it at the very moment of contact with Hong Tianming.

For others, this was almost impossible, but for Lin Yuan, who had three perfected Martial Skills, it was not impossible.

As long as you do this first, then that, it works.

Theoretically it could be done, and in practice, there was no problem!

Lin Yuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter; he immediately put it into action, spun his blade, and attacked again.

"It's useless; no matter how many times you come, it's the same; victory stands on my side."

Hong Tianming sneered, the vortex in his palm continuously expanding.

Wuji True Aura!

Soundless Blade!

Lin Yuan swung a supersonic strike, but at the very moment he was about to clash with Hong Tianming, he forcibly dispersed his True Qi; the blade speed stalled, and by some stroke of luck, it bypassed the Wuji True Aura!

"What?"

Watching the white snow blade slashing toward his neck, Hong Tianming's pupils shrank rapidly.

His physical body was not hard enough to withstand a Treasure Artifact strike head-on.

This forced him to change his move forcefully; although he dodged, he was still cut on the cheek by Lin Yuan, drawing blood.

"What move is this!"

Hong Tianming stared fixedly at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan smiled coldly.

"Among all martial arts, this is—"

"Fast and Slow Blade!"