Chapter 401 - 398: Fierce Battle
Chapter 401: Chapter 398: Fierce Battle
CLANG—!!!
Following the fierce collision, the cyan sword light and the black claw shadow intertwined and exploded, sending both men staggering back.
Fang Han retreated seven steps, each one stamping a deep footprint into the hard ground, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading out from them.
You Xin fell back five steps, his feet carving deep furrows in the earth.
The two stood more than a hundred feet apart, facing each other from a distance.
Fang Han stood with his sword in hand, his cyan robe whipping in the fierce wind. His breathing was slightly hurried, but his gaze remained as sharp as a blade.
You Xin’s narrow eyes fixed on Fang Han. The indifference in his gaze was gone, replaced by a trace of undisguised gravity.
"To think you already possess such combat strength..."
You Xin spoke slowly, his voice low.
"I underestimated you."
Fang Han didn’t respond.
He just stood there silently, the Inner Qi from his Profound Wind Technique surging like a river through his body, continuously pouring into the Cloud Splitting Sword.
A cyan brilliance flowed over the blade, letting out a soft hum.
In the next instant—
Both men moved at once.
You Xin’s figure transformed into a streak of black light, moving with astonishing speed. In a flash, he was before Fang Han.
The five fingers of his right hand curled slightly. His Nether Ghost Claw, carrying a bone-chillingly cold wind, shot straight for Fang Han’s throat.
The attack was fast, precise, and ruthless, its angle exceptionally cunning.
Fang Han’s eyes narrowed. He fully unleashed the Wind and Cloud Escape, his body drifting backward and to the side like a willow catkin in the wind, escaping by a hair’s breadth.
At the same time, his Cloud Splitting Sword swung upward, sending a condensed beam of cyan Sword Qi slashing toward You Xin’s waist.
You Xin snorted coldly. His left claw shot out, shattering the Sword Qi with a single grasp.
The assault from his right claw continued unabated, still aimed at Fang Han’s throat. However, because Fang Han had drifted back, the claw that was meant for his throat landed on his left shoulder instead.
SHRED—!
As the sharp claws raked across his shoulder, Fang Han’s cyan robe tore open, revealing the Silver Soft Armor underneath.
The Hidden Force from the claw penetrated the Soft Armor, leaving a half-foot-long gash on Fang Han’s body.
Blood seeped out, staining the tattered fabric red.
But just as You Xin’s claw landed, Fang Han’s sword arrived.
The Cloud Splitting Sword transformed into a cyan streak, as fast as lightning, thrusting straight at You Xin’s chest.
Having landed a hit, You Xin immediately saw the sword light right before him.
His pupils shrank. He twisted sideways with all his might.
The sword light grazed past his ribs, revealing the black soft armor beneath his clothes. The Hidden Force contained in the blade passed through the armor, leaving a deep sword mark on his left side.
Blood immediately began to well up.
The two shot past each other and landed separately.
Fang Han glanced down at the claw mark on his left shoulder. Thanks to the defense of his Xuanwu True Skill, it wasn’t very deep.
You Xin likewise looked down at the sword wound on his side. Blood was steadily seeping from it, soaking his black soft armor.
He looked up, his gaze meeting Fang Han’s.
Neither spoke.
In the next instant—
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
The two figures erupted into motion again.
Sword light and claw shadows intertwined as blood splattered with each clash.
Another claw mark appeared on Fang Han’s left shoulder, and a bloody gash was torn open on his right arm.
The sword wound on You Xin’s side deepened, and a deep gash now marked his left arm as well.
But their movements didn’t pause for even a moment.
If anything, they attacked each other with even more viciousness and resolve.
Dust and smoke filled the air above the main road, crisscrossed by Sword Qi and ravaged by claw shadows.
The two figures fought like madmen, slaughtering each other on a battlefield that was now completely unrecognizable.
In the distance, the dozen or so Qingxuan Sect disciples watched with their hearts in their throats.
They couldn’t clearly see the two rapidly flashing figures, only the cyan and black lights colliding and exploding time and time again.
All they could hear was the deafening clang of metal on metal, each strike faster than the last.
"Senior Brother Fang..."
Someone murmured, their voice filled with worry.
No one answered.
Everyone’s eyes were locked on the dust-choked battlefield.
There, the two figures continued their deadly dance.
BOOM—!
Another violent collision.
The cyan sword light and the black claw beams intertwined frantically, the resulting shockwave carving more deep trenches into the already ravaged ground.
The two figures drifted back simultaneously, once again facing each other from over a hundred feet apart.
Fang Han stood with his sword, his cyan robe now covered in many tears.
There was a claw mark on his left shoulder and another on the outside of his right arm.
Besides those, there were also a few shallow wounds on his waist and back.
But while his wounds were numerous, none had reached bone; they were merely flesh wounds.
The formidable defense granted even by the Entry Level of the Xuanwu True Skill had lessened the damage from the attacks.
You Xin, in contrast, was in much worse shape.
After all, every time Fang Han’s sword landed, it left a real wound.
His black robe, embroidered with dark silver patterns, was crisscrossed with seven or eight sword gashes.
His left side had been sliced by the sword’s edge, leaving a half-foot-long bloody gash. Blood seeped through his black soft armor, soaking half his robe.
The fabric on his right shoulder was shredded, revealing the black soft armor beneath which lay a deep sword mark.
On the outside of his thigh was a bloody hole about an inch deep, from which blood steadily flowed, staining half his pant leg red.
"Such powerful physical defense."
You Xin spoke slowly, his low voice tinged with suppressed gravity.
"No wonder Meng Xian lost to you."
In his narrow eyes, an uncontainable astonishment flickered.
Though Fang Han was covered in claw marks, not a single one was a serious injury.
It was as if his attacks—powerful enough to shatter stone tablets and corrode internal organs—were like clay oxen sinking into the sea when they landed on Fang Han, leaving only insignificant surface wounds.
Even though he had learned from Meng Xian that Fang Han cultivated a Body Hardening Technique, he had clearly still underestimated the toughness of his physical defense.
"..."
Fang Han did not reply.
He just watched You Xin silently, his Profound Wind Technique circulating slowly as Inner Qi surged endlessly within him.
The formidable defense from the Entry Level of his Xuanwu True Skill was now his greatest advantage.
SWOOSH—!
The two moved again at almost the same instant.
This time, their attacks were even more ferocious.
You Xin fully unleashed his Nether Ghost Claw, striking with both hands. A sky full of claw shadows completely enveloped Fang Han.
The claw shadows were as black as ink, each one containing a chilling Power capable of corroding internal organs, weaving together into an inescapable net of death.
Fang Han’s Sword Momentum was like a rainbow. He pushed the full ten-tenths of Wind Momentum from his Perfection level Nine Swords of Sky Splitting to its absolute limit.
Wherever his sword light passed, the air tore open with clearly visible rifts. The inky black claw shadows were shredded by the sharp Sword Qi before they could even get close.
But there were simply too many claw shadows, and they were too dense.
A few always managed to slip through the blockade of sword light and land on Fang Han.
SHRED—!
A claw shadow raked across Fang Han’s back, tearing his cyan robe and leaving a shallow, bloody line through his Soft Armor.
SHRED—!
A claw shadow grazed Fang Han’s left arm, leaving a wound.
Since his arm wasn’t protected by the vest-style Soft Armor, the injury was deeper than the one on his back, but it was still just a flesh wound.
You Xin’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
Each of his Nether Ghost Claws was powerful enough to severely injure an ordinary Late-Fourth Grade Martial Artist.
Yet when they landed on Fang Han, they could only leave extremely shallow wounds.
Meanwhile, whenever Fang Han’s sword landed on him, it was guaranteed to leave a deep wound.
SPURT—!
A flash of sword light added a new wound to his shoulder.
SHRED—!
Another sword light slashed by, tearing open the existing wound on his side. Blood gushed out like a fountain.
His movements began to slow.
The pain from his wounds and the weakness from blood loss were gradually eroding his combat strength.
The wound on his left side ached with every breath.
The sword mark on his right shoulder made his right claw less nimble than before.
The bloody hole on his thigh pulled at the injury every time he exerted force, greatly diminishing his power.
But Fang Han was still full of vigor.
The claw marks on his body didn’t affect his combat strength at all.
His sword was still as fast as lightning.
His Body Technique remained as unpredictable as a ghost’s.
As one waned and the other waxed, the tide of battle tilted more and more obviously.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—
Dozens more moves were exchanged.
You Xin’s breathing grew heavy and ragged.
His black robe was soaked in blood. His wounds constantly split open and bled during the fierce battle, and the excessive blood loss was turning his face pale.
Fang Han, on the other hand, though also breathing a little heavily, still had bright, sharp eyes, and the aura around him remained powerful and surging.
’I can’t drag this on any longer,’ You Xin’s thoughts raced. ’If this continues, I’ll be worn down and killed by Fang Han. I have to end this quickly.’
He took a deep breath, and the explosive technique recorded in the Nether Ghost Claw manual erupted into action.
In an instant, the aura around him surged violently. A spectral light flickered in his narrow eyes, as if two wisps of phantom fire were burning within them.
’Nether Soul Devourer!’
He let out a low cry and thrust both claws forward.
This time, it wasn’t a sky full of claw shadows, but two beams of inky-black claw light, condensed to their absolute limit.
The claw beams were only about a foot long, yet they were so condensed they looked solid.
Carrying a terrifying aura that seemed to corrode everything, they flanked him from the left and right, sealing off all of Fang Han’s escape routes.
Fang Han’s pupils shrank.
The power of these two claw beams far surpassed any of You Xin’s previous attacks.
It was too late to dodge.
The Inner Qi from his Profound Wind Technique roared and surged at an unprecedented speed, pouring entirely into his Cloud Splitting Sword.
The cyan brilliance on the blade flared, and the sword let out a piercing cry.
He pushed the full ten-tenths of Wind Momentum from his Perfection level Nine Swords of Sky Splitting to its absolute peak.
Fifty tons of physical strength erupted from his body without reservation.
He slashed out with his sword!
This one strike was the culmination of all his strength.
His Late-Fourth Grade Inner Qi, Perfection Sword Momentum, and fifty tons of raw power—all three were stacked and poured into this single strike.
The sword light condensed into a single line of cyan radiance, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek.
It smashed head-on into the two inky-black claw beams!
BOOM—!!!
An earth-shattering explosion erupted.
Cyan and black light frantically intertwined, compressed, and annihilated each other, creating a shockwave that spread out in all directions like a ring of destruction.
Wherever the shockwave passed, it scraped away several feet of earth, exposing the bare rock beneath. The rock itself was crisscrossed with bottomless fissures.
Dust and smoke filled the air, blotting out the sun.
At the center of the Qi Force, both figures grunted and were sent flying backward.
Fang Han flew back over a hundred feet, but he quickly got back up, clearly not seriously injured.
You Xin, however, was like a kite with a snapped string. He was thrown back over a hundred feet, slammed heavily into the ground, and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
He violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.