Chapter 635 - 630: Yi Yi
Chapter 635: Chapter 630: Yi Yi
The official road stretched forward in the morning light, the fields on either side gradually giving way to rolling hills and sparse woodlands.
SWISH!
Fang Han controlled his speed, moving fast enough to make good time without excessively consuming his Inner Qi. The Silver-Gray Longsword at his waist swayed gently with his steps.
The wind whistled past his ears, and the chirping of birds could be heard from time to time.
Everything seemed normal, yet Fang Han’s nerves remained slightly taut.
Two hours passed.
The sun climbed higher, and the sweltering heat of early summer began to rise from the earth.
The occasional merchant caravan and Martial Artist passed by on the road. They were all ordinary travelers, the strongest of them being no more than the Middle Three Grades.
’Hm?’
Just as Fang Han reached a section of the road flanked by dense pine forests, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Through the perception of his Netherworld Guide, he detected an extremely faint aura lying dormant in the dense woods beside the road ahead.
The aura was so deeply concealed that if he hadn’t been constantly vigilant, pushing his perception to its absolute limit, he might have mistaken it for one of the birds or beasts in the forest.
Although this aura was as "faint" as an animal’s, it radiated an ultimate coldness and danger.
’An assassin?’
Fang Han’s hand quietly rested on the hilt of his sword.
He didn’t call out or make any unnecessary movements. He simply continued to use his Body Technique and strode forward.
His steps remained steady and his breathing even, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.
But inside his body, his dark green Inner Qi had already begun to circulate faster.
He was less than thirty zhang away. At his speed, it only took a few breaths to close the distance.
The instant Fang Han was at his closest point to the aura—
The forest moved.
SWOOSH!
It wasn’t the movement of the wind, but of something tearing through the forest’s silence.
A gray shadow shot out from the depths of the pine forest at an astonishing speed.
The figure was completely shrouded in a wide, gray robe, a hood concealing most of their face, revealing only a pair of eyes so cold they held not a trace of warmth.
At the same time, a long, narrow black-bladed saber had been drawn without a sound. Its blade was as dark as ink, reflecting no light at all.
SHIIING—!
The blade’s edge, wrapped in a Sword Aura as dark as an abyss, slashed straight for the back of Fang Han’s neck.
The strike was fast, ruthless, and precise, its angle exceptionally cunning.
Where the blade passed, the air was torn apart silently, not even a whisper of wind stirring. Only a murderous intent, condensed to its very limit, washed over him as if it were tangible.
This strike, in both timing and angle, was far more lethal than Yi San’s sword attack.
SWISH!
The moment the ambusher’s figure appeared, Fang Han was already in motion.
He activated his Wind God Step to its fullest. His body, like a willow catkin swept up by a gale, drifted a zhang to the side and forward in the nick of time.
He had dodged the surprise attack.
At the same time.
SHRAANK—!
A piercing, air-rending sound tore through the air, like fabric being violently ripped apart.
The Silver-Gray Longsword at Fang Han’s waist shot out like a viper from its den, ringing with a sharp CLANG.
The blade trembled, unleashing a cold, sharp glint as it slashed toward the gray-robed figure’s neck.
The gray figure paused for a moment, not panicking despite the failure of his surprise attack.
With a flick of his wrist, his saber carved a strange arc through the air, swiftly changing direction to meet Fang Han’s incoming sword.
CLANG—!!!
Saber and sword met, erupting in a deafening clash of metal.
A shockwave visible to the naked eye radiated wildly outward from the point of impact.
The pine forests on both sides of the road were swept by the blast wave. Leaves and branches rustled down like rain, and several pines as thick as a bowl were snapped in half, sending splinters flying.
Gravel and dust from the ground were swept into the air, forming a murky ripple that spread out in all directions.
Fang Han stood his ground firmly, the tip of his longsword pointed forward, his gaze fixed on the gray-robed figure like a bolt of lightning.
The gray figure, however, had been forced into a hasty counter, unleashing only a fraction of his combat power. He retreated several steps in a rather sorry state.
After sliding back more than ten steps, he finally steadied himself and looked up, his cold eyes landing on Fang Han.
He raised a hand and pushed back his hood, revealing the face of a man who looked to be in his forties.
His features were ordinary, with no distinguishing characteristics, but his eyes held a chilling indifference, an apathy that could only be forged by slaughtering thousands of people.
He was Yi Yi, the new assassin sent by the Dark Abyss to kill Fang Han—the number one assassin of the "Yi" rank.
"You must have already discovered me before I made my move."
Yi Yi spoke, his voice hoarse and low, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
"No wonder Yi San fell to you. With your mastery of an advanced Perception Secret Technique, you are, in a sense, the bane of assassins."
His gaze fell upon Fang Han, and a flash of understanding crossed his cold eyes.
Fang Han said nothing, merely tightening his grip on his sword.
The Dark Abyss had reacted faster than he expected. Only a few days had passed between Yi San’s death and the appearance of a new assassin.
To have relayed the message and dispatched an assassin in such a short time... their efficiency was truly alarming.
"However, you will still die here today!"
Yi Yi stared at Fang Han, the killing intent in his indifferent eyes suddenly flaring like a volcano erupting beneath a sheet of ice.
Before his voice had even faded, he moved.
The ground beneath his feet exploded, sending gravel flying. He shot forward like a gray bolt of lightning, crossing over a dozen zhang in an instant.
SWOOSH—!
The black saber in his hand, wrapped in a Sword Aura as dark as an abyss, carried a bloodthirsty, murderous air as it slashed straight for Fang Han’s head.
Where the Sword Aura passed, it created a series of piercing sonic booms, carving a scorched black trench several chi deep into the road.
The surrounding pine forests, intimidated by this Sword Momentum, shook violently, and countless pine needles rustled down.
SWOOSH—!
Fang Han’s pupils contracted. The dark green Inner Qi from his Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture erupted from his body without reservation.
The vast Inner Qi of an Early First Grade cultivator, along with three hundred thousand jin of physical strength, poured into the Silver-Gray Longsword.
He activated the Entry Level Void Wind God Sword to its fullest, the Wind Sword Intent condensing on the blade until it was almost tangible.
The sword hummed as he met the attack with a strike of his own.
The cyan sword rainbow and the dark Sword Gang collided brazenly in mid-air.
BOOM—!!!
A world-shaking explosion erupted, and the pine forests on both sides of the road were swept aside as if by an invisible sledgehammer.
Thick pine trees snapped and toppled one after another, sending shattered branches and leaves shooting through the air.
The hard ground was blasted open, creating a massive crater dozens of zhang wide and a zhang deep, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading out madly.
Fang Han grunted, his body sliding back several zhang, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the ground.
He steadied himself, his right arm, which held the sword, slightly numb.
The power of that strike was far greater than Yi San’s.
SWISH!
Yi Yi was also forced back two steps. A hint of surprise flashed in his cold eyes, but it was quickly overwhelmed by an even more intense killing intent.
He steadied his stance and, without pausing, lunged forward again.
The black saber transformed into layer upon layer of dark blade-shadows, raining down on Fang Han like a torrential storm.
Every strike was astonishingly fast, every strike vicious and lethal, and every strike aimed for one of Fang Han’s vital points.
His Swift Blade Intent was pushed to its limit, the Sword Momentum as dense as a net, sealing off all of Fang Han’s room to evade.
SWISH!
Fang Han remained calm in the face of danger. He unleashed his Wind God Step, his figure becoming like a wisp of clear wind, weaving erratically through the gaps in the sky-filling blade-shadows.
At the same time, his Silver-Gray Longsword transformed into streaks of dark green light. He effortlessly executed the techniques of the Void Wind God Sword, meeting offense with offense.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—!
The sound of clashing metal was as rapid as exploding firecrackers, sending sparks flying everywhere.
Their figures crossed at high speed between the road and the forest, the dark green sword light and the dark Sword Gang madly colliding, intertwining, and annihilating each other.
Every collision produced a deafening roar as shockwave after shockwave spread outward.
The road was riddled with holes, the pine forest was razed to the ground, and every tree within a hundred-zhang radius was severed by Sword Qi and Sword Gang, the cuts as smooth as a mirror.
Layer after layer of the ground was shaved away, revealing bare rock beneath.
The rock itself was covered in a dense web of cracks.
SHIIING—!
Fang Han pushed his Void Wind God Sword to its limit, the Wind Sword Intent on his blade condensing until it was almost tangible.
Where the sword’s edge passed, it silently split the air, leaving behind terrifying, dark fractures.
But Yi Yi’s strength was far greater than Yi San’s.
His Saber Technique was extremely refined. His Swift Blade Intent, combined with the Mid-grade Magical Weapon, the Black Saber, in his hands, left lingering dark slash marks in the air with every swing.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged two hundred moves.
Fine beads of sweat had formed on Fang Han’s forehead, and he had consumed a significant amount of Inner Qi.
Yi Yi’s breathing had also become slightly ragged. The initial certainty in his cold eyes had vanished, replaced by an ever-deepening solemnity.
Both of them had realized how troublesome their opponent was!
Fang Han seized a subtle opening as Yi Yi shifted his Sword Momentum, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
The Inner Qi in his body surged at an unprecedented speed, all of it pouring into his Silver-Gray Longsword.
He pushed his Wind Sword Intent to its absolute peak, unleashing his Void Wind God Sword without reservation.
BZZZT—
The Silver-Gray Longsword let out a sharp shriek, like the sound of tearing silk. The dark green radiance on its blade flared as he thrust it forward.
The thrust was astonishingly fast and its angle exceptionally cunning. It found a flaw in the densest part of the saber’s afterimages and went straight for Yi Yi’s left ribs.
Yi Yi’s expression changed drastically. He desperately brought his saber back to block, but he was a fraction of a second too slow.
PCHT!
The sword tip grazed Yi Yi’s left side, tearing through his gray robe.
Even though Yi Yi was a Third Breakthrough Martial Artist with an extremely tough physical body, he was inevitably injured by this sword strike, whose power far surpassed the Third Breakthrough level.
A trickle of fresh blood seeped out, soaking his robes.
Yi Yi grunted and retreated several zhang, glancing down at the wound on his left side.
The wound wasn’t deep, merely a flesh wound, but the sight of his own blood made his gaze grow even colder.
"I underestimated you."
He looked up, his cold eyes fixed on Fang Han, his voice hoarse and low.
Fang Han stood with his sword, his gaze as calm as still water, but inwardly he felt a chill.
’That last strike was made at the best possible opportunity I could find, yet it only left a shallow flesh wound on Yi Yi. His strength is far greater than Yi San’s. Just as I expected, the new assassin from the Dark Abyss is clearly much stronger. Fortunately, his opponent’s strength is still within the range I can handle.’