Chapter 546 - 328: Murderous Intent
Chapter 546: Chapter 328: Murderous Intent
"You held back when we fought?" Lin Jingyu realized, blurting out the words.
Xu Yang hadn’t been recruited by any faction, so it was impossible for him to obtain the same resources. Yet, his physical body was currently a fraction stronger. The only explanation was that Xu Yang hadn’t used his full strength during their previous encounter.
"Take a guess!" Xu Yang laughed. Suppressing his churning Qi-Blood, his entire body seemed as though it were cast from solid gold. He stomped, shattering the ground beneath him, and took large strides, charging at Lin Jingyu once more.
"Do you think I don’t exist?" Sun Tao’s voice echoed leisurely. The black sun behind him burst with dark light, and a searing sword gleam tore through the air, slashing straight down at Lin Jingyu’s head.
Lin Jingyu’s Qi-Blood was still churning. Not daring to take the blow head-on, he had no choice but to dodge.
BOOM!
Sun Tao’s sword gleam blasted the ground, carving out a fissure over a hundred feet long and sending dust billowing into the sky.
Just as Lin Jingyu breathed a sigh of relief, Xu Yang’s golden fist punched through the air. It arrived like a meteor from the heavens, incomparably overbearing.
"Celestial Spirit Dominating Body!" Lin Jingyu shouted, pushing his Body Refining Technique to its absolute limit. His muscles swelled, and a layer of Gang Yuan, condensed so densely it appeared tangible, covered his exterior. At the same time, he threw a punch, blocking the golden fist in the nick of time.
BANG!
As the two fists clashed, a muffled sound like rolling thunder echoed, and a violent shockwave erupted. Both men trembled all over. Their bones and sinews rumbled, light flickered across their bodies, and their Qi-Blood surged like crashing waves.
BOOM!
Amidst the visible ripples of force, a fierce sword gleam tore through the shockwaves and struck Lin Jingyu squarely in the waist. It was Sun Tao, seizing the perfect opportunity to strike.
BANG!
Before Lin Jingyu could even recover from Xu Yang’s Fist Strength, he suffered this attack. His clothes were sliced open, and a small cut appeared on his flesh, seeping blood as his body was sent flying backwards off the ground.
"He’s really hard to kill!" Sun Tao shook his somewhat numb arm. His rise to power had been too recent, leaving him with quite a few shortcomings. His Gang Yuan wasn’t as condensed and pure as Xu Yang’s, and he hadn’t had the time to temper his physical body. In truth, there was still a significant gap between him and these top-tier geniuses. Of course, he didn’t lose out in terms of talent, but rather in time. Given enough time to make up for his weaknesses, he was confident he wouldn’t fear anyone.
"Junior Brother Lin..." Huang Xiao shrieked.
Xu Yang was already a fraction stronger than Lin Jingyu. With Sun Tao assisting from the side, eliminating Lin Jingyu was only a matter of time.
"Shameless! Two against one!" Luo Ying shouted. She hoped to make Xu Yang and Sun Tao abandon their team-up. Unfortunately, Xu Yang wasn’t the type to care about face, and Sun Tao was equally pragmatic. To them, as long as someone was an enemy, there was no need to talk about martial honor.
"When Lin Jingyu and Huo Xiaochen teamed up against Gu Qingfeng earlier, why didn’t you call them shameless then?" Sun Tao shouted back, executing his Body Technique to give chase.
"Brother Lin, just admit defeat. Otherwise, Senior Brother Sun and I will have no choice but to slaughter you." Xu Yang’s tone was calm, yet his words brimmed with killing intent.
"You’re delusional if you think you can eliminate me!" Lin Jingyu roared, his face displaying extreme confidence. It was true that he couldn’t defeat their combined might, but he was confident he could hold out until the time limit ended. With his current Physique, he wouldn’t be exhausted even after fighting fiercely for hundreds of exchanges.
"Then your life and death are your own responsibility," Xu Yang shouted, murderous intent rising in his heart.
It didn’t matter whether he killed people like Luo Ying and Huang Xiao; they couldn’t stir up much trouble, so he hadn’t pushed them to the brink. However, Lin Jingyu was different. The man had excellent talent and was backed by a Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family, the Kong Family. Once eliminated, it would forge a life-and-death blood feud. It would be better to just beat him to death right here and now.
He still had hidden trump cards he could reveal, such as the Fuyue Bear King’s Palm. At his current age, comprehending even the most mediocre Martial Dao Imagery wouldn’t raise any suspicion. Yet, even the lowest tier of Martial Dao Imagery could once again boost his Combat Power.
"Let’s kill him!" Sun Tao bellowed, his killing intent surging. He, too, harbored the thought of finishing off Lin Jingyu. A genius like this could absolutely not be left alive, especially when backed by a Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family.
The two of them attacked from the left and right like bolts of racing thunder. Their auras cracked the earth along their path.
Lin Jingyu’s expression instantly grew solemn. He knew these two genuinely wanted to kill him. At this moment, he deeply regretted his past actions. Had he known earlier, he would never have waded into Huo Xiaochen’s muddy waters. But how could he have known that both Sun Tao and Xu Yang were such fierce individuals who had hidden their talents so thoroughly?
BOOM! BOOM!
Two deafening, muffled blasts echoed almost simultaneously. Sun Tao’s fierce sword gleam drew upon a massive amount of the Power of Heaven and Earth, slashing right at his head. Xu Yang’s fist momentum was domineering to the extreme—unyielding and ferocious. His golden fist aimed directly for his waist.
RUMBLE...
The earth trembled, tearing and exploding apart, filling the sky with flying dust.
He managed to evade Sun Tao’s sword gleam but couldn’t escape Xu Yang’s fist, which followed him like a shadow. He was forced to exchange another punch with Xu Yang. As his internal organs shook and his bones rumbled, before Lin Jingyu could even regain his senses, Sun Tao’s second sword strike cleaved into him.
The sword gleam exploded, and violent shockwaves swept in all directions. A pained grunt escaped Lin Jingyu’s lips as he stumbled backward involuntarily.
"Fourth Young Master Kong, quickly, help Junior Brother Lin!" Huang Xiao cried out to Kong Cheng, her face filled with anxiety.
Another gash had been slashed open on Lin Jingyu’s body. Even though his physical body was strong and these were merely flesh wounds, no matter how tough one’s body was, how many more slashes from an expert like Sun Tao could it endure?
Kong Cheng remained silent. Naturally, he wanted to help Lin Jingyu. However, his opponent was Liu Rumei, who wasn’t much weaker than him. He simply couldn’t finish her off in a short amount of time. More importantly, even if he could defeat Liu Rumei, he might not be able to save Lin Jingyu. Those two fierce brutes, Sun Tao and Xu Yang, were both experts capable of rivaling Lin Jingyu. If he intervened, he feared he would only face elimination himself.
Lin Jingyu’s future was certainly important, but he was ultimately just a tool of the Kong Family. A tool could never supersede its master.
Right now, they could only hope that Huo Xiaochen could free himself up. However, under Gu Qingfeng’s attacks, Huo Xiaochen wasn’t gaining any advantage. He was doing well just to protect himself from elimination; there was absolutely no way he could help Lin Jingyu.
"Brother Xu, Brother Sun, for the sake of the friendship between the Purple Sun Sect and Yellow Maple Valley, please show mercy! Yellow Maple Valley will surely reward you heavily," Luo Ying shouted.
"The Purple Sun Sect and Yellow Maple Valley have a friendship? When you teamed up with Huo Xiaochen to eliminate us, why didn’t you think of that friendship?" Sun Tao’s eyes burned with fierce light. "Tell Lin Jingyu to admit defeat immediately. Otherwise, we’ll just have to slaughter him."
"There’s no need to beg them! They still can’t do anything to me, Lin Jingyu!" Lin Jingyu bellowed. At this moment, half of the fifteen-minute time limit had already passed. Holding out until the end wouldn’t be a problem. Even if Sun Tao slashed him dozens more times, it wouldn’t kill him. His only fear was Xu Yang’s fists. As long as he defended against those, he would be fine.
"Junior Brother Xu, he thinks we can’t do anything to him!" Sun Tao laughed. He knew Xu Yang too well. It was impossible for him to only have this much skill; he was likely hiding several more tricks up his sleeve. Given Xu Yang’s talent, it was also impossible that he hadn’t comprehended even the lowest-level Martial Dao Imagery.
"Half the time has passed, yet half of you still haven’t been eliminated. Do you all want to be disqualified?"
Up in the firmament, Chu Nanguai’s dissatisfied voice rang out.
Not every battlefield was as intense as Xu Yang’s. Some people weren’t going all out at all. They were just trying to survive the fifteen minutes, exchanging blows as if they were merely sparring, completely devoid of killing intent.
As soon as those words were spoken, many people’s expressions changed. Given Chu Nanguai’s temperament, if the fifteen minutes passed and half the participants hadn’t been eliminated, there was a high probability he would actually disqualify everyone. An expert of his caliber was highly unlikely to joke around.
BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, many began to exert their full strength, launching furious assaults against their opponents.
"Then let’s show him what we’re truly capable of," Xu Yang smiled. He knew Sun Tao was hinting for him to reveal more of his trump cards to prevent any unforeseen accidents from dragging the battle out too long. A tyrannical aura pulsed from his body. His already tall frame rapidly expanded, his muscles bulging out.
ROAR!
A faint roar echoed as a golden Fuyue Bear materialized behind him, roaring toward the heavens.
"The Fuyue Bear King’s Palm at Perfection? You really were hiding something." Sun Tao’s eyes lit up, and he shouted, "I’ll take the vanguard!"
As he spoke, his longsword traced an arc, sweeping horizontally at Lin Jingyu. The sword gleam brought with it a series of sharp shrieks.
"Martial Dao Imagery?" Lin Jingyu’s expression shifted. With the emergence of Martial Dao Imagery, Xu Yang’s Combat Power would inevitably rise to another level. He was already inferior to Xu Yang; now, he was truly in grave danger.
BANG!
Violent shockwaves exploded as Xu Yang’s body suddenly vanished from his spot. With a flash of golden light, he reappeared at Lin Jingyu’s flank. His palm punched through the air as he struck.
Mountain-Shattering and Mountain-Breaking!
BOOM!
The golden palm tore through the air, striking out with the force of a landslide and a fracturing earth. The resulting shockwaves cracked the ground on several sides.
At the exact same moment, Sun Tao’s sword gleam also ripped through the air and arrived.
Caught in a pincer attack by two great experts, Lin Jingyu’s expression grew unprecedentedly grim. He had no choice but to circulate his life’s Gang Yuan to the absolute limit.
"Celestial Spirit Dominating Body!" He let out a fierce roar. The white tiger Illusion behind him echoed the cry, roaring at the sky. His fists emitted a blinding light as he punched out, simultaneously striking at Xu Yang and Sun Tao.
BANG!
The sword gleam shattered. Sun Tao’s body jolted, feeling as if the Spiritual Soldier in his grasp was about to be sent flying. It nearly slipped from his grip, and he couldn’t stop himself from staggering backward.
At this moment, he finally understood just how ferociously powerful Xu Yang had to be to push Lin Jingyu back. He had merely clashed Weapons with Lin Jingyu, yet he could barely withstand the man’s terrifying, immense strength. Of course, this sword strike wasn’t entirely without merit. Lin Jingyu’s Protective Gang Yuan was mostly destroyed, and his bones and sinews rumbled in protest.
BOOM!
Almost simultaneously, Xu Yang’s palm collided with Lin Jingyu’s fist, producing a deafening, massive crash. Xu Yang’s entire body trembled as his Palm Force poured out. His feet sank into the earth, golden light flashing across his skin while the giant bear Illusion danced wildly.
An expression of sheer agony crawled across Lin Jingyu’s face. The Martial Dao Imagery behind him instantly vanished, and his bulging body deflated. A sharp pain shot through the arm that had collided with Xu Yang, and in a flash, it lost all sensation. His chest felt as though it had been struck by a heavy hammer, bringing about an agonizing sensation of impending suffocation. Every one of his internal organs had shifted out of place.
"Ugh!"
With his fist knocked back, he couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan. His bones and sinews wailed in protest, rendering him unable to muster any strength. With his legs scraping against the ground, he was sent flying backwards.
BANG!
Pressing his advantage mercilessly, Xu Yang chased after him, moving like a swimming dragon as his large hand struck out once more.