Chapter 43: Combat I

Not long after, as time passed.

Lin Hui heard the sounds returning from the mist ahead gradually diminish, and the roars of the barbarians disappeared.

He exhaled gently.

‘Impressive… They easily dealt with three mutated four-armed barbarians.’

Lightly jumping down from the tree branch, he turned and walked further away.

‘Since they can handle pressure so well…’

‘Then let them handle it a few more times…’

Swish. Without a sound, his figure vanished into the mist.

Even for him in his current state, without activating his special abilities, a mutated four-armed barbarian would take quite a while to kill in a one-on-one fight. The fact that those two resolved three of them so easily proved they were indeed strong enemies.

And his only advantage lay in his speed.

Therefore.

Clang!

Wan’er held her knives in both hands, instantly brushing past the four-armed barbarian’s waist, opening up a massive gash.

Blood splattered, and the wound appeared as if it had exploded outward like a blooming flower, clearly invaded by some special internal force.

Thud.

This final four-armed barbarian let out a final wail and crashed to the ground. It breathed no more.

Wan’er panted heavily, sheathing her knives and flicking off the blood, then looked toward her grandmother.

Over there, another four-armed barbarian had long since fallen dead. The grandmother, an Internal Force Realm expert, had a dark expression as she scanned the surroundings to check the situation.

“Grandmother?”

“Three mutated barbarians appearing at the same time… Either we stumbled into a small tribe, or someone is playing tricks in the dark!” The grandmother said with a grim face.

“You mean that kid from earlier?” Wan’er frowned tight.

“The Clear Wind Temple has good movement techniques, so it’s possible he lured these barbarians. But theoretically, while their speed is fast, dealing with four-armed barbarians isn’t easy for them either. Even if he’s fast, he shouldn’t be that fast. Luring so many in such a short time isn’t realistic…”

The grandmother calculated in her mind. That kid was young; no matter how strong his movement was, he couldn’t be in the Internal Force Realm. Below the Internal Force Realm, there was a limit to movement speed. She had watched Chen Sui, known as their strongest, fight against the Black Dragon Gate disciples a few days ago, and he was nothing special.

“Maybe we really did run into a small tribe. Be careful,” the grandmother said in a low voice. “If…”

ROAR!

Before she could finish, two more four-armed barbarians charged out sideways, swinging giant clubs at the two of them.

Having fought continuously, the two women had consumed a lot of stamina. They wanted to shake them off, but Wan’er’s speed wasn’t fast enough to break the line of sight of the barbarians in a short time.

“We can’t keep this up! We must retreat first!” The grandmother’s palm finally glowed with white light, and she smashed a barbarian to the ground with a fierce blow. Turning her head, she unexpectedly saw two Thousand-Legged Eyeballs pouncing toward them.

These monsters were the most troublesome. If one’s speed wasn’t fast enough, killing them meant getting caught in their self-destruction.

She could use internal force to protect her body, but Wan’er couldn’t.

“Damn it!” This abnormally dense monster attack made her clearly realize someone was playing tricks. Since it didn’t seem like that young kid, it was likely another Internal Force expert causing trouble.

“Don’t let me find out who it is! Retreat!”

Carrying the bag of collected materials, the grandmother shouted and quickly rushed in the direction of the mist-free zone of Tuyue.

One in front and one behind, they quickly shook off the pursuit of the Thousand-Legged Eyeballs. Their movement techniques were good—though not as good as the Clear Wind Temple’s, they were stronger than ordinary external kung fu. As they flew forward, flower-like footprints blossomed beneath their feet.

Clearly, this was also a special movement technique.

But they hadn’t run far.

Three more three-meter-tall One-Horned Spiders, their eight legs stamping densely, rushed out of the mist and pounced on them.

These One-Horned Spiders were massive, and most importantly, their movement speed was the fastest among the surrounding monsters, comparable to the two women. They could also shoot webs from a distance.

Now, they had to slow down and fight, dealing with the two monsters before moving on.

However, after fighting continuously for so long, even the grandmother, an Internal Force expert, was panting and slightly exhausted.

Let alone Wan’er, who had not yet entered the Internal Force Realm.

“Wan’er, you go first! I’ll hold off these two monsters and find you ahead after I deal with them!” The grandmother had to let her granddaughter leave the Mist Zone first to get out of danger.

They weren’t far from the mist-free zone now; just a sprint of a few hundred meters forward would reach it.

“Grandmother, be careful of the person in the dark!” Wan’er knew that staying would only be a burden. Both were exhausted and a choice had to be made. She immediately grabbed the material bag and ran.

“Hmph!” The grandmother flew up and struck the back of a One-Horned Spider that wanted to chase, causing it to stagger violently. Its shell cracked, spilling milky white blood.

Hiss!

That One-Horned Spider turned its head in anger, its aggro drawn, and continued to pounce at her.

Its massive body crashed toward her like a small oxcart.

‘Blossoming Four Seasons!’ White light lit up on the grandmother’s hands as she suddenly ducked and slid under the One-Horned Spider.

In an instant, a large area of white, petal-like phantoms flew from her palms, smashing into the charging spider.

BANG!!

The large and small figures froze simultaneously upon impact.

Then, with a loud crash, the One-Horned Spider’s eight legs snapped simultaneously under a massive force. It knelt on the ground, its body bursting open, dead.

Huff… Huff…

The grandmother had consumed too much internal force. She caught her breath slightly, turned to dodge the impact of the other One-Horned Spider, leaped into the air, turned over, and delivered another identical killing move to the spider’s back.

BANG!

A cloud of white petal-like phantoms exploded, and the second One-Horned Spider fell dead, its black back shell appearing to be covered in a large patch of fine petal imprints.

Meanwhile, Wan’er, who had already run a distance ahead, stopped vigilantly, staring dead ahead at a figure blocking the small forest path.

“You finally dared to come out! Despicable coward!!” Wan’er’s eyes were cold as she put down the material bag and flexed her palms, which were wearing special gloves.

The opponent’s figure was still hidden in the mist, not clearly visible yet.

But anyone who could precisely grasp the timing to intercept her must be related to the mastermind who lured the monsters just now.

So…

“Do you really think we separated because we were exhausted?” Wan’er spoke, her heaving chest calming down rapidly. It was as if she had only just warmed up.

“Unfortunately for you, you might not know the strongest point of our Hundred Flowers Gate. That is… endurance!!”

Wan’er suddenly charged forward, striking a fierce palm at the figure in the mist.

The mist ahead quickly dissipated, and the figure became clear.

Whoosh!

The wind howled violently as the figure was revealed.

A gray-white form-fitting Daoist robe, a black longsword at his waist, long hair tied high, and a cold, aloof face.

It was precisely the Clear Wind Temple kid they met earlier!

“It’s actually you!! Damn it! You’re finished! The Clear Wind Temple is finished!!” Intense anger flashed in Wan’er’s eyes, and the force in her palm suddenly increased.

The Hundred Flowers Palm was characterized by endurance and armor-breaking capabilities. It was incredibly powerful in tough battles. In close quarters, even elites with strong defenses like those from the Black Dragon Gate wouldn’t dare to take two of her palms head-on!

As the fourth-ranked core disciple of the Hundred Flowers Gate, Wan’er had absolute confidence that she could end the battle instantly once she got close.

The Clear Wind Temple was fast, but as long as they entered a certain range, the Hundred Flowers Palm had plenty of ways to restrict that speed.

As a powerful palm technique that stood out from countless external martial arts through frantic combat, it had to have methods and experience to deal with all kinds of martial arts. Otherwise, if its weaknesses were too obvious, it would have been eliminated and vanished in the competition among many martial arts halls.

The same applied to the Hundred Flowers Palm. As long as he entered within two meters of her, once the Flying Flowers Falling Leaves movement technique unfolded, the opponent would never escape the restriction of her palm technique and leave safely.

Moreover, she and her grandmother had split up deliberately to lure out the person causing trouble in the dark, so…

She currently had a massive killing weapon in her bosom as a trump card. As long as he got close, even an Internal Force expert would…

In a split second, the distance between the two shortened rapidly. From ten meters, eight meters, five meters, four meters, three meters!!

Clang!

Finally, the sound of a sword.

In front of Wan’er, the figure suddenly drew his sword. The blade brought out layers of afterimages, stabbing consecutively toward her chest.

‘Seeking death!’ Wan’er’s eyes lit up. Clearly, the opponent didn’t know that the gloves she wore were light as wings but incredibly tough. They could crush gold and break iron without hurting herself in the slightest. In a real fight, if she touched the blade, she could disarm him in one move!

In Xingdao, the Hundred Flowers Palm was one of the famous martial arts for taking a blade with bare hands. Against a mere kid from the Clear Wind Temple, as long as she touched it…

As the distance closed.

The longsword and the palm approached rapidly, about to collide fiercely…

Puff.

Wan’er’s hand suddenly grabbed empty air!

The longsword had almost touched her hand, but in the blink of an eye, it actually retracted!?

Retracted!??

Having grabbed nothing, Wan’er made a prompt decision and unleashed a Hundred Flowers Palm move designed to restrict movement.

‘Traceless Flower Shadow!’

She shouted inwardly, her hands shaking suddenly as two tough steel wires shot out from mechanisms in her wrists, flying toward the figure ahead.

These steel wires were mechanism-made, flying far faster than ordinary projectiles. Within three meters, even with the Clear Wind Temple’s speed, it was impossible to dodge them!

But…

Swish swish. After two sounds of tearing air, both steel wires missed.

“Impossible!!” Wan’er’s expression changed drastically. “The Clear Wind Temple can’t be this fast!! Who are you!?”

“I am from the Clear Wind Temple. Do you want me to prove it to you?” Lin Hui slowly appeared from an empty space to the side, while his previous figure faded away as an afterimage.

His mind moved slightly. The more the opponent doubted, the more he affirmed he was from the Clear Wind Temple, which would surely produce a counter-effect.

His movement speed, after Body Tempering and using the Perfected Nine-Section Quick Sword, was already unnaturally fast.

Judging by the opponent’s reaction, he shouldn’t be weak right now. As for exactly what level he had reached, he needed to compare more.

“Again!” He wanted to test it further and immediately used the Nine-Section Quick Sword again.

His figure instantly pulled out a series of afterimages, the sword tip stabbing toward her lower abdomen.

Chii!

But just as the sword tip thrust out, half a meter from the opponent, it suddenly retracted.

Pulled back again.

Puff!

Opposite him, Wan’er struck empty air again. Her face turned pale; she had pulled a muscle in her shoulder from missing with too much force.

Before she could recover, a new sword shadow took advantage of her injury and pounced again, stabbing toward her neck.

This move was sinister and ruthless, the timing grasped perfectly; she couldn’t block it in time.

Seeing the sword shadow almost at her neck, less than twenty centimeters away, her skin could feel the chilling cold from the tip.

Ah!

Wan’er suddenly threw an object outward with her right hand.

The object exploded upon leaving her hand, bursting into a large, incredibly tough white web that covered the area ahead.

But just then, Lin Hui’s figure retracted again!

And he initiated the retraction the moment before the object was even thrown.

Clearly, that sword strike just now was also a feint!!!

BANG!!

The white web exploded, covering the front, catching nothing but air.

This trump card had misfired once again under Lin Hui’s probing.

“F***!!” Wan’er’s mental state collapsed. She leaped forward, pouncing madly, her hands executing the Hundred Flowers Palm killing moves.

But Lin Hui was still testing.

(End of Chapter)