Chapter 290 Overwhelming

Blade light flashed!

Although it appeared simple, the blow was very profound. The blade force seemed to hack, coil, rotate, stab, and shake all at once. It constantly shifted between different forms to make it impossible to predict.

Amidst a series of muffled sounds, the attacking enemies either had their necks chopped, their chests torn open, their throats pierced, or their heads smashed. Each individual was instantly killed, splashing blood everywhere!

It was just terrifying!

These enemies weren’t pushovers. Instead, they were elites who had undergone many selections. Each had experienced a hundred battles and possessed strong combat power.

However, all of them had lost their lives to a blade in an instant. It was a bloody scene that would shake anyone’s heart and soul!

Compared to the battles of the provincial exam, Lin Xun seemed to have turned into a completely different person; one that was decisive, ruthless, and merciless.

This was Lin Xun’s true face in battle!

After all, the provincial exam was just an exam and not a matter of life and death. This made it impossible for Lin Xun to bring out his true self in battle.

Only at a time like this, where there were no rules to restrain him, could Lin Xun fully display everything he had learned!

Blood permeated the night air. Numerous enemies’ expressions changed, frightened by the ruthless and overwhelming combat power Lin Xun had displayed.

They already knew that the target was formidable and had made preparations to surround him and attack from all sides. However, they only realized that they had still underestimated the target when the battle unfurled.

At the very start, their leader and four companions had been soundlessly assassinated.

Now, a few more companions had been killed by a single blade. This was all far too inconceivable and horrifying to them!

They even began to suspect that the target was not a Human Dipper stage youngster but a heaven-defying monster gifted in the art of killing.

Whoosh!

Lin Xun did not wait for the enemy to approach and instead dashed forward to engage them.

His figure was akin to lightning and his blade akin to a dancing stream of light. With simple, precise, and direct movements, the pair started the gruesome and bloody fight.

It was still the same Six Word Blade Art.

However, compared to the past, there was an additional indescribable sensation in his technique. It felt like it came from the great aura of nature and contained an almighty power that shook the heart.

It was related to Lin Xun’s practice of the Star-Gather art. In the third trial of the Great Azure Cloud Path, the hundred battles secret realm, Lin Xun had experienced death numerous times and ultimately absorbed the strengths of a hundred experts to perfect the Star-Gather technique!

The Star-Gather art’s essence had been assimilated into Lin Xun’s blade dao. As a result, although every move of the Six Word Blade Art was exactly the same as before, they gave off a completely different sensation.

Of course, it couldn’t be compared to the true Star-Gather art. However, the moves were clearly much stronger than before.

Shrieks soon began to fill the night sky as enemy after enemy was subdued and killed.

From start to end, no one could stop a single slash from Lin Xun!

It was no longer a fight, but a massacre. The enemy had the numbers advantage, but Lin Xun easily cut through all of them like paper.

Bang!

Lin Xun swung his blade, sending it straight through a giant hammer in one of the enemy’s hands. Without any drop in speed, the blade continued along its path and hacked the other party’s body into two, scattering fresh blood and innards onto the green grass below.

It could not be denied that Lin Xun was indeed too overwhelming. His combat prowess was peerless and the Flowing Light Blade in his hand was unmatched.

Under these circumstances, it was indeed very difficult for the enemy to face Lin Xun with their current combat power.

Oh?

After killing the giant hammer wielder, Lin Xun was about to continue the slaughter when his eyes suddenly narrowed as if sensing something. His body abruptly stopped in its tracks and the blade in his hand began to spin, sending out waves of blade-shadows.

Strong, brief, and rushed wind-like sounds rapidly fired off in succession around him.

Beng! Beng! Beng!

The night was suddenly lit by blinding fireworks, followed by piercing whistles as the projectiles shot through the air and rained upon Lin Xun from all directions.

Aeth crossbows!

More than a dozen of them!

The most terrifying part was that they had fired simultaneously to seal off any possible path of retreat, making it impossible to avoid!

If any other cultivator was in Lin Xun’s place, he would have already begun to despair because there was nowhere to run.

Sure enough, Lin Xun did not try to evade. He had already created layers of blade-shadows to defend himself the moment he sensed something was amiss.

A strange scene appeared. When the first arrow arrived, it was gently diverted by the layers of blade-shadows, creating a small change in its trajectory.

With a thud, it shot into the ground beside Lin Xun, creating a deep hole.

This was the rotating style of the Six Word Blade Art. It sought to counter hardness with softness and used the smallest possible effort to achieve the greatest effect. As such, it boasted the magical ability of force redirection.

Thud thud thud~~~

The strange scene continued to play out. Arrows blasted the ground, sending dust and soil into the air amidst the earth-shaking booms.

At the center of it all, Lin Xun remained unscathed.

“Crap! Even that volley couldn’t kill him?”

“Damnit, he’s a monster!”

“We have to leave! The enemy is too problematic. We’ll only be throwing away our lives if we continue!”

The crossbowmen were dumbstruck by this scene. Their hearts began to shiver uncontrollably as they were unable to believe their eyes.

However, reality was telling them that all of this was real!

This realization nearly made their souls leave their bodies. There was almost no hesitation as they turned around to flee. It was too frightening. Even the arrows could not kill him. Who could possibly be the target’s match?

After neutralizing all of the arrows, Lin Xun found that all the remaining enemies were gone.

Unfortunately, he could not afford to give chase. Although neutralizing the arrow onslaught had seemed effortless, only he knew the tremendous force he had to endure to deflect each arrow.

His blood was churning erratically and all his bones shivered slightly in pain. If he did not forcibly hold it back, he would probably be coughing blood.

This was the terror of the aeth crossbows. A single flick of the mechanism was all that was needed to instantly release an almost fatal power.

At Lin Xun’s current strength, he would have been instantly killed if he had not used the rotating style to defend himself in time.

Lin Xun did not doubt this. As a rune master, he naturally understood the terror of an aeth crossbow better than other cultivators.

With a few deep breaths, Lin Xun forcibly suppressed his churning blood. He walked to one of the corpses, searched the body, and soon retrieved a half-foot-long bronze crossbow.

Divine Arm Crossbow!

Lin Xun immediately identified the weapon. It was the empire’s most common crossbow that had a shooting distance of one thousand five hundred feet and could hold up to twelve armor-piercing arrows. It shot arrows that were as swift as lightning and could kill a Spirit Sea expert if taken by surprise.

After some contemplation, Lin Xun searched through the other corpses. Sure enough, he found a dozen more Divine Arm Crossbows.

“If not for the alarm device and if all of them used the Divine Arm Crossbows…”

Lin Xun’s heart turned cold and he did not dare to continue the train of thought.

The bodies also yielded some healing and recovery medicine, and equipment.

On closer inspection, both the medicine and equipment had been standardized and were of excellent quality that could not be compared to the average products on the market!

These enemies must have prepared a huge amount of resources and equipment for the operation.

“Divine Arm Crossbows…standardized military equipment and medicine…it seems that the enemy has invested a lot to deal with me…”

After some thought, Lin Xun kept his spoils and swiftly departed under the cover of the night.

……

Under the same night sky.

Inside an old mansion with a thousand years of history located in the Forbidden City.

The room’s setup had already been completely rearranged. At the center was a long stone table used for meetings and a giant detailed map had been hung on the wall behind the table.

Xu Qianjing was currently standing in front of the map with his hands behind his back and his clear eyes filled with focus.

Suddenly, a guard rushed in and reported, “There’s news, Young Masters. The target has appeared in the Blood Wolf Plains!”

The five or six youths seated at the stone table jerked to attention with excited expressions.

They had been appointed by Chi Cangmei to be Xu Qianjing’s assistants and had already grown rather impatient after waiting here for three days. How could they not feel excited after finally hearing some news about the target?

Only Xu Qianjing’s expression remained calm as if he had predicted this all along.

He turned his head and waved his hand to dismiss the guard. After which, he said to the assistants seated at the table, “Since the target has appeared in the Blood Wolf Plains, he must be taking the central route to the Forbidden City.”

Everyone nodded.

With a solemn expression, Xu Qianjing instructed, “I have three tasks for all of you.”

“First, tell the forces stationed on the east and west routes to withdraw. They will then rush to the meeting point on the central route to await further orders.”

“Second, dispatch all the wind shadow hawks to scout and monitor the target’s movements. I need them to report everything as soon as possible.”

“Third, deploy the six Violet Hero class battleships to Mount Tianlao and behind the Yingchou River to await further orders!”

His composed tone was filled with a certain confidence that everything was within his control. It made the assistants subconsciously nod in acknowledgment.

However, Xu Qianjing had already turned around to stare at the map on the wall. The information they had received made him faintly feel that the target was not going to be so easy to deal with.

However, this only aroused his interest. Otherwise, why else would he bother to strategize so much?

While the assistants were preparing to move, the guard suddenly hurried back into the room. He looked grave as he reported, “Young Masters, the first encirclement mission has failed.”

What!?

The assistants were stunned and nearly unable to believe their ears. Barely any time had passed since the discovery of the target but a report had come in that the first encirclement mission had failed? Who would dare to believe this?