Chapter 48: Tactical Advantage?
Lanjiang City, Inside the Tianyi Sword Dojo.
In a quiet, elegant room, Ling Wenhe stared at the Vivre Card in his palm.
The edges of the paper were curled and charred black. Tiny sparks traced the fiber of the paper, burning slowly as specks of ash drifted into the air.
"Yue'er..." Ling Wenhe's brows knitted together tightly.
A burning Vivre Card meant only one thing: Ling Yue was in life-threatening danger.
However, the Alliance had strict regulations. Unless it was a major catastrophe, they were forbidden from interfering in military training.
This was partly for fairness, but mostly to let the new Awakened experience the true terror of life and death.
"Chen Yu, it's all up to you..." His Adam's apple bobbed as he whispered the name.
"You must bring Ling Yue back."
He knew Chen Yu's strength. In that entire misty forest, if there was a problem Ling Yue couldn't solve, only Chen Yu had the ability to fix it.
....
Meanwhile, in the central region of the Misty Forest.
On a clearing in the woods, everything within sight was frozen into solid ice.
.
Jiang Qingye knelt on one knee, her long sword stabbed into the ground to support her crumbling body. Although she had activated her Iron Body, she had been torn apart effortlessly by the opponent.
The assassin's single strike hadn't just broken her defense; it had ripped open her old wounds.
Nearby, Li Mufeng, in his Pteranodon Hybrid form, lay on the ground, his wings torn and his breath fading.
"Apprentice Rank (Peak)..."
Jiang Qingye coughed up blood. Through her blurred vision, she saw a man in dark tactical gear slowly sheathing his sword.
"I almost fell for it."
"If my cultivation base wasn't two ranks higher than yours—at the Apprentice level—I'm afraid I would have been turned into an ice sculpture."
The man wore a black mask, revealing only a pair of cold, mocking eyes. In his right hand, he held a long sword that glowed with a faint green luster.
Ling Yue's back was soaked in cold sweat. Ice covered her body, and every heavy breath she exhaled instantly condensed into frost.
The Ice-Ice Fruit was emitting a chill far beyond what she could currently control.
The cold was devouring everything around her—and it was devouring her, too.
The masked man waved his hand. Vines half a meter thick drilled out of the soil, striking like living pythons.
Ling Yue's physical functions had dropped critically; she couldn't Shave out of the way in time.
Thwack!
A vine wrapped around her ankle. Thorns pierced her pant leg, embedding themselves deep into her flesh. Blood instantly flowed.
"Sorry, Miss Ling. I need you to stay put for a while."
The assassin's voice was flat. He raised his left hand, and the ground suddenly bulged.
Several more arm-thick vines burst from the earth, lunging straight for the collapsed Li Mufeng and the immobilized Jiang Qingye.
"Stop!" Ling Yue gritted her teeth, unleashing another wave of cold air.
Moisture in the air crystallized into ice pellets. The moment the vines touched the cold front, they froze into pale blue pillars and shattered.
But the strike drained the last of Ling Yue's strength. She staggered back, grabbing a tree trunk to steady herself.
Cold sweat slid down her forehead, freezing into tiny beads of ice before it even hit her chin.
Several erratic balls of light flickered around her. Her ability was chaotic; forcibly activating it caused the cold to spiral out of control.
Ice spread up the tree trunk. In an instant, the entire tree was encased in a thick shell of frost, and the fallen leaves on the ground turned into brittle ice crystals.
A flash of surprise crossed the masked man's eyes, followed by a sneer.
"I didn't expect the Capital's genius, Ling Yue, to suffer from an ability rampage."
"This information is worth money. If I sell it to anti-Alliance organizations, I'll make a fortune."
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I can't afford to provoke the Ling family yet."
"You're just a bit in the way. Be a good girl and stay there." He snapped his fingers.
Cr-crack!
Vines broke through the ice layer and began to grow wildly, weaving into an airtight net that descended over Ling Yue.
She tried to release her cold air again, but the energy inside her was like a runaway wild horse, crashing through her internal organs.
A sharp pain shot through her chest, and she spat a mouthful of blood onto the ice, where it instantly froze into dark red pearls.
The vine net closed in. She could clearly see the cold light glinting off the thorns.
Behind her, Jiang Qingye's scream seemed to come from very far away.
Just then.
BOOM!
A pillar of scorching fire suddenly erupted from the forest, carbonizing every plant in its path.
Sizzle—
The moment the vine net touched the Dragon Breath, it turned to charcoal. Black ash drifted in the wind.
But the Dragon Breath didn't stop—it roared straight toward the masked man!
The masked man's pupils shrank. He instantly scattered a handful of seeds.
The seeds swelled in the wind, growing into Ironwood trees that interlocked to form a massive wooden wall.
BANG!!!
A massive explosion shook the forest. Sparks illuminated half the sky, and a heatwave rolled outward, visibly melting the surrounding ice.
As the firelight faded, a figure appeared beside Ling Yue.
Chen Yu stood there, the meito Ace pointed diagonally at the ground.
The blade still radiated scorching heat. Black Armament Haki covered his body like hardened armor.
His gaze swept over the critically injured Jiang Qingye and Li Mufeng, finally landing on Ling Yue, who was covered in blood and leaking uncontrolled cold air.
His eyes instantly turned cold.
If Uncle Ling saw this, I'd be dead meat.
He immediately activated his Conqueror's Haki.
An invisible pressure surged into Ling Yue's body, forcibly suppressing the chaotic power of the Ice-Ice Fruit.
Ling Yue's complexion improved visibly.
"Apprentice Rank (Peak)... Chen... Chen Yu, he'll kill... run..."
Her voice was broken, but Chen Yu understood instantly.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." The masked man walked out from behind the carbonized wooden wall, completely unharmed. "You finally showed up."
His voice sounded relaxed, but his grip on his sword tightened. He looked at Chen Yu with wary eyes.
The oppression radiating from Chen Yu—a mere Trainee—was far beyond the three he had just fought.
"Zhang Li's man?" Chen Yu shielded Ling Yue behind him, his calm voice hiding intense killing intent.
His Conqueror's Haki expanded uncontrollably, distorting the air.
The masked man was secretly startled. This kid feels like a high-level beast!
But on the surface, he sneered. "Sorry, we have rules in this line of work. Can't say the employer's name."
Chen Yu scoffed. The flames on the Ace sword suddenly surged half a foot higher. "You don't have to say it. I know."
"Apprentice Rank (Peak). Zhang Li really invested heavily."
"Judging by the seeds, a talent from the More-More Fruit?"
Cold sweat beaded on the masked man's forehead. He guessed my background in one exchange? This kid is demonic!
But the forest was dense with vegetation. This was his domain. The masked man steadied his mind.
"You guessed right. Then you should know this is my home field, right?"
"With all these plants, I hold every tactical advantage. You can't escape."
"Why not obediently accept death? Fighting is so troublesome."
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow. "That's not necessarily true."
As soon as the words fell, the masked man lunged.
His pale green sword, wrapped in vine afterimages, stabbed straight for Chen Yu's heart.
Chen Yu's eyes sharpened. He didn't move his feet. His left arm, coated in Armament Haki, caught the blade directly.
CLANG!!
Sparks flew. Chen Yu felt a stinging pain in his arm, like a bee sting, but he gritted his teeth and endured it, swinging Ace toward the man's neck.
Shocked that Chen Yu blocked a sword with his arm, the masked man hastily retreated.
The mud beneath them churned. Three Ironwood spikes burst from the ground, aiming for Chen Yu's knees.
Moonwalk!
Chen Yu kicked the air, rising into the sky to dodge. From his high vantage point, he spat out massive fireballs one after another.
The fireballs crashed down like meteors, turning the clearing below into a sea of fire.
The masked man looked around. Everything in sight was rising flames.
The surrounding trees—his greatest advantage—were all combustible. He was trapped by his own terrain.
He looked up at the sky in disbelief. "Burning the forest? Are you crazy?!"
"Setting fire to the mountain... do you know how much jail time that is?!"
But Chen Yu's figure had already vanished.
.....
(To be Continued)