Murong Ao had assumed Lin Ye would flee with his tail between his legs. Instead, Lin Ye appeared openly, fearless, with not the slightest hint of panic.
"So you are Lin Ye?" Murong Ao said coldly. "Today, Leihe City will become your burial ground."
He did not waste words. At his side, Granny Slashmoon stepped forward.
"I heard that old Zhong died by your hand," the hunched woman rasped. "Hand over that Heaven-Stealing Forbidden Art he carried, and this old woman will grant you a quick death."
Her cloudy eyes locked onto Lin Ye like a blade.
Zhong Bai had been able to stand on equal footing with the three of them because he possessed a secret technique—Heaven-Stealing Forbidden Art. If someone like her learned it, her power would rise again. No one refused a method that could raise strength.
In battle, even the slightest advantage could decide life or death.
"I'd like to see how 'not quick' it can get," Lin Ye replied calmly, drawing his Cold-Iron Sword.
Three Tianxiang Realm experts… he could kill them. But fighting here would cause unnecessary collateral damage. Lin Ye was no saint, but pointless slaughter was still wasteful.
With a flash, he shot toward the city's military drill ground.
"Trying to run!?" Granny Slashmoon roared, drawing her massive crescent blade and cleaving downward from afar.
Boom!
Lin Ye dodged. The blade-light struck a nearby rooftop and tore half of it away.
The group pursued immediately. Murong Ao's eyes were filled with mockery. In his mind, running was meaningless. He had come in person with this many experts—if Lin Ye escaped, Murong Ao would become a joke.
Boom!
Another slash chased him. Lin Ye dodged again. The blade-light crashed into the drill ground and ripped open a fissure more than ten meters deep.
"Flying Star—Severing Moon!"
Granny Slashmoon spun like a top and unleashed three consecutive arcs of terrifying blade energy.
Lin Ye used Heaven-Policy Dragon Step and glided through all three without even drawing his sword.
"Too slow," Lin Ye said, shaking his head. "Disappointing. You're worse than that corpse puppet I fought."
"You dare mock me!?" Granny Slashmoon screamed. "Then let this old woman show you what true blade mastery is!"
Her Tianxiang aura exploded outward. Above, Murong Ao and the others watched from the air.
"That boy's movement technique is quite refined," Snake Elder muttered, leaning on his serpent staff.
"But he's holding back—probably limited. Slashmoon will lose her temper soon," Yin-Yang Sword added dryly.
The three clans from Jinlong City could only listen in silence, stunned that Lin Ye had lasted this long under a Tianxiang expert.
Then Granny Slashmoon's eyes flashed.
"Heaven-Flower Shatter-Moon Slash!"
Her aura surged. Heavenly meridian energy rolled forth, and a luminous bridge-like projection appeared behind her—an astral conduit.
The moment it manifested, her power multiplied.
A storm of blade energy engulfed Lin Ye.
"Shura Blood Armor!"
A crimson armor shell erupted around Lin Ye, sealing his entire body.
Granny Slashmoon's blade hammered down from every angle—continuous, shifting, relentless. In only three breaths, she struck nearly sixty times.
"Her speed has improved," Snake Elder observed. "She used to manage forty-five slashes in three breaths. Now she's reached sixty-one."
Murong Ao nodded slightly. Their cultivation had not dulled.
Commander Wang Shu swallowed hard. If he faced this, he would have died within ten strikes.
The drill ground was shredded into ruin, trenches ripped open by blade light. Yet when the barrage ended, Lin Ye still stood unbroken.
"The speed is there," Lin Ye said with a faint sneer, "but the power is lacking."
Not a single strike had cracked his Level Two Shura Blood Armor.
Granny Slashmoon's pupils shrank. Shock flashed across her face.
Then Lin Ye moved.
His Cold-Iron Sword thrust forward—plain, direct, almost casual. No technique. Just a simple stab.
But Granny Slashmoon had just unleashed her full martial art. Her energy was not yet recovered. Her reactions had dropped by half.
She couldn't dodge.
She raised her protective energy armor instead.
Ding!
Lin Ye's sword point touched the barrier. With his raw cultivation alone, he could not pierce it.
Granny Slashmoon let out a relieved laugh.
"So your strength is only this much—"
Before the last word left her mouth—
A hidden force surged through her armor.
"Finished."
That was her final thought.
Boom!
Her head exploded like crushed fruit.
From start to end, Lin Ye had used only a single sword thrust.
Lin Ye lifted his gaze toward the sky.
"Two left. Come together."
Snake Elder and Yin-Yang Sword both stiffened. Their eyes narrowed sharply.
What had just happened?
A Tianxiang expert's protective armor was not something a mere stab could breach. Yet Granny Slashmoon had died instantly.
Even Murong Ao looked genuinely shaken.
"It's hidden force," Yin-Yang Sword said grimly after analyzing. "Slashmoon underestimated him."
"Snake Elder, we strike together. Kill him before anything changes."
"Agreed."
Slashmoon's death brought them no grief—only opportunity. One less person to compete for the Heaven-Stealing Forbidden Art.
Who cared about honor? Only the living could claim victory.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The two Tianxiang experts dropped down onto the drill ground, one in front, one behind, surrounding Lin Ye.
Far off, Xia Wei and the Xia Clan patriarch climbed onto a nearby wall, watching with intense tension. They had only just decided to recruit Lin Ye—this could not go wrong.
Xia Wei's heart sank. Lin Ye had killed one Tianxiang expert, but now he was facing two.
Could he still win?
Yet Lin Ye looked completely relaxed, not even slightly pressured.
The Xia Clan patriarch's face remained grim, but even he couldn't deny the question forming in every mind:
Did Lin Ye still have more tricks?
At that moment, three figures climbed up another wall nearby and squatted down like spectators.
A long-legged young woman sat in the middle, holding two steaming meat buns.
"Hah—hot!"
Then her eyes lit up.
"Wait… isn't that rich guy from the other night?"
Thirteen-Niang grinned.
"So his name is Lin Ye."
Murong Ao's roar had awakened the entire city. Thirteen-Niang and her two companions had rushed out for the spectacle—breakfast in hand—ready to watch a real bloodbath.