SWISH!
Hong Qiao’s body instantly left an afterimage as he reappeared right in front of Su Yu.
He gripped the nine-inch-wide heavy broadsword with both hands, his Qi and Blood surging into his arms as he brought it down ruthlessly toward Su Yu’s head!
The sword flashed, its cold gleam like a cascading river of stars, accompanied by a terrifying sonic boom that tore through the air.
This was no ordinary strike. The cold light was clearly a manifestation of a powerful aura, one that could make a person’s heart tremble in an instant, making it impossible to escape.
If an ordinary Flesh Refining Realm Martial Artist were to face this attack, they would likely lose even the courage to raise their blade to block and be instantly cleaved in two!
However, faced with such a killing blow, Su Yu’s eyes were as deep and still as an ancient well, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
The Trait of Perceiving Truth silently activated. The so-called aura crumbled and disintegrated before his mirror-like mind, rendered utterly useless.
He simply moved, calmly sidestepping three feet and effortlessly dodging the greatsword’s slash.
BOOM!
The broadsword struck empty air, slamming viciously into the green flagstones. A violent gale swept out to the sides, savagely whipping Su Yu’s black hair, but it didn’t even touch the hem of his clothes.
"How is this possible?"
Hong Qiao’s pupils shrank, and his mind was thrown into turmoil.
This turn of events was clearly beyond his understanding of Martial Arts! The aura contained in his strike had no effect whatsoever; his opponent had just dodged it with ease.
’By all rights, even if my opponent broke free from the aura’s suppression, he shouldn’t have had time to dodge. He should have been forced to face me head-on.’
’And as long as he dared to take the hit, I could seize the initiative and, with the weight advantage of my broadsword, unleash a relentless storm of attacks until he was hacked to pieces!’
He had slain countless powerful enemies of the same realm with this tactic of suppressing them with his aura and overwhelming skill with brute force. After all, when experts clash, the slightest initiative is enough to decide life and death!
But now, his sword had missed, leaving his chest wide open.
Having easily dodged the attack, Su Yu gave his opponent no chance to retreat, countering with a killing move!
His five fingers spread like an angry ape’s claws as he lunged for Hong Qiao’s lower abdomen. The silver light of his Profound Silver Flow Armor flowed to cover his fingers, glinting with a startling coldness.
Empowered by Ape Shadow Swift Wind, the attack was as fast as lightning. Hong Qiao had no time to react and was about to be hit.
"Get away!"
At that critical moment, Steward Yan, who had been waiting for an opportunity nearby, finally made her move.
With a sharp cry, she flicked her scarlet whip, which shot out like a viper striking. With a crisp CRACK! that tore through the air, the whip, carrying a vicious wind, lashed viciously at Su Yu’s temple.
This was a clear tactic to force Su Yu to defend himself. If he insisted on grievously wounding Hong Qiao, his own head would surely be smashed open by this Qi and Blood-infused whip.
However, facing the whip’s deadly threat, Su Yu showed no intention of dodging or retreating.
He clenched his free left hand into a fist, the muscles in his arm tightening like steel cables, and smashed it savagely straight into the scarlet whip!
BANG!
A teeth-grinding explosion of Ming Jin erupted!
Su Yu’s left fist, covered by the Profound Silver Flow Armor, brutally knocked the whip away!
At the same time, his right hand tore through Hong Qiao’s skin and membranes, even managing to snap three of his ribs in the process.
"Urgh!"
The intense pain forced a muffled groan from Hong Qiao.
Enduring the searing pain, he kicked off the ground and retreated frantically, his feet pattering on the stone as he left a shocking trail of blood behind him.
"How dare you!"
Steward Yan never expected her whip strike to be blocked so easily, completely failing to rescue her companion.
She was now furious and humiliated, especially seeing Su Yu’s calm expression. Feeling that she was being looked down upon, she couldn’t help but roar in anger.
"You little bastard, let’s see how many lashes those hands of yours can take!"
Steward Yan bellowed, gripping the whip’s handle tightly with both hands. The Qi and Blood of her Flesh Refining Realm cultivation roared like thunder in her body; she was clearly using her full strength.
The scarlet whip instantly transformed into a madly coiling venomous dragon, leaving countless afterimages in the air.
A series of sonic booms—CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!—reverberated all around. A sky full of whip shadows formed a seemingly inescapable net of death, instantly enveloping the entire area in front of Su Yu.
A Black Lotus Sect cultist who was a little too close failed to dodge in time and was struck by accident.
A whip shadow, almost invisible to the naked eye, viciously lashed his throat. Blood sprayed three feet into the air! The cultist didn’t even have time to scream before he collapsed in a pool of his own blood, clutching his crushed windpipe in despair.
The sky full of whip shadows continued to bear down on Su Yu. Even if a single lash couldn’t kill him, being hit by so many would leave him severely injured.
But Su Yu’s foundation was astonishing. Facing such a terrifying flurry of whip shadows, the Qi and Blood in his feet surged as he unleashed the Seven Fiends Thunder Collapse Step.
Fueled by the Qi and Blood of the Thunder Collapse Flashing Step technique, his body flickered and shifted, several degrees faster than even the dazzling whip shadows.
Under Steward Yan’s disbelieving gaze, Su Yu moved as if taking a leisurely stroll, calmly weaving through the inescapable net of death.
The sky full of whip shadows failed to even graze the corner of his robes!
This scene terrified Steward Yan out of her wits. Her red lips unconsciously formed an "O," and the depths of her pupils filled with fear.
"Wind-Tearing, Armor-Rending!"
Su Yu unleashed this move again, his five fingers spread wide as he clawed at his enemy’s chest.
He kept using this move not for any special reason, but simply out of habit. It was his go-to attack.
Recalling her companion’s miserable state, how could Steward Yan not know the power of this attack? Her beautiful face paled in terror, and she screamed, "Save me!"
At this moment, Hong Qiao had already swallowed a pill to staunch his wounds. Seeing his companion fall into a fatal crisis after just two moves, he was even more horrified.
’Who is this young man? The flow of his Qi and Blood clearly shows he’s only in the Late-stage of the Flesh Refining Realm.’
’But his strength... he’s like one of the Sect’s Holy Sons or Holy Maidens, easily crossing a whole realm to defeat me and Steward Yan.’
’And that calm, oppressive feeling is like a huge boulder crushing my heart, filling me with dread.’
’How ridiculous. A moment ago, I actually wanted to torture and kill him all by myself. If I didn’t know I couldn’t retreat now, I would have already started running.’
"You cur, let her go!"
Hong Qiao didn’t dare to get close to rescue her. Instead, he swung his greatsword in a Sweeping Thousand Armies. The ferocious power once again stirred up a massive gale as it howled toward Su Yu’s waist.
It had to be said that Hong Qiao’s strength was among the best in the Flesh Refining Realm. With his power and that sword aura, he was stronger than any of Su Yu’s previous opponents.
Even Pei Zhan of the Zhenyuan Martial Hall would probably not be his match!
If this strike landed, forget a human body—even a giant boulder would likely be split in two.
This stunning strike also brought a look of joy to Steward Yan’s face.
’I’m saved!’
’If this kid doesn’t want to be cut in half at the waist, he has to give up his attack on me and turn to defend himself!’
The violent gale from the broadsword arrived first, pressing Su Yu’s martial robes tightly against his body and making them flutter loudly.
However, Su Yu didn’t turn to dodge the attack at all. There was just another explosive roar from the Qi and Blood within his body.
Using the final flicker of the Thunder Collapse Flashing Step, his speed increased by another thirty percent!
SWISH!
The nine-inch-wide heavy broadsword carved a stunning arc, but its supposedly inescapable edge seemed to only shatter an afterimage Su Yu had left behind.
Before the astonished eyes of Steward Yan and Hong Qiao, Su Yu’s body had already appeared behind her.
His right hand continued its attack, tearing mercilessly toward her slender, red-robed waist.
CRACK!
Like a hot knife through butter, the blow easily tore through Steward Yan’s skin-and-membrane defense. With that one tyrannical claw, Su Yu ripped away the pale flesh of her waist along with several vertebral bones!
A large gush of hot blood mixed with ghastly white bone fragments splattered onto the green flagstones where a few stalks of wild grass grew, a truly shocking sight.
"Ahhh!"
Steward Yan was instantly and severely wounded by the attack. Most of her waist was torn open. If she hadn’t forcefully twisted her slender waist an inch at the last moment, she probably would have been ripped in two.
However, she had also completely lost her ability to fight and collapsed to the ground.
"No divine blood transformation?"
Su Yu’s calm voice sounded again. He looked at the woman collapsed on the ground and shook his head in disappointment.
’It seems not every Black Lotus Sect steward has divine blood.’
"Run!"
Seeing his companion fall, a sudden terror bloomed in Hong Qiao’s heart.
’This is a monster, a monster on the level of a Holy Son or Holy Maiden! How can I possibly fight this?’
’I can’t believe a small place like Black Stone City has such an incredible genius.’
Without the slightest hesitation, he pushed off with his feet, turned, and leaped toward the high wall. His body shot through the air like a goshawk, moving at extreme speed.
The fight between Su Yu and the two stewards had actually taken place in the span of a few breaths. At this moment, the Black Lotus Sect cultists were still locked in combat with the Black Armor Guard.
Although they outnumbered the Black Armor Guard, they were clearly no match for the well-trained, Heavy Armor-clad soldiers.
One Black Lotus Guard at Skin Tempering Realm Perfection, his face savage, brought his weapon down with all his might on a Black Armor Guard in the early stage of the Skin Tempering Realm. The ferocious force was astonishing, even stirring up a gale.
But the armor on the Black Armor Guard had astonishing defensive power. He raised his arms and, with a CLANG, actually managed to block the enemy’s blade.
The next moment, another Black Armor Guard from the formation to his right instantly stepped forward to fill the gap.
The heavy Horse-cutting Saber in his hand, a weapon forged specifically for piercing armor and slaughter, used the momentum of his charge to carve a cold arc through the air, viciously slicing into the Black Lotus Guard’s neck!
THUD!
A head flew into the air atop a fountain of gushing blood, then slammed heavily onto the ground and rolled a long way.
"Not bad. Take them down. Show no mercy to those who resist!"
Su Yu glanced at the Black Armor Guard’s efficient formation-based slaughter and offered a word of praise. His shout, laced with Qi and Blood, instantly overwhelmed all the other battle cries on the field.
At this point, the Black Lotus Sect cultists also noticed the situation with their two high-ranking stewards and were struck dumb, as if by lightning.
’How is this possible? It’s only been a moment, and our two incredibly powerful stewards have been defeated, with one fleeing?’
A chill ran down their spines. Just who in the world was this young man?
"My lord is mighty! Kill them!"
Song Mirror seemed long accustomed to Su Yu’s astonishing feats. He reacted instantly, shouting loudly and charging toward the remaining Black Lotus Sect cultists, taking advantage of his side’s overwhelming morale.
"Run!"
Some of the Black Lotus Sect cultists lost their will to fight and began to flee toward the gate.
Su Yu nodded slightly. ’Now, this is normal. If the Black Lotus Sect was really a group of fanatics who didn’t fear death, I would have serious doubts about whether Black Stone City could be defended.’
’As long as they’re human and feel fear, this will be easy.’
With a shift of his feet, he gave chase to the fleeing steward. There were already Black Armor Guard members lying in ambush outside; there was no escape for him.