[Mystic Dragon Breathing Technique +30]
Lin Zhao finished his training. The last wisp of inner breath returned to his dantian with his breathing before he finally stepped out of the quiet chamber.
The wheat cakes and cold tea on the table were still warm. He hastily filled his stomach, then crossed the corridor toward the Hall of Carrying Fortune—the residence had a main hall and side courtyards, with dark teal pillars setting off vermilion doors and windows. It had a certain grandeur to it.
Having just passed the ceremonial gate, he saw Zhao Tieying, clad in armor, hurrying over. Bowing, he said, "Young Master, this subordinate asked some old comrades to find a batch of fine horses. They are called Crimson Wind Colts."
"Oh? What price?" Lin Zhao asked casually without slowing.
"Forty Taels of Silver per horse."
"The price is fair enough." Lin Zhao brushed a hand over the bluestone railing beneath the corridor. "But I have never heard of these Crimson Wind Colts. How do they compare to the Dragon Steeds of Hetao?"
Zhao Tieying hurriedly explained, "Rest assured, Young Master. My old comrades said these horses come from Crimson Soil Slope and were originally the mounts of the Tatar Blood Wolf Tribe. Every Blood Wolf tribesman is an expert horseman, relying entirely on these horses to charge into battle. In speed and endurance, they are no weaker than the Dragon Steeds of Hetao.
"Later, the imperial court pacified the Northern Frontier and established dependent garrisons to settle the tribesmen. The breed remained, but their temperaments are terrifyingly fierce. There have been cases of them panicking on the battlefield and trampling their riders."
With a bitter smile, he added, "Some say these horses carry the savage spirit of the steppe tribes, and ordinary people cannot tame them. A marquis bought this batch some time ago, only to return them within days. My old comrades specifically warned me that once sold, they could not be returned or exchanged."
"So that is how it is." Lin Zhao nodded. They urgently needed warhorses, so there truly was no choice. "Buy five first and test them. If they can be tamed, purchase another forty-five. Even if it fails, our household can bear the loss of five." A trace of certainty flashed in his eyes. With his max-level beast-taming skills, the Heart of Beast Taming, and the method of guiding inner breath, he refused to believe he could not subdue a few fierce horses.
Zhao Tieying acknowledged the order and was about to withdraw when a commotion suddenly erupted from the front courtyard, mixed with the curses of soldiers.
Lin Zhao frowned and strode to the bright window of the Hall of Carrying Fortune. Pushing open the carved wooden window, he looked down—two guards in uniform were escorting a ragged tenant farmer toward the hall.
"Young Master, I will take a look." Zhao Tieying pressed a hand to the long sword at his waist and turned to head downstairs.
"What is all this noise?" Zhao Tieying's voice rang out in the front courtyard, carrying a measure of authority.
One of the soldiers flushed crimson and shouted angrily, "Lord Zhao, this scoundrel was peeping at Cui'er from Old Zhang Shuan's family while she bathed. We caught him red-handed and brought him here for the Young Master to punish!" The soldier secretly loved the girl. Thinking of his beloved being disgraced, he could not help but kick the tenant farmer in the waist.
The tenant farmer cried out and collapsed face-first onto the ground. Clutching his waist, he trembled and pleaded, "Mercy, Young Master! This lowly one is Liu A'fu, and I have been wronged! The black chicken from my home flew into Old Zhang Shuan's yard. I went in to catch it and only glimpsed her by accident. I absolutely did not intend to peep!" He kept his head lowered throughout, his shoulders shaking violently. To the soldier, it was plainly the look of a guilty conscience.
Upstairs, Lin Zhao narrowed his eyes. Since cultivating the Blood Poison Spider Breathing Technique, his senses had far surpassed those of ordinary people. A familiar chill of yin inner force faintly seeped from the tenant farmer's body—certainly not something an ordinary farmer possessed.
"Raise your head! State your name!" Zhao Tieying had also sensed something amiss. With a flash, he drew his long sword and pointed its tip directly at the tenant farmer.
Before his words had faded, the tenant farmer suddenly sprang up, both hands clawed as he lunged at Zhao Tieying's lower body.
Zhao Tieying had been prepared. With a twist of his body, he barely evaded the attack. The tenant farmer seized the chance to rise, his body swelling like an inflated balloon, muscles knotting and veins bulging as his pitch-black hands reached straight for the sabers at the two soldiers' waists.
The two soldiers reacted quickly enough, immediately drawing their sabers and hacking down. But the gap in strength was enormous. In no more than an instant, their sabers had been snatched away barehanded by the tenant farmer.
He gripped a saber in each hand, black qi faintly coiling around the blades as he hacked viciously at Zhao Tieying.
In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged several moves.
Though Zhao Tieying was a skilled fighter from the army and an accomplished swordsman, age had weakened him considerably. He was far inferior to this suddenly attacking burly man and was soon forced into the corner by a hall pillar, struggling to fend left and right.
Without time to think, Lin Zhao seized the Mystic Iron Hard Bow hanging on the wall behind him, nocked four wolf-fang arrows, and drew it full like the round moon—four sharp whistles rang out in succession as the arrows streaked toward the burly man's back like meteors.
All four arrows struck home, yet the burly man seemed utterly unaffected. Not only did he not fall, he turned back with a cold laugh, completely ignoring the arrows embedded in his back.
With the saber in his right hand, he parried Zhao Tieying's attack. The saber in his left stabbed straight toward Zhao Tieying's lower abdomen.
Zhao Tieying urgently circulated his inner breath, sending a surge of Binding Force along his sword. With a crack, he shattered the burly man's right-hand saber, but his own long sword snapped in response.
He inwardly cried out that things were bad, yet still thrust desperately with the broken sword.
The burly man did not dodge. His black palm seized the broken blade directly. Even though the combined force of shock and binding nearly shattered the bones in his hand, he did not care in the slightest.
Using that desperate posture, he viciously drove the saber in his left hand through Zhao Tieying's abdomen.
By then, soldiers who had rushed over upon hearing the news had surrounded the burly man. But with Zhao Tieying held hostage, they feared hurting him and none dared fire rashly.
Lin Zhao had already donned his armor. He leaped down from the second floor, and the soldiers behind him immediately tightened their encirclement. Yet the burly man suddenly yanked the wounded Zhao Tieying in front of himself, using him as a shield.
With a whoosh, a grappling claw shot from the burly man's sleeve and accurately hooked onto the eaves of the Hall of Carrying Fortune.
Holding Zhao Tieying, he looked down at Lin Zhao with a sinister grin. "Young Master Lin, do you dare pursue?"
Lin Zhao's face darkened like still water. This burly man had subdued Zhao Tieying within a few moves. His cultivation was at least at the peak Entering Martial Master level, perhaps even close to a Heavenly Gang Realm Grandmaster Warrior. He was already a top-tier expert in the martial world.
Not to mention that familiar grappling claw—it was clearly the handiwork of the Night Raven Tower!
"Young Master, what should we do?" Squad Leader Wang Er sweated profusely as he asked in a trembling voice.
"Select ten elite men and follow me!" Lin Zhao said gravely. "Wang Er, take men and guard the four gates of Lin Family Fortress. Watch the inner fortress carefully and guard against any accomplices!" With that, he hurried through the side courtyard to the beast pen in the rear courtyard. Inside were three Mystic Arm Snow Apes he had trained. Their leader, Yuan Da, had long since been tamed through the Heart of Beast Taming and understood human nature and commands.
Lin Zhao leaped onto Yuan Da's broad back. Taking the other two Mystic Arm Snow Apes with him, he followed the burly man's trail and raced toward the Manor's Gate of Proper Rites.
The Mystic Arm Snow Apes possessed a sense of smell far keener than hunting hounds. They could track prey and were formidable fighters as well.
"Night Raven Tower!" Lin Zhao gritted his teeth, intense killing intent flashing in his eyes.
Yielding again and again had only invited ever more outrageous provocations.
Now that his wings had gradually filled out, he no longer needed to endure—this debt was due for a proper reckoning!
Though Zhao Tieying was merely a household retainer, he was Lin Zhao's right arm.
Now that he had been abducted, with his life and death unknown, how could Lin Zhao possibly refuse to save him?
Besides, the Night Raven Tower had attacked time and again. Unless he settled this once and for all, Lin Family Fortress would never know another peaceful day.
Anyone capable of subduing Zhao Tieying within a few moves was no ordinary man.
Lin Zhao knew this perfectly well. This would be a hard battle.
Riding Yuan Da, Lin Zhao led the other two Mystic Arm Snow Apes as they followed the trail into the mountain forest.
Before long, in a clearing ahead, the burly man was clutching his right hand, from which blood flowed without end as black qi swirled around it.
Zhao Tieying, meanwhile, had been thrown aside, his life and death unknown.
Lin Zhao suppressed the fury in his heart and demanded in a low voice, "You and I have neither grievance nor enmity. Who sent you?"
The burly man only sneered. "Death is at your door, and you still want information?" Before his words had faded, he shot forward like a cannonball, his left fist wrapped in black qi and aimed directly at Lin Zhao's face.
Lin Zhao pushed off the ground, his body shooting forward like an arrow. The Frost Condensation Sword left its sheath, and the Three Talents Slash, carrying fierce shock-and-binding force, met the attack head-on!
With a clang of metal, the burly man was forced back half a step, surprise flashing through his eyes.
He had not expected a mere youth to wield such exquisite swordsmanship.
Lin Zhao pressed his advantage, sword light pouring down like rain.
The three Mystic Arm Snow Apes also closed in from the sides. For a time, furious roars rang endlessly through the mountain forest as dust flew everywhere.
Several accompanying soldiers seized the chance to carry Zhao Tieying down the slope and send him to a physician for emergency treatment.
Though Lin Zhao worried for him, he had no time to divide his attention. He could only pour all his fury onto the enemy before him.
Yet this burly man's physical body was astonishingly tough. Even the apes' claws could leave only a few shallow bloody marks.
The four wolf-fang arrows lodged in his back had long been treated as though they were nothing.
This must be a top-tier breathing technique! Lin Zhao's heart tightened.
The two exchanged blow after deadly blow. Lin Zhao's armor had already been cracked by the strikes, black qi coiling around his arms and neck. The Mystic Dragon Breathing Technique ran at full force, while three Inner Qi Seeds pounded violently within his chest.
In the fierce battle, the Frost Condensation Sword finally could not bear the strain. With a mournful cry, it shattered inch by inch.
"Without your sword, what can you do now?" the burly man snarled. With one palm strike, he sent a soldier attempting a sneak attack flying. Moving like a shadow that followed the form, he charged at Lin Zhao again.
Lin Zhao drew the Dragon Vein Mystic Iron Dagger with a backhand motion. Rather than retreating, he advanced, driving its poisoned blade directly at the man's throat.
The burly man caught the dagger in one hand. Its keen edge sliced a bone-deep wound across his palm, instantly tearing through the black qi.
"You actually used poison?" he roared, his other fist slamming into Lin Zhao's chest like an iron hammer.
Pfft—
Lin Zhao was blasted backward and spat out two mouthfuls of blood.
But with a sweep of both hands, he scattered a handful of white powder directly into the burly man's face.
"Lime?" The burly man instinctively covered his eyes, yet accidentally inhaled some of it.
Lin Zhao closed in at once, stabbing the dagger at his opening.
The burly man cried out in pain and lunged fiercely. The two became entangled in a chaotic struggle.
By then, Lin Zhao was already at the end of his tether. His ribs had faintly fractured, and his qi and blood churned within him.
Though covered in wounds and bleeding without stop, the burly man remained as savage and ferocious as a fiend.
At that critical instant, the burly man suddenly shuddered all over. Blood gushed from his nose, veins bulged, and as though struck by a crushing blow, he crashed heavily to the ground.
"Fool. That was not quicklime. It was Blood Poison Qi Breaking Powder." A cold smile tugged at Lin Zhao's lips.
Without hesitation, he called for the soldiers to unleash a volley of arrows, shooting the fallen burly man into a hedgehog. Then he picked up a broken sword and cleanly chopped off all four of the man's limbs, lest he feign death and strike back.
Blood rained through the air, and the forest filled with the pungent mingled stench of blood and medicinal herbs.
Leaning on the broken sword, Lin Zhao gasped heavily. Though the fury in his chest had not subsided, his eyes had regained their icy clarity.
In today's battle, he would not only save Zhao Tieying—he would also make the Night Raven Tower understand that Lin Zhao was no longer a lamb to be slaughtered at anyone's whim!
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