Neigh!
The black carriage charging toward him came to an abrupt halt.
The driver looked panic-stricken, gripping the reins tightly as he swallowed hard and stared ahead in disbelief.
Too fast!
Far too fast!
He had never imagined that such dazzling, eye-searing sabersmanship existed in this world!
More than ten experts had all been slain in the blink of an eye!
Who was this person?
Had he come specifically to intercept and kill the County Magistrate?
Crack! Lightning flashed across the heavens, illuminating all directions.
The rain grew even more unrestrained.
Sheets upon sheets of torrential rain pounded against the black carriage canopy, streaming down along the curtains with a rushing splash.
The inside of the carriage was strangely silent.
There did not seem to be the slightest sound.
It was as though no one remained inside.
Yet Lu Chen could clearly sense two powerful auras erupting within, like volcanoes brewing beneath the surface, radiating dense waves of energy.
Those energy waves had even vaguely locked onto his body, as though they could rip open the carriage at any moment and charge wildly at him.
His brows lifted, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Two people!
There were actually two people inside this carriage! It was not just County Magistrate Lin Mingyuan!
Someone else was there!
"Good, very good. I truly did not expect that someone would dare intercept and kill me?"
An enraged voice suddenly came from inside the carriage. "Boy, who are you? You dare set your sights on an official of the Imperial Court—are you not afraid of having your household exterminated and your clan wiped out?"
"Exterminate my household and wipe out my clan?"
Lu Chen spoke. "No need. My entire family died long ago; only I remain. Lin Mingyuan, weren't you going into the city to avenge your son? You can do it now. I killed your son. Come out!"
Clang!
The moment his words fell, the long saber at his waist left its sheath once more, slashing out in an instant with terrifying speed.
Ripples spread across the rainwater between heaven and earth. Crack!
The entire carriage was split in two with a single slash.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures swiftly darted out from the exploding carriage and landed on the muddy road to one side.
The driver, meanwhile, rolled away in the opposite direction.
"This has nothing to do with me. I'm innocent..."
Terror filled his face as he turned and tried to flee into the distance.
But just as he was about to run, a figure flashed past like lightning. A finger extended and struck directly into his chest.
Pfft!
The driver spat blood. His vision went black, and despair appeared on his face as his body crumpled limply to the ground, dying a miserable death.
"Those who flee in battle shall be killed without mercy!" the man said indifferently, slowly withdrawing his finger.
Only then did Lu Chen finally see the man's face.
He was a middle-aged man in black robes, his aura cold and sinister, his entire body shrouded beneath a black cloak. He was even stronger than Lin Mingyuan, his aura at least at Fifth Rank!
"So there really are two of them, and one is a Fifth Rank expert..."
Lu Chen's expression grew slightly solemn.
Yet he still felt no fear.
With his three great talents and the boost from the Blood Fiend Art, even a Fifth Rank opponent was not necessarily beyond a fight!
"Boy, you're that Lu Chen!"
Lin Mingyuan was both shocked and furious. He stared fixedly at Lu Chen, nearly laughing from sheer rage.
What audacity!
What arrogance!
He had killed his son and thrown Panshi City into chaos! And now he even dared to come and intercept him!
How could such a thing exist under heaven?
"I want your life!"
Lin Mingyuan shouted fiercely and shot forward with a whoosh, charging straight at Lu Chen. "Protector Li, help me take this man down!"
He did not dare be careless in the slightest, because the saber technique Lu Chen had displayed just now had been too sharp, too fast.
Such sabersmanship carried the bearing of a grandmaster!
It was absolutely the manifestation of a martial art cultivated to perfection.
Though he spoke as if he did not care, his mind was already vigilant to the extreme.
Clang!
The treasured saber at Lin Mingyuan's waist instantly left its sheath. The blade was exceptionally heavy, weighing at least several dozen jin. His footwork was like thunder, and together with his saber technique, it seemed as though a heavy black shadow was slashing toward Lu Chen at high speed.
Lu Chen's three great talents were activated almost instantly.
Convince with Virtue, Bronze Skin Iron Bones, and Lightning Law King.
It was as though endless power surged from within his body. Powerful internal energy wrapped around brilliant electrical currents as he gripped his long saber and swept it out in an extremely swift arc.
Clang!
The two weapons collided viciously, sending countless sparks flying.
Powerful force blasted outward from between the two men in every direction.
Lu Chen's strength was heavy and vast, like a terrifying meteor. More crucially, the current hidden within it caught Lin Mingyuan off guard and instantly flooded into his body.
Crack!
Pfft!
Lin Mingyuan's face filled with horror as he spat out blood on the spot. He felt a powerful current surge into his body, nearly instantly damaging his meridians and leaving him numb all over.
His entire body felt as though it had been struck by a wild beast. Out of control, he staggered rapidly backward with loud thuds, retreating more than ten meters at once and sending rainwater exploding behind him.
He nearly lost his grip on the saber in his hand.
"Your internal energy..."
Lin Mingyuan looked utterly aghast.
Just as Lu Chen prepared to press the advantage and pursue him, he suddenly sensed danger coming from behind. The other black-robed figure had appeared behind Lu Chen like a ghost.
One hand, like a sinister ghost claw and carrying a powerful, terrifying aura, viciously seized for the back of Lu Chen's neck.
The black-robed man's speed of attack and precise grasp of timing were truly unimaginable!
Moreover, his cultivation was exceptionally profound. As he attacked, an overwhelming spiritual pressure accompanied him.
It was as though Mount Tai were pressing down overhead, impossible to resist.
"Courting death!"
Lu Chen had been guarding against him all along. Almost the instant the black-robed figure appeared, his other hand had already seized the flexible sword at his waist. With a flash, blood-red light flickered, creating an illusion.
It was as though mountains of corpses and seas of blood had appeared, the stench of blood piercing the nose, blurry afterimages filling the air!
The sword tip was like a venomous snake, leaving countless afterimages as it shot backward at high speed.
Protector Li's pupils contracted. He simply could not believe it.
"Blood Shadow Sword Technique!"
How was this possible?
How could this person know the Blood Sacrifice Cult's Blood Shadow Sword Technique?
Could he be a member of the Blood Sacrifice Cult?
And these overlapping afterimages of the Blood Shadow Sword Technique, blending false with true and creating illusions, clearly showed that it had reached the realm of perfection.
A perfected Blood Shadow Sword—was this person the cult leader's disciple?
Protector Li was deeply shaken, his mind nearly losing all guard in an instant.
The people of the Blood Sacrifice Cult dealt with blood all year round, and their mental states were already unstable, making them exceptionally susceptible to outside stimuli. This Blood Shadow Sword Technique could also induce illusions.
Under the combined stimulation of all this, Protector Li actually fell directly into the illusion.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
In an instant, the sword flashed repeatedly.
Pain tore through him.
Protector Li groaned miserably and finally broke free of the illusion. Panic filled his face as he hurriedly retreated, more than ten bloody holes appearing across his chest, nearly turning it into a beehive.
"Stop, we can discuss this..."
Pfft! His words came to an abrupt end.
A mighty Fifth Rank expert had not even managed to unleash a single move before Lu Chen's sword technique pierced through his internal organs. His eyes were blank, blood spilling from his mouth as his body swayed.
"You... are you really..."
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