Fighting for Life

Zhang San and Li Xi, confident in their own strength, did not bother to scrutinize the internal dynamics of this group.

They failed to notice that this time, walking at the very front of the formation was none other than the seemingly youngest one—Yun Long!

After days of traveling together, the three elders led by Yun Ji had long since come to trust Yun Long's strength without question.

The technique Yun Long cultivated was mysterious; his true qi was deeply concealed, motionless when still, but once he moved, it was like a rock shattering the heavens—startling and overwhelming.

Far unlike them, these old fellows whose qi leaked outward, making their depth easy to gauge.

Yun Long's gaze sharpened slightly. As he walked, the true qi within his body had already begun to churn like a raging tide, operating in stealth.

A faint, nearly invisible shadow of the Golden Bell Shield clung silently to his skin, hidden yet ready.

He calculated the distance, adjusted his breathing.

Just as they were three steps away from the two ahead, at the moment their vigilance was at its lowest—

He moved like thunder!

Yun Long's footwork shifted, his form closing in like a ghostly apparition!

Arhat Fist!

No flourish whatsoever—his plain, unadorned fists carried a terrifying force capable of crushing anything in their path!

One fist blasted toward the major acupoint on Zhang San's back!

The other fist struck straight for the vital point at Li Xi's rear heart!

Swift as a rabbit swooping and a falcon diving, fast as lightning!

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

Two muffled, heavy impacts rang out almost simultaneously!

The fist force penetrated their bodies, the violent true qi instantly destroying their internal organs!

The arrogance on Zhang San and Li Xi's faces froze in place, replaced by sheer shock and disbelief.

They didn't even have time to let out a scream before they pitched forward like kites with snapped strings, their life force severed!

Yun Ji and the other two watched as the two corpses of Zhang San and Li Xi fell stiffly to the ground, kicking up two puffs of dust. For a moment, they even forgot to breathe.

The three of them, ready to draw their blades and finish the job at any moment, still had their hands on their sword hilts, their expressions frozen solid.

Horror!

Utter, absolute horror!

A single strike, instant death!

Two Late Xiantian experts, without even a chance to react, had been cleanly taken out by that brat Yun Long!

Li Pinghu and Shi Tie exchanged a glance, both seeing the profound shock in each other's eyes, along with a belated sense of relief.

They realized they had still vastly underestimated the terror of this mysterious inheritance from the Yun Clan!

What kind of Martial Dao technique was this?

This was simply the means of a god of slaughter!

Yun Ji's chest heaved violently as he stared at his son's still-steady figure, his mind a churning storm.

Excitement!

Pride!

And a clarity about the Yun Clan's inheritance like never before!

So this was it—the legacy left by the Ancestor in the Yun Clan's genealogy was this formidable!

"Good! Good lad!" Yun Ji's voice trembled slightly as he heavily patted Yun Long on the shoulder.

"What are you standing around for? Loot the bodies!" Li Pinghu snapped back to reality first, rubbing his hands together, his eyes gleaming as he pounced on Zhang San's corpse.

Shi Tie let out a low chuckle and followed suit.

Moments later, cries of pleasant surprise rang out through the forest.

"Holy shit! Jackpot! Jackpot!" Li Pinghu held up a small jade bottle, his face red and thick-necked with excitement.

"True Essence Pills! Damn it, they're True Essence Pills!"

Shi Tie had also found a similar jade bottle on his end, along with a few pieces of broken silver.

"Heaven has eyes! Heaven has eyes!"

Yun Ji walked over and took the bottles from their hands; they felt warm and smooth to the touch.

He uncorked the stopper, and a rich Pill Fragrance hit his nose.

Two jade bottles in total, containing five pills the size of longan fruits, lustrous and round!

These were exactly the True Essence Pills that Yun Long urgently needed to break through his bottleneck!

Five pills!

Enough!

Absolutely enough for Yun Long to break through!

Ecstasy!

An indescribable ecstasy instantly flooded the three of them!

They never dreamed that these two Ninth Prince bodyguards would be carrying such precious pills on them!

This was simply a pillow handed over when drowsiness struck. They had been racking their brains over how to get Yun Long to break through, and now everything was in place!

Yun Ji carefully stowed the pills away and handed them to Yun Long.

Then, without ceremony, he untied the standard-issue long blade from Zhang San's body.

Li Pinghu followed suit, swapping out Li Xi's saber.

"Hmph, of all the government gear, only these two blades are worth a look." Shi Tie picked one up, examined it closely, and curled his lip.

"The steel's decent, and the forging took some care—way better than what we've got."

As a blacksmith, he could judge a weapon's quality at a glance.

The forest fell silent again, broken only by heavy breathing.

Yun Ji didn't rush to speak; Li Pinghu and Shi Tie instinctively looked to Yun Long, waiting for him to decide.

Without them realizing it, the core of this group had quietly shifted.

Yun Long pondered for a moment, his gaze sweeping the surroundings, before finally speaking: "Back to Wind Tiger's cave!"

"It's relatively hidden, and we know it well."

"We leave now—we have to move fast!"

Yun Ji and the other two had no objections.

"Good!"

"Whatever you say!"

The four swiftly dealt with the traces at the scene, leaving no clues behind.

Then, at top speed and in utter silence, they crept toward the Wind Tiger cave.

Four figures moved like forest phantoms, weaving through without a sound.

Their steps were light, but their expressions were as grim as iron.

Wind Tiger cave.

Everything seemed just as they'd left it.

Yet a few stones shifted near the entrance, and a faint, lingering herbal scent that didn't belong there—none of it escaped their notice.

"Someone's been here!"

Li Pinghu lowered his voice, his hand already on the hilt of his new long blade, eyes sharp as he scanned the area.

Yun Ji's gaze was like a hawk's, meticulously studying every trace.

"They left not long ago."

"They didn't stay in the cave."

Shi Tie grunted in a low, rumbling voice.

"Damn it, we need to move fast! Fix this doghole up again, make it more hidden!"

The three old-timers said no more and got to work with practiced speed.

They moved rocks, stuck in thorny branches, and quickly re-camouflaged the entrance, striving to make it hard to find.

Every bird call in the mountain forest, every rustle of wind through the leaves, made their hearts tighten.

Inside the cave, it was cool and damp.

Yun Long sat cross-legged, his back straight as a spear, his face as calm as still water.

Five True Essence Pills lay quietly in his palm.

Each one gleamed with a moist luster—the temptation of power, and a gamble that led to a one-in-ten chance of survival.

He thought of the Ninth Prince's fierce, wolf-like bodyguards.

He thought of those Xiantian realm martial artists taken away, their fates unknown.

And he thought of the deep worry and hope hidden in his father's, Uncle Li's, and Uncle Shi's eyes.

No time left!

Danger was right in front of him!

There was no chance for him to advance step by step, steadily and surely!

He needed power!

Now! Immediately! Right this instant!

"Down the hatch!"

Yun Long's gaze sharpened, and without a shred of hesitation, he opened his mouth and swallowed all five True Essence Pills in one gulp!

Boom—!

Not a sound, but a sensation!

An indescribably terrifying medicinal force, like molten iron, exploded within his meridians, rampaging and surging!

Pain!

A heart-rending, lung-tearing pain!

A bone-deep agony!

Every single one of his meridians felt as though it were being scorched by raging flames, every inch of his bones groaned and wailed, every muscle twitched and convulsed wildly.

His jaw clenched tight, veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat beaded like beans, rolling down and instantly soaking his clothes.

"Urgh—!"

A suppressed roar of agony clawed its way from the depths of his throat, only to be forcibly swallowed back down.

He could clearly "see" the Bodhidharma Muscle-Tendon Classic within him spinning at an unprecedented speed, desperately trying to guide and refine this surging energy that threatened to burst him apart.

The originally pale-gold true qi flickered unsteadily under the assault of this torrent, as if it might scatter at any moment.

"Hold on! I have to hold on!"

A voice roared madly in his mind.

Was it his father's hope? The trust of Uncle Li and Uncle Shi? Or his own unyielding will?

He didn't know.

The world before him twisted and spun, leaving only boundless agony and a blinding expanse of golden light.

His skin first flushed crimson, then turned deathly pale like paper.

Either rise from the flames, reborn!

Or explode into oblivion!