One Against Five, Striking With Ferocity!

"Do it!"

Following Qian Tong's command, the leader in black struck first.

He kicked off the ground, his entire body launching like a black arrow released from a bowstring. In an instant, he covered a distance of two zhang, his long saber whistling through the air as it aimed directly for Lu Chen's right arm.

This strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless, with an incredibly tricky angle.

Clearly, he intended to cripple Lu Chen's sword arm first, rendering him completely unable to resist.

At the same time, the other three guards moved as well.

They coordinated perfectly, attacking Lu Chen's lower body and back, sealing off all his paths of retreat.

From the very first move, it was a lethal trap!

If it were an ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist, they would likely have been hacked to pieces in an instant when faced with such an assault.

But Lu Chen was no ordinary person.

Facing this overwhelming offensive, he didn't even blink.

"Hmph."

A cold snort escaped Lu Chen's nostrils.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, slamming his left foot hard into the ground.

"Boom!"

The hard stone floor actually cracked under the force of his step.

Borrowing the power of the recoil, Lu Chen's figure slid strangely to the left, narrowly dodging the leader in black's supposedly unavoidable strike.

Immediately after, the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber in his hand moved.

There were no flashy moves.

It was just a simple, straightforward horizontal sweep.

Mountain Splitting Saber Technique--Sweeping Thousand Armies!

Yet, this ordinary move, when executed by Lu Chen, possessed a completely different level of power.

"Whoosh--!"

As the blade sliced through the air, it actually stirred up a white, frigid mist.

That was the Profound Nether Cold Qi clinging to the blade!

Inside this Dragon Palace hall, the air was thick with dense Yin Fiend Qi. For Lu Chen, who cultivated the Profound Nether Hand, this place was his absolute home turf!

With this single slash, the surrounding temperature plummeted by several degrees.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Three crisp sounds of metal clashing rang out almost simultaneously.

The three guards who had swarmed him felt a massive force travel through their weapons. Their web spaces went numb, and their weapons nearly flew from their grips.

What was even more terrifying was an extremely frigid aura that snaked along their weapons and burrowed into their meridians.

"So cold!"

One guard exclaimed. He looked down to see a layer of black frost forming on his long blade!

"This brat's strength is strange! Everyone, be careful!"

The leader in black missed his mark and quickly changed tactics. He performed a mid-air somersault, and his long blade descended once more. This time, the blade light was like a waterfall, shrouding Lu Chen's entire body.

He was a master at the Half-Step Meridian Connecting Realm; his internal energy had already begun to circulate through his meridians. This strike was not only powerful but also imbued with internal force, enough to split stone and shatter monuments.

"Well come!"

A flicker of fighting spirit flashed in Lu Chen's eyes.

He did not dodge. Instead, he took a deep breath, and the Black Ice Crystal within his body spun frantically.

At this moment, all the Profound Nether Cold Qi converged onto his left palm.

His left hand turned pitch-black as ink in an instant, as if he had donned a glove of black iron.

Profound Nether Hand!

Lu Chen formed his left hand into a palm and struck out against the sky full of blade light!

"Seeking death!"

Seeing Lu Chen dare to meet his weapon with a bare palm, a flash of joy crossed the leader in black's eyes.

But before that joy could spread, it froze on his face.

"Bang!"

Flesh met steel.

There was no bloody scene of a severed hand as expected.

Instead, a dull, thunderous boom erupted.

The leader in black felt as if his blade had struck a block of ten-thousand-year black ice, the shock numbing his arm.

Immediately after, a terrifying chill surged wildly along the blade.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The steel longsword in his hand was freezing at a speed visible to the naked eye, with a layer of black ice rapidly spreading toward the hilt.

"Let go!"

The leader in black was horrified; if he didn't release his grip, the cold would travel up his arm and cripple his meridians.

He decisively abandoned the blade and retreated violently.

"Clang."

The longsword, now frozen into an icicle, hit the ground and shattered into several pieces.

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

The three guards who had been preparing to surround him again stopped dead in their tracks. They stared at the broken blade on the ground, dumbfounded, as if they had seen a ghost.

Shattering a steel longsword with a single palm?

Is this even human?

Is this the power of Profound Nether Hand?

Even Qian Tong, who was watching from the rear, gasped, his expression turning extremely ugly.

He knew Lu Chen was strong, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong!

With the enhancement of the Dragon Palace environment, Lu Chen's strength had more than doubled!

"Don't be afraid! He's only one man! His internal energy is limited!"

Qian Tong roared through gritted teeth, "Everyone, attack together! Wear him down! Whoever cripples him gets a reward of five thousand taels of silver!"

Heavy rewards make for brave men.

Hearing the mention of five thousand taels of silver, the fear in the eyes of the three guards was replaced by greed.

"Kill!"

The three exchanged glances and roared as they charged forward again.

The leader in black also drew a spare short dagger from his waist. His eyes were vicious, and he circled the perimeter like a venomous snake, searching for a flaw in Lu Chen.

The battle erupted once more.

This time, it was even more brutal.

Although Lu Chen held the advantage of terrain and cultivation technique, he was, after all, fighting five opponents at once (Qian Tong, despite being injured, would occasionally throw a Hidden Weapon to harass him).

He was like a reef, standing firm amidst the crashing waves.

"Bang!"

Lu Chen kicked one guard away, but he took a heavy blow to his back from the leader in black.

Although he was protected by the Great Success Iron Cloth Shirt, the impact still made his blood roil.

"Damn it, there are too many of them."

Lu Chen frowned.

He was not afraid of being injured, but he feared that if the fight dragged on, complications would arise.

He had to find a way to break the deadlock.

In the brief intervals of the battle, his gaze swept over the door of the secret chamber, which was still shimmering with a light screen.

Just a moment ago, he had sensed something unusual.

When his Profound Nether Cold Qi surged through the air, that barrier, which had previously repelled all external forces, had actually produced a subtle resonance.

It was as if... it were breathing?

"Could it be..."

A flash of inspiration struck Lu Chen.

Since this barrier was designed to screen for an inheritor, it must surely have an affinity for the Profound Nether Cold Qi, which shared the same origin.

The man in black had been repelled earlier because his internal energy attribute was incorrect.

And although he possessed the Profound Nether Cold Qi, he had never tried to make direct contact with the barrier.

If...

A bold plan formed in Lu Chen's mind.

He stopped meeting force with force and began to change his tactics.

He started to move, intentionally or otherwise, toward the door of the secret chamber.

"Trying to run? No way!"

The leader in black saw through Lu Chen's intention, assuming he wanted to escape into the secret chamber to hide, and immediately intensified his offensive, clinging tightly to Lu Chen.

"Get lost!"

Lu Chen roared, his Hundred Refinements Steel Saber slashing out a crescent-shaped blade of cold energy that forced back the two guards directly in front of him.

Then, seizing an opening, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed the collar of the guard who had been charging the most aggressively.

"Get over there!"

Engaging his waist, Lu Chen hurled the guard toward the secret chamber door as if he were a sack of sand.

"Ah—!"

The guard shrieked in terror, flailing his limbs as he flew toward the curtain of light.

"Bang!"

The guard's body slammed heavily into the light curtain.

Just as before, the light curtain flared, preparing to repel him.

But at that very instant.

Lu Chen, following close behind, struck out with a palm from a distance!

This palm strike was not aimed at the guard, but at the exact point where the guard had collided with the light curtain.

Dense Profound Nether Cold Qi enveloped the guard's body, slamming fiercely into the light curtain.

"Hum—!"

A miraculous scene unfolded.

The light curtain, which had been indestructible and repelled everything, did not rebound after coming into contact with this Profound Nether Cold Qi. Instead, it swallowed the cold energy like a sponge absorbing water.

Immediately after, the light curtain began to tremble violently. Ripples spread across its surface, and its glow flickered, becoming extremely unstable.

"As I thought!"

A brilliant light erupted in Lu Chen's eyes.

After absorbing the Profound Nether Cold Qi, this barrier entered a brief state of "saturation" or "identification"!

In this state, its defensive power dropped to its lowest point!

This was the chance!

Amidst the fierce battle, Lu Chen had struck a guard against the secret chamber's barrier with a palm; the barrier had absorbed the Profound Nether Cold Qi within the palm force, actually causing it to waver.