"Attack!"
At Qian Tong's command, the black-clad leader struck first.
He pushed off the ground, his whole body shooting forward like a black arrow loosed from a bow. In an instant, he crossed six feet, his long saber cutting through the air with a sharp whistle as it went straight for Lu Chen's right arm.
The strike was fast, precise, and vicious, its angle exceptionally tricky.
Clearly, he meant to cripple the hand Lu Chen held his saber with first, leaving him utterly unable to fight back.
At the same time, the other three guards moved.
Working in perfect sync, they attacked Lu Chen's lower body and back, sealing off every avenue of retreat.
They went straight for the kill!
An ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist, caught in such an encirclement, would likely have been hacked to pieces in an instant.
But Lu Chen was no ordinary man.
Faced with the overwhelming assault, he didn't even blink.
"Hmph."
A cold snort escaped Lu Chen's nostrils.
Instead of retreating, he charged forward, stamping his left foot hard against the ground.
Boom!
The solid stone floor cracked beneath his foot.
Using the recoil, Lu Chen's body slid eerily to the left, narrowly dodging the black-clad leader's seemingly certain strike.
Then the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber in his hand moved.
There was no flashy technique.
Just a simple sweep.
Mountain Splitting Saber Technique—Sweeping Thousand Armies!
Yet in Lu Chen's hands, this ordinary move carried a completely different might.
Whoosh!
The blade sliced through the air, dragging a white mist behind it.
It was Profound Nether Cold Qi clinging to the blade!
The Dragon Palace's great hall was saturated with Yin Fiend Qi. For Lu Chen, who cultivated Profound Nether Hand, this place was the perfect battlefield!
The moment he swung, the temperature around them plunged several degrees.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three sharp clashes of metal rang out almost simultaneously.
The three guards charging at Lu Chen felt a tremendous force travel through their weapons. Their palms went numb, and their weapons nearly flew from their hands.
Worse still, an intensely cold energy wormed through their weapons and into their meridians.
"So cold!"
One guard cried out. Looking down, he saw a layer of black frost forming on his long saber!
"This brat's power is strange! Everyone, be careful!"
After missing his first strike, the black-clad leader swiftly changed moves. He somersaulted through the air, then brought his saber down again. This time, its light fell like a waterfall, enveloping Lu Chen from head to toe.
He was a half-step Meridian Connecting Realm expert, and his inner energy had already begun circulating through his meridians. This strike was not only powerful; it carried inner force enough to split stone and crack a stele.
"Good!"
A flicker of battle intent flashed through Lu Chen's eyes.
He didn't dodge. Instead, he took a deep breath, and the black ice crystal within him spun wildly.
All his Profound Nether Cold Qi gathered in his left palm.
His left hand turned black as ink in an instant, as if he had donned an iron glove.
Profound Nether Hand!
Lu Chen formed his left hand into a palm and struck into the rain of saber light!
"You're asking for death!"
Seeing Lu Chen dare to meet his weapon with his bare hand, the black-clad leader's eyes flashed with delight.
But before that delight could spread, it froze on his face.
Bang!
Flesh met steel.
There was no bloody sight of a severed hand, as he'd expected.
Instead, a thunderous boom rang out.
The black-clad leader felt as though his saber had struck a thousand-year-old slab of ice. His arm went numb from the shock.
Then a terrifying chill surged down the blade.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The steel saber in his hand froze at a visible pace, black ice rapidly spreading to the hilt.
"Let go!"
The black-clad leader was horrified. If he didn't release the saber, the chill would travel up his arm and cripple his meridians.
He promptly abandoned the weapon and leaped backward.
Clang.
The saber, frozen into a lump of ice, hit the ground and shattered into several pieces.
The entire hall fell silent.
The three guards who had been about to attack again stopped dead in their tracks. They stared at the broken saber on the ground, dumbstruck, as if they'd seen a ghost.
He'd shattered a steel saber with one palm?
Was this guy even human?
Was this the might of Profound Nether Hand?
Even Qian Tong, watching from behind, drew a sharp breath, his expression turning extremely grim.
He knew Lu Chen was strong, but he hadn't imagined he was this strong!
With the Dragon Palace environment amplifying him, Lu Chen's strength had more than doubled!
"Don't be afraid! He's only one man! His inner energy is limited!"
Qian Tong roared through gritted teeth. "Attack together! Wear him down! Whoever cripples him will get five thousand taels of silver!"
A hefty reward brought out the bold.
At the mention of five thousand taels, greed replaced fear in the three guards' eyes.
"Kill!"
The three exchanged glances, then roared as they charged again.
The black-clad leader also drew a spare dagger from his waist. His gaze was sinister as he circled like a venomous snake, searching for an opening.
The battle erupted once more.
This time, it was even more brutal.
Though Lu Chen had the advantage of terrain and cultivation technique, he was still fighting five enemies alone—Qian Tong, wounded though he was, occasionally tossed a Hidden Weapon to harass him.
Lu Chen stood like a reef, unyielding amid raging waves.
Thud!
Lu Chen kicked one guard away, but the black-clad leader landed a vicious blow on his back.
Though his perfected Iron Cloth Shirt protected him, the hit still left his blood and qi churning.
"Damn it, there are too many of them."
Lu Chen furrowed his brow.
He wasn't afraid of getting hurt, but he was worried that dragging things out would lead to trouble.
He had to find a way to break the deadlock.
In a lull between blows, his gaze swept over the secret chamber's door, where the shimmering screen still flickered.
For a moment, he'd sensed something unusual.
As his Profound Nether Cold Qi surged through the air, the barrier—which repelled all outside forces—had seemed to resonate faintly with it.
Almost as if...it were breathing?
"Could it be..."
A flash of inspiration struck Lu Chen.
If the barrier was meant to select a successor, then it would surely respond favorably to the Profound Nether Cold Qi of the same origin.
The black-clad man had been repelled because his inner energy had the wrong nature.
And though Lu Chen possessed Profound Nether Cold Qi, he hadn't yet tried touching the barrier directly.
If...
A bold plan took shape in Lu Chen's mind.
He stopped meeting their attacks head-on and began changing tactics.
He started edging toward the secret chamber's door, as if by chance.
"Trying to run? Not a chance!"
The black-clad leader saw through Lu Chen's intention. Thinking he meant to flee into the chamber for shelter, he intensified his assault and kept Lu Chen locked down.
"Get lost!"
Lu Chen bellowed and swung the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber, unleashing a crescent-shaped blade of cold qi that forced back the two guards in front of him.
Then he seized an opening and grabbed the collar of the guard charging most fiercely.
"Get over there!"
Lu Chen drove his hips into the throw, hurling the guard toward the secret chamber's door as casually as he might toss a sack of sand.
"Ah!"
The guard screamed in terror as he flew toward the shimmering screen, arms and legs flailing.
Thud!
The guard slammed hard into the screen.
As before, it lit up, ready to fling him away.
But at that very moment,
Lu Chen's following palm strike shot through the air!
He wasn't aiming at the guard, but at the precise spot where the guard had struck the screen.
Concentrated Profound Nether Cold Qi wrapped around the guard as it slammed into the screen.
Vmmm!
A miraculous scene unfolded.
The seemingly indestructible screen, which repelled everything, didn't bounce the cold qi away. Instead, like a sponge soaking up water, it swallowed it.
Then the screen shuddered violently. Ripples spread across its surface, and its light flickered wildly, growing extremely unstable.
"Just as I thought!"
Light blazed in Lu Chen's eyes.
After absorbing Profound Nether Cold Qi, the barrier entered a brief state of "saturation" or "recognition"!
In that state, its defenses would drop to their lowest!
This was his chance!
During the fierce fight, Lu Chen struck one guard with his palm, sending him crashing into the secret chamber's barrier. The barrier absorbed the Profound Nether Cold Qi in the blow, and a ripple passed through it.
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