Fierce Battle

"Gasp..." Wang Wu, who had stood as steady as a mountain and watched coldly from the sidelines, could no longer keep his composure. He sucked in a breath of bone-chilling air! The muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably, and for the first time, his usually composed expression was torn apart by sheer shock and surging fury! He stared fixedly at Ye Yun, his gaze a mix of shock and rage, as though it would pierce Ye Yun's flesh and reach the depths of his soul!

"Th-the Mountain-Crushing Saber Technique!" Wang Wu's voice rasped like sandpaper, trembling faintly even as disbelief gave way to certainty. "That last strike... was the Ye Family's 'Silk-Splitting Slash'! You... you really are a remnant of the Ye Family! Ye Chen's bastard!" The mystery in his heart instantly unraveled. No wonder the boy had hidden his strength so well! The Ye Family's bloodline, the Ye Family's legacy!

Slumped on the ground, Yan Xiao Liu's mind had completely crashed, leaving it a blank. Li San... that unfathomable Li San... that terrifying peak Ninth Rank expert... had just been... cleaved in two by Ye Yun with a single slash?! Was this really the Ye Yun he knew? It was a nightmare that shattered everything he had ever believed!

Ye Yun slowly lowered his saber, its tip angled toward the ground. A drop of viscous blood slid down the chipped blade. He turned around, his gaze devoid of the slightest trace of human emotion, two blades quenched in ice locking onto Wang Wu.

"Your turn." Ye Yun's voice was calm, yet it held a killing intent more piercing than the depths of winter.

Wang Wu's heart clenched! Ye Yun's gaze filled him with a deep, bone-chilling dread he had not felt in years. He forced down the raging storm in his heart, then squeezed out an ugly, conciliatory smile and spoke in a low, hurried voice:

"Brother Ye..." He changed how he addressed him, trying to bridge the distance. "It's a misunderstanding! All of it! We've never had any quarrel, past or present. Why fight to the death? Li San brought this on himself; he deserved to die! I can pretend I didn't see a thing today! The Leopard King and all the prey are yours! I'll leave at once and disappear to some distant land. I swear I won't breathe a word about you! What do you say?" As he spoke, he subtly adjusted his breathing. The fingers gripping his saber had gone white from squeezing too hard.

Ye Yun remained expressionless. He only gave a slight shake of his head, yet his resolve was unmistakable. His voice was not loud, but it cut clearly through the stench of blood. "Tell me who's behind you, and the truth about the Ye Family's massacre all those years ago. I'll spare your life." That was his true goal! Li San and Wang Wu were merely two claws that had to be pulled out!

Wang Wu's face darkened instantly, as if it could drip water. The last glimmer of hope in his eyes was extinguished, replaced by a vicious, sinister glare. He narrowed his eyes, poisonous light flashing through their slits. "Kid! Don't push your luck! The Big Shot behind me is someone a stray dog like you could never afford to provoke! You? A remnant of the Ye Family who got lucky and picked up a little inheritance? Hmph! The winner is still anyone's guess!"

Before his words had even faded, Wang Wu was already in motion! Knowing there was no hope of negotiation, he could only fight to the death! He was even a shade faster than Li San, and his movements were far more elusive, like a black ghost flitting through the woods! His saber became a streak of light that tore through the shadows, shrieking as it shot straight for Ye Yun's throat! The baleful energy gathered along its edge was a bizarre dark green, clearly laced with poison or some insidious force!

"Good!" A flash of light gleamed in Ye Yun's eyes. He neither dodged nor retreated, instead swinging his saber up to meet Wang Wu's slash! He wanted to meet force with force and test the mettle of this peak 8th Rank expert!

"CLANG—!!!"

Another earth-shaking crash! This clash was even more terrifying than Ye Yun's earlier exchange with Li San! Two surging torrents of baleful energy, utterly different in nature, smashed into each other! Their violent force burst outward like a solid shock wave, cracking the earth beneath them inch by inch. The fissures spread like a spiderweb, and the compressed air exploded with a series of sharp reports!

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The tremendous recoil sent both men flying backward at the same time! Ye Yun retreated three steps, each one stamping a deep footprint into the ground. His saber arm tingled violently, and his blood and energy churned faintly. Wang Wu, meanwhile, staggered back a full five steps before barely regaining his footing. His face flushed, his saber hand trembled, and the web between his thumb and forefinger throbbed with a tearing pain!

The difference was clear! Ye Yun had the upper hand in pure strength!

Wang Wu was even more shocked! The boy was not only an 8th Rank expert; he was no novice, either! The density of his Essence Qi and the force of his burst attacks seemed to surpass even Wang Wu, a veteran who had spent years honing his skills at the peak of the 8th Rank!

"Die!" Wang Wu suppressed his churning blood and charged again, the ferocity in his eyes intensifying! He held nothing back, unleashing his most vicious saber techniques to the utmost! His blade flickered like a striking viper, treacherous and ruthless, targeting Ye Yun's legs and joints. Its cutting wind carried a bone-chilling force that sought to erode Ye Yun's meridians. At the same time, Wang Wu's footwork flowed with his attacks, shifting left and right, his movements so erratic they were impossible to predict.

Ye Yun met him with calm precision, unleashing the Mountain-Crushing Saber Technique in broad, sweeping strokes that were nonetheless disciplined and exact. At times, his saber surged like a mighty river, its imposing force overpowering Wang Wu's treacherous style; at others, it stood like a solitary peak, guarding every opening. No matter how Wang Wu attacked, he could not shake Ye Yun's foundations. The two moved at blinding speed, darting through the woods, breaking apart, then crashing together again!

"Shhk!" "Crack!" "Boom!"

Saber energy tore in every direction! Along its path, tree trunks as thick as a man's thigh were sliced clean through, their cut surfaces smooth as mirrors. The wind of the blows scraped thick layers from the hard rocks, leaving deep furrows. The ground, too, was repeatedly raked by the claws of some giant beast, ravaged by trenches and turned into utter chaos! The whole battlefield looked as though a storm had swept through it. Yan Xiao Liu could only huddle behind a boulder, staring in terror at a battle far beyond his comprehension, like something out of myth. Every clash of blades made his heart convulse.

In the blink of an eye, dozens more exchanges had passed!

The longer Wang Wu fought, the more alarmed and agitated he became! He discovered that his vaunted vicious saber techniques and bizarre footwork were being stifled at every turn by his opponent's upright yet endlessly varied attacks! Ye Yun's saber technique seemed tailor-made to counter his, and Ye Yun was superior in strength, speed, and stamina! If this continued, his defeat and death were only a matter of time!

"I can't drag this out any longer!" A flash of madness and grim resolve crossed Wang Wu's eyes. He deliberately exposed an opening and took the full sweep of Ye Yun's saber wind across his left shoulder, leaving a wound deep enough to expose bone. The pain drew a muffled groan from him. But he also used the force of that collision to propel himself several yards backward!