Heaven-Defying Martial Technique Acquired On The Spot!

The earth lizard shrieked, its head thrashing violently.

Lin Feng's hand was yanked off course by the brute force, his body flung through the air, spinning two and a half times before his soles scraped against the rock wall and bounced, barely shedding the impact.

His palm stung fiercely, nearly losing his grip on the blade.

The earth lizard's right eye was pierced through, blood streaming down its head, staining most of it red.

It struggled, rolling off the bone mountain.

With a thunderous crash, the small pile of white bones collapsed entirely, fragments scattering and kicking up a cloud of white dust.

The earth lizard fell to the basin floor, its four legs pushing twice without holding, then collapsing back down.

Its abdomen was still contracting—it was still laying eggs!

Lin Feng wiped the blood off his face and stood up.

He could fight.

It only had one eye left, and its stamina during the weakened period was already bottomed out; that whole ordeal had drained another huge chunk.

He wasn't about to give it any chance to catch its breath.

"Lin Feng! It's about to spew!" Wang Tie's voice bellowed from behind the cliff.

Lin Feng had already seen it.

The earth lizard's throat bulged, a dark red glow gathering brighter and brighter in its mouth.

Not the ordinary fire breath from before.

The temperature in the air skyrocketed, the gravel underfoot starting to heat up.

Lin Feng broke into a run, not backward, but cutting diagonally to the side.

Boom!

A thick pillar of flame erupted from the earth lizard's mouth, sweeping straight across the basin.

Where the fire pillar passed, rock melted into dark red slag, and the ground was gouged into a half-meter-deep trench.

A wave of heat slammed into him, searing Lin Feng's face with pain.

The fire pillar lasted less than three seconds before cutting off.

The earth lizard lay on the ground, panting even harder.

Remnants of flame still hung at the corners of its mouth, flickering on and off.

That one blast had spent its last trump card.

Lin Feng didn't hesitate for half a second.

He charged forward, stepped onto the earth lizard's foreleg, and vaulted onto its back.

The scales underfoot were scalding, the heat seeping through his soles, but he couldn't afford to care.

He raised the long blade over his head.

Aiming at the joint between the earth lizard's hindbrain and cervical spine, he struck down with full force!

This strike was different from any before.

The armor-breaking effect stacked with all the blood energy of a First-Stage Martial Artist. The moment the blade edge cut into the scales, even Lin Feng himself felt that smooth, tofu-like ease.

Thunk!

The blade sank in more than halfway, burying deep into the spine.

The earth lizard's entire body went rigid.

Lin Feng twisted the blade sideways, and a dense series of bone-cracking sounds rattled off.

The earth lizard's limbs began to twitch uncontrollably, its tail whipping wildly across the ground, kicking up a storm of gravel.

Lin Feng gripped the hilt with both hands, pressing down, pressing down.

Until the hilt, too, sank into the flesh and blood.

The earth lizard's twitching grew weaker, slower.

Finally, the light in its remaining Dark Gold Vertical Pupil went out completely.

Thud.

Its massive body slammed heavily onto the ground, the impact shaking the ground underfoot.

The system's voice exploded in his mind.

code
[Killed E-Class Exotic Beast: Red Flame Earth Lizard]
[Obtained Martial Path Points ×50]
[First kill of an E-Class Exotic Beast, triggered special drop!]
[Obtained Martial Technique: Mountain-Breaking Slash (A-Rank Martial Technique)]

[Mountain-Breaking Slash: A blade that splits mountains, a force that rends the earth. Cultivated to perfection, the strike unleashes a blade aura that transforms into an arcing Gale Wind, tearing along the ground. Where it passes, the earth cracks three feet deep, capable of severing the lingering veins of a hundred-zhang mountain. Upon hitting an enemy, the blade aura lingers in the wound, continuously shredding flesh and blood, preventing healing for three breaths.]

[Learn?]

Lin Feng jumped down from the Earth Lizard's back, covered head to toe in blood—impossible to tell how much was the beast's and how much was his own.

"Learn."

A surge of heat flowed from his mind, rushing straight through his limbs and bones.

A torrent of information exploded in his brain.

The starting stance of the blade art, the trajectory of the blade's movement, the techniques for exerting force—all of it poured into the depths of his memory in an instant.

This feeling was strange, as if he had already practiced this blade art for ten years, every single motion clear and familiar.

[Mountain-Breaking Slash (1/1000), Learned]

Lin Feng tried swinging the blade once.

The air was torn apart, letting out a sharp, piercing hum.

Where the blade passed, a half-man-tall rock in front of him split cleanly in two, the cut surface smooth.

"Holy shit!"

Wang Tie's voice came from behind the cliff.

He and Li Ming ran over, staring at the massive corpse on the ground, unable to speak for a long moment.

"Bro Lin, you... you really took it down alone?" Li Ming's voice trembled.

Lin Feng pulled the blade from the Earth Lizard's spine and wiped the blood off on the corpse.

"Lucky. It was in its weak period."

Wang Tie circled the Earth Lizard's corpse, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Lucky? You call this lucky?"

He crouched down, looking at the shocking gash on the Earth Lizard's neck.

"This strike is at least at the strength of a second-stage Martial Artist. What realm are you in, kid?"

Lin Feng didn't answer the question.

"Dig out the Magic Core. It's worth something."

Wang Tie perked up immediately, pulling out a dagger and getting to work.

An E-Class Exotic Beast's Magic Core—taking it back would sell for at least tens of thousands.

Lin Feng took the chance to glance at the System Panel.

[Host: Lin Feng]

[Realm: Martial Artist First Stage (0/100)]

[Art: Basic Body Tempering Art (10/10)]

[Martial Technique: Mountain-Breaking Slash (1/100)]

[Talent: Steel of the Blade 76/500]

[Martial Path Points: 150]

Looking at the talent and Martial Technique in the panel, Lin Feng nodded with satisfaction.

This trip into the Rift had yielded far more than expected.

"Got it!"

Wang Tie excitedly raised a fist-sized, dark red Magic Core, weighing it in his hand.

"Damn, this one's worth at least fifty thousand!"

Lin Feng reached out, took it, and stuffed it into his bag.

"We'll split it three ways when we get back."

Wang Tie and Li Ming exchanged a glance, neither saying much else.

The three packed up their spoils and headed back along the path toward the Rift's exit.

The journey was much quieter. The F-Class Exotic Beasts from before had probably been scared off by the Earth Lizard's final roar—not a single one was in sight.

After about forty minutes of walking, the light at the Rift's entrance was faintly visible.

Lin Feng stopped.

Wang Tie and Li Ming stopped too.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Feng tilted his head, listening for a few seconds, then slowly drew the blade in his hand.

"Someone's outside."

Wang Tie's face changed.

"How many?"

Lin Feng closed his eyes, focusing his perception.

A Martial Artist's ability to sense auras was an entire tier above a Martial Disciple's.

The people outside weren't bothering to conceal themselves at all—their auras spread openly on both sides of the Rift's entrance.

"Seven."

Lin Feng opened his eyes.

"All Martial Artists."

Wang Tie's face went completely dark.

"That old dog Zhao Tianxiong still had a trick up his sleeve."

Li Ming's legs started trembling. "Seven Martial Artists? Then... then are we still going out?"

Lin Feng sat down cross-legged, eyes shut tight.

Raising his strength and fighting his way out was the only option now.

[Consumed Martial Path Points ×100] [Realm Ascension: Martial Disciple First Stage → Martial Artist Second Stage!]

Seeing this, Wang Tie stepped back twice, his face full of shock.

"You're breaking through? At a time like this?"

Lin Feng didn't answer, his jaw clenched tight.

The heat within his body gathered at his dantian, constantly compressing, constantly refining.

Waves of heat radiated from the top of his head, shaking loose gravel from the rock walls that clattered to the ground.

Lin Feng slowly straightened his back.

Wang Tie and Li Ming had both retreated five steps away, not daring to breathe loudly.

Not out of fear—they were forced back by the oppressive pressure radiating from Lin Feng's body.

"Alright."

Lin Feng flexed his fingers and gripped his blade.

"Let's go."

"Wait!" Wang Tie grabbed him. "There are seven Martial Artists outside. Even if you're at Martial Artist Second Stage, seven against one is still a tough fight, right?"

Lin Feng didn't look back, just spat out two words.

"Enough."

At the Rift's entrance.

The moment sunlight stabbed in, seven figures moved at once.