Battle

The sun of the second day rose as usual.

The war drums of the Di Army also sounded as usual.

Li Jinshui stood on the city wall, watching the black, surging tide of Di soldiers in the distance, and gripped the Black Iron Blade in his hand tightly.

The blade was pitch-black and heavy, yet it gave him an extraordinary sense of security.

Below the city, the two armies arrayed themselves once more.

In front of the Di Army formation, only one figure stood suspended in mid-air—Huyan Zhuo.

Huyan Lie did not appear.

He stood on a high platform behind the Di Army, his face deathly pale and his chest wrapped in bandages; it was clear his old wounds had reopened, leaving him unable to fight again.

The Seventh Prince sat on a war chariot before North-Rejecting City, watching the figure on the high platform, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

"He is heavily wounded."

Elder Chen stood by his side, his back still hunched, though his gaze remained fixed on Huyan Zhuo opposite them.

"Huyan Zhuo will not fight to the death today," Elder Chen said calmly. "His younger brother is severely injured, and he cannot kill me alone; dragging this out is meaningless."

The Seventh Prince nodded. "How long can you hold him?"

"That depends on him," Elder Chen said. "If he wants to fight, we fight; if he wants to retreat, I cannot stop him. The escape arts and secret techniques of the Di People are indeed fast."

The Seventh Prince was silent for a breath, then smiled.

"Then let us fight. Fight until they no longer wish to."

The war drums thundered.

The two armies collided once again!

Li Jinshui charged into the enemy formation at the very first moment.

With the Black Iron Blade in hand, he was a completely different person.

The first Di soldier, at the ninth level of Body Forging, raised his blade to parry—

"Crack!"

Man and blade alike were cleaved in two!

[Killed Northern Di decurion, ninth level of Body Forging, points +9]

The second, at the early stage of Internal Strengthening, swept his scimitar horizontally—

Li Jinshui did not dodge or evade, bringing the Black Iron Blade down upon his head!

"Clang!"

The opponent's scimitar snapped in two, and the blade cleaved from the top of his head to his chest; the corpse fell to the ground!

[Killed Northern Di decurion, early stage of Internal Strengthening, points +10]

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

He was like a red-hot blade slicing through butter; wherever he passed, Di soldiers fell one after another.

[+6]

[+8]

[+3]

[+12, killed Northern Di soldier, mid-stage of Internal Strengthening...]

The points began to jump frantically.

After killing his way thirty paces out, that familiar aura locked onto him once again.

Li Jinshui spun around abruptly, holding the Black Iron Blade horizontally across his chest.

Tuoba Feng stood three zhang away, holding that gleaming scimitar, watching him coldly.

The wound on his chest had been treated and was wrapped in bandages, with blood still faintly seeping through. Yet, his eyes were colder and more vicious than they had been yesterday.

"Li Jinshui," he said, enunciating every word. "Today, you will not return alive."

Li Jinshui did not waste words and lunged straight at him!

The Black Iron Blade tore through the air with a low whistle!

Tuoba Feng raised his blade to parry!

"Clang—!!!"

The two blades collided, and sparks flew everywhere!

This time, Li Jinshui's blade did not chip.

A flash of surprise crossed Tuoba Feng's eyes, followed by a cold sneer: "Changed your blade? Then let us try again!"

His blade technique shifted, becoming even more fierce!

The two men clashed once more!

Blade light crisscrossed and violent energy surged, forcing the soldiers within a ten-zhang radius to scatter, none daring to approach!

Tuoba Feng's blade technique was truly refined; every strike was tempered through thousands of repetitions—fast, accurate, and ruthless. The blade in his hand was no ordinary weapon either, clashing against the Black Iron Blade without sustaining a single notch.

Li Jinshui unleashed the White Tiger Blade Technique with his full strength, strike after strike, each heavy and powerful, peerlessly fierce.

The two collided head-on, neither willing to retreat!

Ten moves.

Twenty moves.

Thirty moves.

In a battle between the mid-stage and late-stage of Internal Strengthening, logically, the mid-stage practitioner's internal energy should be less profound than their opponent's.

In a war of attrition, Li Jinshui should not have been able to keep up.

Yet, twenty moves passed, thirty moves passed, and his internal energy remained abundant, showing not the slightest sign of exhaustion.

Since achieving minor success in the Evergreen Art, the depth of his internal energy had far surpassed those of the same rank.

His current internal energy was more than three times that of an average mid-stage Internal Strengthening practitioner.

Tuoba Feng also sensed this.

The longer they fought, the more alarmed he became.

Thirty moves in, and the opponent's internal energy had not diminished at all?

How was that possible?

He practiced the Wolf God Mental Method, a top-tier internal cultivation technique of the Di Kingdom that only the royal guards were qualified to learn. Facing a mid-stage practitioner with his late-stage cultivation, he should have held an absolute advantage in internal energy.

Yet, the man before him possessed an endless supply of energy, and the power of every strike was not decreasing, but increasing!

"What internal cultivation are you practicing?!" Tuoba Feng could not help but ask.

Li Jinshui did not answer, his blade momentum only growing more ferocious!

The White Tiger Blade Technique became increasingly fluid in his hands, each strike more powerful than the last.

He could feel this blade technique growing rapidly through the heat of battle; many variations he had previously failed to grasp were now manifesting naturally.

Add points!

He chanted silently in his heart.

[Points: 127]

Add all to White Tiger Blade Technique!

[Consumed 100 points, White Tiger Blade Technique proficiency +100]

[White Tiger Blade Technique: Great Success (0/300) → Great Success (100/300)]

Boom—

A surge of new insights regarding the blade technique flooded his mind!

The profound meaning of the White Tiger Blade Technique deepened, and those variations that had once felt stiff were instantly mastered!

His blade momentum changed.

It was still the White Tiger Blade Technique, yet the force, angle, and timing of every strike had become more exquisite and lethal!

He slashed out, and Tuoba Feng had to exhaust all his strength just to barely block it, his entire body jolted back a step!

"You—!" Tuoba Feng's expression changed drastically.

He could feel it; the opponent's blade technique had improved during the fight!

And it had improved so quickly, so obviously!

What kind of monster was this?!

Li Jinshui gave him no chance to catch his breath, the blade light rising once more!

White Tiger Blade Technique: Tiger Pounce!

Tiger Roar!

Tiger Sweep!

Tiger Devour!

Four consecutive strikes, each fiercer than the last, each faster than the one before!

Tuoba Feng blocked for his life, his face turning paler with every strike he parried!

When the fourth strike descended, he finally could not hold on—

"Clang!"

His curved blade nearly flew from his hand, and he stumbled back five steps, the webbing between his thumb and forefinger splitting open as blood trickled down the hilt.

He raised his head to look at Li Jinshui, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"You... your blade technique... it clearly wasn't like this just a moment ago..."

Li Jinshui did not answer, merely continuing to swing his blade.

Now, it was he who was pressing Tuoba Feng on the offensive.

Although he could not kill him—the opponent was, after all, in the late stage of the Inner Strength Realm with a solid foundation, making it nearly impossible to slay him in a short time—he had already seized the absolute upper hand.

Tuoba Feng fought while retreating, looking utterly wretched.

He could not figure it out no matter how he tried.

Yesterday, he had held the complete advantage; how had things reversed so thoroughly today?

The opponent's blade technique had improved too quickly, at a pace that defied reason.

What was even more terrifying was that the opponent's internal energy showed no signs of exhaustion, while he himself was already nearing his limit.

Just then, a thunderous boom erupted in the sky.

"BOOM—!!!"

Elder Chen and Huyan Zhuo separated once again.

Both men had sustained new wounds and their breathing was somewhat ragged, yet their fighting spirit remained fierce.

Huyan Zhuo glanced down—the casualties of the Di Army were already heavy, and Tuoba Feng was being suppressed and battered by that Zhou Army brat, looking miserable.

He gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Retreat!"

The sound of a horn echoed out.

The Di Army began to withdraw.

Tuoba Feng glared at Li Jinshui with hatred, clutching his wounds as he backed away.

"Next time," he said, enunciating every word, "next time, I will definitely kill you."

Li Jinshui sheathed his blade and watched him.

"Next time, you still won't be able to kill me."

Tuoba Feng's face turned livid, but he had nothing to say.

He turned and vanished into the crowd.

The army of North-Rejecting City did not pursue.

This battle had ended in a draw once again.

On the way back to the city, Li Jinshui pulled up his panel to take a look:

[Name: Li Jinshui]

[Realm: Inner Strength Realm (Mid-stage)]

[Techniques: Evergreen Art (Minor Achievement 12/500), Rock Body (Minor Achievement 60/200), White Tiger Blade Technique (Major Achievement 100/300), Iron Thread Fist (Minor Achievement 0/100), Inch Step (Minor Achievement 0/100), Marching Step (Minor Achievement 0/80), Iron Shirt (Perfected), Wolf Killing Seven Forms (Perfected), Tiger Walk (Perfected)]

[Points: 27]

The White Tiger Blade Technique had advanced another step.

It was still 200 points away from full perfection.

It was getting close.

General's Mansion.

The Seventh Prince leaned back in his chair, his face pale and his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Elder Chen stood before him, bandaging his own wounds.

"Elder Chen, could we have killed him today?" the Seventh Prince asked.

Elder Chen shook his head: "Couldn't kill him."

The Seventh Prince frowned.

Elder Chen continued: "I could win, but I couldn't kill him. That brat Huyan Zhuo runs as soon as he can't win, faster than a rabbit. The Di people's escape arts and secret techniques really have some tricks to them."

He paused, then added calmly: "Unless he refuses to run and fights me to the death. But he isn't stupid."

The Seventh Prince was silent for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.

"So, we just keep wearing them down?"

Elder Chen nodded: "Wear them down. Wait for his brother to recover from his injuries, or wait until they realize they cannot take North-Rejecting City and withdraw their troops on their own."

The Seventh Prince sighed and looked out the window.

Outside, the setting sun dyed North-Rejecting City a blood-red hue.

In the distance, within the Di Army camp, smoke curled from cooking fires, looking exceptionally peaceful.

Yet he knew that beneath that peace, even more brutal slaughter lay hidden.

Li Jinshui returned to his barracks, laid the Black Iron Blade across his knees, and wiped it over and over again.

There were a few shallow white marks on the blade, left behind from clashing with Tuoba Feng.

He wiped it very slowly, very carefully.

Monkey walked in, looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Jinshui, you had that kid pinned down again today, why didn't you kill him?"

Li Jinshui's hand paused in its motion.

"I couldn't," he said. "His foundation is solid, and his internal energy is not much inferior to mine. To kill him, I would need at least another hundred moves. There isn't that kind of time on the battlefield."

Monkey was stunned and didn't say anything more.

Li Jinshui continued to wipe his blade.

Outside the window, the night grew deeper.

In the distance, within the Di Army camp, the bonfires flickered like countless eyes.

Li Jinshui watched those flames, his hand slowly tightening around the hilt of his blade.

Next time.

The next time they met, he would be stronger.

Strong enough to kill that man within a hundred moves.