"You arrogant brat, you're asking for death."
Seeing that Lin Hanzhou was not only unafraid but brimming with battle intent, the two Grandmasters of the Qing Army flew into a rage.
They had roamed the northern frontier for decades. When had they ever been so blatantly slighted by a junior?
One of them, a burly Grandmaster wielding a massive mountain-splitting axe, struck first.
He stomped hard, and the earth trembled beneath his feet.
Then he shot into the air like a cannonball, bringing his giant axe down on Lin Hanzhou with terrifying force.
"Mountain Splitting Style!"
A hundred-zhang-long arc of axe energy, solid as a physical blade, tore free of the axe. It looked as though it could split the walls of the entire Capital City in two.
The other Grandmaster, wielding a spear, did not stay idle either.
He flicked his wrist, and his spear shot out like lightning.
From an extremely tricky angle, it cut off every avenue of escape and stabbed straight toward Lin Hanzhou's heart.
The two Grandmasters struck together.
Their combined might was enough to make heaven and earth change color.
Below the wall, every Imperial Guard soldier and every civil and military official who saw this turned deathly pale with terror, their hearts and gallbladders shattered.
Yet Lin Hanzhou, standing atop the city wall, still wore that calm, undisturbed expression, like a still well.
"Good! Come at me!"
He gave a low shout, and at last, the long sword in his hand moved.
He did not choose to meet the overwhelming axe strike head-on. Instead, he used his footwork, leaving behind a faint afterimage where he stood.
This was the Earth-tier, high-grade movement technique he had just learned—Floating Light Glancing Shadow.
His figure instantly slipped through the narrow gap between the axe strike and the spear's shadow.
By the narrowest margin, he evaded their deadly pincer attack.
"Rumble—!"
The terrifying axe strike slammed squarely into the watchtower where he had just been standing.
A thunderous crash shook the heavens and earth.
The watchtower, built of incredibly hard black ironstone, was split cleanly in half by that single blow.
"What incredible footwork!"
When the two Grandmasters saw that their attack had missed, a flicker of surprise crossed their eyes.
But their battle experience was immense.
Before Lin Hanzhou could regain his footing, their attacks swept toward him again like a violent storm.
For a moment, all the onlookers could see were three streaks of light colliding again and again above the Capital City.
Terrifying Grandmaster-level power crashed together and erupted in blasts.
The aftershocks of their battle churned the entire sky, shifting the winds and clouds.
Lin Hanzhou unleashed Flowing Cloud Sword Technique at the Perfection level. His sword light surged like a sea of clouds, wave after endless wave, guarding him from every side.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The ringing of metal against metal continued without pause.
Though Lin Hanzhou relied on his peerless swordsmanship and footwork to barely withstand their furious assault,
the force still battered him backward again and again, his blood and qi churning inside him.
My realm is still too low...
Lin Hanzhou sighed inwardly.
He could feel that his swordsmanship, footwork, and martial techniques all surpassed his opponents in both grade and mastery.
But they were two genuine peak third-tier experts, and their spiritual power far exceeded that of a third-tier first-stage cultivator like him.
One-on-one, he was absolutely certain he could kill either of them within a hundred moves.
But against two, he could only hold on by a narrow margin.
There was no way to end the fight quickly.
"No. I can't let this drag on."
Lin Hanzhou's gaze swept over the hundred thousand iron cavalry below, who were already beginning to stir. His eyes turned cold.
He knew he absolutely could not let those hundred thousand cavalry charge into the city.
If they entered, his treasury would be in for it.
Looks like I'll have to pay a price after all.
He steeled himself and hesitated no longer.
The spiritual power within him began to flow in reverse, violently and against its natural course.
The Earth-tier, low-grade secret art, Three Reverse Pulse Styles.
This blood-burning secret art had been etched into his mind back in the world of Blue Star.
He had long since mastered it, despite having spent so much time in this world.
And the move he unleashed now was the most overbearing of them all.
The second style—Burning Life!
"Boom—!"
A terrifying power that far exceeded his own limits burst from within him.
His full head of black hair turned white at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His youthful, handsome face also seemed to weather in an instant, gaining the weariness of time.
At the cost of burning fifty years of his life, he forcibly raised his strength,
pushing it from the first stage of the third tier to an unfathomable realm.
"Th-this... what kind of demonic art is this?!"
Feeling Lin Hanzhou's aura suddenly swell severalfold, both Grandmasters turned deathly pale.
But by the time they reacted, it was already too late.
"Die!"
Lin Hanzhou spat out a single, icy word.
With his strength greatly increased, his sword style suddenly changed.
The once graceful and fluid Flowing Cloud Sword Technique became overwhelmingly domineering in his hands.
Every sword stroke made the space around him tremble, carrying an unquestionable force.
"Pfft!"
Seizing an opening, he completely ignored the giant axe swinging toward him.
Trading a wound for a life, he thrust a sword faster than the eye could follow, piercing straight through the spear-wielding Grandmaster's heart.
The other Grandmaster was horrified and tried to rush to his comrade's aid.
But Lin Hanzhou's icy gaze had already locked onto him.
He felt as if a monstrous flood beast had fixed its eyes on him, leaving him unable to move.
He could not remember the last time he had felt such fear deep in his heart.
In the instant his attention wavered, Lin Hanzhou turned and slashed diagonally with even greater speed.
"Pfft!"
A fine head soared into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the two Grandmasters who had just seemed utterly invincible were cut down by Lin Hanzhou's sword.
High in the sky, the two Grandmasters' bodies fell helplessly toward the densely packed army below.
On the city wall, Lin Hanzhou leaned on his sword and sat on the ground, panting heavily.
Even with the secret art bolstering him, killing two Grandmasters in quick succession had taken a heavy toll.
His hair and beard were white, and his figure looked somewhat forlorn.
Yet his invincible aura, like that of a ruler over all beneath heaven, left the hundred thousand iron cavalry below with their hearts and gallbladders shattered, not a sound among them.
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