Crushing a Second Realm, Ninth Layer!

Crushing a Second Realm, Ninth Layer! "Beat me, and my life, along with this twenty-million bounty, will be yours."

"If you can't... then go down there and keep your brothers who kept calling it a 'misunderstanding' company."

Lin Ming's voice was not loud, yet every word was clear. It carried a metallic chill as it echoed through the silent camp, pounding against everyone's hearts.

Captain Zhou's face instantly turned livid, veins bulging across his forehead like twisted earthworms.

He stared fixedly at Lin Ming. The fury in his eyes was nearly ready to burst forth, but even greater was the rage and humiliation of being utterly ignored and publicly disgraced.

He, Zhou Tianlang, the leader of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, a Second Realm, Ninth Layer expert, was someone with a name in this Wilderness!

Yet today, some wet-behind-the-ears brat of unknown origin had pointed a spear at his nose and uttered such arrogant words!

"Brat, you're far too arrogant!" Zhou Tianlang forced the words out through gritted teeth. The alloy greatsword in his hand, as wide as a door panel, suddenly rose. Crimson qi and blood surged over its blade like flames, making him resemble a vicious god bathed in fire.

"Since you refuse to accept kindness, don't blame me for being ruthless! Today, I'll use your blood to honor my brothers' spirits in heaven!"

He stopped wasting words. He stomped the ground, launching himself like a cannonball, wrapped in violent qi and blood and savage killing intent as he charged straight at Lin Ming!

The greatsword rose high, Scarlet Flame flaring wildly as it transformed into a terrifying sword shadow capable of splitting mountains and shattering stone, chopping down toward him!

It was his signature technique—Crimson Flame Mountain-Splitting Slash!

This strike, fueled by rage, was thirty percent stronger than when he had fought the Ironclad Rhino Chief during the day!

Before the blade even arrived, scorching airwaves and crushing pressure had already swept over him, tossing Lin Ming's bangs and making his clothes snap in the wind.

The surrounding mercenaries retreated, excitement and cruelty on their faces. They believed that with their captain striking at full strength, this ignorant brat would surely be cleaved in two! Their Fourth Brother and the others would be avenged!

Xia He could not help crying out. She instinctively covered her mouth, her eyes filled with worry.

Though she had guessed that the mercenaries had attacked first, Lin Ming's decisive and ruthless retaliation, along with the terrifying pressure Zhou Tianlang now displayed, made her heart leap into her throat.

Yet Lin Ming's gaze remained calm and unruffled in the face of that thunderous strike. There was even... a faint trace of indifference in it.

Just as the greatsword was about to descend upon him, he moved.

He stepped out with Dragon Roaming Step, his body sliding backward half a step like a ghost and narrowly evading the sword's strongest point of impact. At the same time, the Silver Frost Spear in his hand moved.

There was no earth-shaking spectacle, no dazzling radiance. Just a simple upward thrust.

Dark-gold qi and blood instantly flowed over the spear like water, carrying an indescribable heaviness and sharpness. The spear tip struck with perfect accuracy against the side of the greatsword's spine, at a point where its force was circulating.

Clang!!!

An even crisper, more piercing clash of metal exploded! Sparks burst like fireworks!

Zhou Tianlang's expression changed sharply! His greatsword felt as though it had not struck a spear tip, but a moving mountain!

An unimaginable recoil, condensed to the extreme, traveled up the blade. It numbed his arms, sent searing pain through the web of his hand, and nearly made him lose his grip on the hilt!

And the violent Scarlet Flame qi and blood on his sword crumbled at the first touch of that dark-gold Spear Radiance, more than half of it scattering away!

"How is this possible?!" Zhou Tianlang was horrified. How could the other man's strength be so condensed and heavy? And that spear technique—though it looked simple, it was terrifyingly precise, striking directly at the weakest point of his move!

Before he could think further, Lin Ming's second thrust shot forth like a venomous dragon leaving its lair! A dark-gold gleam condensed into a single cold star on the spear tip, carrying an edge that seemed capable of piercing the void as it shot for his throat!

"So fast!" Zhou Tianlang's pupils shrank. Forgetting all dignity, he clumsily rolled across the ground, barely dodging the fatal thrust.

The spear tip grazed his shoulder armor, trailing sparks and leaving a deep gouge in the refined-steel plate!

Before he could rise, Lin Ming's third and fourth thrusts came one after another! The spear shadows moved like dragons—thrusting, sweeping, tapping, smashing!

He blended the heaviness of Mountain Splitter, the relentless flow of Wave Severing, and the sharpness of Heaven-Splitting from the Heaven-Splitting Three Forms into the most basic spear techniques. Every move came naturally, flawlessly.

Combined with Microscopic Control and the ghostly footwork of Dragon Roaming Step, he forced Zhou Tianlang, a Second Realm, Ninth Layer expert, to retreat again and again in a panic. Zhou Tianlang could only defend, utterly unable to fight back!

"Captain!"

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"This... how is this possible?!"

"That brat... he's so strong!"

The surrounding mercenaries stared in stunned disbelief. The excitement and cruelty had long vanished from their faces, leaving only incredulous horror.

The captain they considered invincible was actually being suppressed by a spear-wielding brat who looked no older than eighteen or nineteen? This completely overturned everything they knew!

Xia He was stunned as well. Her beautiful eyes widened behind her glasses, her small mouth slightly open. She knew Lin Ming was no ordinary person, but she had never imagined he was this strong! Even Zhou Tianlang was no match for him?

"Damn it!!"

Zhou Tianlang was shocked and enraged, but above all, humiliated. He possessed powerful qi and blood and formidable martial techniques, yet the other man's exquisite, swift, and ruthless spearwork completely suppressed him, leaving him unable to unleash his strength.

Every time he tried to gather force for a counterattack, the spear tip would precisely appear at a node in his qi and blood circulation or in the gap between transitions in his technique, forcing him to defend.

"Roar! Crimson Flame Raging Tide!"

Zhou Tianlang roared and stopped holding back. He frantically poured all his qi and blood into the greatsword. Scarlet Flame surged several feet high, transforming into a blazing sea of fire that swept toward Lin Ming! This was his trump card, a wide-range attack meant to crush skill with sheer force!

But a dark-gold glint flashed through Lin Ming's eyes. The passive effect of the Indestructible Asura Body, Boiling War Blood, had already quietly activated during the intense battle. Not only did he not retreat, he instead stepped forward into the sea of flames!

Dark-gold qi and blood instantly gathered and compressed over the Silver Frost Spear, turning into an incomparably condensed dark-gold Spear Radiance barely three feet long!

Faint dragon and elephant phantoms emerged above the Spear Radiance, releasing low roars!

Heaven-Splitting Three Forms—Wave Severing! Divide the river!

Hummm!!!

The dark-gold Spear Radiance sliced through it like tofu!

A sound like cloth being torn apart rang out! That seemingly unstoppable sea of Scarlet Flame was forcibly ripped open and divided down the middle by the condensed Spear Radiance!

The sea of fire collapsed with a boom, revealing Zhou Tianlang's face behind it, flushed red from the backlash of his qi and blood and filled with horror!

"No... impossible..." Zhou Tianlang cried out. His strongest technique had actually been broken so easily?

An opening!

A cold glint flashed in Lin Ming's eyes. He slipped through the gap in the collapsing sea of fire like a ghost, and the Silver Frost Spear became a fatal streak of cold light that stabbed straight toward Zhou Tianlang's chest, exposed slightly after unleashing his ultimate move!

"Captain, watch out!!" a mercenary screamed.

Zhou Tianlang hurriedly raised his sword to block.

Clang!!!

Another deafening impact rang out! Zhou Tianlang was sent flying backward as though struck by a battering ram, blood spraying from his mouth. He crashed heavily onto the hood of an off-road vehicle behind him, denting the thick steel plate!

He struggled to get up, only to feel excruciating pain in his right arm. Looking down, he saw that the arm holding his sword had bent at an unnatural angle, white bone shards piercing through the flesh!

The terrifying force of that thrust had not only knocked him away—it had directly shattered his arm bone!

He had lost!

Completely lost!

And he had lost so miserably, so utterly without suspense!

The surrounding mercenaries went pale. The way they looked at Lin Ming was now filled with undisguised terror. This young man was not the Tier Two Third Layer trash from the intelligence reports who had merely gotten lucky and killed someone! He was a monster! A killing god!

Xia He covered her mouth as well, staring at the young man standing with his spear, his breathing steady as though he had merely done something insignificant. Her shock was beyond words. Just... how strong was he?

"Cough, cough..." Zhou Tianlang coughed up several mouthfuls of clotted blood. Struggling to prop himself up with his left hand, he looked at Lin Ming, who was slowly approaching. The rage and killing intent in his eyes had long vanished, leaving only boundless fear and... pleading.

"Don't... don't kill me!" Zhou Tianlang's voice trembled with pain and fear.

"I... I surrender! I was wrong! I shouldn't have set my sights on you! Please spare my life for the sake of how difficult cultivation has been for me! I... I can give you all my savings! And the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group will follow you from now on!"

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