A Youth Used Extraordinary Movement and Blade Techniques to Wear Down Two Fierce Flesh Tempering Realm Bandits

"This thing was specifically ordered by the chief to be placed here."

"We brothers only need to do the work. Leave everything else to those above."

"Thinking too much is exhausting. Han Scholar said it well... if you are not in the position, do not scheme over its affairs."

Ma San grinned and casually patted Fourth's shoulder with a dust-covered hand.

Fourth slapped Ma San's hand away irritably.

"You sure know a lot. But what does that even mean?"

"Enough, Fourth. Don't worry about what it means. Stop loafing around and hurry up. Once we finish things here, we can go back and rest."

"Got it, you nag." Fourth stood up, dusted off his backside, and muttered.

Before long, the two had filled in the original pit, then scattered rotting leaves and weeds over it to disguise it.

"Let's go, Ma San. We finally got it done."

Liu Yunche remained motionless behind the tree. Only after the two figures vanished into the forest did he wait another incense stick's worth of time before slowly approaching the pit.

"What did those bandits bury here?"

Curious, Liu Yunche planned to dig it up while the two men were far away.

Just as he was about to start digging, two sets of footsteps approached from afar.

"I told you someone was spying nearby."

"Ma San, you really are sharp." Fourth burst into laughter. His gaze shifted to Liu Yunche, and a cruel smile curled his lips. "Let me see which family's calf has fallen into the net."

Liu Yunche stared at the two calmly. The scorching wind brushed past his ears as his right hand tightened around Concealed Edge. "How did you discover me?"

"Kid, let me enlighten you. We scattered fragrant powder all around long ago. As long as someone gets some on them, heh heh... that smell..."

After showing off, Fourth slowly approached, utterly unconcerned by the long blade in Liu Yunche's hand. He looked as though he already had Liu Yunche in the palm of his hand.

Their steps appeared casual, yet they were quietly closing in from both sides, sealing every route of retreat as killing intent silently tightened through the woods.

Liu Yunche discreetly flared his nostrils, but he did not smell the scent they had mentioned.

At the same time, his gaze swiftly swept over the surroundings. Beneath the blazing sun, the grass and trees stood still. The view was broad and unobstructed, with no cover at all for escape.

Seeing this, he completely abandoned any thought of fleeing. A trace of doubt flickered in his eyes as he studied the two, seeking their flaws so he could strike first.

"Ma San, look. This kid believed it... hahahaha... he believed it."

Fourth clutched his stomach and laughed wildly, his manner exaggerated, his face full of mocking arrogance.

The air in the forest changed in an instant!

A perfect chance.

The thought flashed through his mind. Ignoring Ma San at the side, Liu Yunche gripped Concealed Edge and turned into a streak of black, charging straight at Fourth.

Ma San was meticulous by nature and had remained on guard against Liu Yunche the entire time. The moment Liu Yunche moved, he lunged forward, raising his broad saber to meet him.

His slash came down with crushing weight, pressing the air until it hummed.

Yet what he had not expected was that Liu Yunche's movement technique was so swift that even his Flesh Tempering Realm body could not keep up.

Liu Yunche swept aside in a flash, lightly evading Ma San's slash. The blade passed along the trail of his movement and chopped through several fallen leaves.

Ma San's body stiffened. He violently turned around and roared at Fourth, "Watch out!"

Before his words had faded, he sprang after Liu Yunche with all his strength, his eyes fixed on Liu Yunche's back, killing intent blazing in them.

Liu Yunche's target was clear: he had to severely wound at least one of them first, and that person was Fourth.

Though Fourth was rash by nature, he was still a Flesh Tempering martial artist who had licked blood from the edge of a blade. Spurred by the crisis of life and death, he instantly regained his senses.

In an instant, light shimmered over his arms. His muscles hardened as though cast from molten copper—he was a martial artist at the Copper Muscle level.

He raised both arms, preparing to block Concealed Edge's blade. Fourth grinned, lifting his left foot slightly to gather strength, intending to counterattack in the same motion.

However, the instant the cold, sharp edge of the low-grade Martial Treasure struck his hardened Copper Muscle, the shrill sound of skin splitting and flesh tearing exploded!

"How is this possible?!"

Fourth's expression changed dramatically, his face filled with utter horror.

The hardened arms he had been so proud of were as fragile as paper before this black long blade.

The edge effortlessly sliced through flesh, pierced tendons and bone, and blood sprayed out in an instant, splattering across the rotting leaves.

The moment searing pain swept through his body, Liu Yunche loaded up his right leg and swept it across, his fierce force crashing into Fourth's chest and abdomen!

The tremendous impact kicked Fourth backward again and again before sending him heavily crashing to the ground, dust billowing into the air.

At the same time, Liu Yunche used the recoil from that kick to twist through the air, holding his blade horizontally behind his back!

Clang—!!

The thunderous clash of metal echoed through the mountains and forest as sparks burst beneath the blazing sun!

Ma San had chased after him desperately. His full-force slash landed viciously upon Concealed Edge's blade, and the violent force numbed Liu Yunche's arm.

His body staggered as he retreated half a step, barely blocking the lethal strike from behind. He had also completely lost the chance to press his advantage.

A fierce wind suddenly rose through the forest, scattering broken leaves. The three figures faced one another from afar as a chilling murderous aura blanketed the entire woodland.

Ma San's gaze fell upon Concealed Edge, his face grave.

He raised his broad saber. Its edge still gleamed coldly, but a sizable chip had appeared where it had collided with Concealed Edge moments earlier.

At the side, Fourth propped himself up and looked at the wounds on his arms. Waves of stabbing pain seemed to bore straight into his heart, making him bare his teeth in agony.

"Careful, it's a Martial Treasure!" Fourth warned, his words carrying three parts fear and one part greed.

When Ma San had seen Liu Yunche's nimble movement technique, retreat had already begun to take root in his heart. Now Liu Yunche even held a Martial Treasure.

"We thought he was a calf, but we ran into a wolf cub." Fourth spoke viciously, undisguised killing intent in his eyes.

Liu Yunche remained silent. This was the first true life-and-death crisis he had encountered. He made no unnecessary movements, merely gripping Concealed Edge tightly and watching the two with steady eyes.

Seeing Ma San remain silent, Fourth turned to him. Noticing the hesitation on his face, he became greatly displeased and cursed.

"Ma San! Fuck his mother!"

"This kid discovered the secret. We absolutely cannot let him live."

"If he really gets away, just think about the chief's methods."

Hearing this, Ma San suppressed his urge to retreat. He tightened his grip on his broad saber and roared.

"Kill!"

Before his voice fell, he abruptly accelerated and closed in.

"Now that's more like it."

Feeling the stabbing pain from his arms, Fourth's heart filled with hatred. Liu Yunche's earlier slash had been too ruthless, crippling the tendons and bones in his arms.

He wanted nothing more than to tear Liu Yunche into ten thousand pieces!

He trailed half a step behind Ma San. From blood loss, his face had turned somewhat pale.

He flexed his muscles, temporarily sealing his wounds and restoring his fighting strength before following close behind.

Ma San raised his saber and chopped forward. The blade carried tremendous force, howling through the air and stirring up wind and dust in its wake.

Liu Yunche showed no fear. He raised his blade to meet it, and in an instant, the blade moved as smoothly as a swimming fish, easily knocking aside Ma San's saber and dissolving its force.

Just as he deflected Ma San's attack, Fourth went mad, sweeping his arms like copper pillars. He cared nothing for technique, seeking only a desperate, life-risking entanglement to create an opportunity for Ma San.

Liu Yunche sidestepped the attack. Once Fourth's force was spent, he used the smallest possible effort to follow the flow of his blade and slash, adding another wound to Fourth.

Against the pincer attack of two Flesh Tempering martial artists, any other Iron Skin martial artist would have long since been defeated and killed.

Yet in Liu Yunche's eyes, these killing moves that seemed to fill the sky were riddled with openings everywhere.

The blade master's ability unfolded. The shift in Ma San's center of gravity while slashing, the blind spots in his exertion, the brief gaps when he withdrew his moves—all of it was laid bare before Liu Yunche's eyes.

In an instant, several sets of blade techniques for dismantling, counterattacking, and restraining flashed through his mind. His thoughts were clear, and he had a plan in his heart.

Under the blazing sun, the wind rustled through the forest.

Ma San and Fourth exchanged a look, each seeing resolve in the other's eyes. It was either his death or theirs!

"Go!" Fourth shouted sharply.

The instant his voice fell, Ma San's foot smashed heavily into the ground!

Bang!

The dry, cracked earth exploded at once, and yellow sand and dust shot into the sky. Ma San deliberately blocked Liu Yunche's vision.

In that instant, Ma San abandoned all technique. With a roar, he unleashed the Mad Demon Blade Technique.

During their earlier exchange, he had already realized that Liu Yunche's blade technique was superb, far beyond his own. Though it was difficult to believe that a youth not yet twenty could possess such profound attainments in the blade.

But at this moment, his only path was to discard technique and break the enemy with brute force.

Ma San had never relied on martial strength alone to reach the position of minor leader. He had relied on knowing how to think.

The Mad Demon Blade Technique had no moves and no forms, no defense and only attack. It completely cast aside all borrowing of force and all holding back.

At the cost of overtaxing the body, each slash grew madder than the last, each slash more ruthless than the last!

The biting blade wind tore through the dust. Dense blade shadows layered upon one another, blanketing the sky as they enveloped Liu Yunche.

Chops, sweeps, diagonal cuts—every strike risked his life, without the slightest restraint.

Watching the sand and dust fill the sky, even Liu Yunche, who had lived two lives, could not help grumbling inwardly, Who exactly is the protagonist here?

In his previous life, the name Lime Martial Sage had thundered across the heavens. Who would have thought he would encounter it today?

Those thoughts flashed by, but Liu Yunche's movements did not slow.

No matter how swift Ma San's blade light, how frenzied his attacks, or how mad his stance, Liu Yunche saw through the path of every exertion at a glance.

Every time, at the narrowest gap between life and death, he calmly evaded. Within the blade light, Liu Yunche could predict the path of Ma San's next swing in advance.

The Mad Demon Blade Technique, wild as a violent storm, could not even touch the corner of his clothes.

Even after entering the mad demon state, a trace of despair still surfaced in Ma San's blood-red pupils.

A hint of regret rose within him as well.

Why didn't we just leave? Why did we have to come back for another round...

Ultimate brute force and frenzied bloodshed became nothing but a futile farce before the crushing superiority of absolute blade mastery.

Fourth, charging in from the other side, appeared fierce, but he was already at the end of his tether.

The tendons and bones in both arms had suffered severe damage, while excessive blood loss left his whole body weak. Every collision required him to endure piercing pain, and his movements became increasingly clumsy and slow. Only sheer viciousness kept him going.

Liu Yunche repeatedly dodged and circled. Only after the two had exhausted their strength and become riddled with openings did he leisurely find a chance to strike.

He dodged Fourth's reckless charging body. Concealed Edge, its cold gleam flowing, swept horizontally with the motion and precisely cut across Fourth's chest and abdomen. The sharp blade easily split flesh, tearing open a long, deep gash.

Excruciating pain instantly swept through his body. Fourth screamed as his huge body lost balance, flying heavily backward before crashing onto the ground. He could no longer rise and had completely lost the strength to fight.