Battle King

After packing up everything, Lin Yu looked around the small courtyard where he had lived for several years.

The old tree was still lush and flourishing. The bronze pill furnace stood quietly in the alchemy room, while two coarse porcelain teacups still rested on the wooden table in the main hall.

He did not linger over it. Turning around, he walked out of the room.

In the courtyard, Yao Chen had already put away the Spiral Origin Battlefire Fist and was sitting beneath the tree with his eyes closed, regulating his breath.

The grief on his face had been suppressed, replaced by a calm and resolute expression.

Hearing the footsteps, Yao Chen opened his eyes and stood.

"Let's go." Lin Yu said nothing more and simply headed for the courtyard gate.

"Where to?" Yao Chen followed him.

"Wulong City."

Lin Yu had weighed his own strength. After breaking through to the Battle Spirit realm, with an Earth Rank cultivation technique and Earth Rank movement technique supporting him, as well as the low-grade Earth Rank combat skill Scarlet Flame Sky-Shattering Palm, dealing with an ordinary Dou King would be more than enough.

Helping the Feng Family resolve this crisis would be no difficult task for him.

The two did not delay. They left South Cliff City that very day and headed west along the official road.

A day later, the walls of Wulong City appeared at the end of the horizon.

This city was nearly twice the size of South Cliff City. Its walls were tall and sturdy, banners fluttered atop them, and the Feng Family crest could faintly be seen snapping in the wind.

Yet at this moment, the city gates were tightly shut. No merchants or travelers could be seen on the road outside, and an unusual sense of oppression hung in the air.

Before Lin Yu and Yao Chen could even reach the gates, intense battle fluctuations surged from deep within the city.

Boom!

A muffled blast erupted somewhere inside the city, followed by a second, then a third. Flashes from colliding battle qi flickered in the air, and even through the thick city walls, they could feel the force of the shockwaves.

Faint roars and the sharp clash of weapons carried through the air. The battle in the city had clearly reached a fever pitch.

Lin Yu's expression darkened slightly. It seemed he had arrived at exactly the right time.

"Yao Chen." He turned his head, his voice calm and decisive. "Find somewhere safe and wait for me."

Yao Chen opened his mouth as if to say something, but when he saw Lin Yu's unwavering gaze, he swallowed his words and nodded heavily.

He knew his current strength was insufficient for a battle of this level. Following along would only hold Lin Yu back.

Lin Yu took out a broad black robe from his storage ring and wrapped himself tightly from head to toe.

The hood concealed most of his face, leaving only his sharply defined jaw exposed.

Battle qi gathered beneath his feet. Activating his movement combat skill, he turned into a blurred black shadow and shot toward the source of the fluctuations.

The Feng Family's main residence stood at the center of Wulong City. At this moment, the entire Feng Family compound had been ravaged into ruins by the violent tremors of battle qi.

Half the courtyard wall had collapsed. The decorative rockery had shattered into rubble, and water from the pond had surged onto the shore, mixing with the earth into thick mud.

More than a dozen Feng Family guards lay scattered across the courtyard, their groans rising and falling.

In midair, one Dou King and two Battle Spirits stood in three different positions, surrounding the Feng Family patriarch and a group of elders.

Blood trickled from the corner of the Feng Family patriarch's mouth. One of his right arms hung limply at his side, yet he still stood before his clansmen, with not the slightest hint of retreat in his eyes.

A black figure landed soundlessly atop the ruined courtyard wall of the Feng Family estate.

The black robe snapped in the wind.

Using the Earth Rank movement combat skill Cloudfire Step, Lin Yu became a fiery afterimage. He stomped sharply through the air with the tip of his foot, and a ring of crimson air exploded beneath him. His body briefly hung suspended as he closed in on the Dou King in an instant.

The Dou King had originally been standing with his hands behind his back, looking down at the battle below. Suddenly, he sensed fierce killing intent rushing toward him from behind and to the side. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Someone was launching a sneak attack!

He had no time to turn around. His battle qi wings flapped fiercely, twisting his body around in an extremely unnatural posture.

But Lin Yu would not let such a perfect opportunity slip away. The instant he closed in, he had already finished gathering momentum. Flame-like battle qi surged wildly through the meridians of his right arm, covering the entire arm in scorching red light. In his palm, a fist-sized ball of crimson flame spun and compressed furiously.

The air warped beneath the searing heat, releasing a piercing shriek.

Earth Rank combat skill—Scarlet Flame Sky-Shattering Palm!

Lin Yu struck out with his palm, landing it squarely in the center of the Dou King's chest.

Boom!

A dull explosion thundered through the air. A crimson shockwave of flames swept outward from the point of impact, making the surrounding air hum violently.

Even a Dou King would not have an easy time taking a full Earth Rank combat skill head-on.

The robe over the Dou King's chest was instantly burned with a blackened handprint. His breastbone creaked under unbearable strain, and he flew backward like a cannonball, tracing a long arc before crashing heavily into a side room within the Feng Family compound.

Bricks and stones scattered. Wooden beams broke, and half the room collapsed with a thunderous crash.

"What—"

Seeing a Dou King sent flying by a single palm strike, everyone present gasped sharply.

Both sides of the battle paused at the same time. Every gaze converged on the black-robed figure who had suddenly appeared atop the courtyard wall.

The Feng Family patriarch stared wide-eyed, while the elders amidst the melee revealed uncertain and alarmed expressions.

There had been no such person among the reinforcements they had invited. Who exactly was he?

But before anyone could recover from their shock, Lin Yu moved again.

Cloudfire Step activated once more beneath his feet. He became a streak of fire and leaped down from the courtyard wall, lightly touching the ground with his toes before darting dozens of yards away.

He was so fast that the lower-cultivation guards saw only a flash of red before Lin Yu had already appeared in front of the collapsed side room.

The Dou King had only just struggled to his feet from the rubble. He was covered in dust, and a glaring streak of blood hung from the corner of his mouth.

His breastbone ached faintly, and his internal organs churned from the force of that palm strike. Before he could even catch his breath, a black figure had closed to within three feet of him.

"Courting death!"

The Dou King roared and instinctively threw a counterpunch. Violent battle qi wrapped around his fist, howling through the air.

Yet Lin Yu's body swayed slightly like a ghost, effortlessly evading the punch. At the same time, his right fist, wrapped in beast flame, smashed viciously into the man's shoulder hollow.

Bang! One punch.

Bang! Another punch.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lin Yu's fists poured down like a raging storm. Every blow was wrapped in crimson beast flame, and the dense barrage of fist shadows was nearly impossible to follow.

His movement technique clung to the Dou King like a parasite attached to bone. No matter which direction the Dou King retreated, Lin Yu would close in at once, always remaining within arm's reach.