Outburst

With his level-one swordsmanship talent enhancing his body, Chen Yiming was almost on par physically with Tang Zhenfeng, who had undergone five Body Metamorphoses.

Tang Zhenfeng mainly practiced a strength-based technique and was stronger, while Chen Yiming mainly practiced Mantis Snake Swordsmanship and was more agile. Each had his own strengths.

Tang Zhenfeng had been unable to bring Chen Yiming down because their techniques were a bad match for him. That realization brought Chen Yiming's vague plan into focus.

He could make one sword technique his foundation, then keep secretly learning other types and incorporating them into it, creating a sword technique uniquely his own.

Such a technique could encompass countless styles and give him a counter to every kind of enemy. For anyone else, practicing it would waste time and slow their progress. Only he could master it with his unusual ability to learn techniques by watching.

Tang Zhenfeng still could not so much as touch the corner of Chen Yiming's clothes.

He began to panic. After another failed attack, he could not hold back a mouthful of blood. He spat it out and stood where he was.

"All you do is run around! Do you dare face me head-on like a real man?" Tang Zhenfeng cursed, struggling to calm his pounding heart.

Chen Yiming stopped as well and looked at him from more than five meters away.

"Can't keep that internal injury under control anymore?" Chen Yiming asked, hitting him where it hurt.

Zheng Qiming's kick to Tang Zhenfeng's stomach had done serious damage. Fighting while suppressing the injury had only made it worse.

"Come closer if you've got the guts. See if I can't beat you to death," Tang Zhenfeng threatened.

"Then why did you stop? I've only just warmed up," Chen Yiming shot back.

Chen Yiming was in no hurry. The sword technique he was using was not Mantis Snake Swordsmanship. Even if Tang Zhenfeng escaped, no one could trace the attack back to him.

"You!" Tang Zhenfeng was so furious he wanted to charge over and kill Chen Yiming on the spot.

Suddenly, his vision spun. His head swayed against his will, and his whole body faltered for an instant.

Chen Yiming caught the change immediately.

Without hesitation, he drove off the ground and lunged forward.

He used Phantom Light Sword, a technique he had thought obsolete, to try to deceive Tang Zhenfeng.

By the time Tang Zhenfeng realized blood loss had made him dizzy and raised his greatsword to defend himself, he had misjudged Chen Yiming's true position.

The greatsword he held up blocked nothing but air.

Shnk!

Chen Yiming drove his sword into the right side of Tang Zhenfeng's lower back, then twisted the blade in the wound.

The searing pain snapped Tang Zhenfeng fully alert. He struck back with his elbow, but hit only air. Chen Yiming had already retreated, unwilling to press his luck.

"Good... very good!" Tang Zhenfeng covered the new wound with his hand, livid.

He had been driven into a corner. Zheng Qiming's kick had injured his insides, and now a sword had pierced his lower back.

The lower back was vital to putting force behind an attack. Once injured, a fighter's strength fell sharply.

Against an opponent as slippery as an eel, Tang Zhenfeng could neither land a blow nor escape. Even a man made of clay had a temper. If Chen Yiming would not give him a way out, he would not let Chen Yiming off either.

Tang Zhenfeng took a deep breath. His face suddenly flushed crimson, and his body swelled by a full size.

"You forced me into this! Neither of us is getting out alive!" He raised his greatsword and charged like a rhinoceros, seemingly untroubled by the wound in his back.

As he ran, he left footprints half an inch deep in his wake. Each step echoed through the alley.

He crossed the few meters between them in an instant.

The wind from his greatsword rushed toward Chen Yiming, carrying even more force than before.

Every hair on Chen Yiming's body stood on end. He dodged at once, with no thought of blocking.

Boom!

The greatsword slammed into a tree by the roadside.

The entire tree exploded apart, breaking in two.

Even though Chen Yiming had completely seen through Mountain-Splitting Sword and knew its attack patterns, the greatsword still came within a hair's breadth of striking him.

Tang Zhenfeng was clearly stronger than Chen Yiming now.

Good thing he didn't unleash this from the start. I might have been in real danger, Chen Yiming thought, shaken.

His cultivation had advanced too quickly. In the martial arts world, he was still a novice who had never seen all the tricks people could use.

Despite being at a clear disadvantage, he kept dodging by the narrowest margins. He could do it because he had seen through Mountain-Splitting Sword and could anticipate the greatsword's path every time.

Tang Zhenfeng, however, did not know that.

After only a few exchanges, Chen Yiming was no longer under mortal pressure.

Tang Zhenfeng, on the other hand, had lost all the momentum of his initial burst. His face had gone pale, and he stood still, vomiting blood again and again.

He had already been badly wounded. Even with this burst of power, he could not keep going for long.

Despair filled him. He wanted to continue, but his body answered with weakness.

The greatsword in his hand felt heavier by the moment. He wanted to let it go.

He had learned this Secret Art for brief bursts of power from a teammate when they had faced danger in the Wilderness Zone.

The Secret Art worked by using the force of his muscles to put extra pressure on his heart, speeding up the flow of blood through his body and temporarily boosting his strength and speed.

Under normal circumstances, the damage from each use took months to heal completely. Already badly wounded, he had risked dropping dead at any moment by using it again.

Tang Zhenfeng had not given up his last shred of hope. He turned and ran.

He broke into a jog, but could no longer move quickly. He was only a little faster than an ordinary person.

Chen Yiming followed a short distance behind without attacking.

He had achieved his goal. There was no need to take another risk. After all, who knew whether Tang Zhenfeng could still muster one final strike before he died?

One ahead and one behind, they moved deeper into the darkness.

Near the mouth of the alley.

Tang Zhenfeng saw the main road before him, and a glimmer of hope flared.

Then his legs suddenly gave way. He fell to the ground and began coughing uncontrollably.

After more than ten seconds, he tried to stand, but failed several times. He tried to crawl forward instead, yet after moving barely a step, his strength gave out and he collapsed facedown on the ground.

Chen Yiming stood beside the body and waited another two minutes.

During that time, it convulsed once. It might have been Tang Zhenfeng's final attempt to strike back, but Chen Yiming was careful not to fall for it.

Once Tang Zhenfeng had breathed his last, Chen Yiming used his sword to knock the greatsword from his hand, then severed his head with a single blow.

Now Tang Zhenfeng was surely dead.

Chen Yiming began collecting his spoils.

Judging by their fight, he had won through the advantage of his sword style and his ability to secretly learn martial arts, combined with the serious injuries Tang Zhenfeng had already suffered.

There were reasons the fight had been so close.

First, Chen Yiming had spent all his time at the martial arts school. He lacked the combat experience of someone like Tang Zhenfeng, who had spent years taking on missions.

Second, the sword techniques he knew were not varied enough. If he mastered enough different types, he could combine them flexibly and would always have a way to counter his opponent completely.

Fortunately, the outcome had been good. Tang Zhenfeng was visibly wounded and no match for Chen Yiming, who was in good condition.

Chen Yiming had also counted on those injuries: Tang Zhenfeng could not afford to fight to the death from the outset, leaving Chen Yiming free to decide whether to pursue or retreat as the situation developed.