Fierce Battle

In the woods.

Wang Yu raced between the towering trees, driving forward with all four limbs like a wild wolf in full flight. Each leap sent dirt flying and carried him twenty or thirty feet.

The trees ahead suddenly fell away, revealing an open clearing. He instinctively stopped and straightened up.

Ahead, the young couple from the Huang Household leaped down from an Azure Jade Lotus, blocking his path.

"Fellow Daoists, do you really intend to fight?" Wang Yu held his iron essence saber across his body and asked, his expression grave as he watched them.

Facing two Immortal Cultivators at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining, it would have been a lie to say he felt no fear or tension.

Whether in magical artifacts or cultivation, they were unquestionably stronger than him.

"Brother Wang, what other choice do we have now? Unless you die, neither my wife nor I will survive today," the young Huang man said expressionlessly. He shook his sleeve, and the Silver Rapier slipped into his hand.

Beside him, the young wife sighed and tried to persuade Wang Yu.

"Brother Wang, you haven't even formed a spirit root. You're only a False Cultivator, and you cannot possibly defeat us. Better one person dies than two. Why not end your own life and enter reincarnation sooner? We can leave your corpse intact and give you a proper burial."

Her voice was gentle, but her words were venomous. Hearing them, Wang Yu almost wanted to leap straight over and cut her down.

"In your dreams. You want to live, but I don't want to die either. If you want my life, come take it yourselves." Wang Yu forcibly suppressed his fury, immediately forming a seal with one hand and chanting. But the spell mark failed to form deep within his sea of consciousness, making his face pale.

"Enough talk. Let's do this."

The Huang man strode forward impatiently and tossed an Azure Talisman overhead. An Azure Sword Shadow immediately hovered above his head.

With another flick of his wrist, he slashed the Silver Rapier, sending a translucent Wind Blade shooting from its edge.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Azure Sword Shadow swayed along with the rapier, releasing another palm-sized Wind Blade toward Wang Yu.

Startled, Wang Yu sidestepped several paces, barely avoiding the two Wind Blades.

By then, the Huang man had already swung his Silver Rapier seven or eight times in one breath.

More than a dozen Wind Blades came screaming toward him.

Wang Yu drew a deep breath and dropped onto all fours. With hands and feet touching the ground, he began bounding and leaping at astonishing speed, narrowly evading each Wind Blade at an unbelievable angle.

The Body-Tempering Method!

At the sight, the Huang man seemed to realize something. His face darkened, and his rapier slowed.

The young wife was also surprised, but after knitting her brows, she immediately raised one hand, revealing an Azure Token, and began chanting.

Blue light blazed across the Command Token's surface. Crystalline Ice Spikes began appearing before her, multiplying until seven or eight hovered there in the blink of an eye.

This is bad!

Wang Yu cried inwardly. He abruptly halted, rose to his feet, and whirled his saber into a blur as he charged the Huang man, who was closest.

A savage grin spread across the Huang man's face, and his rapier lashed out like a torrential downpour.

A dense swarm of Wind Blades shot forth, whistling through the air.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As Wang Yu swung wildly, his iron essence saber shuddered violently. Every blow struck as heavily as a hammer. The web between his thumb and forefinger burned, and he nearly lost his grip on the weapon.

At the same moment, the young wife gave a sharp cry and thrust her Command Token forward. The Ice Spikes before her shot out one after another, forming a crystalline line that hurtled straight toward Wang Yu.

Alarm surged through Wang Yu. He abruptly chopped forward several times with his iron essence saber, then swiftly held it across his body, forcibly executing a move from the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique with his saber.

A flurry of bangs rang out. Half the Ice Spikes were cleaved into fragments, while the rest struck the saber held crosswise before him. Each impact forced him a step backward.

Before Wang Yu could feel any relief, he suddenly shivered. His hands went numb, and his body grew sluggish.

Only then did he realize that the Ice Spikes he had shattered had turned into a cloud of bitter cold that enveloped him.

"Ha ha!"

The Huang man burst out laughing, though the Azure Sword Shadow above his head flickered and vanished just then.

He paid it no mind and strode forward, shaking his rapier into a multitude of sword shadows that swept toward Wang Yu.

Overclocking.

Wang Yu invoked it silently without hesitation.

His five senses instantly sharpened, and everything around him slowed. His mind entered super mode, while his control over the muscles throughout his body intensified, instantly restoring his ability to move.

He drove hard with both legs, shooting backward forty or fifty feet like a bolt from a crossbow. He immediately tucked his saber into his belt, bent slightly forward, and pressed his left hand to its hilt, his eyes fixed on the Huang man.

The Huang man froze briefly at the sight, then snorted coldly. Chanting, he shook his sleeve and sent a dry Straw Effigy flying out.

Thump!

After landing, the Straw Effigy transformed within a mass of writhing yellow light into another Huang man, wearing identical clothes and holding an identical Silver Rapier.

The two Huang men crisscrossed seven or eight times, then split left and right, flourishing their rapiers as they charged Wang Yu. It was impossible to tell the real one from the fake.

The young wife held the Command Token in her palm and resumed chanting, its light gradually growing brighter.

At that same moment, Wang Yu gave a low shout.

"Draw-Cutting Art!"

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, he shot toward the Huang man on the left, a huge arc of saber light flashing into existence.

Boom!

His saber slammed into the man's neck, only to be stopped by a blue barrier that suddenly appeared. Yet the tremendous force carried by the blade still drove the man backward step after step.

The barrier caved inward beneath the edge, its surface flickering wildly, seemingly responding to the Command Token in the young wife's hand from afar.

The young wife cried out in alarm and frantically poured her dharma power into the Command Token.

Meanwhile, flames appeared over the other Huang man's body. He dissolved like a bursting bubble, leaving only a charred Straw Effigy behind.

When the Huang man finally managed to steady himself, shock and fury surged through him. A vicious look flashed across his face. With a low roar, he thrust his rapier like lightning at Wang Yu, who stood within arm's reach.

Without thinking, Wang Yu seized the rapier's blade even faster with his right hand. His fingers tightened, and he twisted his wrist, wrenching the rapier into a braided spiral without suffering so much as a scratch on his palm.

The Huang man felt heat flare in his palm as the rapier was torn from his grasp. But a gleaming short sword silently appeared in his other hand, and he stabbed it viciously toward Wang Yu's abdomen.

Wang Yu roared. The arm holding his saber in a reverse grip suddenly swelled, and he savagely shoved the blade forward once more.

Several cracks rang out.

Unable to withstand the immense force, the blue barrier shattered. Cold light flashed, and a head tumbled to the ground as a fountain of blood shot skyward.

The headless body swayed several times, then collapsed soundlessly to the ground.

"My husband!"

Witnessing this, the young wife let out a scream that seemed to bleed from her heart.

But under the control of Overclocking, Wang Yu felt not the slightest ripple of emotion. Instead, he stamped his foot again and shot toward her with saber in hand.

The young wife cursed incessantly. Blue light flashed wildly from her Command Token, sending Ice Spikes shooting out, but Wang Yu twisted, turned, and sprang aside, dodging every one.

With a few swift movements, he reached her. His saber swept out, sending a flash of cold light toward her.

Terrified, the young wife flung up her long sleeve. A yellow ribbon shot from it and wrapped around Wang Yu before he could react. A venomous look then crossed her pretty face. Forming a seal with one hand, she hurled the Azure Token with all her strength.

Bang!

The Command Token exploded into a dense swarm of ice needles that shot toward the trapped Wang Yu.