Demonic Transformation
Zhu Lin whipped her head around to look at the other two. "Don't listen to him trying to turn us against one another!"
"Don't worry." Luo Fang tightened her grip on her saber, her tone indifferent. "We know what we're doing."
Liu Yong said nothing, merely tightening his grip on his sword.
They had seen plenty of such crude attempts to sow discord.
"Attack together!"
Zhu Lin struck first, her long saber tracing a streak of cold light as it went straight for Zhu Ren's face.
Lu Feng did not stop her.
Zhu Ren's cultivation was now at Nei Jin Perfection, just like his, and he was fighting on his home ground. No one knew what other cards he had up his sleeve.
To be safe, joining forces was the best choice.
He gripped the Six Harmonies Saber and unleashed the Gale Saber Art. His saber light cut in from the side, forming a pincer attack with Zhu Lin from front and rear.
Liu Yong and Luo Fang attacked at the same time. Four figures surrounded Zhu Ren as saber light and sword shadows swept down over him, blotting out the sky.
"Today, this old man will see what the Demon-Slaying Bureau is made of."
Zhu Ren's expression did not change. He slowly raised both hands.
His palms turned dark red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and a ball of blood mist formed between them.
He thrust out both palms, striking repeatedly in all four directions.
Blood-red palm shadows left trails of afterimages in the air, each strike carrying a pungent stench of blood.
"Clang!"
All four swung their blades to block.
The instant their blades collided with the palm shadows, a tremendous recoil traveled back through their weapons, numbing the webs between their thumbs and forefingers.
The force was too heavy to have come from a human palm. It felt more like striking a block of pig iron.
Taking advantage of a gap between Zhu Ren's palm strikes, Lu Feng shifted with Carefree Steps and slipped behind him in an instant.
He brought the Six Harmonies Saber down at the back of Zhu Ren's neck.
Zhu Ren did not dodge.
He clapped his hands together behind him, catching the blade with perfect precision.
He had caught a bare blade with his bare hands.
Lu Feng frowned slightly.
Zhu Ren's palms had now turned completely dark red. His skin had a faint metallic sheen, and was too hard to be flesh and blood.
The edge of the Six Harmonies Saber was clamped tight between those bare palms, unable to budge an inch.
The attacks from Zhu Lin and the other two followed close behind.
Zhu Ren released the blade and turned to meet them. His palms flew, neutralizing their attacks one by one.
Lu Feng did not rush to follow up.
He took a step back, his gaze fixed on Zhu Ren's movements as he searched for an opening.
Then he struck again, working with the other three to rain blow after blow down on Zhu Ren.
In the blink of an eye, the two sides had exchanged dozens of blows.
Lu Feng noticed that Zhu Ren's abilities were extremely uneven.
His physical toughness far surpassed others at the same level. His dark red palms were as hard as iron, able to catch a saber blade barehanded without injury.
But his cultivation technique, movement technique, and combat awareness were all only at the level of an ordinary Nei Jin martial artist.
His attacks were straightforward, his changes of moves clumsy, and his footwork followed no discernible pattern.
He was like someone who had suddenly gained a powerful body but had not yet learned how to use it.
Lu Feng knocked Zhu Ren's palms aside with his saber and drew back half a step, already considering whether to use Gale Slash to kill him in one blow.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhu Lin and Luo Fang exchange a glance-their thoughts were evidently the same as his.
They did not intend to drag this out any longer.
The three of them changed moves almost simultaneously.
Zhu Lin flicked her long saber, coating the blade in a pale green glow of Nei Jin. Her Saber Force suddenly grew several times fiercer.
Luo Fang gripped her saber hilt with both hands and spun, body and blade turning as one. The edge traced an arc through the air, slashing at Zhu Ren's lower body with an ear-piercing whistle.
Liu Yong thrust his sword swiftly forward, a point of cold light gathering at its tip as it aimed straight for Zhu Ren's throat.
They were all their most treasured ultimate techniques.
Lu Feng held nothing back either. He poured Nei Jin into the Six Harmonies Saber and unleashed the Gale Saber Art with all his strength. Saber light cascaded like a waterfall, sweeping down over Zhu Ren and blotting out the sky.
All four unleashed their full strength at once, their attacks so dense they left scarcely a gap.
Zhu Ren could finally hold out no longer.
Though his body was tough enough to block one blade, it could not withstand four striking at once.
Within a few breaths, seven or eight wounds had appeared on his body. His crimson robe was soaked in blood, and his movements began to slow.
Lu Feng seized an opening, shifted with Carefree Steps, and appeared behind Zhu Ren in an instant.
He brought the Six Harmonies Saber down on Zhu Ren's back.
The moment the blade cut into flesh, a force of chilling cold poured in along its edge.
"Pfft!"
A long gash split open across Zhu Ren's back, and blood gushed out.
The blow sent him flying several meters before he crashed heavily to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Perfection-level Cold Plum Jin.
On the surface, it was only a saber wound, but the chilling Nei Jin had already seeped into his meridians and was corroding his internal organs from within.
Zhu Ren lay on the ground, gasping for breath, bloody foam bubbling with every exhalation.
A flash of wild joy crossed Liu Yong's eyes.
Zhu Ren was already gravely wounded. Whoever delivered the final blow would claim the greatest credit.
He had done nothing particularly impressive when the four demonic beasts had surrounded and attacked him earlier. He could not let Lu Feng have this opportunity too.
He pushed off and rushed at Zhu Ren like an arrow loosed from a bow, raising his sword and aiming its tip at the center of Zhu Ren's back.
Zhu Ren struggled to lift his head.
He saw the sword light striking down at him. There was no fear in his eyes; instead, the faintest hint of mockery flashed through them.
"I... was careless."
He murmured the words under his breath.
Then he raised his head and let out a long howl.
The sound was unlike a human voice. Deep and murky, with a certain primal savagery, it echoed through the cavern, shaking dust loose from the stone walls.
Immediately afterward, his body began to swell.
His crimson robe split under the strain, scraps of cloth flying everywhere.
The muscles on Zhu Ren's back writhed violently, and his shoulder blades bulged outward, as though something were trying to burrow out from beneath his skin.
His bones cracked and shifted as rapidly as popping beans. Two entirely new arms burst from his back-thick and dark red, with sharp black claws at their fingertips.
His face began to twist. His cheekbones expanded outward, his nose bridge collapsed, and the skin of his cheeks stretched almost transparent before splitting down the middle.
A pig's face emerged from beneath the human one, with protruding tusks and a short, broad snout. His once-human eyes were pushed to the sides, turning a murky amber.
The whole process took a long time to describe, but in reality it happened in the space of a single breath.
When Zhu Ren stood up again, he had taken on an entirely different appearance.
He stood a full three meters tall and had four arms, two of them his original arms and two growing from his back, each over two meters long.
It had happened too suddenly.
Everyone froze for an instant.
In that instant, and that instant alone,
the two arms on the demonic Zhu Ren's back shot forward.
Those arms were longer than an ordinary person's legs, their joints bending backward as they extended at an absurd speed.
Liu Yong was still charging forward. Before he could react, two enormous claws caught him, one on either side.
Then, with a gentle tear,
blood gushed out and splashed across Zhu Ren's pig face, making him look even more hideous.
Only when Liu Yong's two halves fell to the ground did Zhu Lin and Luo Fang suddenly come to their senses. Both pushed off at once, retreating several meters.