Defeating Steller

Three days later, at Red Rock Gorge.

This was the only route to the southern part of the O'Brien Empire.

Steep red cliffs rose on both sides of the gorge.

At the bottom, there was only a narrow passage.

Haoyue, Linley, Sessler and his disciple lay in ambush on the cliffs on either side of the gorge, waiting quietly.

"They're here."

Haoyue suddenly spoke, his voice low.

Everyone perked up and looked toward the entrance to the gorge.

Sure enough-

Before long, a group slowly entered the gorge.

There were about a hundred people in the group, all clad in heavy armor and each giving off a powerful aura.

In the middle of the group were five specially made prison wagons.

A burly man was locked inside each wagon.

All five men stood over two meters tall, their muscles knotted like those of primordial beasts.

Even bound in special chains, their auras were still enough to make one's heart tremble.

They were none other than Barker and his four brothers!

At the very front of the group, riding a tall horse, was a middle-aged man in golden priestly robes.

The man had a stern face and lightning-sharp eyes.

The aura radiating from him was as vast as the sea and unfathomably deep.

Saint-level!

A Saint-level expert of the Radiant Church!

"Just as I thought, it's Steller."

A cold gleam flashed in Haoyue's eyes.

Steller was a Saint-level expert of the Radiant Church and one of Heidens's trusted subordinates. Haoyue had met him when he was in the Fenlai Kingdom.

In the original story, he was the one who escorted Barker and his brothers.

"Big brother Haoyue, is that a Saint-level expert?" Linley asked in a low voice.

Although he knew he was no match for a Saint-level expert, he couldn't resist wanting to try.

He wanted to see whether his Profound Truths of the Earth: Triple Wave could actually hurt a Saint-level expert.

"Mm." Haoyue nodded. "His name is Steller, a Saint-level expert of the Radiant Church."

"You want to try?"

Linley smiled sheepishly.

"I just want to see whether my Triple Wave can hurt him."

Haoyue glanced at him and nodded.

"All right."

"Go first and exchange a few blows with him."

"But don't take it too far, and don't push yourself."

"If you really can't beat him, I'll step in."

"Okay!" Linley's eyes lit up, and he nodded firmly.

He had waited a long time for this day.

A Saint-level expert...

He wanted to see just how strong a legendary Saint-level expert really was!

At the bottom of the gorge.

Steller rode at the very front of the group.

His brows were slightly furrowed.

He didn't know why, but he kept feeling uneasy.

It was as though some danger was drawing near.

"My lord, what's wrong?" an attendant beside him asked.

"Nothing." Steller shook his head. "Perhaps I'm worrying too much."

He was a Saint-level expert.

In the southern part of the O'Brien Empire, the people who could threaten him could be counted on one hand.

He was probably overthinking it.

However-

Just then-

"Steller!"

A shout rang out from above the gorge.

Immediately afterward-

A figure leaped down from the cliff.

It was a young man holding a heavy sword.

It was Linley!

"Who goes there?!"

Steller hadn't expected anyone to dare ambush him.

"Who are you?" Steller asked in a deep voice, staring intently at Linley.

He could sense that this young man's strength was only around the eighth rank.

Eighth rank...

He wasn't even fit to carry Steller's shoes.

But since the young man had dared to jump out alone and block his path, he must have something to rely on.

"The man who's going to kill you."

Linley spoke coldly.

He gripped the Black Jade Heavy Sword in both hands and assumed his opening stance.

"Big words." Steller sneered. "A mere eighth-rank brat dares to act so boldly before me?"

"You're courting death!"

He raised a hand and waved it casually.

A blade of ice slashed toward Linley.

Even a casual attack from a Saint-level expert was more than an eighth-rank expert could withstand!

However-

Facing the astonishingly powerful blade of ice, Linley neither dodged nor retreated.

He took a deep breath.

The Battle-qi in his body circulated madly, and he instantly transformed into a peak ninth-rank Dragonblood Warrior.

Drawing upon the power of heaven and earth!

Profound Truths of the Earth: Triple Wave!

"Hah!"

Linley let out a shout.

The Black Jade Heavy Sword in his hands chopped down fiercely, carrying the might to split heaven and earth!

"Boom!"

His sword struck.

The first wave!

The sword carried a crushing weight, like the earth bearing down upon its target.

"Clang!!"

The heavy sword collided with the ice blade, producing a tremendous metallic clash.

The blade of light shattered inch by inch!

"What?!"

Steller's expression changed slightly.

He blocked it? How was that possible?!

However, it wasn't over yet.

The force of Linley's sword hadn't diminished in the slightest.

After the first wave came-

The second wave!

"Boom!!"

The sword's force surged again!

It was a full two times as powerful as the first strike!

The power of this strike had already surpassed the peak of the ninth rank!

At the sight of this form, Steller's pupils suddenly contracted, and an intense killing intent flooded his eyes.

"Dragonblood Warrior... Linley Baruch!"

He recognized at a glance that the person before him was the number-one traitor wanted by the Church for a hefty bounty!

"You're courting death!"

Steller shouted coldly, and his fierce ice-element Battle-qi instantly swept out in all directions, freezing the air around him.

Linley neither dodged nor retreated. Drawing upon the power of heaven and earth, he unleashed the Profound Truths of the Earth: Triple Wave with all his strength!

The heavy, boundless power of the earth blasted forth in layer after layer.

Bang!

A tremendous crash rang out.

Steller hurriedly blocked, but the strange power of heaven and earth actually shook him back two steps.

But that was all.

As a veteran Peak Saint-level expert, Steller was hardly going to be frightened by an attack like that.

After pausing for only an instant, he unleashed the full force of his icy power, and a terrifying Saint-level pressure came crashing down.

Suppression in every respect, in both cultivation and Battle-qi!

Linley's aura instantly fell into disarray, his bones creaked, and the blood and qi in his body roiled. In moments, he was driven into a desperate situation, completely unable to fight on.

"A mere ninth-rank expert, trying to stop a chariot like a mantis!"

Steller's gaze was icy. He raised a hand to unleash a lethal freezing move, intending to kill this major criminal wanted by the Church on the spot.

Was this the power of a Peak Saint-level expert?

Just as I thought... ridiculously strong.

"Brat, dying at my hands is an honor for you."

Linley tightened his grip on his heavy sword, his body trembling slightly.

However-

Just then-

"Steller, I'm your opponent."

A voice came from the cliff.

Immediately afterward, a black-robed figure descended from the sky.

He landed steadily in front of Linley.

It was Haoyue Bolei.

"Big brother Haoyue!"

Seeing Haoyue appear, Linley immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

With big brother Haoyue here, everything would be fine.

"Stand back," Haoyue said without turning his head. "Leave the rest to me."

"Okay!"

Without wasting time, Linley turned and retreated to the side.

He knew the battle to come was no longer one he could take part in.

Steller stopped in his tracks and looked at Haoyue gravely.

The black-robed young man felt far more dangerous to him than Linley.

Unfathomable.

"Who are you?" Steller asked in a deep voice.

"Haoyue Bolei." Haoyue gave his name calmly.

"So it's you, the Tiger-Striped Warrior."

Steller's pupils contracted sharply.

"You're the Tiger-Striped Warrior who stopped Lord Heidens?!"

During the battle of Fenlai City over two years ago, Haoyue had stopped Heidens, and news of it had long since spread among the upper ranks of the Radiant Church.

Steller had naturally heard about it too.

He just hadn't expected to encounter him here!

"Looks like you've heard of me," Haoyue said calmly. "That saves me the trouble of introducing myself."

"Steller, leave those five people behind."

"Then get lost."

The voice was quiet, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

Steller's expression instantly darkened.

"What arrogance!"

"I admit, you do have some ability if you can hold Lord Heidens off for a while."

"But do you think you're qualified to act so brazenly in front of me?"

Haoyue scoffed.

"Why don't we find out?"

He slowly drew the Purple Blood Soft Sword.

Blue Water Element magic flowed into the blade.

A gentle, lustrous water-blue sheen spread over it.

The opening stance of the Profound Mystery of Roundness Sword Technique.

"Hmph, you don't know when to stop!"

Steller was so furious that he laughed.

"Since you're courting death, I'll oblige you!"

As soon as he spoke, he vanished.

So fast!

Linley was startled.

The speed of a Saint-level expert was terrifying indeed.

Yet Haoyue remained where he was, standing perfectly still.

It was as though he hadn't seen Steller's attack at all.

"Brother Haoyue, watch out!" Linley couldn't help shouting.

Just then-

Steller appeared in front of Haoyue.

He thrust his longsword straight at Haoyue's throat!

The strike was both swift and vicious!

Just as it was about to land-

"Clang!"

A light ringing sound rang out.

At some point, the Purple Blood Soft Sword had moved in front of Haoyue to block it.

Steller's longsword struck the back of the soft sword's blade.

Yet the expected clash never came.

Instead, the Purple Blood Soft Sword guided, redirected and dispersed that violent force with extraordinary finesse...

In the end, it all missed.

"What?!"

Steller's expression changed drastically.

What kind of sword technique is this?!

His full-powered strike was neutralized just like that, so easily?!

"Is that all you've got?"

Haoyue said indifferently.

His tone carried a faint trace of disdain.

"You..." Steller was both shocked and furious.

"I don't believe it!"

With an angry roar, he attacked again.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang..."

A series of metallic clashes rang out.

Steller's speed reached its utmost limit.

Streak after streak of silvery-white sword light descended on Haoyue like a torrential downpour.

Every strike contained the terrifying power of a Saint-level expert.

Yet Haoyue's Purple Blood Soft Sword was as light and effortless as willow fluff in the wind.

Every one of Steller's strikes was easily neutralized, like a stone sinking into the sea.

The fiercer his attacks grew, the more of their force was dispersed.

The Profound Mystery of Roundness Sword Technique overcame hardness with softness.

No matter how many techniques or how much power you wielded, he would break them all with a single sword.

"Wh... what kind of sword technique is this?"

The longer Steller fought, the more alarmed he became.

He felt as though he were fighting not a person, but a pool of water.

It was like punching cotton: he had strength, but nowhere to use it.

The feeling was stifling beyond measure.

"What? Tired already?"

Haoyue said indifferently.

"Then it's my turn."

He put away the Purple Blood Soft Sword.

Reaching behind him, he drew the heavy miao saber from his back.

Gravity Stacking!

Tenfold... twentyfold... fortyfold... sixtyfold!

Sixtyfold Gravity Slash!

And that wasn't all-

Fire Element magic surged into it at the same time.

Compressed Explosive Flame!

Explosive Flame Slash!

He used both moves at once! (He simply used them together; he didn't fuse them.)

"Hyah!"

Haoyue gave a low shout.

The miao saber in his hand met the attack with the force to split heaven and earth!

"Clang!!!"

Saber and sword collided in midair.

Immediately afterward-

"Boom!!!"

An earth-shaking explosion rang out across heaven and earth.

A terrifying fiery shockwave spread madly in every direction from the two men.

A massive crater dozens of meters across appeared in the ground!

Dust billowed skyward, and shattered rocks flew everywhere.

The entire canyon trembled!