Chapter 961: Whole or Half a Share
Luo Bingfeng turned around slightly. “Qianye, you’ve finally come out.”
Qianye’s figure appeared hundreds of meters away. “City Lord, are you so unsure about killing me that you’d resort to such underhanded tactics? I’d thought you above that.”
Luo Bingfeng pointed at the group of imperial experts. “What do you have to say about these people? Who can block three strikes from me and survive in a fair battle? The ends will justify the means. Any strategy is viable.”
“Fine.” Qianye stopped talking and merely stared at Luo Bingfeng with blue eyes.
“How long can you last without Spatial Flash?” Luo Bingfeng sighed as he raised his palm like a blade.
Before he could launch his slash, however, the scenery before him suddenly transformed from the desolate neutral lands to the lush delta of the southern river. Song Zining walked out amidst the swaying leaves and thrust his spear at Luo Bingfeng’s forehead!
Luo Bingfeng let out an exclamation of surprise as his palm swerved out of track. Instead of slashing at the incoming spear, however, he swiped casually at the air, popping the imagery around them like a bubble. During this brief movement, the city lord found that he had moved locations. He was actually in front of Song Zining at this moment, less than ten meters away, in fact.
This audacious trick actually moved Luo Bingfeng over unknowingly. The cleverness of Song Zining’s domain utilization was quite shocking.
But no matter how strong the Three Thousand Flying Leaves Art domain was, it couldn’t fill the gap in power. Luo Bingfeng shattered the domain with one punch, and now, the two of them were dangerously close.
Clenching his teeth, Song Zining attacked the city lord with a flurry of spear strikes. He had completely forgone his personal defense in order to stab the enemy just once.
Luo Bingfeng blocked the strike with a casual move, pushing Song Zining back repeatedly as he did so. He suddenly flicked the speartip with his finger and pushed the seventh young noble back dozens of meters.
Luo Bingfeng didn’t follow up with the attack. Glancing at Song Zining and then at Qianye in his battle stance, he sighed. “If I were thirty years younger, I might’ve been able to become good friends with you two. But now… what a pity, what a pity!”
A cold glint flickered in his eyes as he gazed at Song Zining. “If the empire gains your assistance, how many of our people will lose their lives? The neutral lands will never see peace again!”
With that, Luo Bingfeng no longer hesitated. He formed a sword with his fingers and slashed at Song Zining’s throat from afar.
This strike was an all-out attack. The sword radiance shone brightly, flying hundreds of meters in mere moments to arrive before Song Zining. The latter’s expression was hidden under the mask, and there was no telling if it was filled with shock or joy. The scenery before him went through tens of thousands of variations, each one weakening the sword radiance by a small bit. It was just that Luo Bingfeng was simply too powerful. The repeated wearing down only reduced the radiance by a third, and what remained was enough to kill Song Zining.
A sudden light flickered through the sky at this moment. Qianye, shrouded in lightning, appeared to the side and slashed right through the sword radiance!
Luo Bingfeng’s brows rose up, not imagining that Qianye would escape from his Death Stare so quickly. However, he was also a contemporary expert. After a moment of thought, he flicked out a beam of sword light toward Qianye. This beam was bright, dazzling, as thick as an arm, and several meters in length, much more powerful than the toy-like energies that had attacked Yun Zhong and Yun Hai. Apparently, Luo Bingfeng intended to take Qianye’s life in one go.
Just as the attack was about to reach his body, Qianye’s silhouette warped out of existence and vanished.
Without even turning, Luo Bingfeng drew an arc of sword light in reverse and slashed behind his back!
Qianye had just appeared when the radiance was already reaching for him. At this moment, however, his figure vanished yet again and reappeared dozens of meters away.
These Spatial Flashes were executed as naturally as the moving clouds and flowing water, evading Luo Bingfeng’s killing moves in quick succession. Luo Bingfeng was just as surprised as the imperial experts.
“Interesting!” The city lord’s brows rose. Using some sort of secret art, his silhouette also flickered similarly and appeared before Qianye, tapping at the latter’s forehead with a finger.
This attack was unbelievably fast. Qianye had no time to prepare before the shadow of death descended upon his entire body!
During this brief moment, a volcanic rumble resounded in Qianye’s brain. His blood core started pulsing madly. The blood in his entire body wasn’t just burning; it was exploding!
At the juncture of life and death, Qianye reflexively grabbed Luo Bingfeng’s throat at lightning speed!
This swift move broke through the previous limits of Qianye’s speed. Luo Bingfeng’s eyes were filled with astonishment as he saw the sanguineous threads flickering on Qianye’s fingertips. He finally became serious, pulling back the right hand that was about to reach Qianye’s forehead and using it to deflect Qianye’s claw.
Having had his right hand deflected, Qianye followed up with a left palm toward Luo Bingfeng’s heart. There were short wisps of blood lingering around his fingertips just like before.
Luo Bingfeng slashed horizontally with his right hand, deflecting Qianye’s attack once more.
Qianye retreated briefly after failing two attacks but soon pounced forward again with bloodshot eyes. He paid no heed to his own defenses as he launched attacks with every part of his body, engaging in a maddened fight of mutual destruction.
“Not bad, not bad! Yes, this is a good move!” Luo Bingfeng looked calm as he broke numerous killing moves with a casual wave of his hand. All the while, he looked quite regretful and was full of praise for Qianye. Anyone could see that Qianye would meet his end as soon as his attacks lost their momentum.
Being able to exchange so many blows with Qianye proved that his combat arts were at a shocking level. Despite that, the power disparity was simply too great. There was no making up for this deficiency—even if Qianye left no openings in battle, Luo Bingfeng could force one out.
In the blink of an eye, the city lord forced Qianye back with a punch and made to tap Qianye’s forehead at unbelievable speeds. This attack seemed unavoidable, but Qianye’s figure turned blurry as he activated Spatial Flash and vanished.
Sighing, Luo Bingfeng drew an arc of sword radiance that appeared in front of Qianye as he was materializing. This time, Qianye had only flashed ten meters or so, and it was from one side of the target to the other. This also meant that he had no intention of running away, and that he was poised to fight Luo Bingfeng to the death.
The city lord sighed. No one knew whether he was sighing about Qianye’s stupidity or about him not bearing to deal the killing blow.
The two had exchanged blows too quickly, so much so that the imperial experts couldn’t even react. Only at this point did the Li clan elder catch his breath and, seeing that Qianye was in a dire situation, made to attack with his icy sword. The Li family was known for its swift sword attacks, the best kind to interfere with this situation.
Unexpectedly, someone nearby dragged him back. That old man whispered, “Elder Li, the formation will disperse without you! It’s just Qianye.”
Another person chimed in, “Those not of our race will have disloyal intentions.”
The short moment of hesitation had allowed for tens of thousands of changes on the battlefield. Each of Luo Bingfeng’s attacks was incisive and lethal, instilling a chill in the hearts of all spectators. If the man were to abandon Qianye and attack him instead, they would suffer casualties without the protection of the formation.
This was Luo Bingfeng’s might. Everyone at the scene would be in danger without someone to restrain him. It would also be the end of this war.
At the thought of this, the Li family elder glanced furiously at Yun Zhong and Yun Hai. At first, restraining the city lord was their duty, but now, they seemed to have lost their courage and were afraid to step forward.
The imperial family’s side was acting somewhat strangely. The leading elder was completely focused on recovering while the others seemed to have no intention of fighting, either. It was as though they were waiting for something.
Song Zining arrived behind Luo Bingfeng in Qianye’s moment of danger. Actually, he had been chasing after the city lord since the beginning. It was just that the two combatants were shifting around the battlefield too quickly for him to catch up. Finally finding the opportunity to close in, he delivered an immediate thrust at Luo Bingfeng’s back.
Both Qianye and Song Zining attacked without caring for their own safety, adopting a mutually destructive style. It seemed they were intent on biting a good chunk off of Luo Bingfeng even if they couldn’t kill him.
Despite that, throwing their lives on the line still couldn’t make up for the disparity in strength. Luo Bingfeng pushed Song Zining over a hundred meters back with just a backhand attack while his attack on Qianye continued without pause.
Flying back like a cannonball, Song Zining clenched his teeth and prepared to use his domain power. The Three Thousand Flying Leaves Art was barely effective in restraining Luo Bingfeng and could be broken with a single move. This high-consumption move wasn’t a good deal for him, but he wouldn’t even be able to approach without it.
It was at this time that a hand appeared from behind and pulled Song Zining back. Soon, Ji Tianqing’s voice echoed beside his ear, “Don’t use your domain, let’s go again!”
But Song Zining blocked Ji Tianqing with his spear, saying, “You shouldn’t have come, go back!”
Ji Tianqing slapped the spear away. “Those people are too old. Our generation has to pick up this responsibility. If you keep blabbering, we won’t be able to save Qianye anymore!”
As a decisive person, Song Zining gritted his teeth and said, “Fine! Let’s attack!”
“I want a share after everything’s over.”
Ji Tianqing’s words startled the seventh young master. “What are you trying to share?”
“After we save the person, I want a share.” Ji Tianqing spoke as though it was only right and proper.
Song Zining opened his mouth with a speechless expression. “Y-You, don’t tell me…”
“I’ll take what I can get, I’m not picky!” Ji Tianqing flew toward Luo Bingfeng with an impatient expression.
Failing to stop her, Song Zining couldn’t help but curse from behind, “Are you throwing your life away!?”
“None of your business!” Ji Tianqing flipped the bird at him, but that didn’t slow her punch toward Luo Bingfeng’s head.
“Lass, you’re quite ruthless!” Luo Bingfeng offered a word of praise before swatting at her with his left palm.
However, a wisp of blue sword energy tore through the air and intercepted the city lord’s wrist. This blue light was so extremely sharp that Luo Bingfeng had no choice but to step back and avoid it.
Li Kuanglan’s figure emerged after the sword light had flown past. She glared at Ji Tianqing instead of looking at Luo Bingfeng, saying, “You want a share when you’re that slow? You’re not even getting half a share!”