Chapter 963: Shatter
Luo Bingfeng’s imminent sword strike affected the entire scene.
Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing attacked in tandem, and the experts all joined in under Ji Tianqing’s unceremonious threat. It was just that they were all holding back somewhat, and this was beyond anyone’s control.
Luo Bingfeng was still condensing sword energy. A casual wave of his left hand pushed the experts back one after the other—that was the extent of their martial path. All the while, the speck of pure sword intent remained locked onto Qianye. Everyone else was an ant in his eyes.
Qianye remained in the air, covering his chest with one hand as he glared intently at Luo Bingfeng. His figure was flickering in and out of existence, ready to meet Luo Bingfeng’s unbreakable slash with Spatial Flash.
Song Zining was already an arrow at the end of its flight. “Qianye, run! Don’t mind us!”
Qianye didn’t even look at Song Zining as he shook his head ever so slightly.
Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing understood that Qianye’s injuries had healed rapidly due to the special medicine. There was a chance he could still escape if he were to use Spatial Flash right now. With Qianye gone, however, Luo Bingfeng’s ultimate attack would be directed at someone else. By any standards, that target could only be either Song Zining, Li Kuanglan, or Ji Tianqing.
Luo Bingfeng would’ve used up his killing move at that point, and he had also been injured by a Shot of Inception. So, the three remaining survivors could work together to at least survive the ordeal.
But he wasn’t willing to do this. Song Zining’s eyes were bloodshot as he roared, “Rui Xiang! What are you waiting for? If you keep stalling, I’ll make sure Zhang Buzhou’s intentions fail miserably!”
Luo Bingfeng felt an ineffable chill in his heart after hearing this. He turned back toward the holy mountain, just in time to hear a crisp sound coming from that direction. It was as though something had shattered.
In just a split second, Luo Bingfeng’s movements, powers, and even his emotions slowed down ever so slightly.
His gaze fell onto his blade. There were numerous barely noticeable cracks on that perfect sword.
The city lord was startled to find the sword edge trembling, but then he realized that it wasn’t the blade but his hand.
“Nan Nan, Nan Nan…” Luo Bingfeng muttered to himself, and then he roared hysterically!
He turned toward Song Zining and said word by word, “I thought you were a hero, but you turned out to be a treacherous lowlife!”
Song Zining sighed. “Everything is fair game on the battlefield, we only discuss victory and defeat.”
“Good, good!” Luo Bingfeng pointed at Qianye, saying, “Now, I have nothing left to worry about. I’ll have to see who can save him and everyone else!”
Luo Bingfeng’s sword intent began to form anew. Unexpectedly, the two brothers Yun Zhong and Yun Hai appeared in front of Qianye, saying, “You’ll have to step on our corpses if you want to attack Qianye!”
What surprised everyone was that these two had been beaten into fear and were unable to do anything a while ago. How come they had become fearless again? As true experts, the duo could also see that Luo Bingfeng was still extremely dangerous at this point. At the very least, he could kill them easily.
Luo Bingfeng sneered. “It seems any minor character can jump out these days. Do you think I don’t dare to kill people?”
Luo Bingfeng’s eyes erupted with light as his sword intent surged with the wind, encompassing Qianye, Yun Zhong, and Yun Hai within. The attack was poised to kill all three at the same time!
Qianye’s silhouette was fading away at first, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do that after the twins appeared in front of him. With his insight, he could naturally see that Yun Zhong and Yun Hai couldn’t take this slash, that the only hope was for all three to work together. Hence, Qianye canceled his evasive stance and drew his sword, ready to block this peerless attack.
A wave of jadeite sword radiance sprayed toward the three men.
Yun Zhong and Yun Hai were standing close together at first. Just as the sword radiance was about to arrive, however, the two of them crashed violently and bounced hundreds of meters away from each other.
The collision mixed their origin powers together and ignited a powerful reaction. Not only did the explosion blast the two of them away from one another, but it also destroyed the sword radiance’s lock on them. This was a fairly brilliant life-saving ability—although the brothers were heavily injured, they were also able to survive.
It was just that their action opened up the path to Qianye. The sword radiance aiming for Yun Zhong and Yun Hai lost their target and turned toward Qianye.
The three sword radiances merged into one as they slashed at Qianye!
The might of this blow startled everyone who wanted to save Qianye, drenching them in cold sweat.
Such an outcome surprised Luo Bingfeng as well. The original intent of this attack was to attack three people, but it surprisingly ended up as one—the might of this blow was the peak of his career. There was really no need to put in so much effort against the wounded Qianye.
“Let it be, only this kind of attack is a fitting end for you.” In that split second, such a thought flickered through Luo Bingfeng’s mind.
Qianye had no time to think, neither did he have the space to perform Spatial Flash. At this point, the only thing he could do was use his full force to attack the incoming blow.
The sword radiance was like a great flood, while Qianye was but a small pebble amidst its rage. He couldn’t even sink to the bottom if he wanted to.
A sigh suddenly echoed through the air—serious, jaded, and suffused with traces of the passing vicissitudes. Following that sigh, a hand appeared before the masses. It was just an unassuming limb, obviously belonging to an elderly man.
Despite that, this hand drew everyone’s attention. No matter where this person was and regardless of all obstructions, it simply appeared out of nowhere and lingered in everyone’s hearts.
It was just the hand of an elder, no bigger than everyone else’s. It even looked more slender and pale, with some loose skin as was normal for the elderly.
However, this old hand actually grabbed the sword radiance, that raging torrent of light!
The attack shrunk rapidly as it approached the elderly man’s palm and finally turned into a ball of light in its grasp. In the blink of an eye, everyone felt an inexplicable uneasiness in their hearts. The world seemed surreal at this moment, almost as though it had become smaller and the old man had grown larger.
Finally, the old man extinguished the sword radiance with a slight clench of his fist. Only a wisp of green smoke slowly drifted away.
Only when the smoke had dispersed did an old man appear. He looked rather peaceful and healthy, but there was really nothing special about him apart from that. However, the fact that he could appear here proved that he was extraordinary.
The experts felt their vitality in an uncomfortable turmoil. The weaker ones felt as though their heads were about to split open and began vomiting uncontrollably.
Luo Bingfeng glanced at the old man with a frosty expression, his eyes filled with shocking battle intent. “Liu Daoji, who would’ve thought? And here I was wondering how lacking the empire was to send these little kids to kill me.”
The old man laughed out loud. “Weren’t you also a kid back then? Heh heh, don’t look down on these children. You might’ve been defeated in their hands if it weren’t for the treacherous intent of certain people. You can barely suppress the injury in your chest now, right? And that woman, there’s no saving her.”
Luo Bingfeng raised his brows and said with a cold voice, “You people have always been ruthless and unscrupulous! I felt it beneath my dignity to join you back then, and I still feel the same today.”
The old man sighed. “I told you back then, you’re destined to suffer this calamity. Who would’ve thought she’d take your place?”
Luo Bingfeng’s sword buzzed loudly at this point, and he had to take a deep breath before his hands stopped trembling. “They killed Nan Nan with their schemes, so there’s no need for them to leave this place alive. All of them will accompany her in death! Without these people, I’m sure your Great Qin will lose fifty years of potential progress! After a lifetime of scheming, why can’t you people see which side will profit and which side will lose? Liu Daoji, I know you’re powerful, but you can forget about stopping me from killing someone at your current age.”
The old man shook his head. “You’re wrong. I didn’t come here to stop you but to protect his life. He can’t die right now. But I’m also quite old, so I can only save him once. Blocking your move can be considered me fulfilling my duty, and I have no need to remain since I can now explain things to that person. I’ll be leaving now.”
An icy voice echoed in the sky above, “You’ll not have a second chance if you don’t leave now.”
A vaguely discernible figure appeared high up, a man clad in magnificent dark clothing. His face was fair, and his hair and brows were a faint golden color. Together with his light eye color, this was a countenance that was fairly difficult to forget.
He had his hands clasped behind his back, and at his waist was a strange origin gun that fell between a handgun and a rifle.
Looking down at the old man, he said coldly, “Why would you recognize so many masters without staying put as the number one expert in the imperial palace? You even came to the neutral lands.”
The elderly man wasn’t angry. He cupped his hand toward the imperial forces, saying, “I was merely asked to repay a favor, and now that I’ve done that, it’s time for me to go.”
The light-browed man said, “Indeed it’s time. Do you need me to see you off?”
The old man smiled. “There’s no need to trouble Your Majesty for this bag of old bones. However, I have a small matter to attend to before leaving.”
The man said, “What matter?”
“Dispatching two subordinates.” The old man made light of the situation.
The man nodded. “I love seeing people killing their own, please go ahead.”
Yun Zhong and Yun Hai were suddenly full of shock. “Steward Liu, please spare us! We were just following orders from…”
The old man suddenly coughed twice. The duo grimaced after hearing this cough, grabbing onto their necks as blood gushed out of their mouths. Their auras fell sharply, and their bodies fell writhing to the ground, unable to die immediately.
The imperial elder arrived beside the old man. “Steward Liu, why didn’t you let them finish? You’ll have an answer if that person asks in the future.”
The old man shot him a glance. “I’m too old to think about these things, I won’t remember even if I hear them speak. You’re not that young anymore, either, so better let go of your boldness. Just seek an easy position and enjoy life.”
The imperial elder’s expression became serious. “Thank you for the advice.”
The old man nodded and scanned everyone at the scene before fading away. The pale-browed man in the air also disappeared.
All the experts on the battlefield woke up from their reverie. Eunuch Liu was gone, but Luo Bingfeng was still there.