The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 180 - Hunter to Hunted

Lin Yun and Li Wuyou jumped between the branches in the forest. Lin Yun looked at Li Wuyou’s footsteps. He was light as a swallow, but fast like a cheetah. The profundity of Li Wuyou’s movement technique made Lin Yun’s eyes light up.

“I never expected you to have such a brilliant movement technique,” said Lin Yun.

“How could I dare to become the greatest swordsman in the Great Qin Empire if I didn’t have any skills?” Li Wuyou laughed.

“Stop bragging. The people who are chasing us are on our tails.” Lin Yun smiled contemptuously.

“There’s five of them. Aside from Wang Ning, they’re all only in the seventh orifice of the Xiantian Realm. They’re all Wang Yan’s lackeys,” replied Li Wuyou. Faint stars flickered in his eyes when he looked back.

Lin Yun instantly knew that Li Wuyou had some tricks up his sleeves. Even with his eyes orifice unlocked, Lin Yun could only roughly see the pursuers. But Li Wuyou not only saw the number of pursuers, but he also managed to distinguish all of them.

But Lin Yun’s face suddenly sank as he came to a stop. He looked at the empty ground before him and said, “These people are quite smart. They chose to chase after us separately to sandwich us.”

“It’s Leng Mo, the strongest seeded candidate under Wang Yan. His cultivation is in the Profound Martial Realm and he’s definitely a lot stronger than Wang Ning!” Stars reappeared in Li Wuyou’s eyes as he identified the interceptors up ahead. Now, they had people in front of them and behind, putting them in an awkward situation.

“What are we going to do now?” Li Wuyou turned to Lin Yun without any fear on his face.

“Go back.” Lin Yun smiled. Since the two Profound Martial Realms had split up, it would make no sense for Lin Yun not to give them a surprise.

“Hehe! I like that idea!” Li Wuyou’s eyes sparkled as he licked his lips.

“You deal with Wang Ning. I’ll deal with his lackeys,” said Lin Yun.

“Sure.” Li Wuyou showed no fear when Lin Yun told him to stop Wang Ning, someone in the Profound Martial Realm. He even had a cold smirk on his face.

“Let’s go!” Lin Yun’s killing intent suddenly skyrocketed. He stomped his foot on the tree branch, which caused it to break. Making use of the momentum, Lin Yun soared into the sky. Whenever he was out of momentum, he would use both tough and soft energies to travel further in the air. From a distance, he looked like a bolt of lightning shuttling through the forest.

Li Wuyou saw that and was briefly shocked before he smiled, “So you have something hidden up your sleeve as well. Well, I can’t lose out to you!”

Fwhooosh! Whoosh!

Lin Yun was traveling through the air. When he landed on the ground, he appeared before Wang Ning’s team of five. Wang Ning, who was chasing after him, was taken aback for a moment. But he immediately realized that Lin Yun was forced to return by Leng Mo’s party.

“Hey, sword slave. Are you thinking of killing your way out through my side?” Wang Ning sneered. Adding his new and old hatreds together, his eyes flickered with killing intent. He wanted to kill Lin Yun right away. The four seeded candidates also split up and formed into a fan formation.

Khhhnchhhh!

The four drew their swords simultaneously. Their swords flickered with a cold gleam and the blood mist around them made them look bizarre. Although those swords only seemed to be mid-grade profound artifacts, they seemed pretty dangerous.

Glancing at them, Lin Yun smiled, “Looks like the Wang Clan invested quite a bit in killing me.”

“Lin Yun, you think too highly of yourself. You might be considered a figure in the Azure Sun County, but you’re a nobody here at the capital. The reason why I’m killing you is that you just happen to be on my way!” Wang Ning sneered. “I’ll let you know how terrifying the Profound Martial Realm is!”

Boom!

Wang Ning’s aura surged when he finished talking, releasing a terrifying pressure in Lin Yun’s direction.

Fwhoosh!

His aura roared like a hurricane and into the shape of a sword, sending sand and rocks flying. However, Lin Yun didn’t wait for Wang Ning’s aura to arrive and jumped into the air.

A sword flash suddenly slashed down, splitting Wang Ning’s aura apart. Holding onto his sword, Li Wuyou smiled, “This is the Profound Martial Realm? Well, it doesn’t seem like much.”

The sudden appearance of Li Wuyou surprised Wang Ning.

Wang Ning roared, “Go to hell!” He swung his sword, unleashing afterimages of swords that rained down on Li Wuyou.

Whoooosh!

Li Wuyou narrowed his eyes into slits before opening them widely. A starry sky reflected in his eyes, shining brightly like a sea of flames.

The Vermillion Pupils—Starry Stallion! action

Fwhooosoh!

Li Wuyou summoned his Martial Soul. His pupils blazed with thick flames while his eyes were flawlessly bright like the stars in the sky.

Wang Ning suddenly felt a stinging pain in his eyes, which caused him to reveal his attack flaws. The Vermillion Eyes had heavily restricted his cultivation.

“How is this possible?!” Wang Ning was shocked as he was forced to retreat in a hurry. The four others in the seventh orifice of the Xiantian Realm were also startled. They couldn’t help turning their gazes over to see what happened.

Now! Lin Yun’s eyes surged with killing intent as he took the chance while they were distracted to slaughter the person nearest to him. Without a second thought, he unleashed the Dragon-Tiger Might, allowing his aura to skyrocket. With the Dragon-Tiger Fist backed by the Iris Sword Sutra, Lin Yun merged his sword and fist.

His target subconsciously reacted by raising his arm, which he instantly regretted. The punch wasn’t something that he could handle. He should've retreated immediately after Lin Yun made his move. Alas, it was too late for him to do anything now.

Crack!

His bones were broken by the Dragon-Tiger Fist. He died without even having the opportunity to summon his Martial Soul. After finishing the first enemy, Lin Yun continued to unleash the third form of the Dragon-Tiger Fist—Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger!

The killer move that the monk used in the monastery back then was reproduced by Lin Yun. He didn’t have the Sky Breaking Seal to empower his Dragon-Tiger Fist, but his Iris Sword Sutra could fuse his sword into his fist, something that the Heavenly Profound Sect couldn’t do. His punch was like a dragon bursting out from the surface of the sea, transforming into a furious roar that echoed out into the horizon.

Boom!

At the same time, his target had also reacted and wanted to raise his sword. But before he could even raise his sword, he received Lin Yun’s punch, which blasted a hole in his chest. His eyes were opened wide. Even before his death, he couldn’t figure out how someone in the fifth orifice of the Xiantian Realm could have such power.

“You’re courting death!” The remaining two were furious as they attacked. They brandished the swords in their hands.

“Just in time!” The corner of Lin Yun’s lips rose into a smile. He faced the attacks head-on fearlessly with the Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger move once more. His right fist illustrated the tiger with the dragon on his right. The essence of this move was the accumulation of power in the right fist.

The Iris Flower in his Dantian opened up, causing his right fist to tremble violently, like a tiger that had been trapped for ten years. Ten years of suppressing urgently waiting to break open.

Roar!

A howling roar shook the ground as Lin Yun stomped on the ground and soared into the sky. He unleashed all the power that had accumulated in his right fist. When it was released, the sword aura was instantly crushed. The attacks from both sides weren’t on the same level at all.

Fwhoosh!

Before his punch reached the two, their bodies were covered in wounds. When the punch arrived, they were ripped into pieces.

Lin Yun took a deep breath to calm himself down. Although he couldn’t achieve the ferocity at that monk’s level, he still managed to kill the enemy from some distance away. Then again, it was more than enough to deal with a few seventh orifice cultivators while they were distracted. If he couldn’t, then he would be putting shame on the reputation of the Dragon-Tiger Fist.

He picked up the four jade pendants on the ground. When he raised his head, he noticed that Li Wuyou seemed to be having a hard time fighting Wang Ning. At the beginning, Li Wuyou had relied on his Martial Soul to catch his opponent by surprise. But when Wang Ning also summoned his Martial Soul, the situation was stabilized. The battle fell into a stalemate, which showed the advantage Wang Ning had in his cultivation.

Divine Flicking Sword!

Lin Yun’s face sank as he circulated the spiritual energy within his body. The center of the Iris Flower gave birth to a wisp of boundless sword aura. He flicked his finger, releasing that wisp of violet sword flash.

“Haha! Weren’t you arrogant a moment ago?!” Wang Ning, who was having a kick out of beating up Li Wuyou, was suddenly sent flying by a sword flash.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wang Ning hit the ground, bouncing three times as he clutched onto his chest with blood spewing from his mouth. All four seventh orifice seeded candidates had died in Lin Yun’s hand.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Lin Yun quickly stepped forward to support Li Wuyou, who was struggling to stay on his feet. “Are you alright?”

It was a little too much to have Li Wuyou hold back Wang Ning, who was in the Profound Martial Realm. But if he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to kill those four lackeys.

“Heh, I won’t die. That fellow has just reached the Profound Martial Realm and hasn’t formed his Profound Veins. It would be a different case if I was facing Leng Mo, he isn’t as easy.” Li Wuyou chuckled, casually wiping the bloodstain on the corner of his lips.

Suddenly, Li Wuyou caught onto something with the corner of his eye and pointed up ahead, “He’s trying to run!”

Wang Ning, who managed to get up on his feet, was trying to run, not caring about his injuries.

“Don’t worry about it. He won’t be able to escape. Are you able to keep going?” asked Lin Yun.

“I can still fight, but just barely.” Li Wuyou smiled.

Lin Yun’s eyes flashed coldly, “Let’s chase after him then. Kill him before Leng Mo and the rest catch up to us!”

It was a rare opportunity and Lin Yun didn’t want to let Wang Ning go.