Chapter 43: Second To None (5)
Chapter 43: Second To None (5)
Hundreds of superior-rate masters fought against Lin Dan. They attacked one by one at first, but when she slashed each of them one after another, they decided to disregard all ethics of an orthodox sect and swarmed up on her.
Lin Dan was finding for a chance to release the death aura within her and these masters came just in time. When they attacked one by one, she slashed them one after another; when they attacked in a group, she would strike using a sword shadow from the raging qi. The sword aura charged at the attackers like thunderstorm before leaving a burnt wound on their flesh. For the others, one slash could only cause a bone-deep wound, but her slashes could mince the flesh of those who were less powerful. Even those who had a strong inner force could not resist the attack of her death aura.
When she put down her sword, many martial artist experts had already retreated behind the line and were badly injured. Some of them had mini-explosions within their bodies and collapsed to the ground before they could even stand up. But nobody had noticed that the sword Lin Dan was carrying was turning from silver to red as it devoured the blood it had collected.
The sword, named Asura Sword, came together with the book of Asura Sword Technique and was also given to Lin Dan by the old sect leader. Since it was a demonic technique, the sword was a demonic weapon, too. The original owner of this body did not notice the ability of this sword as she had never managed to achieve a breakthrough.
Lin Dan held the hilt tightly, but the eyes on her blood-stained face were missing that bloodshot and crazed look after a massacre. She took a step forward but had never gone beyond the line.
The four elders of Lianyun City suddenly jumped down from above and shouted sternly, "How dare you learn such a brutal and vicious technique! If we let you off today, you will definitely create endless trouble for the world in the future! In the name of orthodoxy, we will remove a dangerous person like you from this world!" Before his voice fell, he had already cast a palm wave at her.
Lin Dan blocked the wave and said solemnly, "I have never initiated to take any life. Why do you say that I would create trouble? I've already made myself clear. Nothing will happen if you keep your promise and leave now. Otherwise, you better not blame me for being ruthless.
The four elders of the Lianyun City did not want to waste time talking to her. They scoffed and launched an attack by casting a series of palm waves at her. One of the elders had advanced to the Half-step Grandmaster for many years. He had a more stable and was more experienced than Lin Dan in battles. Soon, he was able to diffuse Lin Dan's aggressive sword aura and landed a series of palm waves on her.
Lin Dan took a few steps backward after being hit and spit out mouthfuls of blood. There was no fear in her eyes as she yelled "very well" and sent them a series of slashes. Although the four elders managed to dodge the attacks, she was relentless.
Facing strong enemies, she would have to spend all her energy fighting against them, but this meant that the death aura had to be doubled. Meanwhile, the life aura within her was circulating in her bones and limbs, taking away all her pain and making her feel comfortable. The internal injuries caused by being hit by the palm waves were nothing compared to the pain of being slashed by a thousand times.
To her surprise, when she used the death aura during fights, her body was filled with life aura at the same time. The sword injuries that were caused previously were quickly healed, leaving no scars on her body. Even if her internal organs were crushed, she realized that she could quickly recover. The more vicious she fought, the faster her injuries recovered.
This meant that if she had completely mastered the Asura Sword Technique, she would become an undying monster.
Lin Dan was not wavered by the shocking discovery and it only made her braver and more fearless. For several times, she was hit by the elders' palm waves and crashed into the ground, creating a deep pit, but she was able to get up immediately to launch another attack. Within a short while, several large pits were created in the ground by her body, but the sword aura she had released got more ferocious and stronger each time.
Initially, the four elders could still fight head-on against her with ease, but they soon realized that they needed to dodge her attacks. Before long, they were getting slashed by her sword and were covered in blood. Ever since they were promoted to Half-step Grandmasters, it had been long since they had suffered from any injury or had been pushed into a corner by anyone. They realized that Lin Dan was a berserker whose powers would be multiplied by many times during battles.
This meant that they were merely being Lin Dan's whetstone. If the fight continued, they would gain nothing but help Lin Dan achieve another breakthrough. Even though the four elders were top martial artists in the land of the Eastern Tang and had seen martial experts of all sorts, they believed that the young and nameless demoness was the toughest opponent they had encountered so far. They were showing signs of defeat. Their inner force was depleting, and they probably could not last for another hour. As for Lin Dan, she got stronger as she fought, and her pale face was now flushed with healthy pink. Her dark eyes were glistening, and she could probably continue for another three days and three nights.
Her inner force was obviously much stronger than the four elders as if the battle they had before was just a warm-up. At first sight, her breath was still unstable as she had just advanced to a new level. But now, her breath was in harmony and her attacks were so powerful that even the four elders, who were peerless martial experts, were forced to back down.
Seeing that Lin Dan was about to cast a vicious sword shadow to finish them off, the four elders quickly sent a palm wave to reduce the impact before retreating with the help of the wind. Coincidentally, they retreated behind the line. Lin Dan was ready to cast a deadly strike, but looking at the situation, she prepared an even more brutal strike that was faster and stronger. The attack landed on the boulders beside the elders and split the high rock wall into half before creating a large cave.
The scattered rocks would not cause any damage to the martial experts, but the others had to quickly dodge the falling rocks. The four elders had to take a few feet back with shocking and surprised faces. They knew that Lin Dan was perfectly capable of killing them. Her initial sword attack was aiming at their necks and it was impossible for them to dodge it since they were having difficulty standing up straight. If Lin Dan had not changed her attack, they probably would lose their heads and lives in an instant.
"Why did you let us off?" A defeat was a defeat. Upon reaching such a high level, there was no way the elders could advance further if they could not even concede defeat, which was common in the martial arts world. But the elder wanted to know why Lin Dan would let themselves off at the crucial moment. He was one of the few Half-step Grandmasters in the land of the Eastern Tang and also one of the four elders of the prestigious Lianyun City. If Lin Dan had killed him, she could make her name in an instant and become a world-famous martial artist. Since the Eastern Holy Sect had been expanding their power rapidly in recent years, was this not what they wanted? It was natural for sects to want to dominate a region and for martial artists to gain recognition in the world.
Lin Dan did not understand what the elders were thinking at all. She slowly walked to the line and brandished her sword. "Anyone who crosses this line will be killed with no mercy," she repeated. "No mercy," she said but she had been sparing peoples lives, this made the four elders unable to comprehend her true intentions.
Lin Dan's intention was simple the same rules did not only apply to the others but herself as well. If she had crossed that boundary, she would kill herself even before these so-called people of orthodoxy did so. She would rather be a living dead or live in loneliness than living a life of senselessness or madness. Was there any purpose of living if she could not even decide for her own life?
The four elders glanced at the line she had earlier drawn and understood why they had escaped from death. Lin Dan stayed true to her words. She would spare the lives of those who retreated behind the line and was even more trustworthy than the members of the orthodox sects.
The four elders felt extremely embarrassed at the thought. They looked up and glanced towards the crowd. Seeing that Bai Yan who was hiding in the crowd nodded his head lightly, the elder cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for sparing our lives, please forgive us for what happened today." He waved his sleeves and walked away.
Since Lin Dan was able to defeat the four elders and even injured them to the point of spitting blood, she was naturally as powerful as a Half-step Grandmaster. The remaining members of the orthodox sect quickly left the scene as they knew they had no chance against her even with all of their powers combined.
The Eastern Holy Sect used to sit proudly on top of the highest mountain. But now, half of its gate was destroyed and there were body parts lying everywhere on the ground. Blood covered the entire ground that there was no clean space for one to walk. Lin Dan inserted her sword into the pool of blood and let it devour, while she sat cross-legged and began her cultivation.
As the death aura returned and was having a fierce struggle with her life aura, that familiar pain began to wreak havoc in Lin Dan's body, tearing her flesh and meridians but also healing it bit by bit. The process was excruciating but she did not even frown. The pink flush on her face slowly went away and it was as pale as snow again.
The members of the Eastern Holy Sect dared not disturb her and quietly cleaned up the mess.
He Yufei was standing somewhere far away with a mixed expression. She was hesitating whether she should step forward or not. She betrayed Lin Dan and even took the life of her loved one. She wondered how Lin Dan would take revenge on her.
Before this, He Yufei had never thought Lin Dan would become this powerful. Now that she was a Half-step Grandmaster and was only a level below the Grandmaster, with just a wave of her hand, she could easily re-establish the Eastern Holy Sect and gain the world's recognition like the Qingcheng Clan or Heavenly Sword Sect. If Lin Dan would not let this pass, He Yufei probably could only lead a life of a fugitive to escape from her pursuit.
"Master, let's go before she recovers." As compared to her own safety, He Yufei was more worried that Lin Dan would lock Bai Yan up again.
"Let's wait a while more." Bai Yan walked slowly towards Lin Dan who was sitting in a pool of blood. Before he could get close to her, she opened her eyes and said emotionlessly, "You wanted to kill me." She did not forget that before killing He Chongling, someone wanted to assassinate her with a hidden yet powerful aura. And Bai Yan who was standing right in that direction was the greatest suspect.
THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM