Chapter Ninety-Three: Turn the Tables, Leave No One Alive

Lin Qingyun paid no mind to what was happening on Zhou Wanlong’s side. So long as Zhou Wanlong did not come after him, he would ignore him for the moment.

Clearly, none of these people could force him to reveal too many of his hidden cards.

Making a wide detour, Lin Qingyun hurried straight for the outside.

Once they left the forest where the demon monkeys were gathered, the threat from the monkey pack weakened considerably. Besides, some of the demon monkeys were unwilling to charge out in pursuit. After all, this pack had never produced a true monkey king at the Cloud Ascension Realm.

Under these circumstances, although some demon monkeys gave chase after Zhou Wanhu and the others broke through, they only pursued for three or four li before daring no more.

Even now, Zhou Wanhu’s group had been reduced to seven at the ninth level of the Heart-Core Realm and three at the eighth, all of them wounded all over. Yet it was still no easy matter to kill them.

By this point, Zhou Wanhu and the others were nearly exhausted, each of them bearing injuries.

After all the turmoil earlier, they had suffered catastrophic losses when they charged out again. With their main force missing those few key men, most of the rest had died miserably.

More than a hundred people had come out to hunt one man, and in the end only ten were left.

Perhaps, counting Zhou Wanlong, who had never been seen since, there were eleven.

No one spoke. All of them stared at the woods in the distance, hearts still pounding with lingering fear.

“Ah...”

At that moment, two men suddenly widened their eyes, their gazes instantly dimming as their life force rapidly faded away.

“What is it? Be careful...”

The moment those around them finally relaxed, some taking pills and others sighing in relief, panic exploded through the group. Two deputy captains had been killed without a sound.

Thud. Thud.

From the ground in the direction where two men were retreating, two streaks of sword light suddenly shot up and pierced them clean through.

“Careful, it’s that damned bastard! Boom...”

Zhou Wanhu roared and smashed a fist into the ground.

The others, even with only scraps of strength left, dared not remain on the ground. They each controlled their artifacts and rose into the air. As long as they did not fly too high, they did not need to fear birds of prey; on the contrary, staying on the ground made them easy targets.

The instant they rose skyward, four flying swords struck toward four of them at once. But a figure also shot up directly, closing in on one of the eighth-level Heart-Core cultivators at point-blank range.

Boom!

That man tried to block, but he was far too slow. He saw the figure, yet could not react in time. A fist punched straight through his chest.

In the next instant, Lin Qingyun rode an artifact and flew toward another man.

The several people who hurriedly blocked the flying swords soon discovered that the sword attacks were not very powerful. After all, Lin Qingyun was dividing his attention among many tasks, so the flying swords were not as fearsome as imagined. But right now, they were all airborne on their artifacts, and Lin Qingyun was too. He advanced in close combat while flying.

This was precisely the weakness of the Heart-Core Realm when compared to the Cloud Ascension Realm. They could fly on artifacts, yes, but once doing so, it became very difficult to control other weapons for attack.

Ordinary spell techniques were of limited effect, and with their grave injuries, even using artifacts to evade Lin Qingyun’s pursuit was difficult.

Had this been on the ground, with them erupting at full strength, driving their weapons with all they had and even joining hands to resist, it would not have been so easy for Lin Qingyun to close in and kill them. In midair, the shortcomings of Heart-Core flight became all the more obvious.

Of course, that flaw was not nearly as severe for Lin Qingyun. His spiritual sense was formidable, his true energy inexhaustible, and he could simultaneously manipulate several top-grade artifacts before diving in close with the immense power of his half-golden body.

These men had just forced their way out, expending enormous strength and sustaining no light injuries.

In a moment of safety, they had also been at their most relaxed, never expecting Lin Qingyun to catch them so completely off guard. At this point, being able to recover even sixty or seventy percent of their normal combat strength would have been impressive.

As for Lin Qingyun, he still retained more than ninety percent of his strength. If not for the fact that the injuries inflicted by Zhou Wanlong had not fully healed, the demon monkeys had barely harmed him at all.

Because of Lin Qingyun’s ambush from underground, these men chose to take to the air on their artifacts, and that decision stripped away their last shred of resistance.

In the blink of an eye, anyone Lin Qingyun reached in close combat was swiftly smashed to death.

“Kill!”

Zhou Wanhu’s eyes were bloodshot. He was also a ferocious man who had killed countless times, and at this moment he did not flee. Instead, he erupted with all his might and charged at Lin Qingyun.

But Lin Qingyun had no intention of meeting him head-on. He let the other man burn through his power in a violent burst while Lin Qingyun continued to hunt down the remaining few.

By the time someone noticed something was wrong and realized they could not possibly keep fighting, it was already too late.

When Lin Qingyun severed one head and turned back to look at Zhou Wanhu, Zhou Wanhu had already bitten his teeth nearly to pieces, staring at him with blood-red eyes.

“Who exactly are you? You’re far too vicious...” Zhou Wanhu glared at Lin Qingyun with ferocity.

At this point, he was already circulating a secret art. Once activated, his strength would reach its peak, even surpassing his normal strongest state.

But if he did that, he would forever lose any chance of breaking through to the Cloud Ascension Realm.

Yet he was a seasoned fighter and knew full well that under normal circumstances, he was absolutely no match for this man. He also understood that there was no retreat left. He had never even considered running. All he could do now was stake everything on one desperate gamble.

“Listen to yourself. You came to encircle and kill me, and now you have the nerve to say that? That’s like a rapist asking why the victim is still struggling. How shameless do you have to be to say something like that?”

“Turning around and fighting back against an enemy is somehow called vicious? It’s amazing you can even say it out loud. Why don’t you first think about how useless you are? You brought more than a hundred people to hunt me, and now there’s only you left.”

“Everyone else is dead, and you’re the only one still standing, so now you want to play the victim and pretend to be weak, is that it? Why don’t you kneel and beg? Maybe I’ll see if there’s even a one-in-ten-million chance I let you off.”

Lin Qingyun had actually been in a weakened state after that earlier burst. Even using liquefied spiritual energy to restore himself was already a little too late. That earlier all-out killing spree was no joke; he had employed far more means than just a little.

Of course, his weakness was only relative. Seeing that the other man had not erupted at once, Lin Qingyun took the opportunity to recover a bit more.

In terms of words, Lin Qingyun had no habit of indulging his opponent. In just a few sentences, he had driven Zhou Wanhu beyond the point of restraint.

“Kill!”

Like a fierce tiger, Zhou Wanhu pounced directly at Lin Qingyun.

In an instant, hundreds of punches exploded forth, the fist-force enveloping Lin Qingyun completely, its might even more terrifying than that of the raging monkey king.

Boom. Boom.

Even the protective shield activated by Lin Qingyun was shaken apart under the relentless pounding.

“I’ll play with you.”

In real combat, Lin Qingyun used every possible means.

After all, this was not a school sparring match bound by rules. Otherwise, he would never have been able to toy with the entire Sky-Tiger Demon-Hunting Squad, luring them into the monkey pack and counter-killing them after they came to surround him.

But now the situation was already decided, and with Zhou Wanlong still not out of the forest, this fellow’s boxing did have some merit, and that suit of leather armor was not bad either.

Lin Qingyun had previously tested his speed against swift monsters and his strength against brute monsters; now he intended to compare his close-range boxing with Zhou Wanhu as well.

He dropped his shield and immediately met him blow for blow.

He switched repeatedly among Heart-Core Realm close-combat boxing methods, focusing mainly on protecting his head. The rest did not concern him much.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Even when fists landed on his chest, with the Cloud Ascension inner armor beneath, less than a tenth of the force could penetrate through it, utterly unable to break Lin Qingyun’s defense.

Even in a head-on exchange, the toughness of Lin Qingyun’s body was not much weaker than the other man’s life-and-death explosion of power.

“Damn it, Cloud Ascension beast inner armor, is it?”

As they traded blows, Zhou Wanhu’s internal organs shook and his body ached. He also realized that Lin Qingyun was wearing inner armor made from a Cloud Ascension beast.

After all, when he had pursued Lin Qingyun earlier, he would already have succeeded if not for that armor.

Zhou Wanhu began attacking Lin Qingyun’s head. But doing so restricted himself, while making Lin Qingyun’s defense even easier.

By now Zhou Wanhu had surpassed the average ninth-level Heart-Core cultivator and was infinitely close to the Cloud Ascension Realm, at least in terms of physical strength and raw force. It was just that in the use of power, in spell techniques, and in other respects, he still could not compare with a true Cloud Ascension expert.

As they clashed, Zhou Wanhu’s heart grew more and more unsettled.

He did have some advantage and had landed several blows on Lin Qingyun’s head, but the injuries the other man suffered were not nearly as severe as he had imagined. Without relying on Cloud Ascension inner armor, Lin Qingyun’s bodily strength alone was actually enough to withstand his strikes, at least enough to avoid serious injury.

That was terrifying. This fellow’s body was already very close to Cloud Ascension level.

Most frightening of all, his boxing changed constantly, and his close-combat experience was monstrously rich. At first, Zhou Wanhu could still land a couple of hits, but little by little he was being suppressed.

What was even more terrifying was that the other man only became stronger as the fight went on. Zhou Wanhu’s secret art had driven him to his peak, but after sustaining that state for only a few minutes, it had already begun to decline.

Now things were becoming troublesome. As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, Zhou Wanhu was already being beaten down by Lin Qingyun.

His injuries worsened and worsened. The other man’s penetrating boxing, drilling force, and explosive power were all used in turn, causing flesh and blood to burst apart even through his defenses.

Several blows to the head left him even more seriously wounded.

He wanted to run, but it was already difficult to escape.

It was over.

Zhou Wanhu had never imagined it would end like this. He was already at the end of the road.

“Wanhu...”

At that moment, in the air about a thousand meters away, in a direction beyond the forest’s outer edge, Zhou Wanlong, who had just forced his way out while still being attacked by several demon birds, let out a long howl.

He had only just broken out as well, and his body was covered in wounds. Although he had left the forest, and though several demon birds were still attacking and harassing him, they were no longer enough to suppress his movements.

“Big brother, save me... Hahaha, you’re dead for sure!”

Zhou Wanhu, who had already despaired, was instantly overjoyed. He had thought he was bound to die, only to find life at the edge of the cliff. His elder brother had actually fought his way out at this moment. Now he had nothing to fear. Instead, he only needed to keep this brat entangled; the brat would not be able to escape either.

Whoosh.

Although the other man’s strength was declining, he was still no ordinary ninth-level Heart-Core cultivator, and Lin Qingyun could not kill him instantly. Because of that, Zhou Wanhu instead continued erupting with power to tangle Lin Qingyun in place.

Right then, a flying sword, coordinated with Lin Qingyun’s attack, thrust straight toward Zhou Wanhu.

“Hahaha...”

Zhou Wanhu shrank his head back like a turtle, suffering only a slight scrape to the scalp before his entire body suddenly tightened like a tiger’s, even his head retreating into that suit of leather armor.

By fighting around Lin Qingyun like this, even if Lin Qingyun used flying swords, he would find it difficult to kill Zhou Wanhu in a short time, much less break free from his entanglement quickly.

While they were locked together, Zhou Wanlong had already flown close.