Chapter 50: You Can’t Stop This

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: You Can’t Stop This

The man wore plain, close-fitting gray attire and carried a sheathed longsword.

He walked slowly, his steps silent, but with each one, a sharp, sword-like aura pressed closer.

Bone Forging Realm!

And he was nothing like Li Lie, who had just entered the realm. The density of his aura marked him as a true expert, long steeped in the Bone Forging Realm.

Cheng Ziqian’s gaze lingered on Shen Dujiang’s face for an instant. The corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smirks, and his voice was hoarse and grating when he spoke:

"Shen Dujiang... Everyone in the black market says you’re as slippery as an eel, a master of self-preservation. I never thought I’d see you have a rare moment of loyalty. You can barely save your own skin, yet you ran all the way back just to give a warning?"

Shen Dujiang’s face was livid, the veins on the hand gripping his dagger bulging. He turned his head and growled at Chen Yue, "Go! Run deep into the alleys to the west! The terrain is complex over there. I’ll hold him off for a bit!"

The main reason Shen Dujiang had run back was that he couldn’t afford to lose this stable supply of Bone Marrow Cleansing Pills.

This Elixir wasn’t just about money. More critically, its effects—Marrow Cleansing and Bone Forging, and Strengthening the Foundation and Nourishing the Essence—helped alleviate his chronic internal injuries.

Chen Yue’s gaze swept over Cheng Ziqian, then darted to the deep shadows on both sides of the alley. He shook his head. "You can’t hold him off."

Shen Dujiang choked on his words, about to retort, when he caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. In the shadows of another intersecting alley, not far behind and to the side of Cheng Ziqian, a second figure slowly emerged.

This man was dressed in dark, close-fitting attire and also carried a longsword. He was slightly taller than Cheng Ziqian, and his aura was as heavy and solid as a mountain—shockingly, he was Cheng Ziqian’s equal.

Shen Dujiang couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath, and the words on the tip of his tongue twisted into something else entirely:

"Damn it, there’s another one! Can you figure out a way to lure one of them away? Otherwise, you might not die, but you’ll be locked up and forced to perform Alchemy for the rest of your life!"

"If I turn and run, I can draw one away," Chen Yue said in a low voice.

"Good!" Shen Dujiang’s eyes flickered, and he nodded.

As the two conversed in hushed tones, the newcomer, Yuan Tiansu, had already come to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Cheng Ziqian. Yuan Tiansu’s gaze swept over the battle-ready Shen Dujiang before landing on the masked Chen Yue.

"A half-dead old geezer and a shady Pill Master hiding his face. You couldn’t even handle a scene this small? You really had to trouble me to make the trip?"

Cheng Ziqian’s expression was unchanged. "That old geezer must have been quite a figure back in the day, but he seems to be injured now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have shaken me off so easily. As for this Pill Master...

Shen Dujiang lured me away, and I just got back. I’m afraid those three pieces of trash inside are already done for."

"Oh?"

Yuan Tiansu’s eyes flashed with surprise, and his gaze on Chen Yue grew more appraising. "To be able to silently take out three skilled men... It seems this alchemist is no pushover. I underestimated him."

Even as they spoke, the two men never stopped advancing. Their auras remained firmly locked onto Chen Yue and Shen Dujiang, like a great net slowly drawing closed as they moved in, step by step.

In a matter of breaths, the distance between them had shrunk to less than ten zhang.

Sweat beaded on Shen Dujiang’s forehead. He knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He grit his teeth and let out a bellow. "Attack!"

Before the word had even left his lips, he shot forward like an arrow from a bow, lunging at Cheng Ziqian. His dagger drew a cold arc of light as it slashed straight for Cheng Ziqian’s throat.

"Courting death!" A chill entered Cheng Ziqian’s eyes.

He had no desire to waste time on Shen Dujiang, but the force behind the attack was considerable. He couldn’t just ignore it—getting tripped up by an opponent like this would be humiliating.

With a flick of his wrist, his longsword shot out like a striking viper. Though he moved second, his blade would strike first. It darted toward Shen Dujiang’s dagger, its Sword Momentum pulsing with several follow-up attacks meant to completely envelop him.

Seeing this, Yuan Tiansu’s first instinct was to join Cheng Ziqian, finish off Shen Dujiang with overwhelming force, and then capture the Pill Master together.

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw that at the very instant Shen Dujiang lunged, the masked Pill Master was already drifting backward.

"Trying to run?"

Yuan Tiansu snorted coldly. Pushing off with his feet, his figure blurred into a streak of green smoke as he shot after the fleeing Chen Yue.

’Tonight’s target is the Pill Master who can refine the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill. He absolutely cannot be allowed to escape.’

Chen Yue weaved through the alleyways. Moments later, he dashed into a dead end, came to an abrupt halt, and slowly turned around.

Almost at the exact moment he stopped, Yuan Tiansu’s figure appeared at the mouth of the alley, blocking the only way out.

He stood with his sword in hand, looking at Chen Yue, who had stopped fleeing. He raised an eyebrow. "Realize you can’t get away? So you’ve given up the struggle?"

Chen Yue didn’t answer his question. Instead, his voice coming from behind the mask, he asked one of his own:

"Youlin County already has the Divine Flame Cult stirring up trouble. Who are you people? Piling in here as well? Don’t tell me this tiny little county is really hiding some incredible treasure that’s got every faction trying to get their hands on it?"

At these words, a sharp glint flashed in Yuan Tiansu’s eyes. He sized Chen Yue up from head to toe, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"You’ve actually heard of the Divine Flame Cult? I guess you’re not a complete fool who only knows Alchemy.

If you really want to know the answer, it’s simple: come with me quietly. We mean you no harm; we just want to ask for your help refining some Elixirs. With your Alchemy Skill, your future will be far grander if you come with us!"

"Alchemy?"

Chen Yue’s voice was flat. "I’m not the only one in Youlin County who can perform Alchemy. You ignore all those famous Pill Masters and instead go to such great lengths to ’invite’ me from the black market. You flatter me too much."

Yuan Tiansu’s brow furrowed, impatience showing in his eyes. "I already told you. Come with us, and you’ll understand the reason. Don’t worry, as long as you cooperate, you will be well-rewarded!"

Before he even finished speaking, a cold light flared in Yuan Tiansu’s eyes. He stomped a foot down, cracking the flagstones beneath it. His body erupted forward, his longsword letting out a piercing shriek as it became a streak of light aimed straight at Chen Yue’s right shoulder.

His intention was clear: to take him alive!

The strike perfectly showcased the speed, power, and exquisite Swordsmanship of a Bone Forging Realm Martial Artist. Before the blade even arrived, the sharp Sword Qi alone made the skin on Chen Yue’s shoulder prickle and tighten.

Pivoting on his left foot, Chen Yue angled his body slightly. Protective Gang Qi instantly condensed on his left palm as he struck out, slapping it toward the incoming blade.

He was going to meet a sharp blade with his bare palm!

"Hm?"

Yuan Tiansu’s brow furrowed sharply. ’In a fight between Martial Artists, who would dare to meet a blade with their bare flesh unless there was a massive disparity in strength, or they possessed Divine Armor and Weapons?’

’Unless... the opponent was absolutely certain his palm would not be harmed.’

In a flash, Yuan Tiansu chose the safest option. With an almost imperceptible flick of his wrist, the sword tip aimed at Chen Yue’s right shoulder traced a barely visible arc through the air.

At the last possible second, he evaded Chen Yue’s palm strike. The blade quivered, then changed course to stab toward Chen Yue’s right chest.

This change of attack was fluid and natural, a testament to his profound mastery of Swordsmanship.

However, in the very instant Yuan Tiansu executed this "safe" maneuver, Chen Yue slammed his right foot down behind him.

BANG!

The flagstone under his foot shattered on impact. Using an explosive advance from his Vertical Cloud Thousand Layer Step, a technique like Shrinking Inches, he instantly closed the already miniscule distance between them.

Yuan Tiansu’s swordsmanship was certainly exquisite, and his impromptu adjustment had been more than swift enough, but that subtle change had still cost him a fraction of a second.

And in that sliver of time, Chen Yue had brazenly closed in.

Yuan Tiansu’s pupils shrank. Alarm bells screamed in his mind. He had never expected that his cautious maneuver would be so decisively exploited by his opponent—that it would become his own undoing.

As Chen Yue’s figure grew rapidly in his vision, a vicious light flashed in Yuan Tiansu’s eyes. Tapping his feet lightly, he floated backward like a willow catkin. At the same time, his longsword’s momentum never faltered. With a flick of his wrist, the blade whipped toward Chen Yue’s neck like a viper’s tail.

’Get any closer and I’ll kill you!’