Chapter 87: Courting Death

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Courting Death

Yin Mo Li’s expression had been impassive, but upon hearing Chen Yue’s words, a hint of surprise flashed in his cold eyes as he sized up the young man once more.

’A young man with the aura of a Refining Flesh Realm practitioner at most? Facing such a desperate situation, not only is he not flustered, he’s exceptionally calm?’

’This person is strange.’

The Alchemy Ghost paid no mind to Yin Mo Li’s thoughts. Its greedy gaze swept back and forth between Chen Yue and Lin Quan, as if comparing which piece of meat was more delectable. It then turned its head and spoke to Yin Mo Li in its hoarse, eerie voice:

"I want to eat these two Alchemy Masters! Their flesh, blood, and Spirituality will be incredibly nourishing! As for the other two, you can do with them as you please!"

Yin Mo Li’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly. He seemed displeased with the Alchemy Ghost’s imperious tone, but he didn’t object. He simply nodded and said:

"Fine. But this kid is a bit strange. I’ll handle him. Xu Zhang, you deal with the others. Be quick."

"Yes, Elder Yin!"

Xu Zhang acknowledged the order and shot into motion. The Water-Splitting Needle in his hand traced two streaks of eerie blue light, aimed straight for Shen Dujiang at the front.

At the same time, the Half-Headed Ghost and the Headless Ghost, which had been loitering nearby, were drawn by the scent of blood from Xu Zhang’s attack. They let out a screech and lunged, one after the other, toward the weaker Hu Shaoyu on the other side.

Chen Yue’s gaze had been fixed on the strongest opponent, Yin Mo Li, from the very beginning. Yet, in the instant Xu Zhang sprang into action and the two ghosts pounced, Chen Yue’s figure vanished without a trace.

The next instant, he appeared directly in Xu Zhang’s path toward Shen Dujiang, as if he had been waiting there all along.

"Protect Master Lin!" Chen Yue’s voice rang in Shen Dujiang’s ears.

Shen Dujiang’s eyes flickered to the two ghosts pouncing on Hu Shaoyu, then to the menacing Alchemy Ghost and Yin Mo Li in the distance. Gritting his teeth, he quickly fell back to stand protectively in front of the terrified Lin Quan.

Now, all their hopes for survival rested on Chen Yue.

Xu Zhang was just about to reach Shen Dujiang when his vision blurred. The young man Elder Yin had targeted had suddenly appeared, blocking his way.

A flicker of astonishment crossed Xu Zhang’s eyes. He immediately adjusted his footwork, preparing to bypass Chen Yue and continue his pursuit of Shen Dujiang.

Meanwhile, Yin Mo Li watched as Chen Yue completely ignored him—a Marrow Refining Realm expert—to intercept Xu Zhang instead. The last trace of surprise on his face vanished, replaced by a cold, simmering rage.

In his eyes, Chen Yue’s move was the ultimate sign of disrespect.

"Courting death!"

Yin Mo Li snorted. He burst into motion, leaving a faint afterimage in his wake. A longsword, gleaming with an eerie blue light, had appeared in his hand.

The sword flashed, carrying a bone-chilling cold and a peerless Sword Intent as it thrust straight for Chen Yue’s unprotected face.

"Don’t kill him!"

The Alchemy Ghost shrieked at the sight. "The taste changes if he’s dead! I want him alive! Severely injured, at most!"

Yin Mo Li’s brow furrowed, a flash of impatience in his eyes. But he seemed wary of the Alchemy Ghost’s demand, and his wrist gave an almost imperceptible flick.

At the last second, the originally fatal strike deviated slightly, the tip of the sword now aiming for Chen Yue’s right shoulder blade.

Chen Yue glanced at Yin Mo Li before moving again, once more appearing in front of Xu Zhang.

Xu Zhang saw Chen Yue blocking his path yet again. They were now less than five feet apart, while Yin Mo Li’s deadly sword was still ten feet away.

Xu Zhang was both furious and alarmed, knowing it was now too late to get past Chen Yue and attack Shen Dujiang.

A wave of humiliation, mixed with killing intent, flooded his mind. He was being looked down on, treated like a pushover.

"Brat, you’re courting death!"

Ferocity flared in Xu Zhang’s eyes. His momentum didn’t slow but instead accelerated. With a sharp ring, the long saber at his waist left its sheath, unleashing a flash of cold light.

He no longer attempted to change direction, instead pouring all of his strength into this one slash.

Nujiang Saber Technique!

This was a fierce and powerful Saber Technique at the Refining Organ Realm level. Xu Zhang had trained bitterly in it for years and had only reached Minor Success, but its power already far surpassed ordinary Bone Forging Realm Martial Arts.

Before the blade even arrived, a Saber Intent like raging waves crashing against the shore surged forth. The wind from the slash howled, creating the phantom roar of a great river, as if an invisible, furious river was crashing down with the momentum of the saber.

Faced with this slash, Chen Yue’s expression remained placid. He didn’t even glance at Yin Mo Li’s eerie blue sword tip. His entire Heart Spirit seemed locked onto Xu Zhang and the furious blade descending upon him.

Chen Yue took a half-step back with his left foot, slightly lowering his stance as his right hand gripped the hilt of the unadorned long saber from the Chen Mansion armory.

The saber had not yet left its sheath, but an aura as solid as a mountain had already coalesced around him.

In the instant that the sharp Saber Qi from Xu Zhang’s Nujiang Saber sliced through the hair on Chen Yue’s forehead, a clear cry like a dragon’s roar tore through the dim alley.

The blade moved upward, a rising slash against the downward momentum. It traced a cold arc through the air—it was the Reverse Flow Slash of the Furious Wave Saber Technique.

Though launched second, it arrived first!

CLANG!

The two sabers collided with a deafening crash. Sparks exploded between the blades like fireworks, blindingly bright.

Xu Zhang felt an irresistible, terrifying force mixed with an incredibly sharp, penetrating power surge from his opponent’s blade.

His Nujiang Saber, which he was confident could split an anvil, felt as if it had struck an iron mountain the moment it made contact with the other long saber.

His opponent’s Saber Force was unbelievably condensed, and it forcibly tore the Nujiang-intent within his own Saber Momentum clean in two.

CRACK! SPLURT!

First came the crisp sound of a shattering blade. The thick-backed long saber in Xu Zhang’s hand, forged from highly refined steel, had been snapped in two by Chen Yue’s upward slash. The broken half went spinning into the air.

This was followed by the sickening thud of flesh being torn and bone being severed!

After shattering the other weapon, Chen Yue’s long saber lost almost no momentum as it continued its arc, slicing through Xu Zhang’s right arm, which he couldn’t pull back in time from his all-out downward strike!

"Aaargh!"

Xu Zhang let out a bloodcurdling scream that barely sounded human. His entire right arm, still clutching the broken hilt of his saber, was severed at the shoulder and sent flying high into the air.

A great spray of warm blood drew a ghastly arc through the air before landing with a SPLAT on the stone ground several feet away, its fingers still twitching from reflexive nerve spasms.

If not for the instincts Xu Zhang had honed over years of life-and-death battles, he would have been dead. At the last second, he had desperately thrown his body backward. At the same time, the force-dispersing techniques of the Nujiang Saber Technique had subconsciously activated, neutralizing part of the impact.

Otherwise, Chen Yue’s saber wouldn’t have just taken his arm—it would have sliced his head clean off.

Xu Zhang clutched the spurting stump of his right shoulder, his face completely drained of color. His eyes were filled with boundless terror, pain, and disbelief as he staggered backward frantically.

At that moment, the Bone Forging Realm aura emanating from Chen Yue was no longer concealed in the slightest. It was vast and dense.

’And yet, we’re both in the Bone Forging Realm, and he severed my arm and shattered my weapon in a single strike?’

’The disparity in our strength was enough to drive him to despair!’

Behind them, the expression on the cold-faced Yin Mo Li also changed abruptly.

It wasn’t because Chen Yue had revealed his Bone Forging Realm Cultivation. It was because that single slash had displayed a terrifying combat prowess that far exceeded an ordinary Bone Forging practitioner, one that might not even lose to some in the Marrow Refining Realm.

’My earlier intuition was right. This kid really is strange!’

’But how could someone with such martial prowess possibly be the Alchemy Master the Alchemy Ghost is so fixated on?’

’Aren’t Alchemy Masters supposed to be focused on controlling fire and understanding medicinal properties?’

In a flash, a rumor he’d heard within the cult a few days prior surfaced in Yin Mo Li’s mind: Youquan Prefecture had apparently suffered a major setback in Youlin County.

’The exact extent of their losses wasn’t clear, only that it was related to a mysterious Alchemy Master from the Youlin County black market... Could it be? Is this ridiculously powerful young man the mysterious Alchemy Master who caused Youquan Prefecture’s downfall?’

Countless thoughts flooded his mind in an instant, but the sword in Yin Mo Li’s hand didn’t pause for a second.

’Since this brat is so dangerous, I absolutely cannot let him live! Who cares if the Alchemy Ghost wants him alive? I can’t worry about that now!’

Killing intent blazed in Yin Mo Li’s eyes. The tip of his longsword, which had been diverted toward Chen Yue’s shoulder, quivered and re-locked onto the center of Chen Yue’s brow.

He held nothing back with this strike. The profound Power of the Marrow Refining Realm surged into the blade, accelerating its speed even further. The eerie blue sword light tore through the air with a demonic shriek, aimed to pierce straight through Chen Yue’s skull.

Yet, Chen Yue neither dodged nor evaded the fatal, shrieking sword. His gaze remained locked on the terrified Xu Zhang, who was still retreating.

He executed the exquisite footwork of the Vertical Cloud Thousand Layer Step, his body shifting like a phantom to appear directly in front of the staggering Xu Zhang.

They were so close they were almost face-to-face.

Chen Yue’s body completely blocked the path of Yin Mo Li’s thrust, obscuring his line of sight.

Xu Zhang’s mind was reeling from the excruciating pain of his severed arm and sheer terror. When he suddenly saw Chen Yue’s calm face rapidly fill his vision, his eyes widened involuntarily.

Out of instinct, his good left hand shot up to protect the vital points on his chest.

THUD!

Chen Yue dropped his shoulder, turned his body, and used his shoulder like a hammer, slamming it viciously into Xu Zhang’s hastily raised left arm and the wide-open chest behind it!

CRACK!

The bones in Xu Zhang’s left arm shattered first, and it fell limply to his side. Immediately after, Chen Yue’s shoulder struck his chest like a massive siege hammer.

Gah!

Xu Zhang’s eyes bulged. He violently spewed a mouthful of blood mixed with chunks of his internal organs as his chest caved in at a visible rate.

The immense force of the blow lifted him off his feet, sending him flying backward toward Yin Mo Li.

Yin Mo Li saw Xu Zhang flying toward him, spewing blood. He subconsciously reached out to catch him but immediately felt the terrifying residual force of the impact still carried by Xu Zhang’s body. His expression changed slightly.

Not daring to take the hit directly, he pushed off lightly with his feet, his body drifting back several feet like a willow seed in the wind, easily evading the body.

THUMP!

Xu Zhang’s body slammed heavily onto the ground not far from Yin Mo Li’s feet, rolled twice, and then came to a stop.

Xu Zhang’s life had been extinguished while he was still in mid-air.

His sternum was completely shattered and his internal organs were scrambled. The immense Power contained in Chen Yue’s vicious and domineering shoulder strike had penetrated his body and already blasted his heart to pieces.

This Bone Forging Realm expert from the Divine Flame Cult lay with his eyes wide open, filled with indignation and terror, utterly lifeless.