The Imperial Prince’s shadow clone stood steadily beside the main body, its gaze cold and fixed on Lin Yuan, radiating a sharp, murderous intent.
Lin Yuan spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and shouldered the Purple Lightning spear, looking thoroughly annoyed.
“I’ve had it. I’m definitely learning a clone technique later! Fighting two-on-one is bad enough, but using shadows for sneak attacks? That’s just dirty!”
...
Meanwhile, on the main battlefield of Hangzhou, the fires of war reached the heavens.
Meng Hao shattered the skull of a Tier 4 Shadow Abyss Wolf with a single punch. He shook the wolf blood from his hand and stood atop a giant boulder, looking down over the entire battlefield.
“Something’s wrong. This is all wrong.”
Meng Hao’s brow furrowed as he keenly sensed an anomaly.
The Shadow Abyss Wolves surging from the Magic Cave appeared to be attacking everywhere in a frenzy, but their movements weren't random at all. They were following a pattern!
Even when suppressed to the west by the City Defense Army, every time they retreated, they would take a detour and stealthily move back toward the southeast. It was clearly organized and premeditated!
“Old Zhou, immediately pull up the detailed map of Hangzhou’s southeast sector!” Meng Hao barked to his adjutant.
A second later, a holographic map unfolded. His sharp gaze quickly swept across the entire area before finally locking onto the location of the Hexagon Building.
“That’s a safe zone, but it’s definitely not that simple!”
Meng Hao immediately remembered that in the first-floor hall of the Hexagon Building—the Hangzhou trading market—stood a century-old Shadow Abyss Wolf statue!
“The Shadow Abyss Wolves are all gathering there. Something big must be happening inside!”
...
The scene shifted back to the first-floor hall of the Hexagon Building.
The close-quarters struggle between Lin Yuan and the shadow clone reached a turning point in an instant!
With his perfect skeleton from Ten Rounds as One, he met the Tier 2, Level 6 shadow clone head-on. Every clash of fists, feet, and spear sent out heavy shockwaves of energy, shattering the surrounding debris.
The Imperial Prince’s shadow clone unleashed its innate skill—Shadow Devour!
Every time its claws struck Lin Yuan, a surge of shadow energy would erupt, attempting to seep into his wounds and corrode the golden bone patterns covering his body.
However, at this moment, Lin Yuan’s Ten Rounds as One bone patterns had already linked into a complete golden light-net. The moment the shadow energy collided with it, it shattered instantly, unable to invade even an inch!
Lin Yuan slammed a fist into the shadow clone’s face, sending it flying and smashing through a thick support pillar.
The clone quickly reformed its shape, but its speed had visibly slowed down!
Lin Yuan lunged forward with a sharp elbow strike.
“Hah!”
He struck it back into a distorted shadow state, giving it no chance to catch its breath!
He couldn't drag this out any longer; he had to settle this quickly!
Lin Yuan called out to the system in his mind. He currently had a total of 6,150 Ability Points!
It was just enough to upgrade his E-rank lightning ability to D-rank!
“System, upgrade my lightning ability!”
【Consumed 5,000 Ability Points. Lightning ability E-rank → D-rank. Cultivation realm has broken through to Tier 2, Level 1!】
Boom!
Crackle!
Violent lightning suddenly exploded from within Lin Yuan’s body!
It was no longer the pale white lightning tinged with purple from before, but an extremely refined, dazzling, pure silver-white lightning.
The electrical arcs were thicker and more powerful, sweeping through a three-meter radius around him! His aura surged several times over!
At this moment, the Imperial Prince finally turned around. For the first time, a look of gravity appeared in his cold eyes as he truly acknowledged Lin Yuan!
In the next second, the man and the wolf crashed together in a frenzy once more!
The Purple Lightning spear wove through the afterimages of the wolf claws. Lin Yuan unleashed 《Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens, First Form: Awakening of Insects》. After the Imperial Prince dodged, he immediately followed up with the 《Second Form: Thunder Arc》, cutting off all avenues of retreat!
The spear swept past, leaving a charred, bleeding gash on the Imperial Prince’s front leg!
The Imperial Prince was indeed exceptionally talented. He used Shadow Traverse, his body turning into a streak of eerie green light, moving at extreme speeds!
But Lin Yuan instantly saw through his fatal weakness!
He had almost zero combat experience!
Every one of the Imperial Prince’s moves was too standard—they were clearly moves he had practiced in drills, not in life-and-death combat!
Lin Yuan’s guess was correct. In every battle the Imperial Prince had faced in the Magic Cave, his kin had been wary of his Imperial status.
They always held back. From childhood to adulthood, he had never been pushed to the brink, never been wounded, and didn't understand how to endure pain or fight to the death!
Lin Yuan was different. He had survived by fighting his way through mountains of corpses in the wilderness. He was brimming with practical combat experience, and every move he made was lethal and relentless!
Next, a spark of lightning flickered on Lin Yuan’s finger as he fired a Running Thunder Finger, accurately striking the Imperial Prince’s left shoulder.
Hit by the strike, the Imperial Prince stumbled back.
Immediately after, a Thunder Arc swept out, slicing through the tendons of his hind leg.
The Imperial Prince fell to his knees, then struggled frantically to stand back up!
His originally cold and calm golden pupils were completely replaced by disbelief and panic!
He clearly had a higher realm and a more noble bloodline, so why was he being suppressed so thoroughly by this human? He had no power to fight back at all!
Every time his killing moves got close to Lin Yuan, his speed would inexplicably slow down.
Bang!
Lin Yuan swept his spear once more, slamming it into the Imperial Prince’s ribs and sending him flying to crash heavily against the base of the statue!
This strike completely shattered the Imperial Prince’s reason!
He let out a hoarse, frenzied howl and scrambled to his feet in a pathetic state, his limbs flailing against the ground as bloody foam dripped from his mouth.
The Imperial Prince threw himself at Lin Yuan in a desperate, mad pounce!
He was faster than before, but he had no rhythm and no tactics. He was like a drowning man, thrashing wildly and leaving himself full of openings!
Lin Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly. He shifted his body, easily dodging the first claw and raising his spear to block the second!
The impact made his arm go numb, but his feet didn't budge an inch. Instead, the Imperial Prince was sent reeling back by the counterforce!
“You’re too impatient. Your mindset crumbled long ago.”
Lin Yuan held his spear horizontally, the tip pointed directly at the Imperial Prince’s throat. Deep purple lightning pulsed quietly at the tip, his aura sharp to the extreme.
The Imperial Prince lay on the ground, panting heavily. His entire body shook uncontrollably as the madness in his eyes was completely drowned out by a deeper emotion.
Fear!
In all his life, this was the first time he had experienced what it meant to be afraid!
“You were too arrogant and conceited,” Lin Yuan said coldly, his voice clear.
“If those three Shadow Abyss Royals were still here and the four of you had attacked me together, I might not have been able to stop you before my breakthrough.”
“But unfortunately, I am no longer who I was. You are no match for me!”
Lin Yuan took a deep breath, and the lightning at the spear tip condensed instantly!
“Everything should end now!”
Lin Yuan raised his foot and took a step forward...
Suddenly, his vision plunged into pitch-black darkness!
It wasn't a trick of the light or a dizzy spell; every bit of light, sound, and perception was forcibly stripped away!
In an instant, he was thrown into a void of silence and darkness, completely losing all sense of the outside world!
Rate on N.U.
