Chapter Seventy-Three: The Dragon Roams the Plains

Chapter Seventy-Three: Li Hao’s Epiphany—The First Move of Sweeping Through Armies: Dragon Roaming the Plains

The two youths, seeing the unstoppable momentum of Zhen Ba’s twin blades, dared not meet force with force. In an instant, they executed their footwork at full speed and retreated. As they withdrew, they continuously gathered the laws of heaven and earth into their swords, barely managing to withstand Zhen Ba’s overwhelming strike.

By now, a quarter of an hour had passed since the battle began. The three skirmishes had stretched across hundreds of miles, and after a hundred miles of shifting combat, none could gain the upper hand; none could claim victory over another.

In truth, Lin Xueyou appeared to be slipping into a disadvantage, and would not last much longer. Zhen Ba held a slight edge, and within a hundred moves would likely defeat his opponent, but the adversary was too cunning, never offering him an opening. Li Hao, having exchanged over three hundred blows with his own opponent, seemed evenly matched, but in reality, he was ever so slightly the inferior.

“Young man, I truly admire your strength. To have held out for three hundred moves against me is no small feat,” said Li Hao’s adversary—a youth in purple robes—clearly surprised by Li Hao’s power. At the same time, he thought highly of himself, unaware that Li Hao had yet to display his Shadow Mirage Steps or practice his halberd techniques.

“Oh? You’re astonished at just this? Today, I’ll give you an opportunity,” Li Hao replied with disdain, his expression unyielding. Though his opponent’s cultivation was several realms higher, Li Hao harbored no thought of retreat. He knew that hiding would do him no good; the only path was to press forward and defeat his foe.

“I’d like to see what kind of opportunity you, a greenhorn, think you can offer me.” The youth in purple still had not probed the depths of Li Hao’s ability; even as he paused the fight, he sought to test Li Hao’s strength.

“Let me tell you this: you’re nothing but a beast in gentleman’s clothing, spouting endless nonsense. Creatures like you, who can’t tell right from wrong, hardly deserve to know whether I’ve matured or not. I’ll give you one chance: leave now and I’ll spare your life. Otherwise, you’ll die here today.”

Though Li Hao’s cultivation was lower, his aura was undiminished. Moreover, he was deliberately goading his adversary into a rage, hoping anger would cloud his judgment and reveal a weakness.

“Hahaha... Today, I’ve heard the funniest joke of my life. You’ve succeeded in angering me, and I will make you wish you were dead. Come on, let’s see whether your sharp tongue or your strength is more formidable.”

At this moment, the youth in purple was utterly infuriated by Li Hao’s words, falling neatly into Li Hao’s trap.

Meanwhile, Lin Xueyou was nearly at her limit. She and Li Hao could be classified as soul-attack and body-attack cultivators, respectively.

Soul-attack cultivators primarily rely on their three souls to channel their cultivation and the laws of heaven and earth around them, with the body serving merely as a vessel for energy storage. Using the power within as a supplement, the soul manipulates the surrounding laws, unleashing various attacks. As long as they remain secure, their techniques are unpredictable and difficult to guard against. However, before reaching the Soul Refinement realm, the soul and spirit are relatively weak, unable to wield much of the world’s laws, and their attacks lack real power. This was why Lin Xueyou, though a realm higher, was falling behind.

Body-attack cultivators, on the other hand, use the soul to direct the laws of heaven and earth, but combine them with the raw strength of the body, inflicting tangible damage.

For both kinds of cultivators, the ability to manipulate the world’s laws depends closely on the strength of their souls and the energy stored in their bodies.

At this point, Lin Xueyou’s attacks, though dazzling, were all show and no substance. Soul-attack cultivators typically have weaker bodies, while body-attack cultivators possess stronger physiques. This is why, below the Soul Refinement realm, body-attack cultivators often surpass their soul-attack counterparts.

Every cultivator’s three souls are collectively called the divine soul, and the seven spirits are known as the physical body, or the flesh.

Of the five avatars Lin Xueyou had conjured through the laws of heaven and earth, four had already been destroyed by the black-clad youth wielding a blade. Only one remained, joined with her true self, as she desperately performed her Brush Painting the World technique.

This brush technique was the very secret manual Lin Huashu had gifted to Li Hao. Yet Lin Xueyou’s mastery far exceeded Li Hao’s; while he had reached the peak of entry after three days’ practice, she had broken through in the World Within a World and was nearing full mastery.

Now, Lin Xueyou’s divine soul was utterly exhausted, and each stroke to manipulate the world’s laws felt like a monumental effort.

The most exasperated of all was Zhen Ba—his two adversaries did nothing but dodge and defend, their teamwork flawless, leaving him helpless.

“You dare court death, boy!” roared the youth in purple, swirling his sword into a blossom and stabbing at Li Hao’s brow.

Enraged by Li Hao’s taunts, the youth in purple launched a furious assault. After three hundred exchanges, Li Hao’s mastery of the Nine-Dragon War Halberd grew more fluid with each passing moment.

During the fight, he continually studied the first move of the halberd’s Human-Level Art: the Eighteen Sweeps Through Armies. After three hundred and fifty wild, unorthodox attacks, he suddenly found a breakthrough for the first form—Dragon Roaming the Plains.

Just as he angered his foe with words, he found the secret of this very technique. Even as he conversed, he simulated the move again and again in his mind.

The youth in purple charged with a furious laugh. As his sword pierced the spot between Li Hao’s brows, visions of glittering silver soul-coins danced before his eyes, and he exulted in triumph.

But suddenly, his laughter died. A war halberd shot toward him like a bolt of lightning from behind. He spun around to see the golden figure of a hundred-foot-long dragon, serpentine and swift, its head weaving left and right as it sped across the plain, barreling toward his chest.

Caught off guard, he could only grit his teeth and gather the laws before him, forming a barrier to block the golden dragon’s charge. The dragon’s head slammed into his shield, shattering it instantly with immense force. In that moment, the golden dragon opened its maw and spat out a majestic halberd, which pierced straight through his chest.

Time seemed to stand still. The youth in purple gazed in disbelief at the red-robed, dark-haired youth before him. One hand gripped the halberd, the other poised behind, lips curled in a devilish smile. Looking down, he saw the sharp tip of the halberd jutting from his chest.

With his last breath, the youth in purple murmured, “How... could... this... be...?”

Even as his consciousness faded and his soul scattered into chaos, he could not comprehend how he had fallen to this strange youth, five realms his junior.

“An accomplice of evil deserves to die!” Li Hao pronounced his final verdict.

Li Hao’s erratic, unorthodox fighting style had left the youth in purple increasingly able to gauge his depths. Discovering Li Hao knew no martial skills, he devised countermeasures, believing that with his superior cultivation, he could suppress his foe and eventually slay him.

But Li Hao, never once displaying his Shadow Mirage Steps or martial techniques, had completely deceived him. In the final moment, Li Hao grasped the mystery of the Human-Level Halberd Art—the first form, Dragon Roaming the Plains.

Just when the youth in purple felt victory was assured and was further enraged by Li Hao’s words, losing all rational analysis, he sought to deliver a killing blow. In that instant, Li Hao unleashed the Shadow Mirage Steps, leaving behind a phantom. The youth in purple, in his arrogance, stabbed through the phantom’s brow, and Li Hao, using the technique’s blinding speed, circled behind him.

As Li Hao appeared behind him, the youth in purple had not yet shaken off his sense of triumph. Li Hao unleashed Dragon Roaming the Plains—the youth’s wild, desperate defense was shattered, and the halberd pierced his heart with ruthless efficiency. Thus, the youth was defeated by his own arrogance and blindness. Too late for regret, he met his end in this World Within a World.

“Is this truly how I die...?”

Only now did Li Hao finally come to himself, shaken by the might of his own new technique.

Meanwhile, Lin Xueyou’s final avatar was destroyed by the blade-wielding youth.

“Heh heh heh... Surrender, beautiful one. No one knows better than I how to cherish a delicate flower. Once you become mine, I’ll spare your life. I’ll be gentle, so long as you don’t resist. But if you refuse, once I capture you, I’ll show you no mercy. In the end, you’ll have no choice but to be my woman. Do you think you have any other options? Let me make it clear—you don’t.”

The blade-wielding youth did not even ask who Lin Xueyou was, making all the decisions himself. Such ignorance was nothing short of courting death.

“Oh... your proposal almost sounds tempting to me,” Lin Xueyou replied with a mocking smile.

Hearing this, the youth thought to himself, “So easy to deceive! This beauty may be lovely, but she’s clearly just a brainless girl with a pretty face.” To him, Lin Xueyou seemed pure and naive, the type to sell herself for survival at the brink of death. Wicked thoughts filled his mind as he imagined her in his grasp.

His gaze roamed over her without shame. In his mind’s eye, she was already a nude, vulnerable prize.

Lin Xueyou was not defeated by his blade, but nearly driven mad by his lecherous stare.

“I thought you could pass for a human, but it turns out you’re merely a beast in human skin. Scum like you are the dregs of the earth—a thousand deaths would not suffice!” Lin Xueyou’s usual composure was formidable, but when she cursed, every word struck at the heart.

“Courting death!” roared the blade-wielding youth, his composure shattered. No longer caring for gentleness, he swung his blade down with all his might.

Lin Xueyou did not await her fate passively. With her last ounce of strength, she raised the Vermilion Phoenix Brush and called upon the laws of heaven and earth to form a barrier overhead. But the youth’s blade crashed through her defense and continued its deadly arc toward her.

Lu Yao, having just witnessed Li Hao’s victory and not yet had time to rejoice, now saw Lin Xueyou in dire peril and cried out in desperation, “Sister Xueyou, look out!”