Section Ninety-Seven: Reappearance

The sharp moon blade slipped into the black smoke of the Heart-Crushing Palm.

A fourth-rank force, whether in purity or in power, could not hope to break through the black-clad man’s true energy. But the blade’s inherent keenness, combined with the equally cutting Crane Body Force, raised its might to another level.

Without the Crane Body Force, Tang Tian’s true energy would not have been nearly enough. In the martial arts system of the present age, ranks were rigid and stern; to challenge someone above one’s station, one needed some other card to play. Clearly, Tang Tian possessed such a card.

At this moment, the secret transmission of the ancient Crane School revealed its true power.

The black-clad man only felt as though both palms were being sliced by knives. Agony surged through him, and he nearly cried out. Years of experience told him that he absolutely could not let his spirit collapse now, or the opponent’s next killing move would take his life on the spot.

He suppressed a groan, only to notice several figures rushing toward Tang Tian.

His heart loosened slightly, but the instant he realized his own reaction, a trace of shame rose in him. To think he had been suppressed by a mere fourth-rank boy to such an extent. Had he not experienced it personally, he would never have believed it.

Crack, crack, crack.

Several figures were sent flying sideways. Those Black Soul soldiers were no match for this ferocious youth. Yet their sacrifice bought the black-clad man precious breathing room. Once his breath steadied, his gaze once again became calm.

There was no trace of contempt left in the black-clad man’s eyes. His expression turned grave as he studied the youth before him, dressed in a deep blue robe.

He had heard of the Dragon Force. There were not many internal arts in the fourth rank that could produce explosive power, and the famed Dragon Force was one of them. But the Dragon Force was also notoriously difficult to cultivate. The lower the rank, the harder it was to grasp. He had not expected this seemingly ordinary youngster, still only at the stage of Four Dragons, to have already comprehended it.

And then there was that strange, nameless force!

Since when had the Radiant Martial Assembly produced such a terrifying newcomer?

The black-clad man’s advantage in true energy had been greatly reduced. Thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Yet he was experienced in battle, and quickly devised a plan. The boy’s true energy was strange, but the capacity of a fourth-rank dantian pool could not change; compared to a fifth-rank dantian pool, it was much smaller.

A war of attrition. A contest of endurance.

Almost at once, the black-clad man found the key to victory. He did not believe the boy before him could outlast him.

"Dayu, Er Zhu, Xiao Lu!"

He drew breath and shouted. Three figures appeared swiftly at his side. The black-clad man’s heart settled at once. These three were old acquaintances of his, all soldiers, though not ordinary Black Iron Troopers, but elite Bronze Troopers. Each of them was at the upper end of the fourth rank, only one level below him. For this operation, he had specially invited them to assist. With their help, his confidence soared.

"Slow stew over a low fire."

That was their code phrase, meaning they would focus on wearing the enemy down.

The other three immediately understood.

Tang Tian looked at the four men before him without the slightest trace of fear. Anyone accustomed to those massive bronze figures, with their countless bizarre shapes, impossible angles, and brutal, menacing forms that left no easy opening, would hardly be shaken by four ordinary-looking human beings.

He rolled his shoulders and drew a deep breath.

Baldy... I will avenge you... Rest in peace.

Tang Tian’s eyes grew calm. He lowered his stance, set his feet, and took up his boxing frame. A dense fighting intent spread outward like ripples across water.

The faces of the four black-clad men changed slightly. It was as if, in that instant, the youth before them had become someone else entirely. In that composure beyond his years, there seemed to burn a wild, unrestrained battle spirit, rising silently like fire.

The four began to circle Tang Tian slowly and in perfect understanding, searching for an opening. Each wore a heavily grave expression.

The intelligence was wrong.

This youth was absolutely no nameless nobody, nor some hopeless exile with no future. He must be one of the Radiant Martial Assembly’s true hidden talents, deliberately kept under wraps.

The first to strike was Dayu. He wielded a short staff as tall as his brows; with a flick of his wrist, the staff gave a low hum, and three green staff-auras shot forth like three jade dragons, screaming toward Tang Tian. Dayu cultivated the Greenwood Flood-Dragon Staff, a fourth-rank wood-element martial art, highly changeable and unpredictable.

Er Zhu used a crescent-spade. Burly and immensely strong, he handled the two-hundred-jin weapon as though it weighed nothing. Without another word, his muscles bulged, and with a harsh shout he urged his true energy into it, bringing the spade crashing down in one direct, unadorned stroke. The yellow-brown true radiance enveloping the blade flared brilliantly, the blow bearing down like a mountain and giving rise to an irresistible pressure. Er Zhu cultivated the Eight Spades of the Earth Monk, a fourth-rank earth-element martial art with broad, sweeping movements, plain and unsophisticated, relying on brute force to shatter finesse.

Xiao Lu cultivated hidden weapons. With a sweep of both hands, three throwing knives appeared in each palm. He tapped his toes and leapt into the air. In midair, his arms spread wide, and six flying blades, wrapped in golden light, drifted in deceptive patterns as they sliced toward Tang Tian’s vital points from every direction. A fourth-rank gold-element martial art: Golden Willow Phase.

The three worked in seamless coordination. Their styles were both hard and soft, their true-energy attributes all different. With the black-clad man lurking like a tiger nearby, Tang Tian was in danger almost instantly.

Yet Tang Tian’s heart was utterly clear. A cold gleam flashed in his eyes as he suddenly drove off the ground.

The little horse flying boots extended their four tiny horse hooves and bent sharply. The next instant, Tang Tian’s figure vanished from where he stood.

He reappeared directly in front of Er Zhu’s crescent-spade.

Everyone’s pupils dilated.

No one had expected Tang Tian to choose Er Zhu as his primary target. A burst of delight followed immediately. In terms of overall strength, the three were more or less evenly matched, though their styles differed. But in a head-on clash of force, none could surpass Er Zhu, whose monstrous strength and mastery of the Eight Spades of the Earth Monk made him unrivaled. Even the black-clad man himself had no confidence in taking one of Er Zhu’s blows straight on.

This boy was courting death.

Among the soldiers watching Tang Tian’s battle in the legion’s recruit camp, one suddenly froze. This... this was...

A long-distance leap!

One of the standard tactical maneuvers of a mechanical battle suit: a long-distance leap!

B-but... this was clearly a tactical move of a mechanical battle suit...

The soldier stared in astonishment.

In everyone’s eyes, Tang Tian crouched low, as though his whole body had crashed into the earth, then accelerated without warning. He was like a gale sweeping past, leaving every attack far behind him.

The youth’s figure, wrapped in killing intent, soared into the air, blazing with radiance.

Meeting the dazzling earth-yellow spade light before him, bright as a curtain of light, and the deep, soul-shaking howl that accompanied it, Tang Tian felt no fear whatsoever. In his quiet eyes, a flame flickered and leaped. The strength of his entire body, like streams converging into the sea, gathered into a single point. The fist enveloped in Sky Furnace Fire suddenly swelled with explosive force.

A crimson punch, dragging a long tail of fire like a streaking meteor, collided head-on without the slightest trickery against the earth-yellow spade light.

Boom!

True energy clashed. Pure strength clashed.

Er Zhu’s expression changed. The spade light shattered. Both hands gripping the shaft felt a monstrous force surge through them, and he nearly lost hold of the crescent-spade. His iron-tower body staggered backward several steps, crackling sounds erupting from within him as both arms went numb and sore.

What terrified him even more was the true energy that had invaded his body. It was bizarre and tenacious, and he nearly coughed up blood.

Er Zhu’s face filled with shock.

The others were too stunned by what they had just seen to speak. They could hardly believe their eyes.

Er Zhu had lost... in sheer strength...

Even the black-clad man’s expression froze. Though he had now become a Black Soul Cannon, and only the most ordinary Black Iron Cannon at that, he had never once seen anyone around him who could match Er Zhu in raw power.

This... monster...

But Tang Tian did not hesitate. That single punch had completely ignited the battle spirit within him. The opponent’s strength was only a hair below that of that monster Amory, but his technique for channeling force was far inferior. Yet in a contest of raw power like this, it was easiest to set the blood surging and the heart roaring.

Tang Tian let out a furious howl and stamped the ground with his little horse flying boots, springing upward.

His body became a furious arrow, driving straight at Er Zhu.

The black-clad man awoke as if from a dream. In a flash, he launched the Heart-Crushing Palm, silently striking toward Tang Tian’s ribs.

The others also recovered and hastily attacked together, trying to buy Er Zhu time.

A sharp light erupted in Tang Tian’s eyes. He suddenly dropped low, one foot stabbing into the earth like a blade, sinking all the way to the knee.

Those soldiers in the recruit camp watching Tang Tian’s fight were stunned once more.

This... this was... a super-long-distance leap!

One of the standard tactical moves of a mechanical battle suit: a super-long-distance leap!

How... how could this...

That was clearly a tactical maneuver of a mechanical battle suit...

The soldiers stared, dumbfounded.

In everyone’s eyes, Tang Tian dipped low, his whole body seeming to slam into the dirt, then burst forward with explosive speed. He swept past like a wind, leaving every attack behind him.

The youth’s killing intent-laced figure rose into the air, blazing like a sun.