Chapter Fifty-Three: A Sudden Blow

Roaring thunderously, the cries echoed through the ruins of the city. The Lin brothers each engaged a sixth-rank Earth Howler in fierce combat, while Luo Heng, Feng Qing, and Tong Cheng together faced a fifth-rank beast. The sudden appearance of the two sixth-rank Earth Howler leaders caught everyone off guard. In the chaos, three members of the Hong Luan Peak squad were killed instantly, and more than twenty were grievously wounded by the beastly leaders. With plans abandoned in the urgency, they summoned their strongest fighters to the field.

As five experts arrived, the Hong Luan Peak team felt their burdens ease and immediately began tending to their wounded. Together with the newly arrived Lingxiao squad, they started clearing the city of lower-ranked Earth Howlers.

The five Lin brothers, matched in overall strength with the three beast leaders and armed with high-level spiritual weapons, soon saw the tide of battle turning. Luo Heng and his companions worked in concert; Feng Qing, wielding a grade-Xuan flying sword borrowed from a disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley, pierced the fifth-rank leader’s defenses, opening a head-sized hole in its side. Seizing the moment, Luo Heng hurled a compressed fireball into the wound, whose violent explosion shattered half the beast’s body. Tong Cheng finished the job, a white blade of metallic sword energy slicing the Earth Howler clean in two.

Yet even so, the formidable fifth-rank beast did not perish immediately. Instead, it launched a desperate attack at Luo Heng, who barely managed to hold it off with all his strength. Tong Cheng struck again from behind, his flying sword burrowing into the beast’s remaining body, grinding away until, after two breaths’ time, the savage creature was finally vanquished.

Having eliminated the fifth-rank Earth Howler, the three did not rush to assist the Lin brothers, but plunged into the city to deal with ordinary beasts. Between the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms lay an insurmountable gulf; though the trio was strong, they dared not interfere in battles between Nascent Soul masters, lest their intervention cause greater chaos.

Lin You, wielding the Explosive Flame Sword, faced a sixth-rank leader whose strength rivaled his own, finding the fight arduous at first. Lin Zuo, with the Rainbow Sword, faced another sixth-rank leader with far greater ease, fighting fluidly and confidently. Though the brothers’ abilities and their opponents’ strengths were matched, and their weapons nearly equal in grade, the difference lay in the degree to which their weapons had been refined.

Lin Zuo’s Rainbow Sword, stripped of its previous owner’s mark by Master Liuguang and passed to Jiang Yue without refinement, was essentially masterless. Though Lin Zuo could not achieve perfect unity with the sword, he could unleash about thirty percent of its power.

Lin You’s Explosive Flame Sword was different. Wang Li had fully refined it in simulated combat, forging a deep bond so that the sword’s spirit recognized only him. Now, though Wang Li lent it to Lin You, the sword spirit refused to obey, and Lin You could barely unleash even the first tier of its power. He relied mostly on the sword’s superior quality to clash head-on with the sixth-rank beast, draining himself severely.

Moreover, the two Earth Howlers had realized they were trapped by human cultivators and fought with desperation, seeking to inflict as much damage as possible in hopes of escape. They fought recklessly, abandoning all caution.

After Luo Heng and his companions slew the fifth-rank leader, the two remaining sixth-rank Earth Howlers grew even more frenzied, resorting to suicidal tactics.

Lin Zuo managed well against such ferocity, leveraging the Rainbow Sword’s unique properties to imbue his attacks with metallic sword energy, neutralizing the beasts’ reckless assaults.

Lin You, however, had to focus on defense, doing his best to avoid injury.

“Big brother, I can’t hold much longer—finish yours quickly and help me out!” Lin You was afraid that his defenses would eventually fail, urging Lin Zuo to hurry.

“Hold on, this beast isn’t easy!” Lin Zuo replied, equally eager to end his fight, but the Earth Howler’s famed toughness meant his opponent, though battered and bloody, would not fall quickly.

As the brothers’ battle reached its peak, Lin You felt the hair on his body stand on end, an intense sense of danger overwhelming him. Without time to think, he swung his sword to force the beast back and retreated a dozen yards.

“Watch the hammer!” A clear, girlish shout rang out. The sixth-rank Earth Howler disengaged from Lin Zuo and looked up in confusion toward the source.

A hammer, larger than a fourth-rank Earth Howler, was plummeting towards its skull.

The beast roared and tried to retreat, but something coiled around its hind legs.

“Earth Immobilization Spell—bind!” Another girlish shout. The beast’s body seized up, momentarily frozen—just long enough for it to miss its chance to dodge the massive hammer overhead.

Bang! The hammer struck the beast’s back, missing its head but driving it deep into the earth, forming a huge crater.

“Giant Rock Hammer—rise!” A petite figure appeared beside the hammer, gripping its slender handle, and hoisted the massive weapon to strike again at the trapped Earth Howler leader.

“Senior Brother Lin Zuo, act now! We only get one shot at this!” Another clear voice called: “Wood Spirit Suppression Spell—seal!”

Bang!

The sixth-rank beast had barely begun to rise when its head swam, and the hammer descended once more.

This time, it struck true, landing squarely on its skull and sending stars spinning before its eyes.

At last, Lin Zuo saw clearly who wielded the hammer against the beast. The spellcaster was Jiang Yu, and the girl swinging the hammer was none other than little Jiang Yue.

“Get clear—I'm coming!” Lin Zuo wasted no time. As the saying goes, strike while the enemy is weakened. He channeled a third of his spiritual power through the Rainbow Sword and slashed.

As the enormous sword light descended, Jiang Yu darted backward, escaping its range. Jiang Yue, dragging the giant hammer, did not flee; she knew she couldn’t outrun the blow while carrying it, so she raised the hammer overhead as a shield.

Lin Zuo was terrified by Jiang Yue’s reaction, but the sword light was already unleashed, too late to retract. He could only pray her hammer would withstand the blow, and she wouldn’t be struck down in an instant.

Boom! A deafening explosion sent dust billowing.

“Disperse!” Lin Zuo cast a spell to clear the smoke, and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight below.

The sixth-rank Earth Howler leader’s head was severed, and Jiang Yue, unharmed, bounced about brandishing her hammer, cursing him loudly, “Are you trying to murder me, Crown Princess? Do you dare risk my master expelling you from the sect?”

“Don’t laugh—this isn’t over! I came to help, and you tried to kill me—just you wait for trouble!” Lin Zuo could only shake his head in exasperation.

You refused to run—how is that my fault?

He didn’t waste words with the little girl. With a curt “Get clear,” he rushed to assist his brother.