Thrust, retract. Thrust, retract.
The lightning-fast feints left Wan'er seething with rage, yet she was utterly helpless. She had exhausted her trump cards, but her opponent clearly didn't believe it, continuing his cautious probing.
Palm strike after palm strike hit nothing but air, causing her fury to mount.
"Stop running if you have the guts!!" she finally roared, unable to hold back.
Squelch!
In that instant, blood sprayed.
Wan'er's figure froze, stiffening in place, completely motionless.
She slowly reached out, trying to grasp the longsword piercing her chest, but the sudden depressurization of her pierced heart left her utterly powerless.
With a soft, wet sound, the sword tip slid free, drawing a streak of bright crimson.
What... just happened?
Was I... ambushed by someone else??
She was clearly still fighting the youth, yet in the next instant, a sword had abruptly bypassed all her defenses, stabbing directly into her heart.
She didn't even understand how it happened before the battle ended.
Until the very end, as Wan'er's vision plunged into darkness and her consciousness faded, she still didn't know how she lost. Perhaps she didn't believe she had lost to him at all, convinced instead that she had been ambushed by some sinister figure lurking in the shadows.
Lin Hui's figure solidified, appearing beside the corpse.
Looking at the motionless woman on the ground, he bent down and retrieved the material bag.
'Featherweight Ascension' is truly formidable. Activating it for just an instant boosts speed threefold, and the consumption is almost imperceptible.
Truth be told, he felt the woman on the ground was no weaker than the First Senior Brother—perhaps even stronger.
Yet even such an expert, faced with a sudden triple-speed increase in swordplay during combat, couldn't react in time and was extinguished in the blink of an eye.
In battles between External Style martial artists, without Internal Force for bodily protection, a single mistake meant fatal danger.
Life and death were separated by a single instant.
"Wan'er!!" A shrill, harrowing roar echoed.
In the next instant, Lin Hui's figure flashed, retreating several steps to dodge a palm shadow of white light striking from behind.
Although the white light was much dimmer than before, it still gave him a strong sense of threat.
He saw the old woman pounce to the corpse's side, bending down to help Wan'er up and check her condition.
Clang!
Lin Hui drew his sword without hesitation.
He wasn't a fool; he wouldn't wait for his opponent to finish checking the corpse and prepare herself before acting. Not seizing the opportunity when it presented itself—what was that if not stupidity?
Nine-Section Swift Sword, Killing Move: Wind Passing Without Trace.
He brought out a series of afterimages as he rushed toward the opponent.
"Damn you!!" The old woman dropped the corpse. Interrupted, she had no choice but to rise and blast a palm directly at the longsword.
Amidst the flickering white light, her palm faintly emitted tiny, glowing spots resembling flower petals. Moreover, the strike carried an exaggerated pressure, seemingly enveloping a five-meter radius.
Lin Hui's heart shivered. He turned the sword tip, attempting to retract again to avoid a head-on collision.
He wasn't in the Internal Force Realm, but his master was. He knew the consequences of clashing with Internal Force.
He had tested this by sparring with Mingde. Whether using his own Clear River Sword or any other weapon he could find, whenever he faced an Internal Force expert—and lacked his own Internal Force protection—he found himself instantly disarmed and defeated. This was the case as long as the opponent was fully prepared and actively channeling their Internal Force.
At the moment of contact, Internal Force would surge through the weapon like lightning, numbing his hand as if shocked by electricity and making him lose his grip instantly.
So, once engaged with an Internal Force Realm expert, he had to avoid their Internal Force.
But as he retracted, the opponent's palm shadow surged abruptly.
In an instant, a massive fan-shaped shadow of white light seemed to illuminate Lin Hui's vision.
Palm after palm, emitting white petal-like light spots, pressed down densely toward his face like a white wall!
A white wall five meters high and five meters long!
There was no time to change moves now.
His speed was fast, but not fast enough to execute a move, retract it, and execute another in the face of this.
The opponent was an Internal Force expert, not a slow-moving target.
Too late.
Lin Hui had originally wanted to exchange a few more moves with the Perfected Nine-Section Swift Sword, but now it seemed he couldn't survive a single exchange without activating his special effects.
The gap between External Style and the Internal Force Realm was too great.
Forget it.
A thought flashed through Lin Hui's mind. His body retreated rapidly, dodging a white light palm print about to strike directly in front.
Looking up, he stared at the palm print.
Everything around him seemed to fall into a sluggish stagnation.
Special Effect—
Featherweight Ascension.
Boom!!
Everything around Lin Hui blurred instantly.
The white light palm print before his eyes froze, receded, and vanished.
Gripping the sword in his right hand, his body felt as light as a feather.
Clear Wind Sword Technique.
One-Handed Cloud Sweep...
In an instant, the blade in his hand drew streaks of afterimages to the side, as if gently brushing past invisible clouds.
Layers of silver sword shadows formed a fan-shaped arc of light, then froze.
Whoosh.
Lin Hui vanished.
Accompanying his disappearance was the sound of a light breeze scattering formlessly.
In the next instant, he appeared silently behind the old woman, the sword tip already landing on the right side of her neck.
Clang!!!
A terrifying sound exploded.
The white light of Internal Force on the old woman's neck depressed rapidly, denting inward.
Her attention was still fixed on Lin Hui's residual image directly in front. She was completely unaware that the real enemy had arrived at her rear flank.
Under the terrifying state of extreme speed, her reaction movements appeared like a slow-motion film.
By the time she revealed shock and rage, turning sideways and raising her hand to grab at Lin Hui's real body, that body dispersed in the blink of an eye, transforming into an afterimage again.
In the next instant, a crisp sound exploded on her left waist, a spark of golden fire scattering.
Internal Force and the sword tip collided again.
Before she could recover, a new spark lit up from her back.
Tss-tss-tss-tss!!
Continuous sparks exploded from vital points all over her body, scattering in all directions.
Her Internal Force faded and dimmed rapidly under this extreme consumption.
"What exactly are you...!"
Squelch!
A sword tip violently broke through the white light, stabbing into her abdomen.
The old woman opened her mouth to shout, her palms grabbing frantically at the blade.
Unfortunately.
The blade jerked upward violently, slicing open her chest from the abdomen, drawing a straight, sharp, terrifying gash.
Blood sprayed like a fountain, carrying away all her strength.
The massive wound ran through the old woman's abdomen to her chest and chin, almost splitting her entire body in two.
Her final sight was watching that sword flick upward, slash diagonally to clear the blood, and slowly sheathe.
"You..."
A gentle breeze caressed the air. The white light on the old woman's body finally disappeared completely. She had been forcibly cut open and killed after her final Internal Force was broken.
Thud.
The corpse fell backward to the ground, eyes wide open in death, blood flowing to stain the earth red.
Mist permeated the surroundings; there was no more sound.
Lin Hui stood in place, eyes closed, savoring the sensation of using the Clear Wind Sword Technique with Featherweight Ascension. That wonderful feeling of his body seemingly turning into wind amidst extreme speed was simply an intoxicating pleasure.
That feeling completely suppressed the stifling sensation of killing for the first time; there was only the carefree joy of swinging the sword at will, like splashing ink to write.
After a long while, the faint cries of monsters from the surrounding mist woke him from that wondrous fugue.
Only then did he bend down to quickly collect the wealth from the corpses.
A money pouch and a pair of gloves from each corpse. As for the other obviously custom-made accessories, he didn't take them; such things were too distinctive and inconvenient to fence.
After pouring all the silver notes and gold from the money pouches into his own bag, Lin Hui threw away the empty pouches, turned to leave the spot, and went to lure two One-Horned Spiders closer. Only after hearing the spiders spin webs to wrap the corpses did he depart with peace of mind.
One-Horned Spiders were known to cocoon their prey in silk and drag them back to the nest to slowly suck them dry.
Finally carrying the material bag, he returned to the mist-free zone, walking leisurely toward Clear Wind Temple.
It wasn't until he was completely back in his own room that the guard in Lin Hui's heart slowly lowered.
With Master Mingde and the martial uncles of the other two branches nearby—three Internal Force Realm experts holding the fort—the safety here far exceeded the outside world.
Only then did he relax and review the slaughter.
Sitting cross-legged on the cloth mat, Lin Hui calmed the surging blood and Qi in his heart, replaying the battle bit by bit.
That Wan'er's actual combat attainment should be slightly stronger than the First Senior Brother. She herself was at the peak of External Style Body Tempering; activating Featherweight Ascension for an instant resolved it easily. But that old hag in the Internal Force Realm behind her was much more troublesome. Internal Force can be driven along the weapon to numb my palm. During the final execution, it slowed my sword speed every time. Fortunately, the Internal Force flowing over each time was very little, just a trace, and the slowing time was also very short.
It's only because my speed is too fast, and she wasn't a speed-style Internal Force expert. Otherwise, the outcome of this battle would have been hard to say.
Internal Force Realm expert!
Thinking of this, Lin Hui's heart suddenly relaxed. He had actually killed an Internal Force Realm expert!
Although it was only a non-speed type that had been worn down by numerous monsters for a long time, Internal Force was Internal Force. Regardless of the circumstances, he had indeed achieved it—completely resolving the opponent with his strength alone.
The effect of Featherweight Ascension is truly terrifying. In that state, I'm afraid even Master would have difficulty catching up to my movement technique.
Master Mingde was a speed-type Internal Force expert. Lin Hui had seen the speed displayed when coordinating with the Clear Wind Sword Technique. Compared to himself, it was about twice his normal state.
Far from the terrifying effect of activating triple speed.
Calculating it this way, I can almost be considered an Internal Force Realm expert? Lin Hui estimated in his heart.
Featherweight Ascension now consumed very little; keeping it open continuously for a day wouldn't be an issue. If he used the intermittent activation method, it could basically be used indefinitely.
Not to mention the more covert sealing toxin that hadn't been used.
Standing up, Lin Hui gently drew the Clear River Sword, took out sword oil and a silk cloth, and maintained the blade.
But the paralysis and super-strong defense of the Internal Force Realm are too tricky. Once careless, if I get paralyzed and disarmed, I pose basically no threat to the Internal Force Realm.
Moreover, in a state of abundant Internal Force, my attacks would probably take a long time to wear down the defense before causing specific damage. This is a problem.
Lin Hui had asked his teacher if any divine weapons could break Internal Force protection, but the answer was no.
Internal Force protection was more like a force field, preventing weapons from making contact, decelerating them out of thin air, suspending them, and blocking penetration from all directions.
This method rendered the sharpness of weapons completely useless.
Still have to break through to the Internal Force Realm; that is the true path... the current me is still too unsafe.
Thinking to the end, Lin Hui sighed long and deep, quietly calming his body's stamina consumption. He prepared to take the materials to exchange for money tomorrow.
At this point, he discovered that his efficiency in hunting monsters to amass wealth far exceeded other methods; he did not need to take on any missions or employment.