Chapter 200: Fierce Battle Against the Evil Crowd
Zhang Ruochen stood imposingly at the entrance of Lingyue Town, holding only a broken sword in his hand, neither sad nor joyful, as if he had become one with the blade.
Lin Yingshan had not left either. She remained standing to the side, staring at the mysterious young man wearing a metal mask.
After a while, a rolling cloud of dust swept in from the distance, accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves.
"Hall Master, it's that youth. Protector Nie died at his hands." A Yellow Extreme Realm evil path martial artist pointed at Zhang Ruochen and said harshly.
Tie Tuobei sat on the back of a white Flying Cloud Tiger, hunched over. He looked at Zhang Ruochen from afar, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and laughed: "I thought it was just a little kid of ten or so. I thought Si Xingkong had come to Lingyue Town. Heh heh!"
Tie Tuobei had heard that Nie Zheng Han was killed in one move by an inner palace student, and it had indeed startled him. He had thought that Si Xingkong, the number one of the inner palace academy, was targeting the Black Tiger Hall. Seeing that his opponent was merely a youth, his fear vanished, replaced by contempt.
"Rumble!"
More than two hundred evil path martial artists of the Black Tiger Hall, led by Hall Master Tie Tuobei, rode over two hundred Bell Horses, forming a semi-encirclement as they charged toward Zhang Ruochen.
Dust billowed, and shouts rang out without end.
Lin Yingshan hadn't expected the Black Tiger Hall to send so many strong warriors. She was greatly alarmed. Could this youth alone withstand so many evil path experts from the Black Tiger Hall?
When they were only twenty zhang away from Zhang Ruochen, Tie Tuobei raised his arm slightly, and all the evil path martial artists of the Black Tiger Hall came to a halt.
Tie Tuobei glanced at the ten corpses on the ground, his brow deeply furrowed. He said coldly: "Kid, you didn't run away. You've got some nerve."
Zhang Ruochen said: "Why should I run? I was waiting for you here."
Because of his hunchback, Tie Tuobei's height appeared to be only one and a half meters. Standing on the back of the Flying Cloud Tiger, he sneered coldly: "You don't know your place. Don't think that being an inner palace disciple of the Martial Market Academy makes you something special. Don't you know that four students from the Martial Market Academy are already imprisoned in the Earthfire City? Among them is even an inner palace disciple."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised. He said: "Alright. If you release those four students from the Martial Market Academy, I might spare your life."
"Haha! Once someone is captured and taken to the Earthfire City, there's no such thing as being released!" Tie Tuobei laughed loudly. Then, his eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Form the formation! Surround this arrogant brat. Don't let him escape."
From behind Tie Tuobei, one hundred and eight evil path martial artists rushed forward. Among them, eight were at the Mysterious Extreme Realm, and the other hundred were at the Yellow Extreme Realm.
Each martial artist held a formation base jade stone. They infused their true qi into the jade, activating the formation inscriptions, completely trapping Zhang Ruochen within the formation.
"A combined attack formation again? Don't you know that such formations are completely useless against me?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Tie Tuobei laughed: "The combined attack formation Nie Zheng Han used was incomplete, so naturally it couldn't do anything to you. But now, these one hundred and eight men have set up a complete combined attack formation. There are no flaws, and its power is many times greater. Do you think you can still withstand it?"
"A combined attack formation not led by an Earth Extreme Realm martial artist holds no power in my eyes."
Zhang Ruochen didn't waste any more words with Tie Tuobei. He raised the Abyssal Ancient Sword, fully mobilizing the true qi within his body and channeling it into the sword. He activated all twenty-nine force-type inscriptions within the sword, causing its weight to instantly soar to two thousand nine hundred and ninety-four jin.
Within the Abyssal Ancient Sword, there were a total of sixty-six force-type inscriptions. If all were activated, the sword's weight could reach six thousand six hundred and ninety-four jin.
Each basic force-type inscription could increase the sword's weight by one hundred jin.
However, with Zhang Ruochen's cultivation at the initial stage of the Earth Extreme Realm, the amount of true qi in his body was limited, allowing him to activate only twenty-nine inscriptions at once.
A war sword weighing nearly three thousand jin was terrifying even with pure physical attacks, let alone when combined with the powerful Spiritual Fire True Qi within Zhang Ruochen's body. The power unleashed by the Abyssal Ancient Sword was naturally even greater.
If it had truly been a combined attack formation set up by one hundred Yellow Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists and ten Mysterious Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artists, even Zhang Ruochen, or even an Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist, might not have been able to withstand it.
But the Black Tiger Hall simply couldn't train that many elite martial artists. The cultivation levels of the evil path martial artists setting up the formation were uneven, with some even at the late stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm. Those at the late Yellow Extreme Realm could barely sustain the formation inscriptions and had no combat power at all.
What appeared to be a powerful formation was riddled with flaws in Zhang Ruochen's eyes.
As long as he found the weak point of the formation, a single strike would be enough to shatter it.
"Break for me!"
Flames seemed to burn within Zhang Ruochen's pupils. He kicked off the ground, leaping up rapidly.
Gripping the sword hilt with both hands, he slashed downward.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword transformed into a fiery dragon, falling from Zhang Ruochen's hands and dragging a flame sword qi over ten meters long.
"Boom!"
The combined attack formation set up by the one hundred and eight martial artists couldn't withstand Zhang Ruochen's full-powered strike.
It held for only an instant before the formation inscriptions were pierced by the sword qi. Nine evil path martial artists were cleaved in two by the sword qi, their bodies flying left and right, leaving only a pool of blood behind.
Another twenty-plus evil path martial artists were severely injured by the powerful impact of the sword qi. They were blown backward like leaves in a strong wind, crashing down in disarray.
With just one sword strike, he had shattered the combined attack formation set up by one hundred and eight evil path martial artists.
Standing in the distance, Lin Yingshan watched the overwhelmingly powerful mysterious youth, stunned and speechless, her mind a blank.
"Hundred-Zhang Flying Snow!"
A stream of icy true qi surged from Zhang Ruochen's body. As the true qi merged with the air, the temperature plummeted rapidly. Moments later, snowflakes the size of fingernails began to fall from the sky.
The snow fell heavier and heavier.
Within a radius of a hundred zhang, heavy snow drifted down, as if winter had suddenly arrived. The evil path martial artists of the Black Tiger Hall felt a deep chill.
"One move of true qi, and a hundred zhang of flying snow." Tie Tuobei's expression changed drastically. He looked at Zhang Ruochen, no longer daring to underestimate him in the slightest.
Tie Tuobei's cultivation was higher than Zhang Ruochen's, having reached the Great Extreme Position of the Earth Extreme Realm. Yet he was far from being able to achieve "one move of true qi, a hundred zhang of flying snow."
Only geniuses with special constitutions could, upon reaching the Earth Extreme Realm, trigger heavenly phenomena and alter the surrounding battle environment.
Zhang Ruochen did not have a cold-attribute constitution. It was only because he had consumed the Ice Pulse Pill, which gave his meridians and true qi an icy attribute, that the "Hundred-Zhang Flying Snow" phenomenon occurred.
If Zhang Ruochen wished, he could also create the phenomena of "Hundred-Zhang Thunderclap" or "Hundred-Zhang Blazing Prairie," because his true qi naturally carried lightning and Spiritual Fire attributes.
"Slash!"
Zhang Ruochen waved his arm, and the flying snow in the air instantly condensed into over a dozen sword qis.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
...
Seven evil path martial artists were pierced through by the sword qis, letting out a series of screams.
Within a hundred zhang, the air was filled with swirling snowflakes. Every single snowflake could become Zhang Ruochen's sword.
After more than thirty men fell in succession, the evil path martial artists were terrified. They no longer dared to fight Zhang Ruochen and turned to flee.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen heard a tiger's roar from behind him. The ground shook, and sand and stones flew through the air.
A powerful wave of true qi came from behind.
"Kid, let this Hall Master test your skills!"
Tie Tuobei stood on the back of the Flying Cloud Tiger, gripping a Golden-Back War Blade. He charged to Zhang Ruochen's front and slashed downward.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword to meet the strike, clashing head-on with Tie Tuobei.
The Golden-Back War Blade in Tie Tuobei's hand was a sixth-rank True Martial Treasure. With its inscriptions activated, it also weighed over two thousand jin.
Combined with the impact force of the third-rank barbarian beast Flying Cloud Tiger and Tie Tuobei's own arm strength, the three forces together unleashed power comparable to Zhang Ruochen's.
The sword and blade collided, sending out a large ripple of energy that blasted away the dozen or so evil path martial artists closest to them.
Zhang Ruochen stood firmly in place, but his feet sank half a chi into the ground.
"As expected of the Black Tiger Hall Master. Truly not comparable to ordinary martial artists." Zhang Ruochen was slightly startled, feeling a numbness in his arm.
But Tie Tuobei was even more shocked. He saw that a notch had appeared on the edge of his Golden-Back War Blade.
"He's only wielding a broken sword. How can it damage a sixth-rank True Martial Treasure like my Golden-Back Divine Blade?" Tie Tuobei no longer dared to underestimate Zhang Ruochen.
This youth was truly bizarre.
When had the inner palace of the Martial Market Academy produced such a formidable figure?
Tie Tuobei was a martial arts expert who had been famous for decades. He had killed countless people, possessed rich combat experience, and as the Hall Master of the Black Tiger Hall, he certainly had some lethal trump cards. Zhang Ruochen did not dare to be careless and approached this battle with great caution.
"He can actually exchange blows with the Black Tiger Hall Master, Tie Tuobei, and even seems to have the upper hand." Lin Yingshan held her breath, staring intently at the mysterious youth who remained calm from start to finish.
Previously, she had always believed that the Seventh Prince, Zhang Tiangui, was the most extraordinary talent under heaven, incomparable to anyone. But the appearance of this mysterious youth had changed her previous beliefs.
Even her father, the head of the Lin family, felt a hint of fear when discussing Tie Tuobei.
The mysterious youth's strength was definitely greater than her father's, perhaps even comparable to her grandfather's.
"If he can kill Tie Tuobei, he will surely become a household hero in the Yunwu Commandery." Lin Yingshan thought to herself.
"Kid, take this strike from me!"
Tie Tuobei gritted his teeth. The Golden-Back Divine Blade in his hand emitted a dazzling golden light, with inscriptions surging within the blade.
"Broken Moon Blade Art, First Form: Blade Wind, Waning Moon."
The Broken Moon Blade Art was a spirit-level upper-grade blade technique.
Tie Tuobei had been taught by a master, learning only this one move. But with this single move, he had killed many powerful enemies and successfully become the Hall Master of the Black Tiger Hall.
Within the same cultivation realm, no one could withstand this blade technique of his.
Three years ago, he had even used this powerful blade technique to kill an injured Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection martial artist. It was that battle that spread Tie Tuobei's fearsome reputation throughout the Yunwu Commandery, making the Black Tiger Hall the ninth-largest force in the commandery's black market.
Although it was just a single move from a spirit-level upper-grade blade technique, it had changed Tie Tuobei's entire life.