Chapter 724: One Sword Defeats Dragon Three
“And if I don’t see reason?” Zhang Ruochen turned his head and cast a glance at Dragon Three.
In the stone cave, many people were stunned by Zhang Ruochen’s words. After all, everyone had witnessed Dragon Three’s strength—even Purple Wind Star Envoy had been defeated in a single move. How could this man dare to challenge him?
“Even if he wants to play the hero saving the damsel, shouldn’t he read the situation? Is Dragon Three someone to be trifled with?” A descendant of a Saintly Clan shook his head lightly.
Among the cultivators of the Eastern Domain, someone stepping forward to challenge Dragon Three was originally worthy of admiration.
However, after the crushing defeats of Purple Wind Star Envoy and Xu Yunling, everyone had developed a fearful mentality toward the Four Guardian Beast Generals of the Demon Sect.
At this moment, a reckless youth trying to play the hero emerged, and naturally, everyone only saw him as a fool who didn’t know how to assess the situation.
Anyone could see that Dragon Three had already developed killing intent toward Ao Xinyan. Even the Saint Body dared not act, yet this man rushed forward to die—what else could he be but a fool?
A Saint Body of the Eastern Domain opened his eyes, glanced at Zhang Ruochen, and revealed a mocking expression, thinking to himself, “Young people are always like this, too impulsive.”
Then he closed his eyes again.
Perhaps only the disciples of the Eastern Domain Saint Academy held Zhang Ruochen in newfound respect. They never expected that this “sensible” fellow would suddenly become so unreasonable.
Earlier, Chang Qiqi could intimidate him into retreating, yet now he dared to face Dragon Three head-on.
What kind of person was this guy, really?
Dragon Three stared intently at Zhang Ruochen, the coldness in his eyes growing thicker. Then he let out a loud laugh and said, “Since you’re looking for death, I’ll grant your wish.”
“Chi chi!”
Dragon Three shrugged his shoulders upward, and a surge of powerful black dragon qi burst from his body, converging toward his arms and rapidly merging together, transforming into black dragon-fire demonic flames.
All the cultivators present could feel a scorching heat radiating from Dragon Three’s body, as if it would melt the entire stone cave.
Battered by the dragon-fire demonic flames, layers of formation runes appeared in the cave, manifesting as halos covering the ground, ceiling, and stone pillars.
Only now did everyone truly realize that Dragon Three’s strength had reached such a terrifying level.
“Roar!”
With a dragon roar, Dragon Three thrust his arm forward.
Instantly, a dragon shadow condensed from dragon-fire demonic flames opened its sharp maw, extended its claws, and charged toward Zhang Ruochen’s direction.
Zhang Ruochen set Ao Xinyan down on the ground, supporting her back with only his left hand, while extending his right hand and grasping at the air.
Three zhang away, the Dragon-Patterned Emerald Water Sword, which had fallen to the ground, trembled, let out a sword cry, and with a “whoosh,” flew up into Zhang Ruochen’s hand.
The moment he gripped the sword hilt, his aura became incredibly sharp, like an undefeated young sword saint.
In the entire stone cave, all the cultivators’ swords trembled violently, as if about to fly out.
“Shua shua!”
Countless sword-shaped sword qi naturally condensed into form, swirling around Zhang Ruochen in flight, forming a sword qi domain ten zhang in diameter.
The dragon shadow formed from dragon-fire demonic flames crashed into the sword qi domain, immediately erupting with a deafening sound. The two powerful forces surged outward in all directions.
All the surrounding cultivators were sent flying.
Dragon Three’s expression turned serious. He sensed that the man opposite him was not to be trifled with. “You have some skill, but break for me!”
Dragon Three struck with full force, his arms transforming into dragon claw forms as he charged forward, merging with the massive dragon shadow and bursting out from the dragon head’s position. Both claws struck the sword qi domain simultaneously.
“Boom!”
The sword qi domain was torn in two by the dragon claws, and the chaotic sword qi rushed out to the left and right.
The black dragon claws grew closer and closer to Zhang Ruochen, enlarging in his pupils.
If struck by the dragon claws, both Zhang Ruochen and Ao Xinyan’s bodies would likely be pierced through, turning into two masses of bloody mud.
The surrounding cultivators all held their breath. Some female cultivators even closed their eyes, unwilling to witness the bloody scene about to unfold.
Ao Xinyan’s fingers involuntarily tightened on the corner of her clothes. Naturally, she was also quite nervous. But when she looked up at Zhang Ruochen and saw his calm, composed expression, she inexplicably became calm as well.
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen raised the Dragon-Patterned Emerald Water Sword, pouring all his saint qi into it, and thrust out like lightning, colliding with Dragon Three’s dragon claw.
The power contained in the dragon claw was naturally terrifying.
The dragon scales were also incredibly hard, impenetrable even by a sacred sword.
Zhang Ruochen’s wrist shook rapidly, causing the Dragon-Patterned Emerald Water Sword to spin, forming circles of sword shadows that produced a “whoosh whoosh” sound, striking sparks against the dragon claw.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his wrist, then thrust forward again, precisely striking the center of Dragon Three’s palm.
“Boom!”
A loud crash.
Immediately afterward, a ring of black energy ripples surged out from between the sword and claw.
The clothes on Dragon Three’s body were shattered by the sword qi. He let out a muffled groan, flew backward ten zhang, landed back on the ground, and stumbled backward in a very disheveled manner until he reached the cave entrance before finally steadying himself.
It could be seen that his upper body was completely bare, with six bloody sword marks on his chest and abdomen.
A large patch of dragon scales had fallen off his arms, leaving them bloody and mangled. His right hand, in particular, had been pierced through by the sacred sword, with blood continuously dripping from his palm to the ground.
In contrast, Lin Yue, who was still supporting Ao Xinyan, remained standing in place, looking very calm and composed.
In the stone cave, all the geniuses and proud daughters of the Eastern Domain were completely stunned, feeling quite suffocated.
Some of them couldn’t even believe their eyes and vigorously rubbed their eyelids.
“He actually defeated Dragon Three with one sword, and he did it with ease, clearly not using his full strength.” Huang Yanchen’s eyes narrowed slightly, finding it incredibly hard to believe.
Earlier, Huang Yanchen had thought her master had misjudged, only seeing Lin Yue as a silver spear with no substance. She never expected his strength to be so remarkable.
“Isn’t this guy too low-key? If Ao Xinyan hadn’t been in mortal danger, he probably wouldn’t have acted at all.”
Chang Qiqi’s jaw nearly hit the floor. Thinking back to how he had wanted to teach Lin Yue a lesson, he felt a chill run down his spine. He estimated that the other party could pin him down with just one finger.
Si Xingkong said, “This man has good character. Earlier, Ao Xinyan was so harsh with him, yet he didn’t take it to heart at all and even saved her. He’s low-key in conduct but very high-profile in action.”
Because Lin Yue was pursuing Huang Yanchen, Si Xingkong actually found him quite disagreeable. However, Lin Yue’s character and swordsmanship made Si Xingkong admire him deeply.
It wasn’t just Si Xingkong; many present shared the same thought.
“When did the Eastern Domain produce such a stunningly talented genius?” a proud daughter of a Saintly Clan asked with sparkling eyes.
“You’re all too ignorant. Don’t you know he’s the sword dao prodigy of our Liangyi Sect, Senior Brother Lin Yue?” a sacred disciple of Liangyi Sect said with great pride.
Lin Yue had only risen to fame in the last few months. Although his reputation was great within Liangyi Sect, compared to the geniuses who had been famous for years or even decades across the Eastern Domain, he still fell short.
Except for the sword dao cultivators who had participated in the Sword Discussion Assembly, most cultivators were hearing his name for the first time.
“Is he the Lin Yue who ascended the third mountain of Ancient God Mountain?”
“It’s said that Dark Blue Star Envoy of the Black Market First Class Hall died at his hands.”
…
Because of Lin Yue’s appearance, the cultivators of the Eastern Domain all became very excited.
A sword dao prodigy, handsome and dashing, famous at a young age—any one of these traits made the proud daughters present feel their hearts flutter, finding it hard to resist the charm he exuded.
At this moment, Lin Yue overlapped with the image of many proud daughters’ dream lovers.
Earlier, when the Eastern Domain cultivators faced the Demon Sect’s Guardian Beast Generals, they had suffered total defeat. But Lin Yue’s stunning sword strike just now had driven back Dragon Three—truly remarkable.
Ouyang Huan also stared at Zhang Ruochen, squinting his eyes. He truly hadn’t expected someone of considerable caliber to suddenly appear.
But when he saw Lin Yue’s eyes, he felt a sense of familiarity.
Ouyang Huan seemed to think of something, smiled faintly, and said unhurriedly, “We must have met before, haven’t we? If I’m not mistaken, you were the one who killed Que Jiu.”
It had to be said, Ouyang Huan’s eyesight was indeed remarkable.
Back then, Zhang Ruochen had worn a mask and deliberately concealed his aura with spiritual power, yet Ouyang Huan had still recognized him at a glance.
“What? Divine Son, he’s that mysterious person who’s formidable in both sword dao and spiritual power?” Wu Ba’s eyes flashed with a cold, ferocious expression.
Not long ago, in that battle, Que Jiu had died, and Wu Ba had also suffered a considerable loss, yet they didn’t even know who their opponent was.
Now, truly, enemies meet on a narrow road. Since they had encountered him at Liangyi Sect, naturally, blood debts must be repaid with blood.
Since he had been recognized, Zhang Ruochen no longer denied it. “That’s right, I did kill Que Jiu. So what?”
His light, casual words once again shook the cultivators in this stone cave.
Lin Yue actually had such nerve—he had killed a Guardian Beast General of the Demon Sect. The Demon Sect’s people were vengeful to the extreme; how could they let him off?
Even Mu Lingxi’s heart tightened upon hearing this news, very worried about Zhang Ruochen’s safety.
Mu Lingxi was well aware of how formidable Ouyang Huan and the three Guardian Beast Generals were. Any one of them acting alone probably wouldn’t be much weaker than Zhang Ruochen. (To be continued.)