Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

Chapter 259: Chapter 199: Slaughtering in All Directions, Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies

The four of them sped up their escape slightly, but still kept a sliver of their attention on the scene below.

A shimmer danced in Lin Zhen’s lovely eyes, which were filled with nothing but the sight of Xie Yuan. The powerful impression he’d made when they first met in the mourning hall had never once faded. In fact, it had only grown stronger, becoming so profound that she was gradually finding it impossible to forget him.

As she stared intently at Xie Yuan, she suddenly heard her brother let out a low cry.

"This is bad!"

Lin Zhen turned to look, confused, and saw Lin Cheng say quickly,

"Some people are circling around to surround Master Xie!"

"Those men are very strong!"

Xie Yuan was leading the bandits in circles when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

From the front, left, and right, a bandit with a powerful aura charged him. Each led several companions, and along with the bandits behind him, they formed a complete encirclement!

Xie Yuan’s expression turned grim. The leaders of these groups had such vibrant Blood Qi that he could feel it from a great distance. They were all powerful experts of the First Transformation, no weaker than the chieftain he had killed at the start. It seemed they were all commanders.

The four chieftains took up positions on all sides, surrounding Xie Yuan with their blades pointed directly at him.

Xie Yuan stood his ground, his head turning slightly. His heart sank.

’I’m surrounded... None of these men are weak, and they have lackeys backing them up. Breaking out in any direction will be difficult.’

’What’s worse, more men are constantly arriving from behind. In a few moments, I’ll be surrounded three-deep.’

’They’re all experts whose Qi and Blood has transformed. Even I can’t just brute-force my way through a crowd like that.’

’I have to act fast.’

As the thought flashed through his mind, Xie Yuan broke into a slight smile.

"Quite the welcoming party, isn’t it?"

The bandit chieftain who had been chasing him said in a low voice,

"The Grand Commander has spoken. For your capture: ten thousand taels of Gold, a hundred beautiful maids, and a Cultivation Technique taught by the man himself. So, Xie Yuan, what do you think of our ’welcoming party’ now?"

"I see. Lu the Third really overestimates me. I had no idea I was worth so much."

Xie Yuan chuckled.

"So, if you do manage to capture me, who gets the credit? How are you going to split the rewards? You can’t exactly tear me into pieces, can you?"

At his words, the four chieftains were all taken aback.

They’d been struggling just to keep up with him, so naturally, they hadn’t considered this issue.

But now that the four of them had cornered him, Xie Yuan was a fish in a barrel, with no escape. The question of how to divide the spoils suddenly became a delicate matter.

The atmosphere grew tense. The four chieftains glanced at each other, but no one spoke or made the first move.

Xie Yuan saw more bandits arriving to reinforce the four chieftains. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

’Can’t wait any longer. I have to end this quickly!’

He scoffed.

"What are you all staring for? The prize is right here. Who dares to step up and claim it? I promise I won’t even fight back!"

With that, he tossed his saber to the ground. It stuck in the sand, wobbling unsteadily.

The bandits were all stunned, unsure of what he was playing at. Was he genuinely surrendering, or was this some kind of bluff?

Seizing the moment of their hesitation, Xie Yuan’s eyes flashed. His hand shot to his waist as he roared,

"Since none of you will make a move, I will!"

He drew his Chopping Wood axe, grunted with effort, and gripped it with both hands. Pouring all his strength into the weapon, he swung it in a vicious arc!

’What can such a small axe possibly do?’ the chieftains were still wondering when their expressions suddenly changed in unison.

A shadowy black halo of light shot out from the axe’s blade. With a deathly howl, it slashed toward all the enemies in front of him!

Sweep Across a Thousand Armies!

The three chieftains closing in from the front, left, and right felt their hair stand on end as a mortal crisis enveloped them.

In that life-or-death moment, they unleashed all their strength, hacking their sabers in unison at the immense halo of light.

BOOM! A deafening explosion erupted in front of them, throwing up a heaven-shaking cloud of sand and dust that forced everyone to squint.

When the dust settled, the bandits stared, their eyes widening in horror. The three chieftains had all been cleaved in two. They lay on the ground, their bodies still twitching. The bandits behind them, caught in just the aftershock, had also suffered heavy casualties and lay in a tangled heap!

Sweep Across a Thousand Armies. A technique that could scatter an army of thousands, let alone a pack of mere bandits.

The bandits fell deathly silent, their eyes wide with disbelief. The lone surviving chieftain—the one who had been chasing Xie Yuan from the beginning—suddenly shuddered, only then realizing his back was drenched in a cold sweat.

’What kind of technique was that?’

’Just... what is his level of power?’

The chieftain licked his dry lips. ’No wonder the Grand Commander put such a price on his head,’ he thought. ’This man is impossible for ordinary people to capture!’

Up on the sand dune, the fighting had slowly ground to a halt. Both the bandits and the four from the Sword Sect were frozen in a strange standoff.

All of their eyes were fixed on the scene below, their faces masks of utter disbelief.

Huang Zifeng, his face a picture of shock, whispered,

"How is that possible?"

"Even Senior Brother Xing Zhi, the strongest in the sect at the First Transformation Realm, couldn’t possibly kill so many experts of the same level in a single blow!"

Lin Zhen and Lin Cheng stood with their mouths agape, both muttering the exact same words as if they were twins:

"As expected of Master Xie..."

This was the first time Pei Yu had witnessed Xie Yuan’s true power. The cool, detached look on his face was replaced by a dumbfounded stare. His aloof demeanor shattered, and he couldn’t help but curse,

"Holy shit, he’s *that* strong?"

What does it mean to be an unparalleled monster? This! This is what it means!

Faced with an encirclement of powerful experts, he brought down his axe once, and no one dared to remain on their feet!

The other bandits, gawking at their dead chieftains littering the ground below, suddenly felt that the disciples of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect were the easier targets after all.

Down below, the surviving chieftain stood stunned for a long moment. Seeing that Xie Yuan’s speed up ahead had dropped sharply, he forced himself to appear calm and shouted,

"He’s exhausted! He can’t even run fast anymore! There’s no way he can use that move a second time! Get him! The reward is right there for the taking!"

Despite his words, as he watched his men charge forward, he quietly fell back to the rear of the group.

Xie Yuan took several deep breaths and put his head down, sprinting with all his might.

’The energy cost of Sweep Across a Thousand Armies was naturally immense, but it wasn’t enough to leave me unable to run.’

’He was actually afraid that if he seemed too powerful, the bandits would stop chasing him and go after Huang Zifeng and the others instead. Now *that* would be a problem.’

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