This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

Chapter 147: Chapter 15: I Will Slay You

Lin Mingyu’s expression remained impassive, and his words were so cold-blooded that even Lin Yan felt the two men had died for nothing.

Such was the fate of those who aided a villain.

"I must admit, you’re quite talented in the Sword Dao. But in the face of an absolute gap in our Realms, none of that matters."

As his words fell, the aura around Lin Mingyu surged. He was, without a doubt, a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist.

However, the aura emanating from Lin Mingyu was completely different from that of any other Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist Lin Yan had ever faced.

It carried a unique pressure, making Lin Yan’s Qi Blood churn and his breathing labored.

’What’s going on? Is it because of his special Cultivation Technique?’

"So what if you have Sword Intent?"

Lin Mingyu’s gaze was filled with condescending disdain. He raised his right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist, a faint crimson glow swirling over its surface. "You think I’m just some ordinary Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist? You’re dead wrong."

"I began preparing for Blood Exchange a month ago. A Martial Artist from a backwater place like you has probably never even met someone from the Blood Exchange Realm. Let me tell you, that Sword Intent of yours can’t even dream of breaking my Blood Qi Protection Gang."

Lin Yan tightened his grip on his longsword but didn’t move.

He wasn’t intimidated by Lin Mingyu’s words, but he didn’t make any rash moves either.

Lin Mingyu advanced slowly, each step radiating an oppressive aura, as if he were toying with a caged animal.

"Hand over the Purple Essence Fruit, and I’ll give you a quick death. If you don’t, I’ll snap your bones one by one and let you experience a fate worse than death."

"Don’t you ever get a chance to speak? You sure run your mouth a lot."

Lin Yan spoke calmly. His words made Lin Mingyu falter, clearly stunned that Lin Yan would still dare to speak to him like that at a time like this.

As far as Lin Yan was concerned, he’d only know if he could win after they fought.

His sword-wielding right arm lowered slightly, the tip of the blade pointing toward the ground. Lin Yan’s entire body was like a bow being drawn taut, every inch of his muscles silently gathering strength.

Lin Mingyu’s brow twitched, but the cold sneer on his lips didn’t fade.

"Just a bluff."

Unfazed by Lin Mingyu’s mockery, Lin Yan tightened his grip on his longsword as a low, thunderous rumble erupted from his spine.

Stone Waist Thunder Ridge, full power!

A continuous series of cracks echoed from his vertebrae, like the roll of distant thunder.

Amidst this succession of sharp cracks, his frame visibly elongated, stretching his clothes taut.

He stepped forward, raised his sword, and swung!

His figure became a blur, powered by the fully unleashed Stone Waist Thunder Ridge and his unreserved Silk Binding Sword Intent.

He put all his trump cards into this one strike.

Thirty-six strands of sword light, fine as silk yet carrying an ultimate sharpness, shot straight for Lin Mingyu’s face.

A mocking smile played on Lin Mingyu’s lips. He didn’t even move an inch.

"A mantis trying to stop a chariot. You don’t know your own limits!"

His right fist shot out, a crimson glow swirling over its surface. The dense light immediately enveloped all the Sword Silks.

CLANG!

With a sharp ring, all the sword lights were deflected by that thin layer of crimson light, leaving nothing but a faint white scratch.

Lin Yan felt an immense force travel up the blade. His entire arm shuddered, and he was involuntarily forced back two steps.

Lin Mingyu hadn’t budged at all, and the mockery on his lips deepened.

"I told you, your Sword Intent can’t break my Blood Qi Protection Gang. Now... it’s time I showed you what true power is."

He took a step forward and threw his left fist.

The wind from the punch howled like a collapsing mountain, bearing down with a terrifying crimson glow.

Lin Yan’s pupils contracted. He executed the Smoke-Stepping Technique, his body drifting to the side like a wisp of smoke.

But he only managed to evade by half a foot. The force of the punch grazed his shoulder, and even without a direct hit, the terrifying shockwave sent him staggering back several steps. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

Just one punch.

With just that one punch, the disparity in their strength was obvious.

Lin Mingyu didn’t pursue. He stood his ground, looking down on Lin Yan as if watching his prey in its death throes.

"I told you, you can’t break my Blood Gang," he said coolly. "If you had reached the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing, your Sword Intent might have posed a minor threat. But as you are now..."

Lin Yan licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. "You’re just flaunting your higher Realm because you’ve lived a few years longer. If we were at the same Realm, I’d kill you like a dog."

His mind raced, calculating his options.

’I can’t win.’

’A head-on clash is hopeless.’

’My Realm is still too low. The power of Sword Intent depends not only on my mastery of it but also on my own strength.’

’Run?’

The thought had barely formed before Lin Yan dismissed it.

’The Smoke-Stepping Technique isn’t a long-distance Qinggong; it’s footwork for maneuvering in a small area. He’s at a higher Realm and has more Qi Blood. Trying to escape would just be a waste of my own Qi Blood.’

Lin Mingyu’s face turned ice-cold. It was the first time anyone had ever called him a "dog."

"You’re dead. I’m going to torture you until you’re begging for death."

Lin Yan’s expression remained unchanged in the face of the threat. He had dared to say it precisely because he’d anticipated this reaction; he was intentionally provoking his opponent.

’An angry man is prone to mistakes.’

"Torture me?" Lin Yan said calmly. "I guess you don’t want this Purple Essence Fruit then."

He pulled the Purple Essence Fruit from his robes and held it in his palm. With a single squeeze, he could destroy it in an instant.

"You dare!"

Lin Mingyu stopped in his tracks, his pupils constricting as a flicker of panic crossed his face.

His voice shot up. "If you dare destroy the Purple Essence Fruit, I won’t just kill you—your entire clan will pay with their lives! The Third Branch can’t protect you, and they certainly won’t protect your whole family!"

He had searched a long time for this Purple Essence Fruit to break through to the Blood Exchange Realm, even going so far as to violate clan rules. If it were destroyed, it would take him years to reach the Blood Exchange Realm.

It was a consequence he could not afford.

Lin Yan watched him, silent.

’He wanted to say, my entire "clan" is just two people.’

They stared at each other for a breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Suddenly, Lin Yan’s right hand flicked up. The Purple Essence Fruit shot off to the right, while Lin Yan himself darted in the opposite direction.

Seeing Lin Yan throw the Purple Essence Fruit, Lin Mingyu immediately lunged to catch it. In his mind, Lin Yan had been backed into a corner and was trying to use the moment Lin Mingyu was distracted to escape.

’Idiot!’

’Even if I’m delayed for a few breaths, I can still easily catch him.’

Watching Lin Mingyu chase after the Purple Essence Fruit, Lin Yan stopped in his tracks. He had no intention of running; throwing the fruit was merely a ploy to buy a few breaths of time.

He glanced at the six Martial Arts Fruits on his Martial Arts Tree and didn’t hesitate for a moment.

’Consume!’

In his mind, the six Martial Arts Fruits shattered simultaneously. Seventy-two years’ worth of cultivation flooded like a broken dam into the purple leaf representing the Jinghong Sword Technique.

The sparse white veins on the leaf’s surface began to grow frantically.

They spread from the stem to the tip, branching out from the main veins, dense as a spider’s web, fine as silk, weaving the entire leaf into an intricate net.

The veins were no longer sparse white lines but a densely interwoven mesh. Each thread was crystal clear, emitting a soft glow that rendered the entire leaf translucent and brilliant.

The leaf trembled gently, and a cool stream of energy flowed out from it, coursing through his meridians and spreading throughout his body.

It wasn’t Qi Blood, nor was it Inner Strength. It was something more fundamental, more pure.

It was an understanding of the sword!

An enlightenment of the "silk"!

More than that, it was the culmination of one hundred and forty-four years of arduous Swordsmanship practice.

A century of bitter practice, a moment of sudden enlightenment.

Silk Binding Sword Intent, Perfection.

Lin Yan opened his eyes.

Within his eyes, countless strands of sword light, as fine as hairs, seemed to swirl.

He raised his longsword once more and swung it toward Lin Mingyu.

Just as Lin Mingyu caught the Purple Essence Fruit, a look of joy flashing in his eyes, an unprecedented sense of crisis shot through his heart before he could even turn, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

He whipped his head around.

Lin Yan had already raised his sword.

The sword fell.

The sword light was as fine as silk—soundless, formless, and shadowless.

Lin Mingyu’s pupils contracted violently. His mouth opened as if to say something...

But the sword light was already upon him.

PUFF.

A soft sound.

His Blood Qi Protection Gang, the defense he took so much pride in, melted away the instant it touched the sword light, like snow in a blazing fire.

The sword light tore through his Blood Qi Protection Gang unimpeded and struck him between the eyes.

A shocked expression still frozen on his face, Lin Mingyu fell from the sky, the Purple Essence Fruit clutched tightly in his hand even in death.

THUD!

Lin Yan supported himself with the tip of his sword, that single strike having completely exhausted his Qi Blood Power.

After a few breaths, once the Qi Blood in his body had settled, he walked over to where Lin Mingyu’s corpse had fallen.

"You used your age to bully me, and I used a century of Sword Dao to kill you. Perfectly fair!"

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