Chapter Ninety: Battle
What had seemed a distance of several dozen meters was now but a step away.
Qin Yi waved his right hand, sending a flash of silver streaking toward Wu Yulong’s chest, carried by a fierce gust. The speed was so swift that Wu Yulong’s expression changed. “It’s not inferior to the speed of a top-tier ninth rank!” He struck as well—a small curved blade appeared before the silver streak, crashing against it in a sudden blow.
With a clang, the dagger and the curved blade collided, then withdrew at lightning speed. Qin Yi felt a tremendous force surge through his right hand, making his wrist tingle. “His strength is a notch above mine!”
“Whale Devourer!” Qin Yi shouted, his dagger multiplying into countless silver flashes, enveloping Wu Yulong.
“Dragon Transformation!” Wu Yulong gazed at the multitude of silver lights and, without hesitation, unleashed a secret technique. The curved blade in his hand transformed into a jet-black streak, plunging into the sea of silver. There was nothing subtle or deceptive about his moves, but the dark blade flickered and vibrated, striking more than thirty times in the blink of an eye.
Sparks flew, metal clashed incessantly. Both men twisted their wrists, their figures entwined, shifting positions dozens of times in mere seconds.
In the corner, Jiang Ying, Qi Feng, and the others stared, dumbfounded, at the entwined shadows inside the building. The speed was simply astonishing. No words could adequately describe the scene.
“What level are these two at?” Jiang Ying felt as if his neck were squeezed tight, his breath constricted, a heavy stone pressing on his heart. That Qiao Bin from the Fortune Gang was a ninth rank, wasn’t he? But compared to these two...
It seemed they weren’t even in the same league!
Right now, they had forgotten to flee, mesmerized by the spectacle.
It was overwhelming.
Clang!
The two figures separated in an instant.
Qin Yi glanced at his dagger—it was broken. He tossed it aside. Wu Yulong didn’t continue his attack either, discarding his cracked curved blade.
“You’re no ordinary ninth rank,” Wu Yulong said, his face grave. The intelligence Wu Zhi had given him before was false! Wu Zhi had said Qin Feng was suspected to be ninth rank, but the man before him was not just ninth rank—he was among the strongest of that tier!
His strength was only slightly inferior, but his speed surpassed Wu Yulong’s by a margin. Wu Yulong’s ability to slay ordinary ninth ranks stemmed from his cultivation of ninth rank martial arts, giving him superior speed and strength within his class. Moreover, his technique was especially fast, granting him an advantage in duels against peers.
Yet Qin Feng’s speed matched the pinnacle of ninth rank, and he was so young!
“You are no ordinary ninth rank either,” Qin Yi replied.
To be honest, the man before him was as fast as the leader from the Crimson Sect he’d encountered before, and even as swift as Elder Zhang Daoxuan. In terms of strength, however, he far surpassed Elder Zhang.
“If that’s all you’ve got, you’ll still die. I only used eighty percent of my power,” Wu Yulong declared, his face radiating absolute confidence. The secret techniques of ninth rank martial arts were far stronger than those of the lesser ranks!
As soon as his words fell, his figure lunged at Qin Yi again.
“Dragon Leap!”
Midway, Wu Yulong’s speed abruptly surged. His figure vanished from Qin Yi’s sight. A palm appeared before Qin Yi’s forehead, arriving in a strange, uncanny manner. The vibrating air made Qin Yi’s scalp sting.
“Teleport!”
Qin Yi shifted his position.
“You can’t escape!” The voice whispered at his ear.
“If your speed is only this fast, let me show you what faster means!” Qin Yi’s face wore an enigmatic smile. With a light step, his speed increased once more.
In barely a tenth of a second, the distance between him and Wu Yulong widened rapidly.
He had evaded Wu Yulong’s range of attack!
“What?” Wu Yulong’s eyelid twitched, his pupils contracting.
This speed!
It was even faster than the extreme limit of ninth rank!
“My turn now!” Qin Yi’s figure vanished from Wu Yulong’s sight.
“Instant Step!”
“Moonstride!”
Wu Yulong’s breathing stopped, as if his heart had ceased beating.
“This way!” Wu Yulong struck rapidly to his left, filling the air with palm shadows.
The next instant, he heard a tearing sound from his right.
“Piercing Strike!”
“It’s over!”
With a sickening sound, Qin Yi landed a blow and quickly widened the gap.
A burning pain seared Wu Yulong’s right shoulder; turning his head, he saw three deep wounds exposing bone, blood flooding his shoulder.
“Again!” Qin Yi vanished once more.
“Instant Step!”
Just as Qin Yi moved, Wu Yulong, not willing to be beaten to the punch, acted as well.
Swish!
“Die!”
“Dragon Dance of the Nine Heavens!”
A barrage of palm shadows enveloped Qin Yi, intending to restrict his speed.
“Skyward!”
“Overturn!”
Boom!
Wu Yulong felt a tremendous pain in his back, his body thrown forward.
Crash...
The floor burst open, a gaping hole beneath him. Wu Yulong’s body was wedged in the pit, a concave wound visible on his back. He could sense his spine had snapped—he was unable to rise.
“How is this possible! I mastered top-tier ninth rank martial arts, unmatched in my class. How can you, a jack-of-all-trades, be stronger than me!” Wu Yulong’s eyes nearly burst, disbelief etched across his face.
He’d lost because his opponent’s speed exceeded his own—not by just a margin, but by more than one tier!
If only his speed were not inferior, he wouldn’t have been so humiliatingly defeated!
Qin Yi was a bit surprised.
Earlier, when Wu Yulong killed Qiao Bin in an instant, Qin Yi knew he wasn’t ordinary—turns out, he practiced ninth rank martial arts!
Ninth rank martial arts—only the Glazed Sect and the Imperial Court possessed them in Dayong!
“Because!” Qin Yi’s figure vanished yet again.
“I’ve mastered nine second-tier martial arts!”
With a sickening sound, Qin Yi’s spare dagger pierced Wu Yulong’s forehead, shattering his skull and ending his life in bitter unwillingness.
While Qin Yi searched the corpse, Jiang Ying, Qi Feng, and the others huddled against the wall, their legs weak.
Gulp...
They dared neither to leave nor speak.
In truth, the fight between Qin Yi and Wu Yulong had lasted less than half a minute.
After searching, Qin Yi found only eight hundred silver notes—no secret ninth rank martial arts techniques!
“I thought I could obtain a ninth rank martial art...” Qin Yi shook his head slightly.
He turned to the others present in the hall.