Chapter 199: Fatal Attack

[Volume 3 - The Place Where My Heart Feels At Peace]

The combatant formula tides rose from level-ground like the unyielding willpower of this verdant world—it persistently gathered forth time and time again after being cut apart countless times.

Suddenly, the world stood still as if time had stopped for a moment. Following which, the jade glow was swept back with a speed faster than when it came. Accompanied by an incomparably harsh sound, Wu Zhengnan let out a muffled groan and staggered back several steps. The arm hanging vertically to his side was now bleeding even more profusely.

A gigantic bodhi leaf had appeared between Qianye and Wu Zhengnan. The distinct network of veins on the leaves that were as fine as muslin shattered into tiny fragments before fading into nothingness.

Song Zining's figure materialized soon afterwards, arriving nonchalantly with an unconstrained demeanor. As he stood before Qianye and spread his hands, falling leaves began to rustle down. Each leaf was like a fully unsheathed blade that was rotating slowly and emanating a frosty murderous intent.

Wei Potian, who was almost thrown out of the courtyard by Qianye, had just regained his footing when he saw this scene, which caused his pupils to almost pop out of their sockets. Why were they locked in such a long battle during their earlier fight if Song Zining really had such strength?

Astonishment flashed across Wu Zhengnan's eyes as he gazed at the tiny specks of lingering light. "You actually have such an extraordinary treasure. What is your position in the Song family?" But then he shook his head and grinned. "How many of such treasures can you take out? You can die together with them since you refuse to take the way out."

Song Zining smiled lightly. "Could it be that the general is a bit disappointed after failing to shift the blame to the Huaiyang Wu Clan?"

Wu Zhengnan's expression changed.

Song Zining revealed a spurious smile. "That's really... a pity. It almost seems as if you've been abandoned once again?" While talking, he gestured to Qianye and then swept out with his palm. Tens of thousands of leaves were blasted toward Wu Zhengnan with irresistible momentum as if they were swept forth by a storm.

Wu Zhengnan's attention was affected after hearing Song Zining's words. It seemed as if the latter was exceedingly familiar with his most intimate secrets.

He couldn't help but erupt in fury after looking up to find the origin power light blasting towards him. "Junior, you dare to deceive me!"

Wu Zhengnan took large strides toward Song Zining and struck out with a simple blow. The point of his fist erupted with a lingering half meter wide jade-green light and whistled through the air like a blade. Champion level origin power attacks usually reached ten meters or more in diameter, but Wu Zhengnan's was stronger and more concentrated. His strike was only half a meter wide which indicated just how concentrated and powerful his attack was.

The whirlwind carrying the numerous leaf blades came into contact with the glow of Wu Zhengnan's fist. However, no matter how many leaves there were, all of them were ground to pieces after entering the range of the jade-green light. They couldn't block the clashing momentum of this single fist and were only able to shave off a few corners of the jade-green radiance.

Song Zining swiftly stepped back but his faintly discernible figure was forced to materialize at a dangerous position—attacks from a champion rank expert were able to affect the space in a vicinity. Wu Zhengnan had exerted full power behind this blow and naturally wouldn't let the former escape unscathed.

He sneered and shifted the trajectory of his fist, causing the strike to sweep toward Song Zining. He had already sensed someone was ambushing him from behind but he didn't have the slightest intention to change his offensive stance—the other two brats might not even be able to break through the defense around his body. In Wu Zhengnan's eyes, only Song Zining posed a true threat. He had to kill this person first at all costs.

Qianye and Song Zining had fought side by side countless times during their time in the Yellow Springs Training Camp. Hence, Qianye immediately understood the latter's hand gesture and intention. Wu Zhengnan was simply too powerful—none of them would be able to receive a direct blow—hence, there was only one method, and that was to attack instead of defending. They had to attack actively and find an opportunity to take advantage of.

The patterns on Qianye's Radiant Edge lit up immediately. The surging dark red glow of blood completely enshrouded the blade's edge. Those beautiful and complex origin power patterns were exceptionally distinct tonight, floating within the bloody glow like a cryptic totem.

Qianye stabbed toward Wu Zhengnan's lower back.

But at this moment, Wu Zhengnan suddenly sensed an imminent and serious threat coming from the back. His instincts, honed over many years in battle, allowed him to react instantly by drawing in one side of his abdomen. However, he still felt a burning pain despite taking an evasive step—a wound had appeared where he was sliced through.

Qianye withdrew the Radiant Edge and retreated. He was crying out in his mind what a pity it was. Champion rank experts were indeed extraordinary in that their senses were astonishingly keen. Wu Zhengnan obviously had the intention to endure the blow with his physical defenses at first while Qianye also withheld his blade until he was well in position. Only then did he inject origin power, drew the Radiant Edge and slashed forth as swiftly as possible.

Wu Zhengnan had unexpectedly evaded an attack Qianye had launched with full force and one which he believed would definitely connect.

Wu Zhengnan clearly saw the weapon that had wounded him. He sneered. "You're courting death!" The former was also a man who made prompt decisions. After discovering that the weapon in Qianye's hand was capable of breaking through his defenses, he immediately shook off Song Zining—he switched from fist to palm and shot out a beam of jade-green origin power toward Qianye.

Qianye immediately dived toward the side, curled into a ball and rolled twice before quickly shooting up once again.

Wu Zhengnan only smiled coldly when he saw the series of flashy evasive maneuvers carried out by Qianye. He strode out and pushed out with his palm. Simple tricks were virtually ineffective against champion rank warriors—they could wound the enemy as long as they were within the range of their origin power.

However, numerous falling leaves appeared out of nowhere to interfere with Wu Zhengnan's vision. Normally, such an obstruction wouldn't affect his attack but he felt his hand suddenly grow heavy as a fist struck his right shoulder. This attack did little to reduce the force behind the palm strike. It was only able to change the trajectory ever so slightly.

Although it was just a subtle deviation, Qianye had already taken advantage of his opportunity to escape the range of Wu Zhengnan's palm wind.

Wu Zhengnan couldn't help but feel greatly frustrated after missing narrowly one time after another. Origin power began to rush forth like a wild hurricane with a wave of his large hand. The upper floor of the small house was swept up with a loud boom and transformed into rustling debris—only a few sturdy metallic frames were left in place, albeit bent out of shape.

Wei Potian let out a muffled groan as he was flung toward the back. The ridges and peaks projected by the Thousand Mountains began to break and collapse in sequence. The earthen yellow radiance had been thoroughly extinguished. The attack had directly broken through Wei Potian's Thousand Mountains, causing him to turn as pale as a sheet before collapsing onto the ground. He was momentarily powerless to even stand up.

Previously, Wei Potian was observing Song Zining and Qianye's joint attack from the side—he lacked the tacit understanding the other two had developed over long periods of cooperation and his strength was too weak compared to Wu Zhengnan. He would only be a burden if he charged in recklessly. Later on, he was able to find an opening to join the battle but Wu Zhengnan's counterattack proved rather unpleasant.

But Wei Potian's strike wasn't completely ineffective. Wu Zhengnan wasn't too concerned when he was struck, but now he began to feel a hint of pain being transmitted from his fingertips after he released the origin power palm strike. He focused his gaze therein and found that some parts of his skin on the back of his hand had begun to split apart. There were tiny specks of remnant origin power flickering brightly like the stars and causing a numb sensation to creep up onto the back of his hand.

Jade-green radiance flooded out as Wu Zhengnan swung his hands, completely dissolving the remnant origin power. He then revealed a sinister smile and said, "Well done! The Wei clan heir's secret arts are indeed extraordinary." Qianye wounding him was due to the sharpness of his blade. Wei Potian, on the other hand, was actually able to wound the hand from which he was shooting out origin power.

"This is truly a waste of time!" Wu Zhengnan suddenly stomped down with such force that the whole courtyard began to shake. His body seemed as if it was covered in jade-green flame arrows as he charged toward Song Zining.

There was no longer any space for maneuver at this distance and speed.

With a shift of his right hand, an oblong crystalline object appeared in Song Zining's grasp. He flicked his wrist to extend the item to twice its previous length—the tip of this weapon flashed with a cold gleam. Judging from the shape, this was a short spear. Song Zining maintained his standing position but his aura was completely unmasked. This was the cold killing intent which belonged to a Yellow Spring graduate, the aura of someone who had survived through seas of blood and mountains of corpses.

At the same time, Qianye, who was standing in one corner of the courtyard, let out a low growl. He charged forth with the same movement as Wu Zhengnan and, unexpectedly, with a speed that wasn't slower than the latter. It even seemed as if he would arrive first despite the late initiation.

Wu Zhengnan laughed maliciously and released origin power from his body which condensed into a jade-green light akin to the point of a sharp arrow!

A loud "boom" resounded with a lingering sound akin to the march of a powerful army. Clusters of flames enshrouded in cold jade-green radiance shot through the air to clash against the enemy before they were eventually extinguished.

Song Zining crashed into a broken wall before he was able to halt his receding steps, his pale face almost becoming transparent.

Qianye and Wu Zhengnan crashed into each other in the courtyard and weren't able separate immediately after the exchange. Even Wu Zhengnan hadn't expected that such a powerful force would be transmitted toward him from the side. Even though he was facing Song Zining to the front, it shouldn't have been possible for him to lose out to Qianye in a collision of origin power. It was obvious that the other party's physical strength and power were astonishing.

Qianye had precisely crashed into Wu Zhengnan's left where his crippled left arm had formed a gap in his defenses. However, Wu Zhengan let out a cold snort as he shifted his center of gravity and closed in toward Qianye, effectively interrupting the slash of the Radiant Edge.

The body of a champion level expert was a sharp weapon in and of itself—Wu Zhengnan stood mighty and unmoving—Qianye, on the other hand, felt as if he had been struck by a giant hammer and almost tumbled away. Qianye abruptly opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood which drenched Wu Zhengnan's head and face. Afterwards, he staggered back several steps before he was able to dissolve the incoming force.

Wu Zhengnan smelled a bizarre and sweet fragrance during the short moment his vision was blocked by the bloody mist.

Qianye stood with the Radiant Edge firmly in his grasp. Its complex patterns lit up once again, but this time, the glow emerging from it was actually purple.

Wu Zhengnan suddenly felt his heart throb violently for a couple of times as the fragrance lingering around his nose intensified. This was undoubtedly the sign of an anomaly, but as it happened, he couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary at all.

He glanced around the ruins of this small courtyard and suddenly said, "If you give up right now, I might give you all a clean death!"

Qianye glanced around and found Song Zining leaning on a broken wall, unable to move his body. Wei Potian's expression, on the other hand, had recovered somewhat, but his legs had gone limp and were in no position to stand.

Qianye said in a heavy tone, "I don't have a habit of surrendering." With that, the Radiant Edge transforemed into a purple radiance as he brandished his blade and sallied forth.

A flame pillar of alternating black and red erupted as soon as the purple and jade-green lights came together! The blaze immediately surged over ten-odd meters high and almost completely purged the incoming blade light! Wu Zhengnan's major general uniform was burning brightly at the center of this flaming pillar but he himself was evidently unaffected.

Qianye was astonished—he immediately withdrew his blade and fell back. The blood energy within his body suddenly began to churn and rage, immediately reaching a state of blood boil.

Wu Zhengnan's naked body gradually became visible. While not very tall, the man was definitely well built. His muscular body seemed as if it was formed of twisted steel wires. Many small and uneven dark patches could be seen all over his body. Upon closer inspection, one would find that all of them were scales.