Martial Arts Overlord-Chapter 673 - 671: Yuan Xinglie Battles Yingkui

"So powerful!"

Luo Feng narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the path of fire that stretched straight into the depths of the dense forest.

Yuan Xinglie’s strength far exceeded that of any previous opponent; he was most likely on par with the elders of the Golden Palace.

Yuan Xinglie pointed a finger, looking down at Luo Feng with a calm, nonchalant expression. "Luo Feng, if you have any self-awareness, then cripple yourself."

A smile crept onto Luo Feng’s lips.

"What are you laughing at?"

Yuan Xinglie looked at Luo Feng in surprise, not having expected him to be able to smile at such a moment.

Luo Feng’s expression remained unchanged. He shook his head and said, "You can’t cripple me today."

"Do you really think you can stop me?"

A hint of disdain touched the corners of Yuan Xinglie’s mouth, his gaze somewhat malicious.

"That’s right."

Luo Feng nodded slightly and said to Yuan Xinglie, "You chased me for thousands of miles from the Imperial City all the way here. It must be for the Sword Heart Heaven Jade, right? The Sword Heart Heaven Jade is a rare treasure. If Qingyun Mansion wants it, why would the Yue Family ignore it? To be frank with you, ever since I left Sky Mountain, experts from the Yue Family have been protecting me along the way."

The situation is desperate. If I don’t find a way to escape, it’s a dead end. My only thought now is to stall him first, then look for a chance to get out of here. Under duress, he had quickly come up with this excuse.

As for fighting, after seeing his opponent instantly kill the mother body of the Blood Essence Demon Vine with a single strike, Luo Feng hadn’t even considered it.

Yuan Xinglie had intended to mock Luo Feng, but upon hearing his words, his brow furrowed.

I don’t sense any Yuan Qi fluctuations nearby, so there shouldn’t be any experts hiding. However, Luo Feng’s calm tone makes me inclined to believe him. In such a desperate situation, how could a teenager be so composed without something to rely on? And, just as Luo Feng said, the Sword Heart Heaven Jade is critically important. If the Azure Cloud Marquis would send me to cripple Luo Feng, it stands to reason the Yue Family would also dispatch experts.

Thinking about the death of the White-faced Saber Guest, Yuan Xinglie became even more convinced.

The White-faced Saber Guest was an expert at the peak of the fourth layer of the Spiritual Rotation Realm and had once slain a fifth-layer Spiritual Rotation Realm martial artist. How could he possibly be killed by a third-layer martial artist? There’s definitely something fishy about this!

Who could it be?

A sharp glint flickered in Yuan Xinglie’s eyes as he concentrated, scanning the surroundings.

Sensing the unusual movement of Yuan Qi around Yuan Xinglie, Luo Feng’s eyes flashed.

Now is the time!

BOOM!

"Golden Sun Breaking Slash!"

His eyes glinting fiercely, five golden suns blazed behind Luo Feng. He slashed out, sending a circular Saber Gang, five to six meters in diameter, hurtling towards Yuan Xinglie at an incredible speed.

Concealed behind the Saber Gang was a faint purplish-red flame.

The Saber Gang reached Yuan Xinglie in an instant. A trace of disdain flashed in his eyes as he reached out to grab it.

CRACK!

The fierce Saber Gang, powerful enough to slice a small mountain in half, was caught firmly in Yuan Xinglie’s hand, unable to move. With a slight exertion of force, it instantly shattered.

But at that very moment, suddenly—

BOOM!

A thunderous roar erupted as a searing purple flame shot dozens of meters into the sky. It was as if a violent purple sun had materialized in mid-air, completely engulfing Yuan Xinglie’s figure.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

The explosions thundered over a dozen times, the intense shockwaves making the earth tremble. Visible purple shockwaves radiated outwards, instantly pulverizing nearby grass and trees. Dust and debris filled the air, creating a scene of utter devastation.

Run! Run! Run!

Seizing this momentary gap, Luo Feng desperately channeled the Yuan Qi within him, pushing his Teng Dragon’s Step to its absolute limit. Ten soaring dragons seemed to writhe and roar as he bolted towards the depths of the Red Dragon Mountain Range.

Although the difference in our strength is huge, he doesn’t intend to kill me. Plus, this is the Red Dragon Mountain Range, which is fraught with danger. I’m confident that as long as I can create some distance, I can definitely shake off Yuan Xinglie with my powerful Soul Power.

「High in the clouds, thousands of meters up,」

a figure shrouded in Black Cloud stood amidst them, watching the scene below. His pitch-black eyes flickered slightly as he muttered to himself, "What a spectacular performance. I almost thought I’d been exposed, but it turns out it was just a feint. For this kid to remain so calm in such a desperate situation... in terms of mental fortitude, he’s comparable to a true powerhouse..."

His gaze shifted slightly, landing on the roiling purple fireball. His eyes sparkled as he mused, "That’s the Purple Fire Burst Bomb from Purple Mist Palace. It seems everything he said earlier was just to distract Yuan Xinglie so he could launch this attack. If it were a fifth or sixth-layer Spiritual Rotation Realm expert, this blow would have left them severely injured, if not dead. Unfortunately for him, Yuan Xinglie is one of the three great stewards of Qingyun Mansion; his strength isn’t that simple."

「Above the dense forest.」

BOOM!

The raging purple fireball suddenly erupted from within, releasing countless golden rays before exploding outwards. An even more domineering and scorching aura instantly swept across the entire forest.

With a wave of Yuan Xinglie’s hand, the sky full of purple fire was instantly extinguished. A palm-sized, charred mark was visible on the sleeve of his left garment.

Glancing at his sleeve, Yuan Xinglie’s gaze fell on Luo Feng, who was fleeing in the distance. His brow twitched, and his eyes blazed with boundless fury.

"You brat! It’s been decades since anyone dared to fool me, Yuan Xinglie!"

To think he’d been bested by a mere teenager; Yuan Xinglie felt his old face flush. His eyes narrowed slightly, his body gleaming with a dazzling golden radiance. He swung his palm towards Luo Feng’s direction, unleashing an arc of fiery light.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

The arc of flame swelled as it flew, moving at an incredible speed, and in an instant, it surpassed Luo Feng.

Danger!

A warning flashed through Luo Feng’s mind, and he immediately stopped.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

The arc of flame landed a hundred meters in front of him. The entire forest seemed to tremble as the trees were cleaved open, creating a gash over a hundred meters wide. Scorching, dazzling flames shot up, exceeding twenty to thirty meters in height, forming a wall of fire. The shockwave scraped away a layer of the nearby ground, causing it to sink five to six meters.

Looking at the towering, raging wall of fire, Luo Feng felt a chill in his heart.

BOOM!

The sound of an explosion from behind drew near again. Luo Feng felt an icy chill on his back. Turning, he saw a fiery light, over ten meters wide, tearing through the air and rocketing towards him at speeds far exceeding sound.

Without hesitation, Luo Feng stepped forward, gripped his Rage Flame Knife with both hands, and slashed out with all his might.

CRACKLE!

A brilliant blade-light extended from the Rage Flame Knife, coalescing into a white line. It shot out at a speed invisible to the naked eye, fiercely striking the incoming fiery light.

CLANG!

The moment the blade-light struck the fiery light, Luo Feng felt as if he’d been slammed by a mountain. His body shot backward, leaving a clear shockwave in mid-air, and he crashed heavily into a giant tree a hundred meters away.

SPURT!

A sweet taste welled up in his throat, and Luo Feng spat out a mouthful of blood. Leaning on the Rage Flame Knife, he looked at the rapidly approaching Yuan Xinglie and said with a bitter smile, "It seems my odds are really against me this time."

WHOOSH!

Yuan Xinglie landed ten paces in front of Luo Feng and slowly closed the distance, sneering, "You should be proud that I’m dealing with you personally. Now, tell me, will it be your left hand or your right?"

"I’d like to keep both, but unfortunately, it seems you won’t agree."

Luo Feng took a deep breath, gripped the Rage Flame Knife tightly in both hands, and stood tall, his gaze as sharp as a blade’s edge.

This brat absolutely cannot be allowed to live...

Facing Luo Feng’s gaze, an inexplicable chill welled up in Yuan Xinglie’s heart. His eyes turned extremely sinister.

Genius isn’t frightening. Sometimes, a single setback can reduce a genius to an ordinary person. But when a genius also possesses a ’Heart as firm as a blade,’ that is truly terrifying! For a martial artist, the first thing to cultivate is the heart.

WHOOSH!

A cold light flashed in Yuan Xinglie’s eyes. At the tip of his right index finger, a golden, spiraling flame throbbed violently. He pointed, and the flame shot through the air, appearing slow but moving with deceptive speed.

HISS!

The golden flame, seeming almost tangible, pierced the air with a sizzling, cutting sound, aiming straight for Luo Feng’s right arm.

HUM!

Five golden suns manifested behind Luo Feng as he prepared for a desperate, last-ditch struggle.

CRACKLE!

A thunderclap resounded as a black arc of lightning, a meter thick, descended from the sky, landing protectively in front of Luo Feng.

BOOM!

The golden flame collided with the black lightning arc and was instantly obliterated. The ground before Luo Feng was pierced by the black lightning, revealing a bottomless black hole!

Both Luo Feng and Yuan Xinglie were startled.

"Who goes there?"

Yuan Xinglie’s figure flickered, and he retreated nearly a hundred meters before stopping. His sharp gaze fixed on the sky as a golden halo materialized around him.

BOOM!

From the sky, a massive black lightning bolt tore through the clouds and struck down in front of Luo Feng.

The next moment, the lightning dissipated, and a figure appeared before Luo Feng.

The figure was completely encased in pitch-black armor, revealing only a pair of icy eyes. Like a colossal beast of steel, his mere appearance caused the somewhat sweltering forest to suddenly turn cold.

Luo Feng sized up the steel behemoth before him and took a deep breath.

This person’s aura is as obscure and profound as an abyss, like a boundless black ocean. I can’t see through him at all. His cultivation must be at the sixth layer of the Spiritual Rotation Realm or higher.

"Luo Feng was right. Since your Qingyun Mansion sent people to hunt him down, how could my master simply ignore it?"

The eyes beneath the armor stared coldly at Yuan Xinglie, and even the voice carried an icy chill, devoid of any human emotion, only a grim, killing intent.

Luo Feng’s heart skipped a beat. I never expected the excuse I blurted out would actually turn out to be true!

Yuan Xinglie stared intently at the steel giant, his expression extremely grim. "Yingkui! I never imagined the Yue Family Head would send his own shadow just to protect this brat!"

Yingkui responded icily, "Didn’t the Azure Cloud Marquis also send one of his three great stewards?"

"Hmph, your arrival is most opportune! I’ve long heard the Yue Family Head has a shadow that has never known defeat. Today, I will ensure both of you are buried here!"

A sneer appeared on Yuan Xinglie’s face. As he spoke, the golden halo around him suddenly split into three, enveloping his entire body.

WHOOSH...

In an instant, a fierce wind ravaged the forest. The surrounding hundred meters transformed into a sea of fire, exuding a domineering, scorching aura, like a veritable inferno on earth.

"Sky Triple-Fire Skill?" Yingkui’s eyes flickered slightly. With a cold snort, he stepped forward, and a powerful aura emanated from his body, enveloping Luo Feng.

WHOOSH!

By the time Luo Feng reacted, he found himself on a giant tree a kilometer away.

Executing Teng Dragon’s Step, Luo Feng leaped to the canopy above the giant tree, watching the two figures facing off a kilometer away.

Against an expert like Yuan Xinglie, running is pointless now. Besides, the chance to witness a battle between masters of this caliber is incredibly rare and would be immensely beneficial for my cultivation. I can’t miss this.

In the dense forest, flames on Yuan Xinglie’s side blazed to the heavens, dyeing half the sky red. Yingkui’s side, however, was deceptively calm; one could only vaguely discern distorted wisps of black energy coiling around his Han Tie armor.

"Let me see just how capable you are, Yingkui, the renowned ’Shadow of Death’!"

Yuan Xinglie’s pupils had, at some unknown point, turned golden. His hands formed into empty grips as his entire being transformed into a massive fireball. He then shot forward, charging straight at Yingkui, the ground cracking in his wake.

Yingkui stood his ground, motionless. When Yuan Xinglie closed to within ten paces, black flames suddenly erupted from Yingkui’s body as he thrust out a palm.

CRACKLE!

The pitch-black flames transformed into an arc of lightning that roared outwards. Mid-flight, it suddenly branched out, forming a black electric net nearly a hundred meters wide.

BOOM!

The black and red energies collided, locked in a stalemate, emitting a series of sharp, explosive crackles before finally detonating violently.

A pillar of black and red light surged skyward as rings of shockwaves swept out, instantly reducing everything within a radius of several hundred meters to dust, leaving not a single thing intact.

Even a kilometer away, Luo Feng had to activate his Protective Gang Qi to withstand the impact. Gazing towards where the two had been, he couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

Where Yingkui and Yuan Xinglie had stood, a massive crater, hundreds of meters in diameter and over a hundred meters deep, had appeared out of nowhere, as if a meteor had struck the earth.

The strength of these two... they’re at least at the eighth layer of the Spiritual Rotation Realm!

Luo Feng’s eyes widened in shock. At the same time, he finally understood why the gap between himself and Yuan Xinglie was so immense.

BOOM!

With a single step that cracked the earth, Yuan Xinglie shot into the sky.

WHOOSH!

The flames in the nearby forest, as if drawn by an invisible force, surged upwards and converged around Yuan Xinglie, burning fiercely and causing his aura to abruptly skyrocket.

"Three Yuan Mysterious Gold Saber!"

With a great roar, the sky-filling flames coalesced into a golden war saber, dozens of zhang long. Burning with furious intensity and imbued with boundless power, the heat radiating from the saber evaporated the very clouds in the sky.

RUMBLE!

Golden light suffused Yuan Xinglie’s eyes as the colossal war saber slashed down from above, emitting a thunderous sound, as if intending to utterly shatter the space around Yingkui.

Yingkui remained silent, the black flames enveloping him intensifying further. They transformed into several black lightning pythons that hissed and lunged towards the giant war saber.

BOOM!

The colossal war saber, blazing with golden flames, fiercely struck the black lightning pythons, emitting a heaven-shaking sound.

CRACK! CRACKLE!

The black lightning pythons shattered one after another. The war saber, its momentum undiminished, continued its descent, carving a terrifying, hundred-meter-long gash into the forest, the edges of the cut as smooth as a mirror.

CRACK!

With a crisp sound, a fissure appeared on Yingkui’s helmet, and a fragment, two fingers wide, broke off from the left side.

Luo Feng frowned slightly. Judging from the Yuan Qi fluctuations, Yuan Xinglie’s cultivation is slightly higher than Yingkui’s. He immediately sent a mental transmission to Yingkui, "Senior, perhaps we should leave this place first."

However, Yingkui remained rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.

"Hahahaha... It seems your reputation is merely an empty one!"

Yuan Xinglie roared with laughter, just as he was about to unleash another killing blow to finish off Yingkui. Suddenly, an icy voice issued from beneath the pitch-black armor.

"Insignificant insect!"

Yingkui raised his head, his gaze, utterly devoid of human emotion, fixed on Yuan Xinglie.

As their gazes met, a tremor went through Yuan Xinglie, and for the first time, fear flickered in his eyes. "Those eyes... You... You’re from the Demon Eye Clan of the West Desert’s Demon Realm!"

Deep within Yingkui’s eyes, a blood-red, cross-shaped pattern grew increasingly luminous.

"Demon Eye Clan?" Luo Feng was startled.

Just then, with a CRACKLE, a gigantic, cross-shaped arc of black lightning abruptly appeared before Yingkui. In a mere flash, it struck Yuan Xinglie.

FWOOSH!

Black flames surged skyward, and Yuan Xinglie was instantly incinerated, reduced to ashes.