Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 196. Death’s Cold Embrace.

Abdain’s choice to make an attempt at a forceful disengagement inevitably caused the movements of his body and the flow of his Qi to change subtly. As a result, be it Laien or Yin, either of them noticed the subtle changes in the flow of Abdain’s minuscule actions and thus, they rejoiced secretly. They did keep in mind that there was still a possibility of Abdain acting, but given the man’s character, they considered any feints of this kind to be extremely unlikely. Moreover, even if they did mull over whether Abdain suddenly changed his fighting style or not, it wasn’t like their actions would change in any way. They had to remain cautious while pressuring Abdain no matter what, so apart from feeling good about winning their little gamble, they wasted no time or effort on pointless thinking.

That being said, the broad swing of Abdain’s sword finally reached Laien and Yin in what to everyone else were mere split-seconds. Then, pretty much just as all three participants in this clash expected, the broadsword of Abdain’s met Laien’s spear and was instantly robbed off the majority of its strength. Subsequently, despite Abdain’s efforts to use his raw strength and some Qi to break out of Laien’s technique, the broadsword proceeded to be flung over further sideways, making Abdain feel as if the handle was going to flick out of his hand were he to loosen his grip even a little.

“Damn it.” Abdain couldn’t help but click his tongue at the annoying development. He could tell that Laien’s hands were shaking slightly and could see that the energy around the boy’s spear had been momentarily almost depleted before regaining its strength, so had he chosen to pour all of his Qi into the attack, he would have likely managed to break through. However, considering that the kid he was facing was merely a dual practitioner of the eighth rank, still, in the mortal realm, this kind of result was straight up shameful. He had even taken a harmful medicine to push his cultivation level further just for this battle, but a little kid was still able to deflect a blow of his! Sure, he had been out of position and it wasn’t the most steadfast of swipes on his account, but still!

“I heard the reports,” Abdain thought bitterly as he grit his teeth slightly but relaxed them soon afterward after a moment of hesitation. “But these two really grew far stronger in just a day. How did they do it?” he asked himself as he gazed upon the two boys, who used the opportunity of his failed swipe and quickly rotated their bodies, thus allowing the one who had been in the back to swiftly get to the front. “They are beyond understanding,” Abdain admitted before himself and sighed in his heart. The sensation those two boys were giving him was one of clear danger and that was when these two were almost exhausted of Qi or spiritual energy. He couldn’t comprehend or understand the mysterious aura of insights those two emanated nor could he make sense of the water and lightning which seemed to dance in their eyes in a seemingly illusory way.

“No point swinging,” the unconscious thought passed through Abdain’s mind. He was almost entirely open at the moment, but even if he attempted to swing his broadsword down at Yin, who was targeting his legs and groin from a low stance, it would be pointless. He had sent most of his active Qi towards his defensive arts half a second ago, so he wouldn’t be able to transfer enough of it into his weapon in time to defend. The only result from making that swing would be his stance getting even more out of order due to Laien deflecting his strike sideways just like the boy had done with the one before. “On the other hand, it’s not like the black-haired kiddo can do all that much if I don’t attack him and only focus on defending,” Abdain realized, or rather assumed, mostly intuitively.

So, he moved his broadsword not towards Laien or Yin, but towards his own body, aiming to shield his upper half from any dangerous attacks. At the same time, seeing Yin getting closer to him with that emerald lightning emerging and concentrating on one of the boy’s twin swords, he shifted his balance to his right leg and in a smooth movement, kicked out with the left one. He aimed his kick so that it would connect with the middle of Yin’s torso, just from the side, naturally aiming to make it impossible for the kid to dodge without resorting to using Lightning Steps. And, if the boy were to not dodge and opt to pierce his knee let’s say… then he would be in for a rude awakening. With the amount of Qi he had poured into his lower body, Yin’s sword would at most be able to slice his skin and muscles, but even as powerful as it became, it would never be able to break through his bones.

“If he gets hit, he’s done for,” Abdain thought unconsciously. Trading an injury for disabling Yin from further battle, at least for a few seconds, would be more than worth it. Similarly, if he could force Yin to use Lightning Steps, he would instantly kick off the ground with his right leg and leap towards Arslan. By that point, there would be little those two brats could do to stop him. Alas, contrary to Abdain’s optimistic predictions, the following events far exceeded his wildest expectations.

It should have been impossible to do it, but in retrospect, there must have been little to no tension in Yin’s body as he was dashing forwards. This one important fact, when paired up with Yin’s constantly evolving Thundercloud Sword Art and his rising insights into the Profound Mystery of Lightning Dance, made the impossible into reality. As if it was the most natural thing to do, Yin had performed a gentle, perfectly-timed somersault forward and while avoiding death by mere millimeters, he twisted his body in the air and allowed Abdain’s leg to pass just below his head, then alongside his chest before he finally pulled up his legs and lower body, once again avoiding the kick narrowly.

While this defensive maneuver seemed simple in description, it was in truth so shocking that even Abdain forgot himself for a split-second from the immense shock witnessing it caused him. True, his own body frame was far larger than Yin’s, so it made a nimble dodge like this one theoretically possible, but to actually pull it off when the slightest mistake would end up with getting one’s head pulverized into meat paste was preposterous! It wasn’t like Yin was faster than him either as the only advantage Yin had over him was agility, but by no means did Yin exceed him in the speed of dealing blows! Did this kid really not only perfectly predict the kick but also had the balls to risk his life in order to gain an advantage when he could have retreated at any time he wanted?

“!” Before Abdain could gather his thoughts, his senses started screaming danger at him. He couldn’t quite see it well enough, but he could sense that Yin was steadying his stance and gathering a great amount of strength into one blow. If the green-haired kid managed to develop even a partial piercing martial technique and if he thrust that sword of emerald lightning at the unguarded side of his stomach… he wouldn’t die from it, but the rampaging lightning would leave him with heavy internal injuries! Worst case scenario it might even come close to damaging his Qi Origin, what would weaken him enough to make the outcome of this war set in stone and against their favor!

As unwilling as he was, Abdain didn’t intend to wait until the situation devolved so bad that no matter what he did, he would lose. It had been but two quick exchanges of movements, but he could tell that those two would at the very least be able to hold him in place until Julien arrived. What was more likely, however, was that he was going to get wounded badly and then Julien would arrive. Had it not been for Laien’s already moving spear, he could have hoped to force Yin away by forcing a simultaneous exchange with a backhand blow on his left hand aimed at Yin’s head. Regrettably, there were no openings or mishaps in the coordination between these two boys which he could exploit.

Thus… Abdain grit his teeth again, this time with full force, and caused the unnatural mound on his furthest tooth to shatter and leak out just a few drops of crimson-blood liquid into his throat. Abdain then swallowed consciously, pushing the liquid down into his stomach just a bit quicker. Truth to be told, though, this action was more or less pointless as already by the point the crimson liquid got into contact with his flesh, it started seeping into it. This resulted in a wave of incredible, almost unbearable heat spreading across his body and very nearly causing him to blank out. Only thanks to the unbreakable will which Abdain had honed throughout the long centuries did he manage to stay conscious as he resisted the sudden sensation akin to of every cell of his body being burned by fire.

As Abdain’s movements stiffened up and slowed down momentarily, both Laien and Yin couldn’t help but feel confused about what was going on. However, when the two of them sensed Abdain’s aura boil and start rising sharply, they felt their throats clench. It was already taking everything they had to stop Abdain for a little bit and perhaps wound him when Abdain was at the peak of the seventh Realm of Heroes, but he still had some Divine Medicine to increase his strength beyond that?! That being said, it wasn’t like they could stop their combination attack and start running away, so they steeled themselves and pulled through with their movements.

“Elemental Sword of Lightning…” Yin murmured in his thoughts as he thrust his sword forward, straight at the side of Abdain’s stomach. He had been trying to develop a piercing-type martial technique ever since his clash with Abdain in the morning of the same day, but he hadn’t truly had enough time to complete this process. So, he could only make use of the half-finished version and do his best to fill out the holes in execution as he struck. “Lightning Flash,” he thought silently and released all the strength accumulated in his body towards the one thrust, while at the same time directing his Qi in the same direction but even faster than the blow.

Had Abdain been watching Yin closely, he would have seen a sudden flash of light and before his brain would have been able to recognize what had happened, the pain would have assaulted him from the wound. Duo to the peculiar execution of Yin’s new martial technique, the lightning which exploded forth not only delivered the first needle-like blow against one’s defenses, but it then pulled the sword incoming right after it forward. Thus, it not only multiplied the thrusting force of the sword but also caused the target to sustain two blows one after another. This, in principle, shook the target’s defense and disrupted it enough for the sword to then pierce through and in this case, it was exactly what happened - though, the steel only sunk a few centimeters into Abdain’s flesh.

“Tch.” Discontent with his performance, Yin thought that if he had had more time, he would have been able to create not just one blow of lightning with his thrust, but two, three or even more! Potentially, if his strength one day increased by a hundredfold, he would be able to deliver a thousand thrusts of lightning with one execution of his Elemental Sword Art: Lightning Flash. This would potentially result in the kind of a piercing power against which almost nothing in existence could defend! Had he been able to achieve a ten-strike mastery of Lightning Flash, not to mention something like a thousand-strike mastery, his thrust just now would have pierced through Abdain’s body all the way to the sword’s hit and shattered Abdain’s Qi Origin all in one go. Unfortunately, he wasn’t yet at the level of strength and control to develop his new technique to this level.

Of course, however, Yin didn’t waste his time on wailing over his lack of strength and skill and immediately poured almost all of his remaining Qi empowered by the three river-like waves of insights into Abdain’s body. At first, he experienced success as his lightning charred Abdain’s flesh and forced its way towards the man’s Qi Origin, but to his horror, the moment Abdain regained control over himself and took direct action against the lightning, this progress stalled in an instant. What was even worse, the next split-second Abdain’s aura boiled over and his cultivation forcefully broke through from the peak of the seventh Realm of Heroes to the early stages of the eighth!

By that point, Abdain shattered the lightning-element Qi within his body and at the same time, straight up grabbed the shaft of Laien’s spear with his left hand. Unlike before, his Qi was literally in overdrive and was pouring out of him like crazy, so each of his movements exerted more than his full strength. Additionally, a simple hand-grab involved no sword technique, so Laien’s spear arts weren’t that effective in preventing it from happening. Thus, with a harrumph, Abdain clenched his first and actually shattered the shaft of the white spear, causing the spearhead to start falling to the ground. Then, at the same time, just as blood was beginning to flow from Abdain’s bloodshot eyes, he struck down with his broadsword straight at Laien, aiming to cleave him in half!

Within time shorter than a blink of an eye, Abdain’s broadsword fell and emerald lightning flashed. The two figures of the boys who had been right next to Abdain disappeared, but a small fountain of blood, internal organs and pieces of shattered bones was left behind in the air, appearing as if it had come into existence out of nowhere. Yet, the source of this cloud of gore was soon revealed as Yin reemerged with Laien roughly thirty meters away. The hasty use of Lightning Steps and the lack of coordination between him and Laien had already caused the muscles in Yin’s arms and shoulders to snap and were it not for his recently enhanced magical beast physique, his bones would have ended up shattering all over, too. Naturally, the force itself made Laien’s ribs and pelvis, the two areas where Yin had either grabbed or pushed, to shatter into pieces. This alone resulted in quite some internal damage, but it wasn’t the worst of it, not even by a wide margin.

Laien’s entire left side of the body was mangled hideously all the way from his shoulder to the left part of his pelvis, the gruesome wounds almost reaching his leg. With just a little bit more, Laien’s left hand would have gone flying alongside a good part of his torso and even then, those parts of his body were only hanging by a little bit of persistent meat and skin. Had it not been for Yin’s intervention, Abdain’s body would have definitely smashed Laien’s head and severed him in two. Alas, even with Yin’s help, Laien experienced such a huge shock that his consciousness slipped away and he fainted, which in turn rendered him incapable of using his Phantasmal Essence or other insights to patch up the wounds and start healing himself.

Terrified out of his mind, Yin didn’t even notice that he had dropped both of his swords, which were yet to fall down to the ground next to Abdain. He didn’t pay attention to the fact that apart from snapped muscles and cracked bones, his right hand, with which he had grabbed Laien’s waist, was almost severed from the forearm. He didn’t dare to use his Lightning Steps to move Laien again as he knew that any strong movements would instantly send Laien to the other world. In fact, he could tell that this great injury brought Laien’s mind so much pain that Laien’s soul seemed to be fluctuating and creaking dangerously. Had Laien not fainted, this kind of pain would have most likely damaged his soul and caused immense damage to his cultivation and future potential.

Fighting against all those elite opponents… fighting against Abdain, all of it had been going their way, but all those days they had been one mistake, one miscalculation away from death. It just so happened that Abdain both possessed and was willing to use a harmful Divine Medicine to ignite his life force and cultivation base in exchange for a short-lived burst of immense power. This turned the tables around at the most crucial moment and as for the results, they were laid bare for all to see.

Yin wanted to scream for Kasha to come over and help, but with the young woman protecting Arslan and with Abdain standing in-between them, he was aware of just how futile such an action would be. Sirius was nowhere to be seen either, so there were no water or light-element practitioners nearby. To be honest, Yin was very close to panicking as he held Laien, who was surely going to bleed out to death in mere seconds, in his arms, but it was the sensation of Laien’s pained soul that brought him back to reason. He coincidentally sensed the now extremely weak and almost empty Water and Lightning Phantasmal Realm around Laien’s soul and he remembered!

Wasting not even the briefest of split-seconds, Yin ignored his lack of skill and pulled onto the water-element Phantasmal Essence which he had acquired from Laien. He sent as much of it as he could, all the way until his own sound trembled from overextension, towards the huge, mangled wound across the left side of Laien’s body. This instantly caused the bleeding to slow down to almost nothing as all the wounds started closing, but to Yin’s distress, the process was too slow. He could keep Laien alive for a bit longer in this way, but he wouldn’t be able to get him out of this peril on his own.

To make matters worse, Abdain opted to ignore Julien, who was just about to attack him after finally closing the distance. Thanks to the Divine Medicine, his cultivation base was still climbing as it burned boringly, having already gone beyond the early and mid-stages of the eighth Realm of Heroes and only stopped somewhere in-between the late and peak of the eighth realm. With such strength and with no serious wounds to speak of, Abdain didn’t fear wounded Julien. Unless Julien happened to similarly be in possession of some Divine Pills or Divine Medicine, then there was no way for Julien to stop him from reaching Arslan and capturing him for good. Hell, if Julien attacked too recklessly, Abdain could quite easily pull off a counterattack and kill him straight up!

After all, the difference between the peak of the seventh Realm of Heroes and the peak of the eighth Realm of Heroes wasn’t something to scoff at! From the fifth to the sixth, then seventh, eighth, and ninth Realm of Heroes, each of those advancements was harder than the one before and thus, each consecutive breakthrough increased one’s strength by a far greater degree than the previous one. There were quite a few Realm of Heroes experts of the fifth rank in the world, there were some of the sixth and a few of the seventh. Those known experts of the eighth rank could be counted on the fingers of two hands while those of the ninth were legendary existences. From this, one could tell what kind of a gap existed between those ranks despite them being in the same cultivation realm.

“Anyone?” Yin both spread his aura and looked around desperately. Was there anyone who could help him save Laien, who could save Arslan and prevent the catastrophe from occurring? Reian was occupied by Yimar Maar and despite his best efforts, he was unable to break free from the engagement. Sirius, Gahar and the others were still fighting with the few incoming ruby-golden-robed men, Anna was doing the same even further away… while Casimir was too wounded and too exhausted after his own battle with Yimar Maar to be of much use. Kasha? She was merely a spiritual master of the first rank, there was nothing she could hope to achieve in these circumstances.

Hoping for a sudden breakthrough…? This was even more unrealistic. Yin knew that the only reason he and Laien had advanced their skills back in that forest was due to their deep accumulations from past events. They hadn’t pulled these breakthroughs out of their assess, they had worked hard to improve their abilities and finally, thanks to the danger of death, they gained the necessary sparks of insights to advance further. Thus, by the current point in time they had exhausted all their accumulated potential and without another period of training and accumulation of experiences, they couldn’t hope for a miraculous breakthrough to save them from a perilous situation.

To be fair, though, it wasn’t only Yin who was on the verge of despair. Almost everyone on their side shared the same feelings as their attention had been centered around this last clash at the inside-end of the cone-shaped path. It was at this time, however, when Julien and Abdain were about to exchange blows while moving at high speed towards Arslan and Kasha, that a loud cry of a huge eagle resounded throughout the battlefield and a split-second later, the magical beast appeared in the sky from behind the slope of the old marble mine. The first one to feel his heart throb in joy was Casimir, whose gaze was immediately drawn to the edge of the cliff above the battlefield.

There, shined upon by the orange-crimson rays of light of the setting sun from the west, alongside a gust of wind and a flash of lightning, appeared a golden-haired man with a great bow in hand. On the man’s head a golden crown embedded with diamonds shone, while the great bow in his hand glimmered with the shades of white and black, a metallic arrow tinted by a hint of silver nocked on its string. Right thereafter, the arrow was swallowed by a gust of wind and a surge of lightning, both of which extended from the arrow, through the great bow and alongside the golden-haired man’s extended arm and puffed chest as the string of the great bow was pulled by him to the fullest.

Right when the golden-haired man released the arrow, a wave of immense pressure mixed with a suffocating killing intent flooded the entire area. The power of wind and lightning the arrow carried was enough to make anyone, even the likes of Julien and Abdain, to shiver nervously. Moreover, from the aura of the elemental Qi that was going wild, it was clear that the golden-haired archer was a martial master at the absolute peak of the seventh Realm of Heroes, with half a foot in the eighth!

The speed in which the arrow traveled after the golden-haired man released it was great enough to cause three sonic booms in the air even before reaching its target. As for who this arrow of wind and lightning was aimed it, it was none other than Abdain! Having forcefully brought up his cultivation base to the peak of the eighth Realm of Heroes, Abdain should have been able to defend against the attack even with Julien obstructing him from the side. However, how could there be no difference in quality between someone who advanced to the absolute peak of the seventh Realm of Heroes and was about to break into the eighth at any time and someone who used medicine to get from the middle of the seventh Realm of Heroes to the peak of the eighth?

Even though Abdain largely ignored Julien and allowed his sword to tear a bloody wound alongside his left forearm, with which he had defended, he still failed to stop the arrow of the golden-haired man. The projectile, when it met with his broadsword, almost ripped the weapon from his grip and actually left a deep scar alongside the thick blade which had aimed to stop it in its tracks! Then, the arrow hit Abdain’s shoulder and embedded itself deep inside it, almost coming through on the other end of his body. Naturally, the wind and lightning which the arrow contained caused absolute mayhem inside Abdain’s body and as a result, Abdain staggered and coughed up a mouthful of blood.