Chapter 108: The Ye Family's Stand: Liu Minger's Icy Blades

The Black-robed old man's voice was filled with utter disbelief when the dust settled: what he saw wasn't Ye Mo's dead body, but something else.

At some point, Long Shin had arrived and stepped in between the black-robed old man and Ye Mo. He impeded the black-robed man's attack with his own palm, but without any trace of mana—just his physical strength. This was why the old man felt so shocked that his attack could be blocked.

He was all too familiar with the power of his strike, having honed the "Wind Shocking Palm" technique to great effect. It was only a low-grade BRONZE rank attack technique―the lowest in its class―but still significantly more powerful than a peak Black Iron rank magister's physical capability.

Even other half-step BRONZE rank magisters had to dodge his attacks, such was the devastating strength of his technique.

This move had taken him almost fifteen years to master and came in two forms: one for single targets and the other for multiple opponents.

The kind of palm energy he used against Ye Mo was designed for attacking groups and thus wasn't as destructive, but the move he intended to use to finish it off was created solely for taking out individuals; consequently, its mana concentration was several times higher, making it far more effective than any other move.

So, when the old man in black saw someone halt his attack with their bare hands, he was more surprised than anyone else in the room. His palm made contact with Long Shin's and couldn't push forward no matter how hard he tried. It seemed as though defending against him wasn't a struggle for Long Shin at all.

Long Shin calmly said with a cruel smile "You might know how to attack, but do you know how to defend?" With that, Long Shin sent a quick kick to the old man's stomach before he had chance to respond.

BOOM!!!

The loud sound of the impact echoed through the hall as the old man who seemed invincible until now was sent flying into the wall by the kick.

the worn-out wall, unable to handle the persistent abuse any longer, gave way and crumbled to pieces.

Long Shin turned towards Ye Mo who had been standing with his battered body refusing to kneel in front of the old man in black robes, the old man belonged to demon heart sect, he hated the demon heart sect, would rather die than kneel "You did quite well holding until now Infront of a half-step BRONZE rank as a black iron rank."

"Sir, you are too kind; it was an unfair match," Ye Mo's voice sounded weak. Not only did he experience the physical beatings inflicted by the old man in black robes during their fight, but he had also gone through the mental anguish of seeing his own son attempt to murder him and his other son. He felt exhausted both physically and emotionally.

Long Shin glanced at the old man in black robes standing up and said to Liu Minger who was looking at him with a worried look, "Don't worry—I can take care of him." She knew he was powerful, but facing an evil magister was still daunting.

He smiled at her reassuringly, noting that the elderly man couldn't pose any real threat to him. His successful defense against the old man's attack proved that Long Shin was likely stronger than the opponent.

Ye Zeng quickly scooped up Ye Mo and carried him away while the old man in black was standing up, but he paused for a moment to look at Long Shin before leaving with the old man. 'As I suspected, this guy is not ordinary,' he thought to himself.

The old man in black robes stood up and gazed at Long Shin with intense eyes. He didn't attack; instead, he wanted to know his opponent. "Who are you, and how did you defend my attack?" he asked solemnly. He had glanced at Long Shin previously, but the latter didn't emit mana, he thought that he was but a normal person.

But the facts revealed that Long Shin had stopped his attack with ease, which meant he was no weaker than himself. 'I can only conclude he either has a treasure that masks his mana, or he is very skilled at concealing techniques. In either case, I am unable to tell his actual cultivation level.' Long Shin's capability to stop the attack showed that he far exceeded his expectations.

He didn't want to have a confrontation with someone who was so well-hidden.

"It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is why your Demon Heart Sect has been causing so much trouble recently in this city?"

Long Shin was filled with curiosity; he had encountered four people from the Demon Heart Sect in the past few days, and the presence of this old man was no coincidence.

"Have you encountered others from my Demon Heart Sect?" the old man quickly picked up on Long Shin's words. The Demonic Magister's missions were always kept secret, and they would kill anyone who knew too much. He had planned to do the same to Long Shin and the others after finishing his mission with Ye Mo, but fate had a different plan in store for today.

Long Shin spoke in a monotone, as if describing what he'd have for dinner that night. "Encounter? You could call it that. Three Outer Court deacons from your Demon Heart Sect got in my way yesterday with their hangers-on, but they were far too weak--they all died quickly." He paused to consider. "What was their name... Oh yeah, one of them was called Tao Jian, if I'm not mistaken."

The old man pondered over what Long Shin said and attempted to figure out the clues. He had not heard of any elder named Tao Jian but based on all the information provided by Long Shin, he was able to come up with some assumptions. Suddenly, his complexion changed as he spoke in terror, "You are the one responsible for the people missing at the bridge."

"You must have heard the news then, right? That Tao Jian and the other two deacons were killed." Long Shin was unsurprised that word had reached the Demon Heart Sect so quickly. He hadn't gone to any lengths to conceal their deaths—it was only a matter of time before it became common knowledge, even if some unexpected event accelerated the process.

The black-robed elder grew livid upon seeing Long Shin's indifference to the death of Tao Jian and the other members of his sect. Although there was little camaraderie among demonic sects, their deaths would hinder their mission in the city and be a slap in the face for the Demon Heart Sect. "By killing my demon heart sect's disciples, you are courting death," in a fit of rage, he forgot that Long Shin had easily defended against his attack. Summoning mana in his palm, he lunged forward with the same move.

The old man in black robes saw Long Shin was unruffled by the incoming attack. His assault was nothing for him to worry about; even if it went on for an entire day, Long Shin wouldn't budge, despite being in human form, he was still a dragon. In truth, his strength and endurance were far greater than humans', making him a dragon wearing a human skin.

Long Shin easily avoided the attack that was hurled his way, yet the aged man in the black robes kept at it. No matter what moves he tried or how many feints he employed, Long Shin's agility outmatched him and none of the attacks ever got close enough to touch even a corner of his clothing.

The elderly man shouted in fury "Do you think all you can do is run away? If you have courage, stay and fight!" No matter how frequently he struck out at him, the other party managed to dodge his blows with a very small amount of movement and great ease.

Long Shin smiled hearing this comment, then scoffed "Even if I don't dodge, you still won't be able to do anything to me, old crook" This caused the anger in the black-robed elder to increase.

"What are you waiting for Ye Liang? Tell your men to surround him!" Realizing he wouldn't be able to fight Long Shin alone, yet feeling he was being tricked, the elderly man yelled at Ye Liang for his group to join in on the attack and corral the sly young boy.

He figured that even if he could only land one strike, he would manage to injure the shifty teenager.

The members of the Ye family were shocked. They never expected to be fighting alongside a demonic magister, let alone for the purpose of subduing a brat.

Everyone knew that Ye Liang had made some kind of deal with Xu Xiaosi, but his collaboration with the Demon Heart Sect was still unknown. The elders and higher-ups supporting him were just as fearful as everyone else when the old man appeared.

Demonic magisters were despised everywhere, so it was difficult to comprehend that they would have to fight together. It was obvious what the old man wanted - to use them as bait to keep the brat in one place. They feared that they would receive serious injuries from either Long Shin or the old man himself.

Ye Liang didn't allow his followers to think too long on the notion of working with demonic magisters, as he was different. He was willing to make deals with anyone, even an evil god, as long as his goals were met.

"What are all of you waiting for? Help senior kill that slippery brat! You all don't have a choice but to obey. If you back out now, you will suffer in the end. The only way forward is to slay both Ye Mo and the brat then bask in the glory afterward." Ye Liang knew exactly what to say to make his men comply.

His words were sufficient enough to sway every expert who was contemplating assisting the elderly man clad in black robes.

Everyone understood that they didn't have any alternatives. Even if Ye Mo pardoned them, the Martial Suppressors would still bring justice down upon them for colluding with the Demon Heart Sect. The one and only option they had left was to put an end to those aware of this matter.

"Fight!!" someone shouted, and the rest of Ye Liang's lackeys got ready to fight Long Shin. Even if they had to be a sacrificial lamb, at least they have slim chance to survive.

"Honey, look out!" Liu Minger was terrified seeing all these people wanting to kill Long Shin, who was already fighting the old man. 'No, I can't just stand around; I must help him,' she thought determinedly.

Liu Minger was already a fourth-layered Black Iron Rank Magister, which meant her power exceeded most of the experts in the Ye family at this place. Her cultivation techniques only added more potency to her attacks. Therefore, even without using any attack techniques, her martial arts skills would make her contribution significant enough to help Long Shin. With one last glance at Cha Ying, Liu Minger rushed towards Ye Liang's lackeys.

"Cough! You go help too." Seeing Liu Minger running into battle made Ye Mo quickly order his men to stop tending him and join in as well. "But father, what about you?" Ye Zeng asked with concern for his dad's safety.

"Don't worry about me," answered Ye Mo firmly. "Only you are powerful enough to win against Ye Liang; you must fight! All of you should join in too; fight and cleanse our family from its disgrace."

One of the Ye family experts who had remained loyal to him saluted, saying "As you order, my lord." He then addressed Young Master Ye Zeng, urging him to follow his father's command. "We must teach those traitors a lesson," he declared.

"You are right," Ye Zeng replied. His words seemed to ignite a fighting spirit in him; he resolved to make his elder brother kneel and apologize before their father.

He turned to the experts behind him and commanded, "Let's go and fight!" All of them roared with approval. Without hesitation, Ye Zeng and his men joined the fray, blocking Ye Liang's lackeys from advancing.

Liu Minger and Ye Zeng, along with his team of warriors, were able to prevent a group of experts from chasing after Long Shin.

Ye Zeng used the same maneuver Ye Mo had employed before: Mountain Fist; his fists were as fast as bullets, not allowing his adversary any opportunity to react. His comrades in arms each had to battle one enemy. As opposed to Ye Zeng who fought without weapons, they all wielded blades.

Swords clashed swords, sabers against sabers—none of them had attack techniques like Ye Zeng and Ye Mo so they fought by using their mana to bolster their physical strength.

It was no surprise that Liu Minger stood out amongst the fighters in the battle.

From a young age, she had diligently practiced martial arts, often times more than others around her. Knowing she would never be able to attain Magister status, she devoted herself to mastering her martial skills.

Now that she could cultivate, her mastery of the powerful Frozen Yin Spirit Cultivation Technique was far superior to any cultivation technique used by regular Magisters in the underworld; only top factions possessed something remotely comparable. This allowed her to become more powerful than those in her rank and provided her with special attack methods.

At the moment, she was using one of her attack techniques to take on multiple adversaries at once with ease. In contrast, Ye Zeng and his cohorts had banded together to reduce their casualties, while Liu Minger fought alone. Despite being outnumbered, she single-handedly faced off against her foes.

Liu Minger concentrated her energy and created three ethereal thin swords the size of a fist, then used her mind to control them and attack her enemies.

The swords were so small that none of them had enough time to dodge; each sword was as sharp as Long Shin's previous "Magic Sword", although still not reaching the cutting power of Black Iron rank weapons.

It was difficult for Liu Minger to accurately guide all three swords simultaneously, causing her hit rate to drop to around one in five.

She also used those swords to protect herself, and ward off her enemies.

"What the hell are these small swords?" one of Ye Liang's lackeys asked in terror; he had never seen such an attack before.

"These little swords are becoming too troublesome," another hissed as he blocked an ice sword with his saber, leaving a crack on its blade.

"Damn!" another exclaimed as a sword flew toward him–luckily, it missed him entirely–but sliced through his left arm. "This woman is too terrifying!" He stared at Liu Minger while blood trailed down his arm.

Not only were the lackeys amazed, but Ye Mo, Ye Liang, Ye Zeng, and the rest of the Ye family were just as shocked. Even the Demon Heart Sect elder that Ye Liang had allied himself with hadn't used such a sophisticated method; shaping sharp swords out of thin air was not something a black-iron rank magister should be capable of.

Every person in the room was taken aback, but none more so than the old man in his black robes.

He was from the Demon Heart Sect and had far more knowledge than the Ye family who were living in a small city, so he could tell that the attack method she was using was at least of mid-grade BRONZE rank.

Such techniques required qualifications even he didn't have, let alone for an inexperienced fourth layer black iron rank junior like her. 'Where did this monster couple come from?' he muttered to himself.

One used high ranking attack technique while the other managed to fight him through skillful manipulation of mana alone.

Long Shin glanced at Liu Minger in admiration. Despite her inexperience with the "Ice Yin Spirit cultivation technique," she was managing to handle those icy swords quite well.

He felt much calmer than the others, as he had been holding back during his battle against the black-robed old man. Every now and then while evading the strikes from the elder and others, he would take a moment to observe Liu Minger's fighting skills and how she was progressing.

At first, Long Shin had intended to end this confrontation quickly, but unexpectedly, Liu Minger misunderstood him and thought that something was wrong.

When she noticed the people from Ye Liang targeting him, she decided to join the fight. Watching Liu Minger's determination made Long Shin decide to prolong the encounter; this would be a good learning experience for her.

"Die!" As he thought this, one of Ye Liang's followers lashed out at Long Shin. But the young man easily evaded the sword and sent a punch straight into the elder's stomach.

Though Liu Minger and Ye Zeng had fended off many of their opponents, some still got through. These were mainly intermediate-leveled black iron magisters who once held high positions in the Ye family.

"Ughd!" The punch struck true, and the old man coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Not stopping there, Long Shin dodged the strikes from other elders while launching counterattacks himself.

The black-robed figure also tried to assault him with his palm technique, but Long Shin nimbly evaded or blocked his moves using only his physical body.

  ...

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