Chapter 47: Shocks Upon Shocks

Chapter 47: Shocks Upon Shocks

Hong Linying was already leaping through the air, closing in behind Strategist Ji.

"Hahaha... Just some lowly thief's trick, 'Zhi Yin Insect'... Ah! What is this?!"

A sudden shriek pierced the forest. Hong Linying's words were cut off midway by a startled cry. His body twisted midair and tumbled awkwardly to the side.

Strategist Ji remained seated with his back toward them, yet from behind him, several tree roots suddenly burst from the ground. The burly man who had reached his rear, just about to unleash a mighty "Stone-Splitting Palm," was run clean through from below.

His chest, crown, and neck were impaled by blood-soaked tree roots from various angles. The deadly attack drained all ferocity from him. His body twitched a few times and went still, he was clearly beyond saving.

"Wood Spike Art," a low-grade immortal technique. This was a trap Strategist Ji had set in advance. Originally, it was meant to ward off small animals that might disturb him during his spirit absorption, but now it proved timely in repelling a real threat.

After seeing Li Yan's earlier "Wood Spike Array," Ji had thought to make use of the dense forest around them, calling forth the underground roots to attack. It turned out to be a perfectly-timed defense.

However, failing to kill Hong Linying outright displeased him. Not because he lacked the intent, but because his externally projected spirit power was minimal at the moment, insufficient to launch the roots from afar.

Strategist Ji didn't even turn his head. He muttered incessantly under his breath.

"'Zhi Yin Insect'... It's the Zhi Yin Insect!"

Suddenly, he lowered his head and sniffed himself, then jerked his head up to glare at Li Yan and bellowed.

"You dared to place such lowly, underhanded tricks on me, and I, your master, didn't even notice. Good, good. Very good. What a trick. What a brilliant trick... hahahaha..."

By the end, he was laughing with seething fury.

Strategist Ji was beyond enraged. First, despite all his his worldly experience, he had still been played by a child. Second, had it not been for this despicable insect, he would have been well into healing himself by now, none of this chaos would have happened.

The "Zhi Yin Insect" sounded refined, but it was, in truth, a tool used by the lowest of low, petty thieves and conmen.

It was a herbivorous low-level demon beast that could never evolve into a true first-rank beast, meaning it could never gain sentience. However, it had a natural ability: it would daily secrete a dozen translucent pellets with a distinct odor, unpleasant to most other beasts.

These pellets were used by the insect to mark territory or guard food it couldn't consume right away. Any food touched by the pellets became repulsive to others, but the Zhi Yin Insect could easily return later and devour it itself.

The insect was extremely sensitive to the scent of its own secretions, able to detect it from miles away. This survival trait had been twisted by petty criminals. They would stealthily smear crushed pellets on a fat target's clothing or carriage, then send an insect to track the scent and rob them at the right time.

Strategist Ji was well aware of the creature. Experts like him could typically smell the scent easily.

Now, hearing the name and catching a whiff, he quickly pieced things together.

No wonder Li Yan had been growing wildflowers in the valley, filling the air with overwhelming floral fragrance. It was to cover up the Zhi Yin Insect's scent on Ji's clothes.

What's more, Ji's garments had been left to dry amid those flowers. In the spring, pollen from the flowers would have clung to his clothing. When worn, the strong floral smell masked the insect's scent completely, even when he left the valley.

Worse still, the constant exposure had dulled his awareness. Over time, he had grown used to the fragrance and lowered his guard.

All this combined meant he never noticed the Zhi Yin Insect's mark on him.

Realizing this filled Ji with bitter fury. He couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread at the depth of Li Yan's cunning.

Meanwhile, Hong Linying had gotten back on his feet, face pale with shock. He stared at the seated figure of Ji, and the miserable, dying form of his own brother behind him.

A Supreme Master martial artist had died in an instant.

They had sensed nothing of the trap beneath the soil.

When tailing Ji earlier, they hadn't seen him dig, carve, or lay anything. They weren't some ordinary fighters, they were seasoned warriors with years of battle under their belts. In reconnaissance and observation, Hong had full confidence.

Only after being sure there was no danger had they struck.

So where had this underground spike come from? How had it killed his brother so swiftly?

Still, Hong Linying was no stranger to blood and cruelty. After a moment's pause, he leapt again. This time, toward his dying brother.

But as he neared, he suddenly used the man's twitching body as a stepping stone, propelling himself toward Ji in a fierce assault. His fist aimed directly at the back of Ji's head, using the corpse to mask his approach.

He had picked this angle precisely because the trap had already been triggered there. Using the body as a shield, he was confident in the safety of the path.

Meanwhile, Strategist Ji's spiritual energy had begun to disrupt, he couldn't muster up another powerful Wood Spike art. The weakened trap posed no real threat to Hong.

Ji had no way to dodge. With effort, he tilted his head and twisted his torso. Hong's punch narrowly missed, brushing past his ear.

But Hong was a battle-hardened veteran. He instantly saw Ji's difficulty and refused to relent.

His missed right fist curled back in a circular motion, forming a "Phoenix-Eye Fist" aimed at Ji's left temple. At the same time, his left hand thrust toward Ji's lower back at close range.

The combined assault locked Ji in a deadly pincer. Ji, with no options, leaned back, his body pressing against Hong's chest.

His right hand was still extended over Li Yan's crown. This awkward pose made him look like a woman leaning into a strong man's arms.

Boom! A muffled thud echoed as Hong's left fist slammed into Ji's lower back.

His phoenix-eye right fist missed, Ji's backward lean had disrupted it.

Still, Ji couldn't block the strike completely. Despite diverting some spirit power to his back, his body was mortal. Hong's decades of honed martial power was too much.

Black blood burst from Ji's mouth, spraying over his outstretched arm and splattering across Li Yan's face.

Hong Linying, seeing that his strike had landed, immediately launched a flurry of close-quarter attacks, employing short-range internal force strikes.

Both fists rose to ear level in an instant, initiating the "Double Winds Piercing the Ears" technique, aiming to smash Strategist Ji's head from both sides. If landed, it would have burst his skull open.

But just then, he felt a sudden surge of force erupting from the figure in his arms. That force pushed and twisted, and in the same instant, a burst of blinding firelight flared before his eyes. A wave of scorching heat slammed into him.

At such close range, Hong Linying had no chance to evade. Flames engulfed his entire body in an instant. The powerful shove hurled him backward, tumbling several times.

Though he rolled frantically on the ground, the flames on him showed no sign of extinguishing. Amidst agonized screams, he tried multiple times to rise and hurl himself at Strategist Ji, only to stumble and collapse again.

Moments later, he fell utterly still, consumed by fire, reduced to a blazing inferno on the forest floor.

What no one had seen was that just as Strategist Ji's body leaned into Hong Linying's embrace, his supposedly crippled left hand had moved.

His five fingers twisted painfully into a hand seal, and a fireball burst from his fingertips, landing squarely on Hong Linying. At the same time, a flash of spiritual energy surged between his fingers and sent Hong flying backward.

"Fireball Art," another low-grade immortal technique. Many of Strategist Ji's left-hand meridians were damaged beyond use. He couldn't move that arm at all. Only when Hong had drawn in close could he force out this desperate spell. Though he took a heavy punch, he managed to kill Hong Linying in return.

He glanced back at the rapidly shrinking fireball and let out a cold laugh but the very next moment, his expression changed dramatically.

Having forcefully used spiritual energy twice in succession, his control over it finally snapped. The Spirit Absorption Technique began to run on its own the moment the Fireball Art was cast.

His heart sank. He tried to center his focus and forcibly suppress the runaway technique, but suddenly, an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy surged into his palm from Li Yan's crown.

Ji's panic deepened. Though the Spirit Absorption Technique had begun to activate on its own, he still had the ability to control how much energy he drew in. But this torrent was simply too immense, far beyond what he could absorb.

He tried to stop it, but it was too late. The spiritual energy had already entered his body. Then, a terrifying thing occurred.

The moment Li Yan's energy entered him, the fire poison within Ji's body reacted like oil meeting flame, it erupted uncontrollably. Worse still, Li Yan's energy clashed violently with his own wood-type spiritual energy, completely incompatible.

Ji's shock turned to fury.

"You... What cultivation technique are you practicing? How is it fire-type?!"

Before he could finish, another surge of fire-attribute energy rushed into him, making his vision blur. But amid the disorientation, he made another terrifying discovery.

"This... This isn't early first-level Qi Condensation... You've actually reached the late first-level of Qi Condensation?! Impossible!"

Now, he truly looked as if he had seen a ghost. Not only was the energy's type wrong, the amount was also off. Either one of these factors could kill him.

The first, fire against his wood was self-destructive enough. The second, such an overwhelming volume completely disrupted the delicate balance he had calculated for his breakthrough.

Feeling his insides boil like an oil cauldron, Ji knew his plan had failed completely. In a frenzy of rage, he howled:

"Li Yan, you tricked me, deceived me! I'll kill you!"

With that, he forcefully twisted his right hand in a circle, dragging Li Yan bodily toward his chest. By now, the Spirit Absorption Technique was in full effect, and his palm overflowed with surging spiritual energy. He couldn't strike a fatal blow.

But he could use the same trick he had just used on Hong Linying, this time by pulling Li Yan in close.

Once their bodies touched, he could use his left hand to stamp a Fireball Art onto Li Yan and blast him away.

He could have initiated contact himself, but that would make it easier for Li Yan to resist. It was better to lure him into his arms.

But just as Ji yanked him closer, Li Yan's eyes suddenly flew open. He abruptly suppressed the flow of spiritual energy pouring from his crown.

At the same time, his long-prepared right hand finally moved. It yanked on the purple belt at his waist and with a flash of white light, a short blade appeared and plunged directly into Ji's abdomen.

The weapon had been hidden in plain sight: a snow-bright short blade no more than a few inches long, its hilt disguised as the purple belt buckle.

Ji felt a cold flash across his abdomen, followed by searing pain. His right hand faltered. Looking down in shock, he saw Li Yan's hand gripping the blade embedded in his stomach.

He growled lowly:

"You had another trick... But even so, you'll die with me!"

Black blood gushed from his mouth. His right hand pulled even harder, dragging Li Yan deeper into his embrace.

Li Yan panicked. He twisted the blade violently, trying to shred Ji's internal organs. But the blade wouldn't budge, Ji had already anticipated this and had wrapped the blade in spiritual energy inside his body.

As his body was drawn ever closer to Ji's chest, Li Yan grew desperate. He had originally been leaning against a tree. Now, as he was pulled upright, his legs were bent in midair.

Strategist Ji was seated cross-legged to his side. Suddenly, Li Yan bent one leg and, summoning all his spiritual power, launched a fierce kick toward Ji's chest.

Ji burst out laughing.

"You think that little kick will stop me?"

He assumed Li Yan was just bracing himself, using Ji's chest as a foothold to slow the pull. With his left hand unable to raise high enough to brand a Fireball Art on Li Yan's leg, he had to get him closer.

The next instant, Li Yan's foot connected.

A crisp click rang out, his shoe tip extended a small white blade that pierced straight into Ji's chest, right over his heart.

Joy flickered across Li Yan's face but a moment later, confusion set in.

Just as the blade pierced, Ji's expression shifted into a strange smile. His upper body suddenly twisted, causing Li Yan's blade to slide harmlessly along the inside of Ji's robe.

Then, Ji's body snapped back upright, his chest striking the sole of Li Yan's foot. A tremendous force surged up, and with a crack, Li Yan let out a pained grunt as his leg bent at an unnatural angle and dropped limply.

"So that was your final trump card? Pathetic."

Ji's raspy voice echoed darkly.

(Chapter End)

Term changes; Fire Bullet> Fireball, sounds more apt in this setting.