Facing the Golden Core
Lam Minh's cold and domineering declaration of war echoed across the schoolyard, momentarily stunning both the human and Madakaros factions.
The panicking students, upon seeing the familiar figure of their school's "hero" appear with a glowing sword, felt a faint glimmer of hope rise in their hearts.
Quynh Nhu and Ly Thien Ba, who were struggling in their fight, also turned to look. When they sensed Lam Minh's completely unconcealed Mid-stage Foundation Establishment aura, their jaws dropped.
"This... this aura..." Ly Thien Ba stammered. "It's ten times stronger than when he fought me! Master... just how strong are you?"
Quynh Nhu was shocked in a different way. "So... this is his true strength? All this time, he was just playing with me." A feeling of both admiration and a little... self-pity welled up inside her.
On the other side, the Golden Core commander, after a moment of surprise, burst out laughing.
"Haha! Interesting! A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment human, daring to hold a toy sword and stand against me? Foolish!"
He didn't take Lam Minh seriously at all. The gap between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core was an unbridgeable abyss. A Golden Core cultivator could easily crush dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Then let me see," he commanded the three remaining Foundation Establishment creatures. "You three, go play with him for a bit. Don't kill him too quickly. Capture him alive for me. I want to study why you humans can cultivate."
"Yes, sir!"
The three creatures, two Early-stage and one Mid-stage, roared and charged at Lam Minh from three directions. They wanted to use their numerical superiority to overwhelm him immediately.
Facing three opponents of a similar level, Lam Minh was not afraid. On the contrary, his eyes shone with excitement.
"Come on!"
He didn't retreat but took the initiative to charge forward, the Thuan Thien sword in his hand drawing a jade-green arc.
The 1-on-3 battle erupted in the middle of the schoolyard.
The enemy's Mid-stage Foundation Establishment creature charged from the front, its long saber chopping down like a thunderbolt. The two remaining Early-stage creatures attacked from the flanks, one with dual blades, the other with a long spear.
Lam Minh, with the "Primeval Dragon God Art" operating at its peak, moved with an ethereal and unpredictable grace. He moved like a leaf in the wind, gliding between the dense attacks.
KENG! KENG! KENG!
The Thuan Thien sword continuously clashed with the enemy's weapons, creating dazzling sparks and ear-piercing explosions.
Completely different from his previous "pretend" fights, this time Lam Minh was truly serious. Every one of his sword strikes contained the mystique of "Dragon's Breath," both sharp and powerful. He wasn't just using strength, but also the skills and combat experience of someone who had been through hundreds of life-and-death battles in his past life.
The enemy's Mid-stage creature became more and more horrified as it fought. It discovered that this human's swordsmanship was too strange. They were clearly simple moves, but they always appeared at the most cunning angles, easily neutralizing their attacks, and even causing them to trip over each other.
Lam Minh was like a conductor, directing the three giant puppets according to his will.
"Impossible! Why can't the three of us take down him alone?" one of the Early-stage creatures roared in desperation.
"Don't panic! Combine your strength! Use your ultimate moves!" the Mid-stage creature commanded.
The three Madakaros retreated together, channeling all their spiritual energy, preparing to unleash their strongest attack. Three energy orbs of different colors began to form, aimed straight at Lam Minh.
But would Lam Minh give them that chance?
"Too late."
The moment they retreated, he had seized the opening. He poured all his Foundation Establishment qi into the Thuan Thien sword. The sword suddenly let out a soft dragon's cry, its jade-green glow becoming more brilliant than ever.
Primeval Dragon God Art – First Form: Dragon's Fang Slash!
He swung the sword. A stream of green sword qi, shaped like a giant dragon's fang, tore through the air, hurtling towards one of the Early-stage creatures.
The monster, still condensing its energy, was horrified when it saw the domineering sword qi approaching and raised its dual blades to block.
SWOOSH!
The unstoppable sword qi was razor-sharp. The dual blades were shattered. The entire body of the Early-stage creature was sliced in two from head to toe.
[Received 2500 Immortality Points.]
"ONE!"
It happened so fast that before the other two creatures could regain their senses, Lam Minh had already appeared in front of the second Early-stage creature.
Primeval Dragon God Art – Second Form: Dragon's Tail Sweep!
The Thuan Thien sword in his hand didn't chop, but swept horizontally. The sword qi formed an illusory dragon's tail, whipping powerfully against the monster's side.
BAM!
The Early-stage creature was sent flying like a ball, crashing into the wall of a building and turning into a pile of mangled flesh.
[Received 2400 Immortality Points.]
"TWO!"
In the blink of an eye, two Foundation Establishment creatures had been eliminated. Lam Minh's solo performance left everyone, including the Golden Core commander, speechless.
This power... does it really belong to a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Only the last Mid-stage creature remained. It looked at Lam Minh, its eyes filled with fear. It abandoned any thought of attacking and turned to flee towards its commander.
"I told you. Get out, or die."
Lam Minh appeared behind it like a ghost. The Thuan Thien sword in his hand stabbed out gently.
STAB!
The tip of the sword pierced its heart with precision.
"THREE!"
Lam Minh withdrew his sword and gave it a light flick. Not a single drop of black blood stained the divine blade.
He stood there, amidst the three corpses of the Foundation Establishment creatures, one hand holding the sword, his coat flapping in the wind. That image, both solitary and domineering, was deeply engraved in the minds of all who witnessed it.
He raised his head, his cold gaze fixed on the Golden Core commander, the only one left who could pose a threat.
"Now then," he said. "It's your turn."
...
"It's your turn."
Lam Minh's declaration, though calm, carried the weight of a mountain. The entire schoolyard, which had been chaotic from the massacre, suddenly fell eerily silent. The attacking Qi Refining Madakaros also froze, turning their heads towards the two most powerful auras.
The Golden Core commander was no longer smiling. His expression became incredibly grave. He had misjudged. The human before him was no ordinary fish that had slipped through the net. The power and combat skills he had just displayed were absolutely not something a normal Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could possess.
"Interesting," he murmured through a psychic wave, his voice no longer contemptuous, but filled with the excitement of a hunter who had found a worthy prey. "You... are very interesting. Tell me your name, human. You are worthy of being remembered by me."
"You don't need to know," Lam Minh replied curtly. "Because the dead don't need to remember anyone's name."
"Arrogant!"
The Golden Core creature roared. He didn't say any more. A wave of pressure, ten times more terrifying than before, radiated from him, blanketing the entire schoolyard. The students and teachers far away felt as if a boulder was crushing their chests, making it hard to breathe.
This was the absolute suppression of a major realm.
Lam Minh also felt this pressure. He felt the spiritual energy in his body move with more difficulty, and the Primary Core in his dantian was being restrained by an invisible force. He knew this would be the most difficult battle since his rebirth.
The creature didn't use a weapon. For a Golden Core cultivator, his body was the most powerful weapon.
He vanished on the spot.
It wasn't speed, but a kind of short-distance teleportation, a skill that only Golden Core cultivators could master.
Lam Minh was startled. His spiritual sense couldn't lock onto his opponent.
POW!
A punch landed heavily on his abdomen. The protective qi layer of a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and the nano-suit underneath could only nullify part of the force. The rest was enough to send him flying backward, carving a long trench in the ground.
"Ugh!"
He coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. His internal organs felt like they had been scrambled. With just one blow, he was heavily injured.
"See, human?" the Golden Core's voice sounded in his ear, as if he were standing right next to him. "Between us, there is a gap you can never cross."
Lam Minh gritted his teeth, trying to stand up. He looked towards his opponent, but he vanished again, then reappeared behind him.
A back kick.
BAM!
Lam Minh was sent flying again, crashing hard into the flagpole in the middle of the yard, bending the steel pole.
"LAM MINH!"
"MASTER!"
To Quyen, Quynh Nhu, and Ly Thien Ba screamed in unison, their hearts feeling as if they were being squeezed. They wanted to rush out to help, but the Golden Core's pressure made it impossible for them to move. They could only watch helplessly as their hero was tormented.
The battle was completely one-sided. Lam Minh was like a punching bag, being sent flying back and forth by his opponent, without any strength to fight back.
Every punch, every kick, injured him more severely. Fresh blood stained his entire school uniform red.
But...
He still didn't fall.
Every time he was sent flying, he would tenaciously get back up, the fighting spirit in his eyes never wavering.
"Why... why can you still stand?" The Golden Core creature started to get annoyed. He knew his own strength. With those blows, a normal Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator should have been turned into paste long ago. But this one, despite being covered in injuries, was still standing.
He didn't know that every time Lam Minh seemed on the verge of death, the system would chime in.
[Host has taken a critical blow from a Golden Core cultivator. Extreme damage. Received 1000 Immortality Points.]
[Host has been attacked on a weak point. Received 800 Immortality Points.]
[...]
And each time, Lam Minh would use a small portion of his Immortality Points to stimulate his body's recovery, using Dragon qi to heal the most severe wounds. He was using his opponent's own attacks to recover and prolong the battle.
He was "farming points" right on a life-and-death battlefield.
"Dammit! Just die for me!" The Golden Core creature roared, feeling like he was being toyed with. He was done playing cat and mouse.
He raised his hand, and a golden energy orb, as brilliant as a small sun, began to form. The destructive aura radiating from it caused the surrounding ground to crack.
Lam Minh knew this was the finishing blow. He couldn't take it with his body anymore.
He didn't intend to.
His goal, from the very beginning, wasn't to win. It was to stall for time. To stall until military reinforcements arrived.
He looked at the ever-growing energy orb, a bitter smile on his lips.
"Looks like... I'll have to 'die' again. Hope I get a lot of points this time."
He gripped his Thuan Thien sword, gathered his last ounce of strength, and prepared to launch a suicide attack. He didn't expect to injure his opponent, only hoped to deflect his attack slightly, to minimize the damage to the school behind him.
Just then, he felt it.
Dozens of powerful auras from Blacklight soldiers were approaching at high speed.
The roar of fighter jet engines was thundering in the sky.
And the sirens of armored vehicles were echoing from the distance.
The army had finally arrived.
"Hmph! Annoying flies!" The Golden Core creature also sensed it. He knew his plan to take hostages had failed. He couldn't stay here any longer.
But before he left, he had to kill the one who had ruined his grand plan.
"DIE!"
He didn't hesitate any longer, throwing the small sun-like energy orb at Lam Minh.
Lam Minh closed his eyes.
"System, prepare for revival!"
The golden energy orb shot forward, carrying destructive power, and engulfed the small figure of the student hero.
A blinding light erupted, obscuring everything.
"LAM MINH!!!"
The desperate screams of the three girls sounded at the same time, lost in the terrifying explosion.