Chapter 49: A Notorious Reputation (Part 5)

Meanwhile,

As Han Yi charged forward, splitting his attack between the center and the right flank, his face grim and a surge of murderous intent radiating from him, the cultivator in the center scoffed coldly.

"Bold indeed," he sneered.

With a casual flick of his finger, a brilliant light erupted from his fingertip. Spreading rapidly outward, it transformed into a grayish-white spiderweb of mana that shot toward Han Yi with a swift whoosh.

This was the Imprisonment Technique, a spell that wove mana into a net to ensnare enemies.

Though his scoff carried disdain, the cultivator had already braced himself with utmost caution. Anyone daring to challenge two opponents while only at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining was either a fool or a hidden expert. Given that Han Yi had slain Liu Bigmouth, a Seventh Layer cultivator from the Blood God Sect, it was clear he was no fool. This man must be a hidden powerhouse.

Too bad.

What good was his supposed skill? Han Yi's victory over Liu Bigmouth, who was one layer higher, was likely due to Liu's complacency. Now, with three fellow disciples on guard, Han Yi's luck had surely run out.

Yet, in the next instant...

The Imprisonment Technique struck only empty air.

With a flick of his wrist, Han Yi's body surged forward, accelerating to a speed far surpassing that of a Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator—even faster than most at the Eighth Layer.

His Light Body Technique had reached Perfected Purity.

In Han Yi's hands, this movement art had evolved to a new level. Even the cultivator who originally created this basic spell might never have imagined it could grant such terrifying speed.

To the Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators present, Han Yi's movements resembled instantaneous teleportation.

"So fast!"

The Blood God Sect cultivator in the center paled. His pupils constricted rapidly as a black shadow abruptly materialized less than three meters away.

Under the moonlight, the shadow's features were slightly blurred, but the murderous intent emanating from it was unmistakably palpable.

The shadow was none other than Han Yi, who had used the Light Body Technique to close the distance.

A moment earlier, upon seeing the Profound Pill Sect disciple appear and the three Blood God Sect cultivators converging, Han Yi had realized he could no longer slip away unnoticed.

In less than half a breath, Han Yi finalized his battle plan.

He instructed the other three cultivators to hold off the one on the left while he engaged the two on the right and in the center. His priority was to eliminate them as quickly as possible, then turn his attention to the remaining cultivator on the left before making a swift escape.

As for his three fellow disciples, saving their lives was already more than enough; he couldn't possibly be expected to protect them any further.

Each of them would have to flee on their own, their fates left to chance.

In truth, the quickest option would have been to abandon the fight altogether. With his Light Body Technique, escaping from three Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators would be trivial.

But even the most cautious person has a breaking point, and for cultivators, that point burned even brighter.

Han Yi might be cautious, but he was neither cowardly nor foolish.

Being cornered by three Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators from the Blood God Sect, coupled with the earlier ambush by the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator from Great Qian, had left him seething with fury.

If more Blood God Sect cultivators arrived, or if cultivators at the Eighth or Ninth Layer of Qi Refining joined the fray, he would have no choice but to flee immediately.

But until then...

He needed to quell the raging fire burning in his heart.

In an instant, he closed the distance to within three meters of the central cultivator. Under the moonlight, his face was a mask of murderous intent.

Then, he moved.

Both hands acted in unison.

First, his left index finger flicked out, unleashing a burst of Spirit Light. No larger than a grain of rice, it shone with extraordinary brilliance, as if starlight had been compressed countless times without losing any of its intensity.

Spirit Void Finger.

The moment the Spirit Light appeared, the cultivator ten meters away felt every hair on his body stand on end.

It was his primal instinct, a danger sense honed through years of bloody combat—a battle-hardened sixth sense screaming danger.

"Damn it!"

He leaned backward sharply, retreating explosively. Simultaneously, his right hand flung out a Mid-Grade defensive Magic Artifact: a long-handled umbrella. With a whoosh, the ribs snapped open, ready to spin.

The next instant, the Spirit Light shot from Han Yi's fingertip struck the open umbrella silently.

Boom!!

The umbrella-shaped Magic Artifact was blasted away by the Spirit Light's impact.

To be continued.

The second Spirit Light followed almost immediately after the first, piercing through the center of the explosion and hurtling toward the rapidly retreating cultivator.

"Stop!"

"Damn it!"

At that very moment, the cultivator on the far right let out a soft shout. Gripping a blood-red longblade, he swung it down, unleashing a crescent-shaped blade of dark crimson energy that crashed through the air.

He couldn't stand by and watch Han Yi kill. If they didn't gang up on him now, would they wait for Han Yi to finish off his companion before coming for him next?

But Han Yi had anticipated this.

Having dared to face two opponents alone, he wouldn't focus solely on one. Instead, he launched simultaneous attacks against both.

As he unleashed the Spirit Void Finger with his left hand, his right hand abruptly splayed open. Mana surged forth, instantly conjuring a fiery red shield.

Fire Shield Technique.

The shield had barely formed when Han Yi shifted his right hand into a new gesture, pressing his index and middle fingers together. As his thoughts flowed seamlessly, the dagger at his waist shot forth with a piercing sonic boom.

At the same instant, the dagger hidden behind his back silently dropped to the ground, skimming along the earth as it advanced soundlessly.

He was attempting to repeat his previous tactic, employing the same dual-dagger method he had used to kill the Blood God Sect cultivators earlier: one dagger visible, the other concealed.

Though repetitive, this strategy proved remarkably effective in the dead of night.

His left hand flicked ceaselessly, unleashing a torrent of spirit light.

With his right hand, he summoned his sword, wielding the two blades as twin daggers—one visible, one hidden, striking in tandem.

The moment his attack materialized, he truly managed to engage two Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators simultaneously.

Alas...

Cui Xingchen, Luo Yunzhou, and Tao Shouhua, who were not far behind him, didn't turn to witness the battle. Instead, they desperately tried to break through the encirclement and escape.

Among the three, Cui Xingchen retained barely thirty percent of his combat strength, Tao Shouhua was merely an average Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator, and only Luo Yunzhou maintained his Seventh Layer strength, tempered by the Demon Cave War.

Yet, united in their frantic effort, the trio launched a desperate assault. Within a mere two breaths, they forced back the Blood God Sect's Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivators and nearly made their escape.

Before fleeing, however, all three instinctively glanced back at the unfolding battle.

As they had expected, Junior Brother Han Yi, a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator, should have already fallen.

This final glance was merely a subconscious turn of the head.

But the pupils of all three cultivators constricted violently in unison, their eyes widening in disbelief as they abruptly halted their fleeing bodies.

There, bathed in moonlight, Han Yi's fingers danced across the air, unleashing streams of Spirit Light that streaked like shooting stars. In the blink of an eye, they shattered all the defenses erected by the retreating cultivator. The luminous bolts struck him and exploded violently.

Boom!

The fleeing cultivator's shoulder erupted in a bloody mist. Before the spray could even scatter, a second wave of Spirit Light slammed into the ravaged wound.

No. It wasn't just a second wave.

Within their vision, a third, fourth, countless streams of Spirit Light converged like a radiant wall, striking him simultaneously.

Shoulders, chest, limbs, even his head—all disintegrated in the blinding light.

The billowing cloud of blood obscured the cultivator's features, leaving his fate indiscernible.