Tang Leyin cast a glance at the two black-robed figures ready to attack, then turned to look at Li Tan, whose eyes revealed a hint of concern. Despite his fingers trembling slightly, he still did nothing.
Suddenly, the two black-robed figures stopped moving. A surge of evil aura, many times denser than before, spread outward. With a loud shout of “Break the Earth,” they swung their swords, releasing swift sword qi that rushed toward Li Tan with unstoppable force, creating a fierce gust of wind.
Li Tan sensed their attack the moment they moved and reacted immediately.
Li Tan whispered, “Maya.”
His dantian’s true energy flowed into the meridians of his legs. With several quick steps, he strangely evaded the sword qi that seemed to seal off nearly all escape routes.
Bang! The sword qi collided, causing a violent explosion. However, Li Tan used the shockwave to propel himself forward with the mysterious “Maya” stepping technique straight toward the taller black-robed figure.
“No way! How did he dodge it?”
The taller black-robed figure had nearly assumed Li Tan’s death. His sword was already halfway back in its sheath, and he hadn’t anticipated Li Tan not only surviving but counterattacking.
Reacting quickly, the taller figure unleashed the sword qi of the “Break the Earth” technique again, yet each strike was precisely intercepted by Li Tan.
“Show some guts and stop dodging! Face me head-on!”
Frustrated at repeatedly failing to land a hit, the taller black-robed figure shouted angrily.
Li Tan, playfully toying with him, smiled at the remark.
“As you wish.”
Then he charged straight forward.
The taller black-robed figure was momentarily stunned before bursting into ecstatic excitement.
“Foolishly arrogant brat! You’re merely at the Post-Heaven stage, and your strength doesn’t even reach a tenth of mine. How dare you dare to challenge me directly?
Too bad! It’s already too late to regret!”
With a smirk, the taller black-robed figure threw a powerful punch toward Li Tan, while the shorter black-robed figure quickly approached as well.
However.
“Must facing head-on mean only brute force?
Did you forget how to use your brain?”
As Li Tan’s mocking words left his mouth, he skillfully dodged the taller figure’s punch, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it forcefully. The black-robed figure, whose strength was mostly concentrated in his fist, couldn’t retract his force in time, cried out in pain, and nearly fell over.
“Amazing! He actually managed that!”
Tang Leyin, mouth agape in astonishment, looked at Li Tan with growing admiration in her eyes.
“What an incredibly strange stepping technique! I can’t even spot the slightest flaw in it!”
Elsewhere.
“Damn it, which move should I use? Quickly finish him off. Kid, you’re impressive, but this is where it ends.”
The taller black-robed figure roared furiously, while the shorter one hesitated briefly before halting all his actions.
Li Tan stepped back slightly, indifferently scanning the two black-robed figures and muttering to himself.
“Are they going to use their trump cards? Their posture suggests they might have something up their sleeves, but…” He didn’t say the rest of the sentence aloud—*”Not that it matters anyway.”* The reason he held back was probably because Tang Leyin was present.
Tang Leyin’s family, even within the Nine Provinces, was somewhat well-known. Growing up in such an environment, although she belonged to the ordinary ranks, she still possessed top-tier strength in Linjiang.
Therefore, the outcome of this battle had been decided from the beginning. If necessary, she could end it instantly.
However, Li Tan wanted some exercise, and Tang Leyin wanted to observe Li Tan’s strength, so they allowed the two black-robed figures the illusion of an easy victory.
With their martial skill “Break the Earth” neutralized, the two black-robed figures were clearly desperate. Ignoring everything else, they unleashed their final trump card.
As the two sides remained locked in confrontation, Li Tan waited for the right moment, while Tang Leyin calmly observed the changes. Suddenly, the two black-robed figures halted all movements, their bodies going limp. Then, a terrifying evil aura, like mist, spread out, enveloping everything nearby. Two powerful true energy fluctuations emerged, unmistakably from the two black-robed figures.
They didn’t speak, but even with their hoods on, the dark red glow in their eyes refracted across their faces, making their expressions visible to others.
Standing aside, Tang Leyin’s pupils suddenly contracted, her expression turning more serious as she muttered.
“This is a martial technique for temporarily enhancing cultivation. Even my family doesn’t possess anything like it. How could it appear here, in the hands of two obscure evil cultivators?” Not far ahead, Li Tan also dropped his playful expression, his brows knitting tightly together.
Just as Tang Leyin had said, martial techniques capable of temporarily boosting cultivation were extremely rare, yet they had appeared on these two obscure evil cultivators barely at the Pre-Heaven stage.
It was too strange.
“You two—” Li Tan uttered the two words in confusion when, without warning, the tall and short black-robed figures launched their attacks. This time, both their speed and strength had increased by more than double. Li Tan, who had previously been effortlessly evading, now found himself evenly matched, even slightly at a disadvantage.
“These two have already reached the peak of the Pre-Heaven stage. Master Li, step back, let me assist you.”
Tang Leyin said as she stepped forward, but while dodging attacks, Li Tan replied.
“No need. They’re only at the Pre-Heaven stage, not having broken through. What’s there to fear?”
Tang Leyin hesitated for a moment. Although slightly worried, she decided to respect Li Tan’s judgment after a brief pause. After all, Li Tan had surprised her too many times; one more wouldn’t be strange.
After speaking, Li Tan fully concentrated on the two black-robed figures. After another dozen exchanges, his clothes were slashed multiple times, but he seemed increasingly relaxed, regaining his confident demeanor.
“Trading a little cultivation for such a minor gain—what a waste! Only someone with no brains would do this. Well, the game ends here.”
After several rounds of verification, Li Tan had already identified the two black-robed figures’ weakness—the drawbacks brought by their cultivation enhancement.
Charging recklessly.
Indeed, although their cultivation had improved, their intellect had evidently diminished significantly, making them as mindless as brutes. Despite their speed, strength, and strange true energy, their techniques were completely absent.
Boom! Boom! Two dull thuds sounded as Li Tan’s fists accurately struck the two black-robed figures. In an instant, a faint dragon’s roar could be heard, and a flash of golden light flickered in Li Tan’s eyes.
“He actually turned the tide. If it were me, I would’ve already lost. Master Li is truly formidable. I wonder what kind of master he has. But the technique Master Li used just now… was it the Jiuzhuan Panlong Fist of the Cui family? Did I see that right? Why does he know the Cui family’s martial arts?” Tang Leyin’s questions went unheard as the two black-robed figures collapsed on the ground like insects under Li Tan’s terrifying punches. The terrifying evil aura dissipated, and they seemed to have returned to normal.
The taller one had already fainted, while the shorter one screamed loudly in pain. However, the next second, he received a kick to the abdomen from Li Tan and passed out in extreme unwillingness.
“It took a bit of effort, but this is the most enjoyable fight I’ve had since coming here.”
Li Tan stretched his arms wide, relaxing his muscles and bones with satisfaction. Tang Leyin, snapping out of her astonishment, approached him quickly and asked.
“Master Li, was that martial technique of yours from the Cui family of Zhongzhou?”
“Uh…” Li Tan hesitated. Caught up in the heat of the moment, he instinctively used the Jiuzhuan Panlong Fist, the most powerful unarmed technique he knew, completely forgetting Tang Leyin’s family had connections to the Cui family.
In this awkward situation, he struggled to respond. After thinking it over, he shifted the responsibility to his “wandering master.”
“The Cui family? The martial technique was taught to me by my master.”
Could Master Li’s master have a connection to the Cui family?
Tang Leyin’s heart skipped a beat. Another question added to her confusion, but she didn’t ask further, as prying too deeply would be impolite.
Li Tan, taking advantage of Tang Leyin’s considerate nature, quickly changed the subject.
“Can you break the seal on their storage rings? We might find clues related to their identities.”
“Breaking a Pre-Heaven-level seal should be manageable. Let me give it a try.”
Tang Leyin smartly followed this line of conversation.
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