Jin Wang's sudden appearance drew both Yin Long's and Cui Senju's attention, their battle coming to a temporary halt as they observed the golden lion. Lan Yun was riding on his back, but looking at her current dishevelled state made Yin Long guess that she either hadn't expected the speed he unleashed or simply hadn't been expecting the sudden ride.
Whatever the case was, Jin Wang shook his body slightly now that they had reached Yin Long, tossing Lan Yun off in the gentlest manner he could muster. He shot her a glance while giving a low roar to make his message clear, she was still wounded so she shouldn't get too close, lest she gets hurt further and saddens the alpha.
She grimaced slightly at being lectured by a lion, but she also knew that now wasn't the time to be a contrarian so she let out a puff of air as her answer. Jin Wang continued moving forward after he made sure his message got across, crossing the last few metres between him and Yin Long.
Once he stood in front of Yin Long, he unhinged his lower jaw and opened his mouth into a 90-degree angle, bellowing forth a thunderous roar that unleashed an oppressive aura. The roar only lasted for a short second before Jin Wang closed his mouth again, lowering his head to the unmoved Yin Long. Yin Long reached out with his hand and ruffled Jin Wang's mane, smiling softly.
"You've grown quite a bit, haven't you? You must have already started storing up energy for this even before we left our home, right?"
This level of growth was far removed from Yin Long's expectations and the instances of growth that Jin Wang had displayed in the past. So he could only assume that Jin Wang had started storing up energy quite a while ago, saving it so that he could leap forward in growth the next time he took the chance.
There was no chance for Jin Wang to respond, the loud sound of something breaking coming from behind Yin Long. A thick wall of earth and intertwined roots had been cut open by Cui Senju, his sharp Qi continuing forward as the wall fell apart.
Yin Long's own arm flashed out, his transparent crimson sword colliding with the side of the incoming attack. Cui Senju's sharp Qi had been weakened since it was forced to crash through Lan Yun's defence so Yin Long's attack was enough to push the sharp Qi to the side. It missed him and Jin Wang, continuing on for nearly 200 metres before it vanished.
Cui Senju didn't waste any time on pleasantries and questions, his unease had only grown larger now that Jin Wang had appeared. He charged straight at Yin Long, the tip of his sword dragging after him as he gathered his power. Yin Long didn't even glance at Lan Yun or Jin Wang, stepping forward with a simple statement.
"I'll be the tip of the trident."
Cui Senju slashed upwards with his sword as Yin Long stepped forward, gouging out a chunk of the earth and launching it at Yin Long's face. It was the same attack that had started the battle, but Yin Long was confident that he would suffer if he tried to deflect it in the same way.
He raised his sword and brought it crashing down upon Cui Senju's ascending sword, the blood he had spat out earlier as well as the blood that Cui Senju had shed gathering around his blade like dancing leaves. Blood contained energy, energy that now gathered around his weapon to increase the strength it put out so that he could temporarily hold back Cui Senju's attack.
But it really was only temporary, he calculated that Cui Senju would probably be able to push away his weapon and finish his attack in a second and a half. But that would only occur if he was still able to continue his attack a second and a half from now on.
Jin Wang dashed forward from Yin Long's side and slammed his paw at Cui Senju from the left, the earth beneath Cui Senju's right foot sinking in and ruining his footing. The roots of the surrounding ferns rose up at the same time, a crushing power coiling around them as they rose towards Cui Senju's side like sharp spears.
Cui Senju's pupils narrowed sharply as he inspected the attacks coming at him from both sides, his hardened gaze eventually settling on Yin Long. He spat out a quick breath and tensed his body, a layer of metal expanding to cover his entire body as he proceeded to push his ascending sword to the side. His actions ignored the incoming attacks but also pushed Yin Long's sword to the side, allowing Cui Senju to step forward and send his left hand piercing forward.
Jin Wang's paw and Lan Yun's crushing spears hit their mark, dull thuds echoing through the areas as Cui Senju's metallic skin blocked most of the damage. But he couldn't block it all while putting most of his focus on attacking, Jin Wang's paw shattering the layer of metal and tearing a few gashes in Cui Senju's waist while Lan Yun's spears crushed the metal and the stabbed a few centimetres into his flesh, the crushing energy expended after breaking through the metal.
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Cui Senju spat out a bit of blood but stabilized himself, even creating a layer of metal beneath his feet to make sure that Lan Yun couldn't rob him of his footing at the critical moment. He shaped his hand into a spear and aimed it directly at Yin Long's chest, planning on piercing through his heart with a single attack to end the fight.
Yin Long's sword was currently slashing towards the right after Cui Senju had deflected his block, but something as small as the direction of his attack didn't matter in the slightest to Yin Long. His Qi burst forth and surrounded his sword, which suddenly vanished and appeared again at his left, its right-facing slash continuing on towards Cui Senju's throat. The attack was similar to the principle he used in his first attempt at using Ravenous Beast, only much more focused.
Cui Senju's gaze remained resolute as he saw the teleporting attack, he had to grasp this chance no matter what, that was what his instincts were screaming at him. But Yin Long had no intention of making things easy for Cui Senju, his left hand opening as he glanced at Jin Wang, who was in the process of pulling his paw back.
Jin Wang understood the gist of Yin Long's intentions, opening his maw and unleashing a violent swallowing force. But Cui Senju was connected to the metal plate beneath his feet so trying to shake his body with the swallowing force would not be easy. Luckily, Yin Long wasn't planning on shaking his body to destabilize him.
His parasitic soul gushed forth and surrounded the swallowing force, forming a transparent sword filled with what appeared to be hundreds of swirling spirals. The sword unleashed the same violent swallowing force, but as the sword was much smaller the area affected by the swallowing force was also smaller, only encompassing Cui Senju's approaching spear hand.
At the same time, all the blood that Cui Senju was shedding from his new wounds gathered around Yin Long, forming a single leaf that was joyfully dancing around him. The leaf ended up in the path of Cui Senju's attack, which was already deviating from its course, the blood solidifying and blocking the hand. But even with everything set in place, the difference between their cultivation realms and strengths was not something that could be considered negligible.
The leaf shivered and broke apart after half a second, Yin Long's own pupils narrowing sharply as he made up his mind. He stepped forward while twisting his body slightly, Cui Senju's spearhand slicing a deep gash into his left waist. And as Cui Senju sliced open his waist, Yin Long stabbed forward the transparent swallowing sword he held in his left hand, all the blood he was spilling gushing forth and surrounding the sword in a swirling display.
Cui Senju grit his teeth as he looked at Yin Long's bloody waist and the two incoming attacks, an unwilling expression flashing across his face. He quickly leaned his body back, Yin Long's teleporting attack slashing across his collar instead of his throat. His stab also reached Cui Senju at the same time, the swirling blood piercing through his defensive layer of metal and allowing the sword to pierce into his flesh.
Some of his blood and flesh got swallowed by the energy that the sword was unleashing, but Cui Senju managed to distance himself from Yin Long before it could do too much damage. The exchange of deadly attacks had been lightning quick, Jin Wang had only barely managed to lower his paw after his first attack by the time Cui Senju pulled back. Cui Senju inspected his own wounds after pulling back, his fist smashing down upon some earthen spears coated in tearing power that Lan Yun tried to ambush him with. A bitter expression formed on his face as he gazed at Yin Long, who was regulating his breathing and stopping himself from bleeding out.
"Some things you don't know the importance of until they slip out of your hands. I've lost my chance to kill you here and I fear that the number of chances I have in the future is far fewer than what I originally expected. But I won't give up, you have shown that you are even more dangerous than my instincts warned me about, you are an existence that I cannot afford to spare."
Cui Senju made his declaration while shattering another one of Lan Yun's range attacks, sending Yin Long one last glare before he turned around and charged away. With both Lan Yun and Jin Wang present, his chances of killing Yin Long here had dropped to about 5%, and that was only if Yin Long had shown all his cards in the battle just now. He would have to retreat to fight another day, a regrettable but reasonable action.
Yin Long's gaze remained locked on the fleeing Cui Senju, but he didn't give chase, nor did Lan Yun or Jin Wang flee from the spot. Cui Senju had reached the 5th Immortal Door, their odds of killing him weren't great even if they all worked together, resisting him and forcing him to flee like this was already an excellent result. Yin Long let out a long breath after Cui Senju left the range of his senses, clutching the wound on his waist and holding back his blood.
"Alright, I think we're good to return to the dojo, what do you guys think?"
They had all gotten a good amount of practice and managed to increase their strength somewhat, Jin wang and Yin Long getting the greatest harvest. As such, it was indeed a good time to return to the dojo, especially with Lan Yun's wounds, which would require a bit of time to fully heal since some of her bones had shattered. Neither Jin Wang nor Lan Yun had any objections to Yin Long's suggestion, the group quickly moving out.
--
Xue Qiuling arrived within one of the halls of her family's estate after tearing up the teleportation scroll, her every cell pulsating with a weak feeling as the repercussions from using the secret technique got closer and closer. There were always servants ready within the estate so she was quickly supported by two maids that helped her move towards the medicinal hall of their estate. But as she was heading for the medicinal hall, Xue Qiuling didn't forget to give an order to one of her personal butlers.
"Head to the Heaven's Secrets Company and buy some information for me. I want to know about every clan in the Sunsong Province that is either on par with or larger than our family, focus especially on clans that have ties with wolves. And if you find a clan where someone recently had a fight with their clan leader and earned a massive wound across their body as a result, then you buy every single piece of information that you can."