Chapter 143: The Great Battle Against Zhao Yi

Surrounding the Monstrous Evil King were dozens of imposing figures.
Each one was as bulky as an elephant, far surpassing ordinary monstrous evils, and as they charged, the ground trembled.
Grandmaster-level monstrous evils.
On the northern city wall, nineteen grandmasters stood side by side, led by Zhao Tiansheng, the head of the Zhao family.
All nineteen grandmasters wore solemn expressions.
"The monstrous evils have mobilized their entire force."
"There should still be some monstrous evils left in the Demonic Ridge Mountains, but the ones that have left are practically all of them."
"They can no longer restrain themselves and are launching a full-scale assault?"
Several grandmasters spoke one after another.
"Gentlemen, who among you will join me in battling the Monstrous Evil King? We must not let a grandmaster-level monstrous evil approach Lingwang City; otherwise, this millennium-old city will be destroyed," Zhao Tiansheng said.
Not a single one of the external reinforcement grandmasters made a sound.
Battling the Monstrous Evil King was an extremely dangerous endeavor.
Back then, when five grandmasters besieged the Monstrous Evil King, one of them—originating from the Tu family—was killed.
They had come to help, not to throw away their lives.
"Patriarch, I will go with you."
"Patriarch, I shall assist you."
Ultimately, several grandmasters from the Zhao family stepped forward.
They understood very well that this was Lingwang City, their own territory. They had to be the ones to chew on the hardest bones before others would put in any real effort.
"Attack! Today, alongside me, we shall slay the Monstrous Evil King."
With a long howl, Zhao Tiansheng's aged body instantly surged with vitality, his muscles bulging and his skin flushing red as if he had grown decades younger in an instant.
With a single leap, he covered a hundred zhang in a single bound, charging toward the Monstrous Evil King at an astonishing speed.
Swish, swish, swish...
The eighteen grandmasters on the city wall also leaped down, meeting the grandmaster-level monstrous evils head-on.
The powerhouse grandmasters from both sides were rapidly closing the distance.
"Kill!"
Zhao Tiansheng leaped more than fifty meters into the air, overlooking from above, wielding twin battle halberds and cleaving downward with crushing force.
The momentum was terrifying, carrying the power to split mountains.
Roar!
The Monstrous Evil King thrust out a beastly claw, its sharp talons acting like blades as they slashed upward.
Clang!
The two sides clashed.
A violent shockwave erupted with the two of them at the center, sweeping outward in layers of invisible ripples that surged in all directions.
If any Martial Marquis realm entity had been too close to such terrifying force, they would have been instantly severely injured.
Zhao Tiansheng's body shook violently as he flew backward dozens of meters, landing on the ground and sliding another ten-odd meters, leaving a deep gouge in the earth.
The Monstrous Evil King's massive body was also halted, forcing it back a few steps.
In the initial collision, the Monstrous Evil King clearly held the upper hand.
A ferocious glint flashed in the Monstrous Evil King's eyes, and with a low roar, it lunged at Zhao Tiansheng.
Behind him, three Zhao family grandmasters caught up, joining forces with Zhao Tiansheng to assault the Monstrous Evil King in a fierce battle.
Meanwhile, the other human grandmasters were also engaged in combat with the monstrous evil grandmasters.
As for the monstrous evils below the grandmaster level, they continued to flood toward Lingwang City like a tidal wave.
Soon, a brutal and bloody slaughter fully erupted.
Simultaneously, fierce battles broke out at the eastern and western gates. Both sides featured grandmaster-level duels, though their numbers were far fewer than those at the northern wall.
The slaughter grew increasingly harrowing as countless monstrous evils, utterly fearless of death, incessantly battered the city walls.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Flares shot up into the sky and burst apart.
This was a measure taken only in extreme emergencies.
Within the Zhao family's blood vein, the few remaining high-level experts rapidly charged toward the eastern, western, and northern city walls.
Splat!
Zhao Yi cleaved a Martial Marquis-level monstrous evil in half with a single palm strike, his gaze shifting toward the direction of the blood vein with a dense flash of murderous intent.
Then, while hunting down monstrous evils, he maneuvered his body until he gradually arrived beneath the city wall.
Taking advantage of the chaos where no one was paying attention, he turned on his heels and sprinted toward the blood vein.
Right now, almost all of the Zhao family's experts had been drawn to the city walls to resist the monstrous evils. The number of guards around the Pure Blood Grotto would surely be minimal. This was the absolute best time to kill Lu Yan.
Operating at full speed, he quickly arrived atop the blood vein.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Bang, bang, bang!
At that very moment, flares also shot up from the blood vein, bursting in mid-air.
"The blood vein has also been attacked? It's specters."
A thought flashed through Zhao Yi's mind, and he immediately suspected specters.
Sure enough, he spotted numerous figures rushing toward the fortress of the blood vein, flitting like ghosts in the pitch-black night—were those not specters?
However, Zhao Yi did not attempt to stop the specters; instead, he accelerated toward the Pure Blood Grotto.
As expected, the experts originally guarding the perimeter of the Pure Blood Grotto had almost all departed, leaving only two armored brutes stationed at the cave entrance.
"What are you two still doing here? The blood vein is under attack by specters. Go and provide support immediately."
Zhao Yi's voice dropped to a low growl.
"Understood."
The expressions of the two muscular guards shifted, and they quickly bolted toward the summit of the blood vein.
Here, only Zhao Yi remained.
Suppressing his aura, Zhao Yi flashed into the cave. Before long, he penetrated deep into the cavern and immediately spotted Lu Yan immersed in the blood pool, with only his head exposed.
"Lu Ren, today is your day of death."
Zhao Yi roared inwardly, unslung the bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and loosed it.
Bolstered by bone strength, the metal-shafted arrow tore through the void like lightning, aiming straight for Lu Yan's glabella.
At that exact instant, Lu Yan abruptly snapped his eyes open, reached out, and grabbed forward, firmly seizing the arrow shaft and halting its momentum completely.
"Hm?"
Zhao Yi let out a soft exclamation as he quickly nocked two more arrows, shooting them toward Lu Yan's heart and throat.
Lu Yan sprang upward, dodging the projectiles, and landed on the surface of the blood pool, his bare torso facing Zhao Yi.
"You're fine?"
Zhao Yi stared at Lu Yan in utter disbelief.
According to the records of the Heart-Tempering Scripture, practicing the first layer required forty-nine days without interruption. It could not be stopped midway; once disturbed, the vital qi and blood would reverse course through the meridians, causing them to rupture and resulting in death.
Counting the time, only eighteen days had passed—precisely the most critical moment of cultivation.
Yet judging by Lu Yan's appearance, he was completely unharmed.
What Zhao Yi did not know was that Lu Yan had already mastered the first layer of the Heart-Tempering Scripture two days prior, condensing a Heart-Tempering avatar beside the Taoist book.
The reason for such astonishing speed was that Lu Yan possessed four first-rate martial arts at the realm of human-martial integration, giving him a conversion rate far exceeding ordinary people and allowing him to absorb the energy within the Pure Blood Grotto at a rate far surpassing anyone else.
Since he had already mastered it, Lu Yan discovered he could continue utilizing his high conversion rate to absorb the energy within the blood pool to enhance his bone strength, achieving an efficiency even greater than consuming grade-two martial sustenance.
Waste not, want not.
Thus, over the past two days, he had remained holed up in the blood pool to elevate his bone strength.
Consequently, Zhao Yi's attack had caused him no disruption whatsoever.
"Zhao Yi?"
Lu Yan said.
Although he had never met Zhao Yi, who else could harbor such intense murderous intent toward him besides Zhao Yi?
"Lu Ren, today I'll send you down below to accompany Hao'er."
Disposing of his bow altogether, Zhao Yi's muscles swelled as he broke into a rapid sprint, leaped across a distance of dozens of meters, and threw a punch at Lu Yan.
Lu Yan showed no fear whatsoever, unleashing a punch of his own to meet the attack.
"To actually attempt to take my punch head-on? Excellent."
A ferocious grin crossed Zhao Yi's face as he fully unleashed both strands of his bone strength, channeling them into his fist.
Boom!
The two fists collided like two massive iron hammers striking each other, emitting a muffled roar. Lu Yan's body shuddered as he staggered back seven or eight steps.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yi drifted backward over a dozen meters, landing on the opposite side of the blood pool with a look of profound astonishment in his eyes.
In a direct clash of force, he had actually failed to gain the upper hand.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, Zhao Yi's muscles swelled even more violently while his bones popped like parched beans. Dense black scales could be seen crawling up his neck, extending all the way to his jawline.
The arms exposed outside his garments were likewise completely covered in black scales.
"The Divine Dragon Body? It bears some resemblance to the Heavenly Dipper Crimson Scale Palm."
A thought stirred in Lu Yan's heart.
Thud!
With a stomp of his feet, Zhao Yi rocketed toward Lu Yan like a cannonball, unleashing a rapid succession of punches.
Lu Yan neither dodged nor evaded; his entire body turned golden in a split second, and he similarly launched a flurry of punches to meet Zhao Yi blow for blow.
Bang, bang, bang!
The sound of collisions was incessant. Both men moved with extreme velocity, exchanging dozens of blows in the blink of an eye.
"Such formidable explosive power. Solely in terms of bone strength, I am inferior to him."
Lu Yan thought to himself.
He had mastered eight strands of bone strength, which was more than enough to crush an ordinary peak fifth-stage Martial Marquis.
Yet Zhao Yi not only possessed cultivation at the peak of the fifth-stage Martial Marquis realm, but he had also mastered two strands of bone strength—each strand exceptionally thick and robust.
If Lu Yan's bone strength could be likened to small irrigation ditches in a village, Zhao Yi's bone strength was akin to a flowing stream.
While eight small ditches combined could overwhelm a single stream...
Zhao Yi possessed two streams, leaving Lu Yan outmatched in that regard.
As for his ninth strand of bone strength, having broken through only recently, its utility was still limited.
However, Lu Yan's advantages extended far beyond mere bone strength.
Having undergone multiple tempering sessions of the acquired martial body, Lu Yan's physical physique already vastly surpassed peers of the same realm.
Coupled with the human-martial integrated Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, Lu Yan held a slight edge in direct offensive power.
Therefore, after dozens of exchanges, Lu Yan began to seize the upper hand, forcing Zhao Yi onto the defensive and driving him into a continuous retreat.
"This fellow truly possesses an innate martial body, and his quantity of bone strength far surpasses mine."
The longer they fought, the more alarmed Zhao Yi became.
Thud!
Following another clash, Zhao Yi rapidly retreated, letting out a low, beast-like growl as blue veins bulged across his skin and his bones crackled relentlessly.
His limbs began to swell; his boots burst apart first, revealing drastic alterations to his feet as they elongated and grew sharp talons reminiscent of legendary dragon claws.
Not just his feet—his hands underwent the exact same transformation, turning into razor-sharp dragon talons.
Swish!
With a single bound, his speed increased by a wide margin. Accompanied by a rush of wind, he closed the distance to Lu Yan instantly, his talons slicing toward Lu Yan's throat like scythes.
Lu Yan stepped back while thrusting out a palm to intercept the incoming claws.
Utilizing the impact to retreat, Zhao Yi landed against the cavern wall, sinking his talons deep into the rock face. Clinging to the stone like a gecko, he sprinted rapidly along the vertical wall to search for Lu Yan's blind spots.
Abruptly, he kicked off the wall, launching himself toward Lu Yan like a javelin with a speed that a normal fifth-stage Martial Marquis would find nearly impossible to evade.
Lu Yan side-stepped, chopping out with a palm like a blade to precisely parry the incoming attack.
"A bit troublesome. Relying solely on bare hands and fists makes this genuinely tricky to deal with."
A thought flashed through Lu Yan's mind as he activated the Cloud-Crossing Step and darted to the side.
Zhao Yi pursued him closely, his talons clawing toward Lu Yan's back from a rear flank.