Chapter 148: The Might of Three Bone Forces

At this moment, dozens of human martial artists gathered at the mouth of the valley, launching a hunt against the fierce spirits and fiends, and a chaotic battle broke out.

Lu Yan pushed his Cloud-Treading Steps to the absolute limit, his figure darting like a phantom through the crowd. Those below the fourth stage of the Martial Lord realm were killed with a single slash, while those at the fourth stage took two or three.

Those at the fifth stage of the Martial Lord realm were slightly more troublesome, but only demanded a little more effort.

The surrounding human Martial Lords looked on with awe, filled with deep apprehension toward Lu Yan.

They could tell that Lu Yan undoubtedly possessed the combat prowess of the Martial Lord Rankings.

Yet a man of such caliber refused to enter the valley, choosing instead to stay outside and contend with them for the fiends—it was quite unbecoming of an expert's demeanor.

Of course, they only muttered these thoughts inwardly, not daring to voice them out loud. Instead, they consciously kept as far away from Lu Yan as possible.

A total of several hundred fiends had rushed out of the valley. Naturally, the majority were in the limit-breaking stage, but there were also about forty Martial Lord-grade fiends among them.

Yet Lu Yan single-handedly slaughtered ten Martial Lord-grade fiends.

This included one fiend at the fifth stage of the Martial Lord realm.

This tipped the scales heavily in favor of the human side. In the end, only a handful of fiends managed to escape, while the vast majority were completely annihilated.

By the time Lu Yan and the others had almost finished off the fiends, Ouyang Zeng, Gao Wanping, and a few others finally rushed out of the valley. Seeing the ground littered with the corpses of the fiends, their expressions turned somewhat gloomy.

Earlier, they had entered the valley to hunt down the Martial Lord-grade fiends within, but they had not expected these creatures to scatter like frightened birds, fleeing wildly out of the valley.

By the time they cleared out the few powerful fiends left inside, it was already too late; most of the fiends outside had already been slain.

Gao Wanping and Ouyang Zeng swept their cold gazes across the crowd before springing forward toward the deep mountains.

Many people breathed a long sigh of relief. Only after Gao Wanping and the others had gone far away did they dare to set off toward the deep mountains themselves.

"The harvest is not bad."

Lu Yan touched the fiend crystals tucked inside his robe and revealed a smile.

Afterward, he too leaped toward the deep mountains. However, the direction he chose was not the path Gao Wanping and the others had taken, but rather deviated at a certain angle.

With those top-tier experts clearing the way ahead, even if there were fiends along the route, they would have already been slaughtered by those two. Following in their footsteps would yield little to nothing.

In fact, many people shared Lu Yan's thought and avoided the path taken by Gao Wanping and the others.

The space of a burning incense stick later.

"The smell of blood."

Lu Yan twitched his nose. vaulting over two large trees, he discovered a corpse lying on the ground.

Between the brows of this corpse was a bloody hole that pierced straight through from front to back.

At a single glance, Lu Yan could tell that this person had been shot and killed by an arrow.

Fiends certainly did not know how to use bows and arrows.

"He was shot and killed by a human Martial Lord. Is this a blood feud? Or are they fighting over fiend crystals?"

Lu Yan pondered inwardly.

He figured the latter probability was much higher.

When facing a shared crisis, human martial artists could unite as one to resist a formidable enemy.

However, once the crisis was resolved, mutual bloodshed and the contest for resources were inevitable.

Fiend crystals represented battle merits.

Battle merits represented resources, and placing in the top three could even secure a quota to enter Mount Kunwu.

Such a quota was enough to drive people mad.

Even those top-tier experts from the sect-level magnates might naturally secure an entry quota on their own, but who would ever turn down extra quotas? Even if they couldn't use it themselves, selling it would fetch an astronomical price.

Maintaining high vigilance, Lu Yan left the spot and continued forward.

Yet before he had gone far, he spotted another corpse, which similarly bore a front-to-back piercing hole between the brows, with red and white matter spilled all over the ground.

"It's him."

Lu Yan actually recognized this person. Earlier, this man had inquired about the situation inside the valley and had been very easygoing, patiently explaining things to Lu Yan.

He had never expected that in the blink of an eye, the man would die here.

On this person's back was also strapped a quiver, with a dozen metal arrows still remaining inside.

Lu Yan dropped down, collected the other's arrows into his own quiver, and then searched the body thoroughly. As expected, not a single fiend crystal was to be found.

Swish!

At that very instant, a violent piercing sound rang out from behind Lu Yan.

Furthermore, the speed was startlingly fast, arriving in the blink of an eye.

At the critical moment, Lu Yan rolled to the side.

With a muffled thud, the arrow struck the exact spot where Lu Yan had been standing just a moment before, burying its entire meter-long shaft deep into the earth.

Swish!

Yet another arrow flew directly toward the center of Lu Yan's brows.

By this time, Lu Yan had already prepared himself. With his iron bow in hand, he loosed an arrow in return.

Boom!

The two arrows collided mid-air, shattering into powder.

"There you are, I see you."

Lu Yan's eyes grew sharp.

Although it was still only dawn, Lu Yan had practiced the Heavenly Eagle Eyes, and with a single glance, he spotted the figure hiding in a large tree several hundred meters away.

Lu Yan rapidly drew his bow and loosed an arrow.

Realizing he had been exposed, the figure in the tree leaped down, loosing an arrow the very instant he jumped.

Boom!

The two arrows met in mid-air once again. Boosted by bone strength, the arrows shattered into pieces, sending iron splinters flying in all directions and peppering the nearby trees with dense, tiny holes.

Swish! Swish! ...

Both figures moved simultaneously. While shifting and dodging, they pulled back their bowstrings, the metal arrows tearing through the void and producing piercing shrieks as they rent the air.

Then, they continuously collided in mid-air, bursting into fragments of iron.

Occasionally, an arrow would fail to collide mid-air, but it would still be successfully avoided thanks to their high-speed movements.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged a dozen arrow shots.

When Lu Yan reached for his quiver, however, his hand grasped empty air.

Unawares, his arrows had been completely depleted.

With a flash, he dodged another arrow from his opponent, and his adversary also came to a halt, ceasing further attacks.

Because his opponent's arrows had run out as well.

"Gao Wanping."

Lu Yan murmured softly.

The person who had attacked him was none other than Gao Wanping, the top expert of the Gao family of Nanyi City, ranked sixteenth on the Martial Lord Rankings.

"Your archery is not bad, but I wonder how your close-combat skills are, and how many of my moves you can take."

Gao Wanping discarded his bow and arrow, unhooked the long-handled heavy hammer from his back, and charged toward Lu Yan like a hunting leopard, moving like the wind.

The distance of several hundred meters was covered in just a few bounds for him.

Bang!

With his final bound, Gao Wanping leaped to a height of dozens of meters, wielding the heavy hammer with both hands and bringing it crashing down upon Lu Yan from above.

Lu Yan also discarded his bow, grasping his sabre as he tapped his feet and retreated dozens of meters to avoid the brunt of the attack.

Boom!

Gao Wanping's hammer slammed heavily into the ground, causing the earth to roar as shattered stones and soil flew in all directions. The hard mountainous ground was violently smashed into a crater several meters wide.

Had anyone been struck by that blow, they would inevitably have been reduced to a pulp of flesh and blood.

The moment he retreated, Lu Yan advanced, bringing his Crimson Blood Sabre slashing down toward Gao Wanping's head.

For this strike, Lu Yan unleashed nine strands of bone strength, going all out.

Even a lion uses its full strength to capture a rabbit.

Zhao Yi had only been ranked thirty-third on the Martial Lord Rankings, yet his combat prowess was already astonishing. Since this man was ranked sixteenth, how could Lu Yan dare to be careless?

"You've got some nerve, daring to counterattack."

Gao Wanping grinned, his gaze chillingly cold as he raised his heavy hammer to meet the Crimson Blood Sabre.

However, Lu Yan's sabre stance shifted mid-air, curving in a bizarre arc to slash horizontally at Gao Wanping's neck.

Gao Wanping's expression changed slightly; he hadn't expected Lu Yan to change his stance so swiftly, leaving him with no choice but to retreat to avoid the sabre strike before sweeping his heavy hammer outward horizontally.

The heavy hammer brushed past the empty air with a deafening roar, its momentum terrifying to the extreme.

Lu Yan stepped back to evade, while Gao Wanping strode forward, wielding his heavy hammer as his offensive poured down upon Lu Yan like a tidal wave, completely shrouding him within it.

Clang!

After thirteen moves, Lu Yan finally crossed blades with the opponent's heavy hammer.

With a deafening crash, Lu Yan felt an overwhelmingly massive and fierce force surge toward him. The Crimson Blood Sabre vibrated violently, and Lu Yan was sent flying back over twenty meters.

"Such formidable strength! Peak Martial Lord, with three strands of bone strength erupting simultaneously—his power is completely above mine."

Lu Yan was secretly startled.

Merely comparing bone strength, he was still inferior to Zhao Yi.

Yet combined with his physical strength and the blessing of the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, his power surpassed Zhao Yi's.

However, when Gao Wanping erupted with three thick strands of bone strength all at once, he far outstripped Lu Yan.

"Oh? To think he could block a blow from me."

Gao Wanping was also slightly stunned, evidently caught off guard.

Among the six counties of Lingdong, those at the Martial Lord level who could directly take a blow from him head-on did not exceed fifteen in number.

Every single one of those people possessed either a congenital or acquired martial physique and had cultivated more than three strands of bone strength.

Yet this person was certainly not among them.

Gao Wanping only paused for a fraction of a second, however, before continuing his relentless assault, hammering toward Lu Yan once more.

Lu Yan deployed his Cloud-Treading Steps, rapidly retreating before flashing to the right to evade the opponent's consecutive strikes.

Gao Wanping let out a low shout, turning back to slaughter Lu Yan again, but Lu Yan continued to use his footwork to dodge, searching for any flaws in his opponent.

Since he had already tested the opponent's strength and realized it was beyond what he could contend with, there was no need to engage in direct combat. By playing to his own speed advantage, a war of attrition would suffice.

Although Gao Wanping's bone strength was overwhelmingly fierce, his speed was quite ordinary. With Lu Yan fully focused on evasion, Gao Wanping simply couldn't catch him.

Unable to catch him, he naturally couldn't land an attack.

Gradually, Gao Wanping began to grow restless and impatient.

Swish!

Seizing the opportunity, Lu Yan closed in rapidly on Gao Wanping, slashing a sabre toward the other's neck.

Though the heavy hammer possessed immense might, it lacked flexibility and was too slow to bring back for defense. Gao Wanping threw out his left hand, using his wrist to meet Lu Yan's sabre head-on.

With a metallic clash, the Crimson Blood Sabre struck the opponent's wrist as if hitting solid metal, while a powerful burst of bone strength sent the Crimson Blood Sabre bouncing away.

Grasping his sabre, Lu Yan rapidly retreated, widening the distance between them.

"Metal bracers."

Lu Yan gazed at Gao Wanping's wrists.

On both of Gao Wanping's wrists were fastened pitch-black metal bracers, which were what he had just used to block Lu Yan's sabre.

Clearly, Gao Wanping was well aware of his own weakness—lack of agility and insufficient adaptability. If he encountered a foe with agile speed and swift attacks, it would be all too easy for them to find a flaw and assassinate him at close quarters.

By wearing metal bracers on his wrists, he could fend off enemy attacks at close range.

This time, Gao Wanping did not continue his pursuit of Lu Yan. Instead, he stood holding his heavy hammer, staring fixedly at Lu Yan with murderous intent flickering in and out of his eyes.

Lu Yan knew about his killing people to seize fiend crystals; if word got out, the repercussions for him would be severe, so naturally he wanted to silence Lu Yan.

Yet at present, he lacked absolute certainty of victory.

He was weighing his options and pondering countermeasures.

At that moment, the sound of rustling came from not far away. Four figures emerged into view, spotting Lu Yan and Gao Wanping, and simultaneously noticing the corpse lying on the ground nearby.

"It's Gao Wanping."

The expressions of the four shifted. They quickly converged, staring cautiously at Gao Wanping.

"Fellow daoists, this man has been murdering people to plunder their fiend crystals. Why don't we join forces and kill him right here?"

Gao Wanping pointed straight at Lu Yan and said.