The five attackers closed the distance in a blink. Weapons flashed. The four late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators struck at Lin Feng's arms and legs simultaneously. The Foundation Establishment early-stage man, his hand clawed like an eagle's talon, aimed straight for Lin Feng's throat!
"HUMMMM…"
A blinding sphere of golden light erupted from Lin Feng. The Spirit Light Gold Talisman activated instantly, encasing him in a shimmering, eggshell-like barrier.
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!" Their attacks hammered against the shield. Even the Foundation Establishment cultivator was violently repelled.
Their expressions showed no surprise – Lu Cheng had betrayed the Talisman's secret. Veterans, they immediately shifted stance for a second assault.
"NOW!"
Lin Feng wouldn't give them the chance. Murderous intent flared in his eyes. He pivoted sharply on his heel, right arm lashing out. A streak of silver light shot from his hand – the flying sword – slicing horizontally towards the Foundation Establishment man on his right!
The man's face tightened, but panic was absent. Predictably, he raised his right forearm to block, trusting the low-grade spirit artifact bracer protecting it. A fatal miscalculation…
"SHWOOSH!!"
The sword light flickered, passing through the man's body before he could comprehend. A faint chill brushed his throat and arm. Then… oblivion.
"SPLURTCH!"
A half-second of stillness. Then, his raised forearm tumbled away, severed clean. A crimson line blossomed across his neck. His head toppled backward. A fountain of blood exploded from the stump of his neck!!
Nearby, He Wenyan's sneer froze solid. The two men beside him gaped in shock. The remaining four attackers surrounding Lin Feng faltered, momentarily stunned by the horrific speed of their companion's demise.
—A Foundation Establishment cultivator. Slaughtered in an instant!!
"TWAAANG!!!"
The sword's resonant hum shattered the paralysis. Lin Feng never paused. Before the first victim's body hit the ground, his blade was already arcing towards a short-sword wielding foe directly ahead!
"AAAHH!!"
The man paled, shrieking in terror. Instinct drove him to raise his blade defensively while scrambling backward.
"CLANG… SHICK!"
His sword offered zero resistance. The silver flash severed it effortlessly, continued down through his left shoulder, and exited near his right hip.
Split in two, the man was dead before his halves hit the dirt. Lin Feng didn't spare him a glance. Using the momentum of his spin, the sword whipped back in a vicious arc, slashing diagonally towards the attacker on his left!
"CLANG!"
The man's dagger shattered. He'd managed to throw himself desperately backward at the final fraction of a second. The blade carved a deep, bloody trench across his chest – painful, agonizing, but miraculously non-lethal.
"AAAAAAARRRGH!!"
He gasped, relief washing over him… then vanished. An excruciating pain, ten times worse than the physical wound, ripped through his very soul! It felt like his consciousness was being torn apart. He screamed, an inhuman sound ripped from his throat, and collapsed to the ground, writhing uncontrollably.
—Flying Sword Secondary Effect: Soul Damage!!
The other two attackers didn't wait. They fled like startled rabbits, putting frantic distance between themselves and the deadly silver light.
Lin Feng had no intention of pursuing them. He didn't even glance at the man writhing helplessly at his feet. This was his only window! The instant the gap opened, he exploded forward. Feet pounding the earth, he surged through the breach created by the two dead men, racing towards the dense heart of the Seven Peaks Forest!
...
The entire sequence happened faster than thought. No one, not even the late-stage Foundation Establishment He Wenyan, had anticipated Lin Feng possessing such a terrifying weapon. Shock held him immobile for a critical heartbeat.
By the time Lin Feng broke through the encirclement, He Wenyan snapped back to furious reality.
"ESCAPE?! DIE!!"
Shock warred with volcanic rage inside He Wenyan – shock at the powerful artifact, rage at the instantaneous loss of two subordinates before he could intervene!
"CRACKLE-BOOM!!"
He Wenyan roared, his right hand snapping into an intricate sign. He thrust his finger towards Lin Feng's fleeing back.
Thunder cracked the air. A bolt of lightning, thick as a man's thigh and crackling with violet energy, tore through the sky, striking down at Lin Feng's head!
No talisman used. This was pure spellcraft! Falling Thunder Technique – a common lightning spell. Cast by a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, its power rivaled even a high-grade third-tier thunder talisman!
"KRA-KOOM!!"
No time to dodge. The bolt slammed directly onto Lin Feng's shield. The golden barrier flared brilliantly, absorbing the impact. Lin Feng remained unharmed, but the shield visibly dimmed, its light fading by more than half!
Seeing this, terror gripped Lin Feng's heart. He poured every ounce of strength into his legs, sprinting faster. As the thunderclap's echo faded, a new sound reached him – the sharp, whistling rush of air closing in from behind. A primal sense of imminent death surged through him.
He whirled around. He Wenyan was right there. Barely ten paces behind him! As a lightning-element cultivator, his burst speed was unmatched among the seven elements. Combined with his vast superiority in cultivation, he'd traversed the two hundred meters in mere seconds.
His right hand gripped a three-foot saber crackling with restless violet arcs. It was already descending in a blinding arc aimed directly at Lin Feng's skull!
Lin Feng's lack of true combat experience proved costly. He hadn't anticipated such impossible speed. The aura radiating from that saber screamed power – surely a high-grade, possibly even peak-grade spirit artifact! His already weakened shield wouldn't withstand this blow!
No time to evade. Defense was impossible. Desperation fueled a savage counterattack. Lin Feng spun fully, muscles screaming, and swung the flying sword upwards with every ounce of strength he possessed!
"KA-SHWIIING!!!"
An ear-splitting shriek of colliding metal ripped through the forest. Sword met saber in a shower of blinding sparks. The impact hurled Lin Feng backwards like a rag doll. He flew over ten meters before crashing hard onto the rocky ground. Pain lanced through him as he skidded, scrambling desperately backwards several more steps before finally regaining his footing.
"Twing…"
A faint tremor ran through the blade in Lin Feng's hand. His entire right arm trembled violently. Blood, dark and slick, welled from his torn palm, dripping down the silver blade, staining its light with a sinister crimson glow. Though he'd blocked the saber, the sheer force of the collision felt like it had shattered his bones and shredded his muscles. His arm felt numb, nearly useless.
Lin Feng was shaken. But He Wenyan's shock eclipsed his own tenfold!
"A spirit artifact… It's a spirit artifact!!"
He Wenyan, having halted his charge, stared in disbelief first at his own magnificent saber, then at the shimmering sword in Lin Feng's hand. His voice was a breathless gasp. —There, marring the blade of his own peak-grade spirit artifact saber, midway down its gleaming length, was a distinct chip over an inch deep!
Earlier, seeing Lin Feng's sword shear through a low-grade artifact bracer, He Wenyan had assumed it was merely a high-grade or peak-grade artifact. But this clash… the damage inflicted on his own treasured weapon… it could only mean one thing. That sword wasn't just peak-grade… it was a true spirit artifact!
He Wenyan knew only Lin Feng's inferior strength had saved his saber from being cleaved in two. A measly Qi Refinement rogue cultivator… possessing a spirit artifact?!
Stunned disbelief gave way instantly to a surge of rapacious greed. A spirit artifact!! The He family's most potent treasure was the very saber he held. Azure Cloud City likely only saw spirit artifacts within the Zheng and Longbow families. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion might have some… astronomically priced ones. Yet here one was… wielded by prey barely into Qi Refinement!
For a moment, avarice overpowered even his consuming hatred for his son's killer. His eyes locked onto the sword with naked hunger.
"His weapon is a spirit artifact!! DON'T CLOSE IN! Use talismans!!"
He barked the order over his shoulder. His two mid-stage Foundation Establishment companions, anticipating the pursuit, had already flanked Lin Feng from behind, poised to strike.
"Spirit artifact?!"
The warning hit them like a lightning bolt. Understanding dawned – that explained the effortless kills. They instantly grasped He Wenyan's strategy: trying to engage directly was suicide against a spirit artifact wielder, especially one shielded. Exhaust the shield with ranged attacks… then crush him.
These men were seasoned. Within two heartbeats of the command, hands dipped into waist pouches. They drew out handfuls of single-use talismans and powerful chain-cast talismans. Arms snapped forward, unleashing their payloads towards the isolated figure of Lin Feng.
"SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH—!"
The air ignited. Fireballs roared. Purple lightning forks snaked. Razor-sharp crescents of solidified wind screamed. A relentless, overwhelming torrent of destructive energy engulfed Lin Feng's position!!