Martial Dao: I Can Enhance My Talents

Chapter 304: Chapter 301: Fighting Yin Huang

RUMBLE—!!!

The azure Sword Qi and the black Palm Seal collided violently in midair.

A deafening explosion erupted, like a thunderclap on a clear day.

Azure and black light intertwined madly, corroding and annihilating each other. The resulting shockwave spread out in all directions like a physical tsunami.

"CRACK! CRACK! BOOM—!"

The trees below were swept by what seemed like an invisible giant blade. Thick trunks snapped and toppled, shattered branches and leaves shot through the air, and a plume of dust rose to blot out the sun.

A hideous trench, several feet deep and dozens of yards long, was carved into the hard-packed official road.

"Hmph."

At the epicenter of the Qi Force, Yin Huang let out a muffled grunt. His body flew uncontrollably backward out of the treetops, landing unsteadily over a hundred feet away, the ground cracking beneath his feet.

In the hasty exchange, Fang Han had seized the initiative with a charged-up attack, forcing the ambushing Yin Huang into a rather sorry state.

Although he had taken the sword strike head-on with his profound Cultivation, his hair was slightly disheveled and the hem of his robes had been sliced open in several places by the sharp Sword Qi. He had clearly suffered a minor loss.

"Fang! Han!"

Yin Huang steadied himself and looked up, staring daggers at Fang Han. His eyes were filled with violent, murderous intent.

He had planned to ambush Fang Han, but had been ambushed in return, putting him in an exceptionally foul mood.

"Yin Huang, a dignified Celestial Pride True Inheritor, ambushing someone on the side of the road. What do you think you’re doing?"

Fang Han stood with his sword in hand. His tone was level, but it carried a bone-chilling coldness.

Back in Jinhuang City, after receiving a secret warning from Lan Yuexin, he had chosen to avoid a direct confrontation, wary of Yin Huang’s strength and potential traps.

He never expected this man to be like a maggot festering in the bone, chasing him all the way to Qinghe City to set up another ambush.

"Fang Han, cut the crap! I’ll ask you this: did you kill Shen You, a disciple of my Netherworld Pavilion? And did the over four million in silver notes he was carrying fall into your hands?"

Yin Huang’s face was ashen. His voice was hoarse and cold, like a knife scraping against stone.

Fang Han sneered internally. ’So it really is about that.’

His expression remained unchanged, his eyes calm as still water. He retorted, "Who is Shen You? He had over four million in silver notes? I’m afraid you have the wrong person."

"Playing dumb?"

The murderous intent in Yin Huang’s eyes intensified. The black energy around him roiled as if boiling, and his aura climbed steadily, locking firmly onto Fang Han.

"Fang Han, enough with your sophistry! Shen You was under my orders to deliver silver. The last place he was seen was not far from Jinhuang City, after which he vanished without a trace. And you just happened to appear in Jinhuang City at that exact time, flush with enough cash to buy the Vajra Fruit!"

"How could there be such a coincidence in this world? It must have been you! You saw an opportunity for profit, so you killed him and stole his goods!"

"Yin Huang, your imagination is a bit too rich. Jinhuang City is a major city in the commandery; countless Martial Artists come and go every day. Should I be blamed every time someone with money on them goes missing?"

Hearing this, a mocking curve appeared on Fang Han’s lips.

"As for the Vajra Fruit, I borrowed the money and won it in a legitimate auction. To attack me based on mere speculation, with no real evidence... The True Inheritors of the Netherworld Pavilion are truly tyrannical."

"Fine! Such a silver tongue!"

Yin Huang was so furious he began to laugh. He knew further questioning was useless; Fang Han would never admit to it.

The last trace of hesitation in his eyes was completely replaced by frenzied killing intent.

"Since you refuse to confess, we’ll let our fists do the talking! Once I capture you, we’ll see if you still won’t talk!"

Before his voice had even faded, the aura around Yin Huang exploded. The terrifying pressure of a Fourth Grade expert, like a tangible mountain, bore down on Fang Han.

As number eighty-two on the Celestial Pride List, he was, of course, already a Fourth-Grade Martial Artist.

With a single step, the ground beneath his feet fractured. His figure closed in like a phantom as he clenched his right fist and threw a punch at Fang Han from a distance.

Nether Bone Eroding!

With this one punch, the very winds and clouds seemed to change color.

Majestic, sinisterly cold Inner Qi erupted from his body, instantly condensing into a jet-black Fist Seal the size of a water vat, incredibly solid in appearance.

Faint demonic faces writhed on the Fist Seal’s surface, letting out shrill wails. It carried a malevolent Qi Force that could erode flesh and bone and corrupt Inner Qi.

Wherever it passed, the air hissed with a "TSSSSS" sound, as if being corroded.

The Cultivation Techniques of the Netherworld Pavilion tended to be sinister, cold, and venomous, and the one he practiced was considered especially so, even by the Pavilion’s standards.

’The power of this punch is even greater than Chu Feng’s Swordsmanship!’

Fang Han could feel that the power contained in Yin Huang’s punch was actually superior to that of Chu Feng, who was also at the Fourth Grade, and its Inner Qi was extremely cold and venomous.

If he didn’t know that the Netherworld Pavilion’s Cultivation Techniques were always like this, Fang Han might have suspected Yin Huang was practicing a Demon Skill.

His heart went cold; he knew that a direct confrontation would be unwise.

"SWOOSH—!"

He instantly pushed his Wind and Cloud Escape to its current limit, his Inner Qi surging through him.

His figure seemed to truly transform into formless, intangible Flowing Wind, drifting backward and to the side in the nick of time.

"HISS—BOOM!"

The jet-black, water-vat-sized Fist Seal, wreathed in chillingly dark energy, whistled past Fang Han’s afterimage and slammed viciously onto the official road.

Accompanied by the grating sound of corrosion and the loud crash of earth and stone, a hideous trench, several feet deep, was plowed in a straight line into the hard ground.

The earth at its edges was churned up, wisps of black smoke rising from it, a testament to the attack’s terrifying power.

"WHOOSH—"

Just as Yin Huang’s old power was spent and new power had yet to be generated.

Fang Han’s figure flashed like a ghost. Relying on the astonishing speed of his Wind and Cloud Escape at the Minor Achievement level, he appeared at Yin Huang’s side as if he had teleported.

The Flowing Wind Sword let out a clear hum. The Inner Qi from his Profound Wind Technique—at the Late Stage of Fifth Grade, nearing its peak—was poured into it without reservation, causing the dark azure blade to shine brilliantly.

The intent of his Mastery Level Nine Swords of Sky Splitting erupted, causing the surrounding airflow to converge and compress wildly. The air at the tip of his sword let out a sharp, tearing sound.

His eyes were sharp as an eagle’s as he seized the fleeting opening.

With his full power, the sword became a streak of condensed azure light that seemed capable of tearing through the void itself, slashing fiercely toward the opening at Yin Huang’s ribs.

This strike was fast, ruthless, and precise!

It pushed speed and ferocity to their absolute limits, representing the strongest attack he could currently muster.

"Hm? Such speed!"

As his attack missed, a trace of surprise flashed in Yin Huang’s eyes.

He clearly hadn’t expected Fang Han’s Body Technique to be so refined and swift, allowing him to easily evade the charged-up attack and instantly appear at his side to counter.

However, he was, after all, a prodigy ranked eighty-second on the Celestial Pride List. With his vast combat experience, he was surprised but not panicked. His reactions were also extraordinarily fast.

Sensing the deadly sharpness approaching from his side, he let out a low, cold snort from his throat. He forcefully twisted his body to face the incoming sword light.

His right fist had no time to retract, but his left fist had already shot out like a venomous dragon emerging from its cave.

Dense black qi instantly enveloped his fist, as if covering it with a layer of indestructible Profound Iron.

Carrying a bone-chillingly cold gale, he neither dodged nor retreated, meeting the slash of the Flowing Wind Sword head-on.

Pitting his fist against a sharp sword!

"CLANG—!!!"

When fist met sword, the sound was not of tearing flesh, but the deafening clang of metal, as if two Divine Weapons had violently collided.

The Flowing Wind Sword’s incomparably sharp Sword Qi brutally clashed with the condensed, sinisterly cold Nether Internal Qi on Yin Huang’s fist. Though completely different in nature, the two frighteningly majestic forces instantly erupted, compressed, and annihilated each other!

A visible, ring-shaped shockwave radiated madly outward from the point of impact, like a ripple in a pond.

It threw the surrounding air into chaos and violently scraped away a layer of dust from the ground in a perfect circle.

Fang Han felt an irresistible, immense force travel up the blade, mixed with a sinisterly cold and venomous Qi Force that tried to invade his meridians.

His body shuddered violently, and he was forced back seven steps.

Each step left a deep footprint in the hard-packed earth, with cracks spreading out like a spiderweb.

He had just barely managed to neutralize the force, and his sword arm was slightly numb.

On the other side, Yin Huang also swayed and staggered backward, the ground cracking under his feet as well.

Although his Cultivation was profound, he had hastily changed his move to meet the attack, unleashing only sixty to seventy percent of his full power.

Fang Han, on the other hand, had focused his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, putting his full, peak power into that single slash.

The result was a stalemate.

Neither had gained an advantage; both were knocked back.

However, for the proud and arrogant Yin Huang, who considered himself far superior to Fang Han in strength, this result was unacceptable.

His face instantly became so dark it looked like it could drip water, his eyes a mixture of fury and murderous intent.

’I’m a dignified expert, eighty-second on the Celestial Pride List, with a Fourth Grade Cultivation! To be forced into a sorry state and even knocked back in a direct clash by some guy at the Late Stage of Fifth Grade...’

’This is an absolute disgrace!’

"ROAR!"

Yin Huang let out a low roar, like a wounded beast.

"THUD!"

He stomped hard on the ground, creating a shallow crater as he forcibly halted his retreat.

The next moment, the black qi around him surged again. His aura grew even more violent, and he shot toward Fang Han once more like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

This time, he attacked with both fists. The wind from his punches howled as a continuous barrage of condensed, black Fist Seals shot toward Fang Han like cannon fire.

His assault was like a raging tempest, aiming to crush Fang Han completely with absolute power!

"WHOOSH—!"

Faced with this overwhelming and even more powerful onslaught, Fang Han’s eyes remained cold and calm. He had no intention of meeting it head-on.

He once again pushed his Wind and Cloud Escape to its limit. His figure became like a willow catkin in the wind, like a shadowless, flowing cloud.

He weaved and dodged through the gaps between the dense Fist Seals, missing them by a hair’s breadth.

His figure became a blur, difficult to discern. Every time a Fist Seal was about to hit him, he had already slipped silently away in the preceding instant.

He was perfectly demonstrating the profundity of the Wind and Cloud Escape at the Minor Achievement level: "Melt into the Wind, leave no trace."

Avoiding a direct confrontation, he used his Mysterious Step Technique. Relying on his absolute speed, which far surpassed Yin Huang’s, he moved like lightning and instantly circled to Yin Huang’s side.

The Flowing Wind Sword once again became a life-reaping azure gleam, stabbing toward Yin Huang’s shoulder blade with enough terrifying power to easily pierce a solid iron man of the same proportions.

"CLANG—"

Yin Huang reacted extremely quickly. Sensing the Sword Qi coming from the side, he immediately twisted his body and swung his fist to block, once again parrying the sword.

"WHOOSH—"

Fang Han struck and retreated, never lingering in the fight. His figure blurred again, and in the next moment, he appeared behind Yin Huang, the tip of his sword aimed straight at his heart from the back.

Though surprised, Yin Huang remained composed. Locating Fang Han by the sound of the wind, he executed a bizarre twist and threw a backhand punch, precisely striking the flat of the blade and neutralizing the killing blow once more.