Clang!
The crisp sound of clashing blades echoed as Lin Yidao's eyes widened in an instant. He watched Wan Yunting awaken and, with powerful internal energy, draw Zi Qing's sword into his right hand. He raised it horizontally to block his own face, intercepting the long saber Lin Yidao was cleaving down.
As Wan Yunting's pupils flashed with a strange green light, Lin Yidao faltered, sensing something was wrong. He quickly retracted his saber and retreated…
Bang!
Two streams of sword energy split the large stone where Lin Yidao had been standing into two halves. Shocked, Lin Yidao retreated another two steps to create distance. Realizing what had happened, he looked at Wan Yunting, who had stood up holding his sword, with a strange expression. Wan Yunting's entire being was enveloped in sword energy. Judging by the power of his previous two strikes, he undoubtedly possessed the might of the Martial Dao Gang Jin realm.
“Are you in the Martial Dao Gang Jin realm?” Lin Yidao asked warily.
Wan Yunting ignored him for a moment and asked the injured Zi Qing, “Senior Sister Zi Qing, are you alright?”
Zi Qing shook her head slightly. She could also feel the change in Wan Yunting’s aura, especially the casual sword energies he had just unleashed. Even she couldn’t have done that.
It seemed he had gained unimaginable rewards from comprehending the Sword Ancestor’s sword intent inheritance!
After confirming Zi Qing was fine, Wan Yunting turned his gaze to Lin Yidao. Martial Dao Gang Jin realm, belonging to the early Outer Gang stage, meaning he had only recently stepped into the Gang Jin realm. He asked coldly, “Are you from the Heavenly Eye God-King Cult?”
Lin Yidao’s expression faltered. He narrowed his eyes and gazed at Wan Yunting, saying, “It seems you’re not an idiot!”
Wan Yunting grunted and nodded, “Sima Boyong again!”
Last time, Duan Feilong had ambushed his home late at night. Later, he discovered Duan Feilong was a disciple of the Wudang Sect, which led Wan Yunting to suspect that Sima Boyong had hired them to kill him.
“You’re mistaken!”
Lin Yidao sneered and shook his head upon hearing Sima Boyong’s name. “The one who sent me to kill you is someone else!”
“Oh, who?”
Wan Yunting was surprised and asked, staring at him.
Lin Yidao shook his head and twirled his long saber, sneering, “I do this for money; I don’t need to know the employer behind it. As for who wants your life, you should ask yourself who you’ve offended.”
“I understand.”
Wan Yunting nodded. It wasn’t Sima Boyong, so it must be the big boss behind the Dragon-Trapping Drug Trafficking Syndicate!
“Kid, it seems you’ve gained something from observing the sword intent inheritance left by the Wudang Sect’s Sword Ancestor. Let me have a taste first, watch out for my saber…!”
Before he finished speaking, Lin Yidao attacked proactively, his long saber cleaving horizontally, as fast as lightning. Wan Yunting’s eyes widened slightly. He took half a step back with his left foot, twisted his body, and brought his sword horizontally in front of him. The saber slid across the blade, sparks flying. Then, Lin Yidao immediately turned around, his saber slashing towards Wan Yunting’s neck, the saber aura terrifying and incredibly sharp.
But Wan Yunting changed his footwork, easily dodging the saber. He held his sword with his right hand, slicing through the air with a clear hum. The sword’s edge shone with a chilling light, entirely enveloped by a dominant aura. The sword tip touched Lin Yidao’s long saber, creating a crisp metallic sound. The powerful sword energy forced Lin Yidao back. His left hand’s tiger’s mouth trembled slightly. He looked up at Wan Yunting in surprise, thinking inwardly, “Such powerful sword energy! Could this kid truly have inherited the Wudang Sect’s Sword Ancestor’s sword intent?”
Zi Qing, leaning against the rock wall and watching from a distance, couldn't help but murmur as she saw the two sword moves Wan Yunting had just used, “The Great Dao Sword Art…!”
“Since you want to see, I’ll let you see enough.”
Wan Yunting’s sharp eyes widened slightly, and he let out a cold snort. Holding his sword with his right hand, he thrust directly at Lin Yidao. The sword’s edge was enveloped by a vigorous aura. With every sword he swung, a clear sword hum echoed in the air…
Clang, clang, clang…
For a time, the two engaged in fierce combat on the cliff edge of Sword Cliff. They exchanged blows back and forth. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged more than ten moves. Wan Yunting’s sword strikes became increasingly sharper, as if the long sword in his hand wasn’t an ordinary fine steel sword but a lightning snake, swift as lightning and with a dominant aura. He forced Lin Yidao to retreat continuously and defend passively, which made Lin Yidao’s heart pound.
He was certain that Wan Yunting had not yet broken through to the Martial Dao Gang Jin realm; he was at most at the late Dan Jin stage. However, his internal energy was immense, and the sword energy he unleashed was sharp and dominant, its power not inferior to that of a Gang Jin realm expert, even surpassing Lin Yidao’s. This made his heart pound with fear. He never expected Wan Yunting’s martial arts to be so formidable, especially his practical combat experience, which made him seem unlike a disciple of a sect.
Bang!
His long sword pierced a large stone on the cliff. Wan Yunting twisted the sword hilt, and the dominant sword energy split the stone. Lin Yidao quickly retreated to dodge. Wan Yunting seized the opportunity, stepped on a nearby stone to push off, leaped up, and swept his sword horizontally at Lin Yidao, “Great River Sword!”
Swish…!
A sword energy, visible to the naked eye, like a great river rushing down with massive waves, surged towards Lin Yidao, shocking his eyes. He hurriedly raised his long saber and slashed three times consecutively. Then, with a muffled groan, his saber clanged to the ground. Lin Yidao retreated, clutching his left arm, which had been injured by a stream of sword energy from Wan Yunting. He was forced to the edge of the cliff. His heel dislodged a stone, which tumbled down the hundreds of meters to the bottom of Sword Peak, frightening Lin Yidao and turning his face pale. When he looked back again, Wan Yunting’s sword tip was already poised at his neck.
“How about it?”
Wan Yunting looked at Lin Yidao calmly and said coldly, “Do you want to live or die? You can choose!”
Clutching his bleeding left arm, Lin Yidao’s eyes widened, glaring at Wan Yunting. He never expected to be captured by the opponent. He snorted, “Do you think I’m afraid of death?”
Suddenly, Wan Yunting’s sword tip directly pierced Lin Yidao’s throat, and blood began to flow. Lin Yidao trembled all over, staring at Wan Yunting with disbelief, “You…”
Seeing a hint of fear of death in his eyes, Wan Yunting sneered and said, “It seems you are indeed afraid of death!”
Lin Yidao snorted, “You just want to know who hired me to kill you, right? I’ll tell you, people in our line of work only recognize money, not people. I don’t know who the employer is…”
“You’re wrong.”
Wan Yunting shook his head, narrowed his eyes, and gazed at Lin Yidao, saying, “You are from the Heavenly Eye God-King Cult, so you must know Sima Boyong, right?”
Lin Yidao’s expression changed slightly. Their eyes met, and he remained silent. After a long while, Lin Yidao closed his eyes and said, “Kill me then. I will not betray our Heavenly Eye God-King Cult!”
Wan Yunting’s eyes turned cold. He hadn’t expected him to be so resolute. The sword tip pressed into Lin Yidao’s neck, and he asked coldly again, “What is Sima Boyong’s relationship with your Heavenly Eye God-King Cult? Is he one of your Heavenly Eye God-King Cult members?”
Lin Yidao opened his eyes and looked directly into Wan Yunting’s eyes, saying, “Kid, even if you kill me, I won’t answer that question. But I can answer another question: the person who wants to kill you is within the Wudang Sect!”
These words sent a shock through Wan Yunting. The person who wanted to kill him was within the Wudang Sect? How was this possible? He had no grievances with the Wudang Sect. Moreover, he only knew Zi Qing’s master and the old Daoist priest Zhang Yansong. How could someone from the Wudang Sect want to kill him?
Lin Yidao looked at Wan Yunting and smiled, “I can make a deal with you. I’ll tell you who that person is, and you can let me go!”
“Why should I believe you?”
Wan Yunting’s expression remained unchanged, and he said coldly.
Lin Yidao smiled, “If there wasn’t a disciple from the Wudang Sect acting as an inside informant, do you think I could have infiltrated the Wudang Sect, learned your exact arrival time at Sword Cliff, and still managed to come up to Sword Peak to kill you without being noticed?”
Indeed, the inner sect of the Wudang Sect wasn’t a place anyone could enter casually, especially an expert of Lin Yidao’s Martial Dao Gang Jin realm. If no one in the Wudang Sect had assisted him, he absolutely could not have infiltrated.
Furthermore, he could know when Wan Yunting would arrive at Sword Peak, and he had bypassed everyone at the foot of the mountain to quietly ascend Sword Peak.
Then the only explanation was that Lin Yidao was telling the truth: someone in the Wudang Sect wanted to kill him!
At this, Wan Yunting sheathed his sword. Lin Yidao felt a slight relief and quickly took two steps back to avoid falling off the cliff…
“Speak, who is it?”
Wan Yunting ignored Zi Qing in the distance behind him, looking at Lin Yidao with cold eyes. He smiled and said, “It’s Tan Zhiyuan!”
“Tan Zhiyuan?”
Wan Yunting’s gaze shifted, and his heart was even more shocked. The eldest disciple of the old Daoist priest Zhang Yansong! Why would he want to kill him?
Logically, he had only met Tan Zhiyuan once in the capital before arriving at the Wudang Sect. They had gotten along amicably, with no conflict whatsoever. Why would Tan Zhiyuan want to kill him? They had no connection at all.
“As for why he asked me to kill you, I have no idea.”
Lin Yidao walked over to pick up his long saber, then turned to Wan Yunting and said, “Kid, let me warn you again, don’t provoke our Heavenly Eye God-King Cult, or you’ll die a miserable death. We’ll meet again!”
After speaking, Lin Yidao no longer lingered. He quickly descended the small path he had used to ascend the mountain. This was because he faintly heard the sounds of people ascending the mountain, so he slipped away quickly. Even before Wan Yunting could react, he had vanished.
“You just let him go?”
Zi Qing walked over, blood trickling from the corner of her left lip. Wan Yunting returned her long sword and said, “It wouldn’t have mattered even if I killed him.”
Zi Qing took the long sword, her eyebrows knitted, and said, “So, you believe his words, that Senior Brother Tan wants to kill you?”
Wan Yunting frowned. He had no enmity with Tan Zhiyuan at all. So the only possibility was that there was someone behind Tan Zhiyuan!
“Senior Sister Zi Qing, could I trouble you with something?”
Wan Yunting looked up, his gaze serious as he looked at Zi Qing, saying, “Please keep this matter confidential for now. I’ll investigate it privately before drawing any conclusions, alright?”
Zi Qing’s phoenix eyes gazed at him. After a few seconds, she nodded…