Chapter 201: Nothing More Than This

At night, in a deserted alleyway, Lingyun stopped his aimless wandering and spoke slowly: "It is time to show yourself, you rat hiding in the shadows!"

For some time now, Lingyun had discovered that someone had been secretly monitoring him from the shadows. Although that person hid themselves well, Lingyun's Divine Sense was incredibly powerful; he had long since discovered this figure hiding in the dark and had even perceived the well-concealed killing intent the person held toward him.

Lingyun never let enemies hiding in the shadows go, which was why he had come to this remote place, wanting to lure that person out from the dark.

No sooner had Lingyun finished speaking than a black figure appeared before him. Of course, this was not because Lingyun's remark about a "rat" had provoked him, but because he believed he possessed sufficient strength to appear before Lingyun openly and crush him.

Looking at the man in black before him, Lingyun could not help but narrow his eyes slightly. Ever since he had displayed his strength in front of Chen Jing, she had sent a large amount of intelligence regarding the Dark World into his hands, under the pretext of not letting a rookie who had just entered the Dark World offend people recklessly. Thanks to those materials, Lingyun had a considerable understanding of various factions and their attire. And the attire of the man in black before him was exactly among those materials.

"The Ji Family's Shadow Guard, huh? You really are bold, appearing before me without even changing your attire!" Lingyun chuckled.

"To deal with a small fry like you, one only needs to kill you openly; why bother changing attire?" the Shadow Guard before Lingyun said in a muffled voice.

"Is that so? Then let me see just how much weight the Ji Family's so-called Shadow Guard really has left!" As Lingyun spoke, his figure had already appeared behind the Shadow Guard.

"So fast!" The Shadow Guard was startled, his body spinning one hundred and eighty degrees like a spinning top, while simultaneously throwing both fists out, striking directly toward Lingyun's direction.

"Slap, slap," Lingyun extended both hands and easily caught the Shadow Guard's fists. When fist and palm collided, it stirred up a gust of wind, blowing away all the dust beneath their feet.

"Nothing more than this!" Lingyun exerted force from his palms, forcibly sending the Shadow Guard flying several meters away.

"A formidable enemy! This brat is definitely no ordinary person!" After landing, the Shadow Guard retreated several steps, stamping his feet, before he finally steadied his figure.

The Shadow Guard looked at Lingyun with some uncertainty. One had to know that every Shadow Guard was an expert who had cultivated both internally and externally, possessing overwhelming strength when facing opponents of the same rank. The strength displayed by the man before him was the same Earth Realm Mid-Stage as his own; why was he able to suppress him in return?

"Come again!" Lingyun gestured toward the Shadow Guard.

"You're courting death!" A cold light flashed in the Shadow Guard's eyes. With a touch of his hand, a Long sword hidden on his person appeared in his grip.

The Shadow Guard stomped his right foot on the ground, his figure charging out violently once more. The Long sword in his hand instantly transformed into countless points of cold light, enveloping Lingyun. This cold light looked incomparably brilliant, yet it contained lethal killing intent.

Facing the incoming cold light, Lingyun only smiled faintly. He unfolded his movement technique, weaving through the heavy sword net cast by the Shadow Guard like a Phantom. The cold light enveloped the area around Lingyun's body, but not a single point could get within three inches of him.

"This brat's movement technique is so strange, what is his background?" The more the Shadow Guard fought, the more alarmed he became. Then, his sword moves changed abruptly, the points of cold light suddenly converging into a single, sharp sword beam that lunged straight at Lingyun.

Seeing the opponent change his move, Lingyun joined his right fingers into a sword, condensed Source Power onto his fingertips, and pointed forward.

"Courting death!" Seeing Lingyun's action, a trace of disdain flashed in the Shadow Guard's eyes. The force in his hand increased by a few notches, intending to severely injure Lingyun in one strike.

With a "clang," the sword tip collided with the fingertip, producing the sound of metal clashing against stone. The Shadow Guard only felt a terrifying resistance appear at the tip of the Long sword, preventing him from advancing even an inch. He could not help but let out a low shout, operating his Inner Strength to the fullest, and pushed the Long sword forward violently. The Long sword emitted a humming sound, and then the blade actually began to bend slowly.

"Retreat!" Lingyun exerted force from his fingertips, and a burst of Sword Qi shot out. Under the impact of the Sword Qi, the Long sword in the Shadow Guard's hand shattered instantly, and even his hand was cut by several wounds from the residual force of the Sword Qi.

"Ji Family Shadow Guard, nothing more than this!" Lingyun withdrew his hand and spoke once again.

"You, you're courting death!" Hearing Lingyun look down on the Shadow Guard like this, the Shadow Guard roared. Ignoring his still-bleeding right hand, he drove his Inner Strength to the limit, yellow light faintly flickering in his palms, and struck heavily toward Lingyun.

Lingyun did not dodge or evade; he clenched his right hand into a fist and smashed it forward. Facing this seemingly ordinary punch from Lingyun, the Shadow Guard's heart skipped a beat, and he actually twisted his body mid-motion to avoid the strike. Invisible fist force surged out from Lingyun's fist, punching a hole in a wall.

"Fist force projected externally, is this the mark of the Heaven Tier?" The Shadow Guard was terrified. "No, he is still Earth Tier. Why can he achieve external projection of fist force at the Earth Tier? This is bad, this child likely has a great background. I must go back and report to the Young Master to avoid attracting a powerful enemy!"

Thinking of this, the Shadow Guard flicked his hand, and countless flying needles were thrown from his hand, scattering toward Lingyun's direction like a blanket. After using this move, the Shadow Guard did not look back and sprinted toward the direction where there were people. He had only one thought now: to deliver this news to the Young Master as quickly as possible.

"Fleeing? Can you escape?" Lingyun circled and swept his right hand through the Void, and an invisible current of air rose, gathering all the flying needles heading toward him into one mass, before turning all their tips around and shooting them toward the Shadow Guard's direction.

"Dang, dang, dang," the flying needles struck the Shadow Guard's body, sparking a series of flashes. It turned out that every Shadow Guard was equipped with a piece of close-fitting soft armor. Relying on this layer of soft armor, the Shadow Guard was not only uninjured by the flying needles Lingyun had deflected back, but he actually used the force of the needles to distance himself from Lingyun a little further. Seeing the exit of the alleyway right before his eyes, a trace of joy appeared in the Shadow Guard's eyes.

"Wanting to escape in front of me? You don't have that ability!" Lingyun clenched his right hand into a fist and stomped his foot lightly.

With a "boom," the hard ground was forcibly stomped into a one-inch-deep footprint by Lingyun. And Lingyun himself transformed into a residual image, shooting out and instantly closing the distance between the two to zero.

"Void Strike!"

Before the Shadow Guard could react, Lingyun's fist had already landed lightly on his chest. Although it looked like a light punch, the Shadow Guard's body flew backward as if hit by a speeding heavy truck.

A large mouthful of blood sprayed from the Shadow Guard's mouth, and a clear fist imprint appeared on his chest. Facing this strike from Lingyun that could even shake the Void, this Earth Tier Shadow Guard lost all signs of life on the spot.

Lingyun landed beside the Shadow Guard's corpse, beckoned with his right hand, and a flame appeared in his palm. The flame fell onto the Shadow Guard, instantly burning him into nothingness.

After finishing this, Lingyun clapped his hands and left the place. The alleyway fell into silence once again; no one knew that a battle had taken place here.