Chapter 208: Esdeath's Determination

On the vast white ice field, the battle continued. Lingyun swung the Long sword in his hand, and countless white Sword Qi radiated outward from him as the center. The circle of cavalry surrounding Lingyun was instantly pierced by the formidable Sword Qi, and after letting out a chorus of wails, they collapsed to the ground.

"Damn it, where on earth did this monster come from!" a large man draped in a fur coat gritted his teeth and spoke.

The battle had been going on for some time now, and his side had already lost more than a third of their men and horses. Yet this man, trapped in the cavalry encirclement, was completely unscathed, and there wasn't even a trace of blood on his clothes.

"Hah!" several knights surrounding Lingyun shouted in unison, leveling the spears in their hands and thrusting them toward Lingyun.

Lingyun stomped his right foot on the ground, and a ring of ice spikes suddenly rose from the ice surface beneath his feet, blocking all the attacks for him while simultaneously turning the circle of men besieging him into hedgehogs.

"Go to hell!" After Lingyun dispelled the ice spikes, a large man brandished the heavy blade in his hand and slashed fiercely at Lingyun's head.

Lingyun narrowed his eyes slightly and reached out a hand, actually taking the blow head-on, before backhanding with his sword to stab the man to death on his horse.

"Wind Blade!"

Lingyun turned his left hand into a blade and swept it out casually. Unlike before, when he gathered power in his palm, this time Lingyun directly swept out an extremely sharp cyan Wind Blade. Wherever the Wind Blade passed, everything was sliced in two; even the hard ice surface was carved with a deep mark.

"Charge, charge for me! He is only one person; we can exhaust him to death even if we just wear him down. He absolutely cannot outlast us!" A squad leader hiding among the cavalry roared loudly, trying to boost the morale that had already plummeted to the bottom.

A sharp glint flashed in Lingyun's eyes. He wiped his left index and middle fingers across the Long sword, and a sharp Sword Qi instantly shot out from the tip of the blade. After the Sword Qi passed through the crowd, it opened a large hole in the chest of the squad leader who had just been roaring. The squad leader opened his mouth as if to say something more, but could only collapse powerlessly to the ground.

"Captain, let's retreat! This guy is simply a devil; our brothers have already lost more than half!" Finally, a burly man could no longer endure this one-sided slaughter and spoke to their squad leader.

"Fine, fine, fine, retreat!" The captain scanned the battlefield, then looked at the man standing in the military formation like a Demon God, and gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Hearing the captain's order, the cavalry present felt as if they had been granted amnesty; they quickly turned their horses' heads and fled in the direction they had come from. They had experienced many battles since arriving here, but they had never encountered such a terrifying enemy. In the fighting, only their own people died, while their opponent remained unscathed to this day, which placed a heavy psychological burden upon them.

"Want to run? You're thinking too simply!" Watching the Northern Tribes cavalry begin to retreat, Lingyun gave a cold smile, slung his Long sword behind his back, and formed a hand seal with his left hand.

"Boom, boom, boom." Under the guidance of the hand seal Lingyun formed, all the Source Power lurking on this ice surface instantly surged into a riot. Countless white streams of light swirled across the ice, cutting it into small chunks. Lingyun had practiced in this place for a year; during this year, he had woven his power into thin threads and continuously fed them into the lake, forming a large net within it. His original intention was to capture the powerful Danger Beast hiding in the lake, but he hadn't expected it to come in handy at this very moment.

"Ah, what is this situation? How could it be like this!" The cavalry present were all greatly alarmed. When they passed through this ice field, they had already sent men to scout the ice surface, and the result was that even if tens of thousands of troops passed over it, they would be safe and sound. But now, the ice surface had actually collapsed twice in succession, which truly left them terrified.

However, in the blink of an eye, the entire ice surface of the lake collapsed, and the cavalry on the ice instantly fell into the freezing lake water. Lingyun hovered over the lake, white light swirling on the Long sword in his hand, and terrifying cold air continuously overflowed from the blade.

"That sword? Could it be that this man is a legendary Teigu User?" The burly man struggling in the water couldn't help but widen his eyes. "This is bad!"

"Ice Seal of a Thousand Miles!" The cold air on the Long sword gathered to the extreme, and Lingyun thrust the Long sword into the lake surface.

The powerful cold air swept across the churning lake water with Lingyun as the center, and the churning water instantly froze into solid ice once again. In the span of a few breaths, the flat ice field appeared beneath Lingyun's feet once more; as for the Northern Tribes cavalry, they were all sealed beneath the solid ice. Lingyun slowly pulled the Long sword from the ice and turned to walk toward the small hill.

On the small hill stood a team of Barutusu Tribe warriors; judging by their appearance, they had likely just arrived to support Lingyun. And they had happened to witness the scene of Lingyun instantly freezing the lake.

"Gulp." A Barutusu Tribe warrior quietly swallowed his saliva. Although they had always known that Lingyun's strength was great, in their eyes, it was only to the extent of being able to knock down a dozen or so burly men. But what was the strength Lingyun was displaying now? Shattering the entire ice surface with one hand, then freezing the entire lake with one sword—was this something a human could do?

Standing beside her father, Esdeath felt a sharp glint flash in her eyes; she realized that her own strength was seemingly far from enough.

"Lingyun, was what you just used the power of a Teigu?" the Barutusu Tribe chief asked.

"You can probably think of it that way." Lingyun spread his hands, and the Long sword in his hand turned into specks of light and vanished.

"By the way, what are your thoughts on the Northern Tribes moving south?" Lingyun asked.

"I will take my tribesmen and leave this place. After all, although the strength of our Barutusu Tribe is formidable, it is still not enough to face the great army of the Northern Tribes." There was a hint of helplessness in the Barutusu Tribe chief's tone. "Their vanguard squad was completely wiped out in this place, so they will definitely come to retaliate. I cannot gamble with the lives of my tribesmen."

"That is fine too. After all, this world is vast; with your tribe's strength, you should be able to live strongly no matter where you go!" Lingyun nodded slightly. "Having stayed here for so long, I am also leaving. We shall meet again!"

"Mr. Lingyun is leaving?" The Barutusu Tribe chief looked at Lingyun in astonishment.

"Yes, having stayed here for so long, it is time to part. I still have my own mission that needs to be completed!" Lingyun looked toward the distance.

"So be it. I knew that our small tribe could never keep a powerhouse like you forever. I hope we can meet again in the future!" The Barutusu Tribe chief sighed softly and spoke.

"We shall meet again!" Lingyun cupped his hands to him, then turned and walked toward the direction of the ice field, disappearing into the wind and snow before long.

"Father, I want to go out and train!" Esdeath, standing to the side, watched the direction in which Lingyun's back had disappeared and spoke.

"Esdeath? You..." The Barutusu Tribe chief looked at his daughter in astonishment.

"I want to become stronger. Just as you said, in this world, only the strong can survive!" A determined light flickered in Esdeath's eyes.

"Hahahaha, this is my daughter indeed!" The Barutusu Tribe chief laughed loudly and spoke. "Go, I believe that as my daughter, as the pride of our Barutusu Tribe, you will be able to become a powerhouse no matter where you are!"

Esdeath nodded firmly, then turned and left this place. She had heard that the place in this world with the most powerhouses was the Imperial Capital, so she would go to the Imperial Capital to see for herself!