Chapter 338: One Against a Hundred

Awakening of Insects, one of the twenty-four solar terms, when spring thunder rumbles and Yang energy rises. The hexagram is in the Zhen position, a sign of growth. Yu Liancheng choosing this day for the decisive battle seems to hold a deeper meaning.

On the day of the decisive battle, the world watches.

With Yue Ma Bridge as the center, the restaurants and shops on both sides were already bustling, flooded with countless experts who had come to watch the spectacle. From time to time, bursts of arguments erupted.

Some believed that Daxing City was Yu Liancheng's stronghold, where a single word could mobilize thousands of troops, and thus he would never face the battle alone; he would send experts or troops to exhaust the energy of the Three Great Grandmasters and would never act as scheduled.

This opinion gained the support and agreement of many.

But now, this opinion naturally collapsed on its own.

"Since the three of you have arrived as promised, I, Yu, should naturally treat you well." A voice that seemed to come from beyond the heavens arrived, echoing in the ears and hearts of everyone near Yue Ma Bridge.

Rumble!!

The crowd suddenly discovered that, at some unknown time, a mass of ink-black, heavy, and oppressive dark clouds had drifted into the high sky.

The dark clouds rolled in from the distance, and wherever they passed, the daylight was obscured, and everything became dim and deep, as if they were placed in another space.

A figure was revealed within the vast shadows; he wore black robes, and his eyes were as dark and deep as the night; he himself seemed to have merged with the darkness.

——He seemed to be the very darkness that shrouded the earth.

At this moment, everyone was silent. They seemed to have been stripped of speech, able only to stare blankly at the figure before them, able only to let the gloomy and dark canopy of heaven gradually spread over them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Between heaven and earth, apart from the sound of everyone's breathing and heartbeats, there remained only the dull footsteps of the black figure with every step he took, sounding like a heart-stopping thunderclap exploding in everyone's ears.

As this figure drew closer, everyone felt an unprecedented, massive pressure bearing down on them—formless and intangible, yet covering the sky and earth—like the sky collapsing or the earth sinking; it was suffocatingly uncomfortable, forcing them to the brink of madness.

"Yu Liancheng, die!"

"Return my son's life!"

"Avenge General Manager Du!!"

Under this astonishing pressure, a series of roars suddenly erupted.

Before the Three Great Grandmasters had even made a move, dozens of experts leaped out from all directions. The gleam of blades and shadows of swords, the force of fists and the wind of palms wove into a net of heaven and earth, enveloping that black figure.

The number of experts Yu Liancheng had offended was truly too many, and the number of people who wanted him dead was also truly too many.

Among those present were righteous experts, Demon sect overlords, and powerhouses from beyond the borders... They were filled with killing intent toward Yu Liancheng, wishing to eliminate him quickly.

It was just that they had originally intended to wait for Yu Liancheng and the Three Great Grandmasters to both be injured before launching a sneak attack, hoping to be the fisherman who benefits from the struggle between the snipe and the clam. But now, under this powerful mental oppression, they could not wait to vent the emotions in their hearts and launched attacks against Yu Liancheng one after another.

In an instant, killing intent shrouded the entire world. Countless weapons wove into a brilliant radiance, and the fist winds and palm forces surged like waves.

There were simply too many experts attacking Yu Liancheng, and almost every one of them could rank among the First-class Experts of the Edo; such a terrifying strike could be called unprecedented and unrepeatable, possessing the power to shake heaven and earth.

Bi Xuan, Fu Cailin, and Ning Daoqi also saw this attack.

If they were in his shoes, even they, the Three Great Grandmasters who had been famous for decades, would likely only choose to dodge and flee when facing such a terrifying attack.

But Yu Liancheng did not.

He extended a hand.

A slender, fair hand without the slightest flaw, a hand filled with magical power, a hand that seemed capable of turning the world upside down.

The next moment.

An invisible vortex formed in his palm, and a massive suction force surged from within the vortex; even the light became dim at this instant, as if it too were being sucked into the vortex.

Under this terrifying suction, countless experts cried out in succession; their entire bodies were like weeds in a gale, suddenly losing control and being pulled toward Yu Liancheng's palm. And their fierce attacks, disturbed by this suction, were reduced to only sixty percent of their original power.

In the Edo, there was no lack of techniques to draw objects from a distance, and even without specifically practicing such techniques, as long as one's internal energy was profound, one could easily accomplish it; therefore, although this suction was terrifying, it was still within the range of what everyone could accept.

But what truly terrified all the experts was that this suction force could actually pull at their True Qi, spirits, and Qi and Blood.

Especially the True Qi, which boiled over, running at an unprecedented speed and leaking out, causing the meridians and acupoints of many experts to explode layer by layer, with blood soaking their clothes.

Such a bizarre and horrifying Demon art was simply unheard of and unseen.

Many experts struggled hysterically, roaring and howling, but it was of no use; they were pulled along like marionettes.

In an instant, a mass of massive energy gathered before Yu Liancheng's palm, raging like a vast ocean, with all the absorbed True Qi, spirits, and Qi and Blood merging there.

Fu Cailin and the others felt their hearts jump; even as brilliant as the Three Great Grandmasters were, if they were struck by this palm, they would have absolutely no chance of survival.

Those hundreds of attacks were getting closer and closer to Yu Liancheng; even if their power was less than half of the original, they were still terrifying to the extreme, and no one could possibly take them head-on.

Crash!

Yu Liancheng's figure was towering and motionless, when suddenly the massive energy in his palm exploded, setting off a violent wind disaster. At the same time, he reversed the "Art of Absorbing Power," turning the original "suction" into "repulsion."

Under the influence of the "wind disaster" and the "repulsion," with Yu Liancheng's palm as the center, it was as if a storm had been summoned in a vast ocean, kicking up waves that destroyed everything.

And the hundreds of martial arts experts had been struggling to resist the suction, so how could they have anticipated such a turn of events? Suddenly, one by one, they were like ships in a storm, thrown away and sent flying in all directions.

Only the sound of rumbling collisions could be heard incessantly; the hundreds of experts had already crashed into the walls of inns and restaurants without any power to resist. One by one, they suffered broken bones and tendons; even if they were not dead, they would likely need at least several months of recovery to heal.

After one move, the entire scene was silent, and one could hear a pin drop.

Everything that had happened before was simply too shocking.

No one had expected that in the blink of an eye, the luxurious lineup composed of hundreds of experts would suffer heavy casualties and end in such a dismal state. Even having witnessed it with their own eyes, everyone's minds were still buzzing and trembling, feeling that it was unbelievable to the extreme.

In a restaurant, three young men were sitting.

One had a square face and large ears, with a full forehead.

One was handsome and refined, with an otherworldly air.

One was tall and heroic, with facial contours that looked like a statue carved from marble.

They were none other than Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Ba Fenghan.

Although Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had once had a portion of their Innate True Qi absorbed by Yu Liancheng, their foundations had not been damaged; coupled with their extraordinary talent and deep fortune, after wandering the Edo for a while, they were already able to rank among the First-class Experts.

After Ba Fenghan was separated from his companion Fu Junyu, he accidentally ran into Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling; the two sides fought a few times, and admiring each other, they turned from enemies into friends.

Having heard the news of Yu Liancheng challenging the Three Great Grandmasters, they had traveled thousands of miles to get here, choosing a prime location to watch this battle of Grandmasters.

"If it weren't for Ling-shao, I reckon Old Ba and I would have been done for," Kou Zhong said with lingering fear.

It turned out that Ba Fenghan and Kou Zhong had also prepared to strike together earlier, but fortunately, the always calm Xu Ziling stopped the two of them.

Xu Ziling said with a grave expression: "Yu Liancheng's martial arts are completely beyond our imagination; I fear that not even any one of the Three Great Grandmasters is his match."

A trace of bitterness escaped the corners of Ba Fenghan's mouth: "That move just now was truly astonishing, exceeding the concepts of martial arts. Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I still find it hard to believe."

Ba Fenghan had a tenacious nature; before his martial arts had even reached great completion, he dared to brazenly challenge Bi Xuan, yet at this moment he was disheartened, clearly showing that the scene from before had dealt him a massive blow.

Kou Zhong suddenly rubbed his hands in excitement: "Alright, Ling-shao, Old Ba, let's talk about anything else later. The four people with the highest martial arts in this world are about to fight; if we can learn a move or two, it could save us a year or a year and a half of effort."

Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan simultaneously turned their gazes toward Yu Liancheng, who was walking step by step toward Yue Ma Bridge, their hearts pounding wildly and their blood surging. Or rather, the whole world was looking forward to the spectacular duel before them.

"The bystanders have been cleared; the three of you, strike together!"

A smile escaped the corners of Yu Liancheng's mouth, and a powerful aura was released, instantly giving rise to a powerful stance of being the sole sovereign in heaven and on earth. It seemed to make all things in the universe infinitely small, further setting him off as standing tall and upright, looking down upon all living beings like a God or Demon.

He actually seemed to want to deal with the Three Great Grandmasters simultaneously.

But if the Three Great Grandmasters chose to join forces to deal with this junior from the start, they would clearly fall into a disadvantageous position in terms of mindset, losing the demeanor that belonged to them as Grandmasters.

"Haha!" Bi Xuan laughed loudly, his whole body erupting with a domineering and arrogant fighting spirit, his eyes staring intensely at Yu Liancheng, like two eternally burning suns.

"Well come! I have roamed the grasslands and been invincible, and with one long spear, I don't even know how many corpses I have skewered. It is a pity that most were incompetent. Heaven follows human wishes, actually sending down this Imperial Tutor, a peerless enemy; finally, I can kill to my heart's content."

After speaking, Bi Xuan's Flame Sun Aura unfolded with a boom, his whole person transforming into a furnace that could melt gold and iron. Within a radius of more than ten zhang, the temperature rose suddenly, and the space became hazy and distorted, as if breathing, turning this space of ten or so zhang into a desert in the middle of the river: "Although your martial arts are brilliant, if you want the three of us to strike at the same time, you must see if you have the power to do so."

Yu Liancheng smiled and beckoned to Bi Xuan.

"Watch this!!"

Bi Xuan let out a thunderous roar. He practiced the "Flame Sun Extraordinary Technique," so unlike the natural harmony of Ning Daoqi or the ultimate perfection of Fu Cailin, his personality was unrestrained, arrogant, and domineering.

Only hearing him let out a sharp whistle, his feet suddenly stomped the ground, and as the ground cracked and gravel splashed everywhere, his whole person seemed to be shrouded in a layer of flames. Man and spear became one, like a War God born from the flames, and he swung his spear with his arm, fiercely pouncing toward Yu Liancheng.

This strike carried an unstoppable momentum, extremely domineering, and even more scorching energy was attached to the long spear, as if even the sky would be pierced through with a hole by this spear.

Experts like Fu Cailin and Ning Daoqi could not help but secretly praise when they saw this. Even for experts of their level, facing this strike from Bi Xuan, they could only use exquisite moves to resolve it, rather than facing its edge head-on.

Among the Three Great Grandmasters, only Bi Xuan could unleash such a domineering ultimate technique.

Facing such a terrifying strike, Yu Liancheng raised his palm again, meeting Bi Xuan's Moon Wolf Spear head-on.

To the eyes of an ordinary person, this move of Yu Liancheng's seemed to have nothing strange about it, being quite ordinary. But in Bi Xuan's eyes, he discovered that this hand was rapidly growing larger, filling his entire field of vision in the blink of an eye, as if a Great Spirit God were waving a massive hand, capable of covering the sky and shifting the sun, moon, and stars.

Boom!!

A huge, booming sound suddenly rang out.

Where the palm and spear collided, an invisible ripple surged and expanded in all directions. The ground cracked and shattered, splashing everywhere, and even stirred up a wall of water seven or eight zhang high that slapped toward both banks, the momentum extremely terrifying. For a time, many martial artists watching the battle from boats fell into the river amidst cries of alarm.

Before long, the wind died down and the water became calm.

Everyone looked toward the place where Yu Liancheng and Bi Xuan had fought at the first opportunity.

They saw Yu Liancheng still standing with a calm expression on the broken Yue Ma Bridge, while Bi Xuan still held his long spear, radiating a scorching heat.

It seemed that after this move, the two were evenly matched, and neither had gained any advantage.

Suddenly, Bi Xuan's War God-like body trembled, and a wisp of scarlet blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, striking and dazzling.

The "Martial Venerable" Bi Xuan was wounded.

Yu Liancheng lowered his head, looked at his own hand, and said indifferently: "I said, you three should still strike together, otherwise this seat will have much less fun."

……

PS: This volume ends tomorrow or the day after.