Chapter 783: Rain-Class Duel (2/2, Request Subscription)

Tian Ruichi's mind was a tangle of chaos until Jing Yan roared and yanked him up, snapping him back to reality.

He had heard Fang Yue's words too; he wanted to help, but his strength was simply insufficient.

With a gritted tooth, he joined the others in circling past the black-robed man and sprinting toward Hanjiang Wharf.

"Try to run? Did you ask me?"

The black-robed man sneered coldly, not even treating Fang Yue's words as worth acknowledging.

As his words faded, he slowly drew the long sword at his waist.

The thick internal force, which had merely been spreading outward, instantly sharpened and surged violently—as if responding to a command.

Whoosh!

Without warning, a sword scar appeared on the ground centered on the black-robed man, as if an invisible blade had slashed the earth.

Fang Yue understood: this was internal force shaped into a sword, with sword qi leaking out.

Worse still, this wasn't even the result of an active strike—it was merely the precursor, the gathering of internal force before the attack!

The sword scar spread outward in all directions, pressing and chasing after the fleeing group.

Everyone simultaneously felt the terrifying pressure surging from behind.

That thing racing toward them at blinding speed could kill any one of them with a single strike!

This casual, invisible sword qi, though not the black-robed man's full power, not even a proper strike, still approached the level of a Rain-class attack by rough estimation!

In other words, it was a Peak Human-class sword strike!

Who could block it? Who could…

Boom!!

Dozens of pursuing invisible sword qi blades shattered simultaneously.

The black-robed man, who had just been leisurely awaiting the scene of their heads falling, froze in place.

"Huh?!"

He looked around and saw that what had shattered his sword qi were strands of black silk!

No! Those weren't black silk—they were something else!

The black-robed man sniffed, and from the black strands, he caught a strange odor!

Most importantly, this thing had shattered my released invisible sword qi!

Even though I hadn't exerted even a fraction of my strength—merely relying on the inherent nature of the sword qi to pursue them.

But to shatter such sword qi, one must possess at least Peak Human or Rain-class power!

The black-robed man had no interest in the fleeing group growing distant behind him; he followed the black strands to what lay directly ahead.

There, the black strands retracted, slowly gathering behind Fang Yue.

His pitch-black eyes oozed black blood.

A ring above his head rained Night Rain.

Behind him, the massive rotating disc drew back the flung-out black strands.

"Martial Dao of humans… and strange techniques… So you're from the Phoenix Organization. And you've reached this level—no wonder that man wanted you dead."

The black-robed man clicked his tongue in wonder; he had encountered similar Phoenix Organization test subjects before, but they all became anomalies, incapable of holding two forces within their bodies simultaneously.

Yet this man had achieved it—and both forces within him were perfectly balanced and tranquil.

The black-robed man didn't know whether Fang Yue was naturally like this, or if the Phoenix Organization had upgraded their technology to achieve this.

If the former, then Fang Yue was a genius—a different kind of genius.

If the latter, then the Phoenix Organization's technology had evolved again, to a point too dangerous for many to tolerate.

This was a very dangerous signal—one capable of triggering upheaval in Jingcheng.

But that was all it was; such power struggles meant nothing to him.

Suppressing his thoughts, the black-robed man raised his sword and pointed it at Fang Yue.

Hummm!

In the next instant, the sword hums around him erupted violently; the previously scattered invisible sword qi instantly solidified into visible forms, and their power surged from Peak Human straight to Rain-class!

Boom!

Though only sword qi circled the black-robed man, thunderous roars could be faintly heard within the hums, and electric currents flowed between each solid blade, forming a web of lightning.

Hearing the black-robed man's words, Fang Yue frowned and said: "Elder, it seems today I'm doomed. But as the saying goes, even as a ghost, I want to die knowing why—I want to ask you one thing before I die: who wants me dead?"

"Such awareness is admirable—it saves me trouble. Unlike those brats who just fled; when I hunt them down, none of them will die easily… As for your question, I can only tell you: the one who wants your life lives in the Imperial Palace. Hate them—hate the Great Qing Dynasty!"

As his words ended, the black-robed man slashed his sword.

Crackling!

Amid the humming sword qi, solid blades shot toward Fang Yue, linked by electric currents—forming a sword array, a vast net of lightning that loomed like a dark shadow, engulfing Fang Yue!

The apocalyptic scene crashed over him; one glance made his eyelids twitch and his brow veins bulge—he knew he could delay no longer, and screamed inwardly:

"Parchment!!"

【Understood!!】

【Amplify!!】

Two semi-phantom Ancient Scripts appeared around Fang Yue.

In an instant, violent power surged into his body!

It was the Parchment's power, fused with him.

At this moment, with the Parchment's aid, Fang Yue had been amplified to Rain-class power!

This was Fang Yue's second use of 【Amplify】 to enhance his power comprehensively.

That immense power threatened to burst his body apart.

Fang Yue felt that compared to the last time he had slain Bai Xiaoya, the power he had fused this time had clearly risen by a great deal.

This was not only an increase in Fang Yue's base strength and capacity, but also because the parchment, after several devourings, had already recovered more of its power with the aid of Fang Yue's strength!

With both combined, Fang Yue now possessed an even more powerful Rain-rank force!

The moment illusory yet real symbols surfaced around Fang Yue's body, the black-robed man recognized the meaning of those symbols on the spot.

"Ancient Script?! The power of Ancient Words! You're a Rain-rank martial artist, and you cultivate the power of Ancient Words!?"

He stared wide-eyed, his face full of astonishment, wearing an expression as though he had just seen a ghost.

And under the sway of his emotional turmoil, the sword formation that had just shot out also weakened by several degrees.

Seizing the chance, Fang Yue's figure erupted into motion, abruptly shifting to the left, trying to evade the sword net's attack.

But the moment he moved, the sword net was as if it had absorbed his speed, moving along at the speed of light, and was about to catch up to Fang Yue in an instant.

Fang Yue's heart gave a jolt, and he suddenly halted his steps; the sword net's speed also slowed down accordingly, yet it pressed on toward Fang Yue at a steady pace to engulf him.

"Stop running. My move, the Lianlei Sword Net, will not stop until it touches an enemy. Moreover, the faster the enemy flees, the faster it pursues — it may even surpass them!"

This was merely the black-robed man's first move of the Lianlei Sword Net.

In truth, he could unleash six moves, six nets Synchronize, caging the enemy from all directions within the Lianlei Cage — no escape, no avoidance!

(End of chapter)