Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Lin Hao dodged the sword, something the youth in black didn’t find the least bit surprising.

In fact, it was all part of the black-clad youth’s calculations; he had even anticipated Lin Hao’s retreat.

The moment Lin Hao sidestepped, the sword was already there.

Or perhaps, the sword strike was faster than Lin Hao’s movement. It was as if by sidestepping, Lin Hao was about to impale himself on the youth’s willow-leaf sword.

As Lin Hao’s throat was about to meet the blade, the black-clad youth’s eyes flashed, and his sword surged forward with even greater speed.

Lin Hao threw his head back and launched into a backflip, simultaneously kicking his rising left foot toward the youth’s sword wrist.

The youth in black retracted his right hand and, forming a fist with his left, punched at Lin Hao’s foot.

The retraction and the punch were a single, fluid motion.

BOOM!

The punch struck Lin Hao, launching him into the air.

Stomping a foot, the youth in black shot into the air after him.

The willow-leaf sword in his hand flared with power, poised to run Lin Hao through.

Though in midair with no leverage, Lin Hao’s body strangely shifted sideways.

Then, in a sudden dive, Lin Hao finally struck.

The Evil-Slaying Sword erupted in a brilliant flash of light, its power magnificent!

The youth in black didn’t dare to meet it head-on and retreated in a flash.

CLANG!

The tip of the Evil-Slaying Sword struck the Vajra Rock, letting out a sharp clang.

Lin Hao had used precise force; the Vajra Rock didn’t shatter, but a large, oval pit was left where the tip had struck.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Sounds of tearing air followed as Lin Hao’s sword flicked up a piece of the Vajra Rock, turning it into a deadly projectile that shot toward the youth.

BOOM!

The youth sidestepped, and the rock flew past, crashing into a tall building in the distance and causing it to collapse with a thunderous roar.

But in the instant the youth sidestepped, Lin Hao’s sword was upon him.

PFFT!

THUD!

The youth dodged again, but Lin Hao’s sword still managed to slice off a piece of his clothing. In that same instant, Lin Hao slammed his body into the youth, sending him flying.

RUMBLE!

The youth’s body crashed through the wall of a building beside the street, leaving a gaping, human-shaped hole.

With a crackle of debris, the hole went dark and silent. It seemed the youth was dead.

Lin Hao knew, however, that the force of that impact wasn’t enough to kill him.

Lin Hao stood his ground, waiting to counter whatever came next.

CLANG!

Suddenly, the Evil-Slaying Sword in Lin Hao’s hand blurred into motion, creating a curtain of light.

From the darkness ahead, countless pieces of rubble shot through the air, swarming toward Lin Hao like locusts.

The curtain of light held firm, and the debris couldn’t get anywhere near him. But in front of Lin Hao, the hard Vajra Rock pavement boomed and then shattered.

Dust and debris billowed out, obscuring everything from sight. Only the sound of rubble whistling through the air remained.

Just then, a willow-leaf sword abruptly materialized from the chaos.

Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed as he thrust the Evil-Slaying Sword straight forward.

The willow-leaf sword instantly disintegrated into dust.

But at the very same moment, another willow-leaf sword appeared, thrusting for Lin Hao’s throat as fast as lightning.

The youth in black was wielding the sword with his left hand, and he was even faster than with his right.

But he had gravely underestimated Lin Hao.

The Evil-Slaying Sword suddenly unleashed a terrifying aura that surged toward the youth in black.

The youth retreated in a flash.

An endless tide of Sword Qi washed over him.

If he hadn’t retreated, he would have been torn to shreds long before his sword could pierce Lin Hao’s throat.

As the youth in black retreated, a terrifying aura began to rise from his body.

Then, as if he had become a flood dragon, the water from the moat dozens of meters away was violently sucked into the air.

The column of water, dozens of meters high, suddenly split apart in midair, forming sword after sword of pure water that shot toward Lin Hao.

Lin Hao retreated rapidly as the water swords bombarded the hard Vajra Rock, setting off massive explosions across the area.

’To control water and form swords with True Essence... this youth’s True Essence is not much weaker than Lin Jun’s.’

"You certainly are patient. What a pity..." Lin Hao shook his head as the Evil-Slaying Sword gave a sudden tremble.

With just that single motion, the water swords in the air all froze. Then, bizarrely, they turned around.

The next moment...

PFFT!

A water sword sliced off one of the black-clad youth’s arms, and it fell to the ground.

And that was only because he had reacted quickly, managing to send most of the water swords back to the moat. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be alive right now.

"How could this happen?" The youth’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

’To transform a massive flow of water into swords requires a near-endless supply of True Essence.’

’Even if Lin Hao cultivated some Imperial Art, his True Essence couldn’t possibly be as vast as mine!’

’Because I, too, have a Flawless Primordial Body!’

He and Lin Jun were twin brothers from Daming Prefecture. One lived in the light, the other in the shadows. Aside from the Lin family’s highest echelons, no one knew of this black-clad youth’s existence.

That was why the youth had reacted so strangely when Lin Hao mentioned Daming Prefecture was full of talent.

He’d thought Lin Hao had discovered his identity.

That was why he had been holding back his deadliest moves, hoping to make Lin Hao lower his guard.

But who could have known that Lin Hao would turn his own signature move against him and sever his arm?

Realizing how terrifying Lin Hao was, the youth in black stopped holding back.

The youth drew upon the True Essence from hundreds of meters around. In an instant, a perfect arm formed where his had been severed, shrouded in a hazy mist.

The new arm was condensed entirely from pure True Essence.

The youth’s arms began to twist in unison, just as Lin Jun’s had.

However, the pressure he generated was even more terrifying than Lin Jun’s.

His willow-leaf sword hovered in the air and began to spin rapidly. Then, it split from one into two, from two into three...

Soon, a sphere the size of a millstone formed between his hands, a sphere composed of countless willow-leaf swords.

Although he knew that all but one were made of True Essence, Lin Hao didn’t dare let his guard down.

A terrifying aura emanated from the swords. Even before they were unleashed, countless streams of Sword Qi were already ravaging the area.

Behind Lin Hao, countless buildings were destroyed by the unseen Sword Qi, and even slabs of hard Vajra Rock were sliced to pieces.

Lin Hao, however, used his own True Essence to shield his body and resist the terrifying Sword Qi.

’I can’t move,’ he knew. ’The moment I do, those willow-leaf swords will deliver a devastating blow.’

He remained still, and so did the youth in black.

’As a Flawless Primordial Body, my True Essence is nearly inexhaustible. The longer this drags on, the better for me. Let’s see how long you can hold out, Lin Hao.’

「An hour passed...」

「Two hours passed...」

If not for the unseen Sword Qi still tearing through the air, one might have mistaken the two of them for statues.

As the sky began to lighten, the youth in black was growing impatient.

’How is it that after all this time, his True Essence still shows no sign of running out?’

’And he looks so calm, not like he’s just putting up a brave front.’

’A Spirit Body with such terrifying True Essence...’ The youth’s eyes narrowed drastically.

"Go!"

Finally, the youth in black made his move.

With a sharp cry, the sphere of willow-leaf swords shot toward Lin Hao like a cannonball.

BOOM!

But as the swords were launched, something even stranger occurred.

The countless willow-leaf swords exploded in front of Lin Hao, scattering in all directions and instantly enveloping him completely.

And still, their numbers continued to multiply.

Before long, Lin Hao was completely obscured, hidden within a storm of innumerable willow-leaf swords.

The youth in black removed his mask, revealing a face identical to Lin Jun’s.

Looking at the storm of blades, he smiled an eerie, unsettling smile.

No one enjoys living as someone else’s shadow. Far from feeling any grief or anger over Lin Jun’s death, he was secretly delighted.

With Lin Jun dead, he could finally step into the light.

The reason the youth had removed his mask was simple: in his eyes, Lin Hao was already a dead man.

This was his ultimate technique, learned from a fragmented scroll he found in the Lin family’s scripture repository.

It was a Cultivation Technique seemingly tailor-made for the Flawless Primordial Body, and its power was immense.

The swords appeared to be made of True Essence, but their collective might was terrifying. Fed by the power of these True Essence Swords, the one real willow-leaf sword at their core became nigh indestructible!

The blade in his hand had once been an ordinary iron sword, but nourished by this Cultivation Technique, it could now easily slice through a Tier Two Spiritual Artifact!

’This just goes to show how powerful the technique is. There’s no way Lin Hao can break it!’

However, Lin Hao was about to disappoint him.

BOOM!

A terrifying aura erupted from the center of the storm, with Lin Hao at its core.

In the next instant, the countless willow-leaf swords were all reduced to dust—and not even the real one was spared.

And the terrifying shockwave continued to expand.

Everything within a radius of several hundred meters was obliterated.

Hundreds of meters away, the now-unmasked youth stared, his eyes wide with horror as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

At that moment, a sword filled his vision.

He wanted to fight back, to retreat, but a terrifying pressure locked him in place, rendering him completely immobile.

"No!" the youth shrieked in terror, trying to unleash his Bloodline Power with all his might, but it was too late.

The Evil-Slaying Sword descended, enveloping him in a curtain of light.

The shriek cut off abruptly.

Another owner of a special constitution had been slain by Lin Hao.

By now, the sky was bright, and a crowd was gathering in the distance.

Today was the day the Yujin Saint Institute was to recruit new disciples. Countless youths were supposed to be reporting there, but the events of the previous night had been far too shocking.

Moreover, the Saint Institute had just issued a critical announcement: its gates would remain closed indefinitely today.

Unable to go to the Institute, coming to watch the battle was the natural alternative.

"How terrifying... He actually killed Lin Jun! And Lin Jun had a Flawless Primordial Body!" someone with inside knowledge of the Lin family exclaimed.

At these words, the faces of many in the crowd changed.

Those gathered here all possessed special constitutions, mostly Spirit Bodies, with some Primordial Bodies mixed in.

They all knew exactly what a Flawless Primordial Body represented.

Since Lin Hao could even slay someone with a Flawless Primordial Body, many began to re-evaluate his true combat strength.

"A Flawless Primordial Body is nothing special among the Four Great Clans. Just wait, a Battle Body is sure to step up!" The speaker was clearly from one of the Four Great Clans.

No one spoke in response.

For at that moment, they saw someone striding toward Lin Hao.

The man was nearly two meters tall and wore nothing but a beast-hide loincloth. His bulging muscles rippled like thick vines, exuding a powerful, intimidating presence.

"I know him! That’s Lin Zhan from the Yundong Mansion’s branch of the Lin family! He has a Battle Body!"

"A Battle Body! One of the Lin family’s young elites has arrived. It seems the Lin family is absolutely determined to kill him today."

"Terrifying auras have been radiating from this area all night. Lin Hao has been fighting for hours. Now that a Battle Body is making a move, I wonder if he can take any more?"