Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

"You are all useless!" The youth coldly spat out the four words, his eyes locked on Lin Hao, simmering with hatred.

"Lin Hao, do you still recognize me?" the youth asked, gritting his teeth and enunciating each word.

Lin Hao nodded. "Of course I do."

The youth’s lips parted, just about to speak, when he heard Lin Hao say matter-of-factly, "Your name is Wu Yong."

Wu Yong. Useless!

The youth’s breath hitched. His grip on the silver spear tightened abruptly, veins bulging on his hand.

The hatred in his eyes flared as he snarled with a savage expression, "I am Wu Zhen!"

’Seriously? When I was killing those guys earlier, he didn’t even flinch. I really thought he was useless. I guess his name is Wu Zhen after all.’ Lin Hao completely disregarded him, muttering to himself.

"You...!" Wu Zhen trembled with rage, his face twisted in a grimace. He leveled his silver spear at Lin Hao. "You little bastard, do you remember what happened five years ago at Skybreak Mountain?!"

"It was you!" Lin Hao hadn’t actually known who Wu Zhen was, but the reminder jogged his memory. Five years ago, he had saved Yan’Er’s mother from a young master of a branch of the Wu family.

"That’s right! It was me! When I awakened my bloodline, I couldn’t find you. After that, I entered a sect, and for three years, I’ve waited every single moment for this day. I’ll make you wish for death, but I won’t let you die!" Wu Zhen’s stare was so full of hate it was as if he wanted to devour Lin Hao’s flesh and drink his blood. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Five years ago, Lin Hao had been at the height of his power, the number one young master of the Lin family’s direct line. Wu Zhen had been powerless to resist when Lin Hao taught him a lesson.

Now, five years had passed. Just a few days after returning to the Wu family from his sect, Wu Zhen heard news of Lin Hao. When he learned that Lin Hao was still only at the Third Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, Wu Zhen knew the time had come to wash away his shame.

This time, Wu Zhen was determined to repay everything from five years ago a hundred, even a thousand times over.

Lin Hao ignored the spear tip right in front of him. Instead, he shook his head and stared at Wu Zhen with pity. "Three years in a sect, and your cultivation is still this mediocre? If I were you, I would’ve found a rock and bashed my head against it long ago. I’m truly impressed you have the courage to keep living."

"You...!" Wu Zhen felt a metallic, sweet taste rise in his throat, so angry he nearly sprayed a mouthful of blood.

It was for this very reason that for his first year in the sect, he couldn’t hold his head high. He was at the very bottom, suffering endless humiliation.

This was a constant pain in his heart, his greatest taboo.

So he used indifference to mask his insecurity.

Later, after he chanced upon a fragmented spear technique manual in the sect, he took a different path and dedicated himself to mastering the spear.

In the past two years, he had swept through the Blood Coagulation Realm Fourth Layer with this spear technique. Not long ago, during the sect’s grand competition, he even defeated a Martial Artist at the Fifth Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm. He had proven himself with his strength.

The sect was in an uproar and even bestowed upon him a Divine Soldier: a silver spear named Soul-Chaser.

Within the sect, no one thought of him as trash anymore.

And now, Lin Hao dared to humiliate him over his cultivation. Lin Hao had touched upon his greatest taboo.

"You, a piece of trash at the Third Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, dare to humiliate me! You little bastard, today I will torture you to death in the most brutal way possible!" Before Wu Zhen’s voice had even faded, his silver spear trembled. Like a piercing rainbow, it shot straight for Lin Hao’s right arm.

Wu Zhen intended to sever the main tendon in Lin Hao’s right arm.

The spear was blindingly fast. In a flash of silver light, it was already before Lin Hao’s eyes.

Fortunately, Lin Hao was prepared. He executed the Ghostly Divine Step and narrowly dodged the attack.

Even so, Lin Hao felt a sharp pain in his arm as the cold silver spear grazed his skin.

"You think you’re worthy of using a spear? I’ve refined my spearmanship for two years, day and night without rest. Today, I’ll show you what true invincible spearmanship looks like!" Having drawn blood with a single strike, Wu Zhen wore an arrogant expression. As his words fell, his silver spear moved again.

Lin Hao’s heart tightened.

The movements of the Ghostly Divine Step were unpredictable. He had clearly dodged the attack, yet Wu Zhen’s silver spear had somehow managed to follow him. The spear technique was truly astonishing.

Circulating his Cultivation Technique, Lin Hao pushed his Spiritual Sense to its absolute limit, trying to perceive the trajectory of Wu Zhen’s silver spear.

The silver spear in Wu Zhen’s hands moved with the force of a roaring tiger, like a Spiritual Snake emerging from its cave, its angles strange and difficult to predict.

Before long, several more wounds had appeared on Lin Hao’s body.

Though they weren’t fatal, Lin Hao was completely suppressed by Wu Zhen’s spear technique.

"Little bastard, weren’t you arrogant just a moment ago? Why aren’t you fighting back?" Wu Zhen stabbed out again, nicking Lin Hao’s left arm. His expression was mocking and impossibly arrogant.

Lin Hao’s eyes remained fixed on Wu Zhen’s silver spear, and he didn’t answer.

’Almost there... I can almost see the spear’s trajectory.’ Lin Hao was replaying Wu Zhen’s spear technique in his mind, but he still couldn’t fully comprehend it.

If Wu Zhen knew that Lin Hao was multitasking during their fight, attempting to steal his spear technique, one could only wonder how he would react.

In fact, although Wu Zhen’s spear technique used bizarre and tricky angles, Lin Hao had discovered that it consisted of only a few moves. After the first few exchanges, all the subsequent injuries he sustained were intentional.

Unfortunately, Wu Zhen didn’t see it that way. Seeing that Lin Hao was completely unable to fight back, his vigilance slowly relaxed, and the speed of his spear strikes slowed considerably.

He had said he would torture Lin Hao to death slowly. The time had come!

He thrust his spear out again, a triumphant look on his face, expecting to see blood fly once more.

However, in the next instant, he saw a brilliant light suddenly flare up in Lin Hao’s eyes...

And then, his sure-hit strike... missed!

Wu Zhen froze. Lin Hao had moved.

The long spear in Lin Hao’s hand was like a rainbow piercing the sun, moving at an incredible speed.

Startled, Wu Zhen also thrust his spear forward.

CLANG!

Sparks flew!

Spear tip to spear tip!

The strike was sublime, a pinnacle of skill.

However, the material of Lin Hao’s long spear was ordinary. Its shaft was made from the hardest iron-hemlock wood, but it was nothing compared to Wu Zhen’s. Even with Lin Hao pouring all of his True Qi into it, the shaft still bent into the shape of a bow.

Lin Hao tapped his toes on the ground, using the force from the recoiling shaft to retreat.

Wu Zhen didn’t pursue. He stared at Lin Hao, his eyes wide as if he had just seen a ghost.

Only he knew that while his last strike had looked like a straight thrust—a rainbow piercing the sun—it actually concealed three variations at the tip. The final angle of the spear point was definitely not a straight line.

For Lin Hao’s spear tip to meet his under those circumstances, there could be only one explanation: Lin Hao had seen through the shifting path of his spear!

’How is that possible?!’

Just moments ago, Lin Hao’s use of the spear had been all brute force, with no understanding of its shifting principles. Yet now, he could execute such a stunning strike.

’A coincidence. It must be a coincidence!’

Wu Zhen’s silver spear trembled, and he attacked again.

Second move of the nameless spear technique: Spiritual Snake Flicking its Tongue.

Wu Zhen thrust his spear, which hummed through the air. The spearhead swayed from side to side, its tip seemingly aimed nowhere and everywhere at once.

It was as if Lin Hao’s entire body was enveloped by the spear’s range.

Lin Hao’s eyes lit up, and he thrust his own spear forward.

The resulting image was an exact copy of Wu Zhen’s move.

CLANG!

Once again, it was spear tip to spear tip!

Wu Zhen froze, unable to believe what he was seeing.

If the first time was a coincidence, what about this time? He could clearly see Lin Hao’s spear technique—it was unmistakably his own.

’How is this possible!’

In a duel between experts, life and death could be decided in an instant!

This time, Lin Hao did not retreat. With a flick of his wrist, his spear tip scraped past Wu Zhen’s and then shot forward.

Alarmed, Wu Zhen retreated explosively.

HISS!

Although he retreated quickly, Lin Hao’s spear still caught him.

His robes were sliced open from his chest to his shoulder, the fabric quickly turning red with blood.

With a single strike, Wu Zhen was wounded.

Wu Zhen’s face turned pale with shock.

If he had been even a moment slower, it wouldn’t have been a simple injury—his right arm would have been severed.

A piece of trash at the Third Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm had actually wounded him using the very spear technique he was so proud of!

Humiliating! This was an utter humiliation!

Suddenly, a vicious aura erupted from Wu Zhen’s body, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

He was utterly enraged!

Lin Hao gripped his spear and faced Wu Zhen proudly, taunting, "Come on, let me see more of your ’invincible’ spearmanship!"

Just moments ago, Wu Zhen had drawn blood from Lin Hao with a single strike, arrogantly vowing to show him invincible spearmanship. Now, only a short while later, Lin Hao had wounded him with spearmanship as well—and it was his very own technique!

Lin Hao’s words were no different from a resounding slap across Wu Zhen’s face.

Wu Zhen roared in fury. His silver spear suddenly erupted with a brilliant light, and then seemed to multiply into several spears, all of them as fast as lightning.

At this extreme speed, each spear seemed to transform from illusion to reality, every strike carrying a soul-stealing, life-reaping power!

This was the very move that Lin Hao had been unable to comprehend earlier. Now, however, he was no longer afraid of it.

Taking a step forward, Lin Hao advanced instead of retreating. His spear pierced the sky like a shooting star, its momentum like a rainbow.

PFFT!

The spear struck bone!

Lin Hao had grabbed the shaft of Wu Zhen’s spear, while his own long spear had already pierced through Wu Zhen’s right shoulder, its tip emerging from his back!

With a twist of Lin Hao’s hand, blood sprayed from Wu Zhen as his right arm was torn from his body.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Lin Hao now wielded Wu Zhen’s spear, swinging it with the force of a roaring tiger.

The Soul-Chaser Silver Spear had a new master!

Leveling the silver spear at the one-armed Wu Zhen, Lin Hao’s gaze was ice-cold as he threw Wu Zhen’s own words back at him, "You think you’re worthy of using a spear?"

"No, this is impossible! Demon Technique! You’re using a Demon Technique!" Wu Zhen’s face was deathly pale, his expression one of pure horror.

He had painstakingly refined this spear technique for two years, day and night, to achieve his current level of mastery. If Lin Hao wasn’t using a Demon Technique, how could he possibly have learned it all in such a short amount of time?

"It took you two years to learn a technique like this, and you still dared to call it invincible? You should just end your own life. As for this spear, I’ll gladly take it." Lin Hao lowered the spear and stood tall.

"End my life?!" Wu Zhen’s expression froze. He struggled to his feet, his gaze venomous. "You little bastard, I am a disciple of the Suo Demon Sect! Just you wait for the Suo Demon Sect to come and claim your life! I guarantee that the Lin family, down to the last chicken and dog, will not..."

Before Wu Zhen could finish his sentence, Lin Hao’s spear shot forward like a clap of thunder, piercing straight through him.

Wu Zhen’s pupils dilated, filled with disbelief.

He was a Sect Disciple. Lin Hao actually dared to kill him.

"So what if you’re a Sect Disciple? If you dare cause trouble in the Lin family’s territory, I will kill you all!"

As Lin Hao spoke, he gave the silver spear another vicious thrust.

Wu Zhen died with his eyes wide open!