Chapter 71: One-on-One Duel

Chapter 71: The Duel

Beneath the full moon, within the main hall.

The old manor was now deathly silent, devoid of human voices, making the grating screech of metal on metal all the more piercing.

That straight-bladed long saber was slowly drawn from Gu Jia’s chest; the blinding cold light flowing along the edge forced Shi Chengfeng to narrow his eyes, a string of sneers escaping his lips.

"Stabbing a superior in the back, rebelling against authority—truly worthy of the Shu Dao Logistics people."

Li Jun flicked the blood from his blade, his voice flat. "Those who speak carelessly rarely meet a good end."

Shi Chengfeng let out a cold snort. "The fate of a traitor won't be any better, either."

Li Jun smiled. "Gu Jia died by your hand. He died loyal to his master, a martyr of the Group. Can he really tolerate your slander?"

"Is there any point in playing these word games now?"

Shi Chengfeng lifted his gaze to the vault of heaven, his voice cold. "Clearing out the scouts, severing communications, creating the opportunity for you to turn coat and kill—it seems you're in league with the Heavenly Will Association bandits who were causing chaos in the sky just now?"

"Do you believe me if I say it was a coincidence?"

"Do you think I would believe it?"

Shi Chengfeng’s composure had recovered from the shock of moments ago, his expression grim as he stared at Li Jun.

"Just now, two against one, you weren't my match. Now only you remain—why not kneel and beg for mercy?"

Li Jun did not speak. He merely slid his feet into a bow stance, his bent, weight-bearing left leg forming a straight line with his body. His right hand raised the saber, edge upward, his left palm pressing against the spine of the blade.

The posture was like hoisting a cauldron, akin to lifting a mountain.

The opening stance of the Po Lu Saber—Toppling Saber!

"Two on one fails, doesn't mean one on one fails. Your father here excels at single combat!"

The saber-wielding old ape, Shi Chengfeng, watched the saber frame Li Jun had opened with a grave expression. A biting, saber-like chill struck his face, and a sudden warning shivered through his heart.

"Military Saber Art, Eighth Grade Grand Perfection?"

In terms of intricacy, the Military Saber Art hardly ranked among the profound amidst the vast galaxy of martial techniques, but its killing power was top-tier.

In the era when martial sects still existed, many saber arts were born to defeat enemies, emphasizing the perfection of saber intent amidst advance and retreat, balancing offense and defense.

The Military Saber Art had no such complexities. Its core was singular: killing.

"You know your stuff."

"To cultivate this saber art to such a level, you're a fine martial seedling. Pity you were born at the wrong time. The faster you improve, the faster you'll die!"

"Nonsense like yours, I've heard far too much."

Li Jun let out a low shout, unleashing the Leaping Abyss Step. In a single bound, he crossed the distance between them.

His right hand lifted the saber; the left hand pressing on the spine pushed forward. The saber's momentum was swift as lightning, dragging a scalp-numbing howl as it slashed out.

Despite his mental preparation, the ferocity of the Grand Perfection Po Lu Saber still exceeded Shi Chengfeng's expectations. The bio-chip in his skull screamed incessant evasion warnings.

But in a struggle against the Military Saber Art, the greatest taboo is cowardice.

Even feigning weakness requires the capital to counterattack after the enemy moves; otherwise, one step back leads to step after step back, ending in utter rout.

He could not retreat!

Resolve set, Shi Chengfeng’s chest furnace hummed loudly. His right hand blocked the ink-black saber before him, while his left-hand saber thrust toward Li Jun’s back at a bizarre angle!

*Clang!*

The two blades collided vertically and horizontally, ringing out with the sharp, resonant clash of gold and iron.

Shi Chengfeng suddenly felt a chill invade his respiratory system, crashing along his steel skeleton into his furnace.

This was... Killing Intent?!

Li Jun likewise sensed the anomaly born of the Po Lu Saber technique, a thought stirring in his heart.

"At the Eighth Grade Grand Perfection, martial arts have begun to acquire the flavor of 'Art'?"

*Whirr.*

Shi Chengfeng’s previously smoothly operating furnace seemed to have its mainspring jammed, emitting a strange shriek. His arms abruptly froze, and the pair of butterfly sabers stalled along with them.

Li Jun seized the moment to swing his blade. The saber momentum was like a fierce soldier waving a flag; cold light enveloped him, knocking away the short saber pressing an inch from his back, then reversing to cleave down at the figure before him.

Shi Chengfeng roared, his furnace operating at full capacity, finally breaking free of the Killing Intent's shackles the instant the long saber split the air. He withdrew his twin blades and engaged Li Jun in a clash!

The horizontal saber's momentum was fierce, brave as charging iron cavalry.

The twin sabers were cunning and venomous, ruthless as a poisonous woman's heart.

For a time, the splashed saber light nearly eclipsed the moonlight falling on the roof. Sharp, ear-piercing rings sounded continuously, like a violent rain beating on a forest.

Another exchange of breathtakingly dangerous moves passed, and the two intertwined figures finally separated.

Standing opposed, the outcome of the previous clash could be gleaned from the wounds on their bodies.

A hideous saber wound ran from Shi Chengfeng’s left shoulder to his right abdomen, nearly disemboweling him.

However, though this horrifying wound tore flesh, it did not break bone. For Shi Chengfeng, with his mechanized skeleton, it hardly counted as a severe injury.

The only trouble was the yin-cold Battle Formation Killing Intent inside his body!

Something that even the grand masters of the Imperial Academy and the Ministry of Works could not explain was now seeping along his mechanized bones into his artificial vessels.

The constant-temperature synthetic blood now carried a bone-piercing icy chill. A pain he had never encountered since swapping his body and stepping onto the Soldier's Path was madly devouring Shi Chengfeng’s will.

In contrast, Li Jun’s sleeves had been shredded by the twin butterfly sabers, his arms covered in dense, fine cuts, yet the fierce light in his eyes grew ever more scorching.

The moment he killed Gu Jia, the rage long accumulated in his heart burst its dam like a tidal wave, no longer containable.

A malevolent flood dragon dwelled in his heart; today, it had raised its head.

Li Jun took a deep breath, closed in once more, and with full force cleaved apart the twin blades Shi Chengfeng had crossed before him. His right foot erupted like a long spear, driving into the man's chest!

The tremendous force caused the furnace to instantly stall. Shi Chengfeng staggered back involuntarily, his face stricken with horror. He could only whirl his twin blades to carve out a curtain of light, trying to steal a moment to breathe.

*Bang!*

A cyan floor tile was crushed to spiderweb cracks beneath his foot. The black martial suit surged forward at a staggering speed.

Shi Chengfeng’s chest furnace hadn't recovered from the fatigue before a terrifying saber wind tore through his blade curtain, arriving at his brow!

In that critical instant, the saber-wielding old ape dropped and rolled, dodging the skull-splitting blow by a hair's breadth.

Pinned to the ground, Shi Chengfeng dared not stop rolling. He tumbled backward over ten times, only stopping when no sound of breaking air remained above his head.

Fortunately, the Yang family's main hall was spacious enough; otherwise, there wouldn't have been room to maneuver.

Though the maneuver was wretched, the effect was surprisingly good. The old ape, who had been hacked miserably under the Po Lu Saber's momentum, had actually rolled out a sliver of breathing room.

Li Jun held his saber in one hand, the tip pointing at the just-risen Shi Chengfeng, mocking, "Old man, are you an ape? How nimbly you roll."

Shi Chengfeng ignored Li Jun's taunts. His figure hunched further, looking less and less human. A sudden, piercing ape cry erupted from his throat, and he began striking his chest rhythmically with the flats of his twin blades!

The humming of the 'Old Ape' furnace in his chest cavity in his chest grew louder with each strike!

Li Jun’s expression changed to shock. He blurted out, "What the hell is this? Mechanized Beast Transformation? Damn it, Beast Hero?"