Chapter 267: Scoundrel Couple

Chapter 267: A Dog of a Couple

A moment prior, Batu had never imagined he would dare to swing his blade against a powerhouse ranked forty-first on the Human Ranking, one who had already opened their secret treasury.

But the instant he cleaved outward, the battle intent in his heart instantly displaced all other thoughts.

These past days had been intolerably stifling, with every damn bastard coming to take a bite out of him.

A fierce man who was originally reckless and thick-headed had been so utterly tormented these days that a sinister gloom now dwelled in his eyes; a lion of the steppe shrinking at the foot of a mountain to lick its wounds, its bloody gaze looking with hatred at the ill-intentioned crowd around him, the violence in his breast finding no outlet.

All it took was a single spark to potentially tear everything to shreds.

My own uncle is a powerhouse on the Earth Ranking, I’ve seen plenty of them since childhood! What of the Human Ranking, could they truly be invulnerable to blades and spears!

"Clang!" The broad blade hacked viciously against Hu Lie’s scimitar.

Hu Lie had no time to deal with him further and merely deflected it with a casual flick. Beside him, Zhao Changhe’s blade, and behind him, Yue Hongling’s sword, descended upon him almost simultaneously without any distinction of priority. Yue Hongling’s sword in particular was nothing to play with, so how could he have the leisure to care about Batu?

Yet with just that casual flick, Batu felt a colossal force surge wildly toward him, his meridians falling into sudden chaos as he could not suppress spraying a violent mouthful of fresh blood, tumbling backward.

But instead of being alarmed, he was delighted, laughing wildly with blood in his mouth: "Haha... Hahaha... So that's all it is!"

As long as he wasn't completely irresistible and instantly obliterated, it was fine! This proved that a gang fight was viable, and they weren't courting death!

The tempering and progress of these days had not been in vain! He had not let down the treasure left behind by his uncle!

"Khagan!" Only now did the loyal guards around him react to what had happened, stepping forward one after another to catch Batu: "What happened..."

"They set a trap to kill us, if they succeed not one of us goes back!" Batu brandished his blade and pointed: "Charge with me, hack down the people around him first!"

Shouts to kill shook the air as Batu’s guards and the subordinates brought by Hu Lie clashed into a chaotic fray.

Over there, Hu Lie simultaneously parried the blades and swords of Yue Hongling and Zhao Changhe, and seeing this scene, he nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood from sheer rage.

A plan to lay a trap to ambush and swarm Yue Hongling had suddenly turned into a battle with roughly equal numbers on both sides, and instead, he was left alone facing the pincer attack of this dog of a couple... He couldn't even fathom how things had turned out this way.

How did Batu dare! He hadn't even secured the grain for his tribe to survive the winter, did he think Yue Hongling could deliver grain to him!

Hu Lie had no mind for further thoughts. It was fine that Batu’s strength exceeded his estimates to the point of actually blocking a strike of his, but right now the strength of this dog of a couple also far exceeded his estimates; a blade and a sword bombarded him wildly, leaving him unable to distract his mind.

Even though he had overestimated Yue Hongling as much as possible in his heart, he still hadn't expected this woman’s strength to be this formidable.

Back then, Yue Hongling had trampled through the Black Wolf Khan’s tent and slain the Black Wolf King. It sounded magnificent, but they who were in the steppe knew the details better; it wasn't nearly as soul-stirring as described in the Chronicle of a Turbulent World.

Because at that time, the forces of the Black Wolf Khan’s tent were out, with only a few personal guards around the tent, and the Black Wolf King also belonged to the category of underestimating the enemy and being careless, thinking what was so great about a mere woman on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, wasn't she just coming to court death? He probably had already mentally played out a whole bunch of scenarios after capturing her, up until the moment he went out of the tent to face the enemy, it was said he even bore a smile.

Under this kind of mindset, Hu Lie felt it was understandable why a dignified master of the Human Ranking would have his head lopped off by a single horse charging the formation; essentially, Yue Hongling was not stronger than the Black Wolf King, it was merely brought about by utilizing various mindsets and environments, which was why she only replaced the Black Wolf King’s rank, namely sixty-eighth on the Human Ranking, and was not judged to be at a crushing height.

There was a difference of over twenty positions between sixty-eighth and forty-first on the Human Ranking. This wasn't a potential evaluation like the Hidden Dragon Ranking, but a true ranking of strength; a gap of over twenty positions could almost be considered a chasm. What made it even more of a chasm was that he had opened his secret treasury, and in this environment, his advantage would be multiplied manifold!

Yet unexpectedly, once actual combat began, he couldn't feel the gap of over twenty positions at all; Yue Hongling’s level was at most a few ranks lower than his own at the absolute absolute maximum. More than three months of lone-wolf-like tempering on the steppe, countless battles and charges, countless escapes from life and death, had made her swordplay increasingly blended and flawless; within this yellow sand that saw no light of day, she was the evening glow.

This was a formidable foe that would require a massive amount of effort even under a fair, one-on-one decisive duel! If it weren't for being trapped in the sand and dust which hindered her display, Hu Lie had no doubt she could absolutely escape from the encirclement; the prior arrangement seemed to hold no great meaning, because the people he brought weren't strong enough and couldn't block her at all!

"Ding, ding, ding, ding!" The long sword and scimitar clashed an unknown number of times, Yue Hongling withdrew her steps slightly, while Hu Lie’s spiritual awareness clearly perceived a broad blade restraining its tyranny, floating lightly and quietly through the sandstorm to strike at the back of his head.

Hu Lie: "..."

You're a savage brute who plays with a broad blade, just a moment ago during our exchange you still felt boundlessly powerful, yet when I used a scimitar to hard-parry with a strength that crushed you by a large margin, it actually only shook you back a few steps; I thought you were a berserker, yet you're actually playing this kind of silent blade routine.

Where on earth did this stitched-together freak spring from?

"Swish!"

The blade light contracted, arriving later but striking first as it flicked toward Zhao Changhe’s left ribs, equally soundless and virtually imperceptible, extremely hidden and hard to see within the sandstorm.

Not only that, this was still a strike from the Human Ranking, so fast in speed and tricky in angle that even if one saw it, it would be hard to defend against.

Yet Zhao Changhe seemed to see it with absolute clarity. Shifting his footwork, he actually evaded this strike with extreme agility, while at the same time, Yue Hongling’s sword rushed toward the throat once more.

"Oh..." Hu Lie gave up the pursuit to deal with Yue Hongling, and could not help but express surprise: "You fellow, do you recognize my blade technique?"

Zhao Changhe kept silent. I haven't seen your blade technique, but Chi Li’s blade technique is the kind I've slowed down to ponder and learned a smattering of; the application of similar weapons always has commonalities. A thing like a scimitar has a bizarre and unpredictable trajectory to someone who hasn't dealt with it, but after repeatedly mulling it over, one gains experience, and that's all it amounts to.

With a jerk of his wrist, the Dragon Sparrow surged with bloody light, already overlapping the intent of the Dispersal of Gods and Buddhas within it.

A single blade traversed horizontally, like a sword breaking the sky, the yellow sand filling the air seeming to be torn into two halves by this single strike.

The Sword of Avici, pursued by ten thousand souls!

"Whoosh!"

Hu Lie stepped away into the distance, actually not daring to deal with this blade while simultaneously handling Yue Hongling.

The sharpness of his perception and his rich combat experience also could not help but make Zhao Changhe admire him; this fellow, with so much crushing strength, did not underestimate the enemy in the slightest, which made it hard to fight...

A thought suddenly stirred in his heart, and he thrust a blade backward.

Concealed by the chaotic yellow sand, a subordinate of Hu Lie was quietly launching a sneak attack on him, yet unexpectedly, it was as if Zhao Changhe had eyes in the back of his head, actually arriving later but striking first, relying on the advantage of the Dragon Sparrow being longer to pierce a blade directly through his chest.

At the same time, Yue Hongling also thrust a sword into the yellow sand at the side, bringing up a spray of bloody rain. Turning her head back with some amazement to look at this strike of Zhao Changhe’s, she secretly thought that after being separated for so long, this younger brother had truly grown up.

He was actually truly capable of posing a threat to the forty-first on the Human Ranking, making the opponent dare not slight his edge. And at the same time, he dealt with sneak attacks with ease, mature to the point of being no different from her own performance, like a famous master who had traversed the rivers and lakes for a long time.

That's right, he was already a famous master.

—To not have too great a gap with my strength, to be able to join hands to the ends of the earth, if this isn't what else is?

The sandstorm grew increasingly large, it was already very difficult to see Hu Lie’s figure within their vision, they could only hear his voice coming from within the yellow sand: "You fellow, what is your name?"

Zhao Changhe’s voice carried through the yellow sand: "Zhao Changhe of the Central Plains, requesting Guidance from Your Excellency Hu Lie!"

Batu: "?"

Go to your mother...

He looked at Hu Lie’s subordinates with whom he was currently locked in a death struggle, knowing in his heart there was no turning back...

Hu Lie’s voice appeared indistinctly in the yellow sand: "So it's you. Yue Hongling, Zhao Changhe... Those whose names spread across the world are indeed not so by fluke. But a pity, the test is complete; your senses are sharp and your skill is flawless, yet regarding the secret treasury, you still know absolutely nothing."

"Then this patch of yellow sand shall be your burial ground."

The further the voice went, the more it carried an echo, reverberating everywhere, growing more and more deafening to the eardrums, shaking the yellow sand to roll even wilder, leaving the sun and moon without light.

"Can you all see nothing now? Even your breath-holding is about to reach its limit." The voice continued to reverberate: "Failing to open the bridge between heaven and earth, you cannot survive long-term with innate internal breath, nor can you construct a universal awareness of heaven and earth, you are merely mortal flesh. Perhaps outside you could escape, I truly wouldn't be sure if I could keep you, but unfortunately choosing to counterattack here is the greatest mistake you have committed."

Zhao Changhe swiftly tore off two pieces of cloth from the corner of his clothes, opened his water flask to pour and make them wet cloths, handed one piece to Yue Hongling, and covered his nose and mouth.

The environment just now could barely allow breathing, who would have thought this guy could actually utilize the sand and dust to a certain extent, making it roll thicker and fiercer, if it wasn't dealt with, they would truly suffocate.

But while the covering of the nose and mouth could still be dealt with, what about the problem of not being able to see?

Just now they could barely see some movement, but this time there was only boundless yellow sand, reaching out a hand one could almost not see their five fingers.

In this kind of environment, if Hu Lie could see, how were they to fight?

Yue Hongling’s voice transmission was sent into Zhao Changhe’s ear precisely at this moment: "I have already peeked into the secret treasury, although I haven't broken through, I can actually see him, just now I was hiding my incompetence to lead him to think I couldn't see."

Zhao Changhe: "Fuck."

"Otherwise why do you think I would turn back into the sandstorm? Your sister, I am not stupid." Yue Hongling smiled somewhat playfully: "You leave first, this kind of situation doesn't necessarily depend entirely on strength, he misjudged the