Chapter 221: Ling Chen’s First Battle
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT , Rock
Ye BaiFei lived up to his name as a professional assassin. Without showing any panic, his right hand only flickered once, and his sword had already appeared in his hand. At the same instant, the night sky seemed to have exploded into lights resembling fireworks! He shot forward without hesitation, and the ringing sounds of blades clashing came faster and faster, finally combining into one, unable to be differentiated.
Ye BaiFei originally had the idea to take advantage of the fact that a female’s strength was lower compared to a man’s, and exhaust Ling Chen’s strength before he went in for the kill. However, Ling Chen’s attack came in waves, akin to a vast and mighty ocean, continuous and never ending! Ye BaiFei only felt that every part of his body was in danger of being attacked by her blade, and could only focus all his efforts on defending!
The other seven let out expressions of shock; everyone there was familiar with the skills of Ye BaiFei, and they didn't expect that this random white-robed girl who appeared out of nowhere would be able to force him to this state! This was something that went beyond all reason!
Furthermore, Ye BaiFei had solemnly said that the other guy’s martial arts were even scarier! The seven of them couldn't help but look at Ling Tian who had yet to make his move, secretly fearing in their hearts. The business of assassination was one where people planned for the worst-case scenario, so if even Ye BaiFei showed fear towards this person, how would they dare to not respect him!
The seven of them immediately moved, surrounding Ling Tian! Seven swords flashed, their tips all pointing inward where Ling Tian was!
Seeing these seven’s movement techniques, Ling Tian couldn't help but exclaim to himself.
To have all seven of them arranging themselves without any prior communication showed their mutual understanding. Most likely, they had some sort of hidden formation as a trump card! If that was the case, then his objective tonight might not be so easily accomplished!
With a flip of his wrist, a short sword appeared in his hands, with light being refracted all over. With but a flap of his robes, he had already headed towards the opponent directly in front of him like a bolt of lightning!
It was as though a wave suddenly appeared in this area: the seven swords thrust inwards at the same time, all aiming at different spots. But all of them had stable hands, their gazes cold as ice. As for the assassin facing Ling Tian, he seemed to ignore Ling Tian’s attack towards him, throwing all caution aside in order to land a hit on Ling Tian. They were all using the method of taking someone down with themselves!
If Ling Tian didn't change his course, while he might be able to avoid the assassin’s killing blow, he wouldn't escape unscathed under the six other blades!
At such an important juncture, how could he allow himself to be injured?
The reason why Ling Tian had dashed out was to probe whether the seven of them had a sort of formation that they could use, and with their actions all his suspicions were confirmed. Floating in midair, he suddenly retracted his sword and retreated! He actually could weave in and out unaffected by the sword web formed from the seven swords before reappearing back at the place he once stood! Standing ramrod straight under the moonlight, his white robes fluttering!
Such godly speed far exceeded what everyone here was capable of!
As he tilted his head, he saw the seven of them actually retreat back to their positions without a hint of chaos, and bitterly cursed to himself. They indeed had a formation!
One had to know that with Ling Tian’s godly speed of advancing and retreating, if it were a duel, then that opponent would have long since given up his life. However, these seven seemed to have practiced some sort of combination technique, leaving Ling Tian clueless about how to deal with them!
Just as Ling Tian was pondering over this thorny problem, the seven of them had long lost their composure! If this wasn't a battle then they would be letting out gasps of shock! To have reached such a realm in his movement techniques, even their boss Ye BaiFei wouldn't be his opponent! Little did they know that Ye BaiFei had long suffered a defeat under Ling Tian’s hands, but because of that humiliation at almost being made to streak naked, Ye BaiFei’s arrogance would definitely not allow him to expose this fact to others!
In the blink of an eye, Ling Tian had once again rushed towards the seven of them at high speed, exchanging blows with all seven of them one after another! However, he was actually rebuffed without any success! The seven of them returned to their exact places after receiving Ling Tian’s attack, with not a single hair out of place!
But it was this that gave Ling Tian the idea to break out of this formation!
It was their placing!
Their positions were evidently developed after long periods of training together, to form a method most advantageous to them! Their positions were exactly equidistant, with different points to aim for in their attack, all to maximise their success! Against some weaker experts, they would most likely only require one blow to end the battle!
Their positions could be said to be the essence of their entire formation. The most profound mystery usually was the method to break a formation, but in this case it was too rigid! As long as he messed up their positions, or wounded one of them, then the formation would immediately dissipate to nothing! However, this knowledge was not something which most martial arts experts would know! Even if they knew, one had to pay a corresponding price to break the formation!
After crossing swords with them, Ling Tian had fully internalized the formidable aspects of this formation! Based on his current abilities, he only had the confidence to protect himself completely, but was unable to harm his opponents! He had no choice but to remain motionless, waiting for them to grow impatient and attack. Then, he could take the chance to break free from the formation!
If he were to rate their strength, while they might be considered a professional in the martial arts circles, they were still lacking when compared to Ling Feng! However, to have the seven link up in their formation, then their overall prowess could actually match up to the formation of the five Ling brothers! As for their defense, it even surpassed them! This gave Ling Tian a headache; did he really need to pay a price to defeat seven people of such caliber?
On the other side, Ling Chen and Ye BaiFei’s duel was getting more intense. Only two white blurs could be seen as they flashed throughout the night sky, letting out a chain of metallic rings whenever they connected. With their internal energy focused on their swords, the sharp screams of the swords splitting the void could be constantly heard! Their fight radius had gradually increased to a circumference of three hundred feet!
Stealing a glance at the battle, Ling Tian was reassured to see that Ling Chen was in no immediate danger, and in fact had an advantage! One had to know that Ling Chen’s sword arts, as well as internal strength, were already a notch above Ling Jian, and Ye BaiFei was only on the same level with Ling Jian! Ye BaiFei was definitely inferior to Ling Chen in this regard, which was only made worse because Ling Chen was worried about Ling Tian having too many enemies. She didn't want him to have any pressure and so threw any compassion she had to the back of her mind, focusing all her efforts to great effect!
This was especially so for her elegant and graceful movement techniques, exceeding Ye BaiFei’s movement technique by a large margin! Her swift and elegant movements, floating from place to place, a while left, a while right, as though the whole battlefield was hers! She controlled at least 70% of the offense in this battle!
Facing off against Ling Chen’s flurry of attacks like a torrential downpour, the only thing Ye BaiFei could rely on was his immense killing intent and his battle style of not being afraid of death! While Ling Chen’s martial attainments were high, she had only taken part in spars! Strictly speaking, this was Ling Chen’s first life and death battle with an expert!
Ye BaiFei’s every move was as though he was seeking death, leading to Ling Chen being tied up to some extent at first, unable to display her fullest potential. However, as she familiarized herself with his moves, Ye BaiFei could no longer take the advantage, and this was what Ling Tian was most gratified with! Given a bit of time, Ling Jian would probably have to concede his position of the fastest learner to Ling Chen!
The reason why Ling Chen was so violently attacking, unlike her usual style, was because she was afraid that Ling Tian might receive internal injuries while going against the seven fighters! When that happened, she would probably wallow in guilt! Thus, she decided to throw aside her compassion to resolve this duel in the shortest time possible! With that thought, even the killing moves that she normally didn't display were all shown out in the shortest time! If Ye BaiFei failed to dodge at this point, Ling Chen wouldn't hesitate to take this opportunity to protect the man she loved!
Ye BaiFei didn't show any change in expression, but secretly was incessantly complaining! He was depressed to the point that he wanted to vomit blood! This girl not only had exquisite movement techniques and profound sword arts, but her internal strength was also unbelievably profound! A truly difficult opponent! He knew that if he was negligent, he would immediately be pierced several times in a row!