But no sooner had Shi Feng finished speaking than three assassins materialized behind him, appearing without a sound and moving with incredible speed. They lunged at his back from three directions, their coordination flawless.
"You're out of luck!" Duan Liushui grinned, his aura surging violently as both arms swelled a size larger. He twisted his war blade and swept it toward Shi Feng's neck.
First-Tier Forbidden Technique: Mountain Rend!
It boosted his Strength by 120% and his attack speed by 100%, lasting a full three seconds.
The pincer attack from front and back was so perfectly timed that Duan Liushui and the three assassins might as well have been a single fighter. Shi Feng's retreat was completely sealed off, and at such close range, evasion was impossible.
Just as the blades were about to reach Shi Feng, a faint black luminescence erupted from his body as a thick aura of darkness billowed from every pore. In the next instant, four streaks of sword light bloomed around him, radiating outward in every direction.
Light of Darkness!
Four-Moon Lotus Bloom!
Clang, clang, clang…
A rapid succession of metallic impacts rang out, brilliant sparks erupting around Shi Feng. Of the four attackers, Duan Liushui was forced back three steps, while the other three were blasted away on the spot, sent flying more than ten yards before crashing heavily to the ground.
The gap in their strength was starkly, unmistakably clear.
"You—" Duan Liushui stared in disbelief at Shi Feng, who still stood in the exact same spot. He couldn't fathom how his opponent had blocked the attack.
His First-Tier Forbidden Technique, Mountain Rend, had boosted his Strength by 120%. With his current stats, he could trade blows with a high-level Grand Lord of the same tier for a short time. Yet Shi Feng had not only withstood their four-man coordinated strike but had knocked him back. And the force reverberating from Shi Feng's blade still had his hands tingling.
Even as Duan Liushui stared at Shi Feng, his mind racing for a way to win, Shi Feng vanished from his sight.
"Not good!" The instant he saw Shi Feng disappear, a jolt shot through Duan Liushui, and he immediately unleashed Whirlwind Slash.
But somehow Shi Feng had already materialized at his side. A spray of blood erupted, and the Whirlwind Slash was abruptly halted by the Magic Sword Abyssal — as though it had struck an unyielding wall, unable to advance another inch.
As Duan Liushui's HP began to drain rapidly, two more streaks of sword light — one azure, one white — bloomed from nowhere and sliced through his body once more, devouring every last point of his health.
Duan Liushui's vision went grey. He tried to say something, but there was no time — he collapsed to the ground, a pair of battle boots dropping from his inventory.
From start to finish, his nearby companions hadn't had time to intervene. All they saw was Shi Feng vanish and reappear beside Duan Liushui in the span of a heartbeat, followed by flashing arcs of sword light. Before they could even react, Duan Liushui was already on the ground — and even the healer nearby hadn't managed to cast a Shield of Truth on him.
"Damn it!" In the distance, Yixiao Duzang's face was ashen with fury.
Duan Liushui was the guild's number-one Berserker. His combat skills even surpassed Yixiao Duzang's — even Ghost Shadow was a notch below. Yet even after drinking a Potential Elixir, Duan Liushui had been taken down by Shi Feng as if it were nothing.
The onlookers in the distance stood frozen in shock.
"You've got to be kidding!"
"How did Duan Liushui just die?"
"Can someone tell me what happened?"
They stared at Duan Liushui's fallen body in blank confusion, holding their breath, desperate to understand what they had just witnessed.
One brief exchange — just one — and Duan Liushui had fallen…
The battlefield fell deathly silent, everyone stunned by Shi Feng's dazzling swordsmanship.
Before anyone could recover, Shi Feng vanished again and appeared before the three assassins, who had just managed to get back on their feet. The Holy Sword Stormslayer swept forward in a gentle arc.
Phantom Sword Light!
A single azure streak and nine black streaks materialized around the three assassins. They were experts — instinctively, they activated their Vanish skills to counter Shi Feng's attack. But to their horror, the skills wouldn't activate. Without their noticing, the surrounding space had grown dim and grey — the Forbidden Domain of the Ring of Time, a 500-by-500-yard zone in which no enemy could use any skill or item, lasting a full thirty seconds.
The three assassins could only watch helplessly as wave after wave of sword light descended upon them. Without even a chance to defend, they were instantly killed on the spot, dissolving into three pillars of white light while three pieces of equipment clattered to the ground.
Shi Feng's gaze then shifted to a group of Heavenly Burial's melee experts not far away. The sight sent a chill down their spines, as though they had looked upon a demon. They turned and ran without a second thought.
"Run!"