"National Protector!" Su Miaozhen exclaimed, turning toward the voice. Lin Yu stepped from the woods, wearing a bamboo hat and black veil—identical to when he saved her in the ancient ruins.
Feng Yifei eyed Lin Yu coldly, sneering: "You're the so-called Great Zhou National Protector? Hardly impressive." He swung a palm, condensing雄浑的 (powerful) spiritual energy into a hurricane laced with cyan lights, shattering rocks and trees, carving a deep gash in the ground.
"Senior, be careful!" Su Miaozhen warned, alarmed by Feng Yifei's恐怖的 (terrifying) strength.
Lin Yu merely glanced at Feng Yifei, releasing a浩荡的 (vast) aura that crushed rocks and trees, colliding with the hurricane.
Boom! The hurricane of cyan lights disintegrated before Lin Yu's aura, as if hitting an invisible wall, crumbling into cyan motes that vanished in the forest.
"Myriad Manifestations Grade Seven?" Feng Yifei was惊骇 (shocked). Myriad Manifestations experts were rare, mostly in hidden sects. Most only reached Grades Three or Five—Grade Seven was nearly equal to a grand elder, second only to the sect master. Why would such a强者 (expert) serve as Zhou's national protector?
"Senior, you... You're a Myriad Manifestations Grade Seven expert!" Su Miaozhen couldn't believe it.
"You have some insight, but that won't save your life," Lin Yu冷笑 (chuckled), finding it easy to kill a Grade Five.
"Heh! Do you think I, an Immortal Gate disciple, lack treasures to boost my power?" Feng Yifei laughed, taking out a palm-length dagger. He slashed his palm, letting blood feed the dagger, which erupted in scarlet light, growing into a three-foot longsword.
Grasping the blood-colored blade, a scarlet light蔓延 (spread) from his palm to his forehead, forming a demonic inscription. His power surged to Myriad Manifestations Grade Seven—equal to Lin Yu's cultivation.
"This is Blooddrinker, seized when the Immortal Gate剿灭 (eradicated) the Demon Gate. It boosts a Myriad Manifestations cultivator by two grades, costing half their blood and one grade of cultivation. I'll sacrifice this grade to kill you today!" Feng Yifei's eyes bled red, his sanity eroding as the demonic sword consumed him—unaware of his descent.
"Die!" He brandished Blooddrinker, moving at极致的 (extreme) speed, leaving afterimages as he appeared before Lin Yu, slashing down. A scarlet剑芒 (sword light) fell like a river of blood, intent on swallowing Lin Yu.
"Senior, watch out..." Su Miaozhen realized too late that Feng Yifei had surged from Grade Five to Seven in moments.
Lin Yu raised a finger, unleashing fire intent. A crimson rainbow pierced the scarlet sword light, which split apart. Scarlet flames formed a net, annihilating the sword light until it vanished. The fire intent then struck Feng Yifei, sending him flying ten zhang.
Su Miaozhen was stunned—though equally matched in cultivation, Feng Yifei had been effortlessly defeated.
"He used a Demon Gate treasure to forcibly boost his power, leaving his foundation unstable. How can that compare to my hard-earned cultivation? Defeating him is only natural," Lin Yu explained, easing her confusion.
"Dammit! I won't spare you!" Feng Yifei rose, a bone-deep gash from shoulder to abdomen that shed no blood—his essence had been drained by Blooddrinker. His face扭曲 (twisted) with rage, he pulled out a pill wrapped in black demonic qi.
"Today, either you die or I do... I'll sacrifice my Myriad Manifestations cultivation to kill you—you forced this!" He swallowed the pill, Demon Blood Devouring Spirit Pill, a霸道的 (overbearing) Demon Gate concoction that boosted修为 (cultivation) by one grade, but at a steep price: using it after other power-ups would drop his cultivation by a full realm. Even if he killed Lin Yu, he would fall from Grade Five to Purple Mansion Grade Nine—a fate worse than death.
After swallowing the pill, hundreds of demonic qi threads wrapped around him, forming a black cocoon. From within came痛苦的 (painful) howls.
"Powerful pill," the Cauldron Lord murmured, intrigued. Lin Yu was about to strike when the cocoon burst, and Feng Yifei emerged from the demonic mist.