Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 257 Battle Domain

"Friend, since you've already graced us with your presence, why are you leaving in such a hurry without even saying hello?"

Just as the old man in black was about to make a hasty escape, a clear voice pierced his ears like a sharp arrow. This sudden shout startled the old man, and he involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

"I suddenly remembered that there is a matter of utmost urgency that needs to be dealt with. I dare not delay in the slightest. I will definitely come to visit you again another day!"

As the old man in black muttered his explanation, he secretly gathered his inner energy, his figure swaying as if he were about to take flight, attempting to escape through the air.

Just then, another soft laugh was heard:

"Since we're already here, why wait until next time? As the saying goes, meeting is fate, so why not stay a while and have a cup of tea before you leave?"

As the words fell, a handsome young man wearing a straw hat and carrying a medicine basket appeared in the middle of the road ahead.

The boy raised a flexible vine whip high in his hand and swung it forward, blocking the old man in black's path.

The old man in black took a closer look and realized that the person in front of him was just a young medicine boy in his teens, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He put on a stern face, adopting the posture of an elder lecturing a junior, and coldly said to the boy:

"Little one, you are still young and do not understand the dangers of this world. The path of cultivation is long and arduous, and it is not something that just anyone can afford to offend."

Some guests are of noble status and great power. Your audacity in trying to force them to stay will only bring you death! I'm in a good mood today and won't stoop to your level, you brat. If you know what's good for you, get out of my way!

"Is that so? There's no one I can't keep today. I'm determined to keep you here! I want to see what kind of person I can't afford to offend!"

Mo Yuming, dressed as a medicine boy, stopped dawdling with him, drew out the Soul Iron Sword Embryo and used it as a hammer. He immediately used the first move of the 'Blazing Sun Hammer' technique, 'Volcanic Eruption,' and swung the sword at the old man in black.

The old man saw Mo Yuming wielding an unfinished sword blank, attacking him with hammer-like moves. He couldn't help but chuckle at this absurd and clumsy technique. With a light tap of his toes, he dodged Mo Yuming's sword tip, avoiding the attack without even making a move.

But Mo Yuming ignored him and directly flipped his wrist, sweeping the sword horizontally, turning the first move into the second move, "Heat Wave Flowing," and smashing the sword blank towards the old man's waist.

The old man still didn't retaliate, as if he were toying with a child. He turned around and dodged the second move.

The third move is "Burning Fire to the Sky", the fourth move is "Fire Like a Rainbow"... the tenth move is "Burning Heaven and Destroying Earth"!

In fact, as Mo Yuming's hammer technique was stacked up one move at a time, the intensity of the moves had increased several times over.

When the attack reached the sixth move, the old man in black robes looked somewhat surprised. This sixth move, a sweeping hammer technique, required him to intervene and defend against it. Otherwise, with his Heavenly Rank cultivation and movement technique alone, it would be difficult to neutralize this attack.

The old man never expected that his momentary underestimation of his opponent would allow the opponent's moves to take shape. The seemingly clumsy moves could be enhanced, and the second move, based on the first, formed an even more powerful offensive.

When the six moves are stacked together, the sword techniques have surpassed their original level, forming layers upon layers of sword shadows. The gathered power is like a mountain torrent bursting forth, unstoppable.

The old man in black robes hurriedly responded, drawing out a three-foot-long mace and conjuring up a series of mace shadows as he hastily launched a counterattack.

However, the old man in black had lost the initiative and was unable to interrupt Mo Yuming's overlapping sword moves. By the time Mo Yuming unleashed his tenth move, the old man in black was actually forced into a state of panic by the fierce sword force, and was in grave danger.

He had three or four sword wounds on his shoulder, back, and legs. Although they were all superficial wounds, he had lost face and was in a sorry state.

The old man in black never imagined he would be defeated by a mere Earth-rank cultivator, and even injured. If this news got out, how could he ever face anyone in the underworld again? He was furious.

"Boy, you're the first person in the last hundred years to have pushed me to this point! But a Earth-rank is still just an Earth-rank; no matter how powerful you are, you can't contend with a Heaven-rank. Prepare to die!"

The old man in black robes, his eyes flashing with ferocity, recklessly unleashed his killing move, intending to kill Mo Yuming.

"Who will die is still unknown!"

Mo Yuming responded with disdain.

Once the peak strength of the second level of the Heavenly Rank was displayed, it did indeed bring great pressure to Mo Yuming. The 'Blazing Sun Hammer' move was worn out and had to be started from scratch, so it could no longer be used. Mo Yuming hurriedly created several earth shields in front of him to block the old man in black robes' attack.

Just as several earthen shields were shattered, Mo Yuming took advantage of the opponent's weakened attack, opened his mouth and exhaled a breath at the old man in black, and a blue afterimage shot towards the old man's face at lightning speed.

The old man in black never expected that although his opponent was only at the Earth Rank, he would use three completely different profound techniques during the fight. First, the opponent used a fire-type technique to fight him, then used the earth-type profound technique with the strongest defense to defend, and then he actually used a metal-type profound technique to launch a sneak attack. Even though the old man in black had been fighting for hundreds of years, he had never seen an opponent who could use three different profound techniques at the same time.

The old man cultivated wood-based profound arts, so fire-based arts had little effect on him, and earth-based arts were even more effective against him. Facing an opponent whose strength was two realms higher, he felt no pressure whatsoever. Even though he initially underestimated his opponent and fell into his trap, he didn't feel the slightest bit of pressure.

The old man was caught off guard when his opponent suddenly launched a sneak attack using metal-based profound techniques.

He immediately sensed a hint of danger, because what was flying towards him was a top-grade spiritual treasure, the Soul Sword. Although his opponent was only at the Earth Rank, this top-grade Soul Sword was a treasure that could kill enemies of higher ranks, especially due to its attribute suppression. Metal-type spiritual weapons naturally have an attribute suppression effect on people with wood-type profound skills.

If his cultivation level hadn't been two realms higher than his opponent's, he might have been the one defeated now.

The old man in black was quite frightened by the sudden attack of the Soul Sword. The essence of metal-type profound arts is speed, and the speed of a metal-type spiritual treasure like the Soul Sword is even more astonishing.

Speed ​​is not a strong point for wood-type cultivators, so even when facing metal-type cultivators with lower cultivation levels, wood-type cultivators dare not underestimate their opponents. The old man in black robes hurriedly and frantically blocked the incoming 'soul sword'.

Just as he had barely managed to block the attack of the Soul Sword and was still in shock, he suddenly saw Mo Yuming twist his wrist, and a jet-black sleeve arrow flew straight toward his chest.

There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy when the hidden dart was fired; if the two hadn't been face to face, he wouldn't have been able to detect its existence at all.

The two were originally less than two zhang apart. The hidden arrow arrived in an instant. Just as the old man was about to strike it down with his mace, the shaft and tip of the hidden arrow suddenly separated halfway through its flight. The tip then shot towards his chest at an even faster speed. The mace that had fallen only struck the five-inch-long shaft of the arrow.

"what!"

The old man let out a strange cry and hurriedly retreated. Although he moved his body quickly and instinctively in a very short time, the arrow tip still pierced his body, less than half an inch from his heart.

The old man in black never dreamed that he would be caught off guard and injured by a young man with only Earth-level cultivation.

The old man in black was furious. He quickly treated his wounds, then swung his long mace at Mo Yuming.

"Boy, prepare to die! You're the first person below the Heavenly Rank to force me to use this move!"

The old man in black pointed his long mace downwards, and a green light immediately appeared around the whip. The green light spread rapidly, and before Mo Yuming could retreat, the green light had already sealed off a ten-zhang area around him.

The trees, flowers, and land within a ten-zhang radius instantly transformed into a green light. The trees and flowers began to crumble into green powder, peeling off their bodies and slowly drifting into the air.

Mo Yuming then realized that he was unable to move within the green light, and his clothes began to slowly change color and turn powdery. Even the Soul Sword, which could counter wood-type profound arts, could no longer be summoned.

Just as Mo Yuming thought something terrible was about to happen, a clear, ethereal sword cry suddenly rang out from the sky.

In an instant, countless bright spots appeared around the green light. When the sword's cry ceased, these bright spots converged into a single point. This tiny spot, the size of a mung bean, landed on the old man in black robes' forehead and vanished in a flash, as if a point of white light had shone upon it.

But right after that sudden burst of white light, the old man in black's green aura collapsed instantly.

Mo Yuming suddenly felt completely exhausted and almost lost his balance. If it weren't for the sword blank in his hand supporting his body, he would have collapsed to the ground.

The old man in black robes made a 'whoosh, whoosh' sound in his throat, but his whole body was frozen in place, unable to move anymore. His eyes were lifeless.

"You died by my hand, you didn't die unjustly!"

At this moment, Ji Xianlin slowly walked over from behind Mo Yuming and spoke to the old man in black robes who was powerless to save him.

"You could have survived if you hadn't been so greedy and tried to kill someone for such a worthless pill."

"Let me tell you the truth before you die. We are from the Great Xia Empire, and we came here to lure you. If you can sit down and have a proper chat with us, perhaps we can truly become friends. Cultivating to the Heavenly Rank is not easy. It would be a pity if you died!"

Mo Yuming slowly walked up to the old man in black robes who was barely clinging to life and said.

'puff'

The old man in black collapsed to the ground, losing his life completely.

Mo Yuming took the old man's storage bag and long mace. Then he threw the body into the small wooden house, set it on fire, and burned the house down with it.

"Master Ji, that old man's last move was terrifying! I was trapped inside and couldn't move. I couldn't circulate any spiritual energy in my body, and I could only watch helplessly as I was slowly dissipated and decomposed!"

"Hehe, that's a high-level martial art called Battle Domain."

Generally, it's only possible to comprehend this at the fourth level of the Heavenly Rank, and not all Heavenly Rank cultivators can comprehend the Battle Domain. His comprehension was exceptional; he actually comprehended his Battle Domain at the second level of the Heavenly Rank. If it weren't for his greed, which cost him his life, his future would have been limitless!

Ji Xianlin explained.

"Is the power of the Battle Domain really that strong? If you use the Battle Domain from the very beginning when fighting someone, wouldn't you be invincible? Then why would anyone fight you like that?"

"Hehe, it's not that simple. Although the Battle Domain is powerful, it is ultimately just a combat technique that requires the user to consume spiritual power and soul power. Moreover, the consumption is enormous. Each use will cause the user to consume all of their spiritual power and soul power in a very short time."

If the opponent is strong enough to withstand his battle domain attacks, he will ultimately be the one to lose. Therefore, most people will not easily use battle domain attacks unless they are absolutely certain of success.

The Battle Domain is effective against opponents with lower or equal cultivation levels, but it's less effective against opponents with higher cultivation levels.

Ji Xianlin stroked his beard and continued:

"There are also different levels in the combat domain. Everyone's understanding is different, and the combat domain they form is also different."

Battle domains and formations share similar effects, but while formations are implemented by formation masters using external objects like talismans and array plates, battle domains are formed by cultivators using their own power. They require no external assistance, can be moved freely without restrictions, and are highly flexible and adaptable. They are fundamentally different from formations.

He had just used a basic static combat domain, within which no one, including himself, could move freely.

Advanced combat domains are far more powerful. Within a combat domain, the domain's power can be precisely distributed to each trapped individual, and the user can move freely within it. Some can even enhance the user's combat strength.

Ji Xianlin continued.

"The Battle Domain is still a bit beyond your reach. Now is not the time to study it. We can talk about it after you advance to the Heavenly Rank. Come on, let's go see how Master Long and the others are doing!"

By the time Ji Xianlin and Mo Yuming arrived at the ambush site of Master Long and his men, the battle was already over. The old man in blue was pinned to a tree trunk by a large knife, his entire body covered in knife wounds, his blue robes stained crimson with blood. Though not yet dead, he was close to death.

Master Long and Master Hu also suffered minor injuries, with several wounds on their arms, shoulders, chest, and back, but none of them were deep. Master Da's injuries were more serious, with large wounds on his left shoulder and right abdomen. The wound on his left shoulder was so deep that the bone was visible, and it was nearly a foot long. The wound on his right abdomen was also nearly a foot long, and it almost damaged his internal organs.

At this moment, Tiger was cleaning and bandaging his wounds, while Dragon was treating his injuries and stopping the bleeding.

"How did it get like this?"

Mo Yuming quickly walked to Grandpa's side.

"We didn't expect this guy to be so cunning. We almost managed to persuade him to surrender, but he was just faking it. He suddenly attacked Ada from behind when we weren't paying attention. Fortunately, Master Ji told us to be careful before we set off, so even though he agreed to join us, we didn't let our guard down completely."

Although Ada was attacked, he reacted quickly and dodged the blow to the head. He only suffered a cut to the shoulder and did not lose his fighting ability.

"That guy's ruthless. We were both at the third level of the Heavenly Rank, and even two of us couldn't take him down. In the end, it took the three of us working together to subdue him. That's why Ada suffered even more serious injuries."

"That's normal. After all, you've never experienced a life-or-death battle like this before, so you weren't ruthless enough. You'll get used to it after you experience more in the future."

Ji Xianlin said after checking Da Ye's injuries.

"This man was loyal enough, and we had no grudge against him. Since he's dead, let's bury him!"

Mo Yuming and Master Long dug a pit under the big tree and buried the old man in blue who had already died.