"What?!" Gabriel Xue's eyes went wide when he heard this. On the smart radar, a shadowy figure had suddenly appeared, moving at a speed that defied imagination.
"That should be a top Water-Breaker Sword Sect master from Japan, but instead of heading for Shark-Hook Island, he's going straight for Ling Feng. I'll notify them right away!" The adjutant beside him said urgently.
"Quick!" Gabriel Xue shouted.
In an instant, the adjutant flipped on the radio.
"A top fighter is approaching—Master Ling, be extremely careful, the enemy is insanely strong..."
Before the adjutant could finish, Yuan Zhengang shouted, "Shizun, he's not with us anymore—he's already chasing Fujita Tsuyoshi toward some unnamed island to the southeast!"
"Not good—look out! There's a powerful wave of energy coming in, take evasive action!"
"He's even stronger than Fujita Tsuyoshi—look, his whole body is green from head to toe, like he's reached the absolute peak of the Green Realm Grandmaster. Way above Fujita Tsuyoshi! And behind him, there are actually two more with the same level of power, plus they're wearing these freaky hats that are like a meter tall—what the hell even is this?!"
"That has to be Ryuichi Hashimoto, the Water-Breaker Sword Sect's grandmaster—he's one of Japan's top ten kendo masters, and he's insanely strong. The two with him must be onmyōji from Chiba Divine Shrine, no doubt about it. All three of them are monsters. We have to find a way to warn Master Ling and get him to retreat, there's no way we can handle fighters like this! Commander Xue is already contacting Special Ops HQ in China, asking them to send top-tier experts from the military ASAP. This is way beyond any one province—it's a full-on national-level battle now..."
"B-but we can't reach Shizun—he's way, way beyond us!"
"Look! Boss is chasing Fujita Tsuyoshi and the others onto that nameless island, and those three waves of power are closing in too. It's like the whole island just got sealed off by those three monster-level forces!"
...
On Gabriel Xue's warship.
"Did HQ get the message? Are their top fighters on the way yet?"
"Commander, I think all our comms equipment just went down. Those three are way too powerful—their aura's affecting at least a hundred nautical miles around us. I don't think we can get out for now either!"
"What?!"
No sooner had Gabriel Xue spoken than every tree on that nameless island was instantly obliterated, as if hit by some cataclysmic force.
And right now, Ling Feng was somewhere in the middle of it—his fate unknown!
...
Meanwhile, inside the nameless island, Ling Feng wasn't affected by that devastating strike. On the contrary, before it hit, he'd already followed Fujita Tsuyoshi and Long Ao into a massive underground cavern.
"Kid, your doom is here. My shizun and two top onmyōji have arrived—the whole island's about to become a living sacrifice. Anything alive is going to die, and you're no exception!" With reinforcements here, Fujita Tsuyoshi suddenly had backup and relaxed. He knew exactly how terrifying his shizun Ryuichi Hashimoto was—not just for his raw fighting power, but for his life-and-death sacrificial formation. Combined with the onmyōji's tricks, that array could wipe out every living thing in a village-sized area in an instant.
Just then, Ling Feng's system suddenly popped up: "Kid, find a way out—those three old freaks combined their powers into a formation that's way too sinister. You're not their match right now!"
Ling Feng froze. He could clearly feel a terrifying force enveloping the whole island, killing every living thing inside—even ants weren't spared. A suffocating, crushing pain swept over him; his face turned pale and it felt like a boulder was pressing on his chest.
"Kid, I suggest you surrender right now. If you hand over your saber art formulas, maybe I'll let you live!" Fujita Tsuyoshi sneered, pulling a red pill from his pocket. The pill seemed to protect against the sacrificial formation; clearly, he and Long Ao had already swallowed theirs. Both looked totally calm, not in pain at all.
"Scram!" Ling Feng clenched his fists, his whole body bursting with wild saber intent.
Fujita Tsuyoshi and Long Ao instinctively backed up a few steps, staring at Ling Feng in shock—they hadn't expected him to still be able to unleash saber intent at a time like this.
"Kid, stop channeling your power—in a formation this toxic, the more you push, the faster you'll die!" Seeing Ling Feng's face getting worse, the system immediately warned him.
Ling Feng let out a cold breath. Honestly, he'd never felt pain like this before.
"System, you seriously can't handle those three old freaks?" Ling Feng gritted his teeth.
"Japan and China are different—I can't do anything about them for now!" The system shook its head, then added, "You'd better get moving. At your eleven o'clock, the earth is really loose. If you force it, you can break through to the sea and maybe escape this nightmare formation!"
"Alright, I'll give it a shot!" Ling Feng steadied himself, then suddenly stepped back and punched toward the patch of loose earth.
"Trying to run? Dream on! Break it!" Fujita Tsuyoshi didn't hesitate—he struck at Ling Feng's punch, and Long Ao joined in. Instantly, Ling Feng's attack was smashed apart.
Ling Feng reeled, dizzy, staggering backward—he nearly collapsed. That life-and-death sacrificial formation was way too vicious; it swallowed up ninety percent of his strength in a flash.
"Kid, my shizun's formation isn't so easy to handle, huh? Haha, what's with the attitude now? Come on, kill me!"
"Heh, you little bastard, finally can't take it, huh? Fujita Tsuyoshi, now's our chance—let's finish him!"
Seeing Ling Feng finally running out of strength, Fujita Tsuyoshi and Long Ao got hyped—they could finally counterattack!
This chapter isn't over yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading the good stuff!
"Nice idea—killing this kid now, I don't even need my shizun to step in. I could wipe him out myself!" Fujita Tsuyoshi grinned, then lunged forward. The explosive power of a Green Realm Grandmaster crashed down on Ling Feng, and with a single iron fist, he sent Ling Feng flying.
"Feels good, huh? Where's that crazy defense you had before? Weren't you treating my fists like toys? Not so fun now, is it?" Fujita Tsuyoshi licked the blood off his knuckles, then suddenly a blade appeared in his hand—its edge radiating killing intent, malice, and resentment.
"Hand over the saber art formulas right now, or I'll show you what a thousand cuts and slow slicing really feels like!" As soon as Fujita Tsuyoshi finished, his blade slashed Ling Feng's flesh—Ling Feng cried out in agony.
Long Ao burst out laughing, then added, "Yeah, do it—slice his flesh off piece by piece. It's payback for our Water-Breaker brothers!"
"Aah!" Ling Feng screamed again, blood pouring from his chest and thigh. But the pain was just surface-level—the real killer was the life-and-death sacrificial array outside, now running at full power. Ling Feng felt like his organs were about to explode.
"This is bad—I can sense Shizun facing an unprecedented crisis. I have to save him!"
"Me too!"
"If Master Ling gets killed by those three old freaks, I swear I'll avenge him—and if I die, I'll go to Hell and keep him company!"
...
In an instant, Yuan Zhengang, Lin Zhan, and even Chen Anqi all shouted out.
"Don't move! If you go now, you're just signing your own death warrant. Let me figure something out—nobody move!" Gabriel Xue's voice came over the radio, shouting urgently.
Then he yelled, "Is the pulse jammer online? Start magnetic interference, ASAP!"
"Copy that, it's already running!"
Suddenly, a wave of bizarre noise blasted toward Ryuichi Hashimoto and the other two.
"Heh, you think junk like that can beat us? Ridiculous!" Ryuichi Hashimoto squinted, muttering some onmyōji incantation. Instantly, a powerful green light shot out, and smoke started billowing from a distant patrol ship.
At the same time, a voice shouted over the radio, "Report—all pulse devices have failed!"
It's over!
It felt like all hope had died. In the cavern, Ling Feng's life was hanging by a thread—even the old system ghost was freaking out. After all this time with Ling Feng, this was the first time it had ever panicked...