You call this the Hundred Sword Technique?

“There's a spy!”

That thunderous shout instantly drew the attention of the surrounding monsters, and within moments, more than a dozen lesser fiends brandishing gleaming blades rushed over with a clamor, forming a tight circle. The bull demon had no time to spare for Chu Liang.

“Which mountain, which cave are you from?” one of the little demons shouted, interrogating sharply. At the slightest wrong word, a flurry of blades would surely descend.

“I’m from your grandma’s cave!” the bull demon roared back, unexpectedly launching the first attack as he swung his fist.

Bang!

His blow landed with immense force upon the little demon’s chest, sending it hurtling dozens of yards backward before it crashed into the stone wall of a nearby cave, embedding itself like a grotesque mural.

Quite literally, he’d turned the demon into wall art with a punch.

The force behind that strike was tremendous. As the bull demon twisted his body, the two massive horns atop his head slipped off entirely—he too was in disguise.

“He’s human!” a louder voice shouted in alarm.

“So he was human too?” Only then did Chu Liang understand the bull demon’s earlier action. Clearly, this man had also tried to infiltrate the inner chambers, but not knowing the password, he’d attempted to seize the initiative and extract it from a lesser demon.

Unfortunately... this ‘brilliant’ plan had landed him right in Chu Liang’s path.

“That’s right! Your grandpa the bull is human!” the man declared, seeing his cover blown, and without further pretense, ripped off the fake hair and horns from his head. With a flex of his arms, he shattered the false pelt covering his torso, revealing a body of muscular, steel-forged flesh.

His clothes burst apart!

The lesser fiends charged at him with shrill cries, but he dispatched them effortlessly—one punch for each, a kick for a group—sending blood and bodies flying, bones cracking and tendons snapping. Alone, he carved a bloody path through the mob.

And the weapons of the little demons? Not a single blade could so much as graze his skin.

Chu Liang watched from behind and recognized that this man’s techniques were those of authentic martial cultivation.

Martial cultivators place great emphasis on foundational combat skills in their early training. With two people of equal speed and strength, the one trained in martial arts would likely dominate the fight. Their internal force, channeled into a sort of battle aura, differed subtly from the true qi of the three great sects: it was less versatile, but far more direct and overwhelming.

At the same level, a martial artist’s destructive power often surpassed that of orthodox cultivators. While the disciples of the three great ways might pursue enlightenment over technique, martial artists cared only for one thing: fighting prowess.

Within the Nine Heavens Immortal Sect, the Heaven’s Might Branch was renowned as a pure martial order; its disciples were famed for their combat ability.

Earlier, the divine envoy had mentioned taking the Mountain-River Halberd from a disciple of Heaven’s Might. Chu Liang pondered briefly and deduced the identity of this fierce youth before him.

He was young, yet already at least at the fourth tier of martial cultivation—if not the top disciple, then certainly a core member of Heaven’s Might.

In the blink of an eye, he’d already slain or maimed dozens of little demons. The fierce youth strode atop a trail of blood, slashing his way to the chamber where the wedding gifts were stored. There, upon a pedestal, stood a great halberd.

That was clearly his goal.

Chu Liang eyed the slain and wounded fiends on the ground, feeling an almost irresistible urge to finish them off. If the situation weren’t so uncertain, if revealing himself wouldn’t be so risky, he would have leapt out to stand shoulder to shoulder with this fierce brother... as the finishing blow specialist.

“How dare you, human, cause havoc on my Canglin Mountain!”

A furious tiger’s roar shook the cavern, its echoes reverberating in waves; some of the weaker fiends nearly collapsed on the spot.

The enraged Tiger King had arrived!

He seized the Mountain-River Halberd and swung it with savage force, leaping forward to slash at the intruder. The blazing wind of the halberd swept out, blasting all the little fiends within a ten-yard radius off their feet.

“Monster, return my divine weapon!” the fierce youth bellowed. His arms swelled with power, hands opening like twin fans as he strode forward.

Boom—

He charged in, meeting the halberd’s mighty swing with his bare hands, catching its shaft and stopping the fearsome blow dead.

“Haah—!”

The Tiger King, tall as a tower, and the fierce youth, built like a living statue of Vajra, each unleashed a mighty shout as they fought for the halberd. The earth shuddered, the cavern trembled, and rubble cascaded from the ceiling, as if collapse were imminent.

The demon lords and lesser fiends who’d joined the feast sensed disaster and stampeded for the exit.

When immortals clash, mortals suffer.

With these two titans locked in struggle, anyone left nearby would surely meet a miserable end.

Chu Liang, too, thought to retreat, but then saw the fierce youth falter.

Both he and the Tiger King gripped the halberd, pouring every ounce of strength into the struggle. But the Tiger King’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly thrust something upward from below—

His tail.

The tiger’s tail, whip-like and powerful, lashed out and struck the martial youth across the waist.

Crack—

The blow sent him flying, tumbling across the ground. Yet he was tough; ignoring his injuries, he flipped and sprang back to his feet. But the Tiger King was already upon him, a cold gleam descending as the halberd slashed down once more.

“Haah!” the fierce youth shouted, drawing his right fist to his waist before thrusting it upward—a giant fist of battle aura meeting the halberd head-on.

Boom—

In that instant, it was as if he’d punched open the heavens, transforming into a dragon!

He leapt, twisting in midair, and kicked the Tiger King square in the chest.

Golden light burst forth, fiendish energy roiled.

“Raaaw!” the Tiger King howled, his form twisting as he transformed on the spot into a colossal beast—

His true form, the Black Tiger!

In an instant, the massive black tiger filled half the cavern, golden eyes blazing with fury, fangs like swords. The martial youth, facing him, suddenly seemed minuscule.

The tiger bowed its head and unleashed its innate power: the Tiger’s Roar!

The sudden transformation caught the martial youth off guard.

“Raaaw!”

The full force of the sonic blast struck him head-on, carrying murderous energy. He seemed to suffer a spiritual attack, freezing for a split second.

In that instant, the giant black tiger’s gaping maw descended, about to swallow him whole.

Bang—

A dull thud echoed.

The expected scene of blood and gore did not occur.

The fierce youth had come to his senses in time, bracing himself with both hands against the Tiger King’s upper fangs, one foot planted on the lower jaw, forcibly holding the beast’s bite at bay!

“Roooar—!” the Tiger King let out furious, frustrated howls. Despite his crushing bite, he simply could not swallow this hard-boned foe.

“Ugh!” the fierce youth grunted, his muscles bulging to monstrous proportions. Mysterious red tattoos flickered across his back, as if empowered by a deity.

Locked in this stalemate, neither could break free for the moment.

Since revealing his true form, the Tiger King’s black tiger body possessed the strength to shatter mountains and split stones. For a human to withstand him was truly astounding.

Yet as the struggle dragged on, Chu Liang realized that the returning fiends would soon swarm them again, putting the martial youth at a grave disadvantage.

Hidden in the shadows, Chu Liang knew he could not sit by any longer.

With a thought, he summoned the Crimson Name Slayer Sword from the White Tower.

From the very first glimpse of the Tiger King, the sword had been itching for blood, barely suppressing its restlessness.

Chu Liang raised the Crimson Name Slayer Sword and unleashed his most powerful technique.

“Splitting light and fleeting shadow, my movements follow my will...”

After such a fierce, primal duel, the sudden appearance of the Hundred Sword Technique might have seemed anticlimactic.

But Chu Liang’s aim was not to slay the Tiger King—merely to distract him.

If he could make the Tiger King loosen his jaws even a little, the martial youth would have no trouble grabbing the halberd and escaping.

“Hundred Sword Technique!”

At Chu Liang’s cry, the Crimson Name Slayer Sword split midair, unleashing a storm of sword-light.

Just as the Tiger King was locked in struggle, he heard the shout beside him and caught a glimpse of the incoming sword aura.

He almost wanted to laugh.

After roaming the world for centuries, he was no stranger to the Hundred Sword Technique. Such a petty trick—did the attacker really think it could harm the Tiger King?

But in the next instant, terror flickered in the corner of his eye.

Wait...

Are you mocking me for never having studied?

You call this the Hundred Sword Technique?!