The battle between people...or rather battles between intelligent creatures, the combat power and apparent strength is just one of the factors that determine victory and defeat. Responding in real-time, environmental factors, wisdom and strategy, these are even more important than pure combat power.
Cultivators are also people, intelligent creatures. Their battles also follow these principles.
It's not that a Foundation Establishment cultivator who encounters a Golden Core cultivator is certainly doomed to die. It's just that the Golden Core cultivator has a greater chance of winning. However, chances going backwards from the result don't mean anything.
Among the Five Blade Killing Immortals, the one with the greatest apparent strength was naturally Ma Ze, otherwise he wouldn't have been the boss. But unfortunately, he flew up into the air as a target and was shot dead by Li Shiyin’s flying sword. Next was Wang Wu, but he lost his composure and was actually the first to die. Only then was it Liu Er...
Liu Er practiced Body Cultivation, strengthening his physical body. To put it rudely, he was just a big dumb brute, a living target and punching bag that could only take hits...
No matter how great your skills, you still fear the kitchen knife. No matter how strong your body, you will still eventually be penetrated by sword arts.
Yet among these five people, only Liu Er could fight Li Shiyin head-on, battling for the longest time and most intensely. The two exchanged moves blow for blow, accidentally going on for over a hundred moves.
It wasn’t that Liu Er was as strong as Li Shiyin. It was that after Li Shiyin lost her sword, she couldn’t break through Liu Er’s defense. Her fists and feet all landed solidly on Liu Er, but he just wasn’t injured...
Qin Ran watched from the side. Seeing that Li Shiyin always failed to penetrate the defense, he pointed out strategically:
“Shiyin, the amount of harm caused by using a stick, hammer, or spear with the same strength is different. Likewise, ramming with your body, punching with your hand, and focusing all strength into your fist when punching causes different degrees of harm.”
Both sides of the battle could hear Qin Ran’s words, but Liu Er could only wonder in his head: “What the hell is he talking about?” Whereas Li Shiyin could gain some insight.
“Normally when you use strength, it’s in your body, legs, waist, hands. But if you can gather all strength into one point, focus it into your fist, and explode all your power when punching with your fist...” What Qin Ran talked about was modern boxing theory, but he was just parroting others’ words. He didn’t actually know how. “Punching with your fist always hurts more than slapping with your palm.”
Qin Ran knew what it was about, but couldn’t do it himself. Liu Er could tell it was important stuff, but didn’t understand. Only Li Shiyin understood as she often listened to Qin Ran’s lessons. Gaining insight...
She drew back her fist with starlight gathering onto it, her fist glowing like the sun. She punched out, the starlight exploding as it hit Liu Er...
Bang!
Liu Er was blasted flying as blood sprayed wildly. The place where Li Shiyin’s fist hit obviously caved in.
He crashed onto the ground, still not understanding what profound truths were in Qin Ran’s words.
Li Shiyin chased over and flew up, kicking and breaking his neck.
At this point, apart from Zhang Shan, four of the Five Blade Killing Immortals were dead, all killed by Li Shiyin.
After killing Liu Er, Li Shiyin stood in place as her surging blood gradually calmed and her wildly beating heart slowly settled. Her cruel mind slowly cleared. She looked down at Liu Er, thinking: “I killed another person. I killed four people in one breath.”
Qin Ran walked over. Looking at Li Shiyin, he was silent for a while without comforting her. Instead, devoid of emotion, he ordered: “Go take your sword and finish them off, make sure they’re really dead.”
Li Shiyin looked back at him, her face icy cold, while Qin Ran was impassive.
After a long while, Li Shiyin calmed her emotions. She went to find Ma Ze, drew out her sword, then carried Ma Ze in one hand and the Qingxing Sword in the other towards Qin Ran.
Without speaking, she silently sliced Ma Ze’s neck and threw him next to Liu Er. Then she slashed Liu Er’s neck with her sword.
“There are still two left,” said Qin Ran.
So Li Shiyin retrieved Wu Qing and Wang Wu, giving them each an extra sword strike. Wu Qing had already been burned into charcoal by the Earth Core Flame beyond recognition, but she still brought him before Qin Ran and stabbed him once with her sword.
Seeing Li Shiyin finish, Qin Ran raised his hand again, enveloping the pretending-to-be-dead Zhang Shan in an air bubble and bringing him before Li Shiyin, saying: “Kill him too.”
“Ah!” Zhang Shan immediately woke up in fright. He flipped over and kneeled down weeping. “Don’t kill me, please spare me!!”
“Master!” Li Shiyin shouted angrily at Qin Ran.
Qin Ran was calmly silent.
At first, Li Shiyin felt Qin Ran was like a nice neighborly big brother, very gentle and considerate. Gradually, she discovered this big brother had a somewhat sinister side, but he was also very knowledgeable, gentle and refined. Later, she found he was very cautious with a deeply hidden terror in his heart, evoking compassion.
Now she felt her Master was terrifying.
Master always said the cultivation world was dangerous, sinister and terrifying, but perhaps what was terrifying wasn’t the cultivation world itself, but Master! This mentally twisted to the point of abnormality, pathologically cautious Master!
Her sword thrusted forward, piercing through the air bubble membrane and Zhang Shan’s heart. Zhang Shan’s weeping pleas instantly stopped.
“You’re a devil!” she said.
She withdrew the Qingxing Sword into its sheath and walked away.
“Stop!” Qin Ran shouted from behind.
She stopped in her tracks.
Qin Ran took out corpse-erasing powder from his Universe Bag and held it out to Li Shiyin, saying: “Destroy the corpses, eliminate all traces.”
Li Shiyin took a deep breath, gritting her teeth as she looked up to the blood-red clouds in the sky.
She turned back, stepped forward and forcefully snatched the corpse-erasing powder from Qin Ran, scattering it onto the corpses.
She watched as the powder corroded the bodies, as if an invisible monster in space was gnawing away at them. The corpses disappeared bit by bit until only a pile of clothes remained.
“Burn the clothes,” said Qin Ran. “Give me your Universe Bag.”
So Li Shiyin burned all the clothes, gathering up everything into the Universe Bag and flinging it at Qin Ran.
Qin Ran modified the Universe Bag’s space formations, annihilating it with spatial forces.
“This is what must be done after killing. All remnants like the corpses and belongings must be completely destroyed. Don’t be greedy for the treasures inside the Universe Bag,” lectured Qin Ran. “Don’t leave any clues.”
Li Shiyin watched the burning clothes without saying a word, an icy expression on her face.
“After battle, a sufficiently safe location must be quickly found to adjust your condition until the next battle that could happen anytime!” Qin Ran continued.
The flames reflecting in Li Shiyin’s eyes, she still didn’t speak.
Qin Ran pitied and sighed inwardly, but outwardly he summoned a ball of water pouring down on Li Shiyin’s head, coldly saying: “At the same time, cleanse yourself of foreign objects like bloodstains, wounds, markings etc.”
Li Shiyin was drenched, her smooth long hair plastered wetly to her face and back. She didn’t circulate her arts to dry herself either, just standing there silently.
“The cultivation world is like this. Either don’t attack, or do things decisively,” Qin Ran finally sighed. “You don’t want to kill people, but you have to protect yourself well.”
At this point, he also fell silent.
Master and disciple, Li Shiyin broodingly watching the fire while Qin Ran silently watched Li Shiyin. Neither spoke, the atmosphere silent yet terrifying.
Until the clothes finished burning and the fire disappeared, Qin Ran sensed something and looked up into the distant sky.
Two black dots appeared in the sky. Someone was flying over.
He hastily took out Great Redemption Pills and Origin Recovery Pills from his Universe Bag, holding them out to Li Shiyin.
Li Shiyin didn’t take the pills, also looking over.
Two people flew over there, two women - one girl and one mature woman. The girl was nobly beautiful while the woman was gracefully alluring. Flying slowly from the distant sky, they gradually became clear, like heavenly fairies, charming and graceful.
“Take the pills...” said Qin Ran. “Prepare for the next battle.”
“An even more difficult battle!”