Volume One: The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter Ninety-Four: The Blue Armor

Indeed, standing before him was none other than the man with eagle claws who had appeared in the Princess Changning disappearance case, the Xiaolian case, and later at the Maoji Workshop.

So that meant... the mysterious person capable of "Slaughtering Life" was also nearby?

Chen Changan immediately braced himself, gripping his blade, Cangming, in high alert. Beside him, Ye Lin also unleashed his internal energy, sending ripples through the air around him, ready at any moment to use his origin art, "Non-Boundary," to resist the damage from the Slaughtering Life technique.

The eagle-clawed man seemed to perceive their fear, a faint, mocking curve touching his lips. "Heh, the psychological trauma left by Slaughtering Life runs deep, doesn't it?"

"In that case, be obedient and surrender. End your own lives right here!"

"Go to hell!"

Recalling the tragic experience of being severely wounded by the mysterious figure wielding the Slaughtering Life origin art, Ye Lin immediately erupted with a powerful, surging force. The space in front of him began to distort.

The next second, this distortion appeared right before the eagle-clawed man, and Ye Lin’s figure bypassed the distance between them, flashing forward.

*Slash!*

The long blade he had held ready was raised high and brought down in a vicious strike toward the eagle-clawed man.

*Clang!*

*Screech!*

The eagle-clawed man raised his arms. The two weapons collided, throwing off a continuous spray of sparks.

"Hmph? A mere Third-Grade Origin Art!"

With a disdainful sneer, he twisted his right arm rapidly clockwise. The sharp eagle claws embedded in his forearm rotated at high frequency, snapping Ye Lin’s blade in two.

"Ah..."

A sense of impending crisis washed over him. Ye Lin prepared to trigger "Non-Boundary" to dodge, but it was already too late.

The man’s other arm swung his lethal claws in a swift, closing strike, thrusting from bottom to top directly into Ye Lin’s chest.

*Rip!*

*Tear!*

Large swaths of shredded clothing, splattering blood, and chunks of flesh flew wildly. The eagle-clawed man pressed his advantage, kicking out with both feet into Ye Lin’s chest.

*Crack!*

Amidst the sound of shattering bones, Ye Lin was sent flying back, crashing into the tunnel wall. His limbs seemed nearly broken, and he could barely move an inch.

"Damn it!" Chen Changan drew Cangming, his energy surging as he prepared to hold the line alone.

Ye Lin gripped his chest, coughing violently. Using his remaining strength, he looked at Chen Changan. "I... I haven't fully recovered from the poison, I really can't fight him. You’ll have to hold him off."

"Cough, if Miss Ruan asks about me later... just tell her this despicable villain used a sneak attack!"

He then passed out.

Chen Changan shook his head speechlessly.

The eagle-clawed man blew the blood off his sharp steel claws, his expression one of contempt. "Chen Changan, I truly didn't expect to run into you everywhere!"

"Hah!"

Chen Changan’s reaction was even more dismissive. "I didn't expect to run into you either, like a mangy dog that wants to stick its nose into everything, not even sparing a salt mine."

"Shut your mouth!"

The man roared in anger, "Chen, you have repeatedly ruined our plans. Today, I will ensure you die without a burial place."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Chen Changan deliberately looked around, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "Last time at the Maoji Workshop, even with the help of Slaughtering Life, you were beaten half to death by me. Now that it’s just you, you still dare to boast? I truly wonder if the word 'shame' even exists in your world."

"Haha! Hahaha!"

The eagle-clawed man laughed toward the sky. "Chen, victory and defeat are fleeting. If Cao Wu hadn't arrived last time, you would be the one dead."

"Oh? So you were afraid of Deputy Commander Cao!"

Chen Changan said playfully, "If that’s the case, you’d better take your people and leave quickly. Otherwise, when Deputy Commander Cao arrives, you might get another beating so bad you won't even save your life."

"What do you mean?" The eagle-clawed man’s pupils constricted.

Chen Changan spoke leisurely. "What else could I mean? After discovering the massive salt mines in Ganquan Village, I notified her. I believe she will arrive with the Black-Clad Guards very soon."

"So you had better run!"

"But..."

To his surprise, the eagle-clawed man’s face instead revealed a smirk. "How can you be so certain that Cao Wu will come in person after hearing the news?"

"How can you be so certain that the Black-Clad Guards sent to support you will be able to reach Ganquan Village safely?"

"What did you say?"

This time it was Chen Changan’s turn to be shocked, as he saw the smug confidence in the man's subtle expressions.

"Could it be..." A terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Chen Changan!"

The eagle-clawed man spoke confidently. "Since we’ve met again today, let’s settle all our old and new scores."

"Men, kill him! Get rid of him!" He waved his hand.

"Yes!"

Nearly a hundred people, their faces twisted with ferocity, brandished their gleaming blades and charged toward him with bloodcurdling shouts.

"Heh, a bunch of scum!"

Spitting out a curse, Chen Changan switched Cangming to his left hand, dropped his right hand to gather strength, and lunged into the crowd.

*Whoosh!*

Employing the most primal and brutal fighting style, he secretly channeled the Immortal-Slashing Heart Technique. As he swung his blade, a pale green light erupted with formidable, unstoppable force.

"Ah!"

*Bang, bang, bang!*

Amidst the screams, twenty-two of the assassins brought by the eagle-clawed man dropped dead on the spot. With that single strike, the momentum was set, and the others stood frozen in shock!

The eagle-clawed man’s eyes widened. "What? You’re at the Second-Grade Soul-Cultivation stage? I remember clearly that at the Maoji Workshop, you weren't even a martial artist!"

"And... is this really a level of power a Second-Grade Soul-Cultivation expert can reach?"

"What kind of blade technique is this?" A cold, piercing murderous intent erupted from the eagle-clawed man. The temperature within several meters plummeted, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

He prepared to strike himself.

Chen Changan ignored the question and cracked another joke. "Have you ever seen snow falling in the human world?"

"What?" The eagle-clawed man was baffled.

*Whoosh!*

Catching him off guard, Chen Changan’s entire body spun rapidly on the spot, his blade Cangming dancing to create a vortex of energy no weaker than a desert tornado.

It was overwhelming, majestic, and approached with a deafening whistle!

Facing such a massive onslaught, even the eagle-clawed man, who had completely looked down on him, was momentarily stunned. He couldn't comprehend how a son-in-law who was blind half a month ago could now unleash such a ferocious blade technique.

"It seems that if I don't get rid of you, you will truly become a calamity!"

He muttered a few words, planted his feet, and pushed off with explosive power, launching himself at Chen Changan like a cannonball.

Chen Changan raised his blade. The energy swirling around him suddenly condensed and wrapped around Cangming, forming a massive, flickering outline on its sharp white edge.

Objectively void, subjectively existent!

It was undoubtedly the legendary forty-meter blade.

*Whoosh!*

He raised it high and brought it down, aiming straight for the eagle-clawed man’s forehead.

In a flash of lightning, the eagle-clawed man felt the oppressive blade aura and bone-chilling cold. He was struck by inexplicable terror and had to halt his charge, crossing his steel claws in front of him to defend.

*Clang!*

A crisp, metallic sound echoed through the tunnel. The eagle-clawed man’s hands were severed clean at the wrists.

The sharp steel claws flew off and embedded themselves into the wall.

Blood gushed from his mouth, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably. With his last bit of strength, he gasped, "What... what blade technique is this?"

"Want to learn? I'm not telling you!"

Chen Changan lunged forward, reached him in a flash, and poked him with a finger, ending his life completely. He stared at the bronze beast-faced mask, the scenes from the bottom of the dry well at Sanyuan Temple flashing back into his mind.

"Consider this... an old acquaintance. Let me see who you really are!"

Chen Changan reached out and removed the bronze mask, revealing a rather delicate face—quite different from the fierce, vicious demon he had imagined.

*Pat, pat, pat!*

Chen Changan patted the face a few times. "By rights, he should be someone from the imperial court. Although I’m not sure, I’m certain Sister Cao Wu or Changning would recognize him."

"Heh, you little punk!"

He gently caressed Cangming, feeling incredibly satisfied. It really is great to have a cheat code. When he first met this eagle-clawed man, he was just a powerless boy, but now he could completely crush him using the Immortal-Slashing technique. It felt wonderful.

"Sigh, the growth of an excellent person is unstoppable. Indeed, I..."

"Indeed, there is some truth to Cao Wu earmarking you." A strange, abrupt voice finished his sentence for him.

"Who?"

Chen Changan turned toward the sound and saw a figure cloaked in robes, wearing armor engraved with blue ice patterns, walking toward him step by step. Each time he lifted and dropped his foot, the ground shook violently, radiating an imposing aura.

"Damn it!"

Chen Changan tightened his grip on Cangming, swearing, "What the hell? I just finished off the one with steel claws, and now here comes one in armor."

"Indeed, you are quite surprising."

The armored figure looked at the dead man and said in a gloomy tone, "He was Liu Jianzhang, a scribe in the Hanlin Academy, a Fourth-Grade Mountain-Opening mid-stage expert. To think he would be killed by someone like you, at the Second-Grade Soul-Cultivation early-stage. How ridiculous!"

Chen Changan’s brows furrowed. "Why tell me his identity?"

The armored figure smacked his lips. "Because if I take action, you will undoubtedly die. Knowing or not knowing makes no essential difference, does it?"

"A dead man can't speak again, can he?"

"You're certainly confident!"

Chen Changan acted as if it were nothing, but in reality, he was panicked. He could feel a powerful murderous intent and pressure radiating from the man, and the range was constantly expanding.

Even before the fight officially began, he was inexplicably afraid; his breathing involuntarily grew heavy. Chen Changan had never experienced anything like this, not even when facing the mysterious figure with the Slaughtering Life technique. To say he was fearful before the battle began was no exaggeration!

"Your hands are shaking," the armored figure teased.

"I was just... remembering Gangnam Style!" Chen Changan took a deep breath, trying to steady his mind and emotions.

The armored figure: "Gangnam, you're going to die?"

"You bumpkin!"

After scoring a small point in the war of words, Chen Changan shifted back into his battle stance—Cangming in his left hand, right fist clenched—pushed off the ground, and charged.

As he closed in, Cangming, bolstered by the Immortal-Slashing Heart Technique, thrust forward with thousand-pound force.

The armored figure stood motionless, letting the blade tip strike him.

*Crack, crack, crack!*

The next second, Cangming collided violently with the armor’s surface. Countless ice shards and blinding sparks sprayed from the point of contact.

The former attacked; the latter stood still!

"Is that all?"

The armored figure mocked. He stomped his right foot heavily on the ground, and with a thunderous *boom*, a surging, unstoppable force erupted from him as the center. Chen Changan was sent flying, having no power to resist.

Cangming clanged as it pierced into the wall.

The armored figure drew a perfect circle in the air with his hands, condensing countless ice shards that floated in the air, pointing at Chen Changan. "I heard that when Liu Jianzhang joined forces with the person who uses Slaughtering Life last time, they still couldn't kill you. That’s absurd!"

"I admit your talent is excellent, not just in martial arts but in investigating cases. If you joined the Black-Clad Guards and developed further, you might truly become a thorn in our side. But that is as far as it goes!"

"In the face of absolute strength, talent counts for nothing. I only need thirty percent of my power to kill you!"

*Whoosh!*

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

As the word "you" left his lips, strings of ice shards, glowing with a chilling, lethal light, shrieked through the air toward Chen Changan’s chest.

A 360-degree attack with no blind spots, sealing off all paths of retreat—inevitable!

"It’s a pity you stand on the opposite side of us. Therefore, you deserve to die, you must die, you cannot escape death!" The armored figure spoke with confident and pleasant finality.

*Bang!*

However, just as his voice faded, a series of explosions erupted in front of him. Countless dark purple lightning bolts danced wildly, shattering the lethal ice shards into clouds of vapor.

At the center, Chen Changan clenched his right hand. Dark purple lightning wove across his fist, flickering and dimming, coalescing into a faint, massive shadow of a fist.

Injured, he slowly stood up.

Straightening his back, he said, "You aren't quite accurate. I don't have any talent; I just happened to have good luck."

"How much of your power are you prepared to use to take this punch?"