Chapter 24 The Ninja Sword is Drawn to Sever a Crimson Fate, A Mechanical Waltz Across the Snowfield
The majestic gates of Winter Academy, which should have been a pristine, snow-covered landscape, were now engulfed by a nauseating wave of bloody heat.
When the Elephant Armor Sect Master Huyan Zhen gave the order, it was as if the gates of hell had been opened, completely unleashing the beastly instincts within Huyan Li that had been stimulated by the "Mammoth Demon Blood".
His once rock-hard, bronze-colored skin now bore an eerie dark red hue, with countless bluish-black veins writhing wildly beneath his skin like earthworms.
With each heavy breath he took, two plumes of white breath emanated from his nostrils, carrying a scorching smell like sulfur. Upon landing, they melted the snow, leaving behind charred pits.
This is no longer the arrogant but still rational defensive Soul Master; he is clearly a killing machine in human skin.
Faced with Hu Yanli, who crashed down like a moving mountain of flesh, Ye Feng did not choose to avoid the attack as everyone expected. He stood quietly in place, the wind ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead, revealing his calm, almost cold, eyes.
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella in his hand was now in an extremely rare form—a purplish-black scabbard tightly wrapped around the blade, and the umbrella handle transformed into a slender hilt, which he held in his palm with his back to the side.
This is the third form of the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, "Ninja Blade: Shadow Vanishing," which is also the "Deceptive Assassin" style that he used to make opponents most troubled in the professional "Glory" arena.
Just as Hu Yanli's massive fist, powerful enough to shatter city walls, was about to touch the tip of his nose, Ye Feng's figure suddenly blurred for a moment—a visual residue left on his retina by high-speed movement.
"boom--!"
The giant fist slammed down on the spot where Ye Feng had been standing. The hard frozen soil shattered instantly like a fragile biscuit, and countless fragments of stone and ice, accompanied by a violent shockwave, scattered in all directions.
The onlookers gasped in surprise, and even Dean Feng Rusong couldn't help but take a half-step forward. However, when the dust settled, the deep pit was empty.
At that critical moment, Ye Feng did not retreat. Instead, he used his superb "Z-shaped shaking" footwork to slip into Hu Yanli's arms like a light willow catkin through the gap in the fist wind that was only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.
"At this distance, your strength is merely a burden."
Ye Feng's cold voice rang in Hu Yanli's ears. The ninja sword in his hand was not drawn, but instead, sheath and all, was pressed hard against Hu Yanli's ribs, three inches below the waist—the most vulnerable spot on the human body, and also the key point for the flow of soul power.
"Ninjutsu: Blunt attack!"
Although it lacked a sharp blade, the scabbard, forged from a fusion of deep-sea silver and meteorite iron, possessed a hardness comparable to ten-thousand-year-old black iron. Combined with the burst of power Ye Feng unleashed in that instant...
This attack caused Huyanli, who was in a berserk state, to let out a painful groan, and his massive body involuntarily tilted to one side. But the "Mammoth Blood" brought not only power, but also a great degree of pain masking.
The red light in Huyanli's eyes did not fade but became even more intense. He roared and his second and third soul rings shone brightly at the same time. A terrifying earth-yellow shockwave erupted from him instantly. It was the signature skill of the Elephant Armor Sect, "Savage Intimidation".
This attack was a wide-range, indiscriminate assault, leaving nowhere to hide. Mingyue, standing some distance away, narrowed her eyes and gripped her folding fan tightly, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
She knew all too well the power of this move; even a powerful offensive Soul Master of the same level wouldn't dare to withstand it head-on, let alone Ye Feng, who was just a Soul Master who had only recently acquired his first Soul Ring. However, just as the shockwave was about to engulf Ye Feng, the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella emitted another crisp and melodious mechanical rhythm.
"Ninja Sword: Rotary Defense!"
The ninja sword in Ye Feng's hand separated instantly. The moment the blade was drawn from its sheath, the mechanism at the hilt was triggered. The originally constricted umbrella ribs began to rotate at high speed at the end of the hilt, forming a small, high-frequency vibrating soul power shield.
This wasn't to withstand the impact head-on, but rather to utilize the principles of fluid mechanics to deflect the incoming shockwaves in all directions. Ye Feng was like a nail firmly driven into a reef amidst raging waves; using this recoil force, he soared into the air, his ninja sword drawing a piercing purple arc in the sky.
"Shadow Clone - Swallow Return!"
In mid-air, Ye Feng's figure suddenly split into three. This was not the kind of afterimage created by Leng Qianqian using speed, but a physical clone created by the refraction of soul power in his ninja sword form.
Three "Ye Fengs" simultaneously raised their swords, slashing at Hu Yanli from the left, right, and rear—three blind spots. Although Hu Yanli had lost his mind, his fighting instincts remained. He swung his arms, trying to block the attacks from the left and right, but he missed the sword coming from the back of his head.
"Clang—!"
A sickening clang of metal clashing rang out. Ye Feng's ninja sword slashed fiercely at Hu Yanli's nape, but the expected splatter of blood did not occur.
That layer of dark red skin was as hard as diamond; when the ninja sword sliced through it, it only left a shallow white mark and a string of dazzling sparks. On the contrary, Ye Feng felt a numbness in his hand, and was thrown backward by the recoil.
"Hahahaha! Useless!" Hu Yanzhen, standing at the front of the Snow Demon Sect's ranks, burst into wild laughter. He stroked his beard, his eyes filled with cruel triumph.
"Mammoth Blood can increase the skin's keratinization level tenfold! Even an attack at the Soul Master level wouldn't be able to break through your defenses. Kid, your fancy footwork is over; now it's time to be crushed into mincemeat!"
Ye Feng landed gracefully with a backflip in mid-air, the Thousand Chance Umbrella pointing diagonally at the ground. His expression remained calm, as if his defeat was entirely within his expectations.
He glanced at Leng Qianqian, who was looking anxious not far away, and then at Mingyue, who seemed calm but whose soul power was beginning to boil. A confident smile suddenly appeared on his lips.
"A tenfold increase in defense? What if I attack the same spot a hundred times, or a thousand times?" Ye Feng muttered to himself. His fingers gently stroked the blade, and the newly integrated deep-sea silver mother seemed to sense its master's fighting spirit, emitting a strange buzzing sound.
In the game Glory, there's an advanced technique called "Consecutive Thrusts," which requires players to unleash all their attacks on the same point in a very short time to trigger the system's "armor penetration" effect. In Douluo Continent, this technique evolves into an even more terrifying killing method.
Huyan Li roared and charged forward again, this time even faster. His fourth spirit ring—the purple spirit ring belonging to a thousand-year-old spirit beast—was forcibly lit up.
Although he hadn't reached level forty yet, the depletion of his demonic blood allowed him to barely unleash this power beyond his level. A gigantic phantom of a mammoth, its body engulfed in blood flames, appeared behind him, crushing down with a world-destroying aura.
"Now!" Ye Feng's pupils contracted sharply, and the "Tears of the Ice God" within his body was instantly activated to its limit. An extreme chill surged into the ninja sword through his meridians, dyeing the dark purple blade a crystalline ice blue.
"Thousand Manifestations Umbrella Secret Technique - Phantom Sword Dance: Zero Style!"
Ye Feng moved. This time, no one could see his movements clearly. Everyone present only felt a blur before their eyes, and then heard a dense "ding-ding-ding" sound like a torrential rain hitting banana leaves.
Ye Feng didn't choose to maneuver; instead, he opted for a head-on confrontation. He transformed into an icy blue storm, spinning rapidly around Hu Yanli. Each strike landed with pinpoint accuracy on the heart bone in the very center of Hu Yanli's chest—the strongest point of the Mammoth Martial Soul's defense, and also the core connection point of the bone chain around Hu Yanli's neck.
One cut, two cuts, ten cuts, fifty cuts...
Each strike left only a tiny white mark on Hu Yanli's skin, but when these white marks overlapped within a fraction of a second, the quantitative change finally triggered a qualitative change.
Fine cracks began to appear on Hu Yanli's once indestructible stratum corneum. Then, the cracks spread rapidly, spreading out like a spider web. With each collision of the blade and bone, the crisp sound gradually became dull, and finally turned into the "thud" of a sharp blade entering flesh.
"Break for me!"
With a roar, Ye Feng's ninja sword completed its final charge in mid-air, and he and the sword became one, transforming into a dazzling stream of light that pierced the already cracked heart guard.
"Snap—!"
With a crisp sound, not from shattering bones, but from the red-glowing bone chain around Huyan Li's neck snapping. The raging energy that had been continuously flowing into Huyan Li's body instantly lost its source.
The enormous mammoth phantom let out a mournful cry of despair before vanishing into thin air. Huyanli's massive body stiffened abruptly, the red light in his eyes receding like a tide, replaced by a deep confusion and intense pain.
"How...is this possible?!" Hu Yanzhen's laughter abruptly stopped. His eyes widened as he stared at the scene in disbelief. That was a secret treasure passed down through the Elephant Armor Sect for a hundred years, and it had actually been cut in two by a six-year-old child with a strange weapon?
Ye Feng didn't seize the opportunity to kill. The instant he severed the bone chains, he sheathed his sword and retreated, landing ten meters away from Hu Yanli. He wasn't in bad shape either; the continuous high-frequency bursts of energy had caused his arms to tremble slightly.
His hand was split open, and blood dripped down the hilt of his sword onto the snow like blooming red plum blossoms. But he still stood straight, twirling the Thousand-Mechanism Umbrella in his hand before sheathing it again.
"Huyanli, wake up." Ye Feng gasped for breath, his voice hoarse but full of penetrating power. "Look at your hands, look at your grandfather."
For the sake of so-called victory, you were turned into a monster who only knew how to kill, even at the cost of overdrawing your life potential. Is this the glory of the Elephant Armor Sect that you so proudly proclaim?
At this moment, as the effects of the demonic blood faded, the side effects began to appear. Hu Yanli felt as if all the bones in his body had been shattered; the excruciating pain caused him to kneel on the ground, spitting out mouthfuls of dark red, stagnant blood.
But he didn't faint. Instead, he struggled to lift his head and look at Huyan Zhen in the distance. In the eyes of his grandfather, whom he regarded as a god, he saw no concern, only the anger and disdain of someone whose plan had failed.
"Useless! You can't even beat a Soul Master!" Hu Yanzhen roared, slamming his cane heavily on the ground. "Since you've lost, you're useless. Everyone from the Snow Demon Sect, proceed according to plan and raze Winterfall Academy to the ground! As for this piece of trash, let him fend for himself!"
These words, like the last straw, completely crushed Hu Yanli's faith. This towering man shed two streams of turbid tears at that moment.
"So... I was just a... discarded pawn." Huyan Li laughed bitterly, his voice filled with despair.
However, just as the experts of the Snow Demon Sect were about to rush forward and completely disrupt the scene, a cold and domineering aura suddenly enveloped the entire area.
Mingyue finally made her move. She walked step by step to the center of the arena, and with each step, a crystal-clear ice lotus would form on the ground beneath her feet. Her folding fan was fully unfolded, and six soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—slowly rose beneath her feet. The terrifying pressure of a Soul Emperor made the air seem to freeze.
"Huyan Zhen, you old bastard, do you think we, the Frostwinter Academy, are dead?" Mingyue walked up to Ye Feng, shielding him behind her. She didn't turn around, but Ye Feng could feel the almost boiling rage emanating from her. "On my turf, you bullied my students and even tried to kill them to cover it up? I think you're tired of living!"
"Mingyue, do you think you, a mere Soul Emperor, can withstand the combined forces of our two sects?" The vice sect leader of the Snow Demon Sect smiled sinisterly. He also released his own Martial Soul, which was also a six-ring Soul Emperor, and it was the Snow Demon Martial Soul with attribute suppression.
"Whether it can be blocked or not, we'll find out soon enough." Mingyue sneered, and was about to make a move when she felt her sleeve being gently tugged.
Ye Feng stepped out from behind her, his face pale but his eyes unusually firm. He walked to Hu Yanli, who was kneeling on the ground, and extended a hand.
"Can you still stand up?" Ye Feng asked.
Hu Yanli stared blankly at the not-so-broad hand in front of him, then looked at his indifferent grandfather in the distance, his heart filled with mixed feelings.
"Why...don't you kill me?" Hu Yanli's voice trembled.
"Because I think it's better to live and reclaim your dignity than to die here as a piece of trash," Ye Feng said calmly. "Besides, we have a common enemy now, don't we?"
Looking into Ye Feng's deep eyes, Hu Yanli suddenly understood something. He gritted his teeth, used his last bit of strength to grasp Ye Feng's hand, and shakily stood up.
He turned around, facing his former sect and the grandfather who had given him life and raised him. There was no trace of filial piety in his eyes, only resolute determination.
"From this day forward, Huyanli is dead." Huyanli tore apart the battle robe that symbolized him as a core disciple of the Elephant Armor Sect, revealing his scarred chest. "Only Huyanli, a student of the Winter Academy."
"Fine! Fine! Fine! You've gone too far!" Huyan Zhen trembled with rage. "Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
A great battle was about to break out. However, at this critical moment, Leng Qianqian, who had been observing from the sidelines, suddenly moved. Instead of rushing towards the enemy, she leaped onto a stone sculpture at the school gate like a nimble cat, holding a black token high in her hand.
"Leng family guards, heed my command!" Leng Qianqian's clear voice echoed across the battlefield. "The Snow Demon Sect has colluded with foreign enemies, intending to commit a bloodbath in Winter City. This has crossed the bottom line of the City Lord's Mansion! All members of the Leng family, join the battle and assist Winter Academy in annihilating the Snow Demon Sect!"
As her words fell, dozens of dark figures suddenly sprang from the crowd. These were the elite assassins of the Leng family, who had been lying in wait all around. Leng Qianqian looked down at the young man standing with an umbrella, a proud smile playing on her lips. She had brought not only the materials, but also the entire Leng family's allegiance. This was a high-stakes gamble, the stakes being the future of the Leng family, and the odds of winning rested entirely on this young man named Ye Feng.
"It seems the sky in the Northern Territory is truly about to change today." Feng Rusong pushed up his glasses, his refined and scholarly demeanor vanishing, replaced by a terrifying aura befitting the number one person below the Title Douluo. A gigantic cyan wind bird phantom soared into the sky behind him.
"Winter's servants, prepare for battle!"
A chaotic battle erupted instantly. A dazzling array of soul skills wove together a deadly net across the snow-covered plain. Ye Feng did not retreat. He swallowed the pill Mingyue had given him, and the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella in his hand roared mechanically once more. This time, he was no longer fighting alone. To his left was Instructor Mingyue, wielding the Mingyue Fan and freezing everything in its path; to his right was the Shadow Cat Girl, her movements blurring as she reaped lives; and ahead, his former nemesis, Huyan Li, stood like a sturdy shield, roaring as he charged into the Snow Demon Sect's ranks, blocking all direct attacks.
"Shaotian, wake up, let's get to work!" Ye Feng shouted.
"Here it comes! Behold the Ice Rain of this Sword Saint!" Ye Shaotian excitedly brandished his heavy sword and charged into the crowd.
Amidst the chaos and carnage, Ye Feng felt his blood boiling like never before. This was no longer a simple competition, nor merely a struggle for survival; this was his first battle in establishing his own power in the Douluo Continent.
His Myriad Manifestations Umbrella constantly shifted forms on the battlefield—spear, rifle, ninja sword, shield. Each transformation was accompanied by the fall of an enemy.
At the highest point of the battlefield, the swirling snow seemed to be cheering for the birth of this all-around master. During a break in the battle, Mingyue glanced back at the boy dancing in the crowd, her eyes overflowing with love and pride.
"You little pervert, this is just the beginning." She murmured softly, and with a casual flick of moonlight, she froze a Soul Master who had ambushed Ye Feng into an ice sculpture.
This battle, known as the "Winter's Rebellion," is destined to be recorded in the annals of the North. And from this moment on, Ye Feng's name will truly become the beginning of a nightmare for all the major powers.