"Bang! Bang!"
Wang Ping and Du Li felt a tremendous force erupt from Chen Yu's palms.
Instantly, the two of them were sent flying backward. The moment they managed to steady themselves, a searing pain shot through their hand bones.
A tearing sensation spread through the muscles of their arms, and their skin cracked into spiderweb-like fissures as beads of blood seeped out. Their entire arms went numb with pain, making it impossible to muster any strength.
After repelling the pair, Chen Yu was struck by the palm force of the final two attackers, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Leveraging their palm force, he pushed off the ground with his feet and broke straight out of the encirclement.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, Chen Yu stared cautiously at the men before him. Although he had temporarily broken free from their joint assault, he felt not the slightest bit of relief.
"Junior Brother Wang, Junior Brother Du, are you alright?"
Li Yuanqing and the others hurried to the sides of Wang Ping and Du Li, asking with concern.
"We're fine, it's just that our arms are temporarily paralyzed. I'm afraid we won't be able to help you Senior Brothers in the upcoming fight," Wang Ping and Du Li said apologetically.
Previously, Chen Yu had channeled most of his strength into blocking Li Yuanqing and Li Yun, so the others hadn't realized just how formidable Chen Yu's power truly was.
Only when Chen Yu suddenly turned on them and crippled their arms, instantly robbing them of their combat capability, did they realize the true gap between themselves and Chen Yu.
Chen Yu calculated quickly in his mind:
"I am already injured, and my stamina has plummeted severely. I can't execute the Six-Echo Thunderous Palm many more times. Since they have lost two combatants, this is the prime opportunity to retreat."
"Today's debt, I will return it tenfold another day!"
Seeing that the situation was turning unfavorable, Chen Yu decisively chose to retreat.
"Scoundrel, don't even think about escaping!"
Just as Chen Yu took his first step forward, three Blood Blade Sect disciples suddenly lunged out from the front—precisely the three who had been hiding in the shadows.
Each of them wielded a dagger, thrusting directly at Chen Yu's vital points, his heart and head.
A overwhelming sense of crisis washed over him. With no time to dodge, Chen Yu had no choice but to take the blow head-on.
Spreading his hands wide, he grabbed the two daggers barehanded. The blades pierced clean through his palms, but Chen Yu seemed completely indifferent, quickly seizing the attackers' wrists.
With a hard yank backward, he wrenched the daggers right out of their grasp.
Then, with a backward somersault, he evaded a sneak attack from the third man's dagger.
The two daggers remained wedged through his palms, blood dripping down the blades to the ground and instantly staining the earth crimson.
This spectacle stunned everyone present, including the three ambushing Blood Blade Sect disciples.
Taking advantage of the moment they were dazed, Chen Yu pulled the daggers from his hands, gripped them tightly, and slashed directly at the three ambushers.
*Swish.*
As the blades swept past, two of them spurted blood from their throats, collapsed to the ground, and died on the spot.
Having killed two, Chen Yu hurled the dagger in his hand straight at the third man. With zero suspense, the last one was also cut down by Chen Yu.
All of this happened in the flash of a lightning strike. It wasn't until Chen Yu moved to resume his escape that the others finally snapped back to their senses.
"Junior Brother!!!"
"Damn you! You think you can just kill people and walk away? Pay with your life!" Li Yun roared in fury.
With a flash of movement, Li Yun closed the distance to Chen Yu and struck out with the Blood Origin Palm.
"So fast!"
Chen Yu caught sight of a blurred shadow before a bloody palm materialized right before his face. He could only thrust out a palm of his own in defense.
*Bang!*
Both men retreated a few steps, but because Chen Yu had struck in haste, he was forced back a greater distance.
The wounds on his palms widened significantly, and blood flowed without stopping.
Delayed by Li Yun's interception, Chen Yu missed the optimal window for escape, and the remaining men had now recovered.
They roared with boiling rage:
"Kill him! Tear him to pieces! How dare he kill disciples of our Blood Blade Sect!"
"Kill him! Avenge our junior brothers!"
"Brat, prepare to die!"
With a furious bellow, Li Yuanqing took the lead, charging forward to hurl a palm strike directly at Chen Yu.
Infused with Li Yuanqing's incandescent rage, this blow carried far more force than usual.
In the blink of an eye, three junior brothers had been slain by Chen Yu; one could well imagine the fury burning in Li Yuanqing's chest.
Following closely behind Li Yuanqing, the other two launched furious attacks, while Du Li and Wang Ping kept a tight watch on the perimeter to prevent Chen Yu from fleeing again.
Faced with such an onslaught, let alone an already injured Chen Yu, even at his absolute peak he would have been unable to fully withstand it.
Within a few exchanges, Chen Yu was driven onto the defensive. His internal injuries worsened by the moment, and blood continually spilled from the corners of his mouth.
Chen Yu knew that if this kept up, he would undoubtedly perish here.
Hardening his heart, he drove back Li Yuanqing and Li Yun with a double-palmed strike, then whirled around and charged at one of the remaining two men, intending to cripple them first.
"Don't be so arrogant!"
How could Li Yun fail to see through Chen Yu's obvious intent?
Employing his serpentine movement technique, Li Yun caught up to Chen Yu in a flash and lashed out with a palm to block him.
Chen Yu countered with a backhand strike, using the force of the collision to propel himself rapidly toward the other man, unleashing the Six-Echo Thunderous Palm.
"Junior Brother Feng, watch out!"
Seeing this, Li Yun shouted a warning to Junior Brother Feng, but it was already a step too late.
Though Junior Brother Feng had prepared himself, his skill was lacking; how could he possibly withstand Chen Yu's full-powered strike?
*Bang!*
Chen Yu's palm shattered Junior Brother Feng's arm, and the remaining momentum carried the strike straight through to Junior Brother Feng's chest.
Junior Brother Feng coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot, flew backward to slam into a massive tree behind him, and then slid to the ground, his life or death unknown.
"Junior Brother Feng!!!"
At the sight, Li Yuanqing and Li Yun roared with bloodshot eyes.
The situation had turned drastically. From the start until now, a total of nine Blood Blade Sect disciples had surrounded Chen Yu.
At this point, three had been killed by Chen Yu, three were incapacitated, and the remaining three were Li Yuanqing, Li Yun, and one other.
Chen Yu had heard Li Yuanqing and Li Yun address this man as Junior Brother Zhang. During the earlier skirmish, Chen Yu had roughly gauged this person's strength to be on par with Du Li's.
Such a level of strength could ordinarily be brushed aside and crippled with a wave of his hand, but right now, he himself was nursing heavy injuries.
If not for the fierce, ruthless momentum he projected to cow these men into not daring to fight him to the death, he probably wouldn't have lasted this long.
That last execution of the Six-Echo Thunderous Palm had already brought immense strain upon his body.
Powerful though the Six-Echo Thunderous Palm was, Chen Yu had broken through to the Postnatal Sixth Layer only recently and had yet to fully consolidate his cultivation.
Though he had reached the realm where his muscles and bones resonated in unison, he still couldn't unleash his complete strength in actual combat.
Chen Yu estimated that the force behind his strikes was only slightly greater than the strength of five tigers, falling short of six tigers' strength.
Moreover, as the fight wore on, the physical exertion required for the Six-Echo Thunderous Palm multiplied exponentially. Even though he had struck with six echoes, his actual power had diminished.
Having continuously employed the Six-Echo Thunderous Palm throughout the battle, Chen Yu could now feel his muscles aching with fatigue.
"Three are left. Li Yuanqing's strength is on par with mine, and his Blood Origin Palm seems to have drained him heavily as well. He isn't injured, but his condition shouldn't be much better than mine.
As for that Li Yun, though his raw power is slightly inferior to mine, his speed allows him to keep me tightly entangled.
The key lies with Li Yun. If he is incapacitated, I can escape smoothly. As for Junior Brother Zhang, he is not worth fearing."
Recovering his stamina while remaining constantly vigilant of the three men, Chen Yu rapidly analyzed the situation in his mind.
Li Yun's movement technique was extremely fast; the moment Chen Yu tried to flee, Li Yun would inevitably intercept him, giving Li Yuanqing time to close in and trap him once more.
Therefore, as long as Li Yun was rendered unable to fight, Li Yuanqing would be too worried about the safety of his remaining men to continue pursuit.
Having identified the crux of the matter, Chen Yu's immediate task was figuring out how to incapacitate Li Yun.
"It seems I have no choice but to take a risk!"
Chen Yu closed his eyes, plunging his consciousness deep into his mind as he tried to forcibly sense that flash of insight. The moment that epiphany reappeared, he would have the confidence to break out of here.
"What is this brat up to again?"
Li Yuanqing frowned.
With Chen Yu closing his eyes and exposing numerous vulnerabilities at this moment, it was prime time to strike him down.
Though it felt somewhat strange—given Chen Yu's wits, he shouldn't be making such a rookie mistake—Li Yuanqing had no intention of letting slip this opportunity.
"Keep a close eye on him. Don't let him use this chance to escape. I'll go test him and see what scheme he's plotting. The second he tries to run or makes any other move, cut him off immediately," Li Yuanqing whispered to Li Yun beside him.
The reason he didn't have Li Yun join him in the assault was his concern that during close combat, Chen Yu might seize the chance to seriously injure Li Yun.
After all, Li Yuanqing had already noticed the bulging veins on Li Yun's arms and his slightly swollen palms—proof that Li Yun was still outmatched by Chen Yu in terms of sheer power.
"Senior Brother, go ahead! Under my serpentine movement technique, he's not going anywhere." Li Yun answered with absolute confidence in his footwork.
"Blood Origin Palm!"
Stamping hard against the ground, Li Yuanqing surged forward toward Chen Yu like a gale, his hands shifting rapidly through a series of forms to unleash the Blood Origin Palm.
The air at the edges of his palms emitted faint, explosive cracking sounds generated by the sheer force of the technique.
Pregnant with malice and brewed over long moments, Li Yuanqing's Blood Origin Palm carried far greater destructive power now than before. If Chen Yu took this hit directly, he would instantly suffer grievous injuries and become entirely at their mercy.
Ignoring the crimson-tinted giant palm rushing ever closer, Chen Yu kept his eyes tightly shut, his expression impassive though his heart raced with anxiety.
*Hurry up!* Chen Yu shouted inwardly.
"Hmph! Playing God."
Seeing that the bloody palm was less than a foot away from Chen Yu, Chen Yu snapped his eyes open, the corners of his mouth curving upward as his body rapidly slid backward.
Sensing something ominous in Chen Yu's current demeanor, Li Yuanqing quickened his pace, though his palm remained fixed a foot away from Chen Yu's forehead.
One retreated at high speed while the other pursued with fierce urgency.
Finally, Chen Yu drifted back against a massive tree trunk, vaulted upward, and kicked off the bark with both feet, hurtling like a released arrow directly toward Junior Brother Zhang.
The very instant Chen Yu leaped away, Li Yuanqing's blood-red palm slammed into the tree trunk, shattering the massive tree clean in two before it crashed to the ground with a resounding groan.
"With me here, you won't succeed!"
As Chen Yu flew rapidly toward Junior Brother Zhang, Li Yun moved, executing his serpentine movement technique with a burst of speed that far outstripped Chen Yu's.