Chapter 80: Offense and Defense Change
“Tiger, watch out!” Dragon Crossing the River roared, his great axe whistling through the air toward Lin Huai’s waist to force her back.
At the same time, Chen Feng lunged forward with everything he had, the tip of his bronze sword glowing with an icy, lethal aura as it aimed straight for Lin Huai’s spine!
Lin Huai, however, did not flinch. She simply threw out an Iron Wall Talisman to shield herself, refusing to halt her scythe’s momentum. She was ready to take their hits if it meant putting Tiger Suppressing the Mountain into the ground—eliminating one enemy was well worth the price!
Clang! Hiss!
The great axe and the bronze sword slammed into the golden barrier almost at the same moment. The barrier flickered violently. Being only intermediate-grade, the talisman shattered under the combined strike of two high-tier artifacts. Lin Huai felt a metallic sweetness rise in her throat, and a mouthful of fresh blood spilled past her lips.
Yet that brief fraction of a second was all she needed!
Her long war scythe struck like a venomous viper. The trailing chain whipped around the barrel of the machine gun Tiger Suppressing the Mountain had raised in panic, and the cold crescent blade hooked smoothly behind his neck!
“Ugh…”
Tiger Suppressing the Mountain’s eyes bulged in absolute terror, every shred of his earlier arrogance vanishing in an instant.
Without a second of hesitation, Lin Huai twisted her wrist and yanked hard!
Pfft!
Blood sprayed into the air like a crimson geyser. His head flew up, eyes wide with disbelief, before tumbling into the dusty sand. His headless frame swayed on trembling legs, then crashed heavily to the ground.
“Tiger!” Seeing his brother butchered before his eyes, Dragon Crossing the River lost his mind. His vision went completely red. Throwing caution to the wind, he spun his great axe in wild, sweeping arcs, charging at Lin Huai like a madman. “I’ll slaughter you, you damn bitch!”
Blinded by grief and rage, his strikes were savage, but they lacked all rhythm and discipline.
Chen Feng felt a chill run down his spine, but he quickly saw the opportunity!
Lin Huai had absorbed two brutal hits to execute Tiger Suppressing the Mountain. Her blood and vital energy had to be in total disarray—now was the perfect moment to deliver a crippling blow!
“Brother Long, hit her together! Avenge Brother Hu!” Chen Feng bellowed. His swordplay grew sharper and more venomous, darting specifically toward her vital points.
Lin Huai’s breath came in ragged gasps, her chest burning with agonizing pain.
She moved on light feet, dodging between Dragon Crossing the River’s frantic axe swings and Chen Feng’s sneaky thrusts. Yet under the heavy suppression of Master Cloud Cliff’s binding domain, her footwork was always a fraction too slow, keeping her in constant danger.
Sparks flew in dazzling bursts as her scythe clashed repeatedly with the great axe.
She gave ground step by step, appearing completely pinned down, but she was patiently waiting for her opening.
“Now!”
She ducked sideways, letting the heavy axe shave past her cheek by mere inches. The razor wind off the blade stung her skin like a burn.
Catching the brief instant when Dragon Crossing the River’s momentum ended and his next strike had yet to form, Lin Huai drove the blunt butt of her scythe backward with all her weight, slamming it squarely into Chen Feng’s chest as he tried to flank her!
Pfft!
Chen Feng never imagined she still had the strength for an explosive counter. The heavy impact knocked the wind clean out of him, sending him stumbling backward as blood rose in his throat.
Using the recoil from that strike, Lin Huai spun on her heel like a top. Her war scythe swept in a seamless circle, the razor edge cutting deep into Dragon Crossing the River’s exposed ribs!
“Aaargh!” Dragon Crossing the River let out a gut-wrenching scream. A deep, bloody gash opened along his torso, slicing down to the bone. While the wound wasn’t immediately fatal, the sudden blood loss drained his strength, causing his assault to crumble.
Yet the moment she crippled Dragon Crossing the River, Chen Feng forced down his pain. A venomous gleam flashed in his eyes, and he hurled his bronze sword like a spear!
The throw was blisteringly fast and cruel. Having poured everything into her counterattack, Lin Huai had no time to get clear.
Thunk!
Infused with Yang energy crystals, the heavy bronze blade carried devastating kinetic force. Though it missed her heart, it punched clean through her left shoulder blade. The violent momentum lifted Lin Huai off her feet, slamming her backward and pinning her firmly against a towering boulder!
“Agh…!” Lin Huai let out an involuntary cry of agony, blood quickly soaking through her black coat.
The searing pain from the blade nearly made her black out. Fighting three high-tier combatants at once had pushed her body past its limits, leaving her spiritual energy close to dry. She strained to tear herself free, but her pinned limbs refused to obey.
The scene in the canyon was gruesome beyond words.
Tiger Suppressing the Mountain lay decapitated in the sand, dead.
Dragon Crossing the River collapsed against a rock, clutching his bleeding side, his breath rattling in his throat.
Chen Feng held a hand over his bruised chest, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. He was in bad shape, but looking at Lin Huai pinned helpless against the rock face, a twisted, gloating sneer spread across his face.
As for Lin Huai, impaled through the shoulder and pale as paper, she looked like she had one foot in the grave.
Perched above, Old Demon of Xiangxi blew out a lazy ring of smoke, his voice raspy and dismissive: “Tsk, tsk. Three against one, and you ended up like this? It’s pathetic to even look at.”
Master Cloud Cliff flicked his whisk in silence. His deep eyes swept over Lin Huai’s dying form, and he subtly dialed back the domain’s crushing weight. “Chen Feng, give her a Guiyuan pill first. We don’t have the coffin yet. If she dies now, all of this will be for nothing.”
Lin Huai spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. Weak as she was, her voice carried cold, unyielding iron: “That coffin is my father’s only relic. In my past life, Su Wan blinded me. But this time, even if I have to smash that coffin to pieces, I will never let you lay your filthy hands on Old Lin’s memory!”
She closed her eyes, and a brilliant golden crest suddenly flared between her eyebrows. Clear, steady words rang out like a solemn command:
“Time… Rewind!”
The instant the words left her lips, the space around them warped and fractured violently—
Master Cloud Cliff’s pupils contracted in shock. To his utter disbelief, Lin Huai—who had just been impaled against the rock—reverted cleanly to where she had stood one minute ago!
Dragon Crossing the River was already on the ground, crippled by her scythe, while the bronze sword hung mid-air, having just been thrown. The horrific wound through Lin Huai’s shoulder had vanished completely.
In the span of a single heartbeat, an Earth Escape Talisman flared to life between Lin Huai’s fingers, and she sank into the earth, vanishing without a trace!
Buzz—!
The bronze sword struck empty rock, driving itself deep into the stone wall with a loud hum. Only a few stray drops of old blood dripped slowly down the blade.
The entire battlefield had flipped in a fraction of a second!
Old Demon of Xiangxi tossed his cigarette aside and stood up abruptly, his hollow eyes scouring the valley floor.
Terror seized Chen Feng, completely drowning out his shock. He hastily recalled his bronze sword, spinning in frantic circles to search the empty rocks. “Where is she?! Where did she go?! I stabbed her through the chest! How could she slip away?!”
Master Cloud Cliff’s voice dropped low and grim: “That was a time rewind ability.”
Chen Feng grew completely frantic. “Why?! Why are there so many variables in this life?! It was bad enough that she took first place on the server, but how did she get her hands on the Time Rewind skill card too?!”
His voice cracked with bitter disbelief: “In my past life, that card was supposed to be mine!”
Right then, a clear, icy voice drifted softly from the shadows behind his neck:
“That only proves one thing—those treasures were never yours to begin with!”
In the next heartbeat, a war scythe crackling with violet lightning sheared through the air, its razor-sharp crescent blade descending toward Chen Feng’s back with lethal intent!
Realizing the strike was impossible to dodge, Chen Feng was forced to burn his final trump card. His eyes turned bloodshot as he screamed at the top of his lungs: “Damage Reflection!”
Boom!
A blinding blue barrier erupted around him, fiercely redirecting one-third of Lin Huai’s deadly strike straight back at her!
