novelraw Chapter 68: Again, Just One Move
Chapter 68: Again, Just One Move
Ji Qinglin's words made things very clear—this wasn't a sect sparring match today. It was killer versus prey.
Chen Sun frowned slightly at that, thinking to himself, This guy seems even more like a killer than me.
The Elders retreated to the sides. Lei Qiuyun didn’t want her teacher to take any risks, but Ji Qinglin had already built the atmosphere up to this point, and she couldn’t outright reject him, so she just stood nearby, ready to react at any moment.
The factory’s overhead lights had all been switched on, flooding the space like it was broad daylight.
Seeing Chen Sun’s signature blood-red mechanical arm and its sharp, claw-like fingertips, someone quickly recognized his identity.
“Heart-Piercing Hand Chen Sun! He’s here too!”
“That psycho who kills and loots with heart-gouging as his signature move? Holy sh*t, I thought he was just some little sidekick!”
As the crowd began whispering, the Elders and members of the Xindong Street Commerce Guild, standing in clusters of varying heights, began showing interest.
Unlike righteous sect experts, assassins weren’t ranked by duels won but by the number and style of their kills. Unique killing methods stood out more.
In this area, Chen Sun was practically a banner of his own. He had fused internal strength techniques with prosthetics, creating a style uniquely his own—Heart-Gouging Flow. A strong opponent would only better highlight Elder Ji Qinglin’s strength. This was shaping up to be an exciting fight.
Chen Sun’s arms twitched, his body lowered in a crouch, strength gathered beneath his feet—ready to pounce. Ji Qinglin, on the other hand, didn’t show any stance at all. It was impossible to tell which style he practiced.
Pa—whoosh—
Unable to find an opening, Chen Sun didn’t hesitate. With a stomp, he lunged forward, his claws darting in a fierce stab.
He moved so fast that the less powerful members in the room were all startled. This guy’s not just good with his hands—his footwork’s tight too.
Such a clean and ruthless sneak attack from Chen Sun was met with nothing more than Ji Qinglin tilting his head down to dodge.
A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Sun’s mind, but his hands didn’t stop. He followed up with another set of close-range gouges.
His Heart-Piercing Hand style was similar to Dragon Claw Technique, and the second burst of force after grabbing the target could shatter bones and tear tendons.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Ji Qinglin didn’t strike back. He kept dodging left and right, and not a single Heart-Piercing Hand landed.
A guild member exclaimed,
“Is Elder Ji really dodging? It looks like every move just passes right through him!”
A nearby Elder with stronger cultivation explained,
“He is dodging—but… the dodging is done almost entirely before the Heart-Piercing Hand even strikes. After dodging, his body returns to its original position, so it looks like he didn’t move.”
To the untrained eye, Ji Qinglin’s movement technique seemed unparalleled. But a few of the stronger Elders saw the real horror—his almost prophetic reaction speed.
Each dodge was made just as Chen Sun was about to strike. The movements were measured with precision—dodging just a foot, not even shifting two extra inches.
Every move looked extremely dangerous, yet Ji Qinglin dodged with casual ease, not even a change in facial expression.
What the onlookers didn’t know was that to reach this level of dodging, Ji Qinglin had spent half the night training with Yu Ye, under the guise of teaching.
Using Beidou Maps obstacle training in combination with movement learned from Phantom Shadow Soul-Chasing Steps, and in exchange for not holding her accountable for attacking her master, she’d even kicked over a whole shelf—but still didn’t land a hit on Ji Qinglin.
Ji Qinglin could easily defeat Chen Sun, but killing him outright would’ve been a waste of all the effort he put into this setup.
Everyone had to show their maximum worth. Especially those he was going to kill—that was the way to respect their value in death.
Since this was about flexing and establishing dominance, the goal was to show overwhelming strength without even revealing his cultivation technique.
After more than twenty successive reckless strikes, Chen Sun didn’t even manage to graze Ji Qinglin.
Knowing it was time, Ji Qinglin seized on the recovery window after one of Chen Sun’s claw flurries. His left hand shot out like a snake’s tongue, gripping Chen Sun’s prosthetic wrist.
Stunned—
As Ji Qinglin struck, all the surrounding Elders and members instinctively looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of his style.
The sudden counterattack also made Chen Sun freeze. He was just about to raise his other hand to push Ji Qinglin back.
But in the blink of that hesitation, Ji Qinglin had already turned, using his shoulder to block Chen Sun’s response.
Chen Sun, now wide open, tried to retreat. But Ji Qinglin, already in front of him, followed up with a punch.
If it had aimed for his head, Chen Sun felt he could’ve dodged.
But he knew that trajectory all too well.
The heart!
Thud—crack—
A dull impact followed by a barely audible fracture.
Ji Qinglin’s Heart-Shattering Punch landed squarely on Chen Sun’s chest. With his wrist restrained, Chen Sun’s body didn’t fly back.
But those close enough could clearly see his body bend like a bow in an instant. The back of his shirt tore open, and then he collapsed powerlessly.
Heart-Piercing Hand got his own heart shattered.
Ji Qinglin let go, letting Chen Sun’s body fall to the ground.
Everyone’s eyes widened:
One move!
Even Lei Qiuyun and the other Elders who had seen Ji Qinglin beat Yu Jizi before:
Again, just one move!
Only Yu Ye looked calm. After all, her master’s killings were always this quick and clean.
Mad Ye: I didn’t expect that push-to-the-chest move your master practiced on you to have this kind of power.
A few Elders who were still trying to figure out Ji Qinglin’s technique frowned:
What even was that?!
A grab and a punch?
That’s not a life-or-death fight—it’s a grown-up hitting a kid. No technique at all.
Some Elders who had doubted whether Ji Qinglin and Yu Jizi had staged their last fight were shocked:
“Wait, are you sure Elder Yu Jizi took three moves and lived?”
“Maybe he didn’t want to kill a fellow guild member? Who the h*ll could survive that punch?”
Yu Jizi didn’t hear their conversation, but seeing Elder Ji Qinglin one-shot Chen Sun, he couldn’t help but shake his head and cough softly, as if saying:
What’s the big deal? I took three hits and didn’t die.
Behind him, Bai Qiucheng looked stunned by Ji Qinglin’s kill, but more than anything, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He wanted to explain, but the mood didn’t give him a chance.
If he stood up now to stop Ji Qinglin? Well, then he’d be outing himself.
Ji Qinglin, unfazed by the reactions, raised his hand and said,
“Next.”
All the guild members and Elders turned to Sha Zizai and Yang Qu, some proud, some confused.
Who the h*ll paid you guys enough to make you pull this dumb stunt—trying to assassinate, no, openly attack Ji Qinglin?
Oh right—it was Elder Bai Qiucheng!
Seeing Chen Sun fall, Yang Qu and Sha Zizai weren’t scared. Walking the assassin’s path meant accepting life-threatening risks.
The fact they weren’t immediately swarmed to death was already lucky. One-on-one, if you lose, you die—that still gives you a name. Nothing to complain about.
Yang Qu stepped forward and removed his jacket, revealing a dozen strange throwing knives strapped to his body, shaped like claw blades.
“Please!”
He didn’t give his name, but the moment those bizarre knives were revealed, everyone knew who he was.
“Throat-Slashing Blade Yang Qu! That vicious scumbag who attacks convoys alone in the desert!”
“Why the f*ck does he need so many knives to slash a throat?”
“He doesn’t just slash throats! The bodies he leaves behind have dozens of stab wounds. He’s infamous because he always delivers the killing blow to the throat, leaving no survivors—that’s how he earned the name.”
Li Qinglin raised his hand and reminded them:
“This round of movements might be a bit much. Please step back a little more so you don’t get hurt by the throwing knives.”
Good grief, it’s already a life-and-death duel and you're still thinking about the safety of the Commerce Guild members? Truly worthy of being the Guardian of the Guild.
Yang Qu glanced at Ji Qinglin and frowned:
“You’re not using a weapon?”
It wasn’t that he thought he could definitely beat Ji Qinglin, but he knew this might be his last fight. For someone who used weapons, facing an unarmed opponent felt like an insult.
Ji Qinglin didn’t act arrogant. His right hand swept downward diagonally, two fingers extended as he softly said:
“The sword is in hand.”
But to everyone else, Li Qinglin’s hand was clearly empty.
People had heard of “anything can be a sword,” but this? Using fingers as a sword? Forming a blade from Qi?
Yang Qu didn’t bother asking further, just assumed Ji Qinglin was underestimating him.
Both hands reached for the throwing knives at his waist. He didn’t aim—just flung them out. But the trajectory was toward Li Qinglin’s lower half.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Everyone was confused. Wasn’t he called Throat-Slashing Blade? Shouldn’t the attacks aim at the head?
Li Qinglin dodged left and right just like he had when avoiding Chen Sun’s Heart-Piercing Hand. But this time, since there was more distance, it was noticeably easier—he moved like he was taking a casual stroll.
Thunk—ding—
Yang Qu wasn’t in a rush. He threw another seven or eight throwing knives. Although none hit, they all landed close around Li Qinglin.
Just as many guild members and Elders were starting to think Yang Qu wasn’t much after all, he suddenly grabbed four more throwing knives and hurled them all at once.
Li Qinglin bent down to dodge, but something strange happened—no one heard the sound of the knives hitting the ground.
Whoosh—swish—
Instead, there was a burst of sharp, strange noise—the four knives he had just thrown shot back toward him from behind!
Li Qinglin flipped midair to narrowly dodge.
This time, everyone saw with their own eyes—the moment those four knives nearly touched the ground, they paused, then suddenly rebounded again.
One sharp-eyed Elder instantly noticed the trick—there was some sort of magnetic linkage between the knives. The earlier ones he threw had essentially set up a magnetic field trap on the ground, so that the newer knives could ricochet repeatedly within that zone.
No wonder the victims of Throat-Slashing Blade Yang Qu always had so many wounds on their bodies.
His signature throat slashes weren’t just finishing blows—they also helped conceal his true capabilities.
Ji Qinglin slightly furrowed his brow. Cui Sanmei’s intel was spot-on—it really is just like this.
Seeing that Ji Qinglin didn’t seem to have a response, Yang Qu threw four more of his remaining six throwing knives.
In an instant, the entire factory was lit with glints of flashing blades. Around Li Qinglin, shadows of knives danced like he was surrounded by a dozen skilled knife fighters. The sight made the onlookers feel a chill down their spines.
Lei Qiuyun, worried her teacher might get hurt, tried to step in to help—but realized that Yu Ye, the teacher’s disciple, had already stepped forward to block her path.