C15 A Sword Cultivator Who Did Not Use Their Sword Was the Most Dangerous(2)

The remaining three individuals didn't panic; instead, they seized the moment to dash toward the city gates. Xiaoming let out a sigh and, without further ado, kicked his armor into maximum speed. His arm armor extended a long spike, swiftly sweeping past the others.

The trio was frozen in place, lifeless. Xiaoming had struck them at an incredible velocity, severing the connection between their brains and bodies.

After retracting the spike, Xiaoming moved among the five bodies, searching for spatial artifacts like the Universe Bag. The onlookers were stunned; the fight was over before they knew it, and the transmigrator's methods of attack were shockingly brutal.

When the Clear Wind City defense forces arrived, they found Xiaoming, clad in armor, rummaging through the pockets of the immobilized victims.

"Hey, you there! I am Lu Chengyuan, Captain of the Clear Wind City defense. Release the hostages and surrender at once," a tall, stout man without a beard, brandishing two short halberds, commanded in a tone reminiscent of a Beijing opera performer. His fellow guards shifted uncomfortably to the side, embarrassed by their leader's theatrics.

"Sorry, I don't have time to delay. These people are already dead. And if you value your life, stop loitering in my presence, okay?" Xiaoming paid no mind to the city guards, continuing to collect his spoils of war.

He tossed the storage rings and tokens of identity into his wristwatch, glancing at the spectators who had gathered to watch the spectacle. Beneath his faceplate, he smirked. Gossip was indeed a universal human trait; onlookers were everywhere. With his loot secured, he prepared to make his exit.

"Wah! Thief, meet your end!" Lu Chengyun couldn't let Xiaoming just walk away. Channeling his true essence into his right hand, he grasped the short halberd and took a javelin thrower's stance, targeting Xiaoming. Xiaoming's scan revealed that the captain had only reached the Primordial Cradle Realm, hardly a threat. Only those in the Oneness Realm could harm his armor. Checking his watch, Xiaoming folded his arms, intrigued to see what Lu Chengyun would attempt next.

The short halberd, glowing with a red aura of true essence, was propelled by a forceful push from the legs, driving the waist in a mechanical motion. The arms, acting as levers, hurled the weapon forward. The impact was so intense that it left a sizable crater in the newly laid stone pavement beneath his feet.

With a resounding thud, the short halberd, breaking the sound barrier, hurtled towards Xiaoming. He swiftly extended his hand to intercept the projectile, and as he did, blue vein-like patterns illuminated his gauntlet. The blade of the halberd stopped a mere centimeter from his faceplate.

Xiaoming wasn't trying to show off; the halberd's momentum was formidable, and he nearly failed to catch it. The hefty opponent clearly had some tricks up his sleeve, leaving no time for Xiaoming to marvel at his close call.

Lu Chengyun, who had charged in, leaped into the air, his right foot stomping down on the short halberd that Xiaoming had seized. The faceplate collided with the blade, and while the faceplate remained unscathed, the blade chipped slightly.

Despite his failure to penetrate Xiaoming's armor, Lu Chengyun exhibited a nimbleness that belied his size. He quickly maneuvered to Xiaoming's rear. Xiaoming, gripping the short halberd, swung it behind him, but Lu Chengyun, agile as a leaping monkey, evaded the potentially lethal slash of his own weapon.

The short halberd in his left hand extended, and with both hands, he thrust it towards the narrow opening in Xiaoming's armor. He resembled a skewered candied fruit as he attempted to impale Xiaoming with the elongated weapon.

The strike, however, inflicted no damage; the blade wedged itself in the armor. The resilience of the armor surpassed his expectations, but Lu Chengyun, a veteran of countless battles, quickly devised a new plan.

Utilizing his weight advantage, he swung behind Xiaoming and, upon landing, pressed down hard on the halberd's shaft, bending it into an arc. His intention was to pry open Xiaoming's armor using the principle of leverage.

With a disheartening crack, Lu Chengyun gazed sorrowfully at the broken blade of his halberd, the other half still lodged in the gap of Xiaoming's armor. This weapon, crafted over three months with his hard-earned money at the finest blacksmith in the city, had now met its end in its very first combat.

"Your speed is impressive, and your technique is seamless, but it's a shame about the weapon. Had it been an immortal weapon, I'd be a goner by now," he said as he removed the shattered fragments from the crevice in his armor.

He appraised the short halberd in his hand. "However, this isn't something to be discarded lightly." With those words, he tossed it effortlessly.

It looked like he barely exerted any force, yet the throw was alarmingly swift. Lu Chengyun moved as fast as he could to evade, but the short halberd seemed to possess a homing ability, making it impossible to avoid.

In the nick of time, a three-foot-long sword intercepted the lethal strike, sending the short halberd flying into the ground far away.

"Since you've graced Qingfeng City with your presence, why not stay and allow me the honor of hosting you? It would be quite impolite of Qingfeng City to let you leave so abruptly."

The voice was heard before the person was seen, sounding both close and distant. Upon hearing it, Lu Chengyun's tension eased; the City Lord (acting) had surely arrived.

A youth dressed in green descended from the city wall like a banished immortal, his long sword returning to its sheath behind him as he hovered a foot above the ground. His piercing gaze and ethereal demeanor captivated the onlookers.

The young girls in the audience transformed into frenzied fans, screaming in excitement, while even a seventy-year-old woman felt her heart flutter at the sight.

But in reality, he was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old kid.

Xiaoming awarded him full marks for his performance.

"The City Lord has arrived!"

"Excellent! With the City Lord's intervention, we're sure to capture the rogue."

"…"

Basking in the waves of adulation, Zhao Chengli couldn't help but feel a bit elated. Xiaoming assessed his cultivation level and noted that he was on the verge of entering the Oneness Realm. The earlier scuffle with the hefty fellow had been a minor inconvenience, but ultimately, it made little difference whether there was one more or one less opponent before him.

"Junior brother, what took you so long? I was nearly beaten to a pulp," Lu Chengyun grumbled as he switched to a pair of hammers, voicing his dissatisfaction to Zhao Chengli.

"Do you really think activating the city's defense formation is a simple task? Master has warned us time and again not to be rash, but you just won't listen. We're dealing with an outer devil here."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a light barrier shot up from the ground, enveloping Qingfeng City as if it were sealed under a giant translucent dome.

The spectators, witnessing the formation's ascent, abandoned their idle curiosity and dashed into the city, seizing the rare opportunity to enter without a security check.

"If it weren't for me holding him off, he would have escaped by the time your reinforcements arrived," Lu Chengyuan grumbled, feeling unappreciated.

"Clearly, you haven't put in your full effort," he said, turning to Xiaoming with a smug grin. "But under this city-guarding formation, all your efforts are futile."

Atop the city walls, soldiers stood poised at their immortal elemental cannons, ready to strike. Lu Chengyuan's hammers blazed with black flames, while the treasured swords behind Zhao Chengli began to unsheathe themselves. They spun behind him, doubling from one to two, then from two to four, rapidly multiplying into a thousand blades within moments, all poised to execute Xiaoming on the spot.

"This is Swordhaven's Myriad Swords Returning to Origin Formation. You're indeed a true sword cultivator."

His right arm's armor began to undulate, bulking up like that of a gorilla, with hydraulic reinforcements at the finger joints. A seam split down the middle of the arm's armor, from which a slender black magnetic plate extended.

"I wonder if your master ever told you that a sword cultivator who refrains from drawing their sword is the deadliest of all."