Gao Wu: A centenarian old man, many children and good fortune! Chapter 115

Hilly terrain, strange rocks, ravines crisscrossing.

Xiao Yan was still “fiercely” entangled with the Red-Armored Dragon King. Blade light flashed, roars shook the heavens, and the aftermath of the battle caused the surrounding rocks to continuously crack and collapse. Smoke and dust filled the air, greatly interfering with vision and energy perception.

Just as Xiao Yan once again “narrowly” avoided a powerful charge from the Dragon King, his body just landed behind a giant rock, preparing to “catch his breath” for a moment!

A sudden change! It happened abruptly!!!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Five figures, exuding chilling killing intent and moving like ghosts, emerged from five different directions as if spirits from hell, without any warning—suddenly bursting out from underground! Leaping out from the shadows of rocks! One person even descended silently from the steep cliff face above, hanging upside down like a gecko!

Their appearance was extremely sudden! The timing was perfectly grasped to the extreme! It just so happened to be the moment when Xiao Yan’s old strength was exhausted, new strength had not yet emerged, and he had just finished dodging the Dragon King’s attack, his attention slightly scattered!

Five figures! Five directions! In an instant, they formed a perfect, deadly encirclement! Completely sealing off all possible escape routes for Xiao Yan!

Their speed was pushed to the extreme! Their attacks were even more vicious!

Without the slightest hesitation or probing! The moment they struck, it was with the most incisive and fatal killing moves!

Five distinctly different, yet equally powerful and cold extraordinary energy fluctuations, instantly erupted! Like five venomous snakes that had been biding their time, revealing their poisoned fangs!

Xiao Yan’s gaze, like a cold lightning bolt, instantly swept over the five suddenly appearing figures!

When his gaze landed on one of them, the corner of his mouth involuntarily curled into a sneer of mockery.

It was indeed you!

That direct descendant of the Wang family, Wang Teng, who had once been so arrogant in front of him, but was severely wounded by a casual strike from his blade!

At this moment, where was the slightest trace of Wang Teng’s previous discomfiture and fear? He had clearly undergone costly treatment and some kind of强化改造 (strengthening modification) from his family (discernible from the metallic sheen of his skin or inner armor vaguely revealed beneath his tattered clothes). Not only had his injuries healed, but his strength seemed to have improved!

His eyes, which were once filled with fear, were now filled with boundless malice and the pleasure of impending revenge! He stared intently at Xiao Yan, a twisted and ferocious smile on his face, his voice sharp and piercing:

“Xiao Yan!! Didn’t expect this, did you! The tables have turned! Today! Is your death day!!!”

He seemed to have already seen the scene of Xiao Yan being torn to pieces, his tone filled with pathological excitement: “I told you! I’d make you wish you were dead! Wish you were alive!!!”

Beside Wang Teng were the three extraordinary retainers of the Wang family who had once been too terrified to move by a single glance from Xiao Yan! At this moment, although fear still lingered in their eyes towards Xiao Yan, under the leadership of Wang Teng and another powerful individual, they seemed to have regained their “courage.” Their aura also seemed to have slightly improved compared to last time, probably all stabilized at the peak of First Grade or newly entered Second Grade. Clearly, the Wang family had spared no expense for this ambush, providing them with many benefits as well.

But these four people, in Xiao Yan’s eyes, were still just… cannon fodder!

What truly made his gaze slightly narrow was the middle-aged man standing at the forefront of the five-person encirclement, implicitly the leader of this ambush operation!

This man was dressed in an unremarkable dark gray combat suit, with an ordinary face, but his eyes were unusually sinister and cold, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness. The aura emanating from him was even deeper and stronger than Wang Teng’s! He had clearly reached the realm of Extraordinary Sixth Grade (Intermediate War General)!

This level of strength, even in the Fourth New Nanjing City, could definitely be considered a master! No wonder Wang Teng dared to be so arrogant!

The Sixth Grade middle-aged man ignored Wang Teng’s mad dog-like barking, simply locking his cold, ruthless eyes on Xiao Yan, as if looking at a dead man. He slowly raised his hand and gave a concise yet deadly command in a deep voice:

“Enough talk!”

“Quick battle, kill him!”

“Leave no trace!”

Clearly, he was the true commander of this ambush operation! His goal was clear: to decisively eliminate Xiao Yan, this hidden threat, here and now! Leaving no future troubles!

…

Facing this sudden, almost certain death encirclement! Five extraordinary powerhouses (one Sixth Grade, one Fifth Grade, three First or Second Grade) launched fatal attacks simultaneously from five directions! Behind them, a furious, nearly Seventh Grade mutated Red-Armored Dragon King loomed menacingly!

Any ordinary Ninth Grade War General, even a peak Ninth Grade, would probably feel despair!

However, on Xiao Yan’s face, not only was there no panic whatsoever, but… beneath that hint of cold killing intent, a cold smile of “as expected” quietly flashed.

I’ve been waiting for you!

What he wanted was to lure the snake out of its hole! He didn’t expect them to actually be unable to restrain themselves and jump out proactively!

Wang Teng and those three useless retainers were nothing to worry about. Even that Sixth Grade War General hidden in the dark, although strong, was still… not enough in front of him now!

However, the act had to be played well.

Thoughts raced through Xiao Yan’s mind, but on the surface, he instantly switched his “expression”!

He deliberately showed a perfectly timed “shocked and enraged” and “extremely grave” look on his face! As if he had truly been caught off guard by this sudden ambush and fallen into an unprecedented desperate situation!

He even “hurriedly” feigned a strike at the Red-Armored Dragon King, which was about to pounce again, and let out an “angry shout,” “reluctantly” forcing it back a few steps, buying himself a little “precious” reaction time!

This performance was truly Oscar-worthy!

It perfectly portrayed the shock, anger, panic, and forced composure of a Ninth Grade powerhouse who was “injured, in poor condition, and suddenly surrounded by strong enemies”!

Indeed, seeing Xiao Yan’s “panicked,” “incapable,” appearance, Wang Teng’s sinister smile became even more smug and rampant! The fear in the hearts of the three retainers also dissipated by more than half, replaced by greed and killing intent! Even the Sixth Grade middle-aged man, who had maintained a cold expression, had a hint of imperceptible disdain flash in his eyes!

They all thought that Xiao Yan had completely fallen into their control! Victory was within reach!

And this was exactly the effect Xiao Yan wanted!

He wanted these self-important hunters, at their most smug and most relaxed moment, to taste… what true despair was!

Just as the Sixth Grade commander’s cold “quick kill” order had fallen, and the five individuals’ auras, like five invisible sharp swords, tightly locked onto Xiao Yan, with various killing intent-infused combat techniques and secret arts about to be unleashed!

A sudden change! It happened abruptly!!!

Xiao Yan, who had originally appeared “shocked and enraged,” “extremely grave,” and “incapable,” had all expressions on his face peel away like a mask in that instant!

Replaced by an extreme cold indifference! And… a terrifying, vast and boundless killing intent, solid as substance, that shot straight to the heavens!

Boom——!!!!!!!!!!

A terrifying aura, far exceeding any previous instance, and even surpassing the understanding limits of everyone present, belonging to a peak, complete Extraordinary Ninth Grade, erupted from Xiao Yan’s body without reservation, like an ancient fierce beast that had slumbered for eons suddenly awakening!

The strength of this aura was so immense that it even caused the surrounding space to slightly warp! The air let out an unbearable wail! The ground instantly collapsed downwards! The evil energy suppression field that enveloped the entire city, under the impact of this aura, was repelled instantly as if meeting its nemesis, forming a brief “vacuum” zone!

“Not good!!!”

The Sixth Grade commander, as the strongest and most perceptive person, was the first to notice something was wrong! The aura erupting from Xiao Yan—where was the “poor condition”?! This was clearly… a peak power several times more terrifying than his full strength! It even… vaguely touched upon that legendary threshold?!

Alarm bells rang wildly in his heart! An unprecedented, fatal sense of crisis instantly swept through his entire body!

“Retreat! Quick…”

He almost instinctively wanted to give the order to retreat!

But, it was already too late!

The moment he spoke!

Xiao Yan moved!

His figure, which had originally seemed somewhat “sluggish,” left behind a blurry, almost invisible afterimage on the spot!

And his true body, as if crossing spatial distances, like a teleportation, appeared silently and ghost-like in front of the Sixth Grade commander, with a terrifying speed that completely defied physical common sense!

The distance was within reach!

The speed was so fast! It didn’t even allow the Sixth Grade commander to make a complete expression of horror! His mind was still stuck in the second before giving the retreat order!

At the same time!

Clang——!!!

A clear and resonant, almost thunderous, blade cry suddenly echoed throughout the heavens!

The powerful battle blade that Xiao Yan had always carried on his back, never truly used in front of others, emitting a faint purple lightning glow—the War King-grade divine weapon [Thunder Prison Blade], finally… unsheathed!

The blade light flashed!

Like the first lightning bolt from the nine heavens tearing through chaos!

On the blade, violent purple lightning flashed and leaped wildly like living creatures! A terrifying power, capable of tearing space, annihilating all things, and having extreme restraint over evil forces, suddenly condensed on the blade’s edge!

The Sixth Grade commander only felt a flash of purple light before his eyes, and a shadow of death, enough to freeze his soul, instantly enveloped his heart! He didn’t even have time to think; his body’s instinct had already driven him to hastily bring his weapon (possibly a heavy war hammer) across his chest to block, while frantically injecting all his extraordinary true essence into his protective aura, attempting a final resistance!

However, in the face of absolute power and the might of a divine weapon, all of this was futile!

Sizzle——!!!!!!!!!

There was no earth-shattering collision sound, only an extremely faint, yet incredibly clear sound, like the sharpest blade cutting through the softest silk!

The Thunder Prison Blade’s purple lightning-glowing edge, carrying Xiao Yan’s vast true essence of peak Ninth Grade completion and a hint of the Fifth Wave’s “Cracked Shore” blade intent that he had just begun to grasp!

Effortlessly! Like cutting tofu!

It sliced through the heavy war hammer, which was also an extraordinary-grade weapon!

It ignored the layers of protective true essence, condensed from the Sixth Grade War General’s lifelong cultivation!

Finally, it passed precisely and incomparably across his neck!

Time, at this moment, seemed to completely stand still.

The expression of astonishment, fear, and disbelief on the Sixth Grade commander’s face completely froze.

The next second.

Puff——!!!

A magnificent head soared into the sky!

The cut surface of the neck was smooth as a mirror, and the blood from the cavity gushed out wildly like an uncontrolled fountain! Staining the sky, staining the earth!

The headless corpse, still maintaining a blocking posture, swayed on the spot, then, like a wooden stake that had lost all support, crashed to the ground with a thud, utterly silent.

One strike!

Just one strike!

Not even the complete moves of the “Nine Thunderous Waves” were fully unleashed!

A powerful, cunning Extraordinary Sixth Grade Intermediate War General, who could be considered a master in the Fourth New Nanjing City, was cleanly and decisively instantly killed by Xiao Yan, just like slicing melons and vegetables! His body separated from his head!

This sudden, bloody, and utterly shocking reversal!

Completely stunned the remaining Wang Teng and the three Wang family extraordinary retainers who had just mustered their courage and were preparing to launch their encirclement!

They were frozen in place as if under a spell, the smugness, sinister smiles, greed, and killing intent on their faces instantly replaced by boundless fear and despair!

Instant… instantly killed?!

One strike! Just one strike instantly killed the strongest Sixth Grade commander?!

This… how is this possible?!

Wasn’t he “in poor condition”?! Wasn’t his “power control unrefined”?!

This terrifying aura! This ghostly speed! This world-destroying strike!

This was not a peak Ninth Grade at all?! This was clearly… an existence that had already touched the threshold of a War King!!!

Disguise! It was all disguise!

Their previous judgment! Their previous plan! All their self-congratulations and certainty of victory! At this moment, they all became a huge joke!

How could they be hunters coming to ambush others?!

They were clearly a bunch of idiots who didn’t know their place and had blundered into the nest of an ancient fierce beast… fools!!!

They were being used as pawns! Used by that damned Wang family as cannon fodder to test Xiao Yan’s true strength!!!

Boundless fear and despair, like an icy tide, instantly completely drowned them!