But just as the horses passed each other, Li Ling made a sudden move, deflecting the broadswords from the two men's hands, and at the same time, his longsword sliced across their necks.
In the blink of an eye, the two swordsmen, who had undergone years of training, were already dead on the spot, while Li Ling remained seated on his horse, holding the Qingming Sword, with his head slightly bowed.
"Hmph, I didn't expect Your Highness to be so unassuming, possessing such formidable skills! All of you, attack together!" The blood bat immediately waved its hand, ordering those in front of and behind Li Ling.
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Chapter 163 The Power of Tai Chi Artistic Conception
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
With a whooshing sound, Li Ling heard hidden weapons flying from behind him. He immediately turned around and swept his sword horizontally. With a few bangs, the Azure Nether Sword swept away the surrounding dark green projectiles and iron caltrops to the ground.
"drink!"
Immediately afterwards, one of the assassins swung his broadsword, leaped high into the air, and with a powerful split, brought it down on Li Ling's head without any mercy.
"How dare you!"
Li Ling channeled his inner energy and let out a sharp shout. The shout, imbued with true qi, was like a sharp sword aimed at the assassin. It instantly shattered the assassin's ears, made his head spin, and he even lost his grip on the broadsword.
"laugh!"
Li Ling thrust his Azure Nether Sword straight in, striking the assassin's heart meridian with a single strike. With a burst of true energy, the assassin's heart meridian was severed, and he was beyond dead.
Immediately afterward, Li Ling leaped from his horse, narrowly dodging the two spears and broadswords thrusting from behind.
"Water Movement - Rain Falls Like Arrows!"
In mid-air, the Azure Sword flicked, unleashing the Water Element Sword Intent to create three sword shadows that instantly slashed through the vital points of the three men. The position, force, and angle were all perfect. The three men's corpses traveled several feet on horseback before collapsing to the ground.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
Realizing that Li Ling was not easy to deal with, the remaining dozen or so assassins exchanged glances and threw hidden weapons at Li Ling.
"Wooden Path - Fallen Leaves Fluttering."
Li Ling repeatedly thrust out his Azure Nether Sword, which transformed into falling leaves. In the blink of an eye, the sword clashed with these hidden weapons with a series of clanging sounds. Although there were many hidden weapons, they did not harm Li Ling in the slightest.
"Um?!"
Just as Li Ling was preparing to counterattack, his Ferghana horse suddenly neighed and nearly fell to the ground.
Just moments ago, these assassins' hidden weapons were not only aimed at Li Ling, but also at the horse he was riding. Li Ling was caught off guard and they succeeded.
"Damn it!"
Left with no other choice, Li Ling lightly leaped to the ground beside him and stood still. The assassins dismounted and drew their weapons, surrounding Li Ling tightly.
"When did the Crown Prince learn such profound martial arts?" The leader of the Blood Bats looked at Li Ling with a gloomy expression. He really didn't expect the Crown Prince in front of him to be so troublesome.
Although the intelligence he had received previously stated that His Highness the Crown Prince had been practicing martial arts diligently recently, in his opinion, how could a young master from the royal family truly put his heart into practicing martial arts? That required continuous and arduous training day after day. For them, practicing for two or three days at most would probably be considered 'diligent'.
Although the assassins who just attacked were insignificant in the eyes of the Blood Bat, they were still third-rate experts in the martial arts world. However, they didn't even last a single move against Li Ling.
The simultaneous firing of over a hundred hidden weapons had not harmed Li Ling in the slightest, nor did he show any signs of strain. The martial arts and swordsmanship he displayed were already considered top-tier in the martial arts world.
"Hmph, Your Highness is indeed skilled, but don't think you're so great just because you killed a few insignificant soldiers. My subordinates are best at encirclement and attack. I hope Your Highness can hold out a little longer. Charge!"
With Blood Bat's final, urgent shout, six assassins attacked simultaneously. Two from the front and two from the back surrounded Li Ling, while one on each side rolled on the ground and swung his broadsword at Li Ling's lower body.
The six people worked together skillfully, their moves were insidious and vicious, all aimed at vital points or the most difficult-to-defend positions. Just as Blood Bat had said, they were good at encirclement attacks, and their tactics were specifically designed to kill. Even ordinary experts would perish on the spot if they encountered them.
"A trivial skill!"
Li Ling coldly uttered a sentence, and instead of defending himself, he chose to retreat at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, he was only inches away from the two short guns behind him.
To these assassins, Li Ling's actions were suicidal. The assassins in front and on both sides quickly caught up and surrounded him, while the two assassins behind him grinned maliciously, their short guns now wielded with even more force, aiming to kill Li Ling with a single blow.
At that critical moment, Li Ling suddenly moved half a step to the left, turning his body half a circle, as if he had foreseen the future, and dodged the short spear thrusting from behind by the slightest margin.
At the same time, Li Ling gently tapped the spine of his Qingming sword against the shaft of the short spear, causing the assassin's short spear to uncontrollably change direction and directly block the short spear of his companion beside him.
Immediately in that brief moment, Li Ling's figure passed through the two assassins wielding short guns behind him, leaving a line of blood on their necks—a double kill with one sword!
Seeing Li Ling unleash this exquisite counterattack amidst the encirclement, the four attacking assassins were slightly startled. They nodded to each other, and the two assassins who had been wielding longswords and attacking from the front immediately targeted Li Ling's waist, abdomen, and neck, while the other two knife-wielding assassins aimed at Li Ling's hamstrings to restrain his movements.
"Pfft!!"
The sound of weapons piercing flesh rang out, but the one being attacked was not Li Ling, as the surrounding assassins had expected, but the four assassins who had come forward to surround him. Each of them strangely turned their weapons around and stabbed directly at their own vital points.
Before the ferocious expressions on their faces could fade, they felt pain all over their bodies. Incredulity filled their eyes, their throats twitched as if they wanted to say something, but they could only let out a few meaningless gasps before collapsing to the ground.
"What exactly happened just now?"
Everyone stared at Li Ling in disbelief, wondering why all four of them had been killed by his moves, as if they were completely out of his control.
"Sorcery! This is sorcery!"
Many assassins couldn't help but have this thought in mind. In feudal society, people were more awe-inspiring and superstitious about the inexplicable. At this moment, several people believed that Li Ling had used sorcery.
What happened just now was not some kind of sorcery, but rather the Tai Chi pulling force that Li Ling used at a crucial moment. This was a unique skill that Li Ling mastered after comprehending the first level of Yin-Yang conception, which allowed him to transfer force.
In order to make connections in the real world, Li Ling studied Tai Chi. Combining his mastery of the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt Grandmaster realm with his control over the muscles and strength of his body, he quickly grasped the true meaning of Tai Chi. He had a very high understanding of the method of using the opponent's force against them and shifting the force of Qi with four ounces.
Just now, he quickly unleashed four strikes with his Azure Nether Sword, each of which contained several variations of true energy, directly reversing the moves of the four assassins.