Chapter 410: Exhaling Breath into a Sword

Twin Crane Fist was a form of imitation martial arts, known for its fierce, explosive power and sharp, decisive strikes. The movements could be both hard and soft, the technique both offensive and defensive. It was an extremely practical fighting style.

Xin Ping was forty this year. After more than two decades of hard training in Black Tiger Fist, he had become a true master of Twin Crane Fist. His technique had reached the point where form and spirit were as one, his punches sharp enough to echo through the air.

This technique—Twin Cranes Soaring—was regarded as the killing move of Twin Crane Fist. Naturally, its power was extraordinary. In Xin Ping’s hands, it was unmatched in ferocity. The force behind it was in no way inferior to the Chen-style boxing Lin Xiao had learned.

“Twin Crane Fist? Reaching this level… not bad at all.”

Lin Xiao’s eyebrows lifted slightly. The power of Xin Ping’s strike exceeded his expectations. It surprised him, but only a little.

He slowly lifted his left hand, hanging by his side. Internal force surged. His five fingers curved like a tiger’s claw, and in an instant, his entire palm turned the color of steel. He was just about to meet Xin Ping’s punch head-on.

But at that moment, Lin Xiao abruptly froze, a flash of sharp light bursting in his eyes. “Hm?”

In his perception, fierce gusts of wind were hurtling at him from both sides—and from behind.

Xin Ping never intended to fight Lin Xiao one-on-one. From Lin Xiao’s earlier bout with Jingang, he had seen that Lin Xiao’s strength was unfathomable. He knew that going alone, he was absolutely no match.

Realizing this, Xin Ping willingly set aside the pride of an dark force expert and joined forces with three others to gang up on Lin Xiao. His combat philosophy was simple: Do whatever it takes to win.

The other three shared the same mindset. As Xin Ping launched his attack, they struck at the same time.

To Lin Xiao’s left was Shan Dagong, a bald middle-aged man in his forties. His head was shiny and bare, not because he was a monk, but because of his years of training in Iron Head Skill.

He suddenly ducked his head low, planted his hands on the ground, then kicked off with both legs. His body shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, aiming to slam his skull into Lin Xiao’s waist.

He put everything into this charge. It could smash through not just a man, but even a wall.

To Lin Xiao’s right was Li Yunwei, the youngest among the four, barely over thirty. But his attack was the wildest and violent. He leaped into the air, both fists, dark with a bluish hue, raised above his head, then came crashing down at Lin Xiao’s skull.

As for Zhong Wu, who came from behind, his movements were neither as fierce as Xin Ping’s nor as aggressive as Li Yunwei’s. There was instead a sinister, venomous quality to his strike. With a light tap of his foot, he silently closed in on Lin Xiao, lifting a leg and aiming a vicious kick straight at his groins.

Among top-level fighters, life and death could be decided in a split second. The higher the skill, the truer this was.

Because the stronger the martial arts, the more devastating a single hit could be. One blow could cripple—or kill.

Now, with Xin Ping in front, Zhong Wu behind, Shan Dagong on the left, and Li Yunwei on the right, four dark force masters launched a merciless assault on Lin Xiao. They sealed off all paths of retreat and forced him into a corner!

In the crowd, Jiang Shiliu clenched his fists excitedly, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.

“Still acting arrogant? Let’s see how you dodge this.”

He wasn’t the only one. Nangong Hao, Li Chengkun, Wu Donglai—none of them liked Lin Xiao. Their eyes sparkled with delight, cold smiles curling on their lips.

“Bastard, dared to look down on us? You’re dead!”

“Don’t think hiding behind Wan Caixuan will save you. You asked for this. She won’t be able to say a thing after you’re gone!”

“What good is skill if you don’t have a brain? In the end, you’re just a brute!”

To them, Lin Xiao had already lost. Facing a coordinated assault from four peak internal force experts, there was no way he could survive.

And they weren’t alone. Everyone watching thought the same—everyone except Wan Caixuan.

Though she still had full confidence in Lin Xiao, her heart couldn’t help tightening with worry. Her clear, autumn-water eyes stayed locked on him, unblinking.

“I thought they’d take turns. Looks like I was wrong. From the start, they planned to gang up on me.”

Lin Xiao’s voice remained calm despite the dire situation.

He thought to himself, ‘If I were facing fighters on my level, it’ll be a problem getting caught off guard like this.’

Despite being surrounded by four elite opponents, he remained steady and composed. Another thought flashed through his mind, ‘But unfortunately for them… they met me. Well, this saves me some effort. I’ll just end it all at once.’

With that, Lin Xiao abruptly lifted his left foot and stomped hard on the ground.

The stomp shook the earth. Soft soil burst outward in all directions, and a crater nearly a foot wide appeared beneath him, as if dug by a bulldozer.

The moment his foot landed, Lin Xiao’s whole body trembled, and the sound of bones and tendons rang out in unison.

Crack! Crackle! Pop!

A chain of snapping sounds echoed from his body. In an instant, Lin Xiao’s frame shot up several inches taller. His physique swelled, going from lean and toned to towering and powerful. His eyes gleamed like twin searchlights, pupils flashing with cold lightning.

“Not good!”

“Danger!”

As Lin Xiao suddenly erupted with force, all four attackers instantly felt the pressure skyrocket. Their hearts raced in sync, adrenaline surging.

It wasn’t excitement, it was fear.

In their senses, the calm, unthreatening Lin Xiao had turned in the blink of an eye into a savage beast radiating an overwhelming killing aura.

Xin Ping, who faced him directly, felt it most. Those blindingly bright eyes made him feel like his entire being had been seen through.

But the arrow was already on the string. There was no turning back.

“You think four of us still can’t beat you?!”

Xin Ping clenched his jaw. A fierce, resolute glint flashed in his eyes. He poured internal force into his fist with no regard for cost. His entire arm swelled visibly, his fist nearly doubling in size!

The other three had the same thought—retreating now meant certain defeat. Lin Xiao would tear them apart one by one. Victory would slip away forever.

“No choice, we go all in!”

The thought struck all four at once. Their attacks grew fiercer.

Xin Ping’s punch reached Lin Xiao in a flash, just about to crash into his chest, when Lin Xiao suddenly contracted his chest inward, drawing a sharp breath. His ribcage caved in several inches, then—

“Chh!”

With a sharp hiss, he exhaled a beam of white air, shaped like a long sword.

The white air was razor-sharp, unimaginably fast. It streaked toward Xin Ping’s face.

“What?!”

Xin Ping’s seemingly certain strike missed, but he had no time to regret. As the sword-like breath shot toward his face, his hair stood on end.

But he was indeed a dark force master. In a split second, he dropped his stance, hunched his shoulders, and tucked his head down like a startled turtle withdrawing into its shell. His feet scraped the ground as he sprang backward.