Between Suo Hanyi and Yan Naier, whose martial arts were superior?
Without question, it was Suo Hanyi. In terms of pure Dragon Force, Suo Hanyi was considerably stronger. His reputation as one of the top-ranked greatswordsmen of the Angry Wave Kingdom was well earned.
However, he was after all a military commander. Therefore, his martial arts were better suited to the battlefield, excelling in strength and endurance, while slightly weaker in agility and spirit.
As for Yan Naier, her Dragon Force cultivation was certainly considered extremely strong among women, but compared to a battlefield god of slaughter like Suo Hanyi, she fell considerably short. Yet in agility and spirit, Naier was superbly powerful.
In this situation, she absolutely must not allow the fight to drag into a war of attrition. She had to be fast, precise, and ruthless.
Therefore, Suo Lun had placed their battlefield on a boat. This made it even more difficult for Suo Hanyi, whose agility was not top-tier to begin with, to dodge.
And for Naier, the rocking wooden boat on the sea surface was as steady as flat ground.
Moreover, before the battle began, Suo Lun had also shot a radiation arrow, greatly reducing Suo Hanyi’s mental power and Dragon Force.
Even so, killing Suo Hanyi was still extremely difficult.
Because his strength was simply too great. Naier would be at a severe disadvantage fighting him and would struggle to last long.
At this moment, Jiang Xue’s Dragon Gold Sword came into great use.
This sword was originally indestructible. After being corroded by the Blood Sea, it was permeated with a dark and powerful force, as if it had been enchanted.
Thus, Suo Hanyi suffered a great loss.
Originally, his black gold sword weighed several hundred jin. It was incomparably sharp and tremendously heavy. In battle, it was completely invincible. He did not even need to strike his enemy. Even when blades clashed, that immense force combined with the greatsword’s own weight was enough to shatter his opponent’s tiger’s mouth and rupture the meridians in their arm, leaving them severely wounded in less than ten exchanges.
But when it met the Dragon Gold Sword in Naier’s hand, it was directly severed upon impact, all its force completely neutralised.
“Clang, clang, clang, clang…”
Naier’s strikes grew faster and more ferocious with each blow.
Suo Hanyi defended desperately, but in the blink of an eye, the greatsword in his hand was reduced to nothing but a hilt, all of it severed away.
Without a weapon, he certainly could not use his body and hands to block Yan Naier’s precious sword. If this continued, he would undoubtedly die.
Suo Hanyi let out a thunderous roar, swinging his fists and unleashing all his Dragon Force.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
Massive fist beams crashed violently towards Yan Naier.
These fist beams contained Suo Hanyi’s enormous Dragon Force energy, savage and incomparable, like cannonballs fired one after another, shooting ferociously towards Naier.
If it had been anyone else, they would have retreated swiftly at this point.
But Yan Naier was currently wearing indestructible platinum armour (originally worn by Suo Lun, but returned to her for this great battle). Moreover, she possessed evil energy that could heal any wound.
So she actually charged forward head-on, forcibly receiving Suo Hanyi’s fist beams.
When Suo Lun saw this, his heart ached terribly. He quickly used Dragon Force critical strikes, bending his bow and nocking arrows.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
A continuous volley of rapid arrows shot towards Suo Hanyi’s back.
Caught in a pincer attack from front and back, with no weapon in hand to parry, if he blocked Suo Lun’s arrows, he could not block Yan Naier’s sword.
Thus, he let out a thunderous roar, condensing his Dragon Force upon his back.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud…”
Suo Lun’s arrows instantly struck his back, piercing straight through his armour.
But terrifyingly, the arrowheads only penetrated less than an inch before being locked in place by Suo Hanyi’s flesh and Dragon Force.
“Argh…” Then, he roared again.
A burst of force erupted, and the dozen or so poison arrows embedded in his back were violently reflected back, shooting straight towards Suo Lun.
Truly terrifying!
Suo Lun had shot with a powerful bow, yet he actually used his own sinews and flesh as a bow to shoot the dozen or so arrows back several hundred metres.
Suo Lun condensed his mental power to knock down the reflected arrows.
“Boom, boom, boom!” At this moment, Yan Naier had forcibly withstood three of Suo Hanyi’s fist beams. Her face merely paled slightly, then she continued swinging her sword and charging forward ferociously.
Suo Hanyi was greatly shocked. Although his Dragon Force was greatly depleted, his fist beams were still savagely powerful. Ordinary Dragon Warriors could not withstand them at all, let alone a woman.
Yet this Yan Naier before him had actually withstood them head-on.
And immediately after, her sharp sword was before his eyes. At this moment, Suo Hanyi had no weapon with which to parry.
“Well done…” Suo Hanyi laughed heartily. Then his right hand shot out like lightning, actually catching Naier’s thrusting sword between his fingers alive.
Instantly, the sword was clamped as if by a mountain, completely unable to move. Naier could neither thrust forward nor pull back. To free herself, she had no choice but to release her grip.
Suo Hanyi’s Dragon Force was truly astonishingly powerful.
“Die…” Then, Suo Hanyi’s left fist, condensing all his Dragon Force, like a heaven-shaking cannonball, smashed fiercely towards Naier.
If this punch connected, Naier’s stunningly beautiful face would be directly shattered, and she would certainly die.
And if she did not wish to die, she had to release her grip and abandon her sword. In that case, the precious sword would fall into Suo Hanyi’s hands. Self-preservation would be difficult, let alone killing Suo Hanyi.
Just at this moment, Naier let out a delicate shout.
Dragon Force suddenly surged from her hand, pouring into this Blood Sea Dragon Gold Sword.
Instantly, the blade of this Dragon Gold Sword suddenly turned scarlet red, as if burning. Moreover, the Dragon Force it released was filled with terrifying darkness and corrosion.
“Boom…”
A fearsome black flame erupted from the sword blade.
The palm of Suo Hanyi’s hand that was clamping the blade was instantly charred.
Naier executed an iron horse bridge, her delicate body leaning back to evade Suo Hanyi’s heavy punch. The sharp sword in her hand stabbed forth like a rain of pear blossoms in a storm.
“Swish, swish, swish, swish…”
Instantly, a terrible scene unfolded.
Suo Hanyi’s entire right arm was instantly reduced to minced flesh and blood.
Then, she delivered another lightning-fast sword strike.
Suo Hanyi’s left arm was directly severed, blood spurting wildly, flying up into the air.
“Swish, swish, swish…”
Two more consecutive strikes.
As if he had grown shorter, Suo Hanyi’s two legs were alive cut off at the knees.
“Argh… argh… argh…”
Suo Hanyi let out heaven-shaking screams of agony.
In less than a second, all four of his limbs had been severed by Yan Naier. Blood spurted madly as he crashed heavily onto the boat.
Naier swiftly delivered several sword strikes, sealing Suo Hanyi’s acupoints to prevent him from bleeding to death immediately.
Then, her steps faltered, and a stream of blood welled up from the corner of her mouth.
Suo Lun watched with his heart in his mouth, staring fixedly at Yan Naier. Her injuries made his heart ache as if being twisted.
This mouthful of blood, he did not know how severely she was injured, nor how much life she might have overdrawn.
Suo Lun rowed over desperately, looking at Naier in alarm.
Naier flashed him a slight smile, shaking her head to indicate she was fine, that her injuries were not severe. She said, “I am wearing platinum armour, and what struck me were fist beams. The injuries truly are not severe. Spitting out a mouthful of blood is actually better.”
Suo Hanyi’s martial arts were truly too powerful. Originally, according to Suo Lun and Yan Naier’s plan, she was not supposed to be injured.
Because they had used a radiation arrow to corrode his Dragon Force, shot poison arrows, chosen to fight on a boat, and had the Blood Sea Dragon Gold Sword.
One could say that Naier had completely held all the advantages and benefits. Suo Hanyi could not even unleash sixty or seventy percent of his combat strength.
But they had not expected that even under these circumstances, he had nearly turned the tables.
That moment just now had been perilous to the extreme. If the Blood Sea Dragon Gold Sword had not been able to burn and release dark energy, instantly charring Suo Hanyi’s hand.
Then, the one lying down now would probably be Yan Naier.
Suo Hanyi’s martial arts were simply so powerful they were outrageous.
…
“You, are Yan Naier?” Suo Hanyi asked between great gasps, his face completely devoid of colour.
Naier nodded and said, “Was it you who killed my uncle Yan Nu?”
Suo Hanyi looked up and immediately saw several dozen cavalry officers already standing on the beach.
These men were all core officers of the Tianshui City Guard Army, his trusted confidants. When they saw their revered General Suo Hanyi with all four limbs severed, their eye sockets nearly split, unable to believe their eyes.
They knew completely how powerful General Suo Hanyi was.
Once, more than ten high-ranking warriors had charged at him together, yet they were not a match for a few of his moves. Now, he was actually about to die at a woman’s hands.
And upon hearing Yan Naier’s question, they were even more horrified beyond belief. They dared not believe that Suo Hanyi would kill his own master.
In their hearts, Suo Hanyi was a completely flawless commander.
And at this moment, within Suo Hanyi’s mind, he recalled a little girl with jade-like powder makeup.
When Yan Naier was eleven or twelve, she had once stayed at Yan Nu’s home for a period of time, because at that time Yan Yan had a very dangerous combat mission.
And the Suo Hanyi of that time was training in martial arts under his master Yan Nu. He had greatly liked this serious yet impossibly beautiful little girl.
So many times, it was he who had instructed Yan Naier in her practice.
Although he had been less than twenty years old at the time, he had already been fantasising about how wonderful it would be if he could marry Suo Ningbing and have such a jade-like, powder-makeup pretty daughter.
And he had never imagined that after this pretty girl grew up, she would become so powerful, and that he himself would die by her sword.
“You are formidable, but you are still not my match,” Suo Hanyi said.
“Correct,” Yan Naier said. “It was Suo Lun who found the optimal battlefield, and who wounded you with a hidden arrow from the very beginning, weakening your strength. Moreover, my precious sword is truly too powerful. If we had truly fought head-on, I would not be your match. Even… among those I know, there is no one who is your match.”
Suo Hanyi said proudly, “Three years ago, my martial arts had already surpassed my master’s. Even your father might not be my match.”
Yan Naier said, “In terms of strength, my father should have been as strong as you ten years ago, but he is not your equal now. For strength-type warriors, after the age of fifty, their blood and qi will decline.”
Suo Hanyi said, “Actually, after Suo Lun had fled for several dozen li, I knew he had some scheme or ambush. But I completely did not care. I believed that while there might be people in this world who could kill me, they were definitely not people that Suo Lun could command. I never expected that it was precisely this pride and arrogance that cost me my life.”
Because he had lost too much blood, Suo Hanyi’s breathing grew increasingly difficult, his face growing paler and paler.
Yan Naier said, “You are so powerful. You could have completely become the Suo Clan’s invincible commander, could have completely become Suo Lun’s pillar of support. Why did you betray the Suo Clan?”
Suo Hanyi shook his head desperately and said, “You do not understand, you do not understand… I am so powerful, I am such a genius. Why should I bow beneath a mere wastrel like Suo Lun?”
Yan Naier said, “Why did you kill my uncle Yan Nu? He was your master.”
Suo Hanyi’s face twisted, revealing boundless anguish. He shook his head and said, “I do not know. At that time, there was simply no time to think. I only knew that if I did not act, I would be finished. Once betrayal begins, it cannot be ended!”
Then, Suo Hanyi gasped with difficulty and said, “Suo Lun, I… my wife, did she truly wake up, or was it fake?”
At this moment, Yang Hongyi opened her eyes, sat up from the boat, her eyes brimming with tears. There was no hatred, only despair. She said in a mournful voice, “If you had known this day would come, why did you act as you did? You were possessed by demons.”
Seeing that his wife had truly woken up, Suo Hanyi could no longer hold back, and tears gushed forth.
“Hongyi, I was simply unwilling, simply unwilling…” Suo Hanyi roared through his tears, “Why? I am so powerful, my martial arts are supreme, I am invincible in battle. Why should I be a slave to another? What can Suo Lun do? He is just a wastrel, yet by birth he can be a city lord?”
Although Suo Hanyi already knew that Suo Lun was not a wastrel, in his heart, Suo Lun would always be that good-for-nothing spendthrift.
Suo Hanyi’s question was one that could truly interrogate the depths of the soul.
Why are some people born into supreme nobility, while others, clearly so powerful and brilliantly talented, must serve as servants to others?
Tu Lingduo’s catchphrase was that for people like us, martial arts are merely an ornament. Being good enough is sufficient.
And Gui Qinshao had originally been very strong in martial arts, her swordsmanship outstanding. But after losing to Suo Lun with the Nine Swords of Calamity that day, she directly threw away her precious sword and stopped practising. Because swordsmanship to her was merely for shaping her figure, merely for showing off.
Yet people like Suo Hanyi had to train and study desperately.
Including Yan Yan and Yan Naier. It was just that Yan Naier merely found martial arts practice dull, not grievous.
The reason Yan Yan was unwilling to pledge loyalty to anyone was that he could not stand this unfairness. He wanted to be his own master.
“Suo Lun, after I die, where will you bury me?” Suo Hanyi asked.
“I do not know,” Suo Lun said. “Where do you wish to be buried?”
Suo Hanyi’s memories of his birth parents were very faint. The father figure in his memory had always been Suo Long.
Suo Long’s gaze towards him was filled with admiration and expectation. Every time he patted the back of his head was Suo Hanyi’s happiest moment, as if all his hard work had been rewarded.
Then, within his mind, the scene he had never been able to let go of surfaced once more.
Before this, he had never doubted Suo Long’s fatherly love for him. Until someone reminded him that Suo Long’s affection for him was all false, merely using him to slave away for his son. If he truly cherished you, why did he not marry Suo Ningbing to you?
That day, he had proposed marriage to his foster father Suo Long.
His foster father’s gaze had been one of heartache, of regret. Then he had looked at Suo Hanyi for a long time.
Previously, Suo Hanyi had been too distraught to understand. Now he understood. His foster father’s gaze was one of regret and heartache, because Suo Ningbing already had a betrothal. Otherwise, would it not have been better for the two families to become even closer through marriage?
His foster father’s love for him had always been genuine. Because his biological son Suo Lun was disappointing, he had placed all his hopes upon him, Suo Hanyi.
His foster father had given the position of city lord to Suo Lun, but the great power of the city lord would be given to him.
Previously, because of jealousy and inner demons, he had not understood these things. But now that he was about to die, it was as if he could see everything clearly.
His foster father truly regarded me as a son, not a servant.
All of Suo Hanyi’s tears surged forth at once. From childhood to adulthood, he had always longed for his foster father’s praise and affirmation. From childhood to adulthood, he had grown up under his foster father’s kindness.
Although he felt he had grown powerful, had matured, inside he had always been an immature child.
Once his foster father was gone, he could no longer guard his heart, nor see the direction clearly. Thus, he had walked down the wrong path.
Instantly, Suo Hanyi’s heart was filled with boundless pain. It was not quite regret, but simply pain.
“I beg you, bury me beside my foster father. You do not even need a tombstone,” Suo Hanyi pleaded.
“Very well,” Suo Lun said.
Suo Hanyi looked towards the trusted officers on the beach and used his last Dragon Force to say, “From now on, Suo Lun shall be your sovereign.”
Instantly, these Suo Clan City Guard officers fell to their knees, weeping bitterly.
To be honest, today Suo Hanyi had revealed his true face before them, striking them like thunder.
The leader they worshipped was actually so despicable, so shameless?
He had not only betrayed the Suo Clan, but killed his own master, and nearly killed his own wife, all for the sake of usurping power.
But in their hearts, they truly could not hate him. Because Suo Hanyi was truly their perfect commander, even their elder brother and protector god.
“Suo Lun, I have fallen, but they have not. You must protect them,” Suo Hanyi said. At this point, his complexion was like golden paper. Every word required all his strength, and he could barely breathe.
“Very well,” Suo Lun said again.
Suo Hanyi suddenly gritted his teeth and said, “One day, help me cut off that bitch Zhi Ning’s head. Without her, I would not have come to this pass.”
“I shall do my best,” Suo Lun said.
Suo Hanyi let out a long breath and said, “Now, cut off my head, just as all sovereigns do to traitorous ministers.”
Suo Lun stepped forward, raising the Blood Sea Dragon Gold Sword high.
Suo Hanyi gazed at the sky, murmuring to himself, “Foster father, father… I am unwilling, but you may rest assured.”
“Swish!” Suo Lun brought the sword down in a fierce strike.