From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 86 A Narrow Victory

Lin Yan gripped the knife tightly and took a step forward.

He combined the "Wandering Step" and the "Dust Step" together, this time making his steps bigger, faster, and more elusive.

This is something new that he has been figuring out on the training ground these past few days.

Although I haven't mastered it yet, it's enough for now.

Shen Yue did not use the Dharma Image Projection again.

His spiritual energy was already insufficient. The projection of the Dharma body in the mid-stage of the Transformation Realm would consume a small portion of the spiritual energy in his dantian each time. He had already used it once and could not use it again for a short period of time.

But he also has hidden weapons.

Moreover, each one is imbued with the residual spiritual power of the Dharma Image, making it ten times sharper than ordinary hidden weapons.

Six bone-piercing nails flew in from six different angles, blocking all of Lin Yan's space to dodge.

Lin Yan channeled his inner energy into the blade and slashed it in the direction from which the attack was coming.

The blade, carrying surging true energy, exploded into a wave of air in the sky.

Several bone-piercing nails were shaken to pieces by the wind from the blade; five were blown away, and one was embedded in Lin Yan's left shoulder.

Lin Yan's actions made Shen Yue's eyelids twitch.

He had fought so many battles, and he had seen people parry hidden weapons with knives and dodge them with agility, but he had never seen anyone dare to use the wind from a knife to deflect a hidden weapon.

Even though Lin Yan's true energy was suppressed by his Dharma form, why could he still unleash such power?

Moreover, even though the power of the blade wind was dispersed, the bone-piercing nail was still firmly embedded in his left shoulder. Didn't he feel any pain?

Lin Yan's forehead veins throbbed as he raised his sword again and slashed at Shen Yue's face.

Shen Yue parried with his sword, and sparks flew as the two blades clashed.

Lin Yan did not retreat. He immediately followed with a second slash, then a third, then a fourth, one after another, each slash imbued with the power of overlapping waves.

First layer, second layer, third layer.

Each strike carries a triple force.

Shen Yue blocked seven blows and retreated seven steps.

He finally couldn't hold back during his eighth cut, and the bone-piercing nail in his left hand was thrown out again.

But this time, the instant his true energy twisted at his wrist, Lin Yan's knife had already arrived.

It wasn't aimed at his body, but at his wrist.

Shen Yue didn't have time to stop, so he could only withdraw his spiritual energy and protect his wrist to take the blow.

The blade slashed at his left wrist, tearing the skin and causing it to swell up immediately.

The bone-piercing nail can't be thrown out.

Shen Yue gritted his teeth and slashed at Lin Yan's neck with his right hand.

Lin Yan ducked to avoid it, and slapped Shen Yue's waist with his left palm.

Layered Wave Force, Fourfold!

With one palm strike, Shen Yue could no longer withstand the force and staggered a few steps to the side, kneeling on one knee.

He stood up, supporting himself with the knife, his left hand hanging down, his right hand gripping the knife, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his mouth.

Shen Yue looked at Lin Yan with a hint of admiration on his face.

"You win."

Vice Minister Zhou raised the flag: "Lin Yan, victory!"

The entire venue erupted in cheers once again.

...

Lin Yan was carried back to the courtyard by Xiong Kuo and Sun Dayong.

To be precise, it was half-lifted and half-carried.

His left shoulder was wrapped in a makeshift bandage, and blood had seeped through three layers, with blood seeping out with every step he took.

Old Meng followed behind, carrying a medicine box, looking at Lin Yan, whose face was pale, with a nervous expression.

"Slow down, put it down slowly."

Old Meng directed Lin Yan to be placed on the kang (a heated brick bed), cut open his clothes, and gasped in shock.

The wound on my left shoulder wasn't deep; the nail had penetrated half an inch into the flesh and was stuck in my scapula. The bleeding stopped after it was pulled out.

The real, fatal wound is on the chest.

Two of the three ribs that Zhao Wuji had previously broken were dislocated again during the clash with Shen Yue. The broken ends were rubbing against the soft tissue, blood was accumulating in his chest cavity, and he could hear a rattling sound when he breathed.

"pneumothorax."

Old Meng pressed his ear against Lin Yan's chest to listen, then looked up with a very unpleasant expression on his face.

"The lung lobe was punctured by a broken bone, and air leaked into the chest cavity."

Chen stood at the door, holding a basin of hot water in her hands. The water had already cooled down. She didn't know when she had brought it or how long she had been standing there.

"Mother, it's alright."

Lin Yan turned his head to look at Madam Chen and smiled at her.

Chen didn't say anything, put the basin on the table, and turned to leave.

Only the soft sobbing could be heard from outside.

Old Meng rummaged through his medicine box and pulled out a hollow silver needle, then held it up to Lin Yan's chest.

"I need to let the air out of my chest, otherwise my lungs will be compressed even more. Just bear with it."

Lin Yan nodded.

As the silver needle pierced through the hole, a stream of air hissed out, and instantly a bloody smell filled the air.

Lin Yan frowned slightly but did not make a sound. Old Meng then inserted two more needles, one into his left shoulder and the other under his ribs, to release some of the stagnant blood.

The blood was dark red and thick like paste.

Old Meng wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the pool of blood, and shook his head.

"There's too much blood stasis; just letting it drain won't clean it up. The blood in your chest cavity has to dissolve on its own. If it doesn't dissolve, it will become inflamed, and inflammation is a serious matter."

"How do we do it?" Xiong Kuo asked.

"True Qi." Old Meng looked at Lin Yan, "Use true qi to break up the blood stasis and dissolve it little by little. But for those below the Unending Realm, the purity of their true qi is insufficient, so they can't break it down. General Lin is only at the Great Perfection of the True Qi Realm, which is far from enough."

The room fell silent.

Sun Dayong put the arrow on the ground, held his head in his hands, and Xiong Kuo pressed his hands on the hilt of his knife, his knuckles turning white.

Lin Yan lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) with his eyes closed, as if he were sleeping.

But in his mind, the ability to observe qi was at work.

He "saw" the condition inside his chest cavity.

All the injuries were clearly visible under the observation of Qi.

The blood clot was concentrated under the left rib cage, about the size of a fist, blocking the space between the lung and the pleura.

Most of the pneumothorax has been drained, but a small part is still pressing on the apex of the lung. There are two misaligned fractures that need to be repositioned, but the lung cannot be moved now, as any movement could puncture the lung lobe.

The vital energy circulates in the meridians, but it cannot pass through any areas of blood stasis.

The feeling was like a stream being blocked by stones.

Old Meng is right. The purity of true qi at the Great Perfection of True Qi Realm is indeed insufficient to clear away this level of blood stasis.

But Lin Yan practiced an unusual kind of internal energy.

He practiced a fragment of the breathing technique, unlike ordinary martial artists. He had three streams of true qi in his dantian.

He had been practicing this method ever since he got the second part, but he had never been able to practice it smoothly. Every time his true energy separated in the three paths, a small part of it would get stuck in his meridians, causing blockages.

Now his chest feels blocked.

One inside and one outside, both blocked.

Lin Yan suddenly thought of a question: if he could use his true qi to clear the blockages in his meridians, could he use the same method to clear the blood stasis in his chest cavity?