Chapter 292: Practical Combat Experience

“Kill!”
Seven swords were unleashed simultaneously, targeting all vital points on Lin Dong’s body. Lin Dong pushed with his palm, aiming straight at the leg of the stool. The entire stool shot forward, flying toward a Ningjizong disciple in blue. One corner of the stool’s seat aimed straight at the disciple’s heart.
The disciple in blue sneered and swung his sword; the sword light flashed as the incoming stool instantly shattered into pieces. The other five disciples charged forward.
Lin Dong bent his legs slightly and suddenly leaped upward, diving at the disciple in blue who had fallen behind due to slashing the stool. Just as the disciple in blue was about to strike again, three pieces of wood from the shattered stool flew into the air, aiming at his eyes and throat. In shock, he kicked the ground, retreating quickly while flipping his wrist, using his sword to intercept the wooden pieces. With several soft sounds, the pieces were blocked one by one and fell to the ground.
After stabilizing himself with a kick to his right foot, before he could catch his breath, Lin Dong rushed down from above.
“Die!”
The disciple in blue suddenly thrust his sword, the cold tip aiming at Lin Dong’s heart. Lin Dong twisted his waist to dodge the sword. The disciple in blue smiled coldly and swept his sword at Lin Dong. Lin Dong opened his palm, swung up another stool, and slashed at the disciple’s head. Instead of panicking, the disciple in blue saw this as an opportunity to die. In his view, though Lin Dong was fast, he had the advantage of acting first. With just a short distance between them, he could easily strike Lin Dong first. Even if he couldn’t cut Lin Dong in half, it would be enough to send him flying. That move of slashing the stool was completely unnecessary. Lack of practical combat experience—deserved to die!
Seeing the smile on the disciple’s face, Lin Dong also smiled. Just as the sword was about to touch his chest, his spiritual energy surged forth. The smile on his face instantly froze. The disciple in blue clearly realized that his sweeping sword could no longer move an inch forward. A cold wind blew from above; dodging was useless. His spiritual energy leaked out, forming a faint spiritual barrier around him.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, the stool struck the disciple’s head. With a crisp sound, wood shavings and blood splattered everywhere. His eyes rolled as he slowly raised his arm to wipe the blood flowing down his face, but he collapsed to the ground before he could finish.
“Two already!”
Lin Dong murmured. As the sword wind behind him grew intense, his spiritual energy circulated rapidly through his meridians along the path of the Ethereal Steps, then rushed to his legs.

The wind howled as Lin Dong swiftly dashed forward, avoiding the five men’s counterattacks. Turning to face them, he thought rapidly—taking care of the two strongest first. Although his right arm was slightly injured, controlling his spiritual sword required a lot of spiritual energy, even though his opponent was one rank lower. As for the remaining five, if they attacked together, they might still be too strong. At the very least, he needed to find another way to take down one of them. Seeing the five swords charging again, Lin Dong threw a bench at the disciple on the far right. Repeating the same tactic? The other four clearly learned from their mistake; seeing this, they stopped their charge and raised their swords to help. With several sharp blows, the combined force of the five swords instantly chopped the bench into dozens of pieces. Lin Dong bent slightly but didn’t jump; instead, he rushed at the disciple in green on the far left. With rapid movements, just as the five men retracted their swords and looked up, Lin Dong had already reached the green-clad disciple, swinging the newly appeared bench straight at his right shoulder. The disciple in green felt a chill in his heart; instinctively, he pushed off the ground with his right foot and shot backward. Lin Dong swung the bench emptyly, quickly turning to chase after the green-clad disciple. Seeing another companion knocked aside, the disciple from the Ningji Sect on the left thrust his sword at Lin Dong’s back, shouting, “Retreat!” The green-clad disciple understood immediately. As the bench came down, he retreated while swinging his sword to block it. With a crisp sound, half of the bench was cut off, slowing Lin Dong’s momentum sharply. His spiritual sword rushed after him. Lin Dong’s gaze sharpened; the green-clad disciple’s ankles seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, causing him to fall backward. Though he didn’t know why, the disciple scanned quickly and saw that his companions were less than two meters behind him. He pushed off with his legs and slid backward. Seeing the green-clad disciple retreating at nearly a 45-degree angle to the ground, Lin Dong couldn’t miss this chance. He accelerated further, swinging the bench straight at the disciple’s abdomen. The disciple blocked with his sword, splitting the bench in two again with a sharp sound. He thought Lin Dong, hindered by this, would have to retreat sideways to avoid the spiritual sword behind him, but instead, Lin Dong swung the remaining half of the bench straight down. The disciple’s heart shattered in fear as he swung his sword again, but his arm moved too fast—cutting through before the bench could get close. With a bang, half of the bench hit the disciple’s head, instantly exploding into countless pieces of wood.

The other half of the bench that Lin Dong deliberately had his Qingyi disciple cut off silently blocked his back, and soon it was hurled at the Spirit Sword.
Hiss!
The Spirit Sword pierced through the bench; though its force was weakened, it still rushed swiftly toward Lin Dong’s back. With a soft sound, it sank into his back.
Severe pain struck as Lin Dong’s back muscles contracted.
The pierced bench continued its momentum, hitting the sword hilt and forcing the disciples of the Ningji Sect to withdraw their swords.
A string of blood droplets sprayed upward, reflecting a faint multicolored glow under the scorching sun.
As the Spirit Sword was withdrawn, Lin Dong’s body relaxed, and he staggered forward a few steps.
When he turned back, the four of them had already charged at him simultaneously.
“Finally, it’s almost over!”
Lin Dong exhaled and, without hesitation, rushed forward to meet them.
Fighting one against four, even the strongest could only reach the second stage of the Mental State phase. Although Lin Dong had two injuries, neither was life-threatening. Soon, wooden pieces flew through the air, and shouts rang out continuously. As time passed, the balance of victory gradually tilted in Lin Dong’s favor.
Seizing the opportunity, he used a bench to knock one of the Ningji Sect disciples unconscious, quickly ending any remaining doubt about the outcome.
After another companion fell, two Ningji Sect disciples fled in opposite directions.
Lin Dong chased after one of them, while Yun Lan sent the Blue Chen Sword flying from her hand, piercing the back of the other disciple.
By the time Lin Dong knocked the man down with a bench, Yun Lan had already arrived, holding a small porcelain bottle.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lin Dong sat cross-legged, took several deep breaths, and said, “Not bad, right? One against eight—complete victory!”
“Is this really a complete victory?” Yun Lan slowly poured healing medicine onto Lin Dong’s wounds and gently bandaged them.
“It’s just a minor injury; of course it’s a complete victory,” Lin Dong replied without hesitation.
Yun Lan bit her lip softly and said quietly, “Why force yourself to do things you don’t want to do?”
“There’s no choice. I’m getting older, and it’s time to find a wife…”
Lin Dong replied with a laugh. He really didn’t like practicing with those clearly stronger than him, especially when they were enemies. Being beaten wasn’t as pleasant as beating others.
Helplessly, he had to fight against stronger opponents so that his combat experience could grow faster than by crushing enemies. For the sake of finding a good wife, Lin Dong was more than willing to bear this cost.
Yun Lan remained silent, wanting to say something but unable to utter a word.
After his wounds were bandaged, Lin Dong took out a Spirit Restoring Pill and swallowed it. Then he stood up and said, “Alright, let’s find the next group.”

Yun Lan nodded. As Lin Dong turned, the Blue Chen Sword in his palm was silently launched, slicing across the throats of the seven unconscious disciples of the Ningji Sect. The two continued searching within the Xingli Sect, and soon another group of Ningji Sect disciples came into sight—seven in total, four of whom were at the third level of the Mind Realm, with the other three at the second level. Such strength was far beyond what Lin Dong could handle alone. After some calculation, Lin Dong gritted his teeth and decided to take on three of those at the third level of the Mind Realm first. Once Yun Lan separated the seven into two groups, Lin Dong charged forward, aiming at his targets. Against three opponents at the third level of the Mind Realm, Lin Dong was still slightly at a disadvantage. But with sheer determination, he endured two attacks before killing one of them. Using his Mysterious Step, he temporarily reversed his disadvantage, gradually regaining the upper hand after each kill and becoming more comfortable. By the time they had eliminated all seven, Yun Lan appeared beside him. The other four Ningji Sect disciples lay motionless on the stones, their bodies already cold for most of an hour. After bandaging their wounds and resting for a while, the two set off again. Above them, the scorching sun slowly moved westward. By the time it disappeared below the horizon, the two had almost circled the entire Xingli Sect. By the end of this journey, Lin Dong had thirteen wounds, while Yun Lan had killed far more enemies in just half a day than she had in all her previous battles. As night fell and no enemies appeared for nearly half an hour, Lin Dong was about to call it a day when Xiao Tianchi arrived with over a dozen disciples in the distance. Behind Xiao Tianchi, Tian Hao was shocked to see Lin Dong covered in bandages and rushed over immediately. “Dad, are you hurt?” “It’s fine, just minor injuries,” Lin Dong said with a smile, patting Tian Hao’s head before asking, “How about you? Are you unharmed?” Tian Hao shook his head, glancing subtly at Yun Lan. “He brought this on himself,” Yun Lan said helplessly. Tian Hao was confused but didn’t dare ask further. “What about Sect Master Xiao?” Seeing Xiao Tianchi’s cheerful expression, Lin Dong asked, “Judging by your look, it seems like a great victory, right?” “Only ten disciples were lost,” Xiao Tianchi said proudly. “We killed over a dozen elders and six hundred disciples of the Ningji Sect—truly a great victory.” “That impressive?” Lin Dong couldn’t help but be amazed. These days, when strength was equal, intelligence played an incredibly important role!

Disciples of the Gu Huan Sect, with the help of Blue-Green Fruits, had slightly higher strength. However, their numbers were several hundred fewer. Even including disciples from the Xing Li Sect, they were only just slightly stronger than those of the Ning Ji Sect. Unexpectedly, the cost of defeating the Ning Ji Sect was merely a dozen or so casualties among their disciples. The disciples from the Xing Li Sect, who were responsible for luring the enemy, also suffered casualties. Although they were slightly faster, they would surely be trapped with no way to escape if surrounded. These losses should have been taken into account. But in the eyes of Lin Dong and Xiao Tianchi, they had little to do with them, so they simply ignored them.