A Man in the Snow: Starting with a Sword Challenge to the Northern Liang Prince's Palace

Ye Yun was awakened by the pain.

Three ribs were broken, a large area of ​​his left leg was corroded by venom, and there were five deep claw marks on his back that revealed the bone.

Unexpectedly, these powerful demons are quite capable.

He opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the tavern.

Dong put him on the bed and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets looking for medicine for his injuries. The old man's hands were shaking, and the bottles and jars he found spilled all over the floor.

"Stop looking," Ye Yun said, struggling to sit up, his forehead veins bulging with pain.

"Bullshit!" Dong Bude didn't even turn his head. "You're about to die!"

Ye Yun ignored him and closed his eyes to focus his inner vision. In his sea of ​​consciousness, the system panel was flashing, and the luck value column kept jumping. When he blocked the door earlier, he killed over a hundred demons, and his luck value increased significantly, which was a pretty good income.

But that's not the point; the point is the city gate.

"How's the city gate?"

Dong Bude found a bottle of medicine, turned around and walked over, sprinkling powder on the wound while cursing, "It's closed, don't worry! The Great Sword Immortal won't let it cause any trouble, but you almost died there!"

Ye Yun took a deep breath; the medicinal powder stung his wounds, causing them to burn, but he didn't utter a sound. He grabbed Dong Bude's hand: "What's the situation outside?"

Dong Bu paused for a moment, then said, "They're still attacking the city. Those three beasts are taking turns bombarding it."

Ye Yun pushed away Dong Bude's hand and stood up. Her legs went weak, and she almost fell, only managing to steady herself by holding onto the edge of the bed.

"Are you crazy?!" Dong Bude stared wide-eyed.

"The city gates cannot be lost," Ye Yun said. "If they are lost, everyone will die."

He lifted his foot to walk out, but Dong Bude stopped him. The old man's left arm hung down, his right arm was stretched across the doorway, and his eyes were bloodshot: "Young Ye, you damn well better listen to me, going there is just suicide!"

Ye Yun looked at him: "Old Dong, six hundred years ago, when Mei Ruoxue was on the city wall, why didn't you stop her?"

Dong was stunned.

Ye Yun walked past him and pushed open the door to go out.

The streets were packed with people—the wounded, retreating sword cultivators, and civilians helping to transport supplies—it was all in complete chaos. From the direction of the city gate in the distance came muffled crashes, one after another, like hammering on everyone's heart.

Ye Yun leaped towards the city gate.

When he landed inside the city gate, Qian Shouxin was leading a team of sword cultivators to reinforce the gate.

"Boss Ye?!" Qian Shouxin's expression changed when he saw him. "You're injured like this, and you still came?"

Ye Yun did not answer. He walked to the city gate, leaned against the gate, and faced the city.

Three of his four flying swords shattered, but he had other options. He pulled out a handful of pills from his robes, popped them into his mouth, chewed them, and swallowed. The bitter taste of the medicine exploded in his mouth. The spiritual energy in his dantian began to recover, slowly, but better than nothing.

"Go and shut down the city gate winches," Ye Yun said. "And lock all the locks. I'll guard this place."

Qian Shouxin grew anxious: "How can you guard it all by yourself?"

"Go quickly!"

Qian Shouxin gritted his teeth and led his men toward the winch.

Another loud crash came from outside the city gate, and a large section of the gate bulged inward, with two wooden stakes breaking.

Ye Yun placed his hands on the door panel, channeling his spiritual energy to barely stabilize himself.

He knew that the three powerful demons at the Immortal Realm hadn't made their move yet. That attack just now was a combined effort from all three, and it almost killed him.

They are currently observing and letting their lesser demons weaken the defenses of the Sword Qi Great Wall. Once the city gates are breached, they will personally charge in.

The system panel was flashing again, and the luck value was still increasing. Ye Yun glanced at it and noticed a new notification: The [Nirvana] skill can be upgraded.

Without a second thought, he clicked to upgrade.

The upgraded "Nirvana" no longer involves the flying sword shattering and being reborn; instead, both the physical body and the flying sword undergo Nirvana simultaneously. The cost is the consumption of a large amount of luck points and life force, leaving the user weakened afterward.

Outside the city, a third loud bang was heard.

The city gate was finally forced open a crack, and the horn of a rhinoceros demon pierced through the gap, twisting it left and right, breaking a section of the wooden stake.

Ye Yun kicked the rhinoceros demon on the head, sending it flying, and then squeezed out through the gap.

He stood outside the city gate.

The demon army was right in front of him, a dark, dense mass. The nearest demon beast was less than three feet away, its foul-smelling saliva dripping onto his face.

Three of the four flying swords were shattered, but the "Sword of Law" was still usable. Ye Yun gripped the hilt and unleashed a slash.

There are no fancy sword moves, just slashing.

As the sword flashed, more than a dozen demonic beasts were severed in half at the waist. Blood mist exploded, spraying all over him.

He walked forward step by step, slashing with his sword. With each step, a group of demonic beasts fell. Behind him, through the cracks in the city gate, Qian Shouxin and his men were desperately trying to close it, but it would take time.

A tiger demon at the Jade Purity Realm pounced, but Ye Yun dodged to the side, stabbed it in the belly with his sword, and ripped it open.

Two Nascent Soul Realm wolf demons attacked from both sides. Ye Yun ducked to dodge the one on the left, then slashed off the head of the one on the right with his sword, and kicked the one on the left away.

But his spiritual energy was rapidly depleting. The wound reopened, blood gushed out, and the poison in his left leg flared up, causing his entire leg to go numb.

Another wave of monsters rushed up. Ye Yun swung his sword to block them, but was knocked away by a bear demon and crashed onto the city gate.

He got up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and continued killing.

Someone on the city wall shouted, "Boss Ye is out there all alone!"

"Open the city gates quickly and let him in!"

"We can't open it! If we do, the demons will rush in!"

Ye Yun couldn't hear any of this. He had only one thought in his mind: stall them until the city gates were completely closed.

The great demon of the Three-Headed Immortal Realm has made a move.

They finally lost their patience.

The tiger demon was the first to make a move. Instead of charging over, it unleashed a punch from a distance, the force of which transformed into a black tiger that roared and pounced on Ye Yun.

Unable to dodge, Ye Yun could only use the "Sword of Law" to block the attack head-on. The sword blocked the tiger-shaped fist force, but Ye Yun was sent flying, crashing into the city wall and creating a crater.

The snake demon then struck. The poisonous mist transformed into a giant green python, coiling around Ye Yun's body and corroding his spiritual power and flesh.

Ye Yun gritted his teeth and severed the venomous python with a single sword strike, but a large patch of his skin had already been corroded, revealing the red muscles beneath.

The eagle demon made its final move. With a flap of its wings, dozens of feathers shot out like sharp arrows, each carrying the sharpness to pierce through the protective spiritual energy.

Ye Yun had nowhere to avoid it.

He closed his eyes and activated "Nirvana".

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, his luck points burned wildly. The three shattered flying swords reformed in the void—"Golden Light" gathered from golden dust, "Purple Cloud" converged from points of light, and "Cage" was pieced back together from its fragments. Not only were the flying swords reborn, but his body was also undergoing a rebirth: broken ribs were reset, corroded skin regenerated, and wounds healed at a visible speed.

But the process was excruciating, like being skinned alive.

Ye Yun roared to the sky, his voice drowning out the howls of the demon race.

Four flying swords shot out simultaneously, their sword energy soaring into the sky.

The tiger-shaped fist force was shattered by the "golden light," the poisonous python was blasted apart by the "purple sky," and the feather arrows were trapped by the "cage." Instead of retreating, Ye Yun advanced and charged towards the three-headed demon.

The tiger demon's pupils contracted, clearly not expecting this human swordsman to be able to retaliate.

Ye Yun slashed at the tiger demon with his sword. The tiger demon raised its arm to block, but was cut by the "Sword of Law" and suffered a deep, bone-revealing wound. It roared and slammed its other fist into Ye Yun's chest.

Ye Yun was sent flying backward, his chest bones shattering once more. But as he landed, four flying swords simultaneously pierced the tiger demon, forcing it to retreat more than ten feet.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the snake demon launched a sneak attack, biting Ye Yun's shoulder with its venomous fangs. Ye Yun retaliated with a swift sword strike, slicing off half of the snake demon's face. The snake demon screamed and shrank back.

The eagle demon swooped down, its sharp claws reaching for Ye Yun's head. Ye Yun looked up and unleashed four sword strikes simultaneously, forcing the eagle demon to take flight.

The three great demons joined forces to attack, but Ye Yun fought them all single-handedly, creating chaos and darkness.

But he couldn't hold on for long. The effects of "Nirvana" were fading, his spiritual power was depleting, and he was afflicted with new wounds.

At the city gate, Qian Shouxin finally led his men to completely seal it. A dozen iron locks, three horizontal beams, and two array seals were all installed.

"Boss Ye! The door is closed! Come back quickly!" Qian Shouxin shouted.

Ye Yun heard this. He wanted to retreat, but the three-headed demon wouldn't let him leave so easily.

The tiger demon punched him in the back, sending him crashing into the city wall. The snake demon bit his leg, and the eagle demon's claws tore open his abdomen.

Ye Yun used his last bit of strength to detonate all four flying swords simultaneously.

boom--

Sword energy surged forth, and the surge of spiritual power forced the three-headed demon back. Ye Yun used the shockwave from the explosion to fly towards the city wall, crashing into the crenellations and rolling to the ground.

He fell into a pool of blood, his consciousness fading once more.

He heard someone calling him and heard footsteps running from a distance.

In a daze, he saw Dong Bude rushing towards him. The old man rolled him out of the pool of blood, carried him on his back, and cursed, "You brat, you're fucking crazy!"

Ye Yun wanted to laugh, but couldn't manage to twitch her lips.

He closed his eyes, hearing Dong Bude's heavy breathing and the unwilling roars of the demons behind him.

This battle almost allowed him to break through to the next level.