Chapter Seventy-Three: A Chance Encounter with an Enemy

The oppressive force between heaven and earth made Lei Dong distinctly uncomfortable, but unlike Shuiyao Xian, it did not significantly hinder his movements. As he raced at full speed through the gently undulating hills, he kept a close watch on the opposing side through his spiritual sense.

A wave of relief washed over Lei Dong—James Sam’s lightsaber had not caused any casualties among his comrades. At the very instant the lightsaber crashed down, Huang Xiwen, who was directly in its path, made a sudden dive to the side, rolling on the ground to evade it. The powerful blade grazed past his body, carving into the hard earth with a thunderous boom, creating a massive fissure nearly a meter wide, over ten meters long, and more than three meters deep.

Even as Huang Xiwen rolled to dodge, the barrel of his Type Rifle never wavered from its upward angle—short bursts of gunfire continued relentlessly. On Huang Xiwen’s left, Luo Haoran unleashed bursts of flame from his 17 Short Assault Rifle, while Bei Shiliang fired with his Type Rifle fitted with a 35mm grenade launcher. To the right, Song Jingang, having tossed aside his RS-8 single-soldier rocket launcher, gripped a modified general-purpose machine gun equipped with a 200-round drum magazine, spitting out a searing torrent of bullets at a rate of 1,500 rounds per minute. Lagging slightly behind, Lang Tianyu wielded a Type-21 sniper rifle in his right hand, firing 12.7mm sniper rounds one by one, while his left hand unleashed fire from his 17 Short Assault Rifle.

Meanwhile, high above, James Sam’s body swelled once more. The fierce barrage of bullets barely affected him, only making his body shudder erratically and slightly slowing his expansion. In his hand, a lightsaber rapidly took shape, and in a flash of white light, he struck again—this time at Song Jingang, whose position was enveloped in heavy fire. Song cursed as he shifted his position repeatedly; the lightsaber barely missed him, gouging a deep trench into the ground.

From the jungle in the central-southern part of the island, it was less than three kilometers to the statue of the Holy Emperor in the southeast corner. Lei Dong, anxious and pressing forward at full speed, reached the spot in under three minutes. In that brief span, James Sam had already formed ten lightsabers, two for each fighter. Were it not for the team’s strength in cultivation as well as their elite combat experience, tactical agility, and flawless coordination, someone would have fallen to those blades long before now.

Though still some distance away, Lei Dong’s spiritual sense had already locked onto James Sam. He braced his Type-21 sniper rifle against his shoulder and fired three shots in succession. Three 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary rounds burst from the muzzle at a muzzle velocity of 1,000 meters per second, striking James Sam directly in the eyes.

There was no sign that James Sam was harmed, but his attention was instantly drawn to Lei Dong.

“It’s you!” James Sam roared in fury.

Of course, he remembered this opponent who had viciously beaten him just hours earlier—a defeat unlike any he had ever suffered, crushed with no chance to retaliate. Humiliation and rage burned through his being, searing his very mind, driving pain through whatever remained of his brain, eyes ablaze with fury. With a furious bellow, he shouted, “Sinner of the Holy Emperor, wicked heretic, you should burn in hell!” The lightsaber in his hand suddenly extended by dozens of meters, shining with an even more blinding light as he brought it down ferociously toward Lei Dong.

“Damn it, all talk and no skill!” The speed of the descending blade was astonishing, yet Lei Dong only sidestepped at the last possible moment, cursing under his breath, while his sniper rifle—its magazine also replaced with a 100-round drum—continued firing without pause.

A thunderous explosion, even greater than before, reached Lei Dong’s ears. The ground was split by the lightsaber into a fissure more than five meters deep—its force nearly doubled from before.

Even more terrifying, within a few breaths, James Sam’s body swelled again, radiating an unbearable white light. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to boil, converging upon him. A larger lightsaber pointed at the sky, then slashed at Lei Dong with blinding speed.

Lei Dong darted aside, the larger lightsaber grazing his combat suit and smashing hard into the ground once more.

“Aim for his eyes!” Lei Dong shouted. Instantly, Lang Tianyu, Huang Xiwen, Bei Shiliang, Song Jingang, and Luo Haoran unleashed a concentrated hail of fire at James Sam’s face.

Once again, James Sam’s attack failed, his vision disrupted by the sudden storm of bullets. Enraged, his body responded as if stung—growing more than a meter taller, the swelling tearing his skin in places, leaving mottled cracks. Yet the white light within him spun rapidly, instantly healing these wounds.

Another lightsaber swiftly formed in his hand, crashing down at Lei Dong.

Lei Dong dodged once more with ease, further infuriating James Sam. Before their disbelieving eyes, James Sam’s body grew taller still, the white light around him thickening and spinning faster, the time needed to form a lightsaber growing shorter and shorter.

Soon, amid James Sam’s repeated roars, powerful lightsabers seemed to form in a single breath, slashing at Lei Dong one after another with increasing intensity.

These lightsabers moved at incredible speed. While there had once been moments to evade between strikes, now the relentless barrage left little room for escape. The lightsabers tracked Lei Dong as if they had eyes, while the growing number of fissures in the ground hindered his movements, forcing him into a desperate and unsteady retreat.

Desperate shouts filled the air as Huang Xiwen, Lang Tianyu, and the others fired with increasing intensity. Yet their bullets, for all their volume, did little more than distract James Sam, who barely bothered to defend himself; the swirling lightsabers chased Lei Dong with unrelenting fury.

Even so, pressure mounted on the team. Forced to dodge the frenzied, whirling lightsabers, their evasive maneuvers took a toll on their aim and firepower—the gunfire began to thin.

Amid James Sam’s wild, triumphant laughter, a dense burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from several hundred meters away. In the next instant, a figure wreathed in flames swept onto the battlefield from the east in a whirlwind charge.

“Wu Yun!” Huang Xiwen shouted in delight.

Wu Yun had arrived!

This zealous champion of firepower carried the “Vulcan Cannon” he almost never parted with but had never fired—a six-barreled machine gun, its ten bright yellow, extra-long ammunition belts of five hundred rounds each slung around his waist and over his shoulders, making him look like a wild warrior straight out of a film.

Five hundred meters from the battlefield, seeing a lightsaber about to strike Lei Dong as he rolled desperately across the ground, Wu Yun slammed the firing button. The electric motor spun furiously, and six blazing lashes of fire whipped into the air, lashing at James Sam.

The “Vulcan Cannon,” with a firing rate exceeding 6,000 rounds per minute, unleashed an overwhelming hail of bullets. The sudden, ferocious barrage struck James Sam, making his body convulse violently.

“Bastard!” The abrupt, powerful assault, combined with his spasms, caused the newly formed lightsaber to dissipate instantly. James Sam howled in rage.

In the brief lull that followed, the suppressed firepower of the team surged back to life with renewed fury.

With two loud detonations, Bei Shiliang’s high-explosive grenades burst in midair, making James Sam stagger—his next lightsaber failed to fully form.

Lei Dong, rising from his series of rolls, fired several more armor-piercing incendiary rounds. Witnessing this, his eyes brightened—he felt as if he had suddenly grasped a crucial insight.