Fierce Battle

"Crack!"

Lu Chen had put all his strength into that unexpected strike. Its savage force, far beyond that of an ordinary Marrow Washing Realm cultivator, sent Lang Gou flying backward, his bones cracking.

One arm broke outright, and it seemed that some of his ribs had cracked as well.

"Ah!"

Lang Gou crashed to the ground and let out a scream.

It had all happened so fast that only now did the others react.

Without pausing, Lu Chen had already pulled out several Iron Pellets. With a flick of his hand, he sent them straight at Swordsman and Ghost Hand.

Swordsman was closest and only had time to raise an arm to shield his head.

"Bang!"

An iron pellet struck his arm, snapping bones and tearing tendons.

Swordsman howled and hurriedly retreated, drawing his sword.

"Kill him!"

Elder Ning had already overturned the table, shielding himself and Ghost Hand behind it.

An Iron Pellet punched straight through the wooden table and struck Ghost Hand in the shoulder.

Fortunately, the table had absorbed most of its force, so the iron pellet did not do much damage.

"Wasn't he poisoned? Ghost Hand!"

"I poisoned his wine, and I used another poison when I passed him. There's no way he wasn't poisoned!"

The two exchanged words rapidly from behind the wooden table.

In the blink of an eye, Xiong Pi let out an angry roar, the muscles in his two massive arms bulging as he grabbed a chair and smashed it at Lu Chen.

Using Eight Directions Step, Lu Chen nimbly retreated one step.

The chair smashed against the ground and shattered to pieces.

Lu Chen caught something out of the corner of his eye and sent a flying knife whistling out.

"Clink!"

It struck a crossbow bolt that had silently shot toward him.

It was Lang Gou, whom he had sent flying with his elbow. He had now struggled to his feet through the pain and fired a bolt at him.

Seeing that his attack had failed, he was startled.

At such a short distance, he had actually managed to hit the bolt with a flying knife?

Who was this man, to have reached such a level of strength at his age?

It was simply unheard of!

A dagger already in hand, Lu Chen suddenly darted to the left.

One of Swordsman's arms hung limply at his side, while his other hand thrust his sword at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen parried the longsword with his dagger. A vicious gust howled behind him as Xiong Pi brought a chair leg smashing down at the crown of his head.

But Lu Chen took an unexpected path. Instead of advancing, he retreated, slamming his entire body into Xiong Pi's chest.

He drove hard off the ground with both legs. The collision seemed to draw a crack from Xiong Pi's chest, leaving him tight-chested and gasping for breath as he staggered back several steps.

Lu Chen crouched behind Xiong Pi, using him as a shield. Lang Gou held his crossbow but dared not fire, afraid of hitting Xiong Pi. Wary of smashing the vase while aiming at the rat, he gave Lu Chen an opening.

He watched Swordsman charging toward him, the longsword in his hand flashing coldly.

Lang Gou stood behind Xiong Pi, his crossbow bolt poised but unreleased.

Lu Chen's collision had nearly knocked Xiong Pi over.

Lu Chen quickly glanced at the round table where Elder Ning and Ghost Hand were hiding, then gripped his last flying knife and sent it flashing out like lightning.

Swordsman's expression changed drastically.

Whoosh!

A flying knife buried itself deep in his forehead.

Lu Chen thrust the dagger in his right hand backward, twisting half a turn like an ape as he endured a punch from Xiong Pi that came crashing into his back.

"Bang!"

The iron-hard fist struck Lu Chen's back with a dull thud.

"Pfft!"

The dagger plunged into Xiong Pi's kidney at the same time.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

After stabbing him four times in succession, Lu Chen pulled out the dagger and retreated quickly.

His back felt as though it had been struck by a hammer, and he could not help grimacing.

Xiong Pi staggered, his expression unchanged. Clutching the wound at his waist, he shouted, "He's wearing armor! There's something like an iron plate blocking the blows!"

Ghost Hand had emerged from behind the round table and scattered a packet of medicinal powder at Lu Chen, then quickly ducked back down.

Lu Chen was not afraid in the slightest.

He was Immune to All Poisons. These poisons were useless against him!

Thank you, Hunyuan Body!

Medicinal powder filled the courtyard. Lu Chen was about to charge at the wounded Xiong Pi again when he saw that Lang Gou had fired another bolt at him.

There was no time to dodge, so he could only slash diagonally at the tail of the bolt with his dagger.

"Clink!"

The bolt struck his chest guard at an angle and bounced away.

Lang Gou cursed under his breath, his expression extremely ugly.

Damn it, he was far too careful. He was even wearing armor!

Lu Chen blocked the attack, but Xiong Pi's leg was already kicking toward him, sweeping across like a massive tree trunk.

Rather than meet it head-on, Lu Chen pressed his left hand against Xiong Pi's leg and used the force to propel himself several steps to the right, sending the dagger in his hand flying.

Lang Gou had just reloaded his crossbow and had not yet fired when he saw a dagger flying toward his face.

His eyes bulged as he bent backward into an iron bridge to dodge, raising his crossbow to block at the same time.

"Clang!"

The dagger struck the crossbow bolt and bounced away. After severing the bowstring, its tip just grazed Lang Gou's throat, breaking the skin, before flying into the wall behind him and embedding itself there.

Cold sweat streamed down Lang Gou's forehead, and his scalp went numb.

That had been close, so close. His throat had nearly been slit!

Unfortunately, his crossbow was ruined too!

He was now half crippled. His arm was broken, several ribs had snapped, and his weapons were gone.

The threat he posed had fallen sharply.

Lu Chen no longer had his dagger, and he had only one Iron Pellet left.

He glanced at Xiong Pi and suddenly let out a mighty roar. Then he estimated where Ghost Hand and Elder Ning were, twisted around, and abruptly brought the muscles in his arm and back into play.

"Whoosh!"

The Iron Pellet struck the round table like a cannonball, punching a hole straight through it.

Behind the round table, a pitch-black iron pellet was embedded in Ghost Hand's forehead.

His skull shattered, and the force sent him flying backward, his head slamming heavily against the ground.

He did not even let out a scream. His eyes were wide, the horror still lingering in them as their light slowly faded.

Elder Ning jumped in fright.

He had not expected Lu Chen to be able to kill someone through the round table!

Although he was in the Marrow Washing Realm, he was old and rarely fought. Healing was what he did best, and he had practically no offensive power.

I have to run! This beast came here to kill us all!

Elder Ning had never intended to let Lu Chen join the Black Kill Pavilion.

After Crippled Blade knocked, he had written "Contact Xiong and Lang, kill Lu" on the table. Later, when he had Ghost Hand come into the room to deal with the files on the table, it had been so Ghost Hand could notify the others.

Later, when Lang Gou came in, he did not put down the wine jar, but took it to Ghost Hand instead, making it convenient to poison the wine first.

The rhythm of Crippled Blade's initial knock had been a signal to the people in the courtyard.

Lu Chen had come with ill intentions.

Crippled Blade had wanted to use the combined strength of everyone at the branch to kill Lu Chen.

But none of them had ever expected Lu Chen to drink three bowls of wine and suffer no ill effects at all!

Could he have known all along that the wine was poisoned and taken an antidote beforehand?

No, that was not right either. How could he have known what poison Ghost Hand would use?

Could there really be a constitution that was Immune to All Poisons?

Elder Ning recalled reading about such things in his medical books.

His expression was complicated.

After hunting geese all his life, he had never expected to have his eye pecked by one.

Lu Chen had killed two people, and Lang Gou no longer had his crossbow, leaving him no choice but to fight Lu Chen at close quarters.

Lu Chen was not afraid of close combat.

He had already tested his own strength.

Xiong Pi looked sturdy and was certainly very strong, but he could not compare to him!

He stamped on the ground, sending dirt flying, and charged at Xiong Pi like a cheetah. Drawing back one fist, he unleashed it with all the strength in his body.

Rolling Stone Fist!

"I'm hitting your eyes!"

Lu Chen roared, his fist smashing toward the wound at Xiong Pi's waist.

Xiong Pi instinctively jerked his head back, only to feel a sudden, searing pain in his waist.

"Ah!"

He let out a scream.

Lu Chen opened his fist into a claw, dug several fingers viciously into Xiong Pi's wound, and tore outward with all his strength.

He ripped a large chunk of flesh clean off, leaving a bloody hole in Xiong Pi's waist.

Lu Chen hurled the chunk of flesh in his hand at Lang Gou to one side, then lashed out with his right leg like a steel whip.

"I'm kicking your balls!"

The bloody flesh struck Lang Gou and smeared his face. Hearing those words, his chrysanthemum clenched on reflex, and in his panic he quickly pulled his backside back.

Lu Chen's right leg struck Lang Gou's neck with a bang.

Lang Gou's eyes rolled back, and his neck felt as though it had been struck by a hammer flying at high speed.

With a "crack," Lang Gou's head bent at a grotesque angle to his neck. He flew through the air and landed with a "thud," kicking up a cloud of dust.

Seeing this, Xiong Pi's eyes turned red.

"Roar!"

He charged madly at Lu Chen, threw both arms around him, and locked him in a crushing grip.

His muscles strained and reddened, and veins bulged on his forehead and neck. Lu Chen's body was squeezed tightly, both arms pinned and unable to move, his entire body held off the ground.

"Elder Ning, kill him, quickly!"

Xiong Pi bellowed.

Elder Ning, hiding behind the round table, heard him and kicked the table aside, a handful of silver needles appearing in his hand.