Zhou Shan Displays His Might

Zhou Shan Displays His Might

"Trying to run? Not a chance!"

Zhou Shan immediately used the lightness skill from the Golden Bell Shield and gave chase.

This assassin's breath-concealing technique was exceptionally advanced. He had crept right up behind Zhou Shan without being noticed; only at the instant he struck did Zhou Shan sense something amiss. Fortunately, the assassin's Internal Force cultivation was not particularly high, only around one hundred and twenty or thirty years—an Aperture-Opening Realm martial artist in the early stage. Had he also reached the peak of the Aperture-Opening Realm, with over two hundred years of cultivation, Zhou Shan would have been in danger.

Naturally, Zhou Shan would not let off an enemy who had tried to assassinate him.

"Great Strength Vajra Palm!"

Before long, Zhou Shan caught up with the assassin. The abundant Internal Force within him instantly gathered in his right arm, swelling his muscles as he fiercely slapped toward the black-clad assassin.

"Tiger Roar Fist, Tiger Roars Through the Mountains!"

Knowing he could not escape, the black-clad assassin prepared to fight to the death.

His blood and qi surged, his Internal Force roared through him, and his right hand clenched into a fist. Internal Force instantly gathered at his knuckles as he threw a punch.

Roar!

As the punch flew out, the roar of a ferocious tiger that shook the mountains and forests rang through the air.

Above the black-clad assassin's fist, a savage tiger head condensed from Internal Force opened its blood-filled maw, baring its fangs as it bit toward Zhou Shan's incoming palm.

Boom!

Fist and palm collided without any flourish. A blast like exploding gunpowder rang through the air, followed by a violent gust that swept outward in all directions.

As the two currents of Internal Force clashed, the bluestone paving beneath their feet cracked apart. With the two men at its center, fissures spread across the bluestone slabs in every direction.

Yet the contest of Internal Force lasted less than two breaths.

Zhou Shan stood immovable as a mountain, but the black-clad assassin lacked sufficient Internal Force. He was sent reeling back more than a dozen steps before barely steadying himself, and every step he took shattered the bluestone beneath his feet into Four-Part Fragmentation.

Huff!

Zhou Shan opened his mouth and drew a deep breath.

His abundant Internal Force mixed with the airflow, instantly condensing into an arrow of qi that shot from his mouth.

Pfft!

The qi arrow struck the black-clad assassin squarely in the chest. It not only pierced through the protective inner armor beneath his clothes, but the remaining qi arrow also entered his body, shattering his breastbone and damaging both lungs.

Though it did not kill the black-clad assassin in a single blow, it gravely wounded him.

"Die!"

Zhou Shan activated the Great Strength Vajra Leg, doubling his speed. In an instant, he flashed before the black-clad assassin and fiercely struck his forehead with a Great Strength Vajra Palm.

Crack!

A crisp sound of shattering bone rang out as the palm descended.

The black-clad assassin's frontal bone instantly shattered, his entire forehead caving in. He lost consciousness at once, his legs buckling as he fell to his knees. Then, with a bang, his head hit the ground. No trace of life remained.

"As expected, a Black Dragon Society assassin!"

Zhou Shan crouched and searched the black-clad assassin, finding a Black Dragon Token.

This was a level-six assassin of the Black Dragon Society.

Among those he had offended, the only one with enough wealth to hire a level-six assassin was likely Xu Hongtao, the richest merchant in Luyang County. If Xu Hongtao had been willing to bleed a little more and pay a greater price to hire a level-seven assassin at the Half-step Grandmaster level, he might have had a chance to put Zhou Shan to death. But there would be no next time.

Xu Hongtao was destined not to survive the night.

Zhou Shan turned his gaze toward the masked men fighting the Black Armored Army.

For now, he would slaughter this band of prison-breaking thieves first.

Among these thieves were three Superclass Martial Artists. Their destructive power was astonishing, and they had inflicted considerable casualties on the Black Armored Army.

Zhou Shan moved at once. Like a sheet of paper slipping effortlessly through the fighting crowd, he swiftly darted before one of the Superclass Martial Artists.

"Life-Taking Hand, Gut Ripper!"

Seeing Zhou Shan suddenly appear before him, the Superclass Martial Artist pressed together the five fingers of his right hand like a sharp blade and viciously thrust them toward Zhou Shan's abdomen.

Zhou Shan did not dodge.

As the hand-blade thrust came stabbing in, Zhou Shan immediately circulated his cultivation, controlling the muscles of his abdomen to become soft and yielding like a sponge. In an instant, he dissolved the Superclass Martial Artist's attack.

Then, just as the Superclass Martial Artist's hand sank into his abdominal muscles, Zhou Shan tightened his muscles. They instantly changed from soft and yielding to hard as iron, clamping down tightly on the other man's hand.

This was the Golden Bell Shield's ability of Rigid and Soft Harmony.

When soft, its muscles and bones were like cowhide and sponge, able to neutralize heavy blows. When hard, its muscles became like steel, impervious to blades and spears.

Rigid and Soft Harmony was an even more formidable ability beyond the Bronze Skin Iron Bones of the Iron Shirt.

"Not good!"

The Superclass Martial Artist's expression changed drastically.

He discovered that even using all his strength, he could not pull his hand free.

"Die!"

Zhou Shan reached out with both huge hands, grabbed the Superclass Martial Artist's head, and twisted hard.

Crack!

The sound of breaking bones rang out. Under the burst of terrifying force, the Superclass Martial Artist's head spun three hundred and sixty degrees in an instant, his neck nearly twisted into a hemp rope.

Zhou Shan relaxed his abdominal muscles, and the Superclass Martial Artist collapsed limply to the ground.

"Guild Master!"

Someone cried out in alarm.

The Superclass Martial Artist whose neck Zhou Shan had twisted was none other than Huang Maoquan, the guild master of the Hundred Herbs Gang.

"The guild master is dead."

"Run! Everyone, run!"

"The guild master is dead! Retreat, retreat immediately!"

"..."

Seeing their guild master slain, the Hundred Herbs Gang martial artists immediately lost the courage to keep fighting.

They had come to break out of prison only because Guild Master Huang Maoquan had led them here. Now that even their guild master was dead, what prison were they supposed to break out of? Whether the young guild master lived or died was none of their damn business.

When the guild master was alive, the young guild master was the young guild master. Without the guild master, he was nothing but bullshit.

Having seen their guild master die before their very eyes, the Hundred Herbs Gang martial artists scattered in panicked rout like startled birds and beasts, not daring to remain for even a moment longer.

Without the Hundred Herbs Gang martial artists, the strength of these black-clad masked prison-breakers immediately plummeted.

"Retreat! Retreat at once!"

Seeing this, the other two Superclass Martial Artists among the black-clad masked men could only give the order to withdraw.

"Since you came, don't even think about leaving."

Zhou Shan's gaze settled on those two Superclass Martial Artists, and he swiftly rushed toward one of them.

"Bear Pounce Hand, Giant Bear Slaps Tree!"

This Superclass Martial Artist was from the Datong Merchant Guild. His hands were like bear paws as he unleashed a barrage of palms toward Zhou Shan.

Zhou Shan did not even bother to evade. He leaned forward and charged headfirst into the attack at incredible speed.

Clang!

A golden bell condensed around Zhou Shan's body. The Superclass Martial Artist from the Datong Merchant Guild crashed into the golden bell and was directly sent flying by an incomparably terrifying force, his bones broken and tendons torn.

The Datong Merchant Guild's Superclass Martial Artist had only just hit the ground when Zhou Shan was already upon him. The Great Strength Vajra Leg stomped down fiercely onto his chest.

Under that terrifying force, the Datong Merchant Guild's Superclass Martial Artist's chest instantly caved in. Every rib was blasted apart and snapped, and Zhou Shan's entire foot sank into it.