Five Steps, One Kill

Five Steps, One Kill

Su Yun's momentum surged ever higher.

Within five steps, he would make that boy from the city fall dead here—to avenge his classmates, to avenge Mister Wild Fox!

"Brother Tong Fan, if there were anything good in the Ghost Market, it would have been snatched away long ago. How could it possibly be left for us?"

The red-clad youth was traveling with several young men and women. One of the men looked a few years older, yet he addressed the red-clad youth as brother. Smiling, he said, "Even if there are treasures here, your Tong Family might not think much of them. Why bother making the trip all this way?"

"Yang Sheng, you do not understand."

Tong Fan smiled faintly and said leisurely, "Our Old Immortal received word in the capital. There is fighting at the front, and many generals have died. These generals were all important figures. After death, their spirits will most likely come here as well. The Old Immortal meant for us to come and fish for a few benefits."

Yang Sheng frowned slightly. "Profiting off generals who died for their country seems rather..."

The other young men and women all laughed, talking over one another. "They died for their country—how heroic! They are going to be enshrined as gods! Once they become gods, can they not bear to donate even a little of their wealth to us?"

"Rather than let others benefit, why not let us benefit? After all, we are Scholars! Brother Yang, would you not say so?"

"Yes, yes."

Yang Sheng agreed distractedly. Then, as if sensing something, he turned his head and saw Su Yun approaching, a puzzled look appearing on his face.

"That Little Blind Person from the academy who studies with foxes..."

The instant that thought crossed his mind, his expression changed drastically. His vision turned blood-red. In a daze, he felt that the world around him was no longer the Ghost Market, but a muddy swamp—and Su Yun was like a Crocodile Dragon slipping through the marsh!

His vision was blood-red because Su Yun's vital energy was bearing down on him, forcing blood into his eyes!

"Crocodile Dragon's Roar? Mister Shuijing taught him this Qi Cultivation Chapter? Watch out!"

He shouted as his body reacted at once, reaching for Su Yun without hesitation.

Tong Fan and the young Scholars turned at his warning to look at Su Yun, the smiles still lingering on their faces.

Yang Sheng reached out. His hand became a Crocodile Dragon's claw, clamping down on Su Yun's back. What he used was also Crocodile Dragon's Roar!

Su Yun was using the complete moves, but Yang Sheng had already broken them apart into separate Unbound Moves, retaining only each individual method of attack without being constrained by the forms of the moves.

That was exceedingly brilliant.

Moves were dead, but once they were broken into Unbound Moves, there were more variations and combinations, and one's reactions became faster.

Those who could reach such a level were all Scholars of exceptional talent!

Yet when Yang Sheng's Crocodile Dragon claw clamped onto the muscles of Su Yun's back, he suddenly felt a series of thumping vibrations from Su Yun's spine—thirty-three in succession. It was as though he had grabbed hold of a great Crocodile Dragon. His five fingers were jolted numb and aching, unable to keep Su Yun in place!

"Crocodile Dragon on the Spine—thirty-three vertebrae opened in succession. What incredible body technique! Mister Shuijing has taught him Great Furnace Transformation for no more than a month. In such a short time, even fully mastering Great Furnace Transformation would be difficult, let alone cultivating Crocodile Dragon's Roar!"

Disbelief filled Yang Sheng's eyes.

He had been one of the Scholars who followed Qiu Shuijing to Tianshiyuan and entered Tianmen Ghost Market that day, so he knew Su Yun.

He had also guessed that Mister Shuijing had remained here for over ten days before returning to the Northern Frontier because he had likely passed the Great Furnace Transformation: Qi Cultivation Chapter on to Su Yun.

But Su Yun's cultivation speed was simply too fast.

Yang Sheng had suffered no small amount when he cultivated Crocodile Dragon on the Spine.

This move required opening thirty-three vertebrae, which demanded powerful vital energy. Moreover, they had to be opened one after another; it was impossible to open all thirty-three in one burst.

It had taken him three and a half months to master Crocodile Dragon on the Spine, and he had consumed no small number of Spirit Pills to raise his vital energy cultivation.

Qiu Shuijing had taught Su Yun for ten days. Su Yun had cultivated Crocodile Dragon's Roar for one month at most, yet he had already mastered its fifth move, Crocodile Dragon on the Spine. How could Yang Sheng not be astonished?

At the instant his failed grab allowed Su Yun to slip away, Su Yun was already moving like a submerged Crocodile Dragon, cutting through the Scholars and charging straight toward Tong Fan!

"His target is Tong Fan!"

Yang Sheng's heart jolted. The Great Furnace Transformation: Qi Cultivation Chapter was a foundational technique Qiu Shuijing had brought from the Eastern Capital. This technique was not taught in the official schools of the Northern Frontier; only disciples of private schools who cultivated under Qiu Shuijing had learned it.

Tong Fan did not understand this technique. He was afraid to suffer for it!

"But the Little Blind Person has cultivated for only a month. His vital energy cultivation is still weak, and his Great Furnace Transformation can be no more than at the third realm. Tong Fan's Bifang Divine Movement Qi Cultivation Chapter, however, has already reached the sixth realm."

The thought had barely formed when Su Yun had already passed through the crowd and leaped into the air.

"Manggu—"

The dragon's roar issuing from Su Yun's chest made Yang Sheng's face change drastically. This dragon's roar was different from the one produced by the Crocodile Dragon's Roar taught by Qiu Shuijing!

The dragon's roar of Crocodile Dragon's Roar was the whistling sound produced by circulating vital energy. It sounded like the cry of a Crocodile Dragon, like rumbling thunder, which was why it was called Crocodile Dragon's Roar.

But the sound made by the vital energy circulating within Su Yun's chest was not merely Crocodile Dragon Thunderclap. It contained no fewer than four kinds of dragon-roar thunderclaps!

"Mister Shuijing once said that the reason this technique can produce thunderclaps and dragon roars is because the vital energy within the body moves with extreme ferocity, its friction bursting into sound."

Yang Sheng charged desperately into the crowd, his expression shifting dark and bright. "The Little Blind Person has produced four kinds of thunderclaps. His vital energy is four times as fierce as everyone else's! Tong Fan is in danger! But..."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With a Divine Crocodile's Tail Sweep, Yang Sheng sent the Scholars blocking his way flying. Light flashed in his eyes. "If I use this chance to save Tong Fan, my ties with the Tong Family of the Northern Frontier will grow closer still! Perhaps I can soar to great heights from this..."

Tong Fan's response could not be called slow.

The moment Yang Sheng shouted his warning, Tong Fan had sensed Su Yun forcing his way through the Scholars and coming straight for him. When Su Yun took his third step, Tong Fan had already begun driving his vital energy.

When Su Yun took his fourth step, his Bifang Divine Movement Qi Cultivation Chapter had begun to circulate.

When Su Yun took his fifth step, the phantom of the Divine Bird Bifang had already emerged behind Tong Fan.

The divine bird blazed fiercely like fire. Following Tong Fan's hand, it was about to spread its wings, fly out, and pounce upon Su Yun!

Yet at that same instant, Su Yun rose into the air and dove down from above. His hands shot out like lightning, gripping Tong Fan's jaw and the back of his head from above.

Tong Fan felt as though a Crocodile Dragon had bitten down on his skull. Darkness flooded his vision, and terror struck his heart.

Su Yun's body hung in the air like a Crocodile Dragon that had caught its prey. With Tong Fan's head locked in his grip, he swung him up, drove force through his waist and hips, and rolled through the air like a great crocodile, intending to twist his neck cleanly apart.

Tong Fan's body was flung into the air. He heard the seven cervical vertebrae in his neck crackle and pop, and horror filled his heart. So fast! There is no time to block...

At the same time, Yang Sheng lunged forward, his pupils contracting sharply. "The second move of Crocodile Dragon's Roar, Crocodile Dragon's Roll! If he is allowed to complete this move, Tong Fan's head will be twisted off alive!"

His hands shot forward and seized Tong Fan's feet, using Crocodile Dragon's Roll as well!

Crocodile Dragon's Roll was also called Death Roll. Having one's neck twisted apart—or even one's head torn off—by this move was nothing unusual.

The best way to counter Crocodile Dragon's Roll was to use Crocodile Dragon's Roll as well, canceling out Su Yun's rolling momentum. Only then could Tong Fan be saved.

One gripped Tong Fan's head, while the other seized his feet. The two spun and rolled rapidly through the air as they fell toward the ground, their robes snapping sharply through the wind.

Several Scholars on the ground hurriedly scrambled out of the way.

Bang, bang!

Su Yun and Yang Sheng landed one after another, one still gripping Tong Fan's head, the other still holding Tong Fan's feet.

The corner of Yang Sheng's eye twitched violently. In the air just now, they had nearly used Crocodile Dragon's Roll simultaneously. Yet after five rotations, Yang Sheng's strength had given out, while Su Yun had completed seven.

Using the same move, Su Yun had spun two more times than he had before landing.

The other Scholars had not yet noticed, but Yang Sheng knew that when Su Yun had made one more rotation than him, the joint cartilage of Tong Fan's seven cervical vertebrae had already been torn apart!

When Su Yun completed the second extra rotation, Tong Fan's windpipe and esophagus ruptured, blood stopped reaching his brain completely, and he fainted on the spot.

By the time they landed, the blood vessels, tendons, cervical vertebrae, and windpipe in Tong Fan's neck had all been completely twisted apart. Only the skin of his neck still connected his head to his body.

Tong Fan was already dead.