Chen Cheng watched both sides out of the corners of his eyes, alert for Heize's attack, while Battle Aura gathered around his fist.
A fierce gust swept toward the back of his head, blowing his hair forward.
Chen Cheng hooked his fingers into a claw and swiftly swiped at the space to his left.
Crack! The attack from behind had not been Heize's fist at all. It was merely the gale raised by his speed. Chen Cheng had already seen through the real attack.
Chen Cheng's fingers felt as though they had closed around solid steel. A grating screech, like metal scraping against metal, rang out without pause.
Yet Heize's fist remained as unyielding as a block of iron, hurtling toward Chen Cheng's lower ribs.
"It's no use. You can't stop my fist."
Behind it lay not only Heize's strength, but the terrifying acceleration of his frenzied sprint.
With a faint crack, Chen Cheng felt the bones in his hand begin to fracture.
Seeing this, Chen Cheng sank his breath into his core and steadied himself. Rather than block the blow head-on, he gripped Heize's fist and drew it toward himself.
Just as Heize thought Chen Cheng had lost his mind, Chen Cheng's other hand moved. As he pulled and twisted his body, he pushed that hand diagonally against the side of Heize's fist.
Between that pull and push, he forced Heize's punch off course.
The force behind the fist shifted from a straight thrust to a slanting one. Guided through Chen Cheng's body, it was about to be hurled back at Heize himself.
Heize knew nothing of Receive, Transform, Release, but he knew that if this continued, his own strength would injure him.
Chen Cheng's Tai Chi was masterful. Unfortunately, this was a world of Transcendent power. The moment