The time it took to burn an incense stick passed in a flash. The two had already exchanged twenty or thirty rounds, and both their stamina and vital blood had been greatly depleted.
Overall, Yang Heng had consumed more vital blood. His face had gone slightly pale, and his breathing gradually grew ragged.
Shopkeeper Chen, on the other hand, looked somewhat better than Yang Heng. Only his eyes had dimmed, no longer as spirited as before, revealing a hint of fatigue. More than half of his vital blood still remained.
Seeing Yang Heng panting heavily, his face pale and his strength seemingly failing, Shopkeeper Chen was overjoyed. He knew his plan had worked.
Earlier, he had deliberately shown weakness to lure the enemy in, constantly dodging. Though he had appeared bedraggled, he had actually been wearing down his opponent's vital blood and stamina. Now, it seemed his measures had been correct and had yielded extraordinary results.
He estimated that his opponent had already used up more than half of his vital blood, leaving only around a third. It was time for him to attack...
When Yang Heng's attack came again, Shopkeeper Chen broke from his usual behavior. Rather than dodge, his right palm instantly turned bluish-purple as he met the attack with a powerful palm force.
Fist and palm collided once more, but the force unleashed this time was far weaker than before. The fierce airflow swept barely a dozen meters in every direction before losing its strength.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out again, crisp and loud enough to startle the birds in the distant forest into flapping away.
This time, both men retreated four steps before steadying themselves.
Yang Heng easily neutralized the strange palm force again. However, to fool Shopkeeper Chen, he deliberately