"Courting death!"
Anger flared in the masked assassin's eyes.
He had not even made a move, yet this yellow-haired brat before him dared to launch the first attack. He simply did not know how the word "death" was written.
With a thought, he too unleashed his force and reached for the incoming elbow, intending to seize it first, then...
Bang!
The instant they made contact, the masked man's expression changed drastically. A terrifying, highly concentrated, tyrannical Internal Force surged wildly through the point where their elbows met.
How could it be this fierce?!
At once, he changed his move, shifting from grappling to using deft force to deflect the blow.
But he had lost the initiative, and he was changing moves and exerting force in haste. He only had time to mobilize thirty percent of his formidable strength before being forced to meet Huo Yuanhong's strike—a desperate blow unleashed with every ounce of his power.
The masked man let out a muffled grunt. It was as though he had been struck by a galloping horse; his body staggered backward of its own accord, and his arm went slightly numb.
"Top Elbow Strike! Who is your master?!"
The moment he pulled away, the masked man barked.
But...
Faced with the masked man's demand, Huo Yuanhong said nothing. Before the other man could catch his breath, his left foot, which had just landed from his forward charge, suddenly tensed. Violent force slammed into the ground, and propelled by the rebound beneath his sole, he sprang forward again!
In an instant, he crossed the two steps that had opened between them and pounced on the masked man once more!
At this moment, his heart was incomparably calm. Only one thought remained: Get down!
His master had once said that when fighting, the greatest taboo was looking ahead and behind, letting one's thoughts grow tangled and scattered.
So he cast aside every stray thought. He did not care who this man was, nor did he care what the man said. He only wanted to beat this fellow before him to the ground!
As for everything else, if his opponent could still breathe after the fight, they could talk slowly then!
"Bastard!"
The masked man was both alarmed and enraged. In Jin Gate, aside from that madman Li Shuxing, how could there be someone else who disregarded the rules like this?! Was he not afraid of being targeted by everyone?!
Under normal circumstances, should they not first determine each other's backgrounds, then decide whether they could fight?! After all, anyone who had trained to this level had some backing!
But...
First, he had lost the initiative and been forced to hastily receive a full-power elbow, leaving his right hand still numb.
Then, his shouted question had cost him the chance to take a proper breath.
Facing Huo Yuanhong's utterly decisive renewed assault, the masked man could see seven or eight openings at a glance and think of more than a dozen ways to break and counter the attack. Yet with his breath not recovered and his right hand still numb, he could only grit his teeth and use his left hand to forcibly withstand this elbow again!
Bang!
The masked man felt as though a mountain were pressing down on him, making his chest tighten. Fortunately, his kung fu was deep enough that he ultimately held on.
Next, he only needed to pull away, catch one breath, and recover his condition. Then he would naturally be able to kill this unruly yellow-haired brat with ease!
It was a fine thought, but unfortunately...
"Kill!"
Huo Yuanhong stared fixedly at the masked man. Ignoring the scorching heat in his lungs that felt as though they were about to burn, he sprang forward again. As he rose and fell, the tyrannical force unique to Baji Quan erupted within him like a dormant volcano suddenly exploding.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Elbow! Elbow! Elbow! Elbow! Elbow!
His mind was utterly clear as he pushed the advantage of Baji Quan's close-range short strikes to the limit. Step after step, he clung tightly to the masked man, raining down elbows in a mad, tempestuous barrage! Every strike smashed toward a vital point, forcing his opponent to block!
One step ahead, every step ahead!
He wanted to crush his opponent until he could not breathe. He wanted his opponent to stare helplessly at the openings, furious beyond measure yet without a chance to strike!
As long as every exchange was his exchange, then even if he had never learned a specialized practical fighting style, even if his attacks were riddled with openings, what did it matter?
"Madman! Madman! This fucking bastard is a madman! Even crazier than Li Shuxing!"
The masked man's face turned livid as he roared inwardly, searching for an opportunity to adjust his condition. Yet beneath Huo Yuanhong's utterly life-disregarding, savage fighting style, he was suppressed into retreating again and again.
He was a Heart-Mind Unity expert, an old-established Heart-Mind Unity expert! Yet he was being hammered back by a Manifest Strength fighter who had not even fully learned a fighting style!
Clearly, all he needed was to unleash one complete burst of strength to end the fight outright. Yet he did not dare ignore Huo Yuanhong's Top Elbow Strike, nor did he dare trade wounds for lives with Huo Yuanhong!
He could only follow Huo Yuanhong's rhythm in unbearable frustration, forced backward step by step until his back struck the Carriage Firm's wall. With nowhere left to retreat, he crashed through the wall with a thunderous boom and flew backward!
"Haah... haah... haah..."
Huo Yuanhong gasped in great mouthfuls, his lungs burning as if on fire. Before his eyes was a field of crimson; he could see nothing at all.
His arms throbbed with sharp pain as well. Strands of soft, insidious, troublesome Internal Force were constantly rampaging through them, difficult to drive out.
"So this is Heart-Mind Unity. It truly is powerful. Whether in physical prowess, the subtlety of its force control, its troublesome nature, or its destructive power, it is far beyond me. He took so many elbow strikes head-on and was still largely unharmed..."
Huo Yuanhong knew that if he had not seized the initiative and relentlessly tangled with his opponent in a life-disregarding frenzy, preventing him from ever displaying his true ability, he would likely have died in the first exchange.
No wonder Manifest Strength practitioners mostly still struggled in the middle ranks, while Heart-Mind Unity—even the weakest Heart-Mind Unity—was qualified to enter high society!
"Old Ghost Luo! You have some nerve!"
Amid a furious roar, a tall, gaunt figure flashed into view and exchanged more than a dozen lightning-fast moves with the masked man. The surrounding courtyard walls and stones exploded wherever they were grazed by the force unleashed in their all-out bursts.
This Heart-Mind Unity force possessed terrifying penetration. If it struck a human body, it was little different from being pierced by a powerful crossbow bolt—it could take a life in a single blow. It was simply not something Manifest Strength, famed for its fierce directness, could withstand!
This was the true strength of Heart-Mind Unity experts: cutting down people like mowing grass. Even when facing a Western Firearm head-on, they could make their fists faster within seven steps!
Seeing this, Huo Yuanhong was shocked, yet he could not help feeling that his earlier choice to seize the initiative and press his attack relentlessly had been exceedingly wise.
Had he hesitated for even an instant, his body would now be full of holes punched through by Internal Force!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
After ten-odd exchanges, the tall, gaunt man was clearly stronger by a margin. Before long, he forced the masked man to flee.
But after only a few steps, the plump figure of the Carriage Firm's owner blocked his path. The sight made the masked man's eyelids twitch wildly, and he hurriedly tried to change direction.
But...
Too late!
The Carriage Firm owner's gaze was icy. Force erupted beneath his feet, and his entire body suddenly vanished. Spiderweb-like, savage cracks spread across the ground where he had been standing, unable to bear the terrifying explosive force and splitting apart under his step!
Whoosh!
Moving so fast it was like teleportation, the Carriage Firm owner crossed five meters in an instant, appearing before the masked man as he threw a thunderous punch!
Boom!
Though he was not even facing it directly, Huo Yuanhong felt as though a mountain had toppled down upon him. A great terror like heaven collapsing and earth splitting seized him, and his heart pounded violently.
"Fist Intent!"
He recalled his master once mentioning Fist Intent!
No one had expected that this fat man—who normally waddled around with his belly sticking out, gasped after only a few steps, and seemed limp and weak even when he hit people—would actually be a rare, great Heart-Mind Unity expert! He was clearly a level stronger than both Old Ghost Luo and the tall, gaunt man!
Bang!
Old Ghost Luo was sent flying by that Cannon Fist, scattering blood across the ground as he fled in panic into the darkness and vanished.
The Carriage Firm owner did not pursue him. He merely cast a cold glance to the side. Only after someone hidden in the darkness gave a chuckle and voluntarily withdrew did he walk over to Huo Yuanhong.
"This time, I must thank you, little brother. Otherwise, if Sixth Brother and I had been caught unprepared by Old Ghost Luo's assassination, we might have suffered a great loss."
The Carriage Firm owner cupped his hands, his words filled with gratitude.
"No need to thank me. The owner has also taken good care of my father and me in the past."
Huo Yuanhong said.
"Your father?" The Carriage Firm owner, this great expert, froze. "Which brother is your father?"
He could not recall any old acquaintance of his having such a qilin son, one who had reached the Manifest Strength Pinnacle at such a young age and could even suppress a Heart-Mind Unity expert like Old Ghost Luo and beat him all the way back.
"My father is Huo Danian."
Before you continue