The bandits who had attacked felt their tiger's mouths quake violently, their arms go numb, and their faces fill with expressions as though they had seen a living ghost.
Was this fucking thing human or a ghost?
"Too noisy."
Shen Che snorted coldly, spread his arms, and swept them out to either side.
The move was simple and brutal.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A string of dull impacts rang out as one.
The bandits charging at the front were like they had been struck head-on by siege hammers. Their breastbones caved in, blood sprayed from their mouths, and they flew backward, knocking down a large mass of people behind them.
[Time energy detected. Absorbing...] [Time Value gained: 1 point.] [Time Value gained: 3 points.]
A series of notifications rang out in Shen Che's mind.
Killing people could also earn Time Value?
Shen Che took note of this new discovery.
Though the amount was pitifully small, those bandits had not even reached the Body Tempering Realm. Being able to squeeze a few points of Time Value out of them was already an unexpected delight.
Inside the Hall of Brotherhood, there was a deathly silence.
Everyone stared at their companions whose chests had caved in, dead beyond all doubt, then looked at the black-robed youth who had not suffered so much as a scratch. A chill shot from the soles of their feet straight to the crowns of their heads.
"Ah—!"
A howl filled with venomous hatred shattered the silence.
Tie Feng, the Third Chief, clutched his severed arm and glared at Shen Che with blood-red eyes.
"You little bastard, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!"
With a roar, he thrust his only remaining right arm forward.
A stream of earth-yellow true qi burst from his palm, gathering in midair into a gigantic palm print the size of a millstone. Carrying the crushing weight of ten thousand jun, it slammed down toward Shen Che's head!
Thick Earth Fist!
At the same time, Tie Yi, the Second Chief who had been standing behind Tie Xiong, the First Chief, moved as well.
With a flick of his wrist, three flashes of cold light formed a triangular pattern, tearing through the air as they silently shot toward Shen Che's ribs and the center of his back.
Those throwing knives were forged from refined metal, capable of slicing through iron like mud. Once infused with true qi, they could pierce even iron armor.
The two coordinated flawlessly—one fierce and forceful, the other sinister and vicious—instantly sealing off every route Shen Che could have used to evade.
Nangong Wen's heart leaped into his throat.
Yet faced with this certain-kill pincer attack, Shen Che did not even change his stance.
A crisp clang rang out.
The refined-metal throwing knives, enough to pierce iron armor, struck Shen Che's ribs as if they had hit a wall of bronze and iron. They were sent flying away, and even their tips chipped.
Not even a mark was left on Shen Che's robe.
He raised his head and looked at the earth-yellow giant palm pressing down over him. Without dodging or evading, he simply threw a punch.
There were no ripples of true qi, no dazzling radiance.
There was only power of the flesh, pure to the utmost extreme.
His fist collided head-on with the giant palm print.
That seemingly indestructible true qi palm print was like papier-mâché beneath Shen Che's fist. It exploded in an instant, turning into specks of light that scattered through the air.
The force of his punch did not stop.
Under Tie Feng's horrified, despairing gaze, that fist passed through the shattered true qi and landed squarely on his chest.
A dull thud sounded.
Tie Feng's body was like a balloon filled with water, violently exploding.
Flesh, bones, and organs turned into a cloud of scarlet blood mist, spraying in every direction.
[True Meridian Realm martial artist slain. Time Value gained: 100 points.]
The entire hall fell silent as a grave.
Several bandits standing nearby were splashed all over with warm liquid and chunks of flesh. They froze in place, not even daring to wipe themselves clean.
Their minds were utterly blank as they stared stupidly at the place where the blood mist lingered.
The Third Chief...
The Third Chief of the True Meridian Realm...
Just like that... gone?
Blown apart with one punch?
"Gulp."
Nangong Wen swallowed with difficulty, feeling as though his throat were so dry it was about to smoke.
Beside him, Nangong Wu, the injured middle-aged man, was even colder in both hands and feet.
The veiled girl's mouth beneath her veil had opened into a small circle.
They were all martial artists. They had seen it clearly.
That punch had not used any true qi at all!
It was purely the power of the flesh!
Relying only on bodily strength, he had punched a genuine True Meridian Realm expert to death?
Was this fucking thing still human? He was practically an ancient ferocious beast wearing human skin!
"Third Brother!!!"
A grief-stricken, furious roar snapped everyone back to their senses.
Tie Xiong, the First Chief of Iron Furnace Stronghold, had bloodshot eyes as he glared fixedly at Shen Che. The muscles all over his body knotted and bulged, stretching his clothes taut.
"Kill him! Kill him for me!"
"All of you, attack together! Chop him into minced meat!"
Tie Xiong's command jolted the bandits, who had already been scared out of their wits.
They looked at Tie Xiong's savage face, then at the youth in the center of the hall who seemed like a demon god. For a moment, they were caught between advancing and retreating.
But Tie Xiong's accumulated authority ran deep, and no one dared disobey his command.
"Kill!"
No one knew who shouted first, but the remaining several hundred bandits raised their weapons with red eyes and surged toward Shen Che again like a tide.
This time, several dozen Body Tempering Realm martial artists were mixed among the crowd. They were the backbone of Iron Furnace Stronghold.
Shen Che watched the oncoming tide of people without expression.
He bent down and picked up several steel sabers from the ground, their blades already chipped and curled from the earlier bandits' strikes.
Crack.
With force in both hands, he easily crushed the steel sabers like dough, turning them into a handful of metal fragments of varying sizes.
Then he swung his arm.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sharp whistles tore through the air, dense as raindrops.
Flung out with Shen Che's immense strength, every metal fragment possessed terrifying power no less than that of powerful bows and heavy crossbows.
The dozen or so bandits charging at the front did not even have time to scream.
Their throats, glabellas, and hearts were pierced through in an instant. Arcs of blood shot out as their bodies stiffened and collapsed.
"Ah!"
"My leg!"
Miserable screams rose one after another from the crowd behind them.
This blow utterly shattered the bandits' last psychological defense.
"Monster! He's a monster!"
"Run!"
They had surged forward like a tide, and now they retreated like a tide.
The bandits threw down their weapons and fled backward crying for their fathers and mothers, terrified of becoming the next target to be pierced through.
In the blink of an eye, a vast empty space had opened around Shen Che.
Shen Che paid no attention to those scattered lackeys.
He casually tossed away the remaining metal fragments in his hand and raised his head toward the two men before the hall's main seat.
"Stop sending your men to their deaths."
"You two, step forward and die."
Tie Xiong and Tie Yi's faces instantly flushed the color of pig liver.
Rage, killing intent, and a trace of irrepressible fear tangled together in their hearts.
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