"Clang—!!!"
A deafening blast of metal rang out, as though a heavy hammer had struck every heart.
Sparks burst like fireworks.
The frozen ground beneath Ji Ye's feet shattered instantly, and his legs sank into the mud up to his ankles. He felt a strange vibrating force bore wildly through the spear shaft, ignoring his tough layer of "Dead Flesh Armor" and striking directly at his internal organs.
"Pfft!"
Unable to hold it back, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
This was Organ Tempering. Internally, one trained a breath; externally, one trained sinews, bones, and skin. Every blow from Hulei contained a unique vibrating force—the "Tiger-Leopard Thunderous Sound" produced by the writhing of internal organs, made specifically to break hard-body techniques.
"Is that all the strength you have?"
Hulei grinned viciously. Borrowing the rebounding force, the hundred-pound Horse-Chopping Saber swept through a semicircle in the air before chopping down again.
"Again!"
This second strike was heavier and faster than the first, carrying a shriek that tore through the air.
Ji Ye had no time to pull free. He could only raise his spear horizontally to block it.
"Boom!"
Ji Ye's knees buckled, and he nearly dropped to the ground. The specially made iron spear in his hands was actually hacked with a deep notch by that blow, while the shaft bent into a heart-stopping arc.
"Third strike!"
Hulei gave Ji Ye no chance to catch his breath. His bones crackled explosively, his chest heaved like a bellows, and the Horse-Chopping Saber descended with the force to split mountains and shatter rocks.
If this blow landed, Ji Ye and his spear would both be cleaved in two.
"Ahhh!!"
Ji Ye's eyes turned bloodshot as a desperate roar tore from his throat.
He did not try to withstand it head-on again. The instant the blade descended upon him, he abruptly released one hand and rolled sideways.
"Crack!"
Deprived of support, the iron spear was instantly cut in two by the Horse-Chopping Saber. The broken spearhead flew out and embedded itself deeply in the scorched earth nearby.
Though he had avoided the vital point, the force carried by the blade still swept across Ji Ye's back.
His prideful "Dead Flesh Armor" was torn apart like rotten cloth, exposing crimson muscle and a ghastly white shoulder blade beneath.
"Running?"
Holding his saber, Hulei watched Ji Ye roll across the ground as if a cat were playing with a mouse. "Where do you think you can run?"
He stepped forward, covering a great distance in a single stride, instantly catching up to Ji Ye before kicking out.
The kick was swift as lightning, striking Ji Ye squarely in the lower abdomen.
"Bang!"
Ji Ye curled up like a shrimp and was sent flying three zhang away, crashing heavily into a pile of still-burning charcoal.
Sparks flew in all directions.
Ji Ye struggled to rise, but the agonizing pain sent waves of darkness across his vision. His intestines seemed twisted into knots, and every breath carried the taste of blood.
The gap was too great.
This was the chasm between realms. Mere stacked strength appeared so clumsy before absolute skill and Internal Strength.
"Is this all you can do?"
Hulei walked up to Ji Ye and looked down at him with contempt. "Great Liang martial men truly are all spineless wretches."
He raised the Horse-Chopping Saber, its tip aimed at Ji Ye's throat.
"It's over."
The blade fell.
At that very instant.
Ji Ye, who had seemed utterly incapable of resisting, suddenly opened his eyes.
There was no fear in those eyes—only a chilling calm that made one's hair stand on end.
He had been waiting.
Waiting for the moment his opponent believed victory was already in the bag and lowered his guard.
Ji Ye did not dodge. Instead, he suddenly thrust out his chest and met the blade head-on!
"Pshk!"
The Horse-Chopping Saber plunged into his left chest, avoiding his heart but severing ribs and lodging deep in his muscles.
Hulei froze for a moment. He had not expected anyone to willingly seek death.
But in the next second, his expression changed.
Ji Ye's dense muscles showed their worth once more, clamping down on the blade like countless steel pincers. At the same time, Ji Ye shot out both hands like iron chains, locking tightly around Hulei's saber-wielding wrist.
"Got you."
Ji Ye's mouth was full of blood, yet he smiled like a demon.
"You..."
Hulei tried to pull out the saber, only to find it would not budge. He tried to unleash force and shake Ji Ye away, but Ji Ye activated Triple Brute Force to its fullest; those hands seemed welded to his wrist.
"Lower your head for me!!"
Ji Ye roared. Borrowing the force of Hulei's attempt to withdraw his saber, his entire body sprang upward.
Not with his fist. Not with his foot.
But with his head!
That head, tempered by the Tiger Demon Bone Forging Fist and hard as iron, smashed viciously toward Hulei's face with a tragic momentum that never looked back.
It was a street brawler's method, and a method of mutual destruction.
Hulei had nowhere to evade.
"Bang—!!!"
A dull impact that made teeth ache.
It was as if two boulders had slammed viciously together.
Hulei cried out in pain and staggered backward. His nasal bridge shattered instantly; tears, snot, and blood sprayed wildly out as his mind swam for a brief moment.
No matter how well one tempered the organs, the face was still soft!
Ji Ye was in even worse shape.
A horrifying gash split his forehead, blood smearing over his eyes. Yet he did not retreat. Instead, riding that mad frenzy, he released one hand and drew the boning knife at his waist that he had yet to use.
"Die!!"
Ji Ye lunged forward like a rabid dog, driving the boning knife viciously toward Hulei's throat.
Hulei was a strong fighter after all. At the brink of life and death, he instinctively tilted his head aside.
"Pfft!"
The boning knife struck off target. It failed to cut his windpipe, but it sank deeply into Hulei's trapezius muscle.
"Get off me!"
The intense pain brought Hulei back to his senses. He flew into a thunderous rage and slammed his palm into Ji Ye's chest.
That palm contained the full force of his Internal Strength.
"Crack!"
Ji Ye's breastbone completely collapsed. He flew away like a kite with its string cut, hit the ground, and did not move again.
But Hulei was not doing well either.
He covered the wound on his neck as blood streamed out without stopping, staining half his body red. His once-majestic face was now a ruin, its nose bridge collapsed and smeared with blood, leaving him utterly bedraggled.
"Kill him! Kill him for me!!"
Hulei roared, his voice turning strange from the air leaking through his broken nose.
The surrounding Barbarian soldiers had been intimidated by the brutal scene. Only upon hearing the order did they recover, raising their curved blades and charging toward Ji Ye, dead or alive.
Just then.
"Wooo—wooo—"
A low horn suddenly sounded in the distance.
It was not the Barbarians' horn.
That was... the assembly call of Great Liang's border army!
On the horizon, a cavalry force flying the banner of "Defend the North" tore through the dawn like a black dragon, rolling toward them in a surging tide.
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