Eight Desolations Sky-Rending Claw

The surrounding Imperial Brocade Guard men wore indignant expressions, yet they could do nothing. Military orders could not be defied.

Lin Feng stood where he was, his fingers slowly tightening until his knuckles turned white.

He watched Lei Biao laugh wildly without end, his eyes icy to the bone, his killing intent nearly taking tangible form.

The Wang Family's interference, Uncle Zhou's compromise, Lei Biao's mockery...

Every bit of it was like a venomous thorn piercing his heart.

He slowly withdrew his eagle claw and glanced at the evolvable prompt in his mind.

Then he looked at the remaining 1 Slaughter Point on his attribute panel, as well as Lei Biao's arrogant face.

A thought began to grow wildly.

Evolution required 1 point. Killing Lei Biao would earn him 1.5 points... Not only would he break even, he would even have some left over!

The risk was enormous, but... he could not swallow this rage!

This blood-deep hatred had to be repaid!

Military orders? Pressure?

To hell with them!

Lin Feng abruptly raised his head, his gaze like two bolts of cold lightning as it shot straight at Lei Biao.

An utterly frigid curve lifted at the corner of his mouth. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly drowned out all the surrounding noise.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Unfortunately, you won't live to see that day."

Before his words had even faded, Lin Feng moved again like a ghost!

His target was Lei Biao, who was still laughing madly!

This time, he was faster, and his killing intent more resolute!

Lin Feng sprang forward, his perfected Eagle Claw Skill striking straight for Lei Biao's throat!

Military orders? The Wang Family? At this moment, all of it was cast to the back of his mind!

"Chief Banner Lin! Don't!" cried the Imperial Brocade Guard Banner Officer who had come to deliver the order, moving to stop him.

But Lin Feng was faster!

Crack!

Lei Biao's throat bone shattered. The light in his eyes instantly dimmed, and his corpse toppled to the ground.

Successfully suppressed and killed Lei Biao, deputy leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang. Obtained 1.5 Slaughter Points.

The notification sounded, and Lin Feng's heart settled. The Slaughter Points were his!

He immediately focused his mind, preparing to evolve the Eagle Claw Skill to deal with the situation ahead.

However, an abrupt change occurred!

The panic on the face of the "Banner Officer delivering the order" standing close by instantly turned into utter coldness and savagery!

Taking advantage of the instant after Lin Feng had killed Lei Biao, when his mind had relaxed slightly and he was about to communicate with the system, he struck!

This attack was fast! Ruthless! Venomous!

Its angle was incomparably tricky!

He pressed two fingers together like a blade. At their tips gathered terrifying internal force, incomparably condensed and far surpassing Lei Biao's. Silent and soundless, yet as swift as lightning, it stabbed straight at the vital point beneath Lin Feng's ribs!

If it struck solidly, the internal force would penetrate his body and instantly destroy his organs!

The intense threat of death made Lin Feng's scalp explode with alarm!

He had never imagined that the assassin had not come from deep within the Fierce Tiger Gang's main hall, but was this "one of their own" who had just delivered the order to withdraw!

The keen perception brought by his perfected Eagle Claw Skill, along with his instinct for survival at the brink of life and death, saved him!

At that critical moment, Lin Feng forcibly twisted his waist aside, while instinctively raising his left arm to block.

Sshk!

The finger-blade grazed past his ribs, tearing his robe apart and leaving a bloody wound so deep that bone showed through. Blazing pain surged through him!

Had he not dodged and blocked in time, that blow would have taken his life!

Lin Feng staggered back several steps, breaking out in a cold sweat. His gaze remained locked on that "Banner Officer delivering the order."

The man slowly straightened, his face bearing a mocking smile like a cat toying with a mouse.

He reached behind his ear and rubbed, slowly peeling away an exquisite human-skin mask to reveal the rough, sinister face of a middle-aged man. It was none other than the Fierce Tiger Gang's leader, the long-famous Eighth Rank martial artist—Hao Tianhu!

"Tsk, tsk. Your reaction was quick enough." Hao Tianhu flicked his fingers as if dusting them off, his tone full of mockery. "Unfortunately, you were still half a beat too slow.

Lin Feng, you truly haven't disappointed me. Ruthless, decisive—you even dared defy Zhou Gang's order.

But that has given me the perfect reason to crush you to death with my own hands!"

The other Imperial Brocade Guard men around them were all stunned. They drew their blades one after another, yet Hao Tianhu's mountain-heavy Eighth Rank martial artist aura cowed them so thoroughly that none dared make a move.

Blood seeped from beneath Lin Feng's ribs, the intense pain constantly needling his nerves.

He understood everything in an instant. Uncle Zhou's order to withdraw might have been genuine, but Hao Tianhu had exploited the information gap, disguised himself as the messenger, and come personally. First, to ensure the order was carried out; second, should the opportunity arise, to avenge himself personally!

And Lin Feng's defiance of orders in killing Lei Biao had given him the best possible excuse!

"Hao Tianhu..." Lin Feng gritted his teeth, enduring the agony as he circulated Brute Ox Strength to suppress his injuries. "What a fine move—disguising yourself and launching a sneak attack! A dignified Eighth Rank expert, yet all you know are such underhanded tricks?"

"Ha ha ha!" Hao Tianhu threw back his head and laughed, his laughter brimming with arrogance and disdain. "The victor becomes king, the loser becomes bandit. Who needs so many rules? As long as I can kill you, the process doesn't matter!

That old bastard Zhou Gang thinks withdrawing the troops will settle things? Dream on! The Wang Family's dignity, and Lei Biao's life, must both be repaid with your blood!"

His gaze swept over Lin Feng's bleeding ribs, and he sneered. "That finger just now didn't feel too good, did it? How could the internal force of an Eighth Rank martial artist be something a puny Ninth-Rank body like yours could withstand?

If you know what's good for you, sever your own meridians. I can give you a quick death. Otherwise..."

A vicious gleam burst from his eyes. "I'll let you taste what it means to beg for death and be denied it!"

The sense of crisis had never been stronger!

An Eighth Rank martial artist was vastly stronger than Lei Biao!

That sneak attack with one finger had already badly wounded him!

With his condition plummeting, how could he fight now?

Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing his surging blood and the agony between his ribs.

He glanced at the 1.5 Slaughter Points in his mind, as well as the upgrade options for Eagle Claw Skill and Brute Ox Strength.

If he upgraded or evolved one now, there might be a sliver of hope for survival, but Hao Tianhu would never give him that time!

He could not show weakness! Still less could he retreat!

Lin Feng straightened, his gaze piercing Hao Tianhu like ice. A proud, cold smile curled over his lips. "Hao Tianhu, you think being Eighth Rank means you have me in your grasp? Lei Biao thought the same just now, and now he's lying over there!"

He tightened his grip on his saber, secretly driving Brute Ox Strength. Though injured, his fighting spirit only rose rather than fell. "You want my life? I'm afraid your old bones aren't hard enough!"

"Courting death!" Hao Tianhu was thoroughly enraged, killing intent surging across his sinister face!

He wasted no more words. Moving like a tiger pouncing on prey, he charged at Lin Feng with a foul wind in his wake!

The terrifying strength of an Eighth Rank martial artist erupted in full. His speed and power were beyond anything Lei Biao could compare to!

Suppress and kill Hao Tianhu, leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang, to obtain 2.5 Slaughter Points.

The icy system prompt appeared at the moment of life and death. Those 2.5 Slaughter Points were like a flame in the depths of despair, igniting all of Lin Feng's fighting spirit!

The fight to the death had begun!

Hao Tianhu attacked in fury, displaying the strength of an Eighth Rank martial artist without reservation!

His figure flashed like lightning. He struck with a palm, its wind howling with the faint sound of a tiger's roar. His internal force was solid and condensed, far beyond that of a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist.

It was his famed ultimate technique—Evil Tiger Heart-Plucking Palm!

Lin Feng's ribs were already injured and his blood flow obstructed. Facing this overwhelming attack, he could only drive his perfected Eagle Claw Skill and Brute Ox Strength to their limits, crossing both arms to meet it head-on!

Bang!

With a muffled boom, Lin Feng felt an irresistible force crash into him. Pain shot through both arms, and sweetness rose in his chest.

His entire body flew backward out of control, smashing heavily into the ground several yards away and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Pah—"

Lin Feng spat out a mouthful of blood, and his aura instantly withered by more than half.

The gap was too great!

Between Ninth Rank and Eighth Rank lay a chasm in both the quality and quantity of internal force!

Not to mention that he was already wounded.

"That's all you've got? And you dared kill my deputy leader? You even dared defy military orders?" Hao Tianhu advanced step by step, a cruel smile on his face like a cat playing with a mouse. "Looks like I won't even need to exert myself. One more palm strike will send you to the afterlife!"

The surrounding Imperial Brocade Guard men looked anxious and unable to bear it, but under the pressure of an Eighth Rank martial artist, no one dared step forward.

The searing pain and shadow of death were like a bucket of icy water poured over his head, making Lin Feng's mind exceptionally clear.

He could clearly "see" the 1.5 Slaughter Points that had just arrived in his mind, as well as the glaring evolvable prompt behind Eagle Claw Skill.

Now!

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Feng roared inwardly, "Consume 1 Slaughter Point and evolve Eagle Claw Skill!"

1 Slaughter Point consumed. Cultivation technique evolution initiated!

It was as if the Big Bang at the birth of the universe had erupted within his body!

The artistic conception of the Eagle Claw Skill, perfected and wielded as naturally as his own limbs, was instantly torn apart and devoured by an even more ancient, domineering, and ferocious power!

The barrier of the perfected realm melted away like ice and snow beneath the sun.

In its place came a terrifying will that sought to rend the heavens and suppress the eight desolations!

Countless fragments of the profound truths of "rending" and "suppression" flooded violently into his soul like a tidal wave, branding themselves into his sinews, bones, flesh, and blood!

All ten fingers of his hands curled uncontrollably into a mysterious claw shape.

At his fingertips, faint golden sharp glints flickered in and out. Even the air around them gave off a faint, slicing hiss!

Eagle Claw Skill had forcefully evolved from the perfected realm into—Eight Desolations Sky-Rending Claw (Initial Stage)!

The heaven-shaking leap in the technique's grade brought immense feedback!

Boom!

The internal force that had originally stalled at the middle stage of Ninth Rank surged under the push of this newborn power like floodwaters smashing through a dam, rushing and roaring as it instantly broke through the barrier!

Late Ninth-Rank Martial Artist!

A powerful sensation flooded his entire body. Though the injury beneath his ribs remained, the elevation at the very essence of his cultivation technique made him feel as though he had been reborn!