Ghost Hand Yuan Fengtai

Suddenly, the man's gaze sharpened, and he struck ferociously, like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.

He made the first move. His rough hands looked as though they had been wrapped in white jade, crystal-clear and translucent.

One palm chopped toward Xia Qi'an's throat.

Seeing him strike, Xia Qi'an responded with Fire Cloud Palm.

His right palm suddenly turned crimson, like an iron brand heated red-hot, steaming with heat.

The two palms, one like white jade, met.

They clashed head-on, palm against palm.

"Boom..."

After that single clash, the bonfire between them and the roast chicken over it had vanished without a trace, as though the overflowing energy had blasted them away.

Xia Qi'an shook his head and said regretfully, "Such a fine roast chicken... What a waste..."

The man did not answer. He lowered his head and frowned at his cracked palm, his expression solemn as he thought, An expert in Iron Body technique... This target is tough...

The man had clearly suffered in that palm clash, and his heart was in turmoil, as though colossal waves had been whipped up.

He had actually suffered a loss at the hands of a brash youngster in the Early Bone Forging Realm.

If word of this got out, few people would believe it.

"State your name!... So I'll know whose life I'm taking..." Battle intent boiled in Xia Qi'an's eyes as he spoke loudly.

The man grew furious. "Good boy!... You're arrogant enough..."

"Your grandpa never changes his name or surname—Ghost Hand Yuan Fengtai."

Yuan Fengtai was, after all, an expert in the Late Bone Forging Realm, and naturally possessed a martial artist's pride.

He moved both palms, leaving behind a mysterious pattern of trajectories before him.

Tablet Splitting Hand was the martial art Yuan Fengtai used most often.

After years as a killer in the martial world, he had claimed countless lives with this palm technique alone.

Seeing that Yuan Fengtai was clearly an experienced veteran of the martial world, Xia Qi'an's battle intent surged.

His blood and qi boiled throughout his body.

Xia Qi'an also activated Fire Cloud Palm, his hands resembling two clouds of heavenly fire.

In an instant, both figures vanished.

Nearby, Bata sat on the carriage with his hands resting on his knees. He blinked his little eyes, filled with immense confusion.

He could not see either man's movements.

Yet in the time it took Bata to blink, Xia Qi'an had already exchanged dozens of palms with Yuan Fengtai.

The two fought in a pure head-on clash, competing solely in palm strength and the thickness of their blood and qi.

When they separated again, Yuan Fengtai's white-jade-like palms were scorched black, leaving him looking rather disheveled.

Xia Qi'an, on the other hand, remained completely at ease, calm and unhurried. "It seems my Fire Cloud Palm is still a cut above... Looks like the name Ghost Hand is going to be tarnished today..."

Yuan Fengtai said nothing. His expression shifted between dark and light, as though he were hesitating over something. "Boy... No killer in the martial world uses his signature technique right away... You're celebrating too soon..."

Hearing this, Xia Qi'an said provocatively, "Are you afraid people will see where you come from?"

Yuan Fengtai kept silent. The stance of his hands suddenly changed, transforming from fists into palms.

He slowly assumed a Xing Yi Quan stance, like a fierce tiger poised to strike.

"Six Harmonies Xing Yi? So you come from a prestigious martial sect... No wonder you've been hiding your head and showing your tail."

"A sect martial artist attacking a warrior of the Wei Dao Si is a grave crime! I wonder whether your Xing Yi Sect can withstand the Wei Dao Si's reckoning?"

Recognizing the man's martial art, Xia Qi'an knew he came from a martial sect and could not help speaking up.

However, Xia Qi'an's words were like a sharp blade, stabbing directly into Yuan Fengtai's sore spot.

Killing intent gleamed coldly in Yuan Fengtai's eyes. He ground his teeth and said, "When walking the martial world, you bear responsibility for your own life and death. It has nothing to do with my sect..."

"Besides, if I kill you today, who will ever know?"

Xia Qi'an said nothing more. There was no point in wasting words.

Then Xia Qi'an also assumed a fist stance, making it clear that he intended to use his own boxing technique against Yuan Fengtai's Six Harmonies Xing Yi.

"Vmmm..."

A faint, indistinct Buddhist chant seemed to ring out.

Behind Xia Qi'an, four Vajra Arms flickered in and out of existence.

"Vajra's Fury."

All six of Xia Qi'an's arms moved, pounding toward Yuan Fengtai like a violent storm.

Yuan Fengtai changed his stance. A colossal, towering mountain faintly emerged around him, like a pillar supporting the heavens.

Xing Yi Quan imitated both form and intent. This move of Yuan Fengtai's evolved the towering shape of a mountain and its vast, majestic intent.

It was called Mountain Embracing Seal.

Using Mountain Embracing Seal, Yuan Fengtai imitated the form and intent of a mountain. Its momentum was like Mount Tai crushing an egg, bearing down with overwhelming force.

"Vajra's Fury."

The essence of this move from Great Strength Vajra Fist lay in the word "fury."

Like a Vajra flying into a rage, it destroyed its enemy without regard for anything else.

Xia Qi'an's eyes widened in fury, his appearance savage and demonic. With all six arms moving, his fists struck like a raging storm, pounding without pause against the enormous mountain pressing down before him.

He was like an enraged six-armed Vajra, hammering the mountain with his fists, determined to punch straight through it.

Yuan Fengtai's body was like a mountain, his fists heavy and his stability terrifying.

Xia Qi'an possessed the strength of three dragons and three elephants. Every punch carried immense weight, while the blood and qi throughout his body were as vast and mighty as the sea.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"...

Under the barrage of clashes, Yuan Fengtai could no longer hold out. His internal organs screamed with pain, and blood seeped between his teeth.

"Pfft..."

At last, Yuan Fengtai coughed up a mouthful of foul blood.

"Boom!"

Under Xia Qi'an's unbroken barrage, the mountain phantom surrounding Yuan Fengtai collapsed with a crash.

"Argh..."

Xia Qi'an roared. His eyes were wide with fury, his face as hideous and terrifying as an enraged Vajra's, and his assault did not let up.

It seemed he would not stop until he had beaten Yuan Fengtai into a lump of flesh.

Under that relentless assault, Yuan Fengtai finally lost the power to fight back. His body flew backward like a tattered kite.

His body was covered in pits and hollows, twisted beyond recognition.

After the Mountain Embracing Seal dispersed, the fists of Great Strength Vajra Fist landed solidly on Yuan Fengtai's body.

That left Yuan Fengtai covered in fist marks, his muscles and bones shattered, a sorry wreck.

At that moment, he lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud, continuously coughing up blood, unable even to move a finger.

But Yuan Fengtai was, after all, a martial artist in the Late Bone Forging Realm, with extremely tenacious vitality.

He still barely had a breath left.

Xia Qi'an stepped forward and looked down at Yuan Fengtai beneath his feet, like a fierce tiger examining its prey. "Who sent you to kill me?"

"Tell me... and I won't cause trouble for the Xing Yi Sect!"

Xia Qi'an's voice was like a sharp sword, stabbing straight into Yuan Fengtai's weakness.

"Prince... Wei..." Yuan Fengtai's face was covered in blood and grime. With difficulty, he forced a few words from his throat.

"Your word... must... be kept..."

After saying that, Yuan Fengtai completely lost his breath.

The blood beneath him spread like ink blooming in water, gradually staining the wild grass red.

The relationship between the Wei Dao Si and the martial sects had always been like a taut bowstring, ready to snap at the slightest touch.

This was because, throughout history, the Wei Dao Si had ridden out several times and charged into the martial world. Wherever its iron hooves passed, countless martial sects had vanished like fallen leaves swept away by an autumn wind, severing their inheritances and disappearing without a trace.

Otherwise, where would the techniques in the Wei Dao Si's Scripture Pavilion have come from? Had they not been seized from the great martial sects?

Xia Qi'an deeply approved of the Wei Dao Si's suppression of the martial sects.

After all, if he held a high position within the Wei Dao Si, he would make the same choice.

As the greatest martial organization in the world, the Wei Dao Si would never tolerate other martial organizations growing strong.

For that very reason, few martial artists from the martial sects joined the Wei Dao Si.

Most of the Wei Dao Si's lower-ranking personnel were children of prestigious clans, along with a small number of martial artists like Xia Qi'an, who came from humble backgrounds yet possessed extraordinary talent.

First, martial sect martial artists appeared respectful toward the Wei Dao Si on the surface, but secretly gnashed their teeth and hated it to the bone.

Second, the channels for joining the Wei Dao Si were almost entirely controlled in secret by the great clans.

Even if you possessed exceptional talent,

if you came from a martial sect and wanted to join the Wei Dao Si, it would be harder than ascending to heaven.

As a result, the Wei Dao Si had already begun showing signs of entrenched class divisions. If this continued, the Wei Dao Si would inevitably decline.

That was why Si Nanzhai Xing had said that the Wei Dao Si urgently needed fresh blood like Xia Qi'an.

Clearly, as a Tiger Guard, he had long since seen through the Wei Dao Si's current predicament.

On the carriage, Xia Qi'an leaned back and slowly flipped through the Xing Yi Quan manual.

The manual had naturally been looted from Yuan Fengtai's body.

Unfortunately, the manual was incomplete and contained only the move Mountain Embracing Seal.

Besides that, he had also found on Yuan Fengtai a token representing his identity as a killer and several thousand taels' worth of silver notes.