Chapter 28

It referred to the realm where "Heaven and Earth are born alongside me, and all things are one with me," and also to the harmony and resonance between man and nature.

On the entire Earth, only Hong and Thunder God had reached this realm.

Being in the Unity of Man and Nature state did not directly increase one's combat power. Speed and strength remained no different from usual, but while fighting in this state, one could control all the energy contained within one's body at will.

Normally, due to the body's instinct for self-preservation, it would not release one hundred percent of its physical potential.

The body had limits. Releasing one hundred percent of its potential meant keeping it at its limit for prolonged periods, like a spring pressed down by a brick, liable to be crushed to collapse at any moment.

But in the Unity of Man and Nature state, this protection could temporarily be broken, allowing one to release the body's energy to the fullest!

Yet when Li Yao saw this, the killing intent in his eyes grew even stronger!

At such a young age, he already possessed such strength. If he were allowed to continue growing, surpassing Li Yao would only be a matter of time. By then, the other man would hold the knife while he lay on the chopping block. The one who died might very well be Li Yao himself!

At this point—

Whether or not Li Wei had died at Luo Shen's hands, Li Yao would strangle him in the cradle today!

Kill!

He had to kill him!

Under normal circumstances, Luo Shen knew his own limits. Even after reaching the Artistic Conception Level, he did not believe he could contend against Li Yao. After all, there was a difference of four levels between an Intermediate Warlord and a High-level War God.

In terms of punching force, Li Yao's raw strength in a single punch was sixteen times his!

A complete advantage in pure strength!

What was more, Li Yao wore the Black God Suit.

That thing was practically a turtle shell. Even ordinary King-level Monsters could not break through it, let alone Luo Shen. Even the full burst of his strongest slash was merely comparable to that of a seasoned Beginner War God; it was simply impossible for him to break Li Yao's defense.

But Luo Shen, in the Unity of Man and Nature state, had no thought of fleeing at all.

Li Yao quickly noticed this as well.

He sneered. "A genius is indeed a genius. You actually managed to gain enlightenment during battle. But unfortunately, no matter how talented you are, you'll still die here today!"

Even in the Unity of Man and Nature state, Luo Shen was still struggling bitterly.

The gap in strength was simply too great!

"No way out now, huh? Die!"

Under Li Yao's deliberate pressure, Luo Shen was finally forced into a corner, with very little room left to use his movement technique to evade.

Li Yao gripped two single-edged blades, one in each hand, and hacked down at Luo Shen in a frenzy.

Even under such circumstances, Luo Shen still made the most rational choice. He dodged one blade with ghostlike footwork, but the other was impossible to avoid.

Luo Shen could only raise the Ghost Shadow Battle Blade and block it while redirecting the force.

The moment the blades met, Li Yao's expression changed drastically. He could clearly feel that a considerable portion of the power behind his slash had been deflected.

He found it hard to believe.

How could Luo Shen, at such a young age, have trained both his movement technique and blade technique to this level? Could someone truly start cultivating from the womb?

Yet no matter how exquisite the blade technique or how strong the force redirection, there was ultimately a limit.

Boom! It was as if he had been struck by lightning. The terrifying impact sent the Ghost Shadow Battle Blade crashing back into Luo Shen's body. The dreadful force cleaved him flying backward, smashing him into the wall and blasting a huge hole through it.

Crack!

His right arm holding the blade twisted grotesquely.

"Pfft!" Luo Shen spat out a mouthful of blood and was forcibly knocked out of the Unity of Man and Nature state.

Boom! Li Yao crashed through the wall, intent on following up with another strike!

If you failed to kill a snake, you would suffer from it later!

He would never allow such a thing to happen to himself!

"Stop!" At the critical moment, a blurry human figure crossed several hundred meters in almost an instant and appeared directly between the two of them.

But Li Yao refused to give up. Gritting his teeth, he brought down both single-edged blades in rapid succession.

Swoosh!

A glint of cold light arrived first, followed by a spear that shot forth like a dragon!

A series of explosive booms that made the heart tremble rang out. Li Yao and the phantom figure intertwined, sparks flying everywhere as the clang of metal striking metal rang out again and again.

Boom! Boom!

The two figures separated. One of them stamped the ground dozens of times in quick succession, leaving behind footprints dozens of centimeters deep before barely managing to stop.

The other figure took a step back, grabbed Luo Shen, and retreated over a hundred meters.

He only stopped after landing on a raised platform.

The phantom gradually solidified, and Luo Shen finally saw the man's appearance clearly.

He was a middle-aged man with a square face, resolute features, and a crew cut. He wore a black Series 7 combat uniform and held a gleaming silver spear. His back was straight, and he radiated an air of upright righteousness.

"Liu Liang!"

Li Yao looked up and practically ground out the newcomer's name through clenched teeth.

Liu Liang, the Inspector of the Limitless Martial Arts Academy in Jiangnan Base City, was a War God Peak warrior. Hong had once commented that Liu Liang had a great chance of becoming the next person to surpass the War God level!

With such praise from Hong, his strength was self-evident.

"Liu Liang, are you going to protect him?"

With Inspector Liu standing in front of him, Li Yao knew that killing Luo Shen was no longer possible.

"Li Yao, you've crossed the line!" Inspector Liu said in a deep voice.

Killing a warrior within a base city was a capital crime!

This was a rule personally established by Hong. No one was allowed to violate it!

Warriors already risked their lives in the Wilderness Area, fighting monsters to the death. If they had to guard against the blades of their companions behind them even after returning, that was simply unacceptable!

"He killed my son!" Li Yao roared.

Inspector Liu frowned and glanced down at Luo Shen. "Where's the evidence?"

The hundred-billion bounty was enough to shock the entire warrior community, and of course he had seen it. But he did not believe Luo Shen would do such a thing. A newly promoted warrior had no grudge against Li Wei, so why would he kill him?

"But he has the strength to do it!" Li Yao gritted his teeth.

Evidence? Of course he had none. Even now, it was only his speculation.

But the same question remained.

If you didn't do it, why did you run?

From the moment Luo Shen fled, Li Yao had considered him the prime suspect in his son Li Wei's murder. Besides, after fighting so viciously today, there was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between them.

No matter what, Luo Shen had to die!

"In other words."

Inspector Liu's gaze suddenly sharpened like an eagle's. "You have no evidence, yet based solely on your own delusions, you tried to kill a member under the Limitless Martial Arts Academy?"

Although War God warriors held extremely high status, that was not a reason for Li Yao to challenge the rules of the base city!

More importantly—

The person he wanted to kill was a genius of the Limitless Martial Arts Academy!

Faced with Inspector Liu's questioning, Li Yao's expression darkened as well. "Only a few days after he clashed with my son, my son died inexplicably in the Wilderness Area. And he possesses strength comparable to a Beginner War God. I don't believe such a coincidence exists in this world!"

He had fought Luo Shen and understood his strength very clearly.

Although Luo Shen's strength was only comparable to that of an ordinary Beginner War God, his movement technique was top-tier even among War Gods worldwide. It was entirely possible for him to launch a sneak attack and kill three High-level Warlords in a short time!

Inspector Liu gave Luo Shen a sympathetic look.

After offending such a mad dog, Luo Shen's path in martial arts would likely become much more turbulent.

But Luo Shen misunderstood the meaning of that glance, thinking Inspector Liu wanted him to explain himself. So he said, "The conflict with Li Wei happened because our squad risked our lives to hunt a Mutated Twin-headed Blackline Snake, but Li Wei's group wanted to seize it by force the moment they arrived. We only acted in self-defense."

"After the conflict, we even gave them half of the venom sacs and snake scales, hoping to resolve the matter."

Luo Shen paused before continuing, "So I had no reason to attack your son at all!"

Li Yao frowned. "But all your squad members chose to return to the base city. Why didn't you? I think you wanted to secretly find an opportunity to take revenge on my son!"

"And when my son died, you were only twenty kilometers from the scene. With your strength, you could have killed him first, then left the scene immediately!"

Li Yao spoke with absolute certainty, convinced that Luo Shen was the murderer.

But Inspector Liu felt that he had completely lost his mind.

As for Luo Shen, although he knew Li Yao would not listen, he still explained, "I'll soon be heading to the Global Headquarters for special training, and I didn't want to waste time, so I went alone to City 023 to practice my blade technique. On the way, I also took part in rescuing the Yanshan Squad. All of this can be verified."

Li Yao sneered.

He was now completely convinced that Luo Shen was the murderer and would not listen to any explanation.