This Scene, This Feeling

Boom!

With Gu Han's simple punch, an earth-shaking explosion of air suddenly rang through the mountain forest, startling countless birds and beasts into flight.

In that instant, even the invisible void before him seemed to have been shattered. The surrounding air was blasted apart in a moment, then compressed and driven in all directions, forming waves of terrifying force.

It swept up countless dead branches and fallen leaves, countless grains of sand and pebbles, flattened rows upon rows of waist-high wild grass, and the fierce wind created by his punch left dozens of people around him unable to open their eyes.

There was a saying: As long as my strength was great enough, my speed fast enough, and the point of contact small enough, then beneath my punch, even light would be smashed apart!

Gu Han's punch was naturally still far from reaching the level described by those words, yet in that instant, it already carried a faint hint of annihilating all things.

"Die!"

Gu Han shouted lowly. Beneath his brows, his gem-black eyes brimmed with chilling killing intent. The terrifying divine strength in his body—enough to grind stone into powder, knead iron into mud, and hurl elephants across rivers—erupted from his small right fist in an instant, propelling him toward Wang Lang at a terrifying speed beyond the limits of ordinary human reaction.

"No! No! How could this be?! How could you be this strong?!"

Feeling the terrifying gale rush toward him, Wang Lang felt boundless terror rise within his heart. The space between his brows throbbed repeatedly, while the instinctive warning of danger he had developed from living among wolves since childhood constantly screamed at him:

"Danger! Danger! Danger!"

Incomparably dangerous!

Beneath this punch, a thought arose uncontrollably from the depths of his heart: no matter what, he could neither evade nor escape this punch.

It was as though Heaven had decreed that he was fated to die beneath this punch today. No matter where he was, no matter where he fled, he seemed unable to escape the fate of being blasted to death by it.

"Awoo!"

At this critical moment, a wolf howl filled with unwillingness and fear burst from the crazed Wang Lang's mouth.

Under the intense fear and unwillingness, Wang Lang felt his mind become clearer than ever before. He felt as though a flame had ignited deep within his body, burning him until his entire body was in agony, scorching his heart until it blazed, as though it would burn his whole being into ash, into dust!

"Ahhh!"

Wang Lang cried out in agony beneath that blazing heat.

But the next moment...

Pfft!

A faint sound rang out in the air. A thin layer of fiery red gas suddenly appeared over the snow-white long saber in Wang Lang's hand.

The instant this gas appeared, even the invisible air seemed to be burned by it, giving off bursts of sound and waves of heat. At the same time, the power of Wang Lang's saber surged instantly, its strength and speed both increasing by more than double.

"Hm? This is... Inner Qi?"

Seeing the thin fiery-red gas on Wang Lang's saber, Gu Han's heart stirred, and the term immediately surfaced in his mind.

Gu Han was naturally no stranger to Inner Qi. Not only had he seen it in his previous life, but in this life, he had also watched Abbot Ben Zhen, the head of Arhat Hall Ben Guan, and others wield it. Beyond that, he had read many descriptions of Inner Qi in the various miscellaneous books within Treasure Pearl Temple's Scripture Library.

Therefore, Gu Han was certain that the fiery-red gas on Wang Lang's saber was indeed Inner Qi!

"It is said that between life and death lies great terror, but also great opportunity. When people faced the threshold of life and death, they could often unleash their potential to an extreme degree; even a frail old woman could carry a thousand jin.

Now it seemed that this saying was indeed true. Who would have thought that, through this strange twist of fate, I had actually helped Wang Lang break through to Inner Qi today? What an attempt to be clever that backfired!"

Gu Han mocked himself inwardly, yet there was not the slightest trace of worry on his face.

So what if it was Blood Tempering? So what if it was Inner Qi?

With his current strength, which would place him among the foremost experts even among those at Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi—

Whether Blood Tempering or Inner Qi, there was no difference to him at all. At most, it had changed from settling the matter with one punch to settling it with two.

If I want you dead, you will still die!

Gu Han's heart was cold and dismissive.

But compared to Gu Han, Wang Lang, who had just broken through to Inner Qi, was clearly filled with far greater confidence.

"Haha, Jingming! This general has been trapped at Blood Tempering for years and had long been unable to break through. Who would have thought that, through this strange twist of fate, you would help me break through into the Internal Qi Realm today? Therefore, to thank you, this general shall now grant you death!"

Wang Lang laughed loudly, his tone brimming with lofty arrogance. At the same time, he twisted the long saber in his hand. His body, which had originally been maintaining a downward slash, forcibly changed direction in midair at an inconceivable angle. Immediately afterward, he unleashed an exquisitely perfect saber technique.

Ssh!

A desolate yet beautiful saber light cut through the air, its snow-white streak tearing through the void. It was like the waning moon hanging high in the night sky—desolate, beautiful, distant, and filled with killing intent.

Blood Tempering martial skill—Crescent Moon Saber Technique!

"Haha! Die!"

Beneath Wang Lang's crazed and cruel gaze, the long saber in his hand finally drew close to Gu Han.

Then, beneath everyone's tense stares, the two collided.

Pop!

A sound like a bubble being squeezed apart rang out. In that instant, Gu Han's fist suddenly changed into a palm and struck fiercely against Wang Lang's long saber, instantly shattering the fiery-red Inner Qi barrier around it, a barrier comparable to refined steel armor.

Without slowing, his palm then landed upon the blade of Wang Lang's saber, forged by a master craftsman from the Western Regions and sharp enough to cut iron like mud.

Clang!

The clash of metal rang out once more. Gu Han exerted force, and the divine strength of tens of thousands of jin in one arm erupted with a thunderous roar, smashing the snow-white long saber into two pieces in an instant. At the same time, his left hand shot out in another fierce punch, striking Wang Lang's unguarded body, protected by nothing more than a thin layer of Inner Qi.

Bang!

A dull impact sounded across the battlefield. The next instant, everyone saw Wang Lang, who had just been imposing and mighty, declaring that he would kill Gu Han, suddenly lifted from the ground and sent flying sideways.

Like a broken doll, he flew backward through the air, vomiting blood without end. Only after flying dozens of meters and smashing through an unknown number of great trees did he finally crash to the ground. From that moment on, he had no breath left.

This scene, this feeling, was just like it had been more than ten years ago!