Hero Saves the Damsel, Unleashing a Strike

Sand churned beneath his palm, and the shockwave raced away along the earth's veins.

Chen Wuya sprang out from behind the rocks, shooting toward the center of the battle like an arrow loosed from the bow. His eyes were bloodshot, and a low roar rolled from his throat—not a technique, not a calculation, but simply a reckless surge driving him forward. The instant he leaped, the sand beneath his feet exploded with a boom, shards of stone spraying everywhere. The blades of the three men besieging Bai Zhi all stalled at once.

One assassin slipped, and the arc of his curved saber veered by a fraction, grazing past Bai Zhi's neck and drawing a line of blood. She gritted her teeth and tried to retreat, but the old wound in her left shoulder suddenly tore open. Her body swayed, and she dropped to one knee. Another short blade was already stabbing straight for her throat, its cold gleam reflected deep in her pupils.

Still in midair, Chen Wuya slammed his right palm against the ground.

A savage heat burst from his dantian and surged backward through his meridians, ignoring the usual paths and instead coursing through the broken remnants of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. It felt as though a fire were burning inside him, as though countless needles were stabbing out from his marrow. He had no time to think. Misaligned Force instinctively crashed into that heat current. The two powers met in his chest, yet instead of clashing, they twisted together, forming a circuit of power unlike anything he had ever known.

The system's voice rang out coldly. "Detected host's vitality below the critical threshold. Emotional energy has surpassed the threshold—Misaligned Practice Connects to Spirit advanced mode activated."

Before the words had faded, a faint layer of golden light