Relentless Pursuit

Although Elder Feng believed that in combat techniques and fighting experience alone, he far surpassed the rookie before him, this man could still display such speed while bearing five hundred jin of Heavy Iron. He did not dare imagine how terrifying Xu Yi's speed would become once the Heavy Iron was removed.

Elder Feng knew very well that combat in the Body Tempering Stage, when all was said and done, was a clash of speed and strength. Martial Skills also carried considerable weight. Take the Nirvana Divine Fist he had just unleashed—if it caught an enemy off guard, it was a killing move.

But there were no shortcuts on the path of Martial Arts, nor could one take clever shortcuts. Behind the astonishing power of the Nirvana Divine Fist lay no small injury to the body. After all, sealing off all nine meridians and forcefully flooding them with blood and qi inflicted severe damage upon the sinews and veins.

As the saying went, to wound an enemy, one must first wound oneself.

Precisely because his body had already suffered hidden injuries, Elder Feng's courage had long since drained away. Now, seeing Xu Yi's extraordinary talent, even his last scraps of fighting spirit completely vanished. Yet killing intent suddenly surfaced on his face. With a long howl, he shouted, "Nirvana Divine Fist!" and threw a punch at Xu Yi. At the same time, he exerted all his strength through his feet, kicked off a giant tree, and shot backward like lightning.

Knowing he was no match, Elder Feng actually meant to flee.

At this point, how could Elder Feng still spare a thought for Young Master Zhou? Since he could not capture Xu Yi anyway, returning to the Zhou Family would bring no good end. He might as well leave without another word.

Who would have thought Xu Yi had already seen through the truth of the Nirvana Divine Fist? Elder Feng's bluffing punch did not disturb his mind in the slightest.

The instant Elder Feng moved, he moved as well.

Freed of the five hundred jin of Heavy Iron, his body became like a wisp of smoke, striking after yet arriving first.

Before Elder Feng had even landed, Xu Yi had caught up. He threw a punch, its force more than thirty percent stronger than before, and even the air seemed to ripple.

Just as he was about to land a decisive blow, Elder Feng proved himself worthy of his name. In midair, his body suddenly contracted like a spring, forcibly making Xu Yi's punch miss. Even so, the powerful force of the punch swept across his tough skin, bringing pain like a blade slicing through flesh.

Though he had barely avoided the heavy blow, Elder Feng fully realized the severity of the situation. In terms of speed alone, no matter how he fled, he could not escape pursuit.

At that thought, the blood-soaked courage and reckless defiance in Elder Feng's bones were stirred awake. With a faint sound in midair, a three-foot narrow sword appeared in his left hand when he landed, stabbing straight toward Xu Yi's incoming fist.

Xu Yi neither dodged nor avoided. At high speed, his gaze was sharp as a blade. His fist brushed past the sword edge and, with a bang, slammed into Elder Feng's left shoulder.

Strength of one and a half oxen erupted with shocking force. Elder Feng's body smashed through two thick trees before crashing to the ground. He performed a carp leap, just about to rise, when Xu Yi's smoke-like figure charged in again. His huge foot came down like an overturned ship, stomping from the heavens and striking Elder Feng squarely in the face, pinning him flat to the ground.

Having gained the advantage, Xu Yi showed no mercy. Punch after punch followed, his fists falling like pear blossoms in a torrential rain, leaving Elder Feng not the slightest room to catch his breath.

At first, Elder Feng could still cry out. Later, he became like a torn sack, unable to make another sound. In moments, Xu Yi's pair of iron fists had hammered a pit half a man's depth into the ground.

Even though Elder Feng had reached the Body Tempering Peak, his skin like oxhide felt and his bones like hard iron, under Xu Yi's mad assault, even an iron ball would have been flattened.

Xu Yi rose to his full height. Elder Feng's head was already buried deep in the mud pit, blood gushing from his entire body like springs, with no trace of life remaining.

A veteran expert at the Body Tempering Peak had actually possessed no power to fight back beneath Xu Yi's fists before being beaten to death.

After hammering Elder Feng to death alive, Xu Yi removed the cloth bag from his waist. Apart from a dozen or so Crimson Gold Coins, there was nothing else inside.

Xu Yi took out a Gold Coin, blew on it by his lips, then placed it beside his ear. At once, a soft chant like a Sanskrit hymn sounded.

On Xu Yi's face, frozen for so long, signs of thawing finally appeared.

Xu Yi had long heard of Crimson Gold Coins.

As far as he knew, there were two types of currency in the present age. One was used in the daily lives of ordinary people—the copper coins and silver bits Xu Yi could earn when telling stories.

The other was currency used among Martial Arts cultivators, and also the principal currency of the ruling class: Crimson Gold Coins, or ingots and Gold Cakes forged from crimson gold.

Back when Xu Yi had made his living telling stories, all he could earn were the copper coins and silver bits used by ordinary people.

It was precisely because he could not obtain Crimson Gold Coins that Xu Yi had no way to acquire the precious medicinal herbs that could only be traded for with crimson gold. At most, he could buy low-quality Black Dragon Grass in the countryside, the sort mountain folk could gather themselves, to replenish his strength.

Now that these dozen or so Crimson Gold Coins had fallen into his hands, the pleasure they brought him was beyond description.

After playing with them for a long time, Xu Yi finally, reluctantly, stuffed the coins back into the cloth bag and tied it tightly around his waist. He then picked up the narrow sword that had fallen nearby and bent it hard with both hands. The blade curved into an arc, yet did not break.

It was no ordinary sword. Xu Yi casually hung it at his waist, turned and left the forest, then sped toward the earlier battlefield. When he drew near, Young Master Zhou was nowhere to be seen. Climbing high and looking in all directions, he saw a rider heading north in the northwest, his fine horse flying like the wind.

Watching Young Master Zhou's fleeing figure, Xu Yi's eyes filled with blood again. He swept his gaze through the forest. More than ten zhang to the west, there was indeed movement. He slipped into the woods and, moments later, led out a chestnut-red fine horse.

Earlier, Young Master Zhou's party had brought more than ten mounts. After the chaotic battle, only a few had died or been injured. Young Master Zhou had ridden one away, while the rest of the horses had vanished. Xu Yi guessed that Young Master Zhou had driven the remaining horses into the forest. After searching, he had indeed found one.

Xu Yi did not dare delay any longer. He vaulted onto the horse, flicked the reins with his left hand, turned its head, and galloped swiftly down the ridge.

While racing onward, Xu Yi suddenly drove the narrow sword into a spot three inches below the right side of the horse's neck artery. No blood spilled out, but the fine horse seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. Its speed abruptly more than doubled as it charged wildly like the wind.

Having cultivated Martial Arts to the Body Tempering Peak, Xu Yi's understanding of the blood and qi, muscles and bones, and organs of the human body had reached an extremely high level.

Though a fine horse was not human, while it ran, its blood and qi surged and its bones trembled in ways Xu Yi could easily decipher. That thrust of his sword was meant to awaken the horse's latent potential.

Though it was his first time doing this, he already had mountains and valleys in his heart. When the sword struck, the effect was indeed astonishing.

The wind raced wild, the sun blazed like fire. Young Master Zhou clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly, while his whip lashed out in a storm of wind and rain. The white steed beneath him had nearly been dyed red with blood.

He was furious, crazed, and hateful!

He was the lofty Young Master Zhou, descendant of nobility, honored and magnificent beyond compare. What was Xu Yi? A foolish worm of an ant. Letting him live had merely been to leave the Xu Family a clown, to thoroughly disgrace those dead ghosts of the Xu Family.

Who could have known that this ant-like fellow would suddenly bare his claws and fangs at Young Master Zhou, even daring to tear off one of his arms? If he did not avenge this hatred, he swore he would not be human.