Yet that warning was drowned out by the thunderous clash of battle. The masked man paid it no heed; in the briefest of moments, he even punched another Black Mountain Army soldier and sent him flying.
"Die!"
A look of wild delight appeared beneath the black-armored brute's helmet. He was a Bone Forging Realm Martial Artist with strength born of nature. Even Qian Wu, who was also in the Bone Forging Realm, could barely withstand his attacks, and had ended up with his saber broken.
But this fellow before him wore no armor and had no weapon in hand. If this blow landed, even a Martial Artist whose realm was above Bone Forging would die on the spot.
"Oh no!"
Qian Wu's face changed drastically.
The staff struck straight down, warping the air as it fell from above the masked man's head. Under countless horrified stares, it smashed the figure to pieces before slamming into the ground. The earth trembled, and shattered stones shot out like arrows from a bow.
Several Black Mountain Army and Qingyun Army soldiers standing nearby cried out in pain as the flying stones cut into their flesh, leaving blood streaming down their bodies.
Yet at that very instant, the black-armored brute's delight froze. In its place came an expression of disbelief.
"That was empty?"
He had seen it clearly just now. The shadowy figure seemed to have shed its shell like a cicada, abruptly sliding half a zhang to the side. What he had smashed was no more than an afterimage too swift for the eye to catch.
Though his staff had missed, the black-armored brute's momentum did not falter. Born with monstrous strength and seemingly inexhaustible stamina, he forced out another breath and immediately swung the fine-iron staff in his hands around once more.
A dark cloud covered the sky.
Infused with brute strength and force, the fine-iron staff visibly bent as it swung. Its tip lashed toward Su Mu like an iron whip, carrying enough force to shatter rocks.
"Pear Blossom Storm Spear!"
The black-armored man followed through mid-swing, shifting from a one-handed grip to holding the staff with both hands. His footwork joined with the movement; his bones tightened, his waist and abdomen drove his arms, and his arms wielded the long staff. In an instant, the staff spun and thrust out again and again.
Only then did Qian Wu suddenly snap out of his daze.
"So the bandit wasn't using a staff technique, but a spear technique... When he fought me, that bastard relied entirely on his brute strength. He never even used his full power!"
When Hong Shan was young, he had apprenticed himself to a wandering swordsman. After taking to the hills and becoming a bandit, perhaps out of guilt toward his master, he had stopped using a spear and switched to a staff.
Now, in his fury, the black-armored brute wielded the staff as a spear and unleashed the Torrential Rain Spear Technique.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The heavy fine-iron staff moved in the black-armored brute's hands like a sudden gale and downpour, its shadows merging into one.
The black-armored brute's staff was fast, but beneath that storm was a figure moving even faster.
Su Mu drew a deep breath. As every inch of his flesh stirred, he entered the Limit Break State in an instant, then doubled up his Bird Plays.
Five Animal Bird Play stacked with Startled Sparrow Steps.
Su Mu's figure darted and shifted across a space of over a zhang, like a startled sparrow in the mountains beneath a downpour. Each time, he barely dodged the frenzied staff amid its dense shadows.
The howling gale was kept at bay by the film of force flowing over Su Mu's body.
To the onlookers, Su Mu's figure seemed to waver between real and unreal. No matter how fiercely the storm raged, it could not harm him in the slightest.
"What exquisite footwork... How could this man's Movement Technique have reached such a level?!" Qian Wu exclaimed in amazement, and the heart in his throat finally settled.
With such exquisite footwork, this masked man was practically invincible.
The perfected Five Animal Frolics had given Su Mu near-perfect control over his body. His Startled Sparrow Steps were now extremely close to mastery. Under the Limit Break State, stacking Startled Sparrow Steps with Bird Play had brought them to a terrifying level.
This was the first time Su Mu had been forced to use the doubled Bird Play in a fight. The black-armored brute was strong—without a doubt, the most formidable foe Su Mu had ever faced.
That was why Su Mu had never planned to join the clash between the two directly. Instead, he had planned to relieve the siege by attacking elsewhere: first killing the other Black Mountain Army soldiers, while using his Excellent Talent, Raw Jade to keep discerning the black-armored brute's martial arts.
Now that the spear technique had been revealed, Su Mu had grasped the brute's martial arts style.
"Well, look at this coward with his head wrapped up like a filthy rat. All you know how to do is dodge? If you're a real man, take one of my blows!"
The black-armored brute was both shocked and furious. Su Mu's Movement Technique greatly unnerved him. His strength was inborn, and his spear technique fearsome—but what good was any of that if it couldn't hit his opponent?
"Then I'll give you what you want!"
Seeing Su Mu stop dodging, the black-armored brute was overjoyed. He immediately stepped to the side with his left foot, twisted his waist, and swung his staff in a Sweep the Thousand Armies.
"Oh no, this righteous hero is far too straightforward. That bastard goaded him, and now he's fallen for it!"
Qian Wu's face was filled with anxiety. The black-armored brute wore a suit of heavy fine iron armor, and the fine-iron staff in his hands carried far more than a thousand catties of force when he swung it. Even a fierce tiger from the forest would have its tendons and bones shattered by that blow, let alone a masked man with no weapon or armor.
But as the long staff came crashing down, Su Mu's figure once again turned into a startled sparrow in the mountains. The staff smashed an afterimage to pieces, while Su Mu himself instantly closed the distance.
"Son of a bitch, you tricked me!"
At the insult, a cold glint flashed in Su Mu's eyes. There was no end to the stratagems of war. Showing mercy to an enemy was cruelty to oneself—especially when the man before him was the scoundrel who had tortured Master Zhou to death and was even stronger than Su Mu.
Against a man like this, he had to use every means at his disposal—and be even more ruthless!
Seeing Su Mu rush closer, then slowly punch toward him with his left fist, the black-armored brute's alarm faded. A mocking look spread across his face.
The fine-iron armor he wore could shrug off more than a mere fist of flesh and blood. Even Qian Wu, another Bone Forging Realm Martial Artist, had been unable to pierce it with his saber just moments ago. And this strike looked feather-light.
To think a punch like that could hurt him, Hong Shan, was sheer delusion!
But in the split second when his guard dropped, Su Mu's right fist suddenly became a tiger's claw.
In the Limit Break State, Five Animal Tiger Play stacked with Tiger Subduing Fist.
Vajra Tiger Subduing!
Roar!
A tremendously high-pitched tiger's roar suddenly rang across the battlefield.
It dispelled the surrounding mist and left even the black-armored brute dazed.
Clang!
The punch struck the black-armored brute in the chest before he could react. This top Ninth Rank fist technique from Vajra Temple was now extremely close to perfection in Su Mu's hands. The instant his fist landed, a terrifying surge of force erupted.
The black-armored man came to his senses and staggered back several steps. The heavy armor on his body caved inward under the blow, forming the imprint of a tiger's claw.
The black-armored man was visibly shaken. He stared at Su Mu's fist, which was completely unharmed. If he had been in Su Mu's place and punched the armor with bare flesh, forget denting the iron—it would have been his own hand bones that broke first.
At once, he remembered the three stages of Refined Strength that his wandering swordsman master had mentioned when he was young.
"Force follows the mind, covering the whole body; force becomes armor... Y-you've mastered Transformation Force?!"
Transformation Force—the force that turned four ounces into a thousand catties, the force that became armor!
Transformation Force did not directly enhance the power of martial arts. Instead, it was used to neutralize force. One could use it to deflect an enemy's attack, protect one's body from injury while striking, or even reflect an attack back at the attacker.
Transformation Force—force becomes armor?!
Su Mu's eyes lit up. To be honest, he had no idea how to break through to Transformation Force. That was the main reason he had not attempted it directly after reaching the great mastery of Hidden Force.
He had learned about Hidden Force by watching the Black Market bandits he fought use it. They had given Su Mu a path to follow, and his remarkable insight had allowed him to work it out from there.
But he had never encountered an enemy capable of using Transformation Force. Even the two Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists here had not mastered it.
Could this film of force be the embryo of force armor?
Su Mu was overjoyed. He had only chanced upon this film of force in a flash of inspiration after being tormented by the rainy weather on the road. He had never expected that, by sheer coincidence, it would set him on the right path to Transformation Force.
"Force follows the mind, covering the whole body; force becomes armor... So this is the realm of Transformation Force?"
Su Mu's mind raced, but his attacks did not let up. To thank the black-armored brute for pointing him toward the path of Transformation Force, he had to show his gratitude properly.
"To show my gratitude... I'll use everything I've got to blast you to death!"
Su Mu drove force through both feet and took a step forward, instantly catching up with the retreating black-armored brute. That same seemingly slow punch struck the dented section once more, precisely and without fail.
Great Mastery Rock Shattering Fist, Armor Shattering!
Boom.
Su Mu's fist landed on the black-armored man's chest with a muffled thud. The man froze, then burst into raucous laughter and taunted him.
"So what if you've mastered Transformation Force? You're wearing iron armor. How can you hurt me with your bare hands?!"
His laughter abruptly froze.
At that very moment, a terrifying surge of force penetrated the armor through the dent and detonated in his flesh.
Boom!
A much louder explosion rang out. The black-armored brute felt a burst of pain in his chest and his blood and qi roiled violently, but he swallowed it back with a muffled groan.
"Th-this is impossible... I'm protected by iron armor, invulnerable to blades and spears. How can you hurt me?"
For the first time, a look of terror appeared on the black-armored brute's face. His greatest asset in this fight was not his inborn strength, but the exceptionally sturdy iron armor he wore. With it, even if he let Qian Wu, another Bone Forging Realm Martial Artist, slash him, Qian Wu still could not pierce his defenses.
Yet now, this greatest asset was utterly useless against the man before him!
Blood trickled from inside the iron armor and dripped to the ground.
Seeing the armored man, whose defenses he had been unable to breach, now bleeding, Qian Wu's confidence surged. He called out, "Bring me a saber!"
At once, a Qingyun Army soldier carrying several sabers at his waist handed him one.
"Hero, let's join forces and kill him, to rid the people of this scourge!"
With that, Qian Wu roared with laughter and charged straight at the black-armored brute, looking to create an opening for Su Mu to kill the man.
Su Mu fixed the black-armored brute with a pair of eyes brimming with killing intent. The Limit Break State was already the limit of his body; stacking two Tigers or two Birds on top of it was difficult to sustain.
And he had not truly mastered Transformation Force. Though the film of force protected him, his right arm ached terribly from striking the iron armor head-on. He could not bring even half his strength to bear.
That was why Su Mu had chosen to use his left arm, whose bones had begun to temper, as his true killing weapon and unleash the Rock Shattering Fist. That strike had indeed injured the black-armored brute, but not enough to kill him.
It was best to have a Qingyun Army officer of the Bone Forging Realm cover him.
Whoosh!
Su Mu's figure flashed, and he instantly closed in from the side. Even though Qian Wu had already seen Su Mu's footwork, witnessing it again at such close range still filled him with amazement. He immediately understood and stepped aside.
Boom!
Su Mu's fist landed again with the Rock Shattering Fist, this time on the brute's right wrist.
"Ahhh—!"
A scream burst from the brute's mouth. The damned force inside that fist penetrated the iron armor and detonated directly in his wrist. His right wrist throbbed with agony; flesh flew inside the armor, and his tendons and bones snapped.
"You bastards, what kind of heroes gang up on one man? If you've got the guts, fight me one-on-one!"
Su Mu let out a cold laugh.
"Fairness? What right does a corpse have to talk about fairness?"
Su Mu's voice was icy, making even Qian Wu shiver. But Qian Wu had plenty of combat experience. He immediately pressed the advantage, joining Su Mu in finishing off the bandit.
Saber light flashed, slashing at the black-armored brute again and again.
After losing the use of his right arm, the black-armored brute was already on the back foot. He roared constantly and swung the fine-iron staff in his left hand. He seemed ferocious, but his movements had lost all form.
As Qian Wu stepped aside, a shadow grew larger and larger in the brute's pupils. Hong Shan's eyes were bloodshot, filled with an indescribable mixture of pain and terror.
"No... y-you, don't come any closer..."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Su Mu pounced like a fierce tiger, his left arm striking again and again. He only stopped after more than a dozen punches, when his arm had nearly gone numb. Beneath his face covering, Su Mu clenched his teeth and did not let the slightest hint of his condition show.
Drip, drip!
One pool after another of blood mixed with shattered bone and flesh seeped through the gaps in the iron armor, then fell to the ground. A cluster of eerie blood blossoms spread across the earth.
The black-armored brute's tiger eyes grew unfocused. His past flashed before him, one scene after another, until at last a figure appeared and came to a halt before his eyes. That figure's face was filled with profound disappointment.
Clang!
The fine-iron staff hit the ground.
Amid the clanging of metal, the black-armored brute's hulking body, as imposing as a small mountain, dropped to its knees with a crash. He murmured as if speaking to himself.
"Master, I was wrong..."
There was no reply. The brute's head drooped. Inside his armor, his flesh and blood had been completely pulverized by Su Mu's dozen or so punches, crushed into a mass of bloody pulp. His body could no longer hold its shape, and he collapsed to the ground.
When a man was about to die, his words were often kind.
Su Mu had heard the brute's final words, but the killing intent in his heart had not faded. Even if he killed the black-armored brute a hundred or a thousand times, Master Zhou and the others would never come back to life.
In this world, good people never lived long!
Su Mu's eyes flickered. He kicked a blade off the ground, gripped it in his right hand, then reached out with his left and seized the brute's head before slicing it off.
Hot blood splashed across his face. Su Mu held the blood-soaked head in his hand. He would use it to pay tribute to Zhou Shan and the several masters who had died.
"Commander Hong... is really dead?!"
The Black Mountain Army soldiers stared in horror as their commander was beheaded and his head held aloft. The death of the leader they had believed invincible dealt them a crushing blow. Their morale plummeted, and their army crumbled like a landslide.
"The bandit chieftain is dead! Evil will never triumph over righteousness! Kill! Brothers, wipe out these beasts in human skin!"
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