"Are you the one who killed Wu Heng?"
Zhao Xuan was shocked and furious. "Who are you, exactly? How have I offended you? Why don't you name your terms? Perhaps we can settle our feud!"
Su Mu stared coldly at the Smiling Tiger before him and spoke in an even voice.
"There is a way to settle it."
"Please, tell me."
"That way works on people, not beasts." Su Mu finished speaking and drew a light breath. His aura changed in an instant, like a ferocious tiger breathing. His blood and force surged inside him like a torrent crashing against a dam, the rushing sound faintly audible.
He entered the Limit Break State in an instant.
Crack!
He pressed a palm against the door. Force burst from his hand, shattering the thick ironwood door bolt through the wooden panel. Splinters flew everywhere.
Boom!
The moment the study door flew open, Su Mu stepped inside.
Zhao Xuan's expression turned grave. He had reached the Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm two years ago, and with his strength, he could smash the door apart with one palm. That would be no challenge. But shattering the bolt through the door without damaging the door itself was extremely difficult. At the very least, he couldn't do it.
That meant his opponent's control over force had been honed to an astonishing degree—far beyond Zhao Xuan's!
"Since you don't want to talk, then die!"
The Black Tiger Gang had become the biggest gang in the area in just a few years under Zhao Xuan's leadership. He was no pushover. Seeing that a settlement was impossible, he simply turned hostile.
His eyes suddenly widened. The refined air of a scholar vanished, replaced by a dangerous, cold-blooded, violent presence, like a wolf fixing its gaze on prey.
A gale surged!
A fierce wind suddenly swept through the study. Crack, crack! Teaware was carried into the air and smashed to pieces. Zhao Xuan gave a low shout and crouched slightly, striking at Su Mu's face the instant he stepped inside.
The first to strike had the advantage!
At the Ninth Rank, one refined strength into force. At the Eighth Rank, one tempered the bones and marrow. An Eighth Rank Martial Artist's bones were honed, and his physique broke past the limits of ordinary people, making him several times stronger than a Qi Refining Martial Artist. His bones were like cast iron; with bare hands, he could tear apart tigers and wolves.
Sss, sss, sss!
The gale swept up the broken shards of teaware, turning them into countless sharp blades that filled the entrance to the study like a storm of pear blossoms.
Even a wall would be punched through by this blow.
"This is... Gale Fist."
Su Mu narrowed his eyes. With his current mastery of fist techniques, he could tell that Wu Heng's mastery of Gale Fist was no weaker than Zhao Xuan's. But there was a gap between their realms. In Zhao Xuan's hands, Gale Fist was more than twice as powerful!
What baffled Zhao Xuan, though, was that Su Mu showed no sign of dodging. He even stepped forward, as if ready to trade wounds in a fight to the death.
"If he'd dodged at once, he might have suffered a few light injuries... But now he won't dodge or retreat, and he wants to fight me to the death. What a fool."
Zhao Xuan cursed him inwardly, unable to contain his glee. He hadn't expected the man who killed Wu Heng to be such an idiot. If he'd known, why would he have needed to enlist the Black Mountain Army to get rid of him?
The moment his opponent chose not to dodge, the outcome was decided. To trade wounds, the man would have to take Zhao Xuan's blow head-on. Even if he could withstand it, why would Zhao Xuan meet him with force?
And even if they did clash head-on, Zhao Xuan wore the Snow Silkworm Treasure Armor he'd taken from the Clear Wind Gang. He was already invincible.
And even if all else failed, this was Zhao Xuan's territory. There were two or three dozen Black Tiger Gang members in the courtyard, along with three or four Ninth Rank Qi Refining Martial Artists. Two of them had even reached the Hidden Force level. Once the man was injured, he'd have nowhere to run. Tonight, this place would become Su Mu's grave!
Zhao Xuan could already picture the foolish man's flesh flying as he screamed in agony.
But the next instant, Zhao Xuan's glee abruptly stalled. The scene he'd expected didn't happen.
Bang, bang, bang!
The hundred or so shards of teaware, swept along by the gale like blades, burst apart the moment they came within an inch of Su Mu's skin, crumbling into piles of dust, as if an invisible suit of armor covered him.
"What is this?"
The next moment, Zhao Xuan felt the invisible armor for himself. A layer of force, constantly vibrating, covered Su Mu's skin. The instant Zhao Xuan's fist struck Su Mu's flesh, the rapidly circulating film of force suddenly became countless currents. They dispersed, redirected, and neutralized the solid force and power behind Zhao Xuan's punch!
Su Mu only staggered slightly after taking Zhao Xuan's blow.
It was only polite to return a blow. Su Mu raised his right fist and clenched it tight.
Roar!
A mighty tiger's roar rang out over Qingshui Town once more, and this time it was even more earthshaking than when Wu Heng had died.
Perfected Tiger Subduing Fist—Vajra Tiger Subduing!
His fist shot out, tearing through the air.
Boom!
Zhao Xuan grunted as his body flew backward like a cannonball. With a series of crashes, he smashed through several bookshelves in the study.
The power of Perfected Tiger Subduing Fist was astonishing. One punch had sent an Eighth Rank Bone Forging Martial Artist flying!
Yet after delivering the blow, Su Mu furrowed his brow, as if dissatisfied.
"Something's wrong."
Zhao Xuan's anticipation of Tiger Subduing Fist surprised Su Mu a little, but it was otherwise to be expected. At the instant the tiger roared, Zhao Xuan had reacted by crossing his arms over his chest to block.
What truly puzzled Su Mu was that his punch had felt as though it had struck something highly elastic. Something on Zhao Xuan had absorbed some of the force behind his attack.
Even so, Zhao Xuan couldn't have come away unscathed!
Cough, cough.
Amid the wreckage, a figure staggered to his feet. Zhao Xuan, the foremost man in Qingshui Town, was now in a wretched state. His arms weren't broken, but they throbbed with pain and numbness. He forced down the surging blood and put on a smug expression.
"If I'm not mistaken... that force that neutralized my punch just now was Hidden Force."
Riiip.
Zhao Xuan reached up and tore off his clothes, now little more than strips of cloth, revealing a gleaming white inner armor. "But Hidden Force can't directly increase the power of a martial art. And I, Zhao Xuan, have armor to protect me. Your Tiger Subduing Fist can't kill me."
As he spoke, firelight flickered beyond the courtyard, and the dense, tide-like sound of footsteps came from every direction.
"Quick, the commotion came from the inner courtyard! Let's go take a look!"
The voices of the Black Tiger Gang members rang out from the outer courtyard.
Zhao Xuan took the opportunity to stuff several pills into his mouth. Hearing the approaching footsteps, he wore an expression of absolute confidence.
The black-armored brute had said something similar not long ago. That man had ended up with his head cut off by Su Mu.
A chill glinted in Su Mu's eyes. He said nothing, but stepped forward, his body like a startled sparrow spreading its wings.
In an instant, he crossed several yards.
"What incredible Movement Technique!"
Zhao Xuan was horrified, but as the foremost man in Qingshui Town, he quickly made a calm decision. He gave up on dodging and planned to use his treasure armor to block Su Mu's attack again.
Su Mu seemed not to have learned from his mistake either. He raised a fist and struck once more.
Only this time, Zhao Xuan didn't notice that Su Mu was using his left fist instead of his right.
"What can a lapdog of Vajra Temple do to me..."
Zhao Xuan watched coldly as Su Mu's fist came at him. A nameless unease suddenly rose in his heart, and his taunt cut off.
The fist fell.
Bang!
With a muffled thud, a surge of force, far more powerful than Zhao Xuan's, pierced through the armor and scattered the force inside his body. Then it burst against his thumping heart.
Bang!
His heart was crushed by the force. Blood poured from Zhao Xuan's eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. His smug expression froze, turning to disbelief and terror.
He looked down at the armor on his body. It was completely intact.
"Why..."
The only answer was the crisp sound of a neck twisting.
Crack.
Zhao Xuan's eyes bulged as Su Mu snapped his neck. Just before he died, he saw a headless corpse clad in treasure armor collapse with a crash.
That night, Zhao Xuan, the Black Tiger Gang Lord and the foremost man in Qingshui Town, died!
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