The air on the docks seemed to catch fire in that instant.
Lu Chen's words were like a spark dropped into a barrel of oil.
"Whoa—"
The Black Water Gang members watching nearby and the townsfolk in the distance erupted in an uproar.
He was crazy!
Lu Chen had to be crazy!
That was an elder of the Li Family! A super expert in the Viscera Refining Realm!
How dare he? How dare he speak to the man like that?
"Impudent!"
Before Li Changfeng could speak, a middle-aged man behind him bellowed and strode forward. "You're nothing but a backwoods rogue cultivator from some border town, yet you dare show such disrespect to an elder! You must be tired of living!"
The middle-aged man was Li Hu, the Li Family's chief guard. His cultivation had reached the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, just one step away from entering the Viscera Refining Realm. In the Prefectural City, he was used to throwing his weight around. How could he stand being provoked by some country bumpkin?
"Whether I'm tired of living, why don't you find out?"
Lu Chen didn't even spare him a glance. His eyes remained fixed on Li Changfeng.
He could sense an utterly terrifying power within the old man—a formidable foe unlike any he had ever faced.
But he wasn't afraid.
If anything... he was a little excited.
The blood in his body boiled, and his bones trembled faintly, giving off a "hummm" only he could hear.
It was the thrill of finding prey!
"Good! Very good!"
Li Changfeng laughed in fury as he looked Lu Chen up and down, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
"To be so young and have tempered your body to this degree. No wonder you could kill that useless Qian Tong."
"But..."
Li Changfeng's tone shifted, and his gaze turned ice-cold. "I've seen plenty of geniuses. But before they've had a chance to grow, geniuses... are made to be snuffed out!"
"Li Hu, go. Break all four of his limbs. I want him alive."
"Yes!"
Li Hu gave a vicious grin, drew a Bintie Long Staff from his waist, and stamped hard.
Boom!
The hard stone paving on the docks shattered beneath his foot. Like a fierce tiger charging down a mountain, Li Hu lunged at Lu Chen with a howl of rushing wind.
"Kid, remember your grandpa's name! Keep your eyes open when you're reborn in your next life!"
Li Hu raised his staff high and brought it crashing down on Lu Chen's shoulder with the force of a thousand jun.
The blow was powerful and heavy. If it landed, even iron and stone would be smashed to powder!
Faced with this ferocious attack, Lu Chen stood rooted in place, as if he had been scared witless.
"Dodge! Hurry, dodge!" Zhao Tieshan shouted desperately from behind.
Yet just as the staff was about to strike Lu Chen—
Lu Chen moved.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't retreat.
He simply raised his left hand.
Clang!
A deafening clash of metal rang out.
The entire scene fell silent.
Everyone's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
Lu Chen had caught the Bintie Long Staff—with its thousand-jun force—in his bare left hand!
His palm had turned the color of dark iron, his five fingers hooked like claws, clamped tightly around the staff. No matter how hard Li Hu tried to wrench it free, it wouldn't budge!
"H-how is this possible?!"
Li Hu's face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead, his eyes filled with disbelief.
That blow had carried several thousand jin of force! Even an expert at the same level in the Bone Refining Realm wouldn't dare take it head-on, let alone catch it with one hand!
Was this kid's hand made of iron?!
"Not bad strength."
Lu Chen gave a casual verdict. "Too slow, though."
Before the words had even faded, Lu Chen turned his right hand, and the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber flashed from its sheath.
Shing!
A streak of cold light flashed past.
"Ah—!"
A piercing scream rang across the docks.
Clutching his severed wrist, Li Hu stumbled backward as blood gushed out like a fountain.
The Bintie Long Staff remained firmly in Lu Chen's grasp.
Clatter.
Lu Chen tossed the staff onto the ground, where it landed with a sharp clink.
"Next."
Lu Chen lifted his head, looked past the screaming Li Hu, and met Li Changfeng's gaze.
A deathly silence fell.
It had all happened too fast. It was too shocking.
One move!
Just one move!
And the Li Family's chief guard had been crippled!
The Black Water Gang members could feel their scalps go numb. They exchanged looks, each seeing fear—and a trace of fervor—in the others' eyes.
This was their Deputy Hall Master!
This was the number-one expert in Nujiang County!
"Good! Well done!"
Zhao Tieshan couldn't help shouting as he pumped his fist, his face flushed red.
The other gang members caught the excitement too. Much of the fear in their hearts faded, replaced by a strange surge of hot-blooded zeal.
"Interesting."
Li Changfeng looked at Li Hu, screaming on the ground, and his face finally darkened.
Even when beating a dog, you had to consider its master.
Lu Chen hadn't merely crippled Li Hu with that strike—he had slapped the Li Family hard across the face!
"Seems this old man underestimated you."
Li Changfeng slowly took a step forward.
Boom!
As his foot came down, an aura ten times more powerful than before burst from him.
The air around them seemed to thicken. Several nearby Black Water Gang members were crushed to their knees by the pressure, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
The might of the Viscera Refining Realm was truly terrifying!
"Kid, catching Li Hu's staff proves you have some skill."
The purple robe on Li Changfeng's body fluttered in the wind, and a faint gleam turned in his eyes.
"But before this old man, you're still nothing but a slightly bigger ant."
"Today, I'll show you what a true gulf in martial arts looks like!"
"Die!"
Li Changfeng's figure blurred, leaving an afterimage where he had stood.
The next instant, he was right in front of Lu Chen.
A withered hand, seemingly slow but actually fast as lightning, drifted toward Lu Chen's chest.
The palm made no sound as it cut through the air, and there was nothing flashy about it.
Yet every hair on Lu Chen's body stood on end!
Danger!
Extreme danger!
The palm looked ordinary, but the inner force contained in it was like a volcano on the verge of erupting. The moment it made contact, it could shake his internal organs to powder!
That was the method of a Viscera Refining Realm expert—wielding tremendous force with ease, keeping inner force tightly contained!
"Just what I wanted!"
Lu Chen charged forward instead of retreating, his fighting spirit surging to the heavens.
The blood in his body surged wildly, and his bones crackled like popping beans.
"Profound Nether Hand!"
Lu Chen roared. His left palm turned ink-black, and a bone-piercing chill burst from it as he struck hard against Li Changfeng's palm!
Thud!
Their palms met.
There was no earth-shattering crash.
Only a muffled "puff."
Like two scraps of hide smacking together.
But then—
"Crack, crack..."
The stone paving beneath their feet split in an instant. Countless cracks spread in every direction, and shattered stones flew through the air.
A visible wave of force swept outward from the two of them.
Thud, thud, thud!
Lu Chen staggered back three steps, each footfall leaving a deep imprint in the ground. His face turned slightly pale.
Li Changfeng had also been forced back half a step!
Though it was only half a step, it was enough to leave everyone dumbstruck!
That was a Viscera Refining Realm expert!
Lu Chen had actually forced one back?!
"This chill..."
Li Changfeng steadied himself and glanced at his palm.
A thin layer of black frost had formed there. An intensely sinister chill was trying to worm its way into his meridians and freeze his blood.
If his organs hadn't been powerful and his blood as dense as mercury, he would have suffered a serious setback from that strike!
"What a sinister palm technique! What overbearing cold!"
Li Changfeng circulated his energy, then jolted his palm and shattered the frost.
He looked up at Lu Chen, his gaze finally turning grave—and his murderous intent growing even stronger.
"This boy absolutely cannot be allowed to live!"
Killing intent surged in Li Changfeng's heart.
A Bone Refining Realm kid had somehow mastered such a high-level technique and could even contend with him across realms, though he was in the Viscera Refining Realm. If the boy were allowed to grow, he would become a grave threat to the Li Family!
"Kid, surviving one palm from this old man is something to be proud of."
"But this is where it ends!"
Li Changfeng took a deep breath, his chest swelling high, like the bellows of a giant forge being worked.
"In... out..."
As he breathed, the air around him seemed to be drawn into his body.
His skin began to glow a faint red—the sign of his blood and qi circulating at full force.
"This next move will send you on your way!"
"You're nothing but a martial artist from some border town, yet you dare stop a chariot with your mantis arms?" Li Changfeng looked at Lu Chen as if he were already dead.
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