Boom!
Li Changfeng moved.
This time, he held nothing back.
The terrifying power of a Viscera Refining Realm expert was now on full display.
He seemed to transform into a berserk wild elephant. Every step he took made the ground tremble.
"Primordial Monument Splitting Hand!"
Li Changfeng roared. His palms were like two enormous stone monuments, sweeping forward toward Lu Chen with the force of an avalanche.
Before the palm strike even reached him, its terrifying pressure had already made it hard for Lu Chen to breathe.
The air around them seemed to be crushed apart by that single blow, letting out a piercing shriek.
"So strong!"
Zhao Tieshan and the others watched from afar, their hearts pounding.
Even from this distance, they could feel the destructive power contained in that strike. If they had faced it, they probably wouldn't have lasted a single move—they would've been smashed into a lump of flesh!
"Brother Lu, dodge!" Wang Xiaoliu cried out anxiously, tears nearly spilling from his eyes.
But Lu Chen didn't dodge.
Against an expert of this caliber, dodging would only leave him at an even greater disadvantage, perhaps exposing an opening for a killing blow.
There was only battle!
Only a fight to the death!
"Die!"
Lu Chen's eyes were bloodshot as he roared.
He stopped merely defending and chose the most reckless approach—meeting force with force!
The Hundred Refinements Steel Saber in his hand flashed like a streak of snow-white light as he swung it toward Li Changfeng's incoming palm.
Mountain Splitting Saber Technique—Split Mount Hua!
At the same time, he poured every last bit of Profound Nether Cold Qi within him into the blade.
The once-bright blade was instantly shrouded in dense black mist. The temperature plunged, and the moisture in the air even froze into tiny ice crystals.
"Clang!"
Blade met palm.
A thick layer of internal energy covered Li Changfeng's palm, allowing him to catch Lu Chen's razor-sharp strike head-on!
Sparks flew everywhere!
"Break!"
Lu Chen gritted his teeth. The muscles in his arms bulged as he pressed all his strength into the hilt.
Vibrating Force!
At the instant the blade made contact, he unleashed the Vibrating Force technique from Stone Crushing Palm.
"Vrrrm—"
The blade shuddered violently.
This high-frequency vibration, combined with the all-pervasive Profound Nether Cold Qi, instantly broke through Li Changfeng's protective internal energy.
"Hm?"
Li Changfeng's expression shifted.
He felt a strange vibrating force travel through his palm, numbing his bones, while the insidious cold qi seized the opening and burrowed in, stabbing into his meridians like countless tiny needles.
"Get lost!"
Li Changfeng shouted angrily, and his viscera jolted.
A far more powerful surge of internal energy erupted from within him, sending Lu Chen flying, blade and all.
"Bang!"
Lu Chen slammed hard into a stone pillar by the Main Hall's gate. Several cracks instantly appeared in the pillar.
"Cough, cough..."
Lu Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood-flecked saliva, but the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even brighter.
"So this is the Viscera Refining Realm? It's nothing special!"
Lu Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and charged again.
He was like a Little Strong who just wouldn't stay down.
Though he was inferior to Li Changfeng in strength and internal energy, he had his perfected Iron Cloth Shirt protecting him, the Force Dissipation trait to reduce damage, and bones as hard as fine iron.
No matter how powerful Li Changfeng's palm strikes were, three-tenths of their force was dissipated against Lu Chen, and another three-tenths was blocked. The remaining four-tenths left his blood and qi churning, but still weren't enough to kill him!
And he had speed, too!
The agility granted by the Bone Refining Realm, combined with the footwork he had honed underwater, made him as slippery as a loach, darting wildly around Li Changfeng.
"Profound Nether Hand!"
"Stone Crushing Palm!"
"Mountain Splitting Saber!"
Lu Chen unleashed everything he had learned to the utmost.
One moment he swung his saber; the next, he abandoned it and struck with his palms, then rammed his shoulder into his opponent.
Every attack carried that maddening Profound Nether Cold Qi.
Gradually, Li Changfeng found himself struggling to keep up.
The cold qi slowed his movements, while its erosion made his internal energy drain faster. Meanwhile, the young man before him only grew wilder and stronger as the fight went on!
"This... How is this possible?!"
Everyone watching was stunned.
They had thought this would be a one-sided slaughter.
Who could have imagined that Lu Chen would actually hold his own against a Viscera Refining Realm expert?!
"Heavens! Am I seeing things? Hall Master Lu actually has Elder Li on the back foot?!"
"Incredible! Now that's a true genius!"
"Lu Chen! Lu Chen!"
The Black Water Gang members began shouting Lu Chen's name at the top of their lungs, their voices shaking the heavens.
Chen Wanli stared at the figure in the midst of the fight, who looked like a fiendish god. His eyes were filled with shock and conflicted emotions.
He had known Lu Chen was strong, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong.
Challenging someone across realms!
That was something said to be possible only for the personal disciples of the great sects!
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Hearing the cheers around him, Li Changfeng's expression grew uglier by the second.
He was a dignified Li Family Elder, a Viscera Refining Realm expert, and yet he couldn't take down a mere Bone Refining Realm brat?
If word got out, how could he, Li Changfeng, ever show his face in the martial world again? What would become of the Li Family's reputation?
Humiliation!
This was nothing less than open humiliation!
"Brat, you've truly enraged me!"
Li Changfeng abruptly stopped moving, allowing Lu Chen's saber to chop into his shoulder.
"Clang!"
The strike cut through his clothes, but a layer of red light blocked it, keeping the blade from cutting any deeper.
Lu Chen's heart jolted. Instinct warned him of an enormous threat.
"Back!"
He tried to pull his saber free and retreat.
But Li Changfeng's hand had already clamped around the spine of the blade.
"Trying to run? Too late!"
Li Changfeng raised his head. His once-cloudy old eyes were now streaked with blood, radiating a heart-stopping red glow.
"I didn't want to use this move. It takes too much out of me."
"But to kill you, it's worth it!"
After failing to finish the fight despite the long struggle, the Li Family Elder could no longer stomach the humiliation. He decided to hold nothing back. A surge of qi and blood, far more powerful than before, erupted from within him. This was the hallmark of the Viscera Refining Realm—Qi and Blood Manifestation!
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