Monkey Sword

Strong! Strong! Strong! Strong! Strong!

Liu Tian's three heavy punches were anything but subtle. He wanted everyone to see exactly where he was aiming.

Faced with punches whose targets were plain to see, the three who had charged at him grew fully alert.

It wasn't just because they'd already heard from Captain Edward how badly Snake had suffered at Liu Tian's hands. Liu Tian's punches were frighteningly fast and heavy.

Before the punches even reached them, the hurricane they stirred up had already sent their hair flying.

The intent behind the blows crashed into their minds. Even though Liu Tian said nothing, they understood what he meant—

If you can't take these, then die!

Though the punches seemed to have been thrown simultaneously, Liu Tian only had one left fist, so they landed one after another.

The first to meet the blow was the monkey-faced fighter at the front, no more than 1.2 meters tall, standing atop an iron hammer.

The fighter had gaunt features and a light frame. A faint glimmer shone from the ten claws on his hands, each one clearly razor-sharp.

Facing Liu Tian's attack, the monkey-like Martial Artist relied on his nimble movements and lightning-fast reflexes to counter in an instant. His ten fingers opened and closed slightly, turning into ten sharp blades. With a single slash, he shredded the incoming fist shadow, then continued without slowing and effortlessly cut apart Liu Tian's afterimage.

The other two, however, couldn't react as quickly and took the next two blows head-on. The enormous Meat Mountain at the back was relatively unscathed. The fat on his body rippled like waves, and he took a step back to dissipate Liu Tian's force. He seemed to be unharmed.

Protein Queen, who wielded the Great Hammer, took the hit badly. Liu Tian hadn't used his full strength, but she lacked her teammate's powerful defenses, and her reflexes weren't fast enough for her to respond in time. She had no choice but to take the blow head-on.

Liu Tian's powerful force pierced through her skin and muscles, striking her heart. Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Of the three, the woman who'd come out first was the weakest.

With just one exchange, Liu Tian had instantly gauged the three of them.

Perhaps the saying that one's appearance reflected one's nature held true for Martial Artists. Their strength and fighting styles matched their appearances almost exactly.

The enormous Meat Mountain had the strongest defense and greatest strength. The monkey-faced old man was the fastest and most perceptive. The woman fell between the two—one might flatter her by saying she had a broad range of skills, but the less flattering truth was that she was utterly mediocre.

Having landed a successful hit and closed in on the ideal range, Liu Tian didn't give them a chance to catch their breath. After that probing strike, he immediately followed up with the fastest move of the Heart Severing Path, targeting the weakest of the three.

But he'd already lost the advantage of surprise. Meat Mountain moved with a speed completely at odds with his appearance. Before Liu Tian's attack could land, he yanked the woman behind him. The fat on his arm tightened in an instant, bracing against Liu Tian's blow. At the same time, his other massive hand spread like a net, ready to seize Liu Tian even if he had to take the hit.

The old man, who'd been standing atop the woman's iron hammer, had also leaped lightly behind Liu Tian. His fingers crossed, silently slicing through the air and cutting off Liu Tian's escape.

Monkey Fist: Scooping the Moon!

The woman, pulled behind Meat Mountain, seemed to have anticipated this as well. Though she used no advanced technique, she spun at incredible speed, swinging the enormous iron hammer with a roar to seal the gap between the monkey-like fighter and Meat Mountain.

They truly were a battle-hardened trio, with perfect coordination and a deep habit of working together.

Though Liu Tian's decisiveness had given him the initiative, they'd instantly launched a combination attack they knew by heart, setting a trap for him.

With this tactic, the three could achieve a result greater than the sum of their parts. Together, they even dared to openly challenge Snake, Tiger, and Ox—the top three in their squad.

Individually, each of them was no more than a first-rate fighter. Together, however, they'd undergone a transformation.

As a unit, they were faster than Tiger and stronger than Ox. The old man's sharp hand blades could even pierce Snake's defenses. Aside from the abnormal one, who was still slightly better than Snake, the trio surpassed Snake, Tiger, and Ox in each of their specialties.

But this choice had given them strength enough to stand on a stage they otherwise could never have reached, while also leaving them with a fatal weakness.

The woman's and the monkey-faced old man's attacks arrived almost simultaneously—but by then, the giant hand had already grabbed nothing but air.

Shadow Seeking Dragon Step: Illusionary Body.

The Flowing Dragon Steps had reached a realm no one had ever attained, giving rise to an Illusionary Body indistinguishable from the real thing.

Unless someone was fast enough to catch Liu Tian at the exact instant he attacked, no one could tell where he was if he didn't want them to.

Unfortunately for them, their specialization in other attributes meant that even just after Liu Tian broke through to the next realm of the Flowing Dragon Steps, none of the three except the old man had been fast enough to catch that instant. And they stood even less chance against him now, after he'd raided the hoards of every nearby family and antique dealer, raised the Heavenly Martial Killing Dao to the fighter level, and further improved his physical abilities.

"Using that fat pig as an obvious decoy and the woman, who's actually the weakest, as the real one—that double-decoy idea isn't bad." As the afterimage faded, Liu Tian's voice suddenly rang out behind the old man.

"It's just a shame." One hand slammed the old man's head into the ground. His powerful force drove the man's face into the earth, leaving a deep crater. "You're too slow. Each of you has obvious flaws on your own. If someone can take one of you out in an instant, the other two are nothing but easy pickings—just like now."

Liu Tian stepped back, snapped the old man's neck, then tore off both his hands. "Convenient. I need a weapon I can handle, so I'll borrow these for now. I'll leave you with a complete corpse later."

Liu Tian casually swung the dead old man's severed arm. It instantly sliced through the Great Hammer, forged from refined iron, then effortlessly carved a deep mark into Meat Mountain.

The terrifying sharpness brought a satisfied smile to Liu Tian's face, but despair to the faces of the two survivors.

"Don't be afraid. The pain will only last a moment." After a brief warm-up, Liu Tian, unwilling to waste time while another battle was raging elsewhere, delivered the final blow to the two who'd already lost the will to resist.