Rumble!
Their fists and palms collided, and a terrifying force swept across the entire battlefield. Chen Fan's punch landed with all his strength, actually forcing Cao De—who had struck first with unstoppable momentum—back several steps!
Chen Fan's fist crackled. The Blood Sha power was trying to invade his body, but he kept it entirely at bay.
The Blood Sha Qi that could easily turn Demonic Creatures into pools of filthy blood couldn't even damage his skin and flesh!
Cao De steadied himself and stood with his hands behind his back. His palm trembled slightly. That punch had contained neither an attack fueled by the energy of heaven and earth nor the destructive force of true qi. It had been pure brute strength—brute strength so terrifying it bordered on the extreme!
That brute strength had not only ignored his Blood Sha Qi defense, but had also shaken his palm until the web between his thumb and forefinger split open, blood streaming from the wound!
"Is he even human, or a Demonic Creature wearing human skin?"
Cao De cursed inwardly.
When Lu Xuenning and the others saw Chen Fan knock back Cao De, a Spirit Aperture Realm expert, with one punch, their jaws nearly hit the floor!
"He... how can he use brute strength to withstand the true qi of a Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artist?"
"What kind of unfathomable Cultivation Method did he practice to achieve this?"
Huang Chengyue asked in astonishment.
"He hasn't practiced any unfathomable Cultivation Method. He reached the Spirit Concealment Realm Peak through sheer effort, relying on nothing but a Body Tempering Fist cultivated to the Great Perfection Level."
"Can the Body Tempering Fist at the Great Perfection Level really grant someone the power to challenge those above their own realm?"
To be honest, Lu Xuenning had her doubts too. But none of them had ever seen what the Body Tempering Fist at the Great Perfection Level looked like, so they could only fill in the blanks themselves.
"The Body Tempering Fist at the Great Perfection Level—it's unheard of, unprecedented!"
"But he only joined the Jinyiwei last year. It's been just one year, and in that time he cultivated the Body Tempering Fist to the Great Perfection Level and raised his realm to the Spirit Concealment Realm Peak. It's simply unbelievable!"
"He's a once-in-a-generation Martial Artist. You could search all of Longyuan Prefecture and still not find anyone more talented. And someone like him came from our Jinyiwei Baihu Office in Ping'an County. What extraordinary good fortune!"
Huang Chengyue couldn't help but marvel.
"But even if he cultivated the Body Tempering Fist to the Great Perfection Level and reached the Spirit Concealment Realm Peak, he shouldn't be able to stand against a Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artist. I suspect he has a special physique or bloodline that wasn't fully awakened at birth, so no one recognized his talent."
"Now, as his martial cultivation continues to improve, his special physique or bloodline is gradually awakening, giving him strength far beyond others at his level despite being only in the Spirit Concealment Realm!"
Lu Xuenning speculated.
On the battlefield.
Chen Fan and Cao De fought fiercely. Neither used their weapons; they traded blows at close range. Cao De's hands glowed crimson, wreathed in red light. This was Blood Sha Qi, which had an astonishingly corrosive effect. Once it entered the body, it could destroy the five organs and six viscera, killing a person in an instant.
But though he left countless palm prints on Chen Fan, corroding his splendid Flying Fish Robe until it looked like a beggar's rags, not a wisp of true qi managed to enter Chen Fan's body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Cao De launched another assault on Chen Fan. His Blood Sha Palm struck Chen Fan's chest with the sonorous boom of a great bell, but Chen Fan had no trouble at all withstanding Cao De's attacks using his body alone!
"Had enough?"
"Now it's my turn!"
Chen Fan unleashed the Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc Fist. In an instant, it seemed as if he had become one with heaven and earth, and all things had become one with him.
He could feel the energy of heaven and earth surging around him. Though not a trace of true qi existed within his body, when he threw this punch, he could draw upon the energy of heaven and earth to empower himself, greatly increasing the power of his fist!
Crack!
Chen Fan struck Cao De with another punch. The tremendous force sent Cao De flying. He spat blood in midair, crashed heavily to the ground, and immediately scrambled to his feet.
Cough, cough, cough!
Cao De coughed violently several times, then spat out another mouthful of blood. There were even fragments of his internal organs mixed in. His chest was deeply caved in, and who knew how many bones in his body had broken? His body was already utterly wrecked.
He knew he had lost this battle. He had lost completely.
Even if Chen Fan had simply stood there and let him attack, he still wouldn't have been able to break through his defenses. How ridiculous was that?
His Blood Sha Qi, which he had once been so proud of, could turn Martial Artists of the same level into pools of bloody pulp. Yet it couldn't even break through a single layer of Chen Fan's skin. He almost wondered whether he had practiced a fake Blood Sha Skill.
"A body-tempering Martial Artist!"
"I understand now. You're a legendary body-tempering Martial Artist!"
"Though not a trace of true qi stirs in your body, your physique has already surpassed that of most Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artists."
"Tempering the body, practicing body-tempering martial arts, breaking through the void with your body, and enduring for all eternity until you reach the level of Body Become Saint—I finally understand what it looks like!"
"It's a pity that the Blood Sha Skill has been damaged. Only the Cultivation Method remains intact. The Blood Sha Blade Technique and the instructions for using true qi recorded later in the book are gone. Otherwise, who knows which of us would have won today?"
"Chen Fan, you can't kill me?"
"No one can kill me!"
"I'll repay every life I've taken."
"In this world, no one can kill me."
"Go to hell, you damn heavens!"
"Today, I, Cao De, grant you the position of Jinyiwei Baihu, Chen Fan!"
"Ha ha ha!"
Cao De staggered up to Chen Fan, laughed wildly, drew the Meteorite Iron Blade from his waist, and slashed his own throat. He collapsed at Chen Fan's feet.
"What body-tempering Martial Artist? What Body Become Saint? What the hell are you babbling about?"
Chen Fan stared, utterly bewildered, at Cao De lying in a pool of blood. He couldn't help but comment.
Cao De, not yet fully dead, widened his eyes in disbelief when he heard that. He tried to say something, but couldn't open his mouth no matter how hard he tried.
In the end, he stepped onto the road to the Yellow Springs with a head full of question marks!
"Cao De had lorded it over Ping'an County for more than twenty years. Who would've thought he'd meet this end?"
"A Jinyiwei Baihu ought to have died fighting Demonic Creatures on the battlefield. His death has brought shame upon the Jinyiwei!"
"But at least he had the courage to take his own life in the end. He managed to preserve a shred of dignity."
Huang Chengyue looked at Cao De, lying in a pool of blood, and spoke with a complicated expression.
"What courage? He simply weighed his options and made the right choice, winning himself a dignified death."
Lu Xuenning had already seen that Chen Fan had been completely at ease facing Cao De, a Spirit Aperture Realm Martial Artist who had opened three acupoints. Cao De's all-out attacks had felt no more than a tickle to Chen Fan.
Cao De's trump card—the terrifying Blood Sha Qi—had been completely useless against Chen Fan. And during their fight, Chen Fan had landed several punches that had already shattered Cao De's bones and crushed his internal organs.
If they had kept fighting, Chen Fan might really have beaten him to pieces, punch by punch!
So, to leave his corpse intact, Cao De had chosen to kill himself without hesitation!
Those grand words he spoke before dying were only meant to help him look a little more dignified.
Captain Cao had certainly been a man of dignity!
Chen Fan picked up the Meteorite Iron Blade Cao De had dropped on the ground. It was clearly better than the thousand-fold-forged Embroidered Spring Blade made of black iron that he carried. What a pity that Cao De hadn't used his blade against him even once.
Perhaps Cao De hadn't practiced any advanced blade techniques, and thought using the Meteorite Iron Blade to attack would be less effective than the Blood Sha Palm he had painstakingly trained!
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