Chapter 214

He no longer calculated the distance or estimated the cost. He poured every last bit of Soul Power he had into a single straight punch. A dark golden metallic sheen covered his right fist—Soul Power, metal control, and the last potential he could squeeze from his body were all concentrated in that blow. He lunged forward and threw the punch.

Xue Lingyun did not retreat. He stepped forward half a pace to meet him. The punch landed on his chest, but it was off by half an inch. That half-inch deviation was enough to alter the effective point of impact, and the area between his shoulder blade and chest absorbed part of the force for him. At the same moment, his right arm shot out. His palm passed through the metal armor over Xiao Hongchen's chest—the armor shattered before that strike, its plates peeling away one after another. He continued to press forward. With the armor broken, the resistance was much less. His palm passed through the remnants of the armor, through the thin fabric beneath it, and then touched flesh.

He stopped. His palm halted against the surface of the flesh and did not press inward. He could feel the organs beneath that layer of skin and muscle tense and contract faintly as the external force approached. It was the body's most instinctive defensive response to sensing something foreign drawing near. Then he slowly withdrew his strength, leaving only the low chill of cold energy seeping across the surface of the abdominal cavity. He had not harmed any internal organs. He had merely allowed that sensation of nearly being pierced through to exist for a brief instant, like standing at the edge of some boundary without crossing it.

Xiao Hongchen lowered his head and stared at the palm resting