Yang Ning slowly lowered his fist.
The wound in his left shoulder throbbed with pain. It was the lingering corrosion of the Cloudy Force.
A thought stirred in his mind, and a surge of force immediately split off inside him, rushing toward the wound like a scorching flood.
The wound had not healed, but the bleeding stopped. Even the ragged edges of the flesh began to itch and tingle.
After breaking through to Tendon Changing, his body's ability to recover seemed to have improved once more, subtly influenced by the Destiny System.
This body was transforming at an extraordinary speed, becoming a true martial Saint's physique.
His gaze swept over the surroundings, settling on the black wooden beads scattered across the ground.
He bent down and picked them up. They felt slightly heavy in his hand, as if they contained some strange rhythm within.
Yet they also brimmed with an evil will. But just as with the White Jade Mask, once they came before Yang Ning, that will shriveled away.
This was clearly a Secret Artifact of tremendous power, but it came with strict restrictions on its use—and a backlash.
"The effects are astonishing, but the price is just as steep."
Yang Ning carefully put them away.
"If I weren't protected by the Destiny System, which can suppress a Secret Artifact's backlash, who knows whether a common person who found one of these would be blessed or cursed."
After putting away the abacus beads, Yang Ning turned his gaze to the battle in the street.
The three Patrol Chiefs were locked in fierce combat with the Blood Ape Gang's leaders. Force surged in every direction, and neither side had gained the upper hand.
The most striking sight, without a doubt, was the near-vacuum at the center of the battlefield.
There, Gong Tian and Wang Han had reached the Transformation Realm in their battle.
Wang Han's eyes were bloodshot, and his enormous fists, clad in dark iron gauntlets, blurred as he swung them.
Each punch held terrifying power. Dark red blood and force intertwined, shattering the flagstones around them.
Yet Gong Tian seemed completely at ease against these fearsome attacks.
He moved with effortless grace, as though strolling through a garden.
Every time Wang Han's iron fist came within a hair's breadth of landing, Gong Tian slipped away with ease.
Gong Tian's footwork was light as a crane dancing among the clouds, but his counterattacks were just as sharp.
His arms, gleaming with a jade-colored sheen, sometimes struck like a crane's beak, stabbing precisely at Wang Han's vital points.
At other times, they swept across like a crane's wings, their concentrated force almost tangible as they cracked through the air.
"Crane Form Fist Technique... Jade Crane Force!"
A gleam flashed in Yang Ning's eyes. His Senior Brother cultivated the Crane Form, one of the Five Animal Styles!
His force seemed to combine the condensed hardness of jade with the light, keen grace of a crane, changing at his will.
Gong Tian was clearly holding back.
He was deliberately controlling the pace of the fight, like an experienced hunter.
He kept wearing down Wang Han, a trapped beast, driving him step by step into a desperate corner.
Wang Han's roars grew more frantic, and his breathing began to falter. The signs of defeat were clear.
"Junior Brother, well done."
Gong Tian's voice sounded directly in Yang Ning's ear.
"After my master's guidance, I'm on the verge of Organ Refining.
Wang Han is no match for me."
As he easily deflected Wang Han's attacks, he continued to send his voice across:
"Still, Bone Forging is an important watershed in the martial path, and Wang Han is one of the Outer City's few notable figures.
The wonders of Hidden Force are beyond anything Bright Force at the Tendon Changing Realm can match.
This man is at the end of his rope. Today, he'll make a good sparring partner and let me see what you can do."
"In a moment, I'll deliberately leave an opening to give him a chance to catch his breath.
He hates you to the bone. He'll surely throw himself at you in a desperate attempt to kill you."
Gong Tian's voice was steady, carrying a hint of instruction:
"Use this chance to feel the might of a Bone Forging expert and the brilliance of Hidden Force.
It'll greatly benefit your progress in martial arts.
Don't worry. I'll be right here to keep you safe."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
Yang Ning's spirits lifted. His Senior Brother's plan was both a lesson in real combat and a tremendous show of trust in him.
He drew a deep breath, fixing his eyes on the battle and readying himself to move.
Sure enough, after another dozen exchanges, Gong Tian's figure seemed to pause ever so slightly. After blocking a punch, he slid backward, leaving an opening.
To Wang Han, who was on the verge of defeat and searching with all his might for a chance to survive, that opening was a gift sent straight from heaven!
"Gong Tian, you've let your guard down!"
Wang Han roared. He ignored Gong Tian, twisted around, and charged straight at Yang Ning, carrying all his hatred and what remained of his momentum.
"You little bastard! Pay for my son's life!"
His fist arrived before his voice!
The dark red iron fist tore through the air with a shrill whistle. Bone Forging Hidden Force, dense as lead and heavy as a mountain, had already locked onto Yang Ning from afar.
This was a Bone Forging expert's true strike, delivered in a fury!
Just as the two were about to collide, the unassuming black bracelet on Yang Ning's left wrist suddenly flashed with a dim gleam!
In the next instant, it turned into a streak of black light.
It spread rapidly along Yang Ning's arm, covering most of his body in the blink of an eye. A thin but tough, scale-like inner armor formed over him, its surface gleaming coldly!
It was the gift he had received after kindly rescuing the little girl on East Fourth Street that day. Once his master lifted the seal, its true form had been revealed:
A standard-issue blood-and-qi inner armor, the Black Scale Soft Armor, issued only to elite officers in the Great Yue Army!
It was powerful enough to withstand a full-force attack from an ordinary Hidden Force expert.
Gong Tian had clearly known about the armor's existence, which was why he dared to arrange things this way.
"BOOM!!!"
Wang Han's frenzied punch landed squarely on Yang Ning's left chest, which the armor had covered just in time!
A dull, earth-shaking crash rang out!
Yang Ning felt as though a giant rhino had slammed into him head-on. A violent force, mixed with a torrent of Hidden Force, pierced through the armor!
The Black Scale Soft Armor flared with black light, scattering and neutralizing at least eighty percent of the blow.
But what remained still churned Yang Ning's blood and qi. His throat turned sweet, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His whole body flew backward.
Fortunately, the armor had blocked the most lethal penetrating force, and the Bone Forging Hidden Force had been weakened by more than half.
His injuries were serious, but he had not lost the ability to fight.
After that desperate blow, Wang Han's already strained momentum collapsed like air escaping a punctured ball.
An unnatural flush spread across his face, and his breathing turned chaotic. He was clearly spent, barely able to keep standing.
"Yang Ning, catch!"
Just as Yang Ning regained his footing and wiped the blood from his lips, Gong Tian's sharp call reached him.
He tossed Wu Xian's gray-green sheathed long saber forward. It traced an arc through the air and landed neatly in Yang Ning's outstretched right hand.
The moment the saber entered his hand, he felt its familiar chill.
Yang Ning's spirits lifted, and he pushed the guard with his thumb.
"Ching!"
A clear, ringing saber cry echoed across the battlefield!
The long saber slid free, its gray-green blade gleaming with a heart-chilling light.
Its deep, restrained sharpness resonated faintly with the ferocious Tiger Demon Force still raging inside him.
Wang Han's bloodshot eyes fixed on Yang Ning, standing with saber in hand, then shifted to Gong Tian, who had sealed off every escape route.
At last, despair and madness overtook his face as he realized he had reached a dead end.
He gathered what little blood and qi remained and charged toward Yang Ning, swinging his iron fists as he staggered forward for one final struggle.
This time, Yang Ning did not meet him head-on.
He tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, easily dodging Wang Han's exhausted lunge.
At the same time, the long saber in his hand carved a bleak, gray-green arc through the air!
"Wind Howling Blade Technique."
The blade was not especially fast, but it slipped perfectly into the opening at Wang Han's neck, where his old strength had run out and his new strength had yet to rise.
"Shhk—!"
Wang Han abruptly froze, the madness and despair on his face fixed in place.
He blinked, seeming to want to look down, but his vision spun out of his control, blurring...
His enormous head shot into the air, spraying blood as it traced an arc before crashing onto the filthy ground and rolling several times, gathering dust.
His headless, burly body swayed where it stood, then crashed down with a cloud of dust.
Wang Han, the tyrant of East Street and a Bone Forging expert known as Mad Iron Fist, had been beheaded in the street by a twenty-year-old man!
Red Scarf Alley fell utterly silent.
Only the thick smell of blood drifted on the wind.
Everyone stared, dumbstruck, at the hideous head that had rolled to their feet.
Yang Ning slowly lowered his saber and breathed lightly. His chest and organs still ached, but the hand gripping his saber was steady as a rock.
The White Jade Mask hid his expression. Only his eyes showed, bright as stars.
"Clean and decisive."
Gong Tian strolled over and patted him on the shoulder:
"That final strike—its timing, angle, and force were all just right.
Today, you beheaded Wang Han. Your name will be known across Kui Mountain."
"Thank you, Senior Brother, for giving me this chance and watching over me."
Gong Tian waved it off, then swept his gaze over the battlefield, his tone turning stern:
"Everyone, lead your men in clearing the battlefield and hunting down the remaining enemies. Head to the Blood Ape Gang's dungeon and rescue the prisoners!"
"Yes!" Everyone answered in a booming chorus, their morale soaring.
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