"Furious!"
The gaunt old man's eyes flashed with murderous intent. Without another word, he shot out.
Five withered fingers bent and stretched in mid-air, curving like iron hooks, and a ball of pitch-black claw light materialized out of thin air.
The air shrieked and pierced with a devastating force, hurtling straight at Fang Han Han's face.
The grab came swiftly and abruptly, the pitch-black claw light like a venomous dragon suddenly emerging from the void, carrying the terrifying pressure unique to the Grandmaster Realm, and arrived in an instant.
Fang Han's expression froze.
However, he did not back down.
Facing the oncoming, sharp claws, he not only did not retreat, but instead took a heavy step forward.
The ground trembled violently with each step, and the ground beneath his feet cracked wildly in a spiderweb pattern outwards from him Silver-Gray Longsword twirled half a circle in his hand, and suddenly a bright, dark green sword light exploded.
Like a bolt of lightning tearing through the sky, the sword light surged and collided precisely with the dark claw-like light.
"Clang--!"
The two forces collided fiercely at close range, unleashing a deafening roar that shattered metal.
The sound exploded with a deafening roar, sending the surrounding rocks and trees flying.
A visible shockwave erupted from the center of the two, like a thunderclap on flat ground, engulfing the ground debris and dust, forming a ring of dust that swept outwards.
Several martial artists who were relatively close were thrown dozens of feet away, crashing heavily into the giant tree and spitting out blood.
The warriors fighting further away were pushed back by the shockwave, and they all looked back in horror.
"They have some strength!"
The gaunt old man paused slightly, glancing down at his slightly numb fingers, his brow twitching almost imperceptibly.
Although he didn't use his full strength in that attack, given his cultivation level, below the Grandmaster level, theoretically no one should be able to withstand that attack head-on.
But the middle-aged man in front of them, dressed in a gray robe and with an ordinary face, steadily blocked the attack.
"However, you are not qualified to be arrogant in front of me."
The wrinkles around the gaunt old man's eyes deepened slightly, and his voice became even colder than before.
He shifted his body and closed in again.
This time, he held back.
With all five fingers spread, jet-black energy condensed at the tips of his claws, forming five tangible arrows.
The Void Sundering rose to an almost mournful level, simultaneously striking Fang Han's throat, chest, and abdomen—three vital points.
The claw's momentum was like thunder, carrying the oppressive feeling only a grandmaster would have when unleashing their full power, swirling the mist within a hundred feet into a turbulent vortex.
The pebbles and fallen leaves on the ground crumbled inch by inch under that pressure, shooting out in all directions.
Fang Han's breathing became slightly deep, and he unleashed his inner Internal Qi without reservation as he thrust out his sword.
"Boom--!!!"
A dark blue sword light swept across the sky, transforming into a nearly solid bolt of lightning that collided head-on with the five claw-like beams.
The air was compressed into a blinding ball of light in that instant, and then exploded with a deafening roar, as if a thunderbolt had struck directly in the middle of the forest.
The terrifying shockwave spread outwards wildly, and the soil within a hundred feet was suddenly ripped up several feet thick, rolling outwards like a wave of earth. Countless broken branches and rubble were swept into the air and densely smashed in all directions.
Dozens of ancient trees, each as thick as a person's embrace, were snapped in half with a deafening roar, crashing to the ground and kicking up clouds of dust.
The surrounding mountains and forests shook violently from the impact, and rocks tumbled down the cliff face.
The gaunt old man staggered back several steps, his boots carving two deep, scorched furrows in the rocks and mud. Rocks shattered beneath his feet, sending fragments flying, before he finally managed to regain his footing.
He raised his head, the languid disdain in his eyes completely gone, replaced by an undisguised astonishment.
This person's aura clearly indicated he wasn't a grandmaster, yet the power of this sword strike was in no way inferior to that of a genuine grandmaster.
This is something that no ordinary martial artist who Break Three Passes could accomplish.
"You actually possess such strength? Who are you?"
The gaunt old man spoke, his voice much lower and more subdued.
"..."
Fang Han did not answer, but simply pointed the tip of his sword at the gaunt old man, his gaze fixed on him.
Although he estimated that he now possessed combat power no weaker than a Grandmaster, he was not confident until he actually fought a Grandmaster.
Now, he has faced off against this gaunt old master, but has not been at a disadvantage, confirming his judgment.
He now possesses combat strength comparable to that of a grandmaster.
"..."
Fang Han did not answer, the gaunt old man did not ask any further questions, but simply snorted coldly and attacked again.
This time, his claws moved with even greater speed and ferocity.
Each strike was imbued with the full power of a grandmaster, the claw-like energy tearing through the air, leaving behind afterimages, and the shrieking sound almost pierced the eardrums.
Wherever the claw-like wind passed, the ground seemed to be repeatedly cut by an invisible giant plow, with swathes of gravel and mud surging wildly to both sides like waves.
The surrounding trees were blown apart in rows, with splinters and broken branches mixed with soil, sweeping in all directions like a torrential rain.
"Clang clang clang--"
Fang Han neither retreated nor yielded, his Silver-Gray Longsword drawing streaks of dark blue-green sword light in his hand, colliding with the claw-like light time and time again.
Each collision produced a terrifying, thunderous roar that shook the entire mountain forest.
The air was churned into a violent turbulence, and the shockwave tore the fog that had shrouded the area year-round into pieces, scattering them in all directions.
The earth continued to crack, and the fissures spread like a spider web.
With each clash, rows of giant trees crashed down, the ground thudded with muffled thuds, and sand and stones flew everywhere, as if the end of the world had arrived.
"Boom, boom, boom--"
A series of booming sounds echoed through the forest, layer upon layer, like the drumming of gods.
The shock caused the other martial artists who were scrambling for the fragments of Starry Ink Jade in the distance to experience a surge of qi and blood, and their ears to ring incessantly.
They turned around in horror, only to see fallen trees and billowing dust on the battlefield, with the ground beneath their feet trembling faintly.
Within just a few breaths, the two had already clashed more than ten times.
The aftershocks of each strike were enough to easily and severely injure a martial artist who Break Three Passes defense, and ravaged the forest as if it had been repeatedly plowed by heavenly fire and raging thunder, leaving scorched pits everywhere and broken trees scattered about.
But Fang Han never backed down.
His Sword Intent was steady and meticulous, like an invisible dam in front of him, repeatedly deflecting the gaunt old man's fierce and incomparable claw strikes.
His gray robes fluttered in the strong wind, the rocks beneath his feet were shattered into dust, and his ordinary-looking Silver-Gray Longsword seemed to be the eye of the storm suppressing this turbulent mountain forest.
The gaunt old man's face finally darkened completely.
His ten or so attacks were relentless, yet the man opposite him parried them all without ever showing any sign of defeat.
The surrounding mountains and forests have been reduced to ruins, ancient trees have fallen, and the earth is scarred, yet the person in front of him still shows no signs of despair.
The more he fought, the clearer it became for him that this seemingly ordinary middle-aged martial artist in front of him truly possessed the combat power of a grandmaster, no less than his own.
"With such strength, to hold back until the very end before making a move, they really hid it well."
The gaunt old man withdrew his right hand, slowly loosening his fingers, his gaze still fixed on Fang Han.
But he didn't make another move.
If their first encounter made him doubt that Fang Han possessed combat strength comparable to a grandmaster, then these dozen or so exchanges confirmed that Fang Han indeed possessed combat strength comparable to a grandmaster.
As the fourth person present to possess Grandmaster-level combat power, Fang Han was naturally qualified to possess this Starry Ink Jade.
"Whoosh!"
Seeing that the gaunt old man stopped attacking, Fang Han subtly moved his feet, and in the blink of an eye, his figure had already darted back more than ten feet.
He then turned and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest, disappearing into the swirling mist.
The gaunt old man stood there, gazing in the direction where the gray-clothed figure had disappeared. Something flickered deep in his eyes before finally fading into silence.
The woodland had become much quieter after the earlier clash.
The warriors who were originally fighting over the Starry Ink Jade, although the battle had not stopped, couldn't help but turn their gazes to the messy woodland, and then to the direction in which the figure had disappeared.
"Grandmaster-level combat power!"
Qin Yuan's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped the long sword.
His gaze lingered on the direction where the gray-clothed figure had disappeared, remaining fixed on it for a long time.
Even from a distance, the aftershocks of the more than ten exchanges just now still carried a significant weight.
This person was not a grandmaster, yet possessed the combat strength of a grandmaster, which slightly startled him.
Such a person should be extremely famous, so why have I never heard of him?
Lin Qingyin clutched a fist-sized piece of Starry Ink Jade, her slender eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly.
She pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping over the woodland that had been turned into ruins, and said softly:
"I've never heard of this person before."
Chu Jinghong's gaze also fell in that direction.
His hand gripping the sword had tightened without him noticing, and his clear, cold eyes stared intently for a long time before slowly shifting away, and he said in a deep voice:
"It won't be long before I can achieve that too!"
"Why does this person feel so familiar to me?"
Zhen Feixuan stared at the departing figure, a sense of doubt rising in her heart.
She was quite certain she had never seen this person before, yet his Body Movement gave her a strong sense of familiarity.
Quite surprised, the four continued their actions without stopping. After seizing the Starry Ink Jade, they decisively chose a direction to break through.
"His combat strength has definitely reached the Grandmaster level..."
Not far away, one of the three grandmasters, an old man in gray robes, snatched a fist-sized piece of star-shaped Starry Ink Jade from a martial artist, then turned his head and looked in the direction where the gray-clothed figure had disappeared.
His white eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, and a faint hint of surprise appeared in his cloudy eyes.
On the other side, the short old man, one of the three grandmasters, looked down at the ruins where Fang Han and the gaunt old man had their last fight, and a rare look of surprise appeared on his otherwise unremarkable face.
He clicked his tongue, his voice neither loud nor soft:
"Not quite Grandmaster Realm, yet possessing Grandmaster-level combat strength... That's interesting."
Upon hearing this, the gaunt old man snorted coldly and said in a hoarse voice:
"This person clearly possesses the combat strength of a grandmaster, yet he only made his move at the very end; his concealment is extremely profound."
The gray-robed old man withdrew his gaze and said:
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; little did we know that the oriole wasn't just the three of us."