The Ambush: Slaughtering Four Blood-Tempering Warriors, the True Strength of Taibao Hard Qigong

"Damn it, Zhang Gou's been gone a long time. What the hell is he up to? How hard can it be for three Blood-Tempering experts at the pinnacle to kill someone who's only just entered Blood Tempering?"

"Heh heh heh. Those guys love watching people beg for mercy before they die. You know how many people they've killed along the way just to let off steam."

"Those guys sure do love their games. But what about that kid who sold out his fellow student? Are we just going to let him off? We might as well kill him in a couple of days too."

"Black Cloud County is still a place with laws and order. I heard there are even experts who've mastered force at that martial academy. I'm worried we'll attract attention."

"Worried about what? Once our boss gets here, Black Cloud County will be ours. After we finish what the Extreme Yang Society assigned us, we can take on new identities and settle somewhere new. Then we can enjoy life like rich old masters. Damn it, I'm going to have ten women, all with big asses, and every one of them will give me a son!"

"You think you can handle that many? Be careful you don't wear yourself out."

"I've spent all these years protecting the country. Can't I enjoy myself for once?"

"Protecting the country, my ass. You were the first to lead the looting when we ran out of food. And when the higher-ups wanted credit for their achievements, didn't you kill a bunch of ordinary people and pass them off as enemy spies?"

"Everyone does it. Why shouldn't I...?"

In the courtyard.

A crowd of men chatted without a care in the world. Their faces flickered now and then with cruelty and mockery. If outsiders had witnessed the scene, they would have been scared shitless!

Bang!

The kicked-in courtyard gate flew away. Through the swirling dust strode a boy with a youthful face. He showed a mouthful of white teeth and smiled warmly. "You beasts, I came to ask you something. Were you the ones who hired someone to kill me?"

"He's trouble! Form up and kill him!!!"

The men had been drinking and joking around just moments before.

Without the slightest hesitation, they snatched the sabers at their feet and charged at Shi Wen.

In the space of a breath, they had formed a ring around him. Their gleaming sabers exuded a murderous chill, and the chipped, pitted edges made it clear they had hacked through plenty of people.

"Cut off his hands and feet first, then ask who he is!"

Wang San growled, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

At his shout, eleven sabers slashed toward the vital points all over Shi Wen's body!

Neither Wang San and Zhao Yuan, the two Blood-Coagulation warriors, nor the nine Blood-Tempering warriors hesitated or held anything back. They didn't care whether their opponent was strong or weak.

The moment they struck, they unleashed a combined killing move.

Even a lion would give a rabbit everything it had. That rule was carved into the bones of men like them, soldiers of the Border Army!

"Good! Come on!"

Shi Wen let out a savage grin.

He sucked in a deep breath. His inner breath surged through his limbs and chest like a gale, while his mighty, stream-like qi and blood rushed through his body. His frame, once as thin as a bamboo pole, swelled several times over. In an instant, he stood six and a half feet tall, his knotted muscles bulging as if molten iron had been poured over him.

Beneath the wavering light of the torches,

his body gleamed like rusted iron!

Clang, clang, clang!!!

All eleven sabers struck Shi Wen at once, ringing with the crisp clash of metal.

The men hacked at him with their blades.

They left behind nothing but streaks of white.

Even Wang San, the Blood-Coagulation warrior at the pinnacle, had struck him across the forehead. Yet aside from a thin line of blood, the blow left no wound at all.

"What the hell? How can someone train his body to this level?"

Wang San stared in disbelief. He could split a tiger in half with one slash, yet this man had taken the blow head-on.

He quickly collected himself and growled, "Every body-tempering practitioner has a weak point. Hit it and you can kill him. The eyes, throat, crotch, back of the head, groin—hammer him with long fists and we'll find his weak point!"

"If we can't find it, trip him and knock him to the ground. Then we can kill him!"

"Move!"

Zhao Yuan barked from the side. He too was a Blood-Coagulation warrior, and he led the attack.

The men understood at once. They unleashed their qi and blood to the fullest and used their strongest army long-fist techniques to hammer the iron-tower of a boy.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Their fists struck his flesh, but the blows landed with dull thumps, leaving white fist marks across his body.

Two Blood-Coagulation warriors and nine Blood-Tempering warriors unleashed their full strength. Their terrifying power could shatter boulders several meters across. Shi Wen's body rocked from side to side, like a lonely boat tossed by storm waves!

"Heavenly Spring Treading!"

Shi Wen's legs smashed through the paving stones and sank into the ground.

His swaying body stood firm, like an ancient pine gripping the earth!

He ignored the fists raining down around him.

He let out a long breath. His mighty inner breath and roiling qi and blood surged through him. His right arm suddenly thickened more than twice its size, its sharply defined muscles bulging. His palm, as if cast from molten iron, unleashed a terrifying force. The air itself burst beneath its crushing weight.

"Taibao Shaking Mountain!"

His palm shot out, its fierce gust carrying the heavy tang of iron and blood.

The Blood-Tempering warrior couldn't react in time.

He flew backward as if blasted by a cannon. His chest burst open, and chunks of flesh and bone splattered across the man beside him.

"Lion Closes Mouth! Yama Beckons!"

A muffled thunderclap split the air. Shi Wen twisted at the waist and drove his force up from his feet. He tore open the necks of the two Blood-Tempering warriors who stood gaping and smashed their skulls!

The bloody wind swirled. Blood rained down.

He lunged at the nearest Blood-Tempering warrior, leaped, and drove his knee into him, killing him on impact. Then he tore the encirclement open by force!

In just a few breaths, he had slain four Blood-Tempering warriors in a fury.

His methods were savagely brutal!!

Even these Border Army soldiers, who had slaughtered countless people, had never seen anything like it!

"Old Dog! Shi Tou! Gou Dan! Quan!!!"

Wang San and Zhao Yuan stared in horror, their eyes fixed on the lifeless faces of their brothers-in-arms, with whom they had shared life and death, and the scattered chunks of flesh littering the ground.

They felt their hearts bleed.

Why!!!

They had struggled to escape that place alive, only to die here?

Wang San trembled with rage, his face twisted into a crazed snarl. "Kill him! Kill him!!"

"Black Tiger Long Fist!"

Wang San roared. His eyes were vicious, and the muscles of his upper body bulged in thick knots. Bursts of qi and blood surged into his arms.

He moved like a ferocious tiger, pouncing, sweeping, and scissoring—fierce and savage!!

He poured his fury into Shi Wen with brutal force!

Across from him, Zhao Yuan erupted like a tiger as well. He flashed like a shadow, his arms clawing toward Shi Wen's ribs, sharp glimmers of bloodlight shining at his fingertips. The paving stones beneath his feet had already been crushed into countless fragments!!

The two Blood-Coagulation warriors attacked like men who didn't care whether they lived or died, while five Blood-Tempering warriors at the pinnacle threw themselves into the fight beside them.

The savage fighting style of the army left Shi Wen in a desperate position as his strength faltered.

Yet, to Shi Wen's surprise, the qi and blood unleashed by the two Blood-Coagulation warriors weren't causing the devastating damage he'd expected.

The explosive force in their qi and blood seemed far weaker than the explosive force contained in his own.

When the qi and blood attached to their fists pierced his flesh and entered his body,

the damage they caused was greatly diminished.

Meanwhile, the restorative properties of Taibao Hard Qigong kept working without pause, healing his injuries at remarkable speed. He looked battered beyond recognition on the outside, but he had suffered little life-threatening damage.

What was going on?