"Perhaps it was because I kept Iron Armor Body Protection active all over my body. My flesh and blood had grown as hard as iron and stone, and with my inner breath and blood qi reinforcing me, I'd managed to withstand such a vicious assault!"
"Or perhaps the skills these Blood-Coagulation warriors had learned were too crude to inflict any truly fatal injuries on me."
"Who would've thought there'd be two Blood-Coagulation warriors among them? Luckily, I've mastered Taibao Hard Qigong and brought Baji Fist Foundation to perfection. As long as I can think of a way to break through the encirclement, killing them all won't be difficult!"
Shi Wen struggled to fend them off.
He'd never been mobbed by a group before and had no experience dealing with it.
The two Blood-Coagulation warriors and five Blood Tempering warriors attacked him with reckless fury. In the end, they still managed to inflict plenty of damage on his body, as if it had been cast from bronze and iron.
Flesh tore. Bones broke.
The blows sent the blood qi in his body surging backward, and mouthful after mouthful of coppery blood welled up his throat.
Yet this did not make Shi Wen afraid.
Instead, it roused the ferocity buried deep in his heart!
Suddenly, Shi Wen recalled a tip he'd once heard about brawling in a group.
Pick one person and keep beating him. Once he's down, move on to the next!
The agitation faded from Shi Wen's eyes. He drew a deep breath, his inner breath surging through his whole body.
Boom!
He stopped trying to dodge. Like a fierce tiger charging down the mountain, he unleashed the fierce, explosive power of close-quarters Baji Fist to its fullest!
"Mountain Leaning Strike, Prop Punch, Lion Closes Mouth, Tendon-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Strike..."
"Lightning Chop! Throat Lock, Embracing the Moon..."
In the narrow space surrounded by his enemies, Shi Wen gained a fresh understanding of Baji Fist.
He used its six fundamental fighting forms—Capping, Embracing, Single, Lifting, Straddling, and Coiling—and, amid the slaughter, wielded its core techniques of bursting, shaking, thrusting, striking, pressing, jabbing, squeezing, and leaning. He brought the eight major moves of Six Harmonies Eight Desolations Baji Fist to life!
He relied on his penetrating force and formidable body.
He truly was like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey. One after another, he smashed the five Blood Tempering warriors' bodies apart, tore open their chests, and killed them all!
In mere moments,
only Wang San and Zhao Yuan, the two Blood-Coagulation warriors, remained in the ruined courtyard.
"Whew..."
Shi Wen gasped heavily, comprehension dawning on his face.
The perfect martial arts granted by the Extreme Seal had been unleashed to their fullest in that moment.
And in the midst of the fighting, he had finally mastered the killing moves, turning them into instinct. He knew exactly which technique to use, and when and where to use it!
"You deserve to die! You dare kill so many of our brothers! Do you know what we went through to escape that hellhole? And you still dared to kill so many of our brothers!"
"Zhao Yuan, go find Leader Ning! I'll hold him off for now!!!"
"No! I'm going to kill him..."
Wang San and Zhao Yuan glared with bloodshot eyes and roared furiously. Wherever they stepped, the blue bricks shattered, and their fierce gusts of wind stung Shi Wen's face. Most of the dents and injuries marring his body, as if cast from molten iron, had been dealt by those two Blood-Coagulation warriors!
Blood-Coagulation warriors had densely packed muscles, heavy bones, and astonishing strength.
More terrifying still, their blood qi carried a tearing force. Every spot where Shi Wen had been struck was left with a hideous, centipede-like gash!
"This man has almost no equal beneath the Origin Blood Realm! Hurry, go get Leader Ning to avenge us!!"
Wang San had reached a high level of Blood Coagulation and kept Shi Wen occupied head-on.
Zhao Yuan refused to leave.
He circled to the side, attacking Shi Wen's vital points whenever he saw an opening, especially around the waist and ribs.
"Good chance!!"
Zhao Yuan's eyes turned vicious. His palm, sharp as a blade, ripped open the copper-like skin at Shi Wen's waist. Flesh gaped open like a centipede, blood gushing out in a hideous mess!
He drove both hands into the wound at Shi Wen's waist, the veins bulging on his arms.
He meant to tear Shi Wen's body in half in one move!
But—
Before he could exert his strength, an iron-pincer grip seized both his wrists and forcibly pulled his hands from the wound.
No matter how Zhao Yuan struggled, he couldn't overcome that tremendous strength!
"Been enjoying sneaking up on me?"
Shi Wen looked down at him, baring bloodied teeth. "Now it's my turn to have some fun!"
"Oh no!!"
When Zhao Yuan met Shi Wen's icy gaze, his scalp prickled. He planted both feet against Shi Wen's body and pushed off, trying to leap away.
Wang San reacted at once, his long fist hurtling in.
But Shi Wen was ferocious and ruthless. Ignoring the gust of wind behind him, he drove an elbow, thick as a bowl, into Zhao Yuan!
"Pfft~"
Zhao Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood, his gaze turning glassy.
Shi Wen took the full force of the punch. His fingers curved like hooks and tore through the air, viciously clawing for Zhao Yuan's throat. Bone and tough skin scraped together with a grinding sound.
Crack!!
Zhao Yuan's eyes dimmed, and his body went limp.
"No!!!"
Wang San glared with bloodshot eyes and lunged like a beast pouncing on its prey.
But Shi Wen didn't dodge or retreat. He endured Wang San tearing the flesh from his shoulder, grinning savagely as he crushed Zhao Yuan's neck completely and tore off his head. Then he unleashed Silk-Reeling Burst Fist, sending Wang San flying as he pounced on him!
Wang San was at the peak of the Blood-Coagulation Realm.
He was thick-skinned and bursting with blood qi, making him troublesome to kill.
But—
Only a little troublesome!
"Who the hell are you?! What did we ever do to you? Why are you killing my brothers?"
Wang San stared at the bodies strewn across the ground and the two-meter-tall figure. Grief and pent-up fury exploded in his chest, and he couldn't help roaring at the top of his lungs!
He didn't even know this man!
Why was he killing all of them?
They'd finally escaped alive from that hellhole in Tiannan Prefecture. They'd survived by the skin of their teeth and were about to enjoy a new life.
Why kill them all!!!
Wang San went berserk, his hateful gaze fixed on Shi Wen.
Shi Wen didn't answer. He took deep breaths to steady his inner breath and the surging blood qi, then walked toward Wang San.
At this point, right and wrong no longer mattered.
Or rather, from the moment these men had come to ambush him,
their fate had been sealed: it was kill or be killed!
"Let me go, and we'll call this even!"
Wang San shouted, searching for a chance to escape.
The moment he met those eyes—utterly calm, yet faintly glimmering with savagery—Wang San's blood ran cold. His scalp felt ready to split open!
Only those killing machines in the army, men who had slaughtered countless people, had eyes like that!!!
This man looked young, but he was no good person!
He was far more vicious than Wang San had imagined!
Shi Wen rolled his neck, snapping a few dislocated bones back into place.
His legs suddenly drove against the ground. Like a taut, powerful bowstring, he shot forward, pouncing on Wang San like a fierce tiger. Vast, surging blood qi flooded his limbs, while inner breath coursed through the flesh of his arms and legs. Though he looked imposing, his movements were astonishingly light, and the sight made Wang San's pupils contract!
Yet he knew that in a fight to the death, take one step back and you'd keep stepping back.
Until you died!!
When two paths crossed, the braver one prevailed. Only the ruthless and the fierce could survive to the end!
"Die!"
Wang San bit through his tongue, forcing himself to fight Shi Wen.
But even when their numbers had been greater, they hadn't been able to deal Shi Wen a fatal blow. Now, facing Shi Wen, who was still in good shape, Wang San had even less chance of turning things around.
"Taibao Shaking Mountain!"
Shi Wen's arm muscles swelled high as he crashed toward Wang San like an iron mountain.
He poured all his strength into his palm, merging it with a drop of blood qi from his dantian. The scorching iron palm, carrying a bloody gust, compressed the air and sent it blasting aside with a muffled, metallic boom.
Boom!
The iron palm slammed into Wang San's long punch with a thunderous crack.
Wang San howled. He'd underestimated the explosive force. His entire right arm broke into several pieces, the flesh bursting open as a terrifying surge of explosive blood qi erupted through him!
He was blasted away as if struck by a cannon, howling as he flew.
Wang San crashed to the ground, coughing up blood in great gouts. The strange blood qi seeped into his body.
It had not only shattered his arm.
The force that penetrated him also damaged his internal organs.
He still looked human, but his organs had probably already been ground into pieces!
And this man... who was he?
They didn't even know him!
Could this be a slaughter aimed specifically at them?
Had this man attacked while Ning Da was away?
Who was he!!!
Someone from the Sinan Guard?
Had the imperial court uncovered their plot?
Shi Wen pounced like a starving tiger, raising his iron leg high and bringing it down with all his strength like an axe.
Wang San watched the iron leg grow larger in his eyes. He spat out bits of flesh and blood, but no longer had the strength to resist.
"Spare him!"
At the furious shout from a hundred meters beyond the courtyard, Wang San's head burst apart on the spot!!
Before you continue