The figure hurtled backward, smashing through a wall. Falling bricks and billowing dust obscured him.
Crash...
Shi Wen rose from the rubble. His qi and blood and inner breath surged within him, and his caved-in chest swelled back into shape. He spat out a mouthful of blood flecked with bits of flesh, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked grave.
"Is the Origin Blood Realm really this powerful?"
"I've given it everything I've got, yet I can't even hurt you?"
Seeing Ning Da's expressionless face, Shi Wen coughed up blood, his expression desolate.
He had held nothing back in that attack!
Whether it was the nature of Penetrating Force, his qi and blood, or the little blood energy he had, he had poured it all into Baji Fist.
But who could have guessed?
His killing move had failed to leave even a mark on the other man's body!
Beneath the other man's flesh, which looked no different from an ordinary person's, there seemed to be something like a non-Newtonian fluid. No matter how hard Shi Wen struck, he could not stir the slightest ripple. An invisible force not only unraveled his attacks but also rebounded against him, roiling his qi and blood until he could barely bear it.
A casual counterattack from the other man carried four or five thousand jin of force!
Shi Wen had to unleash everything he had just to reach that level, yet he still couldn't break through the other man's defenses.
Even the other man's casual strike carried a scalding wave of heat.
The elbow that had hit Shi Wen in the chest had left his flesh as if it had been cooked by searing heat. The skin on the outside had turned white!
It seemed the other man had been right.
Martial artists below the Origin Blood Realm and those in the Origin Blood Realm were on entirely different levels!
But Senior Sister Li had said that an ordinary Origin Blood martial artist possessed more than a thousand jin of strength. Why were their figures so different?
If Senior Sister Li hadn't lied to him,
then this man had been playing the fool to catch the tiger.
A chill flashed through Shi Wen's eyes as he erupted like a mad tiger!
Ning Da stood there expressionless.
Yet no matter how fiercely Shi Wen attacked, his blows were like punches into a mire, absorbed layer upon layer, broken apart, and dissipated.
"Your body-hardening skills are impressive. I may be an ordinary Origin Blood martial artist, but I've spent years honing myself in this realm. I have plenty of combat experience, and I'm often able to get rare supplements to nourish my body. Even ordinary Origin Blood martial artists can barely withstand a few of my strikes. Yet you, with Blood Coagulation, have taken several blows from me and survived. That's impressive."
"I've rarely seen a Blood Coagulation martial artist unleash thousands of jin of force."
"It's rare to see someone so young train their martial arts to your level, too."
"Below the Origin Blood Realm, you could be considered a rare rival. But that's nowhere near enough. Your martial skills are better than mine, but my cultivation realm is higher than yours. You can't kill me!"
Ning Da hooked a saber off the ground with his toe and caught it in his hand. "You killed all my brothers. I'll hack you into a human stump to honor them, then kill your whole family in return."
His saber came crashing down.
Mighty blood energy coursed along the blade, slicing through the night like a saber beam. The gust rushing toward Shi Wen carried waves of scorching heat, as if it could melt a man!
Shi Wen dodged the strike in a wretched scramble.
The broken wall behind him and the ground split apart, leaving a crack several meters long. The earth reeked of burning metal!
Shi Wen's eyes changed at the sight of that blow.
"You dodged one strike. How many more can you dodge?"
Ning Da laughed. He drove his foot into the ground, crushing it into a half-meter-deep pit, then pounced at Shi Wen like a tiger or bear, the saber in his hand flashing with an alarming blood-red gleam!
A rumble shook the air.
The entire courtyard echoed with the sound of the blade cleaving through things.
The air was thick with the acrid smell of scorching metal.
Shi Wen was driven from place to place, utterly outmatched.
From the look on Ning Da's face, he meant to toy with this mouse and avenge his brothers in the process!
Noticing the extreme killing intent flashing in the other man's eyes,
Shi Wen sighed inwardly.
He silently activated Burning True Intent and stopped dodging. As Ning Da's saber came down, he leaped toward him.
"Taibao Shaking Mountain!"
Shi Wen drew a deep breath and poured all the qi and blood, inner breath, and one drop of blood energy in his body into this palm strike. His upper body and right arm swelled several times over, muscles knotting and bulging. The terrifying force drove the air aside, carrying a mighty, scorching heat as it swept forward like a mountain being pushed over.
"Fool."
A mocking look crossed Ning Da's face.
He neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he thrust his chest forward, taking the palm strike head-on.
Suddenly, everything changed!
The palm strike was like iron heated red-hot in a furnace. The instant it struck Ning Da's chest,
a horrifying wave of scorching heat erupted!
The flesh on Ning Da's sturdy, dark chest tore and rotted. It looked as if his body had been branded with a red-hot iron, his flesh seething and cooked through!
If not for the dozen or so layers of Blood Membrane that automatically shielded him, the blow might really have injured him.
The strike had surpassed Ning Da's expectations.
It had even surpassed Shi Wen's!
He roared inwardly, "True Intent, tenfold burning!"
"Fierce Tiger Climbs the Mountain!!!"
Shi Wen stamped against the ground, his momentum like that of a mad demon.
The three forces—thrusting, embracing, and flicking—merged into one. Shi Wen charged at Ning Da like a raging wolf plunging into a river. His palms, infused with blood energy, turned an iron-red hue, and the terrifying heat carried the extreme properties of burning and corrosion!
Boom!!!
The force of Fierce Tiger Climbs the Mountain slammed into Ning Da's neck.
The terrifying heat and burning, corrosive force in Shi Wen's palms met Ning Da's neck. Thick black smoke billowed, followed by the sizzling sound of hot oil colliding with water.
"ARGHHH!!!!"
Ning Da's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
The man, who had originally stood 1.9 meters tall, grew as his muscles and bones swelled, transforming him into a strapping man nearly three meters tall. Scorching waves of heat radiated from his entire body like the breath of a furnace!
The turbid, scalding Origin Blood gushed from him, making even the air seem viscous!
The neck in Shi Wen's grip hardened like iron and stone, swelled to several times its size, and turned slick as a loach. More than a dozen black-and-blood-red patterns flowed across his skin. He was as powerful as a humanoid beast, and the earth sank beneath him!
The scalding heat that surged toward him
made it hard for Shi Wen to breathe.
Just getting close left burn marks on his skin.
How terrifying was the spectacle when this man truly unleashed his power?
"You vermin, die!"
Sensing death's approach, Ning Da roared.
His arms snapped shut like the jaws of a trap. If they caught Shi Wen, even a man made of cast iron would be crushed!
Shi Wen gritted his teeth and poured all his qi, blood, and blood energy into his palms, roaring, "Fiftyfold burning!!"
In an instant,
Shi Wen's flesh visibly sank deep into his bones.
His spirit withered. His body was utterly devoid of qi, blood, and strength, as if some unseen force had drained him dry.
The hands gripping Ning Da's neck turned red as molten lava, then burst into roaring flames!
The heat, four or five thousand degrees, distorted the air. The flesh of the neck locked between his palms carbonized and burned through!
The dozen or so layers of Blood Membrane on the surface shattered like bubbles.
The viscous Origin Blood melted, thick as lead and mercury.
Bones harder than steel dissolved on the spot!
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