Vajra's Wrathful Gaze

As the words fell, the Hairy Person's figure suddenly retreated in a burst of speed.

The man behind Jiang Ran watched the Hairy Person's mouth, which stretched back to his ears, and his skull, which seemed ready to split open, and instinctively let out a classic profanity:

"Holy sh*t!!!"

He scrambled backward, using both hands and feet, rolling and crawling in a panic.

Jiang Ran heard the commotion behind him but didn't even turn his head, his voice calm:

"If you don't want to die, stay exactly where you are."

Hearing this, the man froze, stopping his movements to look up at that black-clad back.

Hoodie, mask, a slender and well-proportioned frame...

The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.

As if realizing something, he couldn't help but ask:

"Are you!?"

Before he could finish.

Jiang Ran and the Hairy Person vanished from their spots simultaneously.

The next second...

BOOM!!!

A deafening roar erupted in the center of the basement.

A shockwave carrying dust exploded outward, sending the man tumbling until his back slammed hard against the wall.

He stared ahead, eyes wide with terror.

Amidst the swirling dust and smoke.

Two figures appeared in the center of the basement.

The loud noise from a moment ago was the result of their right fists colliding head-on.

Silence reigned for a second.

Old Zhang slowly raised his head to look at Jiang Ran, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

His lips parted slightly, and a string of strange syllables rolled from his throat:

"￥#%@..."

Jiang Ran frowned.

He couldn't understand it.

It didn't sound like any regional dialect, either.

Seeing this, the Hairy Person seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

His mouth pulled wide, that grin stretching to his ears reappearing, and what came from his throat was now fluent modern Mandarin:

"Who gave you the courage... to come looking for me on your own!?"

Before the words were even finished.

The Hairy Person lunged forward.

His mouth split to its limit, his entire face nearly tearing in two, and foul-smelling saliva dripped as he lunged to bite down on Jiang Ran's head.

Jiang Ran frowned, tilting his head slightly to let the gaping maw graze past his ear.

A stench of rot washed over him.

Then...

He bent his right arm, his elbow thrusting forward like a cannonball.

BANG!!!

The heavy, powerful elbow strike slammed solidly into the center of the Hairy Person's chest.

The savage grin on the Hairy Person's face froze instantly.

He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, his back slamming into a load-bearing pillar of the basement with a teeth-grinding thud.

Yet, Jiang Ran's movements did not pause for even a second.

Almost at the exact moment the elbow strike landed, the Eight-Step Cicada Chase was already activated.

Blood and qi surged violently through the meridians in his legs.

His figure left a blurred afterimage in place.

He caught up to the Hairy Person in mid-air.

The Hairy Person's pupils contracted; in his backward-hurtling field of vision, that black figure was like a shadow, moving with speed that defied imagination.

A look of astonishment finally appeared on his face.

Then...

He saw a crimson plume of blood-energy erupt from Jiang Ran's entire body.

It surged into the sky like a volcanic eruption!

The phantom images of a dragon and tiger coiled around his arms, shimmering with golden light.

BOOM!!!

Hairy Person didn't even have time to adjust his stance.

Jiang Ran's right fist had already slammed fiercely into his face.

The trajectory of Hairy Person's backward flight was forcibly altered, and his entire body plummeted downward like a cannonball.

BANG!!

The ground exploded into a crater.

Dust and smoke billowed into the air.

Jiang Ran landed, kneeling on one knee at the edge of the pit, looking down expressionlessly.

The dust slowly dissipated.

At the bottom of the pit.

Hairy Person lay on his back, his head smashed deep into the concrete by Jiang Ran, with only half his face visible.

Jiang Ran did not pause.

He leaped down from the edge of the pit, straddled Hairy Person, raised both fists...

And then brought them down.

BANG! BANG! BANG!!!

The Dragon-Tiger Fist rained down like a torrential storm.

Every punch carried the sound of a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl, each one landing solidly on Hairy Person's skull.

The concrete floor continued to sink, and dust rained down from the surrounding walls.

The man in the corner was already stunned.

He covered his mouth tightly to keep from making a sound, his eyes wide with disbelief.

The visual impact presented in a video could not compare to even a fraction of what he was seeing with his own eyes.

This... is this really something a human can do!?

However, as Jiang Ran continued to strike, his brows gradually furrowed.

Something was wrong.

Level 3 Dragon-Tiger Fist, combined with the blood-energy of the Blood Sensing Realm, could punch through reinforced concrete with a single blow.

But now...

The hardness of his opponent's skull was far beyond imagination.

Sure enough, the next second.

A hand suddenly reached out from below, firmly gripping Jiang Ran's descending right fist.

Accompanied by a cold shout.

"Enough!!!"

In the next second, before Jiang Ran could even react, he was violently flung away.

He flipped through the air, instinctively activating Eight-Step Cicada Chase, his blood-energy surging within him to dissipate the force. He plowed two trenches into the ground with his feet before barely managing to steady himself.

At the bottom of the pit, Hairy Person also slowly sat up.

He raised a hand to wipe the dust from his face, and a drastic change began to occur in his body.

His clothing was shredded by his rapidly expanding physique.

Black hair surged wildly from beneath his skin, standing on end like steel needles.

His stature grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.

One meter eighty, two meters, two meters three...

It finally settled at around two meters five.

His entire body was covered in thick, beast-like black fur, his muscles bulging like coiled dragons, his limbs thick and powerful.

His face was also covered in black hair, revealing only a pair of scarlet eyes.

He slowly stood up.

His scarlet eyes locked onto Jiang Ran, and his lips parted slightly.

"You have very good luck; in just a few days, you've obtained so many divine abilities..."

"In the past, you might have been qualified... to become a Heavenly Prodigy."

Jiang Ran listened, his heart stirring slightly.

Yet his face remained expressionless.

He stood up slowly, brushed the dust off his hoodie, and spoke in a calm voice:

"You're quite lucky, too."

"That didn't kill you."

Hearing this, Hairy Person chuckled.

"It's a pity..."

"You won't live to see that day."

The moment the last word fell.

The black hair on Hairy Person's body suddenly stood on end.

Dark gray energy emerged from his skin, swirling like mist.

The next second, he vanished from where he stood.

Jiang Ran's brows furrowed at the sight.

His Combat Intuition screamed warnings, and his Prediction skill was pushed to the limit.

Countless potential attack trajectories flashed through his mind.

Front right!!!

Eight-Step Cicada Chase triggered instinctively, and blood energy surged through the meridians in his legs.

Jiang Ran retreated violently to the side and back.

Almost at the same instant...

A fist covered in black hair appeared out of thin air where he had just been standing, grazing his chest as it swept past.

However, the moment Jiang Ran's heels touched the ground.

A second punch arrived at his face.

Too fast!

There was no time to dodge.

Jiang Ran crossed his arms to block in front of his chest.

He poured his blood energy in frantically, pushing Golden Bell Shield to its limit.

The invisible layer of energy on his skin solidified instantly, shimmering with a faint golden luster.

BANG!!!

Fist collided with arms.

The Golden Bell Shield energy let out a mournful whine, and spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly across the golden halo.

Jiang Ran felt a massive force erupt from his arms.

Crack...

A faint sound of bone fracturing echoed.

Jiang Ran let out a muffled groan as the force of the punch sent him flying backward off his feet.

Like a kite with a broken string, he crashed through the wall behind him, disappearing into the dust-filled ruins.

For a moment, only dust drifted slowly through the air.

Hairy Person slowly retracted his fist and shook his wrist.

He looked down at his knuckles, which were stained with a few drops of blood.

"Tsk."

Hairy Person clicked his tongue, a flicker of greed flashing in his scarlet eyes:

"Such pure blood energy..."

He turned around and looked at the man trembling in the corner.

His mouth split open into that signature grin:

"Only you are left."

The man slumped in the corner, his face deathly pale.

He wanted to run, but his legs were as soft as noodles, completely devoid of strength.

He could only watch helplessly as that terrifying, eight-foot-tall figure drew closer.

Hairy Person walked up to him and leaned down.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

A look of intoxication appeared on his face:

"Brother..."

"You smell so good."

He opened his mouth, saliva dripping down, and slowly bit toward the man's neck.

Just then.

BOOM!!!

A muffled sound erupted from deep within the ruins behind them.

The Hairy Person paused.

He whipped his head around!

He saw golden light leaking through the cracks of the rubble that had buried Jiang Ran...

Immediately after, the ruins began to shake.

A concrete beam half a person's height was pushed aside from within, tumbling away to crash in the distance.

Another thick chunk of a load-bearing wall flew off, slamming into the ceiling and sending more dust raining down.

More and more debris was being violently shoved from the inside out.

It was as if some colossal behemoth...

Was breaking free from the depths of the ruins, slowly rising to its feet.

The steel-needle black hair on the Hairy Person's body stood on end.

His scarlet pupils locked onto that increasingly magnificent golden light, a low growl rumbling in his throat:

"Playing the god..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

The ruins suddenly exploded completely!

Bricks and rubble scattered in every direction.

A giant hand composed entirely of golden light broke through the swirling dust and debris, fingers splayed wide, and toward where the Hairy Person stood...

It clenched fiercely!!!

The Hairy Person's pupils shrank!

He let out a furious roar, dark gray energy erupting from his body, his figure blurring as he prepared to dash to the side.

But that giant golden hand seemed to have already made a Prediction of every one of his escape trajectories.

The five fingers closed like mountain peaks.

The Hairy Person didn't even have time to make a second move.

His entire hideous body was gripped tightly in the center of that giant golden palm!

"Argh!!"

A shrill, miserable howl echoed through the basement.

The giant golden hand held the frantically struggling monster and slowly lifted it.

Three feet off the ground.

The dust gradually settled.

In the ruins.

A five-meter-tall Furious Vajra Manifestation stood imposingly.

Around its entire body, crimson blood energy coiled and rose like raging flames, merging with the brilliant golden light to illuminate the entire basement as if it were broad daylight.

Beneath the manifestation.

Jiang Ran stood atop the ruins.

Blood trickled down from a wound on his forehead, staining half his face and his mask; matted hair clung to his brow, and his tattered clothes revealed the lean, well-proportioned muscles beneath.

Those eyes...

Remained calm against the backdrop of blood.

Jiang Ran lifted his head slightly, watching the Hairy Person twisting frantically within the giant golden palm.

He spoke softly.

"Now, I ask and you answer, understand?"

Hearing this...

The Hairy Person, who had been struggling violently, suddenly stopped all movement and ceased trying to break free.

He simply let the tightening giant hand crush his body.

Those scarlet eyes beneath the hair stared fixedly at Jiang Ran, speaking calmly:

"You will die."

"All of you will die."

"From the moment you chose to come in here... the fate of every one of you was already sealed."