Stabilizing the Scene

"Thud!"

With a thunderous crash, a figure as hulking as a demon god tore through the crowd of water bandits and slammed onto the deck.

The newcomer was a man in his early thirties, sporting a shaved head with a centipede-like scar running across his face.

He dragged a terrifying Nine-Ring Broadsword in one hand, the nine refined steel rings on the back of the blade emitting a death-knell "clink-clank" with every step he took.

That blade weighed at least a hundred pounds, yet in his grip, it felt as light as a feather.

The most terrifying aspect was his aura.

That scorching, tyrannical pressure made the Gu Family guards present feel as if they could barely breathe.

Blood and Qi overflowing... Half-step Bright Force!

Zhao Si's heart sank to the bottom of the abyss. This bald youth was none other than the notorious Young Master of Water Bandits of the Black Dragon Water Bandits!

"Stop putting on a show! I'll fight you to the death!"

A Gu Family guard's eyes turned blood-red, and with a roar, he leveled his Ironwood Javelin, using the momentum of his charge to drive it viciously toward the Young Master of Water Bandits' heart.

The Young Master of Water Bandits curled his lips into a cruel, savage grin, neither dodging nor parrying.

Not until the spear tip was less than half a foot from his chest did he whip his right arm around.

"Swish—!"

The Nine-Ring Broadsword transformed into a blinding, snow-white streak, tearing through the air and emitting a sonic boom that made eardrums ache.

"Crack! Splat!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the guard and his incredibly sturdy Ironwood Javelin were sliced diagonally from left shoulder to right waist, as if cutting through tofu!

A storm of blood and gore erupted, and warm viscera splattered across the deck.

"Form up! Fire! Fire now!" Zhao Si roared, his eyes splitting with rage.

But it was too late. The Black Dragon Water Bandits had already swarmed in like tigers among a flock of sheep, the two sides locked in a chaotic melee where the Western firearms lost all their advantage.

"Die!"

Zhao Si bit through his teeth, pushing his late-stage Lianli Blood and Qi to the limit. Gripping his Ghost Head Broadsword with both hands, he leaped into the air and, using the momentum of his descent, unleashed a "Mountain-Cleaving Strike" aimed squarely at the Young Master of Water Bandits' head.

"You think you have enough strength for that?"

The Young Master of Water Bandits sneered, flicking his blade upward with one hand.

"Clang—!!"

The blades collided, sending sparks flying. Zhao Si felt his arms go numb as if struck by lightning; the webbing between his thumb and forefinger split instantly, blood gushing out, and his Ghost Head Broadsword nearly flew from his grasp.

Before Zhao Si could catch his breath, the Young Master of Water Bandits slid his feet and closed the distance.

The second move: a shoulder bash.

"Bang!" The Young Master of Water Bandits' shoulder struck Zhao Si's chest like a heavy hammer.

The third move: a horizontal strike with the back of the blade.

The hundred-pound Nine-Ring Broadsword, carried by a violent gust of wind, slammed solidly into Zhao Si's ribs.

"Pfft—!"

Zhao Si spat out a massive mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs, slamming heavily into the iron door of the cabin before sliding down, unable to rise again.

In less than three moves, the late-stage Lianli head instructor was soundly defeated!

"Brother Zhao!"

The Gu Family guards witnessed the scene, and their morale collapsed instantly.

The Black Dragon Water Bandits let out cruel, savage laughs, brandishing their dripping blades as they tore the Gu Family's once-tight defensive line to shreds, harvesting lives on the deck like wheat.

The defensive line had completely crumbled.

Hou San's darts were long gone, and having taken a blade to the thigh, he slumped onto the blood-slicked deck. Chen Er was even more terrified, his face drained of color, the short blade in his hand trembling like a leaf in the wind.

Two Black Dragon Water Bandits leaders approached with savage grins, their blood-stained Fish Bone Blade held high. Reeking of gore, they were moments away from cleaving the two men in half!

It's over... Hou San closed his eyes in despair.

Just at this critical moment.

A sturdy figure darted out from the cabin.

Lu Zhen carried a solid, iron-wrapped long staff as thick as a duck egg. It was a pry bar ripped straight from a broken winch, weighing at least seventy or eighty pounds; he held it in one arm, pointing diagonally at the deck, the tip still dripping with river water.

"Where did this wild brat come from? You're courting death!"

The two mid-stage Lianli water bandit leaders saw someone blocking their path and sneered. From left and right, their two Fish Bone Blade whipped up chilling arcs of light, slashing viciously toward Lu Zhen's neck and ribs.

Lu Zhen did not dodge or retreat, his eyes cold and indifferent.

He planted his feet firmly, the Coiling Dragon Stake stance engaged!

"Boom!"

The tendons along his spine awakened like an enraged dragon, erupting in a series of crisp, firecracker-like pops. The surging blood energy of the late Lianli stage and his heaven-defying Copper Skin Iron Bone physique fused perfectly in this moment.

A terrifying force of twelve hundred pounds from a single arm was channeled through his waist and stance, instantly pouring into his arms!

Lu Zhen gripped the iron staff with both hands, twisted his waist, and swung it horizontally with a violent, unstoppable momentum, devoid of any flashy techniques!

"Whoosh—Crack!!!"

A shrill, ear-piercing sonic boom actually erupted in the air!

The iron staff collided with the two Fish Bone Blade weapons with a thunderous crash.

With a loud "clang" and a spray of sparks, those Fish Bone Blade weapons, forged from refined steel, snapped instantly as if made of paper, their jagged fragments flying backward!

The hideous grin on the bandit leader's face had yet to fade before terror flooded his eyes.

But the remaining momentum of the iron staff defied all logic; carrying that inhuman twelve-hundred-pound force, it slammed solidly into the chest of the leader on the left.

"Bang!"

It was as if a heavy hammer had smashed a ripe watermelon.

The leader's sternum collapsed instantly, his entire chest cavity exploding from the strike, internal organs mixed with shattered bone spraying out from his back.

His body flew sideways like a broken sack, knocking four or five Black Dragon Water Bandits behind him into a heap of broken bones and mangled limbs before they all tumbled into the river!

The leader on the right was so terrified his soul nearly left his body. Just as he tried to pull back, Lu Zhen flicked his wrist, and the iron staff struck out like a viper, thrusting violently from bottom to top.

"Snap!"

The tip of the staff struck the leader's chin with pinpoint precision.

The immense piercing force shattered his jawbone and cervical vertebrae simultaneously, his head folding backward in a grotesque manner to rest against his own back, killing him on the spot!

Blood mixed with brain matter splattered onto the deck, a shocking and gruesome sight.

Hou San and Chen Er, who had been waiting in despair for death, hung their mouths open as if looking at a monster.

Zhao Si, slumped by the cabin door, stared with wide, unblinking eyes, his face full of disbelief.

He had just smashed two late-stage Lianli bandits to death with a single staff strike?!

Could such rigid, domineering, and inhuman strength really be displayed by a martial arts academy student who had only just touched the threshold of the mid-Lianli stage?!

But this was merely the beginning.

"Come!"

Lu Zhen's voice roared like spring thunder as he strode forward.

There were no complex moves, only pure speed and power!

The twelve-hundred-pound force, combined with the penetrating power techniques of the Iron Wire Fist, ensured every strike of the staff hit home!

"Bang!"

A strike smashed down on a bandit's head, crushing his skull and shoulder into a bloody mess.

"Whack!"

The iron staff swept horizontally, brutally snapping the spines of three bandits, their broken bodies twitching in despair on the deck.

Lu Zhen was like an ancient tyrannosaur in human skin, moving with wide, sweeping motions, his steps stirring the wind.

The eighty-pound iron-clad staff felt as light as a reed in his hands, whirled into a defense so tight not even water could pass through.

A graze meant injury, a touch meant death!

Any bandit who came within three feet of him, regardless of the weapon they held, collapsed at the slightest contact, either dead or crippled!

The Black Dragon Water Bandits, who had been advancing like a hot knife through butter, were completely stunned.

They had spent their lives licking blood on the river; what kind of ruthless characters hadn't they seen?

But a monster like this, who relied entirely on an unreasonable and terrifying brute strength to crush them, was unheard of!

Zhao Si and the remaining guards of the Gu Family stared blankly at the scene, their blood beginning to boil once more.

Lu Zhen stood alone with his staff, blocking the largest gap in the ship's side.

Corpses piled up like a small hill at his feet, and crimson river water gushed out through the deck's drainage holes.

With his own strength, he had nailed the fierce, wolf-like charge of the bandits to the edge of the deck, preventing them from advancing even an inch!

"A bunch of trash! Get out of my way!"

Seeing his men slaughtered like pigs and dogs, the Young Master of Water Bandits flew into a rage.

He let out a violent shout, his tyrannical blood energy—at the half-step Bright Force stage—surging like a physical presence as he shoved aside the underlings blocking his path.

"Brat, pay with your life!"

The Young Master's eyes were blood-red, and the hundred-pound Nine-Ring Broadsword in his hand swung a semicircle through the air, the nine copper rings on the back of the blade vibrating with a lethal, demonic sound!

At the same moment, two black shadows flashed out from the thick fog like ghosts.

They were two late-stage Lianli death warriors hidden by the Shen Family!

Realizing that Lu Zhen was an extremely dangerous variable, they seized the moment the Young Master launched his frontal assault, attacking from the left and right to strike at Lu Zhen's waist, ribs, and lower body.

A three-sided pincer attack, aiming for the throat!