Fierce Battle, Double Kill

Seeing this, Lu Li's pupils shrank sharply. He hurriedly turned to leave.

But two figures had already emerged from the cover of the woods, blocking the only path out.

Both men were broad and burly, tall and muscular. From a distance, they looked like two bears walking upright.

"Li Da, Li Er, if you've got a problem, take it up with me. The young brother has nothing to do with this," Zhao Hongyun said weakly.

The corners of Li Da and Li Er's mouths curled into mocking smiles. They paid Zhao Hongyun no mind at all.

"Brother, this kid must be Zhao Hongyun's accomplice," Li Er said. The flesh on his face twitched with every movement of his mouth, making him look rather frightening.

"Damn it, you little brat! You made us waste five whole days for nothing!" Li Da cursed at Lu Li, regarding him with an amused look.

He gave Lu Li a contemptuous once-over.

Lu Li was thin, with hollow cheeks. A faint herbal scent clung to him, making it clear he was nothing but a lowly herb gatherer.

"Little brother, this one's yours. I'll go finish off Zhao Hongyun and take his head back to report. Best to get it done before anything goes wrong."

Li Er nodded at once, a cruel smile on his face, and strode toward Lu Li.

His fists cracked as he clenched them, the sound grating in Lu Li's ears.

He sneered. "Kid, blame yourself for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and making an enemy of our Incense Fragrance Sect."

Zhao Hongyun's eyes bulged with fury as he tried to crawl to his feet and stop him.

But with his grievous injuries, his whole body was limp. Even the slightest movement sent stabbing pain through his bones.

"Lu Li, I've dragged you into this," he said, his pupils trembling with guilt.

Lu Li seemed to have been scared witless. His face was stricken with terror, and he stood rooted to the spot, trembling all over.

Seeing that Lu Li really was a lowly peasant, Li Er's guard dropped. "Don't worry. I throw punches fast. You'll be seeing nothing but darkness before—"

He spoke as he approached Lu Li.

But before he could finish, a cold glint suddenly shot from Lu Li's eyes, like a hunting falcon spotting its prey, chilling him to the bone.

Lu Li burst into action. He snapped his sleeve, sweeping the lime powder hidden inside straight into Li Er's eyes.

His arm flashed with power, like a sudden clap of thunder. He moved so quickly that Li Er was caught completely off guard.

The lime powder got in his eyes, and his eyeballs burned as if they'd been plunged into boiling water.

Then darkness swallowed his vision, as though he'd fallen into an endless abyss. He couldn't see a thing.

"Ahhh! It's lime powder! My eyes are ruined!" He staggered backward, missed his footing, and fell to the ground. Clutching his searing eyes, he howled and rolled around.

"Brother, he's a martial artist!"

He hurriedly called out a warning.

"Little brother!"

"You've got some nerve, brat!"

Li Da immediately forgot about Zhao Hongyun. The man was as good as dead anyway. Killing Lu Li was the priority.

He had to blame his own poor judgment. How had he failed to realize that this skinny little monkey was a Skin-Refining Realm martial artist?

And he looked so young, yet his methods were so underhanded!

Calculating, vicious, and cunning—how could he be the trembling youngster he seemed?

Even Zhao Hongyun was astonished. He stared wide-eyed, a trace of light returning to his face like a dying man's final rally.

"He actually mastered it?"

"In just a few days?"

"A genius! An unparalleled genius!" he roared inwardly.

Watching Li Da charge toward him, Lu Li steadied his mind and spread his feet into the stance of the Tiger-Subduing Fist. He lowered his waist and dropped his elbows, gathering strength as he clenched his fists and prepared to strike.

The Tiger-Subduing Fist's bold, sweeping presence filled the air, like a fierce tiger about to descend the mountain!

Li Da leaped into the air, his iron fist whipping up a howling gale as it smashed down at Lu Li.

Lu Li threw his punch at once. The force he unleashed was even greater, his momentum rising with every passing instant.

Their fists collided with a sound like clashing metal and stone, ringing sharply through the wind and snow.

A tremendous force surged into Li Da, shaking him to the core. It felt as though a savage tiger charging down the mountain had slammed into him. He was blasted backward, unable to control his body.

He barely managed to land, but the leftover force sent him stumbling back several steps before he could finally stop.

He looked at his fist. The knuckles were red, the skin split, and blood welled up.

Then he looked at Lu Li, who stood utterly still, rooted in place like an ancient tree.

Unable to hide his shock, he felt a chill creep through him. "Damn it, there's something devilish about this kid!"

"They're both in the Skin-Refining Realm, but he seems to have spent countless years immersed in it. His foundation is solid, and he's tempered his skin to the utmost!"

"How is that possible? He can't be more than fifteen or sixteen!"

Lu Li's gaze grew even darker, cold as the ice of the deepest hell. Killing intent surged from him, drowning out the biting wind as it bore down on Li Da from all sides, making him shudder.

He swallowed hard, unable to hide his fear.

He was just about to say something conciliatory.

But then Lu Li suddenly moved. He planted his foot, his body taut as a drawn bowstring, and the power in his spine erupted.

The next instant, with a whoosh, he shot forward like a flying arrow, striking at Li Da.

Li Da's pupils shrank sharply. The force of the punch bore down on him, and cold sweat burst across his body. He hurriedly roused his qi and blood, raising his arms in front of himself.

A sharp crack rang out—the unmistakable sound of breaking bone.

Li Da let out a scream that chilled the blood and was blasted backward. His arms throbbed with pain, and he couldn't lift them.

Lu Li's punch had clearly shattered his bones.

Afraid Lu Li would press the attack, he scrambled to his feet and cried out in terror, "Kid, it's better to settle a grudge than deepen it. We're with the Incense Fragrance Sect. Why kill each other over one Zhao Hongyun?"

At his words, Lu Li's eyes suddenly sharpened. Like a falcon that had spotted its prey, he charged without hesitation.

He had heard of the Incense Fragrance Sect. It was active in the prefectural city, and its reputation spread far and wide. Most of its members were commoners, but it had no shortage of experts.

It was a major power!

He absolutely couldn't let Li Da get away!

Seeing that Lu Li's killing intent had only grown stronger, and that the Incense Fragrance Sect's reputation had no effect on him—that he refused to play by the rules—Li Da's eyes bulged with terror. Knowing he was no match, he turned and ran.

But after only a few steps, Lu Li caught up and smashed a fist into the back of his head. He crumpled to the ground.

Panting heavily, he looked at Lu Li's cold, emotionless eyes and begged cautiously, "Could we... could we make peace?"

Lu Li ignored him. Clamping his fists together, he pinned Li Da beneath him and rained down blows on his head like a storm. Before long, his face was a bloody mess.

Li Da struggled with all his might, thrashing violently.

But in his badly battered state, how could he possibly match Lu Li?

A faint regret stirred in his heart.

If he'd just let Lu Li leave back then, he might not have faced this calamity today.

Soon, his movements grew weaker and weaker, until he lay completely still.

Only then did Lu Li stop punching and look at his face.

His flesh hung in tatters, and tears lingered beneath his eyes. He must have regretted it to the very end.

Lu Li had struck like thunder. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye.

Only then did Li Er shakily get to his feet. But all around him, the world was utterly silent, save for the wind and snow swirling through the air.

His brother's voice had vanished.

He had heard his brother scream, and now everything had gone quiet. The answer was obvious.

"Hero, spare me... ah!"

He fell to his knees and begged in terror, but Lu Li dealt with him the same way.

Looking at the two bodies lying on the ground, Lu Li finally drew a deep breath.

His body was weak, after all, and the burst of violence had left him struggling to keep up.

It was a good thing he'd blinded one of them with lime powder first. Otherwise, he would have been lucky to escape today.

"My constitution is still far too weak."

He let out a breath, relaxed, and walked over to Zhao Hongyun.

"Hero Zhao."

Lu Li saw that Zhao Hongyun's injuries were severe.

The wounds were deep enough to expose his shifting organs, and blood had soaked the ground. He'd lost too much blood. Saving him would be next to impossible.

"Lu Li... cough, cough... you're nothing like an ordinary boy your age..." Zhao Hongyun had watched the entire fight. Honestly, even he couldn't have done what Lu Li had.

It had been astonishing.

A chill rose in his heart, too. This harmless-looking boy had been capable of such ruthless violence!

First, he'd used lime powder to cripple one man.

Then he'd revealed his true strength, like a crouching tiger suddenly roaring in a single, earth-shaking cry!

If he hadn't spent the past few days with Lu Li and learned that he was just a starving, freezing boy,

he would have thought Lu Li was some old monster that had crawled out of the earth!

"Senior, do you have any last wishes?" Lu Li asked.

Zhao Hongyun gave a bitter smile. Weakly and in fits and starts, he told Lu Li what had happened.

It turned out Zhao Hongyun had owned a martial arts school and married a beautiful wife. They had lived comfortably.

But their good fortune hadn't lasted. Ji Bochang of the Incense Fragrance Sect had taken a liking to his wife and tried to take her by force. He came to the school to cause trouble every few days, until they could no longer keep it open.

Once, while Zhao Hongyun was away, Ji Bochang had abducted his wife by force and violated her, ultimately driving her to hang herself.

Afterward, Zhao Hongyun had tried to take revenge, but failed and was hunted down, ending up in his current state.

"Lu Li, you're blessed with talent unlike anyone I've ever seen. Once you're strong enough, can you help me get revenge?"

"Bury me with Ji Bochang. Even in the underworld, I won't let him go!" Zhao Hongyun begged.

Zhao Hongyun was a pitiable man. People were not made of grass and trees; how could they be without feeling?

Besides, Lu Li had already become entangled with the Incense Fragrance Sect.

If they sent people to investigate and discovered any trace of what had happened, there would be no avoiding them.

Lu Li wrestled with the decision, but in the end, he nodded.

"Cough, cough... thank you." Zhao Hongyun smiled with relief.

With trembling hands, he pulled a bloodstained, thread-bound manual from his robes. Three vigorous characters were written across its cover: Tiger-Subduing Fist.

He also had a black pill, about the size of a fingernail, inside a porcelain bottle.

He handed both items to Lu Li.

"My eyes were limited. I failed to see that you were a true dragon, so I never taught you the complete Tiger-Subduing Fist."

"Who would have thought you could surpass ordinary Skin-Refining Realm martial artists even without the techniques that came afterward?"

"Don't blame me..."

"This porcelain bottle contains a Flesh-Regenerating Pill. It'll greatly help you break through into the second body-tempering realm, the Flesh-Refining Realm. Consider it payment for your help."

"Cough, cough... the Tiger-Subduing Fist isn't worthy of you. If you get the chance, you must seek out a wider world. This world is vast, and body-tempering martial artists are nothing remarkable..."

Zhao Hongyun's voice grew weaker and weaker. With the little time he had left, he told Lu Li about the dazzling breadth of the martial path.

The peak of this world was far beyond the Grandmaster Realm. There were also transcendent realms, where even a single move could stir the power of heaven and earth!

And their years stretched on, enduring through eternity.

Even emperors had to kneel before them. Those were the true immortals!

Unfortunately, such transcendent figures existed only in legends.

Lu Li solemnly accepted the items from Zhao Hongyun one by one. His words had undoubtedly broadened Lu Li's horizons.

After he finished speaking, Zhao Hongyun's arm slowly fell. He died with his eyes open, filled with resentment.

Lu Li bowed respectfully to Zhao Hongyun's corpse.

Everything between them had been a transaction, but Lu Li had still regarded him as half a master.

Then he rose, quickly searched the bodies, and buried all three men in the mountains. Only after everything was done did he turn to leave.

Before long, frost and snow fell, and everything returned to stillness.