Volcano

Distance, distance!

The key to victory lay in distance.

Lu Bai excelled at close-quarters combat, while Lin Haixian specialized in mid-to-short-range sword strikes.

Lu Bai could not get too close, or he would easily be wounded by Lin Haixian's god-like swordsmanship.

Yet he could not afford to stay away, for if he did, Lu Bai would never seize the chance to win.

Lu Bai had previously interrupted Lin Haixian's offensive time and again, wasting the distance where Lin Haixian held the advantage and earning himself the opportunity to close in.

He had not expected Lin Haixian to be so decisive, destroying the roof and altering its structure to force the distance he had worked so hard to close back open again.

This was the moment for Lin Haixian to unleash his damage.

The water sword, mixed with lime powder, had now become a high-temperature cement sword.

The blade shifted unpredictably, constantly elongating under Lin Haixian's control; at this moment, the agile blade was less of a longsword and more of a water whip.

As the water whip lashed out, a sharp aura swept toward Lu Bai's body.

Before the blade even touched him, the lapels on his chest were already shredded.

The sword radiance appeared once more, and Lu Bai could even sense a thread of chill eroding his body.

Yet at this moment, Lu Bai felt no panic whatsoever.

Lu Bai was no mediocrity. He certainly had areas where he lacked skill, such as technical finesse or the realm of the spirit.

But in other aspects, such as combat, Lu Bai's talent had never lost to anyone else's.

Though he could not cultivate the martial arts of this world, he could certainly utilize parts of them.

Lu Bai had traveled with Luo Chuan, traversing famous mountains and great rivers.

The focus of those travels had actually been an active volcano.

In the Northeast provinces, there were still a few active volcanoes to be found.

Restricted by various reasons, Lu Bai had no way to control the internal energy appearing within his body, so he could only let it rampage to gain a boost in physical stats.

At most, he possessed a slight resistance against the erosion of other internal energies.

This was a massive waste.

When others used life-risking techniques, they were martial artists themselves; even if that internal energy was violent, they could still utilize some of it.

But Lu Bai was different. The fundamental nature of being an Earthling meant he could not control it directly, unless he had the relevant modules.

So, Lu Bai changed his approach: since he couldn't control it, he wouldn't control it at all.

Just like a volcanic eruption, he would let the power gush out from his body all at once.

From the [Reliance] that burst out of Flower Face's father, Lu Bai had discovered a special usage: it could be used as a relay connection module when paired with the [Mind Movement] operation module.

The [Blood Burning Technique] now had two stages. The first stage was similar to his previous configuration, with only minor adjustments to make the blood burning process smoother.

Then, on the [Flesh and Blood] module at the end of the original Blood Burning Technique, he connected [Reliance] and [Mind Movement], followed by [Conversion] and the elemental [Mountain] module. Thus, the second stage of this skill was born.

The violent internal energy converted by the Blood Burning Technique was continuously transformed into a state related to [Mountain] under the effect of the modules.

However, Lu Bai's modules were incomplete; he did not have a full set to produce a release effect.

The result of this pent-up conversion was...

"Volcano!" Lu Bai's voice carried a certain mania. The blood-colored aura on his body grew increasingly dense before it completely exploded and surged outward.

As for the Luo Family's Mountain and River Fist, Lu Bai could not use the parts that required controlling internal energy, but other aspects posed no problem, such as the movement techniques.

He used the movement techniques to stretch out the 'Mountain Momentum.'

Visible blood-red energy erupted from Lu Bai, spreading toward his surroundings like scarlet mist or leaping red flames.

When Lin Haixian's water sword collided with the red, it suffered interference.

Within that red mist, a massive amount of violent internal energy surged, carrying with it a trace of 'Mountain Momentum'—that power which suppressed all things with the strength of a single person.

The previously stable water sword shattered for the most part at this instant.

Facing the crumbling water sword, Lu Bai did not dodge or evade; he pursued directly, letting it leave a wound on his body.

It was the appearance of that very wound that caused blood, like molten lava, to spray out.

Lin Haixian tilted his head to dodge, but was still grazed by the spraying blood. A gash was torn across his face, and there were faint traces of burns—though in reality, it was damage caused by the tearing of violent internal energy.

"Heretic! Traitor!" The Luo Family Head, watching from afar, saw this scene and cursed loudly.

How could he not see that Lu Bai was using the Luo Family's Mountain and River Fist? It was just that the Luo Family's Mountain and River Fist was meant to accumulate Mountain Momentum, filling it with internal energy so that every punch and kick possessed the power to suppress.

Yet Lu Bai was using it entirely as a volcanic eruption, lacking even a shred of the core of the orthodox Mountain and River Fist—the need to shoulder responsibility.

Even as he cursed, however, the Luo Family Head's eyes never left Lu Bai's figure for a single moment.

Punch, punch, punch!

Having activated the second stage of his skill and entered the volcanic state, Lu Bai was the most violent output machine.

Even if he was wounded, the blood that sprayed out would become a weapon.

For the first time, Lin Haixian took a step backward.

Lu Bai had no defense at this moment, nor did he need one; the scarlet mist erupting from his body was the most violent form of internal energy.

Any attack that reached Lu Bai would be shredded by this layer of internal energy, which functioned much like a protective aura.

That was only because it was him; if it were any lesser martial artist, a single punch would likely leave their own hand covered in wounds.

However, Lu Bai could not sustain this state for long.

Even without being attacked, large areas of burns had appeared on Lu Bai's body; such violent techniques always wounded the user before they wounded the enemy.

I only need to outlast this period, and I will win. This thought drove Lin Haixian to retreat.

Yet, the moment he met Lu Bai's eyes, his retreating footsteps came to a halt.

"Shouldn't that be your thought instead?" Just as Lu Bai had estimated from the start, Lin Haixian's physical condition was poor.

Dragging out the fight to exhaust the enemy before defeating them should have been the strategy of a young man like Lu Bai.

Lu Bai ought to have chosen that approach, yet his current stance had completely cast such caution aside.

"Since that is the case, I should accompany you to the very end!"

Lin Haixian stopped retreating and surged forward instead, the water sword in his hand retracting as the blade's glow and the water merged into one.

He abandoned his advantage in reach; tactical considerations were discarded in that instant, all for the sake of pursuing the most powerful offense.

Fists and blades crossed as the two bodies moved in a blur.

The distance between the blade and vital points, the distance between the fist and life itself.

A difference of a mere hair's breadth was enough to claim a life.

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