Vitality Smoke

The situation quickly reached a stalemate.

Neither of them could do anything to the other.

With the tremendous strength and mobility granted by [Blood Burn: Volcano], along with his own combat prowess, Lu Bai was like Jackie Chan let loose in a furniture store as he fought in the cramped space inside the pavilion.

The bandit chief, meanwhile, had mastered Iron Shirt. He was like a massive, rebounding steel wall—anyone who hit him only hurt themselves.

And with that other force of repulsion inside him, every movement carried immense strength. He wasn't particularly agile, and his steps cracked bricks and shattered stones, but he wasn't slow either. In fact, he moved incredibly fast.

After discovering that force of repulsion, Lu Bai stopped attacking the bandit chief directly. Instead, he kept grabbing whatever he could find to use as a weapon.

Wooden stools, abacuses, wine jars, tables, even pillars.

They could all be used as weapons, and they were all disposable. The moment any of them struck the bandit chief, the repulsive force shattered it, and that force even traveled along the weapon and surged toward Lu Bai.

Only then did the martial artists from Lianwu Mountain understand the difference between the weak and the strong.

They seemed to have become expendable.

Even if they didn't rush in, Lu Bai and the others would catch up to them, kill them, and take their modules.

The gap between the two sides was simply too great. They couldn't inflict enough damage on Lu Bai.

Instead, Lu Bai used their attacks against them, turning them into human weapons one by one.

He grabbed them by the hand and hurled them straight at the bandit chief.

One collision could cost them their lives.

The Lianwu Mountain martial artists, who had already been prepared to die, were instead frightened into retreating.

They dared to trade their lives for their enemies'. As long as they could kill Lu Bai, the real culprit, they weren't afraid to die.

What they feared was that they would not only fail to cause Lu Bai trouble, but actually end up helping him. That would be the worst of all.

The bandit chief staggered backward several steps and crashed into a pillar. He added a few newly acquired modules to his Skill Bar, then immediately turned and punched the pillar.

The pillar snapped, and the entire Heshan Pavilion shuddered.

After Lingfeng Tower had nearly collapsed, now this pavilion was about to come down too.

Lu Bai hurled the broken spiked club in his hand at the bandit chief.

Watching the bandit chief charge with astonishing force, Lu Bai acted as if he were about to rush forward again, then turned and ran.

The building was collapsing. The bandit chief might survive thanks to his Hard Body Training, but Lu Bai's flesh-and-blood body would definitely be done for.

If he didn't run now, when would he?

Besides, after activating [Blood Burn: Volcano] twice, his body was in terrible shape. His muscles and bones were badly injured, and he'd need two or three months to recover.

"Life goes on, so the fighting never stops." Whoever came up with that nonsense, don't believe a word of it.

But just then, as Lu Bai was about to rush out the door, he stopped and rolled to the side. An arrow shot toward him.

It still missed Lu Bai, but it stopped him from getting out.

"Let's be buried in this building together, Lu Bai!" The archer at the second-floor staircase lay on the ground, his pale face wearing a broad smile.

Cracks spread across the wall beside the entrance, and it quickly crumbled.

With a sharp crack, the ceiling collapsed at an angle, completely blocking the way out.

"Don't even think about escaping, Lu Bai!!!!"

"Woooaaaaah!" The bandit chief clutched a broken pillar and charged at Lu Bai, roaring in fury.

"So you really are forcing me to risk my life!" Lu Bai let out a breath, but felt no regret.

He could enjoy a fight, and he could run to save his own life.

He followed his heart and did as he pleased.

"Then let's do it again. As long as we're alive, we keep fighting!"

Lu Bai turned and charged toward him. The building was collapsing all around them, and ahead, the pillar was about to crash into him as the bandit chief roared.

The crimson aura around Lu Bai grew thicker and thicker. Even amid the chaos, its sweet fragrance stood out.

At that very moment, the bloody aura around Lu Bai seemed to reach some kind of limit. A long river of blood qi extended from his body.

It spread outward like a rising plume of smoke.

The crimson surged outward like a flood.

"Arararararara!!!"

Lu Bai punched the pillar, smashing it apart piece by piece.

Wood chips flew through the air, and bits of debris kept collapsing from above.

Dust, blood qi, wood chips—the entire interior of the building was swallowed up in an instant.

The wooden pillar was reduced to splinters. In that moment, the streak of red that was Lu Bai and the streak of white that was the bandit chief met.

The moment they collided, the two crashed into each other, and the repulsive force split Lu Bai's skin open.

At the same time, countless red spots appeared from beneath the bandit chief's white-jade skin, almost turning it from white jade to red jade.

The force of repulsion was powerful, but it could only reflect seventy percent of the impact. He still had to take the other thirty percent himself.

One of them had a long health bar; the other had a defensive counterattack effect.

And both were fighting for their lives. If they kept this up, it would come down to who gave out first.

At this level of fighting, whatever they crashed into collapsed.

But Lu Bai was more agile. He guided the bandit chief's attacks, using the man's body as a shield to block the debris raining down from the collapsing building.

"We're going to die here, but you'll die first." Lu Bai kept fighting with a smile, even as he coughed up blood. His once-white teeth were stained red.

His body was covered in deep cracks, and blood poured from him without stopping. He looked like a man made of blood.

The bandit chief was in even worse shape. He was just as red, some of it Lu Bai's blood, some of it seeping out from inside him. Cracked wounds had appeared all over his body.

As the fight went on and his condition worsened, the efficiency of his repulsive force continued to fall.

His Iron Shirt was on the verge of collapsing. When it did, he would die there even if no one else finished him off.

The notion that his enormous Internal Force made him invincible faded quickly.

He hated Lu Bai. That kick had left him completely ruined. Advanced technology could heal his physical injuries, but the psychological scars were not so easily mended.

That hatred had driven him to seek revenge on Lu Bai. Unfortunately, he had overestimated himself.

Forced by Lu Bai to risk his life, he had fought with ferocious courage, convinced that since he had put his life on the line, he had to kill Lu Bai.

The strength granted by his mastered Iron Shirt had also sent his blood surging.

But that kind of fervor never lasted. When death came, it could only fade.

At that moment, the bandit chief lost his nerve.

And Lu Bai had seized the foundation of victory.

First update. I'm a little late; I got up later than usual this morning. I might not have rested well yesterday after all. Sorry.