Fist met sword, unleashing a fierce clang of metal.
Violent shock waves spread in every direction from Feng Nanyan and the man surnamed Shi. The ground beneath them bucked and trembled, as though it had become a turbulent ocean, while great swaths of brick and stone twisted upward like dragons and were hurled away.
Feng Nanyan felt a surging force, heavier than ten thousand tons, bear down on him like a mighty flood. His breathing faltered, his face paled, and he staggered backward.
"Excellent!"
The man surnamed Shi burst out laughing, surprise and admiration mingling on his face. "To think a swordsman like you could emerge from this remote wasteland."
He advanced in great strides, wrapped in a vast, savage aura. Beastly forms manifested around him, roaring into the sky before pouring into his fist as he unleashed another punch.
The void boomed like a beaten drum!
With nowhere to dodge, Feng Nanyan raised his sword across his body to block. But the man's punch came like a thunderbolt, too fast and too fierce, crashing down like a meteor.
The compressed air crackled and exploded. Blinding flashes of lightning illuminated Feng Nanyan's increasingly pallid face.
"Lie down!"
Just as the mountain-heavy fist was about to land, the man's arm suddenly sank, as though he were supporting a small mountain. His attack stalled.
Splash!
The clear sound of splashing water rang beside his ears.
The man surnamed Shi looked around in shock. At some unknown moment, the surrounding halls and palaces had vanished, replaced by boundless dark waters. They seemed to flow from the Ninefold Netherworld itself, their icy chill penetrating straight into the soul.
As the dark waters engulfed him, a stone bridge abruptly rose above the surface. A girl in green hovered over it, her sleeves fluttering.
"Think your