You Think You Can Break My Defense with That Junk Firewood Knife?

"Who's this rat? Give me your name if you dare!"

Amid the furious roar, the battle axe swung in wide, sweeping arcs.

Relying on the strength of five oxen, his opponent charged like an iron war chariot, rampaging through everything in his path.

The surrounding earth and rocks shattered, and buildings collapsed.

Using his agile footwork, Mo Chen constantly darted around the giant man, evading the battle axe's vicious killing blows while repeatedly harassing him with his knife.

"Die!"

The instant the other man swung his axe and missed, Mo Chen stepped on the axe and lunged forward, his firewood knife flashing like lightning.

The blade struck the giant man's arm bone, yet it was as if it had hit refined steel, producing a sharp clang.

Even with all his strength behind the chop, he had only cut through the skin and flesh. He could not sever the bone.

"So this is the Bone Tempering Realm?"

Mo Chen's eyes lit up, and he was exhilarated.

It was said that after breaking through to the Bone Tempering Realm, one's bones would be tempered as hard as steel, strengthening the skeleton throughout the body.

Not only could it further increase one's strength, but one could also use one's bones as a shield against blades, axes, and weapons.

At grand completion, one's bones would be as hard as refined steel, becoming the finest armor and weapon.

"You want to kill me? You're not qualified!"

The giant man sneered disdainfully and drove his elbow forward.

Mo Chen immediately kicked off the ground and flew backward.

"You bastard! Do you dare fight me head-on?!"

Seeing Mo Chen retreat again, the giant man roared in fury, gritting his teeth in hatred.

After fighting for so long, he believed his martial prowess could crush anything, yet he had not even touched the corner of Mo Chen's clothes.

Mo Chen retreated beyond the giant man's reach and sneered. "Trash like you deserves a head-on fight with me?"

At most, he could serve as a sparring partner to hone his combat experience.

"Ahhh! Die!" The giant man charged forward in a rage, swinging his axe.

Mo Chen shifted and dodged, avoiding the edge of his attacks and striking where he was unprepared.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged more than twenty moves again. For the moment, they were locked in a stalemate, neither able to do anything to the other.

However, the stronghold's buildings suffered terribly.

Nearly half had been destroyed by the axe, leaving broken walls and ruins everywhere as dust filled the air.

Just then.

Mo Chen spotted another opening and instantly closed in, slashing at the giant man's right arm.

The giant man sneered and actually raised his arm to block it himself, his eyes full of contempt and disdain.

"I've reached grand completion in Bone Tempering. You think that junk knife of yours can break my defense?"

However, the next instant.

Something shocking happened.

Crack!

A crisp snap rang out, accompanied by the giant man's miserable howl.

The critical hit that had failed to appear after more than a dozen chops from the Black Iron Firewood Knife finally triggered.

With Mo Chen's full-force strike and the critical hit combined, its power was comparable to four and a half oxen.

At that moment, all that force was concentrated at one point as it struck the giant man's right arm.

His arm was severed on the spot, and the second-tier battle axe fell to the ground.

"Perfect!"

Overjoyed, Mo Chen lunged straight for the battle axe on the ground and snatched it up.

"Equip!"

The battle axe immediately vanished and entered the inventory for later use.

"I'll kill you!"

His arm severed, the giant man knelt on one knee, barely able to endure the pain. At the sight of blood all over the ground, his towering fury erupted.

Ever since he had achieved Bone Tempering, no one in Yunyi County had ever managed to injure him.

Mo Chen had severed one of his arms today, completely igniting his ferocity.

Today, he would make sure Mo Chen died without a burial place.

However.

When he turned to look for his axe, he found nothing around him.

"Where's my axe?"

The giant man was dumbfounded. It was not beside him, nor was it in Mo Chen's hands.

His axe had actually vanished into thin air.

"Die!"

At that moment, Mo Chen put away the second-tier Xuanhua Axe and charged in again with the Black Iron Firewood Knife in hand.

The giant man had no time to search for his axe. With an angry shout, he met Mo Chen barehanded.

They touched and immediately separated!

Mo Chen withdrew his knife and rolled away. With a kick, he launched himself from the side for another surprise attack.

"Die again!"

The giant man's whipping kick struck like a hammer, but Mo Chen was completely unafraid. Relying on his superior speed, he fought him head-on.

"Without your second-tier axe, what can your Bone Tempering Realm do? I'll kill you!"

With the Black Iron Firewood Knife's bonus, he had enough of an advantage.

Although the other man's bones had been tempered like steel and were difficult to break through.

A person was still a person. There would always be soft spots.

"Third kill!"

Mo Chen attacked with another slash, his firewood knife aimed straight at the other man's head.

The giant man sneered and raised his arm to block, twisting his body as he lashed out with a fierce kick.

But Mo Chen's strike was a feint. Just before it reached the giant man's forehead, he forcibly changed moves.

He viciously slashed at the giant man's manhood.

"Fuck! Despicable!"

The giant man cursed loudly, hurriedly retracting his leg to bleed off the force as he rolled to the side.

Before he could steady himself, another gust of cold wind swept toward him.

"Fourth kill!"

Splat!

"Ahhh—!" A hysterical scream rang out.

The Black Iron Firewood Knife had triggered another critical hit.

With one slash, Mo Chen severed the giant man's other arm, which he had raised to block.

"How are you going to fight now?"

With both arms gone, the giant man curled up miserably on the ground. Cold sweat covered his face, and all ferocity had vanished from his eyes.

"Who are you? Why did you come to kill people from Blackwind Stronghold?"

Blood and sweat covered the giant man's face, which had gone deathly pale. His eyes were filled with despair.

"Who am I?"

Mo Chen grinned savagely, knife in hand. "I am the Great Mystic Woodcutter!"

As soon as he spoke, the blade flashed, and he slashed the giant man across the neck.

The giant man stared wide-eyed at Mo Chen, his gaze blank and utterly bewildered.

"The Great Mystic Woodcutter?"

"What... the hell is that?"

With unwillingness, confusion, bewilderment, and shock...

The giant man breathed his last, dying with his eyes open.

"Whew—he's finally dead!"

Mo Chen looked at the corpse beneath his feet, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

The battle with the giant man had been the first real combat he had faced since beginning martial arts training.

There had been plenty of shortcomings and flaws in it.

But in the end, he had won.

"Although my cultivation has reached the Sinew Tempering Realm, compared to people who have fought countless battles, I still have far too many shortcomings."

Looking back on the fight, Mo Chen saw his own weaknesses.

His cultivation had advanced too quickly, to the point that his mindset and combat experience had struggled to keep up.

If he had not encountered a Bone Tempering Realm bandit tonight.

He would probably still have been smug about breaking through to the Sinew Tempering Realm in just a few days.

"If it took all my strength to kill one Bone Tempering Realm bandit, then what about the Blood Tempering Realm? The Astral Condensation Realm?"

Mo Chen took a deep breath, and the last trace of self-satisfaction in his heart faded away.

In this world, martial artists were everywhere.

The Body Tempering Realm was merely the first step of martial arts.

Beyond Body Tempering were experts who could condense astral qi, as well as geniuses who had stepped into the Five Elements Realm.

What right did he have to be arrogant and complacent?

"The path of martial arts must be traveled steadily, building up strength before making a breakthrough. From now on, I must keep a level head, neither rejoicing nor grieving, and seek ever higher realms."

As Mo Chen pondered this, he searched the corpse.

A moment later, a money pouch appeared in his hand, containing twenty-three taels of loose silver.

An excited smile spread across Mo Chen's lips.

"Carrying twenty-three taels of silver around in a mountain stronghold... this man must have been Blackwind Stronghold's chief."

On such a desolate mountain, being able to carry that much silver already proved his status.

He stored the silver in his inventory.

Mo Chen glanced at the total amount of silver displayed beneath the inventory.

[Wealth: Fifty-five taels]

"Holy shit! That much?"

He had been too busy fighting and killing along the way to count the silver he had looted. Seeing the total now, he was overjoyed.

"Wait, let me calculate. When I left Yunyi City, I only had..."

"I killed five bandits, plus three bandits at the foot of the mountain—that was more than sixteen taels altogether."

"Then how much were those twenty-some bandits and that bald guy carrying again?"

"Forget it, forget it. I'm not counting. Anyway, this trip was fucking worth it!"

Mo Chen happily counted his silver, then searched the giant man's corpse again. After finding a key, he rose to his feet and headed toward the buildings.

"Since I'm here, I might as well strip the place clean!"