Fighting with All His Might!

[Chu He]

[Martial Art: Golden Bell Shield (Second Layer) ↑]

[Energy: 21]

As his energy broke through the threshold of 20, the symbol for advancement finally appeared behind his martial art again, rippling like water.

Chu He's eyes widened slightly, and his consciousness immediately tapped advancement.

The energy value flickered, gradually transforming into a warm current that enveloped Chu He's entire body. Just as before, it was gentle and soothing, reforging him anew.

Every part of his body—muscles, bones, even cells—was rapidly renewing and replacing itself, bursting with powerful vitality.

A few minutes later, the transformation ended.

Chu He could not help raising his brows, a trace of disappointment appearing on his face.

"The changes aren't that great... Hm?"

As he sensed the state of his body, Chu He suddenly discovered that he had become lighter, like a swan's feather. With a light jump, he shot seven or eight meters into the air.

A strange gleam flashed in his eyes. He punched forward with both hands, and the air exploded with a burst of thunderous blasts. The speed and ferocity of his punches far surpassed what they had been before.

Miaomiao had originally been rummaging through the centipede man whose head Chu He had smashed apart. Her plump little palms had long since split into flesh and blood, turning into black, petroleum-like liquid that seeped into the three corpses to absorb their remaining nutrients.

The instant she saw Chu He standing there in a daze, the thought of running surfaced in her mind. But before she could make a decision, Chu He's aura rose higher and higher, like a bomb poised on the brink of detonation.

The next moment, a terrifying sensation swept from Chu He—a feeling like some dreadful beast lurking in the abyss had completely awakened...

Her little face twitched, and she immediately abandoned any thought of running now.

Then Miaomiao saw Chu He lightly tap a slowly falling peach leaf. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Yet when the leaf drifted down bit by bit and touched the ground, it instantly turned to dust!

She froze.

She straightened up of her own accord, smiling sweetly with two tiny dimples on her face. She looked friendly—there was even a hint of ingratiation?

Chu He shifted his gaze, his hands itching to try as realization dawned on him.

From six hundred jin of strength when he broke through the first layer, to twelve hundred jin at the second layer, and now nearly twenty-five hundred jin.

That was a full five hundred jin more than a normal third-layer Golden Bell Shield!

As he circulated the Golden Bell Shield, a faint golden film emerged over the surface of his body. Chu He flicked it with a finger, producing the sound of stone and iron striking together. More than that, waves rolled within the film, lightly dispersing the force that followed.

The third layer of the Golden Bell Shield was no longer limited to the form of a golden bell. Chu He could transform it into a golden film, golden robes, or even a golden shield. This technique possessed a nimble autonomy; whenever he was attacked, it would emerge automatically.

In terms of cultivating the Golden Bell Shield alone, Chu He had already surpassed Han Zhong and all his fellow disciples. His confidence swelled as never before.

"Keep drawing the strange creatures nearby over here."

"Yes..."

Hearing the prompt reply, Chu He looked surprised. When he turned back to look at the little runt, she was squeezing out a sweet smile at him.

Suddenly, her smile vanished. Miaomiao turned toward the left, terror appearing on her face, while her two short little legs looked ready to tremble like sieves.

"What is it?"

Chu He frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

"There's... a... strange guy..."

Before she could finish, Chu He abruptly turned his head. Golden light burst from his eyes as a blurry black shadow shattered the thin mist at an outrageously fast speed. Two huge hands, swollen and twisted like hammers, smashed heavily toward Chu He's head.

Just before the fists landed, Chu He planted his feet, twisted at the waist, and a red gleam flashed over his fist. His scarlet iron fist collided head-on in midair with the black hands woven from eerie threads.

Boom—

An invisible shockwave abruptly spread outward. The splashed mud was blasted directly into water mist, then shot wildly away like bullets the next moment, piercing through woods and leaves.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Bone and flesh burst apart. The left arm of the headless corpse, wrapped in black threads, was pierced through by stark white bone splinters, and large amounts of black blood sprayed out.

Before the residual force had dispersed, the headless corpse was sent flying by the follow-up force.

Chu He did not fare well either. The immense force blasted him backward, his feet plowing furrows several meters through the ground. His cloth shoes burst apart, and more than half of his trouser legs were shredded.

The right hand that had exchanged blows with it hung limply at his waist.

His arm had been dislocated.

This was the first time Chu He had suffered such a major loss.

He gave the figure flying backward a grave look, then used his left hand to brace his right elbow joint, gave it a light push, and suddenly jerked it upward.

Crack!

The joint snapped back into place, and feeling returned to his right arm.

There was no time to care about the ache in his arm. Knowing the importance of seizing the initiative, Chu He tensed the muscles in his legs. His slender muscles were like steel rebars twisted tightly together.

Boom!

The ground cracked as dirt and stones flew up.

Chu He became a streak of golden light and charged at the headless corpse at breakneck speed.

The instant the headless corpse landed, that branding-iron-like hand pressed down on its chest, brutally hammering it into the ground with all his might!

Boom!

Fallen leaves, mud, and stones sprayed everywhere. The earth caved in and collapsed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Chu He circulated the Red Line Fist with all his strength. His fists trailed broken red lines, raining down like meteors in a storm, stirring up layer upon layer of crimson light. Carrying unmatched power, they hammered repeatedly into the headless corpse's chest.

Since it had no head, its heart was its only weakness!

The terrifying force was like a barrage of grenades scouring the ground. Broken stones shot everywhere, and the earth could barely withstand such immense power. The pit beneath them gradually widened and sank deeper.

But as time passed, Chu He's expression gradually darkened.

It would not die! It simply could not be killed!

No!

The damage he dealt could not keep up with the opponent's recovery speed!

Looking down into the pit, he saw that every punch Chu He threw caved in the headless corpse's chest, crushed its bones, and ruptured the eerie black threads.

Yet in the next instant, those black threads seemed to possess minds of their own. The broken strands automatically linked back together, while shattered bones were immediately reshaped and restored.

And the speed of its healing was growing faster and faster!

In the instant Chu He was distracted, the headless corpse, which had long been lying in wait, grabbed Chu He by the ankle and hurled him away with all its strength.

The headless corpse then sprang upright with a carp's leap.

Its headless neck rapidly twisted toward the direction where Chu He was about to land. It stomped hard and shot out like an arrow released from a bow!

Its target was Chu He, who had been flung into the air!

It seemed to want to replicate Chu He's earlier offensive, intending to deliver a fatal blow when Chu He landed, unable to borrow any force.

"You mongrel, you learn fast enough!"

The corner of Chu He's eye split, revealing a savage expression.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed a peach tree branch sweeping past him. The peach tree's trunk bent under the pull, faintly showing signs of being uprooted.

Chu He deliberately eased his strength, letting the peach branch bend without snapping. After the force flinging him away gradually dissipated, the trunk's resilience suddenly snapped taut again. Chu He's backward momentum turned into forward motion, and he was hurled out like a flung stone.

At that moment, he roared, "Die!!"

In an instant, the muscles in his arms surged like dragons and snakes rising from the earth. Purple-black tendons spread across the surface of his arms. With a powerful heave, the peach tree's roots cracked and broke. The peach tree, rooted deep in the ground, was yanked into the air by Chu He in one breath.

Borrowing the force once more, he swung it fiercely into the charging headless corpse!