Still Too Weak!

Bang!

The redwood table shattered beneath a single punch. Han Zhong's face was twisted with fury. He had personally gone to capture Chu He several times in a row, only to come up empty-handed at the very last moment every time.

He had only just returned. Already shocked by the Headless Corpse's defeat, he had also become greedy and jealous of Chu He's soaring strength.

When he learned that Chu He had not left the village, Han Zhong had secretly rejoiced, intending to capture him and force the secret behind his sudden surge in strength out of him.

So he had eagerly rushed out with the ghosts.

Yet he had never expected Chu He to slip away every time.

It was as though he had been played like a dog, led in a circle around the village.

"He dares act so recklessly only because he thinks his strength is already on par with ours. Let him keep that illusion for now."

The village chief's face was dark as water, and even his narrowed eyelids could not conceal the surging killing intent within. "If he still has no intention of leaving, then once everything is ready tonight, the ancestral hall of the Land God Temple will become his burial ground!"

"How is the corpse's restoration coming along?"

Han Zhong fell silent for several breaths before suddenly asking.

"It is nearly done. Its spine was broken, but that is no matter. The Skin Ghost you brought back only needs to be stitched together with the black hair. Such a minor injury will be no problem at all; it will have no effect whatsoever."

The village chief stroked his grizzled beard, looking somewhat worried. "But are you truly certain that the other Skin Ghost is not nearby?"

At the mention of this, a flicker of fear passed through the village chief's eyes. "This place has always been its hunting ground. The imperial court built this wall to suppress the Head Ghost largely to fend off that sheet of human skin."

"If it learns that we stitched this woman's skin onto the Head Ghost, it definitely will not let us off easily."

"About ninety percent certain." Han Zhong turned his head, his expression turning grave. "That Skin Ghost has not shown itself for ten years. There is a very high chance it returned to the Earth-Woe Fog Sea and is no longer in the Misty Forest."

"Besides, don't we already have no way back?" Han Zhong crouched down and stroked the black cocoon by his feet. "To completely trap this woman's skin, I even sacrificed my own junior brother."

"Yes, there is no retreat."

The village chief raised his head with a sigh, briskly rolled both sleeves up to his upper arms, and said steadily, "As long as we stitch the Skin Ghost and the Head Ghost together, even if that Skin Ghost comes, we will have nothing to fear!"

"Forget about Chu He for now. Stand beside me and lend me your strength. Together, we will stitch the Skin Ghost onto this corpse."

Suppressing the terror of years past, the village chief regained his composure. He carried the Headless Corpse before the black flesh cocoon, then drew a black thread as thick as iron wire from its mouth. The thread radiated an inexplicable, chilling coldness.

Stitching together great ghosts required special thread.

Smash!

A statue exploded beneath a punch, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction.

Ding dong! Ghostly aura absorbed. Energy +1!

After smashing nearly twenty statues and circling almost half the village, Chu He finally managed to painstakingly gather 5 Energy points.

"Upgrade directly!"

Before the Blood Jade could give any warning, Chu He wasted no words. He sat down on the spot, summoned the blue panel, and selected an upgrade for the Red Line Fist.

The next moment, his Energy dropped by five points and immediately fell to zero.

Whoosh...

The familiar warm current surged through his body again, but this time it had a clear focus, swirling and settling primarily around his fists.

His two fists seemed to have been placed inside a furnace. The red lines across their surfaces rapidly widened, as if they were about to envelop the entire fists. They turned scarlet all over, and with every flash of red light, a numb, tingling sensation surged through his bones and tendons.

His fists seemed to have been tempered a thousand times over, beginning to become as tough as iron.

During the process, Chu He could even see the flow of blood and qi within his fists moving in a peculiar pattern, producing the roaring sound of galloping currents.

At the same time.

Deeper insights into the Red Line Fist emerged in his mind. It felt as though he had cultivated without rest for several years, naturally breaking through to the second level as water flowed into a channel. There was not the slightest awkwardness or discomfort.

"Whew... The second level is complete!"

Chu He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. His fists radiated blazing masculine energy, while the tendons and bones of his five fingers resembled reddened, tightly twisted branding irons—indestructible.

A brand-new sense of power filled his fists.

He clenched his fist hard, and a flash of crimson surged forth.

The great tendons in his palm were like steel cables, his bones like iron.

Clench fist, throw punch!

Boom—

Like a cannonball leaving the barrel, an afterimage swept past as the air exploded with a thunderous blast.

"If I had used this punch last night, where would all that trouble have come from? One punch would have ripped open the Headless Corpse's belly and left it unable to rise."

Reviewing last night's difficult battle and his current breakthrough in the fist manual, Chu He gained a vague sense of where his strength stood.

Simply put, his development was severely lopsided. In terms of raw strength, he far surpassed every other aspect, leaving them all in the dust.

The third level of the Golden Bell Shield had given Chu He two thousand five hundred jin of strength. With the additional five hundred jin from the Red Line Fist, the maximum force Chu He could now unleash was a total of three thousand jin.

This had already reached the strength limit of the Blood Condensation Realm!

His methods of attack had previously been rather limited, but now that he had attained success in the Red Line Fist, both his fists had been comprehensively strengthened and also carried blazing energy.

As for defense, the Golden Bell Shield did not simply enhance physical durability. Instead, it used blood and qi to condense a protective membrane around the body. The so-called limit of its defense was actually the limit of one's blood and qi consumption.

Once his blood and qi were exhausted, Chu He's defense would become a weakness.

Fortunately, Chu He's blood and qi far surpassed that of ordinary people and had already reached the peak of Blood Condensation. If he were given the subsequent martial arts of the Furnace Realm, it was not impossible for him to break through into the Furnace Realm.

Beyond that, perception, healing, and agility...

All of them were fatal shortcomings!

"I'm still too weak!"

After this round of self-assessment, Chu He clenched his fist, producing the sound of metal and stone striking together. The confidence in his eyes vanished, replaced by desire.

A desire for even greater power!

Suppressing the stirring in his heart, Chu He suddenly frowned.

"The jade has not reacted. Have they given up?"

He had remained here for quite a while. Previously, the jade would have issued a warning long ago, yet even now it showed no reaction at all.

It seemed they had truly given up.

However, Chu He did not believe they had simply abandoned the matter. Either they had something more important to do, or they were holding back some great move.

"What a pity. Breaking through cannot completely restore my injuries..." Chu He had not forgotten the main purpose of his breakthrough. He carefully examined himself and found that the warm current could indeed heal most of his wounds, but they were all ordinary bruises.

The aftereffects left by internal injuries such as cold yin energy, or by special energies, had to be dealt with by himself. Still, nothing was absolute. In Chu He's view, the fact that they could not be healed only meant the warm current was not yet strong enough.

He climbed out of the courtyard and looked up at the sky.

It was noon. The sunlight was perfect, and the fog was thin.

Chu He had just turned to find somewhere to close his eyes and recover some energy when an announcement sounded repeatedly in the distance. "Villagers and elders, if you feel unwell, weak in the limbs, dizzy, or heavy-headed, go to the Land God Temple at once. Before the sacrificial gathering, the village chief will rid you of the evil chill."

Squish, squish...

The sound of feet trampling through mud quickly faded away.

Chu He slowly emerged from a dark corner, his eyes filled with gloom. "Gathering people... sacrificial gathering... They are moving so quickly?"

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