Explosive Power

Black Wind Stronghold's leader, Qiu Heixiong, lay in ambush behind the snow wolf pack.

The wind and snow concealed his figure, but they could not conceal the savage, brutal aura around him.

He stood nine feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-backed, draped in a cloak of black bear fur. His face was covered in a beard that bristled like steel needles.

Leaning behind a tree with half his body exposed, he looked like a black bear hidden in the forest, coldly watching its prey.

Behind him, more than a dozen Black Wind Stronghold bandits lay hidden beyond a snowy slope, blades and axes in hand, poised to strike.

They were all dressed in gray-white fur coats, blending into the snowy woods from afar. Unless one came close, the people in the herb garden would never spot them.

Qiu Heixiong narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing through the wind and snow before settling on the herb garden's eastern gate.

There, Lu Chen stood alone at the fence entrance.

One snow wolf after another pounced at him, only to be knocked flying one after another.

His fist wind swept up snow.

Wolf blood splattered.

Lu Chen's figure radiated the imposing aura of one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

Qiu Heixiong's gaze shifted slightly.

"Half a year ago, Wang Firm recruited a Blood Moving minor achievement martial artist from another county. Is that him?"

The lanky man beside him licked his lips.

He was Black Wind Stronghold's fourth leader, Sun Liancheng.

He held two curved blades in his hands, their slender bodies shaped like crescent moons, their edges gleaming coldly.

Sun Liancheng watched Lu Chen for a moment, then said quietly, "It should be."

"I heard that man was highly skilled in fist techniques and had already reached great accomplishment. He had some reputation even in the neighboring counties."

"That old turtle Wang Shouyi thought he could hide it from us. Hmph, laughable."

Qiu Heixiong narrowed his eyes at Lu Chen, who had just punched a snow wolf to death, and said gravely,

"This man has deep attainments in fist force. He won't be easy to handle."

Sun Liancheng merely smiled, a venomous glint flashing through his eyes.

"Boss, as long as he's human, he has a weakness."

He lightly spun the curved blades in his hands and said in a low voice, "Let me tie him down first. Then you can launch a sneak attack with the Heart-Severing Palm."

"The wind and snow are fierce here, the wolf pack is in chaos, and the people in the herb garden can barely look after themselves. That old dog Wang Zhong must be guarding the north slope gate. With Second Brother and Third Brother holding him back, he definitely won't make it in time to support them."

"Once we break through here, we'll attack from both front and rear with Second Brother and Third Brother. That'll finish it!"

Qiu Heixiong nodded. "Kill him and take the herb garden!"

Black Wind Stronghold had coveted this Scarlet Cloud Mountain herb garden for a long time.

Robbery in the mountains was a business of licking blood from a blade's edge, and it was extremely unstable.

If they were lucky enough to rob a merchant caravan, they might eat well for three months. But if they encountered a tough opponent, they might lose a batch of brothers.

Yet this Wang Firm herb garden produced medicinal herbs without cease throughout all four seasons.

With medicinal herbs, they could trade for weapons, trade for pills, and cultivate more martial artists. Even Qiu Heixiong himself could use this herb garden to accumulate resources and charge toward Blood Moving great accomplishment.

They had prepared for today for a long time, drawing the snow wolves here to create chaos. It was the perfect chance to seize the herb garden in one stroke.

As Qiu Heixiong finished speaking, Sun Liancheng lowered his body and pressed close to the side of a snow wolf. Using its enormous body to conceal himself, he launched himself toward Lu Chen.

The wind and snow were too fierce.

Snow wolves howled, crossbow bolts tore through the air, torches crackled as they burned—the scene was utterly chaotic.

Sun Liancheng was like a venomous snake hidden beneath the snow. He held his twin blades in reverse grip, their edges pressed against his forearms as he sped forward.

Ahead, the snow wolf suddenly leaped up, jaws opening wide as it bit toward Lu Chen's shoulder and neck.

At almost the same instant, Sun Liancheng shot out from beneath the wolf's belly, skimming low across the ground.

His twin blades struck, one high and one low.

The upper blade slit the throat.

The lower blade severed the tendons.

The angles were vicious to the extreme.

"Guard Lu, watch out!"

An archer saw a human figure suddenly dart out from beneath the snowy haze and cried out in alarm.

At that moment, Sun Liancheng's blade was less than three feet from Lu Chen.

Sun Liancheng could already see the flesh at the side of Lu Chen's neck, illuminated by the firelight.

So long as this strike landed—

Even if Lu Chen did not die, he would be gravely wounded.

Yet, at the instant the blade was about to reach him, Lu Chen's eyes suddenly turned cold.

Coiling Dragon Body—foreknowledge by a hair's breadth.

The instant Sun Liancheng's killing intent and blade wind approached, the flesh across Lu Chen's body sensed them.

The feeling was extraordinarily mysterious.

It was not something his eyes saw.

His body simply knew danger had arrived before anything else.

Lu Chen did not panic.

First, his left shoulder sank slightly as he took the snow wolf's pounce head-on.

Bang!

The snow wolf's enormous body slammed viciously into Lu Chen's left arm. If it had been an ordinary early-stage Blood Moving martial artist, this blow alone would have shattered his tendons and bones.

But the instant that force entered Lu Chen's body, the Coiling Dragon Body twisted and redirected it layer by layer, shedding most of the impact.

The snow on the ground boomed and shook.

At the same time, he stamped down with his right foot, his waist and hips coiling like a dragon.

Borrowing the force of the snow wolf's collision, he turned even faster instead.

Then his left hand clenched, gripping the fur on the side of the snow wolf's neck. His qi and blood erupted as he violently yanked it toward the path of Sun Liancheng's twin blades.

Pfft!

Sun Liancheng's twin blades chopped solidly into the snow wolf's spine.

Scalding wolf blood instantly splashed across his face.

What a fast reaction!

Sun Liancheng's pupils constricted sharply.

For that instant, a chill even rose in his heart.

Lu Chen's reaction had been too fast, and his response nearly perfect.

He had borrowed the snow wolf's impact, turned with the momentum, hidden himself behind the wolf's body, then pulled it with his left hand and made it take the blades for him.

The entire sequence flowed in one breath, without the slightest hesitation.

Sun Liancheng asked himself honestly—even he might not have been able to handle such a killing trap so cleanly and decisively in an instant.

And at that moment, Lu Chen drove a fist into the snow wolf's abdomen.

Azure Dragon Force erupted.

The immense fist force poured into the snow wolf's body like decaying wood collapsing before a gale, shattering its bones, flesh, and organs in an instant. Before the snow wolf could even let out a cry, its huge body was driven forward by the fist force.

Sun Liancheng's twin blades were still embedded in the wolf's back. Caught off guard, he was forced back again and again by the impact.

The snow beneath his feet exploded.

He hurriedly pulled out his blades, the edges dragging out sheets of wolf blood.

But before he could steady himself, a fist shadow had already torn through the curtain of snow and appeared before his eyes.

Sun Liancheng hastily changed moves, crossing his twin blades in front of himself. But the punch was too fast.

Like an Azure Dragon Emerging from the Abyss.

Bang!

Before the twin blades could shield his chest, Lu Chen's fist had already landed.

A crisp crack of breaking bone rang out.

The tremendous impact made Sun Liancheng's chest cave in violently. It was as though he had been struck head-on by an Azure Dragon; his feet left the ground as he flew backward.

While still in midair, he spewed out a mouthful of blood mixed with shattered organs.

His eyes bulged wide, filled with disbelief.

He was a Blood Moving minor achievement martial artist.

He was Black Wind Stronghold's fourth leader.

Yet before Lu Chen, he had failed to withstand even a single move.

He tried to speak, but only made hoarse, leaking gasps.

The next moment, Sun Liancheng crashed heavily into the snow. His body twitched twice, then moved no more.

The snow was instantly dyed red with blood.

"Fourth Brother!"

Qiu Heixiong had only just taken half a step forward and had not even had time to launch his sneak attack when he discovered that Fourth Brother had already fallen.

Everything had happened too quickly.

From Sun Liancheng drawing his blades, to Lu Chen turning and throwing his punch, to Sun Liancheng's chest collapsing as he flew backward—it had taken only a single breath.

Qiu Heixiong had been preparing to ambush Lu Chen when Sun Liancheng became entangled with him.

There had been no time at all to save Sun Liancheng.

Along with his fury, Qiu Heixiong felt alarm.

Though Sun Liancheng was not the strongest of the four brothers, he was still a genuine Blood Moving minor achievement martial artist.

Even Qiu Heixiong himself would need to spend some effort to kill him.

Yet now, in a single exchange, Sun Liancheng had been blasted three or four meters away, his life and death unknown.

This made Qiu Heixiong even more cautious.