Intransigent Qi Upgrade, Field Domain

"Monster... it's a monster!"

Huang Ling's voice trembled violently, his pupils contracting. Within his field of vision, Lu Li charged straight at him, utterly unaffected by the holes the iron shields had punched through his body.

He had forcibly carved a path through the shield formation.

The shield-bearing guards were horrified as well. The man before them had holes punched through his flesh, yet not a drop of blood flowed out. Instead, his strength grew ever more violent.

He was practically an iron man!

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I have silver—I can give you lots of silver..."

Huang Ling screamed wildly, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Lu Li's eyes were icy. He gave no response, merely reaching out with one hand and clamping his five fingers around Huang Ling's neck, tearing out his windpipe along with the surrounding flesh.

Splat! Splat! Splat!

Blood sprayed frantically. Huang Ling clutched at his throat unconsciously with both hands, but could only make hoarse gurgling sounds. Terror lingered in his eyes as he collapsed limply to the ground.

Huang Ling was dead!

"The Second Master is dead!"

The burly man from before spoke in a trembling voice. Once the other guards saw Huang Ling die, their fighting spirit plummeted, and all of them began to think of fleeing.

"Not one of you will escape either!"

Lu Li's gaze swept across them one by one. The wounds all over his body were healing at a visible rate as Essence-Eroding Internal Qi surged wildly. His figure flashed forward like a wolf among sheep.

Limbs shattered, blood splashed, and screams rang out in a chorus.

White Crow Town. The night was deep, stars scattered across the sky, while muffled thunder came and went. A torrential rain seemed to be brewing.

Within the Huang Household estate, inside a study.

Huang Shang sat in a luxurious chair. Incense smoke curled before him as he lowered his eyes and silently read a Buddhist scripture, his expression calm and imposing.

Rumble!

A peal of thunder boomed, and blazing white lightning illuminated the night sky. Huang Shang's expression suddenly shifted as an inexplicable palpitation rose in his heart.

"Has Second Brother met with danger?"

Huang Shang's expression changed slightly.

He and Huang Ling had been born of the same mother. The last time he had felt such a palpitation was when his second brother had fallen into the water as a child.

It was precisely because the brothers' hearts were connected that Huang Ling had escaped drowning in the river back then.

Moreover, his cultivation had now reached the Fifth Layer of Meridian Opening. The strength of his heart and lungs far surpassed that of ordinary people; he could not possibly suffer palpitations for no reason.

As thoughts raced through his mind, Huang Shang lightly tapped the desk. The servant standing guard outside immediately pushed open the door, entered, and dropped to one knee.

"Go inquire about Second Brother's situation. What is he doing at this moment?"

Huang Shang maintained his composure, but his brows furrowed slightly, revealing a trace of unconcealed worry.

Upon hearing this, the servant immediately hurried outside. Before long, he returned and bowed.

"First Master, the Second Master is at Rebirth Temple, competing in martial arts with a wandering martial artist."

The servant explained everything in detail.

"However, the Second Master has sealed off the venue and kept only a few guards by his side."

Huang Shang heard this, and the unease in his heart was thoroughly confirmed. He flung the Buddhist scripture onto the desk and shouted sternly.

"Gather the Profound Guards. Go to Rebirth Temple!"

The night was profound as thunderclouds rolled past and torrential rain poured down.

Rebirth Temple, inner grounds.

Lu Li drained the blood from the final corpse. Only after the body had shriveled did he release his hand.

There were nine corpses in total: three martial artists and six ordinary people. After draining them, he had made up for the expenditure from this battle and even had some left over.

Shriveled corpses piled up inside the pit, while the iron shields lay scattered about. He gathered those into a pile as well.

Just two First Layer of Meridian Opening martial artists and six large-built ordinary men posed no threat to him, even if they understood military formation techniques. After all, he did not fear pain.

"Eight iron shields. The materials are solid enough, abnormally hard. They were probably all forged from Hundred-Forged Fine Iron..."

Lu Li touched the places where his wounds had healed, then glanced at the spikes on the iron shields. Even with Intransigent Qi reinforcing him, he had been pierced straight through.

"If I drain the durability from these iron shields, Intransigent Qi should undergo another transformation, right?"

With that thought, Lu Li did not delay any longer. The moment he placed his palm on the piled-up iron shields, Weapon Lord activated. A surging wave of cool energy immediately flooded into his body.

Time passed. Half an incense stick later, Lu Li suddenly opened his eyes, a trace of delight flashing through them.

"Intransigent Qi has upgraded."

[Internal Art: Erosion Essence Scripture]

[Layer: Second Layer (rises with realm)]

[Effect: When injured, the rate at which Internal Qi stacks increases...]

[Martial Art: Poison Blood Hand]

[Layer: Second Layer (rises with realm)]

[Effect:...]

[Taowu Passive: Intransigent Qi]

[Effect: Qi transforms into force, force forms a Field Domain... Intransigent Qi forms a Field Domain covering an area within three feet around the body. Within the Field Domain, an opponent's movement speed, strength, and Internal Qi can be greatly reduced.]

[Within the Field Domain, the durability of an opponent's weapons can be drained from afar to reinforce the Field Domain's effects.]

[Under normal conditions, it can last for three minutes.]

[The Field Domain's range increases with realm, with a maximum radius of one kilometer.]

Lu Li closed his eyes slightly, taking in the information on the panel as a flicker of shock passed through his heart.

A Field Domain... weakening opponents, strengthening himself, draining durability from afar, and maintaining the Field Domain.

Simply put, it was an ability that continuously weakened the enemy while empowering himself—especially when the enemy held weapons.

Those weapons would instead become fuel for his own strength.

"That's practically cheating..."

Lu Li sighed in admiration. With the Intransigent Qi Field Domain reinforcing him, his close-combat ability had received an unprecedented boost.

The enemy would be burdened with debuffs, while he himself would be stacked with buffs. Together, that amounted to double the enhancement.

"If I face a military formation's encirclement again, I won't even get hurt."

After experiencing it for a moment, Lu Li leaped out of the square pit. Dog Child had hidden behind the Buddha statue throughout the battle and had not been caught up in it.

"Don't be afraid. You're free now."

After soothing the trembling Dog Child, Lu Li suddenly paused. From the outer grounds came faint, noisy sounds mixed with disorderly footsteps and the clatter of armor and weapons.

Through Weapon Lord's perception, he found that Rebirth Temple had been surrounded. The arrivals wore armor and carried blades.

"Reinforcements came this fast?"

Lu Li was startled but not flustered, though a hint of surprise flickered in his eyes.

He glanced at the curtain separating the inner and outer grounds. Huang Ling's authority had clearly been considerable; from beginning to end, no one had dared step across the curtain.

In other words, no one else knew what had happened inside.

After Intransigent Qi upgraded, Weapon Lord's range had increased as well. He could sense a group of people steadily approaching this place.

Clearly, they had come with killing intent. The only person Lu Li could think of was the Huang Household's eldest son, Huang Shang.

But...

"Telepathy or something? How did reinforcements arrive so fast?"

Lu Li swept his gaze around. Compared to the outer grounds, the inner grounds occupied far less space, and the routes through were not limited to a single curtained passage. His eyes hardened, and he vaulted out through a window on one side.

It was a dim corner, but Lu Li discovered that there were people here as well. It even seemed to be some sort of special place.

"Dead man, hurry up! I still have another customer to take!"

In the darkness, blurry figures crowded together. Faint moans and heavy panting could be heard.

Lu Li glanced over and found quite a few people. There were only two or three women, but more than ten men.

"Is it really this chaotic?"

The crowd stood in a line, and many wore anxious expressions.

"..."

Lu Li withdrew his gaze, finding the sight rather painful to the eyes. At the same time, he covered Dog Child's eyes and said softly.

"Don't look. It's bad for your health."

He stepped out from the shadow by the window. The people in line noticed Lu Li's sudden appearance, and the burly man at the front glared at him.

"Kid, do you know the rules? You dare cut in front of me? Do you not want your family jewels anymore?"

Lu Li's eyelid twitched. He glanced sideways and spat out a single word expressionlessly.

"Scram!"