Crane Elder Attacks

A small head pressed against the glass window as Wang Xiaoqi peered into the arena area.

The dim arena stood empty, no longer packed with crowds like it had been during the day.

"Smack."

A hand lightly patted Wang Xiaoqi's back. She turned around, and her gaze met Chen Xu's.

"Ah!!!!!" Her piercing scream tore through the night, only to abruptly become muffled.

It wasn't that she didn't want to scream. Her mouth had immediately been covered by a hand, leaving her to make only muffled whimpering sounds.

Fear filled her pretty face. Wang Xiaoqi struggled desperately, but compared to Chen Xu, her strength was utterly negligible.

"Quiet." Chen Xu spoke indifferently. A tiger-like aura seeped from his body, and her whimpering instantly stopped.

Once she had completely settled down, Chen Xu asked, "Why are you here?"

She had followed him all the way here. Did she really think he hadn't noticed?

"I..." Wang Xiaoqi glanced at Chen Xu from the corner of her eye, but she had absolutely no memory of this person.

An isolated place, a lone man and woman...

A string of keywords surfaced in her mind, and her eyes became increasingly terrified.

"Why do you care what I'm doing here... I'm warning you, my boyfriend will be back soon. Don't you dare try anything."

As if afraid Chen Xu would not believe her, she hurriedly added, "Do you know Chen Xu from the Chen Martial Arts Academy? He's my boyfriend—the one who won all ten matches today. He's insanely strong."

The night concealed the strange look on Chen Xu's face. Since when had he gained a girlfriend?

Could this woman have followed him here to find an opportunity to confess?

Chen Xu stroked his chin. It seemed his charm was far greater than he had imagined.

Lowering his voice to avoid revealing his original voice, Chen Xu said, "Of course I know him. Gentle and refined, handsome and talented, dignified and extraordinary, graceful as jade, outstanding in appearance and character, imposing and well-mannered, fresh and elegant, suave and unrestrained, handsome and dashing. One look tells you he's destined for great things."

Wang Xiaoqi's bewildered expression carried a trace of doubt as she fell into thought. Holy shit, did she just run into some brain-dead fan stalking Chen Xu?

She could only maintain an awkward yet polite smile. "Everything you said is right."

"The academy is closed at night. Even if you two want to meet in secret, you can't do it here, understand?" Chen Xu put on the air of a staff member and earnestly lectured her.

"Oh, oh, I'll definitely be more careful next time!" Wang Xiaoqi wished she could crawl into a hole, but she could not explain the misunderstanding.

"Just remember that. Go back first.

If I run into your boyfriend while patrolling, I'll tell him to go back."

Chen Xu waved for her to leave quickly so she would not delay his business later.

Wang Xiaoqi pursed her lips, but recalling the aura that had inexplicably terrified her earlier, she obediently headed toward the flickering lights.

After walking several dozen meters, Wang Xiaoqi noticed someone seemingly racing toward her at incredible speed.

"No, she can't leave. Our transaction absolutely cannot be known by any third party."

The breeze lifted Wang Xiaoqi's hair. The half-gray, half-white long hair beneath the wooden hairpin entered her sight, and it was the last thing she ever saw.

Her head was twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, and she died instantly.

With an easy expression, as though he had merely killed a chick, Crane Elder walked toward Chen Xu alongside the sound of the corpse hitting the ground.

"This doesn't bode well!" Chen Xu clearly sensed the deep killing intent emanating from the other party.

He no longer had the leisure to mourn for that innocent woman. His instincts told him that the old man before him was very powerful!

If he did not handle this carefully, he truly might die!

"Has the Demon God's Eye temporarily changed personnel?" Chen Xu looked Crane Elder up and down. "That's against the rules."

"Rules are dead. People are alive." Crane Elder looked toward Chen Xu's empty hands. "Where is the physical item you promised?"

"I need to see the Refining Liquid first." Chen Xu spread his hands, his muscles tensing as he prepared to unleash a devastating strike at any moment.

"Fine, then I'll let you see~~~see!" Drawing out the last word, Crane Elder leaped into the air. His arms spread wide like a white crane soaring through the sky as he dove down at high speed.

Chen Xu had long been prepared. Seeing him attack, his height abruptly shot up to two meters as he raised his fist and launched a punch.

His sudden increase in height and bulk caused Chen Xu's casual clothes to burst into flying scraps.

When fist met palm, Chen Xu was completely suppressed in terms of strength for the first time.

Boom, boom, boom.

His feet stomped heavily against the ground. Each time he retreated, small turtle-shell cracks appeared beneath his feet.

"A body with strength comparable to a Martial Artist's?" Crane Elder admitted that he truly was shocked.

The crushing victory he had imagined did not occur. In a clash between a non-Martial Artist and a Martial Artist, Chen Xu had only retreated several steps, shattering the rule that all below Martial Artists were mere ants.

But the more powerful Chen Xu's talent was, the stronger Crane Elder's desire to kill him became.

"A Martial Artist?" Though phrased as a question, Chen Xu was extremely certain. He did not believe any martial artist below that level could suppress him in every aspect.

"Did the Demon God's Eye send you to kill me?" Chen Xu tried to obtain some information.

"You'll know after you die!" Crane Elder had no intention of answering any of Chen Xu's questions. His goal was simple: defeat him, then obtain all the information about the [Bloodline Armament] from him.

An aura far surpassing Tiger Might suddenly erupted. In a daze, Chen Xu saw a white crane spreading its wings and soaring high.

"I'll let you see the difference between a Martial Form and those beneath one!"

Cloud Crane Soaring Form!

When Crane Elder's Martial Form appeared, Chen Xu sensed something invisible pouring backward into his Heaven Gate Acupoint.

The Cloud Crane was lifelike, far more powerful than the half-finished product he had killed some time ago.

Chen Xu's vision blurred, and Crane Elder had already rushed before him. His muscles continuously trembled as techniques like breaking hands, shifting hands, thrusting hands, and throwing hands flowed effortlessly from him.

"His strength, speed, and everything else have increased by at least several tenths?" Chen Xu was beaten back again and again. He smashed through the closed gates of the arena and blasted a crater several meters wide into the ground.

"This isn't the time to conserve spiritual energy!" If this continued, he would be beaten to death.

Summoning Tianwu, Chen Xu used spiritual energy in one breath to open all nine apertures.

Three faint sounds came from his body, and Chen Xu's four attributes surged sharply.

He sprang from the crater and clashed with Crane Elder.

"In such a short time, you broke through the most crucial step of becoming a Martial Artist?" Crane Elder's mind shook, his worldview nearly overturned.

He had never heard of such a thing. Since when could that be broken through during battle? Weren't people supposed to find a secluded place, enter a life-or-death seclusion, and consume pills to break through?

Chen Xu naturally would not answer his doubts. A life of cheating needed no explanation!

His entire body turned a blood-bronze color, and every strike was accompanied by a tiger's roar.

Faintly, a strange blood-bronze tiger began taking shape behind him, while an invisible aura slowly poured into Chen Xu's Heaven Gate Acupoint.

It made him feel as if every attribute of his body had improved by just a tiny bit.