Azure Rock Sword Manor, One of Qingzhou's Five Great Sects

Furthermore, in head-on clashes,

he used the enemy's force to rebound against himself,

achieving the effect of tempering his skin membrane and refining his body.

This was using battle to nourish battle.

"Screech!!!"

The Rockhide Mountain Monkey also spotted Lu Yuan. It bared its fangs and let out a piercing shriek, its crimson eyes brimming with savagery.

In its eyes, this two-legged sheep was food delivered right to its door.

Its limbs suddenly kicked off the massive boulder.

Its body shot forth like a gray cannonball.

It pounced straight at Lu Yuan.

Its jet-black beast claws spread wide.

Its ten fingers were hooks, tearing through the air with a howl.

With such terrifying force, even a slab of bluestone

would be shredded to pieces!

"This beast is fast."

Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened.

He did not dodge.

He planted his feet in a firm, natural stance.

Qi surged through his arms.

The first layer of the Withered Wood Fist unfolded.

Force instantly flowed along both arms.

The skin membrane on his arms tightened, his muscles twisted together, becoming as tough as withered wood.

At this moment, Lu Yuan's posture resembled an ancient tree rooted in solid rock.

Boom!!!

Facing the Rockhide Mountain Monkey's claw,

Lu Yuan drove his right fist straight forward.

Head-on against head-on.

Bang!!!

A muffled crash rang out.

Lu Yuan felt a tremendous force surge toward him.

That monkey claw was hard as iron and astonishingly powerful. His feet plowed two shallow furrows into the stone as he staggered back three steps before steadying himself.

Meanwhile, the Rockhide Mountain Monkey was also sent tumbling by that punch.

It landed atop a boulder three zhang away.

It shook its paw.

A flicker of doubt passed through its crimson eyes.

It had not expected the human before it to have such hard fists.

"Screech, screech, screech!!!"

The enraged Rockhide Mountain Monkey screeched wildly.

It had run rampant across this Rocky Slope for so long; when had a human ever forced it back?

Every human it had encountered had been torn to pieces by it.

This time would be no exception.

As its cries rang out,

the Rockhide Mountain Monkey pounced again.

This time, it was faster and fiercer.

Its two claws lashed out in succession, the shadows of its claws towering like mountains. With whistling winds, they enveloped Lu Yuan from head to toe.

"Come on, then!"

Lu Yuan bellowed, lowering his waist and setting his stance. The first layer of the Withered Wood Fist guarded him without a crack to exploit.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Fists and claws collided without cease.

With every collision, he felt a tyrannical force pour into his body, churning his blood and qi.

Yet Lu Yuan not only refused to retreat, he instead took the initiative to meet it head-on.

He used his arms, shoulders, chest, and other body parts to directly receive the monkey's claw attacks.

The Ironhide Body-Tempering Art also began circulating at that moment.

His skin membrane was tempered again and again amid those impacts, like iron being forged—hammer after hammer beating away the impurities and leaving only refined steel.

After several dozen exchanges,

Lu Yuan's arms had already become red and swollen.

Several bloody gashes had appeared across his chest and shoulders as well.

The Rockhide Mountain Monkey's claws were too sharp. Even with the Ironhide Body-Tempering Art protecting him, they had still torn open wounds.

Yet Lu Yuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He could clearly feel it.

With every collision, his skin membrane was becoming tougher and denser.

The force surging into his body had not damaged his foundation.

Instead, it was like a hammer.

It was pounding his body into something even sturdier.

"Come on, again! Again!"

Lu Yuan roared.

He took the offensive.

Even the Rockhide Mountain Monkey was stunned by Lu Yuan's actions.

Just who was the monster here?

However, Lu Yuan paid no attention to that.

He stepped forward.

With a slight sway of his body, he dodged the Rockhide Mountain Monkey's claws, then threw a punch at the same time.

The punch looked slow, yet it struck after the move had begun but arrived first.

His arm curled around the Rockhide Mountain Monkey's right arm like a dead branch.

"Get down here!"

Lu Yuan shouted.

He exerted force violently.

He wrenched the Rockhide Mountain Monkey's enormous body straight off the boulder and smashed it viciously into the rocky ground.

With a bang,

stone chips flew everywhere.

The Rockhide Mountain Monkey was smashed senseless. It let out an enraged shriek and kicked with all four limbs, preparing to spring up.

But Lu Yuan had no intention of giving it that chance.

He rushed forward.

His knees pinned down the monkey's body.

His fists struck left and right in rapid succession.

Like raindrops, his fists rained down on the Rockhide Mountain Monkey's head.

The Rockhide Mountain Monkey struggled desperately, its claws flailing and carving bloody gashes across Lu Yuan's body.

Lu Yuan seemed unable to feel pain at all.

He continued throwing punches.

The force of the first layer of the Withered Wood Fist

surged into the monkey's body in wave after wave.

After several dozen punches,

the Rockhide Mountain Monkey's struggles grew weaker and weaker. Its rock-hard hide had been beaten inward, and blood spilled from its mouth.

Lu Yuan's final punch struck the Rockhide Mountain Monkey squarely in the chest.

With a crisp crack, it was impossible to tell whether monkey bones had shattered or the stone beneath had broken.

The Rockhide Mountain Monkey's limbs stiffened. The light in its crimson eyes rapidly faded, and after twitching a few times, it stopped moving.

[ Ding! Killed a First-Order Peak Rockhide Mountain Monkey. Obtained 500 experience points. ]

[ Current experience points: 2010. ]

Lu Yuan rose to his feet and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He lowered his head and examined his arms. The swelling was fading at a visible rate, while warm blood and qi slowly circulated beneath his skin membrane, washing away all soreness wherever it passed.

"Refreshing. But not every monster fights head-on like this Rockhide Mountain Monkey."

Lu Yuan clenched his fists.

He could feel that his skin membrane had become several degrees tougher in that recent exchange.

He was likely not far

from the First-Rank Upper Realm.

"Using battle to nourish battle really is the fastest cultivation method."

Lu Yuan dug the Demon Core out of the monkey corpse, cut off several of the finest pieces of monkey leg meat and stored them away, then lifted his head to look deeper into Rocky Slope.

Lu Yuan advanced another ten li or so. The demonic aura coming from the dense forest ahead grew increasingly potent, mingled with the sound of clashing weapons and angry shouts.

Lu Yuan's heart stirred.

He lightened his footsteps.

Using ancient trees and shrubs as cover,

he quietly crept closer.

"Are people hunting monsters? Another Monster-Hunting Squad? Or hired martial artists?"

Lu Yuan muttered, raising his head.

Before him appeared an open valley shrouded in a thin mist.

At the end of the valley stood a steep mountain wall.

At its base was a cave entrance.

The entrance was roughly two zhang wide and nearly one zhang tall. Lu Yuan could sense a dense demonic aura wafting out from within.

Before the cave entrance, two groups of people appeared to be locked in confrontation.

"These people, judging by their clothes, seem to be from the city!"

Lu Yuan concealed himself on the horizontal branch of an ancient tree, reined in his aura, and focused his gaze.

He muttered to himself.

The group on the left consisted of three people, all dressed in azure sword robes with longswords on their backs. The hems of their robes bore the emblem of an ancient stone sword.

At their head stood a handsome young man of around twenty, with a composed bearing.

He stood with his hands behind his back, radiating an immensely powerful aura.

Behind him stood a young male and female sword cultivator.

The man was named He Changqing. He was tall and lean, with a stern face, standing with one hand resting on his sword.

The woman was named Bai Lingsu. She was beautiful, though a trace of arrogance sat between her willow-leaf brows.

Both their auras were at the Second-Rank Upper Realm. They were clearly the young man's junior brother and junior sister.

"People from Azure Rock Sword Manor..."

Seeing the mark on the three people's azure sword robes,

Lu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.