Transformation Grandmaster, Is That All?

The instant his words fell, Li Xiao brought his fingers together and pointed at Lu Fan from afar.

An invisible force burst from his body, forming an unseen spear that tore through the air and blasted straight at Lu Fan's chest.

He had used thirty percent of his strength in this strike. When he had dealt with Zhang Yao earlier, the same force had sent him flying.

Even if this masked old man was somewhat stronger than Zhang Yao, there was no way he could take it unharmed.

Lu Fan did not dodge. The instant the force spear struck his chest, a faint membrane formed from condensed blood and qi appeared around him.

With the ninth layer of the Evergreen Formula pushed to its limit, that force, compressed and solidified to the utmost extreme, covered his body and circulated without end.

Force was no longer merely a weapon of attack; it could also become a shield against all things.

When the outwardly released Transformation Force struck it, eighty percent of its power was neutralized by the force membrane. The remaining twenty percent had barely entered Lu Fan's body before the surging blood and qi in his meridians wrapped around and devoured it, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.

Lu Fan did not budge in the slightest, still standing there as calmly as before.

"Hm." The contempt on Li Xiao's face froze.

He had used thirty percent of his force in that attack. Even Zhang Yao, a Late Dark Force expert, had been unable to withstand it.

Yet this old thing had not only taken it, but had not even moved a single step.

There was something strange about this old thing!

At that moment, from one corner of the courtyard, a cold gaze fixed unblinkingly on the layer of blood and qi around Lu Fan that had yet to completely dissipate.

Zhang Zhi's pupils suddenly contracted.

The rhythm of that circulating blood and qi, the ceaseless pulse of force.

Those were precisely the characteristics of the Evergreen Formula.

It was exactly like the Evergreen Formula she had cultivated for more than ten years, yet it was a hundred times more exquisite and formidable than the Evergreen Formula she knew.

Blood and qi as the guide, force as the bones.

Beneath that membrane formed from blood and qi flowed surging, tumultuous force. Whenever any external power struck that membrane, its might would be weakened twice over.

And under the Evergreen Formula's unbroken, layer upon layer of force transmission, this defense woven from blood and qi and force would never be cut off.

So long as there was even a trace of force left within the body, this defense would continue without end.

Was this the method of the Evergreen Formula when cultivated to profound heights?!

An irrepressible shock appeared on Zhang Zhi's cold face.

Shen Yuniang, standing beside her, noticed her daughter's unusual reaction. Before she could ask about it, the movement across from them pulled her attention back.

Li Xiao put away his contempt, narrowed his eyes, and once more examined the old man before him.

His strike containing thirty percent of his force had been dissolved without a sound. Since when had Chi City produced someone three parts more formidable than Zhang Yao?

"Old thing, you do have some skill."

Li Xiao rolled his neck, his bones letting out a string of low crackles. A trace of killing intent appeared in his icy eyes.

"I underestimated you earlier."

Lu Fan raised his head. The aged eye exposed beyond the mask held nothing but the stillness of a lake.

He glanced at Li Xiao and spoke with incomparable calm.

"Transformation Grandmaster, is that all?"

The moment those words fell, deathly silence filled the courtyard.

Qin Yuan sucked in a cold breath, utterly stunned by those horrifying words.

That was a Transformation Grandmaster.

With one strike, he could send Late Dark Force Zhang Yao flying and leave him seriously injured and coughing blood.

Yet this Elder Chen Liu had actually spoken such blatantly provocative words.

Was he not courting death?

Meanwhile, Zhang Yao, standing beside Qin Yuan, said nothing. His gaze was locked tightly on the slowly circulating blood and qi around Lu Fan.

The Evergreen Formula.

The technique used by this Elder Chen Liu was also the Evergreen Formula.

But his realm was far too much higher than Zhang Yao's.

The eighth layer of the Evergreen Formula? No, the ninth layer!

That blood and qi covering his body was force defense.

Whether Bright Force or Dark Force, all of it would be blocked by that layer of defense.

And that was why, when cultivated to a profound realm, the Evergreen Formula made its practitioners stronger than martial artists of the same realm.

Feng Jiaqi, standing behind Li Xiao, frowned at that moment, a thread of unease passing through his heart.

He gave a cold snort.

"Li Xiao, how much longer are you going to dawdle?"

Li Xiao did not respond. His eyes remained fixed on Lu Fan as he clenched his fist, cold killing intent flashing in his gaze.

This old man was strange, and he had even dared to provoke him like this.

He had to die!

"Old thing."

Li Xiao's voice turned cold. His aura began to rise sharply, and the presence of a Transformation Grandmaster was no longer held back in the slightest.

"Have you thought of your last words?!"

Li Xiao clenched his fist, and an aura many times stronger than before exploded outward. The stone slabs beneath his feet were ground into powder by his released force. Visible waves of air spread outward from him, ripping apart the courtyard floor like withered wood.

The nearby tables and chairs were hurled away by the fierce wind. Qin Yaxin, in the distant corner, instinctively took a step back, while Zhang Zhi hurriedly pulled her mother, Shen Yuniang, back to the courtyard gate.

Zhang Yao likewise sensed that something was wrong. He immediately grabbed Qin Yuan beside him and, enduring the pain in his chest, brought him back to the courtyard entrance.

"Die!"

Along with those utterly emotionless words.

Li Xiao threw a punch.

Ten percent of his force, without the slightest reservation.

Terrifying force surged toward Lu Fan ahead like raging waves.

Before the fist even arrived, the ground had already been torn into deep ravines by the released force. Broken stones were swept up by the fierce wind like bullets, smashing down in all directions.

At the end of that torrent of force stood Lu Fan.

The torrent came with astonishing speed. Almost the instant Zhang Yao grabbed Qin Yuan and leaped away, it had already reached Lu Fan.

Beneath the Cracked Mask, seriousness appeared on Lu Fan's aged face for the first time.

The Evergreen Formula was driven to its limit at that moment.

An endless stream of force poured forth from the Force Core in his sea of qi, continuously growing under the urging of the Evergreen Formula.

The force compressed and solidified by the Tortoise Breath Formula was far purer than ordinary force, and under the Evergreen Formula's urging, that refined force grew explosively.

Lu Fan gathered all his force into his right fist and threw a punch.

That force, suppressed for far too long, was like lava that had finally found a crack, colliding head-on with the oncoming torrent of force.

The two powers clashed in midair. The compressed air let out a piercing boom, the stone slabs beneath their feet shattered inch by inch, and violent waves of air swept outward, flinging everything in the courtyard away.

"Boom!"

The enormous roar echoed above the courtyard for a long while.

The aftershock from the eruption of force made even the few people who had retreated to the courtyard gate sway, nearly unable to keep their footing.

Rolling dust engulfed the courtyard, making it impossible to see what was happening within.

Not long after, amid everyone's anxious waiting, the dust gradually dispersed, and at the center of the courtyard...