Chi City Ablaze

On Chi City's walls.

A black shadow landed there.

Under the moonlight, terrifying light flickered in the eyes not covered by the mask.

"Chi City hasn't been sealed off?"

Lu Fan swept his gaze over the situation at the city gate below, a trace of puzzlement flashing through his eyes.

In his view, Chi City should have been locked down by now, while the Feng Household desperately searched for Zhang Yao, the others, and him.

Yet now, it seemed that was not the case at all.

Could it be that the Feng Household had given up on settling the score? Or had Li Xiao's death made them too afraid to make any further moves?

Threads of doubt spread through Lu Fan's heart.

Just as he was planning to observe for a while longer, the towering blaze in the distance stunned him.

"That direction seems to be... Thunder Martial Hall?"

Thunder Martial Hall was on fire?

Lu Fan frowned deeply, immediately leaping down from the city wall and rushing toward the fiery area.

By the time he arrived, quite a few onlookers had already gathered nearby.

"Ah, why is Thunder Martial Hall burning? Who set the fire? Aren't they afraid of Grandmaster Li's revenge?"

"I heard Grandmaster Li has gone into seclusion to cultivate. He isn't in the hall right now."

"Things really haven't been peaceful lately. The Qin Household burned before, and now Thunder Martial Hall is burning too. Don't tell me Blackstone Martial Hall will burn next."

"Shh, keep your voice down. We common folk shouldn't meddle in this sort of thing."

The surrounding conversations also made Lu Fan realize that something was wrong with Chi City's current situation.

He silently vanished into the crowd, then entered the still-burning Thunder Martial Hall.

Other than the burning buildings and pillars along the way, he also saw numerous corpses of disciples wearing Thunder Martial Hall uniforms scattered across the ground. Some had been burned black as charcoal, some were missing arms and legs, and some even had their necks twisted at grotesque angles.

Clearly, these people had been killed by a group of people—no, by one person.

After examining the traces left on the corpses, Lu Fan determined that all of them had died at the hands of a single person.

Moreover, the opponent was clearly very powerful, yet had deliberately used methods that inflicted immense suffering upon the dead before ending their lives.

"What a twisted bastard."

Lu Fan muttered, his expression darkening.

At that moment, a corpse with its chest completely caved in and its internal organs utterly shattered made him realize something.

That person was very likely a Transformation Grandmaster.

And a powerhouse far stronger than Li Xiao.

"When did Chi City gain such a figure? Could it be... the Feng Household?"

Lu Fan's face sank as he pondered.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the burning house behind him.

When he turned around, he saw a figure as tall as a small mountain dragging a corpse already burned into charcoal as he slowly emerged from the sea of flames.

The corpse in the man's hand was still being consumed by fire, yet the flames could not harm him in the slightest.

This was Force Projection.

Like a brown bear, the man's Force covered every part of his body like a thin membrane, shielding him from the scorching flames.

Only martial artists at the Transformation Force Stage could employ such a method.

"Eliminate."

The brawny man slowly raised his head, revealing an expressionless face covered in stitch marks.

Those eyes held not the slightest emotion, only cold... killing intent.

The one who had appeared here was Ghost Ape, who had accepted Shang Qi's order not long ago and come to Thunder Martial Hall to carry out the elimination.

The moment Lu Fan saw Ghost Ape, every hair on his body stood on end, and a powerful sense of vigilance surged through his heart.

This guy... was very strong.

Far stronger than Li Xiao!

He was the one who had wiped out all the Thunder Martial Hall disciples!

Just as these thoughts flashed through Lu Fan's mind, Ghost Ape attacked.

He raised one hand and clawed through the air at Lu Fan.

The next moment, a massive hand formed from condensed Force shot straight toward Lu Fan.

The Force contained within that giant hand was so solid that its outline was faintly visible.

Lu Fan's expression changed drastically. He instantly released his Force and struck out with a palm.

The next moment, the two streams of Force collided through the air. A powerful shockwave erupted, extinguishing more than half the surrounding flames.

Lu Fan, standing directly against that shockwave, was forced back three steps.

As for Ghost Ape, towering like a brown bear across from him, he did not retreat a single step.

The gap in their strength was already clear after merely one exchange.

Lu Fan's masked expression grew several degrees more solemn.

A Middle Transformation Force Stage martial artist, perhaps even one approaching the Late Transformation Force Stage.

Such a person had actually appeared in Chi City.

At that moment, after exchanging one move, Ghost Ape said nothing further. He clenched his fist and launched another attack at Lu Fan.

Unlike the earlier probing attack, this one was incomparably sharp and domineering.

Boom!

He threw a pure, straightforward punch, without any flashy techniques.

Yet the Force wrapped around that fist was so solid that it made Lu Fan's heart pound in terror.

If that punch landed, even a small building would likely be smashed to pieces on the spot.

Even he did not dare take it head-on.

Almost as soon as he dodged aside, Ghost Ape's fist crashed down upon the spot where he had just been standing.

Boom!

A tremendous roar exploded, and a crater one zhang wide and three chi deep appeared there.

If that terrifying punch had landed on a person, there would likely have been no corpse or bones left behind.

Farther away from the crater, Lu Fan stared at it with lingering fear, terrifying light flickering in his eyes.

This man's strength exceeded his, and more importantly, his vast reserves of Force were more than three or four times greater than Lu Fan's.

With such terrifying Force, even merely wrapping it around his fist made his attacks incomparably dreadful.

A faint urge to retreat flashed through Lu Fan's heart.

After all, he had not come here to risk his life against some inexplicable stranger.

Yet as he considered this, Ghost Ape across from him showed no intention of letting him go and attacked once again.

Seeing this, Lu Fan immediately made his decision.