Exhaling Qi into a Sword, Thunderous Voice

"Cocky little brat who doesn't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth!"

Zhao Liqiu froze for a moment, then laughed in anger. "You think you can scheme against me with this little trick? You can keep this damned corpse-burying ground for yourself!!"

As he spoke, he strode forward, his iron staff dragging across the ground with a piercing scrape of metal on stone!

This dead-end alley was barely two zhang wide, with high courtyard walls on either side. His twelve-foot staff could not be swung freely.

But why would killing this brat require more than a few moves?!

At once, he let out a thunderous roar and raised his staff as he charged in.

"Take a staff strike first!"

Before his words had even faded, the wind of the staff, wrapped in True Qi, shrieked through the air and smashed toward Chen Mu's head.

Chen Mu swept his saber upward across his body and was knocked back several steps. Only by bracing his rear foot hard against the courtyard wall did he barely manage to steady himself.

"You do have some strength."

True Qi surged along that staff. Chen Mu shook his wrist, numb from the shock, and stood firm with an expressionless face.

"Die!"

Zhao Liqiu pursued with a savage grin, his staff rolling like a flood as it hammered against Chen Mu's blade with booming clashes.

For a time, he pressed Chen Mu so hard that Chen Mu could barely strike back. The more he fought, the smoother his attacks became, and he sneered inwardly again and again.

Though this alley was narrow, as long as he kept forcing the brat into the wall, the brat would have nowhere to maneuver. Sooner or later, he would be beaten to death alive!

"Watch my staff!"

He swept out once more.

Chen Mu barely twisted his shoulder aside, and the wall behind him exploded into a sky full of shattered stone.

"Do you only know how to dodge?"

Zhao Liqiu laughed loudly.

In that instant, Chen Mu's gaze turned abruptly cold.

He suddenly surged forward. Instead of dodging, he charged straight into the staff's path!

"You're courting death!"

Zhao Liqiu roared and lifted his staff for another crushing blow.

Just then!

With an angry shout, Chen Mu dipped beneath the staff's edge and rammed his entire body into Zhao Liqiu's chest!

"Damn it!"

Zhao Liqiu's guard was wide open.

Chen Mu unleashed the killing elbow strike from the Mighty Bull Fist once again!

Zhao Liqiu's chest took a fierce blow. His whole body staggered backward, and he was startled.

But then he realized that Chen Mu's ferocious collision was all show, utterly incapable of breaking through his protective True Qi.

"Brat! Is that all you've got?!"

With a vicious laugh, he steadied himself with his staff and was about to attack again.

Yet Chen Mu had already leapt after him, raising his saber to cleave down.

"Watch the saber!"

He let out a fierce roar, and Zhao Liqiu instinctively raised his staff to block.

A sharp gleam erupted in Chen Mu's eyes!

While still in midair, he abruptly changed moves. The saber that had been chopping downward suddenly withdrew.

It sounded slow, but happened in a flash!

In the spark of lightning and flint, Chen Mu suddenly worked his lungs and drew in a savage breath, like a giant whale sucking in water.

He swooped through the air like a great eagle, wild wind sweeping around him. Drawing up his Qi, he opened his mouth and suddenly roared:

"Ha!!"

The shout burst forth like thunder, and rolling rumbles actually rose from Chen Mu's chest!

"Not good! This is—!"

Zhao Liqiu's heart turned cold at the sight. Then he saw a dim glint flash ahead!

Whoosh!!

The strand of Profound Yin True Qi in Chen Mu's abdomen burst from his throat!

It condensed into a thumb-thick Qi sword, unleashing a shrieking sonic boom as it pierced through Zhao Liqiu's brow with a splat!

Blood sprayed everywhere. A hole was blasted clean through Zhao Liqiu's forehead.

At such close range, with his mind shaken by the thunderous voice, he had no time whatsoever to defend himself!

A thumb-sized transparent hole had been blasted straight through his forehead, brain matter spraying three zhang away!

"Exhaling Qi into a Sword... n-no... impossible!"

His face was covered in blood, his eyes bulging as he still tried to roar.

At death's door, he simply could not believe it!

What gave this brat the right to exhale Qi into a sword?!

An ordinary Martial Master in the Qi Accumulation Realm would need to cultivate at least twelve streams of refined True Qi before it was possible to unleash such fierce Sword Qi from the body!

Unfortunately, no one would give him an answer.

Zhao Liqiu's eyes swiftly clouded over, and his entire body crashed to its knees.

"W-what a Thunderous Voice, killing with a breath... heh heh..."

Only a hoarse, miserable laugh squeezed from his throat as blood gushed forth. Mixed with bloody foam, it faded away as he breathed his last.

At that very instant, Luo Dalong's heart-rending roar came from the mouth of the alley:

"Old Zhao!!"

Seeing Zhao Liqiu's blood-soaked head and miserable kneeling figure, his eyes nearly split with rage!

He had arrived too late!

By then, Chen Mu had sheathed his saber and landed, his feet planted solidly on the ground.

That strike had consumed nearly eighty percent of the Profound Yin True Qi within him!

Now was not the time to relax.

Seeing Zhao Liqiu's body still rigidly kneeling on the ground, Chen Mu said nothing and charged forward with his saber once more.

Splat!

The long saber circled Zhao Liqiu's neck, and a fine head soared into the air!

[ Ding! Killed one Martial Master of the Qi Accumulation Realm. Seized Blood Essence: +450. Obtained Karmic Slaughter: +45 ]

The iron staff that he had clutched tightly even in death fell from his hand with a clang and smashed onto the ground!

Blood mist spurted from Zhao Liqiu's severed neck as his body thudded to the ground. The head on the ground stared wide-eyed, refusing to rest in death.

Chen Mu stood with his saber sheathed, his expression unchanged.

Luo Dalong stood stunned at the alley entrance, watching Chen Mu ruthlessly sever the man's head before flicking the blood from his blade.

His face alternated between green and white with rage, yet he did not dare step forward. Uncertainty filled his eyes as he roared from afar:

"Brat! You're only at the Body Tempering Realm... yet you can exhale Qi into a sword!"

"Speak! What evil art did you use?!"

No wonder he was so shocked.

When ordinary martial artists entered the Qi Accumulation Realm, they had to refine and compress all the Blood Essence in their bodies, sink it into their dantian, and transform it into True Qi.

But a martial artist's Blood Essence was supremely hard and supremely yang—how tyrannical was that?!

Martial artists at the initial stage of Qi Accumulation could not release it beyond their bodies at all, much less shape it to kill an enemy.

They could only be like Zhao Liqiu, attaching it to their fists, palms, or weapons to strike their foes.

But the Profound Yin True Qi Chen Mu used had been transformed from Killing Intent!

Its mysteries were far beyond ordinary True Qi. By its very nature, it could condense and be released outward!

In Luo Dalong's eyes, that naturally left only the words "evil art."

Chen Mu could not be bothered to waste his breath arguing.

"Evil art? If it can kill, then it is a good art."

"Make your move. Let me see what secrets your hardened body cultivation holds."

With a cold laugh, Chen Mu did not stop walking. Blood dripped from his saber's tip as he advanced toward the alley entrance.

The Yin Extremity Profound Baleful Art circulated at astonishing speed!

Chen Mu had already used this brief interval to regulate his inner Qi and was fit to fight again!

Luo Dalong did not know where Chen Mu got such confidence. A savage light flashed through his eyes.

Then he roared and pretended to raise his saber.

"Brat! You killed a man of my Red Whale Gang! Go die!"

Chen Mu's gaze sharpened. He was just about to feint a slash first, engage in a mobile fight, and probe the man's true depth.

But who would have thought that in the very next moment, Luo Dalong suddenly turned around!

He ran!

He abandoned Zhao Liqiu's corpse and sprinted wildly away!

Chen Mu had never imagined that this brawny man, who looked reckless, was actually sly and cunning.

The moment he had seen Chen Mu exhale Qi into a sword, he had been scared out of his wits. How could he still have the courage to fight?

Instead, he had used the image of a reckless brute to play Chen Mu as well.

Chen Mu's eyes instantly turned cold, and he roared:

"Run? Can you run?"

He crushed the blue bricks beneath his feet and unleashed Grass-Top Flight, shooting toward Luo Dalong's back like an arrow loosed from the bow.

Don't even think about escaping!

"Brat! You've got guts! You still dare chase your grandfather!"

Feeling the wind of the saber behind him, Luo Dalong was horrified by the speed of Chen Mu's movement technique. He knew he could not outrun him.

At once, he roared, spun around, and crossed his twin sabers in defense.

Clang!!

Chen Mu's strike was blocked. The three-inch dim gleam along the blade struck the twin sabers and only sent out a few sparks.

Chen Mu's expression sank slightly. The gap in strength was still too great. Ordinary saber gleams could not break through the defense at all.

He did not dare let himself be entangled at close range and was about to retreat.

But Luo Dalong's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam. He abruptly withdrew his twin sabers and pulled a fine steel hand crossbow from his robes.

"Hahaha! Brat, you fell for it!"

"Die!"

Before his words had faded, the crossbow mechanism snapped! A black shadow shot through the air, instantly closing in on Chen Mu's face!