Horror covered Lü Chunyang's face, his aged eyes now wide and round. "How did that brat pull off that movement in an instant?"
"To think, to think that even with my cultivation, I couldn't catch the slightest trace?!"
The way he stared at Bu Wuchen now was as though he were looking at some primordial monster!
Meanwhile, on the martial arena.
Heh, the earth-tier movement mystic skill, Instant Shadow-Piercing Steps, really is handy.
After that silent thought, Bu Wuchen fixed his gaze on Lin Zhuxian's back, cold light gleaming in his eyes like blades!
He thought, Then let's try another move...
Bu Wuchen abruptly raised his hand, aimed at the vital point over Lin Zhuxian's heart from behind, and flicked a finger-
"Bang!!"
The surging finger force pierced straight through his body in an instant.
"Pfft!!"
The savage force that slammed into the vital point over his heart sent Lin Zhuxian flying far away, trailing a long fountain of blood through the air!
The force of Bu Wuchen's single finger had actually blasted a horrifying bloody hole straight through Lin Zhuxian's chest!
For a moment, a deathly silence fell over the entire arena and beyond...
Kneeling on the ground, Lin Zhuxian lowered his head to look at the bloody hole in his chest.
His gradually unfocusing eyes filled with horror.
"H-how is that possible?!"
After mumbling those few words through a mouth full of the taste of blood, his vision went black. He fell to the ground with a thud, his life extinguished completely...
Just a second earlier, how imposing had Lin Zhuxian been as he unleashed his signature mystic skill?
Then everyone's vision blurred, and Bu Wuchen, who should have been doomed to certain death, instead flashed behind Lin Zhuxian.
In the next instant, Lin Zhuxian stared blankly at the bloody hole where his heart had burst, then collapsed into a pool of blood in unfathomable horror...
"D-did any of you see how Bu Wuchen moved just now?"
"No."
"I didn't see it clearly either."
"In just the blink of an eye, he darted behind Senior Lin Zhuxian."
"Exactly. Fast, he was just too fast!"
"More than fast! He was practically like a ghost, impossible to pin down!"
"More than that, what amazes me is how Bu Wuchen managed to kill him with a single blow after moving behind him."
"Right, after all, Bu Wuchen is only at the Savage Martial Realm Peak."
"Even if he used a peak mortal-tier mystic skill, there's no way a mere Savage Martial Realm cultivator could one-shot an opponent at the Qi Observation Realm Fifth Layer!"
Hearing their discussion, Bu Wuchen smiled faintly.
He chuckled inwardly. Heh, a peak mortal-tier mystic skill?
Your horizons are far too narrow...
Care to learn about heaven-tier mystic skills?
As it turned out, the killing move Bu Wuchen had unleashed with a flick of his finger was the reward the Choice System had given him after he accepted Lin Zhuxian's wagered duel.
The reward at the time had been a mystic skill of spirit tier at minimum, with no upper limit.
Whether mystic skills or cultivation arts, their grades from lowest to highest were mortal tier, profound tier, spirit tier, earth tier, and heaven tier.
Each tier was further divided into low, middle, and high grades.
Above high grade, there was also a conventionally recognized "peak" grade that served as a transition.
When Bu Wuchen realized that accepting the wagered duel would earn him a spirit-tier mystic skill at the very least, he was overjoyed!
According to the memories of the person whose body he possessed, the royal supreme art treasured by the Great Liang imperial family was only middle-grade spirit tier.
The thought of so easily mastering a finishing move comparable to the Great Liang Kingdom's "royal supreme art" filled Bu Wuchen with excitement.
Who could have known that after a flash of golden light, the youth would be left utterly stunned!
Because after he made the corresponding choice, what the God-Level Choice System randomly awarded him was actually a heaven-tier mystic skill-
[One Finger to the Yellow Springs Road]: Middle-grade heaven-tier mystic skill. Finger technique. Attack skill. [Skill overview]: An unparalleled finger technique with tricky angles and extreme speed. When cultivated to great mastery, the power of a single finger is enough to pierce through a hundred thousand great mountains! As the saying goes: when the finger's mystic force arrives, the enemy is sent down to the Yellow Springs! [Current mastery]: Beginner. [Skill cost]: 50,000 points of mystic Qi. [Mastery advancement requirement]: Use this skill one million times. Once skill proficiency reaches one million, it can advance to "minor mastery." Alternatively, it can be upgraded by using special items from the system shop, making system choices, and other methods. [Special note]: This skill is part of a set of mystic skills, as the saying goes: One Finger to the Yellow Springs Road, Two Questions to the Asura Grotto, Three Palms to the Immortal Firmament Bridge, Four Steps on the Cloud Firmament Pillar. Collect the complete set of mystic skills for an unexpected surprise.
Holy freaking crap, it's that badass?!
Bu Wuchen had nearly fainted from happiness at the time!
He had originally figured that he would be perfectly satisfied as long as he obtained a middle-grade spirit-tier mystic skill comparable to the Great Liang Kingdom's "royal supreme art."
Who could have imagined he would get a middle-grade heaven-tier skill outright!
The only slight drawback was that using One Finger to the Yellow Springs Road once required far too much mystic power: a full fifty thousand points.
With Bu Wuchen's cultivation at the peak of the ninth level of the Savage Martial Realm, the total mystic power in his body was only a thousand points.
Fortunately, the system offered a perfect solution at that moment-
One Finger to the Yellow Springs Road had a unique trait: partial-power execution.
The full fifty thousand points of mystic Qi could unleash one hundred percent of this middle-grade heaven-tier mystic skill's destructive power;
Now, however, Bu Wuchen had activated the skill with only a thousand points of mystic Qi. As the skill's cost decreased, the power of One Finger to the Yellow Springs Road diminished proportionately.
But even so, the might of that single finger was enough for him to one-shot Lin Zhuxian at the Qi Observation Realm Fifth Layer...
Back on the arena at this very moment.
Even Bu Wuchen himself was startled by the destructive power of that finger flick. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I figured this move would be strong, but I never imagined it would be this strong!
After all, partial-power execution reduced this move's damage considerably.
"Xian'er? No!!!"
Suddenly, a shout filled with both grief and rage resounded throughout the grounds.
It was Lin Zhuxian's father, Lin Senyu.
"You villain, join my son in death!!"
Lin Senyu struck in a frenzy of rage. Mystic force at the fifth level of the Qi Control Realm erupted, blazing flames scorching all around him!
"Whoosh~~"
In the blink of an eye, the force shadow at his fist blazed with brilliant fire.
The moment that searing fiery shadow left his fist, it actually took on the lifelike form of a fierce tiger.
Blazing flames scorched its entire body, its lethal might boiling!
Wherever it passed, fallen leaves and withered branches burned entirely to ash!
The same Flame Tiger Fist, unleashed by Lin Senyu at the fifth level of the Qi Control Realm, was countless times stronger than Lin Zhuxian's...
Holy shit?!
Bu Wuchen's expression changed in alarm.
The battle against an opponent above his realm had just drained all the mystic Qi in his body.
If this had only been a punch from someone at the second or third level of the Qi Observation Realm, Bu Wuchen could have gritted his teeth and taken it with his Bronze Skin and Iron Bone Body.
But Lin Senyu was a genuine Qi Control Realm expert!
At the Savage Martial Realm, one could only "temper the body and store Qi," keeping Qi contained within, unable to release it.
At the Qi Observation Realm, one could release mystic Qi visible to the naked eye and attach it to the body's surface, hence "Qi Observation."
At the next realm up, the Qi Control Realm, one could achieve "external release of mystic Qi" and manifest a particular mystic power attribute.
Just like at this very moment-
The "flaming tiger shadow" Lin Senyu furiously blasted toward the arena belonged to the fire attribute of mystic power!
The scorching lion shadow of fiery force carried tremendous power...
If that rage-filled punch truly landed, even Bu Wuchen's bronze skin and iron bones would be smashed into "scrap metal"!