“Huh? Brother, you...” Seeing Shen Xiuhan's retreating figure, Wang Jindao's pupils contracted. He instinctively reached out to pull him back, but grabbed only empty air.
Beside him, Li Han's face filled with astonishment. His lips parted slightly, but he held his tongue.
A sharp light flashed in Luo Feng's eyes, and a look of anticipation appeared on his face.
The surrounding patrol envoys and guards shuddered violently. It was as if they had spotted a torch in the pitch-black night. Dozens of gazes converged on that straight, pine-like figure in blue robes as he walked alone toward the clearing.
At the same time, Tu Xiaotian's icy gaze shot over like a sharp arrow.
As Shen Xiuhan came to a stop, the lake wind whipped the hem of his robes.
Crack, crack. Tu Xiaotian tilted his neck, the joints popping and crackling loudly.
He looked down at the young man, his lips curling into a bloodthirsty sneer that revealed two rows of yellow teeth.
“You certainly have guts... Who are you? State your name! Your Grandpa Tu never kills nameless—”
Boom! Before his last word could even leave his mouth, Tu Xiaotian exploded from absolute stillness into motion, his body moving so fast he left an afterimage!
A sneak attack!
The blue bricks beneath his feet shattered with a bang, sending stone fragments flying in all directions like hidden shrapnel.
Without the slightest warning, he had been speaking one instant and was charging like an arrow released from a bowstring the next, aiming straight for Shen Xiuhan's face!
The moment he struck, he unleashed the lethal technique of the Overturning Heaven Palm—Returning Dragon Covering Heaven!
“Die!” Tu Xiaotian roared like thunder, his voice echoing across the wilderness.
Raising his right palm high, the blood qi in his body surged like a raging tide. His broad palm gleamed with a layer of dark light, resembling a pitch-black seal as it crashed down toward the crown of Shen Xiuhan's head!
The biting wind whipped against Shen Xiuhan's face, blowing his hair wildly backward. His blue robes billowed and rustled like a flag in a storm.
The entire pier fell into a dead silence.
Everyone was terrified to the core, their breathing seemingly frozen. Only the howling wind from the palm strike roared in their ears.
At the exact instant the dark-gleaming palm was about to strike the top of Shen Xiuhan's head—
He moved.
Swift Swan, Swimming Dragon!
His lower body remained rooted to the ground like old vines.
However, his upper body bent backward at a bizarre angle, looking like a giant tree snapped by a gale.
The heavy wind of the palm strike swept past his ear with a roar. The violent airflow set his eardrums ringing, yet it failed to touch even a corner of his robes!
Simultaneously, his long-dormant hands sprang into action.
His ten fingers curled tightly like iron hooks, the blood qi and force surging wildly at his fingertips.
In that split second, Shen Xiuhan's arms seemed to transform into a massive eagle of the high skies, spreading its wings to strike. An incredibly sharp force hummed between his fingers!
Heavenly Eagle Wind-Tearing Hand!
Using the residual momentum of his backward bend, Shen Xiuhan's body rebounded like a coiled spring, instantly snapping upright.
His right hand shot forward like a spiritual snake darting from its cave, latching onto the back of Tu Xiaotian's unretracted right hand with lightning speed!
“Not good!”
Tu Xiaotian's pupils shrank to the size of needlepoints. A chill rushed straight to his head, and a cold sweat broke out across his back.
The old bandit possessed incredibly sharp combat instincts.
Without a second thought, his left hand surged with Mingjin. Moving with his instinct, he threw a vicious backfist straight at Shen Xiuhan's face!
Whoosh!
The sound of tearing wind was sharp and ear-piercing, the pressure of the fist stinging the skin.
Yet Shen Xiuhan's face remained as calm as still water, completely ignoring the incoming iron fist!
His right hand, which was pressed against the back of Tu Xiaotian's hand, clenched down. His five long, tough fingers clamped onto Tu Xiaotian's four fingers like steel talons.
Unleashing his force, he bent them backward!
Crack! Snap!
The sound of shattering bones echoed across the pier, crisp and bone-chilling, like dry twigs snapping.
“Ahhhhh!”
In the next instant, Tu Xiaotian's face twisted in agony, and a blood-curdling shriek ripped from his throat.
His four thick fingers had been bent completely backward by Shen Xiuhan, folded in half at a grotesque angle. The veins and pale bones beneath his flesh were completely shattered. Blood splattered as splintered bone pierced through his skin, exposing jagged white fragments.
At the same time, Shen Xiuhan raised his bent left arm. His elbow, acting like an indestructible iron shield, blocked Tu Xiaotian's retaliatory left fist.
Clang!
A crisp, metallic ring of clashing metal and stone vibrated through the air.
Iron Bone Technique!
“A body-tempering technique?!”
Tu Xiaotian felt the violent rebound traveling up his left hand. The web of his thumb and forefinger went numb, his arm turned weak, and waves of shock crashed through his heart.
The agonizing pain from his shattered fingers shot straight to his heart, causing his face to distort into a hideous mask. He was on the verge of losing his mind.
No longer daring to underestimate his opponent, he shifted his footwork, preparing to retreat and pull away.
“You think you can leave?!”
A cold light flared in Shen Xiuhan's eyes. He cold-snorted and closed the distance, clinging to him like a shadow!
The force in his hands reached its peak in an instant. His ten fingers blurred into a flurry of afterimages, executing dozens of tremors and clawing strikes within a mere two breaths.
The claw shadows swept over like a gale tearing through fallen leaves, or an eagle ripping flesh apart. Layer upon layer, continuous and relentless, they completely enveloped Tu Xiaotian!
Writhing in pain, Tu Xiaotian could only clumsily defend himself with his single good hand.
Defending frantically, he retreated step by step.
In the blink of an eye, the sound of tearing fabric filled the air.
His black martial robes were shredded into tatters. Seven or eight deep, bloody gashes appeared across his chest, arms, and even his cheeks, exposing his bone!
His flesh peeled back to reveal the crimson muscle beneath. Blood welled up and gushed from the wounds, staining half his clothes red.
“You little beast, you go too far!”
The prestigious Ninth Chief of Chenjian Dock was actually being suppressed and beaten by a young junior, and had even had one of his hands crippled in public.
The humiliation and brutality in Tu Xiaotian's heart instantly shattered his remaining sanity!
Knowing he had Tang Jin and Pang Yi backing him up, he fell into a complete frenzy, casting all caution to the wind.
With a wild roar, his Mingjin boiled like scalding water, pouring down into his legs.
Crack!
The blue bricks beneath his feet caved in inch by inch. Like a giant crossbow bolt shot from a fully drawn string, Tu Xiaotian lunged at Shen Xiuhan once more, his momentum even more ferocious and violent than before!
“I will slaughter you today!”
Tu Xiaotian's roar was deafening. Ignoring the agonizing pain, he forced his intact left hand and his mangled, blood-dripping right hand together!
In an instant, the blood qi on his palms grew so dense it nearly solidified, taking on a dark greenish-black hue that radiated a suffocating, murderous aura.
Overturning Heaven Palm: Overturning the Sea, Capsizing the River!
Tu Xiaotian roared like thunder, his voice shaking the ground for a hundred meters around.
The double-palm strike did not split left and right. Instead, it closed in with an extremely fierce, overbearing, and invincible momentum.
Like two giant axes capable of splitting mountains and overturning the heavens, they carried a terrifying, unstoppable force as they slammed ruthlessly toward Shen Xiuhan!
Wherever the palm strike passed, the air was compressed to its limit, producing sharp, deafening sonic booms.
Even the gravel on the ground was swept up by the fierce wind, flying off to the sides.
“Good timing!”
Faced with this world-shaking blow, Shen Xiuhan did not retreat. Instead, he advanced!
He sank into a horse stance. The great dragon of his spine reared its head, his vertebrae popping in rapid succession like the roaring of dragons and tigers.
The blood qi within his body surged like a bursting dam, pouring entirely into his legs without reservation!
In a flash, Shen Xiuhan launched himself into the air like an onion pulled from dry land, shattering the stone slabs beneath his feet as he soared upward!
His right leg tensed straight, turning into an indestructible steel whip. As it tore through the air, it unleashed a sharp whistle that made one's scalp tingle!
Thirty-Six Paths Sky-Collapsing Kick!
Mid-air, Shen Xiuhan twisted his waist and hips, compressing all of his bodily strength and blood qi force into this single whip kick.
The shadow of his leg was like an axe that could split the heavens or a hammer that could shatter the earth. Carrying a violent wind that seemed to tear the sky, he swept his leg outward, meeting Tu Xiaotian's incoming double palms head-on!
Boom!
Bang!!
The palms sought to capsize the ocean, while the leg sought to collapse the sky.
An earth-shattering explosion erupted above the pier, sounding like two ten-thousand-pound boulders smashing together in mid-air!
The violent force rippled outward with their point of impact as the center!
A visible wave of white air swept out like a sudden hurricane, ripping up gravel, withered leaves, and even the topsoil within several yards, swirling them into the air.
Dust and dirt filled the air, blotting out the sun.
At the center of the dust cloud, Shen Xiuhan flipped gracefully in the air like a soaring eagle.
He landed on one knee, sliding backward three feet and plowing a shallow groove into the ground before finally neutralizing the terrifying rebound force.
A corner of his blue robes had been torn by the fierce wind, revealing the black lining underneath, but he was completely unharmed.
Tu Xiaotian, on the other hand, was sent flying backward like a broken kite under the force of that incredibly fierce clash.
His body crashed heavily onto the ground first, leaving a shallow crater.
His momentum unchecked, he bounced and shattered two thick stone mooring posts in succession.
Finally, with a dull thud, he slammed into an old locust tree that was as thick as a man's embrace.
Crack!
The old tree shook violently, showering the ground with withered leaves and branches.
The trunk cracked halfway through, exposing its yellowish wood.
Pfft!
Tu Xiaotian sprayed a mist of blood into the air, the crimson droplets splattering across his chest and staining his black martial robes dark red.
The meridians inside his body felt as if they were being sliced to pieces by sharp blades. The agonizing pain twisted like a knife, indicating he had suffered extremely severe internal injuries.
Yet the old bandit was incredibly savage. Gritting his teeth, he dug his fingers deep into the rough bark, struggling to stand.
Blood dripped from his fingertips, staining the tree trunk red.
However, before he could rise, the hurried footsteps of the Grim Reaper echoed in his ears!
Thud, thud, thud!
A blue figure, like an Asura, tore through the dust cloud, charging forward with terrifying momentum!
Shen Xiuhan delivered a straight kick directly to his jaw!
Thirty-Six Paths Sky-Collapsing Kick: Mountain-Collapsing Form!
Tu Xiaotian's face twisted in horror. He instinctively tried to channel his blood qi to block.
But he was too slow!
Bang!
In the next breath, the tip of the foot struck Tu Xiaotian's jaw with pinpoint accuracy.
Six or seven shattered yellow teeth, mixed with fresh blood and a small piece of torn tongue, sprayed from his mouth.
His face contorted in agony, his eyes bulging. Terrified, he opened his mouth wide, trying to cry out to Tang Jin and Pang Yi for help.
But Shen Xiuhan's second kick followed immediately like a shadow.
It was still the Thirty-Six Paths Sky-Collapsing Kick: Mountain-Collapsing Form.
This whip kick, heavy as a sledgehammer, struck Tu Xiaotian squarely at the base of his ear.
A dull buzz rang in his ears, sounding like a clap of thunder exploding inside his skull. The iron tower of a man instantly lost consciousness.
...
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