Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Exotic Evil Technique
The two police officers couldn’t be too weak. As official Martial Artists, their actual skill level was likely even higher than that of civilian Martial Artists.
There were three enemies. ’They probably aren’t in the Innate Realm; otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to go to such lengths to ambush Zhou Yao.’ Yang Shen couldn’t guarantee he could defeat one of them, but if he could just help out a little and create some breathing room, they might have a chance to survive.
Or rather, it was the only way all the students in this courtyard would have a chance to live.
He could only hope that Xu Bamboo was still safe, but he wouldn’t be able to find out for sure until he survived the current crisis.
Yang Shen pulled something from his pocket. He dashed forward a few steps, stealthily leaving it beside the dying Zhou Yao before snatching the teacher’s Four-Section Staff and darting back behind the pillar.
On the surface, it looked like he was just grabbing a weapon. In reality, he had left a spray bottle for Zhou Yao.
Copperman Anti-Fall Oil. It was a powerful analgesic from the Vajra Sect, advertised as being so potent that even an elephant would be jumping around from the numbing sensation if sprayed.
He had kept it in his pocket ever since helping Huang Gang with a cramp earlier that day.
Zhou Yao weakly picked up the spray. ’It’s not a cure,’ she thought, ’but at least it’ll make the pain more bearable. Maybe there’s still a chance!’
Meanwhile, Yang Shen gripped the "Long Staff" and observed the situation.
The three enemies had formed a triangle, loosely surrounding the two officers. The police kept shifting their aim to deter them, but being outnumbered, their defense was full of holes.
The woman in the mask said, "We need to be quick. Even with the arrangements we made at the foot of the mountain, I estimate reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes or so."
The masked man who looked like an office worker added, "I have no desire to face a large police contingent."
No one could afford to underestimate Yanhua’s police force. The average officer was at the Marrow Refining level, with a fair number of Innate Realm experts among them. They mastered Special Martial Techniques and were equipped with all sorts of weapons.
The idea of police being laughably weak or even a hindrance was impossible in Yanhua Country. Otherwise, they’d never be able to maintain social stability in a society full of Martial Artists.
Other than Yanhua’s own elite tactical units, no one could stand against an organized police force.
The trio stopped hesitating and risked a full-frontal assault. The police fired a few shots, their Special Martial Techniques making the bullets incredibly difficult to dodge. But after drawing blood only a few times, the officers were dragged into close-quarters combat.
The two officers were clearly the more skilled combatants, but it was three against two. Four fists are no match for six.
Yang Shen seized his chance. He dug his fingers into the ground, pried a brick loose, and hurled it at them.
’First, I’ll harass and distract them! Close combat is a last resort!’
The brick didn’t knock anyone out, but it did divert their attention, giving the two hard-pressed officers a moment’s respite.
The woman turned her head and glanced at Yang Shen. "Here’s one who wasn’t affected by the Witchcraft. And he’s in a hurry to die."
The traitorous teacher immediately doxxed him. "Yang Shen. Early-stage Bone Training, has grasped Fist Intent. We probably didn’t get a chance to place a Gu on him. You go take care of him."
"Oh! A little genius, is he? I just love killing geniuses."
He wasn’t the main problem, but with the fight heating up, having someone constantly chucking bricks at them was a real nuisance.
The masked woman broke away and charged at Yang Shen, her speed creating a blur. She threw a seemingly ordinary punch.
Yang Shen instantly entered a state of pure instinct. He subconsciously sidestepped, twisted his wrist, and slammed a palm into her chest.
A direct hit! It was the same move he’d used on Huang Gang!
But the result was completely different. The masked woman grunted, but only paused for an instant before switching to an elbow strike that sent Yang Shen flying.
"Tsk, tsk... what a little pervert, aiming for my chest. Huh? You can still get up?!"
Yang Shen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. It hurt, but not as much as it should have.
Although he was on the cusp between the initial and mid-stage of Bone Training, he was also at the first layer of Qi Cultivation and nearing Great Perfection.
Furthermore, the constant tempering from his Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique meant his physical toughness far surpassed others at his level.
Any other student in the initial stage of Bone Training would have been severely injured by that blow.
But all these advantages only gave him the qualifications to fight, not to easily defeat a woman who was likely at the mid-stage of Marrow Refining.
The masked woman gave him no chance to recover, attacking again, this time with much more focus.
Yang Shen held the Long Staff, but he quickly realized he had no idea how to use it. She knocked it from his hands in a few moves, forcing him into close-quarters combat.
As they fought, both combatants grew increasingly shocked.
One thought: ’So this is the power of Marrow Refining?’
The other thought: ’Bone Training can be this strong?’
Yang Shen felt he was being completely overwhelmed in every aspect: reaction speed, physical Power, and fighting technique.
Every block he made was answered with searing pain.
The masked woman, on the other hand, found it unbelievable. ’I can’t even take down a high schooler in the initial stage of Bone Training?!’
’And he’s using the damn Sixth Set of Initial Realm Body Refining Fist!’
They exchanged a dozen more blows, each feeling a growing chill in their hearts.
An anxious voice called out from the distance, "What are you doing? Hurry up!"
To her two companions, it looked like the masked woman was just slacking off. They were struggling to handle the two police officers!
She couldn’t even take down a Bone Training high schooler!
’What the hell are you playing at?!’
The masked woman grew desperate. She traded blows, taking a punch to send Yang Shen flying.
She thought that would have knocked him unconscious, but Yang Shen, panting heavily, staggered to his feet again.
’What is with this high schooler?! Why is he so damn tough!’
Every part of Yang Shen’s body ached, but it was still bearable.
He could see it clearly: as long as he could tie up this woman, the other two were no match for the police officers.
’Then my priority is to stall for time!’
A flash of inspiration struck. Yang Shen hid his right hand behind his back and formed a Finger Technique.
Just as the masked woman was about to press her attack, she suddenly felt a drop of water on her face—no, it had dripped right into her eye.
She couldn’t help but wipe at it. ’Is it raining?’
Yang Shen: ’Surprise attack!’
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Yang Shen right in front of her, two fingers of his left hand pressed against her throat.
Exorcism Spell!
"HAAH!"
A tremendous roar erupted from Yang Shen’s throat. It didn’t sound like something a human could produce; it was more like a massive speaker being pressed against her forehead.
The masked woman’s ears rang with stabbing pain, and the world spun around her.
Yang Shen: ’Surprise attack, part two!’
This time, he aimed for a vital spot, slamming his fist into her face.
The masked woman went flying, tumbling in mid-air before skidding across the ground, leaving a long gouge in the dirt.
Her eyes were filled with pure venom.
Being bested by a high school student in the Bone Training Realm was the ultimate humiliation!
She snorted coldly and suddenly yanked down her mask.
Revealing a monstrous, gaping maw beneath!
Her mouth stretched all the way to her ears, her jawbone grotesquely malformed in a way that defied human anatomy. When opened, it could have easily swallowed a two-liter bottle of soda!
A buzzing sound emerged as she spat out a swarm of red beetles!
’What are those things?!’
A chill went down Yang Shen’s spine. This bizarre style couldn’t possibly be a Martial Art!
’It must be some strange ability from the Exotic Realm!’
’Are these people from the Exotic Realm? Or at least, this ability is!’
Each of the red beetles was the size of a walnut, with savage-looking mandibles and beady, scarlet eyes.
Yang Shen tried to swat them away, but it felt like hitting ball bearings. The back of his hand was torn open and bleeding, while the beetles were merely sent flying. They quickly righted themselves and came at him again, as hard as steel.
In his desperation, Yang Shen began to run, forming a Finger Technique as he did.
A faint golden light shimmered in his eyes as he stared intently at the swarm of red beetles.
Bee Control Technique!
The swarm of beetles began to wobble in the air as if disoriented. Seeing that it was working, Yang Shen immediately increased his output, spending a full 3 points of his Qi and Blood Value!
’Go back! Go back!’
At last, in the invisible tug-of-war, his Bee Control Technique—a genuine Cultivation Technique—gained the upper hand. The red beetles began to fly back toward the terrifying, large-mouthed woman.
The woman was surprised. Thinking there was something wrong with her tamed Witchcraft, she became annoyed and simply left her mouth open, allowing the red beetles to return to her stomach.
The nauseating sight sent a chill down Yang Shen’s spine.
But it also sealed the woman’s fate.
Dozens of beetles flew into her stomach. Before the woman could make her next move, she suddenly felt an excruciating pain from within.
The red beetles were devouring her Inner Viscera!
"No... NO!!!"
They could easily tear through a Martial Artist’s flesh from the outside; it was even easier from the inside.
What she thought was her ultimate killing move had become her own undoing.
In an instant, fragments of her organs gushed from her throat. Her stomach bloated and churned, and then—BANG!—it exploded.
The woman stared in horror, trying to plug the basketball-sized hole in her abdomen. "Don’t... DON’T!!"
The next moment, a Long Staff shot forward.
Yang Shen had picked up the Four-Section Staff at some point. Twisting at the waist, he extended his arm, using the staff like a fist, and drove it straight toward the woman’s gaping maw.
With an Exotic Evil Technique like this, her body was clearly not normal. Even with her guts splattered on the ground, leaving no apparent chance of survival, he wasn’t willing to take that gamble.
’Leaving an enemy alive is just asking for trouble.’
The Long Staff, carrying immense force, pierced straight through the woman’s giant mouth. Her unnaturally hard bones, a trait of the Marrow Refining Realm, snagged the staff.
Yang Shen put his back into it like a raging bull, running with the woman skewered on his staff for dozens of meters until—BOOM!—he slammed her hard against a wall.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the wall’s surface as the Long Staff finally pinned her to it.
"Don’t kill me... I don’t want to... die..."
A weak, gurgled plea reached him, but his only response was to move even faster.
Yang Shen detached the rear sections of the Four-Section Staff. Exerting his Power again, he used the shortened sections to stab down through her heart, her abdomen, and her philtrum. With every strike, the woman let out a pained shriek.
Only when her blood had painted the wall and the woman had fallen completely silent did Yang Shen finally let out a breath of relief.
He was utterly exhausted... but his expression remained perfectly calm.
He turned his head and saw that everyone was staring at him.
Yes, everyone. The two police officers and the two remaining enemies had all stopped fighting, their mouths agape in stunned silence.
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