Chapter 168: Chapter 110: First Head-on Confrontation with a Mortal Transformation Expert; Breaking Through to the Bone Tempering Realm; The Cries Outside Seven Stars Castle...
Crimson moonlight spilled down, casting menacing shadows from the houses lining the long street.
Chu Fan, wearing an Evil Ghost Mask, stood silently in the open square.
His entire body was drawn taut like a fully-strung bow, not daring to be the least bit careless.
Ever since cultivating the Vajra Undying Body, he felt he had the means to rival those in the Entering the Realm of Strength.
But he hadn’t expected to run into a master who had undergone Mortal Transformation!
Across from him, Duan Tianhong stood clad in black, his hands clasped behind his back.
Even with his face masked by a black cloth, he couldn’t hide the frosty arrogance and iron-like coldness in his eyes.
The night wind swept through the long street, carrying the stench of blood to their nostrils.
"Do you know who I am?"
Duan Tianhong spoke, his voice low and surprisingly magnetic. "Do you know what kind of existence you have provoked?"
He deliberately slowed each word, his voice carrying a cadence that seemed to hold power over life and death, rippling through the silent night.
Chu Fan was silent, with nothing to say in response.
The man before him was dashing and high-spirited, his robes fluttering elegantly.
Even masked, he was like a firefly in the dark night—dazzling and exceptional.
If he walked down a road, every eye would follow.
If he spoke at a table, every guest would listen raptly.
His melancholic gaze, his magnetic voice, even the way he spoke half a beat slower than everyone else—everything about him oozed the arrogance of a genius.
This was...
...a complete and utter...
...poser!
His every word, his every action, his every move was an act.
It was as if... he was born just to be a poser!
Chu Fan was momentarily stunned, not expecting to encounter such a character. ’A million thoughts raced through his mind!’
"You people have provoked an existence you should not have."
Duan Tianhong’s speech was still infuriatingly slow.
As he spoke, he reached for the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The corner of Chu Fan’s eye twitched. A hoarse, slow, and deep voice came from under his mask. "Oh? The great genius of the Duan Family needs a sword to kill a mere grunt who hasn’t even broken through the five stages of Foundation Establishment?"
"Your Provocation Technique is useless against me," Duan Tianhong said, his expression blank. "But you are right about one thing..."
"Trash like you who haven’t even broken through the five stages of Foundation Establishment are like ants. I could crush you with a single finger."
"If I really used my sword to kill you, that would be a Lower Grade move, and I’d become a laughingstock."
"Kneel. Return the items you took from the corpses of the Duan Family, and I will allow you a quick..."
Before he could finish the word "quick," Chu Fan moved!
WHOOSH!
Like a startled Ghost Shadow, he unleashed the Ghost Shadow Illusionary Body Step. His figure flickered, instantly closing the distance by over ten feet. Spreading the fingers of his right hand, he executed the Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand and struck with his palm at Duan Tianhong’s heart!
A flash of surprise crossed Duan Tianhong’s eyes. He hadn’t expected this ant to dare to attack first.
He was cut off mid-sentence, the words "quick," and "Otherwise, I’ll tear you limb from limb," getting stuck in his throat.
But he was, after all, an expert who had undergone Mortal Transformation. Though surprised, he wasn’t flustered. Releasing a trace of Primordial Qi, he advanced instead of retreating and threw a punch.
The punch looked simple, but coming from him, it was immensely powerful and heavy, enough to strike fear into one’s heart!
His fist was cloaked in the faint, azure light of Primordial Qi, and the punch itself let out a sharp, air-rending whistle!
In his eyes, one punch was more than enough to deal with trash like this who didn’t even have Primordial Qi!
WHOOSH!
Duan Tianhong’s punch hit nothing but air.
The moment Chu Fan dodged the fist, he had already closed the distance and, like a phantom, slapped a palm against his opponent’s chest!
BANG!
Duan Tianhong’s expression changed drastically as he stumbled backward!
He couldn’t believe it. How could this kid who hadn’t even broken through the five stages of Foundation Establishment have such a formidable Palm Technique and Step Technique?!
His own skills, those of a Mortal Transformation expert, made his Fist Technique seem like a child’s in front of him!
Before he could recover, Chu Fan pressed in again, his hands a blur of residual images as he switched between palms and fists in a relentless barrage!
The Fist Techniques of the Noble Families and sects of the martial world were mostly used for circulating Qi Blood and tempering the sinews and bones, all in pursuit of breaking through the five stages of Foundation Establishment. They weren’t designed for life-or-death battles.
How could a mortal body of flesh and blood ever hope to contend with blades and spears?
With a single provocative sentence, Chu Fan had tricked Duan Tianhong into using his Fist Technique to try and kill him...
But how could Duan Tianhong’s Duan Family Fist Technique, which had only reached the Great Success stage, ever compare to Chu Fan’s Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand, which had not only reached Perfection but had also undergone Breaking Limit once?
Duan Tianhong possessed an abundance of powerful Primordial Qi, but his every move missed. In the blink of an eye, Chu Fan had already landed three palm strikes on him!
Although the force behind these three palms wasn’t overwhelming, the Yin Cold Qi of the Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand, aided by its Bone-Penetrating Cold Attack Trait, had already seeped into Duan Tianhong’s body!
Kick from a distance, strike when near, and grapple when pressed close.
At point-blank range, unleash fierce elbows and brutal knees!
With the Vajra Undying Body, combined with the Ghost Shadow Illusionary Body Step and the Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand, once Chu Fan got in close, even a Mortal Transformation expert like Duan Tianhong couldn’t fend him off. He was so enraged his heart felt like it was on fire!
But Chu Fan wasn’t happy at all...
After several consecutive palm strikes, he could tell from the feeling on his palms: the bastard was wearing Inner Armor!
The combination of his Protective Primordial Qi and the Inner Armor had neutralized most of the Yin Cold Qi from the Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand!
Otherwise, after those three palm strikes, Duan Tianhong would have been coughing up blood by now!
Even so, the Bone-Penetrating Cold Attack Trait still allowed the Yin Cold Qi to seep through the gaps and strike directly at Duan Tianhong’s sinews, bones, and organs. It felt as if ice needles were piercing his meridians and a profound frost was freezing his very marrow. His Primordial Qi grew sluggish, and in his haste, he couldn’t block the attacks, forced to retreat again and again!
"You’re courting death!"
Sensing the Cold Qi in his body, Duan Tianhong was both ashamed and enraged. He stopped blocking and dodging, instead smashing his fist directly into Chu Fan’s incoming one!
"I’ll shatter your fist with one punch, then I’ll crush your bones inch by inch!"
Duan Tianhong sneered.
BAM!
The fists collided. Duan Tianhong felt as if his punch had struck Profound Iron. The Primordial Qi enveloping his fist instantly dispersed, and a dull ache shot through his knuckles!
"How can this be!"
Duan Tianhong’s expression changed drastically.
At the same time, a bone-chillingly cold energy surged madly up from his fist, instantly numbing half of his arm!
’This is bad!’
Duan Tianhong was horrified.
’How can a guy who hasn’t even broken through the five stages of Foundation Establishment have a physical body even tougher than mine, a Mortal Transformation expert?’
’And how can he, someone who clearly has no Primordial Qi, convert his Qi Blood Power into such a sinister and bizarre Yin Cold Qi?!’
