Chapter 131: Chapter 95: Counter-kill
He picked up Kunji and slowly walked toward Red Tiger.
The one-and-a-half-meter saber looked much smaller in the hands of the transformed Jiang Che.
’Run!’
This was the only thought in Red Tiger’s mind.
He spun around, dropped to all fours, and scrambled away like an ape.
But he had only taken two steps before Jiang Che beheaded him with a single slash.
His heavy body crashed to the ground.
Without pausing, Jiang Che charged forward.
The muscular Lotus had just scrambled to her feet. When she saw Red Tiger get killed, her pupils contracted sharply.
"Red Tiger!"
She let out a furious roar and hammered her fists toward Jiang Che.
But when her fists were an inch from Jiang Che, she found she couldn’t advance any further.
She looked down to see the long saber had, at some point, run through her chest.
She trembled as she gripped the blade, trying to pull it out, but Jiang Che gave it a sharp twist, and her heart was instantly shredded to a pulp.
Her eyes remained wide open, filled with indignation, fury, and a trace of bewilderment.
Jiang Che yanked Kunji free, and Lotus’s corpse crumpled limply to the ground.
The killing intent in Jiang Che’s heart swelled. He began frantically searching the forest for another target.
Suddenly, he spotted a small fishing boat on the river far away. A fisherman was casting his net.
A flicker of delight sparked in Jiang Che’s heart. He was about to charge over and kill the man when he suddenly froze.
’What am I doing?!’
Fearing he would completely lose control, Jiang Che violently struck at the Heart of the Black Abyss within him.
Instantly, the immense power within him vanished, and his body gradually reverted to its normal form.
Jiang Che gasped, taking in huge gulps of air.
’This is too dangerous... I can’t just transform so easily anymore...’
With every person he killed, the killing intent that came with his Transformation grew stronger.
He was terrified that one day, he would become a complete killing fiend!
When that day came, he would either commit irredeemable acts of slaughter or provoke someone truly powerful and be hunted down and killed.
Neither outcome was something he wanted.
However, this counter-attack gave Jiang Che a clearer understanding of his own strength.
Without their transformations, both Lotus and Red Tiger were at the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm.
Yet Jiang Che could easily defeat them without transforming himself.
In other words, without his Transformation, he was already invincible below the Force Integration level!
But after they transformed, their strength increased dramatically, and Jiang Che was no match for them at all.
Yet, back then, Li Rushan had been able to easily hold off the transformed pair.
It was only because the pair were experts in the Poison Dao and managed to poison Li Rushan that he eventually fell.
’So, without my Transformation, my strength is somewhere between the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm and Force Integration. I can easily defeat any Iron Skin Realm Martial Artist, but I’m no match at all for a Force Integration Level Martial Artist.’
But Jiang Che wasn’t confident he could defeat a Force Integration Expert even with his Transformation.
Even though he could easily slay the transformed Lotus and Red Tiger,
he felt their power couldn’t be equated with that of a true Force Integration Martial Artist.
He recalled the strange Qi Force from his sparring sessions with Situ Xuan.
He felt that even if he were to attack it with his saber, he would have a hard time breaking through that layer of Qi Force.
It wasn’t that the Martial Artist’s Qi Force was particularly resilient.
Instead, it would skillfully deflect the force of a blow.
It was like trying to strike something incredibly slippery.
Hard to land a solid hit.
Brute force was useless against it.
Yet when that same Qi Force struck his own body, it could easily penetrate his skin and directly destroy the muscle, bone, and other tissues within. It was impossible to guard against.
’No, I can’t act rashly. Not until I have a complete grasp of a Force Integration Martial Artist’s true strength...’
Jiang Che decided he would head to the mountains and find a Force Integration Level Black Beast to test his strength against.
Though he was anxious to investigate Li Yuanwai’s Mansion, he knew he couldn’t be reckless.
Even as he was thinking, his hands didn’t stop moving.
After looting their bodies, Jiang Che hacked the corpses to pieces and tossed them into the river.
The mangled remains wouldn’t bloat and float to the surface, and they would be quickly devoured by the river fish.
After a quick clean-up of the battle site in the woods and confirming there were no witnesses, Jiang Che deactivated his Transformation and hurried toward the Martial Arts Hall.
’I hope I can make it to the competition in time...’
