Chapter 145: Chapter 41-42: If My Fate Is My Own, I Can Plant a Golden Lotus in Fire (Part 2)
But the Grand Master paid no heed, charging forward once more. His twin hammers whipped through the air, aimed low. He wasn’t trying to kill the National Preceptor—he just wanted to shatter its kneecaps and impede its movement.
"Bastard!" The National Preceptor choked on its rage. It could already hear Su Zhou rapidly approaching from behind. And now it was facing the Grand Master, who was partially immune to its Thunder Technique, yet its own brute force wasn’t enough to instantly kill a Martial Artist who was nearly a Grandmaster.
The National Preceptor was a veteran of countless battles and extremely decisive. It immediately bit through the tip of its tongue, spitting the blood out to draw a talisman with its qi. In an instant, an incomparably pure stream of Innate Blood Qi transformed into a Thunder Technique, blasting the Grand Master into the air. The Thunder Resistance Rings embedded in his flesh were useless; his body, charred black, went tumbling down the mountain path!
"Grand Master!" But Su Zhou had already caught up. He saw the Grand Master tumbling to the side and let out a furious roar. His body moved like a gale as his spear boomed, thrusting toward the National Preceptor’s head with a surge of Spiritual Power!
But the National Preceptor had already taken a Desperate Pill while flying, and its aura had nearly returned to its peak. It gave a sharp cry, thunderbolts coiling around its body once more as it forcibly deflected Su Zhou’s spear. It never expected Su Zhou to go with the momentum, fling his spear aside, and lunge forward, wrapping his arms around its waist!
BOOM! The two of them slammed directly into the mountain wall, then rolled through the volcanic passage, brawling like common street thugs. One desperately unleashed a burst of Inner Qi to break free, while the other endured being struck by the Five Thunders just to hammer a fist into his opponent’s knee, brutally snapping the leg backward!
Brawling and tearing each other apart, they rolled all the way to the Divine Weapon Forge. There, they could see the Blade of Annihilation floating above the great pool of molten iron, nearly complete. It possessed its own potent Extraordinary Power, able to float in the air without the Grand Master’s support as it coalesced the crystalline breath of the materials for the Qi Forging Divine Weapon Technique to perfect itself.
Just then, Su Zhou, an expert in unarmed combat, trapped one of the National Preceptor’s arms with both his hands, pinning it to the ground and completing a cross armbar.
Ordinarily, a human trapped in a perfect cross armbar would have no hope of escape, but the National Preceptor wasn’t human at all! Even with its shoulder, chest, arm, and fingertips caught in Su Zhou’s joint lock, it was still able to let out a furious shout. Its entire body suddenly went soft, becoming pliant and boneless. It then channeled its qi to unleash a flash of Thunder Light that shocked Su Zhou’s nerves, forcing him to let go and allowing it to break free!
The instant Su Zhou was paralyzed by the Thunder Light, the National Preceptor acted without hesitation. It shot out a hand, bit through its newly regenerated tongue, and once again desperately spat out a mouthful of essence blood to form a talisman. It intended to remotely control its qi, using a blast of Thunder Light to shatter the nearby True Qi Furnace and trigger an explosion. This would cause the Divine Soldier’s aura to change abruptly. With its current power, it was unable to affect the Divine Soldier directly. That might have been possible at its peak, but it was out of the question now, battered and broken as it was from its brawl with Su Zhou.
But Su Zhou knew the Divine Soldier was at its most critical moment. He, too, grew desperate, thrusting out a hand and using his own forearm as a shield to block the Thunder Strike. The price was his entire left arm—not only was it charred black, but it was blown clean off!
"AHHH!!!"
A savage electric current coursed through his flesh. Su Zhou’s face was a mask of agony, yet he couldn’t even shed a tear; all the moisture in his body had been boiled away. His muscles twitched uncontrollably in an unbearable series of convulsions... But this very pain only served to drive Su Zhou into a berserk frenzy, and a pure, violent killing intent flared in his eyes!
He pounced forward again and, without hesitation, sank his teeth into the neck of the National Preceptor, who was still Replenishing Qi. He savagely ripped a chunk of flesh from its carotid artery!
"AAAAAH!"
This time, it was the National Preceptor’s turn to scream. It had just expended its essence blood twice in a row, leaving its body severely weakened. Being bitten in such a vital spot now sent its mind reeling. Enraged, the National Preceptor activated its Thunder Power to shove Su Zhou’s body away, but as he rolled aside, it saw him chewing its flesh, blue-green blood splattering from his mouth.
"Talk about Flying Immortals and Cultivation... you’re just a greedy bastard, same as the Demon Emperor! You don’t really want to become the Divine Wood Dragon... but you wouldn’t mind using the bloodline of the Immortal Tree to become an Immortal Spirit, would you!"
After swallowing the National Preceptor’s extraordinary flesh, which was rich with Spiritual Energy, Su Zhou gritted his teeth and circulated the art of Refining Essence and Transforming Qi, recovering a sliver of his stamina. A blue-purple Spiritual Light flashed in his eyes. Then, with a savage grin, he charged, slamming the National Preceptor, who had just gotten back to its feet, deep into the volcanic rock wall!
RUMBLE! The rock wall shuddered, sending countless stones bursting outward. The two were once again locked in a deadly grapple.
However, while the National Preceptor’s body appeared young, it had undergone Rejuvenation by consuming a Dragon Transformation Pill. Its body was no longer human, and though its strength couldn’t match Su Zhou’s, it was still immense. Moreover, this was an old Monster that had lived for over two hundred years. It rarely used close-quarters combat, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t proficient!
The instant Su Zhou slammed it into the rock wall, it was already bracing for the impact. Then, in the split second his momentum faltered, one of its hands snaked around his neck like a vine. With a sharp twist of its body, it caught Su Zhou in a rear naked choke!
From the initial bombardment of Thunder Techniques and the contest of Spiritual Power and Martial Arts, to the later exchange of Daoist Arts, and now to this raw, close-quarters brawl—their fighting styles had already changed several times throughout the battle.
