Chapter 294: Chapter 127: Stopping Killing with Killing, Eradicating Future Troubles
’So what if he’s a genius? In the face of absolute power, he’s nothing but dust!’
He figured that if he’d been at the center of the blast, he would have suffered shattered bones even if he hadn’t died. There was no way Yang Jing could have escaped unscathed.
"Finish this quickly!" Li Hongyu growled. Veins bulged on his right hand as he gripped his short blade, preparing to charge into the black smoke. He would land the finishing blow while Yang Jing was grievously wounded and end him for good.
Just then, the dense black smoke began to dissipate, revealing a patch of devastated ground at its center.
Li Hongyu squinted, trying to find Yang Jing’s body and see if there were any signs of life.
However, in the next moment—
A dark silhouette suddenly shot out from the lingering smoke. It was even faster than before, lunging straight for Li Hongyu with a sharp, unstoppable momentum!
"What?!"
A jolt of shock shot through Li Hongyu. His pupils widened, and the vicious sneer on his face instantly froze.
The moment the dark figure lunged, it threw a vicious punch straight at Li Hongyu’s face, the fist tearing through the air!
The punch was heavy and ferocious, carrying the might of a collapsing mountain.
The dark figure was none other than Yang Jing!
But he was a horrifying sight. His entire body was charred black from the blast, as if he’d been dragged from a charcoal kiln. Beneath his scorched clothes, countless wounds had split open. Oozing blood mingled with black soot, staining him a gruesome mix of red and black. Gone was any trace of his usual handsome, refined demeanor. He looked more like a demon crawling out of hell, radiating a savage, death-defying ferocity.
Caught completely off guard and with the fist inches from his face, Li Hongyu scrambled backward while raising his short blade horizontally to block.
The moment the fist met the blade, he felt an immense force surge through it. The impact sent a numbing jolt up his arm, and the webbing of his thumb ached.
"How is this possible?!" Li Hongyu reeled in disbelief.
’From the looks of him, Yang Jing is clearly badly injured,’ he thought. ’How can his punch still be so powerful?’
He wondered if Yang Jing was just putting up a brave front, fighting desperately on sheer ferocity while actually being at the end of his rope.
Even so, he didn’t dare take that chance.
He had already used all three of his "fire thunder pellets." The Jiang Family Third Elder could catch up at any moment. If he got tangled up with Yang Jing now, even a minor injury would mean he stood no chance against that veteran Huajin Powerhouse.
As these thoughts flashed through Li Hongyu’s mind, Yang Jing’s fist suddenly shifted into a claw, his fingers clamping down on the flat of the blade like iron tongs!
"SCREEECH—"
Amid the ear-piercing screech of metal, Li Hongyu felt a force far greater than before transfer through the blade. The short blade in his hand seemed to come alive, tearing itself from his grasp as Yang Jing wrenched it away!
Yang Jing, too, was filled with a mixture of shock and fury.
If his Indestructible True Skill hadn’t broken through to the next level, greatly increasing his physical strength and defense, he would have been critically injured in that explosion, if not killed outright.
This was the most perilous battle he’d faced since his debut; he’d nearly been done in by those insidious "fire thunder pellets."
Fortunately, he had reacted with extreme speed, swallowing a Hundred Herbs Spirit Pill the moment the blast hit him.
The Elixir melted the instant it entered his mouth. A cool, medicinal energy flowed through his body, rapidly repairing his damaged meridians and flesh and allowing his strength to quickly return.
Though he looked grievously injured, his wounds were already beginning to heal. He was left with only superficial injuries, and his combat strength was undiminished. In fact, fueled by shock and rage, he was now even more ferocious!
Looking at Li Hongyu’s terrified expression, the killing intent in Yang Jing’s eyes was so strong it was almost palpable.
’If I hadn’t achieved that breakthrough with my Indestructible True Skill and greatly boosted my physical fortitude, I’d be dead by his blade today!’
...
「Meanwhile.」
The Jiang Family Third Elder was hurrying through the dense forest, following the trail left by Yang Jing and Li Hongyu’s chase.
Snapped twigs and displaced stones on the ground occasionally marked their path, pointing faintly toward the depths of the forest.
Even with these signs, he had nearly lost their trail.
Yang Jing’s speed was far greater than he had anticipated. If not for these subtle clues, he would have lost them long ago.
The Third Elder was astonished. ’To think Yang Jing is so young, yet already so fast,’ he thought. ’His future potential is truly limitless.’
Suddenly, a deafening BOOM echoed from the mountain ahead, followed by a plume of dense black smoke billowing into the sky.
"Not good!"
The Jiang Family Third Elder’s heart clenched, and his expression changed drastically.
As a veteran of the Jianghu, he knew that some insidious hidden weapons were powerful enough to severely wound even a Huajin Powerhouse.
’Could Yang Jing have fallen into an ambush?’
He knew that Sun’s Martial Arts Hall had recently lost one genius disciple. If Yang Jing fell here too, Sun Yong would likely go berserk!
The Jiang Family Third Elder dared not delay. He unleashed his Inner Strength without reservation, his body moving like a gale as he shot toward the direction of the explosion, kicking up a whirlwind of fallen leaves.
...
At the same time, Yang Jing hurled the short blade he had just snatched from Li Hongyu.
With a THUNK, the blade, carrying a powerful force, buried itself deep into the trunk of a massive nearby tree, its hilt still quivering from the impact.
With his opponent disarmed, Yang Jing held nothing back. A savage light filled his eyes as his form blurred, and he appeared right in front of Li Hongyu. He clenched his right fist, channeling the Inner Strength for his Mountain-Shattering Fist, and unleashed a punch with the force of a collapsing mountain straight at his opponent’s chest!
He was already faster than Li Hongyu, and now, unleashing his full power, he moved like lightning.
Having just lost his weapon, Li Hongyu’s mind was in turmoil. He tried to retreat, but the fist was already upon him. There was no escape.
"THUD!"
The dull thud of fist meeting flesh rang out.
