Qin Lie’s eyes turned crimson as his muscles bulged to their absolute limit. A series of firecracker-like pops erupted from all over his body as a bloody mist seeped from his pores.

This was his life-saving Secret Martial Art, capable of instantly tripling his qi and blood, allowing him to unleash power far beyond his own realm. The burst of speed it granted was also unimaginable.

Although the after-effects were terrifying, it was usually enough to save his life.

He had used this method to escape perilous situations and cheat death on numerous occasions.

However, just as his retreating left foot left the ground, the Zhen-character strike of the Nine Profound Dragon-Defying Mace was already upon his face.

Amidst the explosive roar of air being compressed to its limit, Qin Lie’s Protective Qi shattered like an eggshell. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The strength he prided himself on was laughably fragile before the Gilded Mace. The instant the bridge of his nose collapsed, two rows of his teeth, slick with bloody foam, burst from the back of his skull and embedded themselves deep into a screen wall ten zhang away.

"Nine Profounds Return to Origin."

Xu Yunfan’s expression was utterly cold, but a low, dragon-like roar suddenly rumbled from his throat, creating an eerie contrast.

The flowing firelight on the surface of the Gilded Mace abruptly went out. As it moved, the air howled, humming like muffled thunder. In the vast underground space, it felt as if the very air was shrieking and trembling.

Zhan Yan, who was watching the battle, suddenly clutched his chest. His heart was hammering wildly in time with the heavy mace’s movement, as if some Primordial Giant Beast was about to break free from its cage.

The instant the heavy mace descended upon Qin Lie’s mangled body, a dense series of pops, like bones cracking, erupted from Xu Yunfan. The surrounding air pressure instantly reversed, forcefully pushing Qin Lie, who was desperately trying to back away, toward the heavy mace.

As the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength was pushed to its absolute limit, the Dragon Scale Armor Leaves on Xu Yunfan’s body pulsed, revealing imperceptible gaps that vented an aura like flowing lava.

"No!"

Chu Mo’s terrified scream came to an abrupt halt.

As the ninth streak of red fire pierced his chest like a shooting star, the tip of the Gilded Mace suddenly flared with a blinding golden light.

Nine layers of overlapping shockwaves detonated inside the enemies’ bodies. The two Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm Grandmasters became like leather sacks filled with shattered bones, twisting into a grotesque, braided shape within a bloody vortex.

The hum from the Gilded Mace being sheathed back into its Profound Steel Mechanism Box lasted for a full three breaths.

A circle of scorched earth five zhang in diameter appeared at Xu Yunfan’s feet, the edges of the green bricks showing a vitrified, glassy sheen.

Half of Qin Lie’s head was embedded in the edge of the scorched earth, his remaining left eye frozen in utter disbelief and horror. Even in death, he couldn’t understand how a Flesh Refining Realm Martial Artist’s Strength could break through the qualitative marrow transformation of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, reaching a level that even he couldn’t block.

’You have successfully slain a Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm Grandmaster. Your Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique Skill Level has been greatly increased.’

’You have successfully slain a Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm Grandmaster. Your Nine Profound Dragon-Defying Mace Technique Skill Level has increased by a massive amount.’

’You...’

By killing two Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm Grandmasters, his Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique had gained a full 321 points, and his Nine Profound Dragon-Defying Mace Technique had progressed even further.

Glancing at the dozen or so system messages that were nearly flooding his vision, Xu Yunfan, still in the Linn Character State, remained completely unfazed, showing no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.

He looked up at Yuwen Chengji, whose expression, a short distance away, was incredibly grim.

Watching Xu Yunfan slowly approach, Yuwen Chengji subconsciously took a step back and swallowed hard. The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end as a fragment from a green brick Xu Yunfan had shattered landed right beside his Golden Silk Python Pattern Boots.

The Crown Prince of the Northern Garrison Mansion could clearly hear his own temples throbbing. The muffled thud of Qin Lie’s skull embedding into the ground moments ago was now echoing repeatedly deep in his ears.

"Wait, we can talk! I am Yuwen Chengji, the second Crown Prince of the Daqian Northern Garrison Mansion! The Great Zhou is already on its deathbed, while my Daqian is at its zenith and will soon annex the entire Great Zhou! As long as you pledge your allegiance to me, I will reward you handsomely. I will make you a Northern General, granting you a lifetime of inexhaustible wealth and glory! I heard you need blood python galls to cultivate your Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength. The Northern Garrison Mansion’s treasury has three pairs that are a hundred years old—"

The air suddenly shrieked as if it were being torn like silk.

Xu Yunfan’s dangling left pinky twitched slightly, a subtle movement that caused Yuwen Chengji’s pupils to contract violently.

BANG!

Before he could fully execute the Northern Garrison Mansion’s secret True Blood Body Technique, five spiraling shockwaves erupted before his eyes. The vacuum trails left by the fist as it broke the sound barrier left him utterly aghast.

CRACK!

Yuwen Chengji’s left cheek instantly caved in, forming a bowl-sized crater, as four of his molars, trailing lines of blood, shot into the screen wall behind him.

His entire body spun wildly through the air like a kite with a snapped string, his purple-gold crown, inlaid with Dongzhu pearls, shattering into fragments under the centrifugal force.

When his back slammed heavily onto the Weapon Casting Platform seven zhang away, his entire right face had already swollen up like rising dough.

His once-handsome phoenix eyes were squeezed into thin slits, and a murky fluid oozed from their torn corners.

He tried to push himself up, only to find that the True Blood power he was so proud of had long since failed him. The protruding joint of his third vertebra was now pressing against his torn flesh from the inside.

"Wait, wait! I can also make a deal! I can be loyal to the Great Zhou! I know Daqian’s secrets, and I have all of Daqian’s military maps for the Great Zhou’s Northern Land! I—"

Before his words could fade, Xu Yunfan, his face like ice, walked up to Yuwen Chengji and raised his foot. The Armor Leaves attached to his shin writhed like snakes, then suddenly retracted before stomping down hard.

SPLAT!

Only after watching Yuwen Chengji’s head shatter, leaving him deader than dead, did Xu Yunfan finally exit the Linn Character State. The Super Sensing State receded like a tide.

A flood of information rushed into his mind, too much to process at once, making his temples throb faintly.

The feeling of standing like a god, with absolute control over everything within a three-zhang radius, was marvelous. It was precisely why he had been able to kill Qin Lie and Chu Mo so easily.

As his latent potential receded back into dormancy, exhaustion and soreness set in, and his steps even became a little unsteady.

After taking another deep breath from the Ginseng Child to recover, Xu Yunfan felt the slowly circulating Pure Yang Inner Breath in his body begin to replenish his depleted Strength. Only then did he let out a long exhale.

Xu Yunfan turned to look at Zhan Yan, who was staring blankly, looking as if he had just woken up.

He quickly walked over and said, "Master, it looks like the crisis is over. Since there’s nothing else worth taking here, should we head up?"

"Oh, uh, alright!"

Zhan Yan mumbled a few words of agreement and let Xu Yunfan drag him a few steps before he finally came back to his senses. He couldn’t help but ask, "Yunfan, how did you do that?"

"Well, you just do this, then that, and then a little of this..."

"...That heavy mace, I feel like I’ve..."

"Some time ago, in the mountains outside Beiye City in Qingzhou, a golden light shot up to the heavens. It was rumored that a Divine Weapon had appeared. That was this Gilded Mace."

Zhan Yan fell silent for a moment before speaking. "This mace is called the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace. It’s a Divine Weapon forged seven hundred years ago by the Ancestral Master of Divine Weapon Valley for the former dynasty’s Grand Marshal of the Army, Ma Jin. When that Grand Marshal, whose strength was unmatched in the world, used this mace to crush the Bei Mang Royal Court, it drank the blood of three Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmasters."

(Thank you, everyone. I’ve been completely burned out these past two days and need to recover. I’ll get back to the fight tomorrow. Thanks to users Doushishujubuguoruci, Huang Da D, and Xianyun Bu for the donations. And thank you to all my esteemed readers for your recognition and support!)