Chapter 176: Chapter 109: Assassination (Part 2)

"This is bad!"

Li Xu was horrified. He could already hear a sound like muffled thunder approaching from behind. A terrifying aura shot toward him like a lightning bolt, and a fierce wind tore through the woods.

He hastily circulated his Protective True Qi and spun around, blasting out a Palm.

But he regretted the action as soon as he made it.

Beside him was Kong Yu, an expert on the verge of reaching Gang Qi Minor Achievement and the third-ranked genius on the Ten Heroes List. Whoever dared to launch this attack must also be an expert who had mastered Qi Cultivation Gang.

Turning to counterattack was like an egg striking a stone. He should have leaped away, not fought back.

But it was too late for regrets. Before his Palm Force could even be unleashed, an impossibly fast, pale red pillar of Gang Qi shattered his Protective True Qi and smashed into his chest.

’Gang Qi, projected to kill from a distance.’ The thought had barely formed in Li Xu’s mind before an excruciating pain that pierced to the very marrow washed over him. Then, his consciousness faded to black.

BANG!

A muffled thud echoed, like a heavy mallet striking a great drum, or like a watermelon dropped from on high onto solid ground.

Li Xu didn’t even have time to scream before the remotely projected Gang Qi blew him to pieces. His chest cavity exploded, spraying shattered bones and internal organs everywhere. All that remained was his head, his eyes wide with a terror that lingered even in death. It landed at Kong Yu’s feet, its horrified gaze staring up at him.

"AHH!"

Kong Yu’s eyes were practically splitting with rage, his killing intent soaring to the heavens. He had just watched another one of his senior brothers die right in front of him.

But he had no time to grieve. A figure appeared, riding on a current of Gang Qi as he charged forward. A fist punched through the air, hurtling toward him with suffocating power.

The hairs on Kong Yu’s arms stood on end, and goosebumps prickled his skin. His bones and sinews rumbled as the great dragon of his spine propelled his arm forward like a spear, blocking the incredible fist.

BANG!

The collision of their fists produced a muffled clang, like forged steel striking steel. A visible shockwave rippled out from the point of impact, pulverizing every plant in its path and tearing up the top layer of earth. A column of dust, like smoke from a signal fire, shot into the sky.

’So strong! He’s Kong Yu, all right!’

Xu Yang felt a tyrannical power, no weaker than his own, surge from the opposing fist. His body was thrown back involuntarily, his blood and qi churning within him.

Although he had expended most of his power killing Li Xu from a distance, his body had been tempered by the Fuyue Bear Scripture and the Golden Gang Skill. His brute strength had long since become unrivaled among his peers.

The fact that Kong Yu could knock him back proved his strength was truly terrifying.

’Who is it?’

The irresistible power crashed down like a tidal wave. The Gang Qi covering his fist shattered on impact. Kong Yu’s entire body trembled, his blood and qi roiling as he was pushed back, unable to stop himself.

BANG! BANG...

Each step he took backward blasted a deep crater into the ground. He only managed to stop his retreat after leaving five craters in his wake. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.

’To be ambushed by an expert every bit as strong as I am... Who would be so bold? Who would dare attack me, Kong Yu?’

"You?"

As he focused his gaze, he saw that the attacker was none other than Xu Yang—the very man he had come to kill. The bastard had snuck up behind them and killed his senior brother, Li Xu.

Looking down at Li Xu’s body, which had been blasted in two, Kong Yu’s eyes looked ready to spew fire.

"You bastard, where is Fang Wei?" Kong Yu roared, his eyes bloodshot.

Fang Wei was the man he had sent to Cyan Yang City to keep an eye on Xu Yang.

Xu Yang replied calmly, "I’ve already sent him on his way. I’m just here to send you to join him."

Kong Yu’s aura flared chaotically. "Your Cultivation is this powerful, and you’ve been hiding it all along. Now that things have come to this, tell me... was my senior brother, Jiang Yi, also killed by you?"

After a single exchange, he understood how terrifying Xu Yang was. This wasn’t the level of strength Xu Yang had ever shown publicly. His Cultivation was actually on par with his own.

With his current Cultivation, he was confident he could rank in the top ten among this year’s Dragon Ascending Disciples from the Six Counties. On the surface, Xu Yang’s talent was inferior to Lu Ren’s, and he had few resources. To possess such strength, he must have been hiding his true power all this time.

Xu Yang nodded. "Not just Jiang Yi. In fact, I also beat Ji Jincheng and Han Xing to death. Pounded them into pulp."

At these words, Kong Yu felt a sharp, twisting pain in his heart, and his aura spiraled into chaos. So many of his dearest friends... all of them killed by Xu Yang!

At that exact moment, Xu Yang made his move. He had said those things precisely to disrupt Kong Yu’s Heart Spirit and create an opening.

BOOM!

Gang Qi exploded from the soles of his feet. He activated Stepping on Gang and Chasing Wind, which he had been charging, and his figure vanished, creating a shockwave in the air.

His body shot forward like an arrow, skimming across the ground as his Gang Qi carved a trench in the earth.

His Gang Qi surged, rapidly condensing around his fist. The Iron Fist tore through the air, creating a fierce, whistling wind.

He was using a Gang Qi Martial Technique, Phantom Star Gang Fist, against an opponent for the first time.

Though he had not yet reached Minor Achievement and was still at the Entry Realm, a Gang Qi Martial Technique was still a Gang Qi Martial Technique. The power it could unleash was far beyond anything the Thunder Shock Fist could match.

"You will die for this!"

But Kong Yu was Kong Yu. He reacted in an instant, a horrifyingly vicious light gleaming in his eyes as his aura grew even more terrifying.

The moment Xu Yang struck, Kong Yu snapped out of his grief. While taking a step back to buy time to gather his strength, he thrust his hand out, his five fingers like a steel claw, grabbing for Xu Yang’s wrist.

Grapple!

Unfortunately, the Phantom Star Gang Fist was not a Fist Technique known for explosive power or lethality. Its strength lay in its unpredictability, a mix of feints and real attacks that made it impossible for an opponent to tell which was which.

"Phantom Star Gang Fist!"

Kong Yu’s Grapple caught nothing but air. The moment his hand closed on empty space, he knew he was in trouble and recognized the Fist Technique Xu Yang was using.

He had read the description of the Phantom Star Gang Fist in the Hidden Skills Hall and had seen practitioners use it at the Heroic Assembly. He knew how difficult this Martial Arts was to deal with.

While it didn’t excel in offense, when empowered by Xu Yang’s monstrous physical strength, the Phantom Star Gang Fist was incredibly powerful.

BANG!

CRACK!

Xu Yang’s fist shot through the opening and slammed heavily into Kong Yu’s Protective Gang Qi.

The Gang Qi flared, and in an instant, cracks like a spiderweb spread rapidly across his Protective Gang Qi, which seemed on the verge of shattering.

Just then, however, Kong Yu’s other hand shot out. His five fingers, pressed together like a beak, tore through the air, aimed at Xu Yang’s Quchi Acupoint. A blade-like sliver of Gang Qi was contained within the strike, waiting to be released.

Xu Yang hadn’t expected to seriously injure Kong Yu with a single move. He immediately retracted his arm and punched out fearlessly with his other hand.

BANG! BANG!

In the blink of an eye, they had already clashed three or four times. The radiating Vigorous Energy shattered an untold number of plants.

’So tough! He must be practicing a formidable Body-Protecting Martial Arts.’

Kong Yu felt as if he were clashing with a man cast from solid steel, and his arm throbbed with excruciating pain.

If his Protective Gang Qi hadn’t absorbed most of the force, his bones might have already been shattered.

"Bastard, I’ll take your life! Today, I will have your head as an offering to my fallen friends!"

Kong Yu’s long hair whipped about as his aura grew even more frenzied. The thought that the man before him had killed all his friends made his killing intent surge uncontrollably.

"If I’d known it would come to this, I would have killed you back in Qingyuan County! Then my friends would still be alive!"

Kong Yu let out a long roar as he continued to trade blows with Xu Yang.

’Although Xu Yang’s body is like cast steel, I have a Lower A-class Root Bone. My blood and qi are vigorous, and my Gang Qi is vast and long-lasting. In a protracted battle, I will be the one who wins.’

"If it weren’t for your reputation, you would’ve never made it out of Qingyuan City alive."

Xu Yang was now fighting with real fury. "It was just a small dispute between me and Yang Jun in the beginning! But because I talked back to him, that old dog Ji Yun ordered all of you to kill me during the Martial Arts Examination! Now so many people are dead—are you and that old dog Ji Yun satisfied?"

’The whole reason so many people died was that I talked back to Ji Yun a couple of times. He felt he’d lost face, so he ordered his disciples to kill me at the Martial Arts Examination.’

Zhu Yang, Jiang Yi, Han Xing, Ji Jincheng, Fang Wei, Li Xu.

’That was six lives already. With Kong Yu, it would make seven.’

’And in the future, I’ll kill Ji Yun too. That’ll be eight.’

’Two sentences. Eight lives.’

"Monster!"

’Satisfied?’

Kong Yu howled with rage, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.

BANG!

CRACK!

After twenty exchanges, Xu Yang’s raw power had shattered the bones in Kong Yu’s arms. Even with the protection of his Gang Qi, his arms were covered in a web of fractures, revealing the crimson flesh beneath.