Marionette slowly stood up, but his arms hung limp at his sides. Under the opponent's blow just moments ago, both of his forearms had broken.
Before achieving a true limit breakthrough, the gap in sheer power and physical resilience was absolute.
Yet under this intense stimulation, his mutated tissue flared to life as if burning, proliferating and multiplying rapidly, drawing ever closer to the boundary of metamorphosis.
Still, it was not enough. He needed more time, and he needed even more external stimulation.
The middle-aged man looked at him. "Well? Remembered yet?" Seeing Marionette stand there without answering, he added, "Refusing to speak? Then it looks like I'll have to break all four of your limbs. I hope your mouth is just as tough."
Almost the moment those words were spoken, Marionette's world spun. The incoming attack was far too fast, so fast he could barely react. Before the sound had fully reached his ears, he was already flying through the air.
The kick should have shattered his waist and pelvis, but his mutated tissue reacted instinctively, dragging his elbow downward while the muscles across his entire body undulated to deflect the force. Under this blow, only his elbow shattered and several ribs broke. Hurtling back, he crashed through several trees in a succession of loud cracks and thuds.
Only when he slammed into a massive tree trunk was his momentum halted, yet he rebounded off it at an angle, tumbling down and dragging clumps of vines and brush with him. Along the path of his crash, several heavily fractured trees creaked and groaned as they tilted over, either catching on other branches or crashing down into the weeds and soil. Flocks of birds were startled into flight, and various insects scrambled out from the dirt, fleeing the area in haste.
Marionette lay sprawled on his stomach, motionless.
After a moment, a huge shadow descended from above. The giant wolf bounded over nearby, darted left and right along the perimeter, and then cautiously stepped closer to sniff him. It seemed intent on seizing him in its jaws and dragging him back. After circling him several times and seeing no movement, it lunged forward to bite down—a bite forceful enough to snap his spine.
Yet before the wolf's fangs could graze his body, Marionette moved. Pressing his back to the ground, his legs shot up first, planting a vicious kick right on the giant wolf's soft snout, knocking its massive head sideways. Leveraging the recoil, he shifted laterally, rolled smoothly, and landed behind a tree, then scrambled to his feet and bolted away.
His mutated tissue was only a fraction away; he still needed to buy a little more time. Taking just a single step forward, he felt a crushing wind pressure behind him. He cut sharply in a zig-zag, then pivoted once more to duck behind another tree. Only then did the concussive boom of splintering wood erupt behind him.
Yet even though he had evaded and utilized cover as much as possible, he still could not completely evade the blow. A fist smashed heavily into his shoulder, and once again, he was launched backward like an artillery shell.
This time, he shot straight back over a hundred meters, kicking up a plume of dust upon impact.
A moment later, a thunderous roar rolled through the air, followed by the broken, splintered tree trunks along his flight path toppling down one by one. Only after quite a while did the commotion finally subside.
The middle-aged man glanced toward where Marionette had landed. Seeing several trees burying him with no further movement coming from the pile, his brow furrowed slightly.
Seeing that Marionette's mobility had remained undiminished after taking the previous hits, he had put a little more force into this punch. Had he accidentally killed him outright?
Well, if he was dead, so be it. If he really couldn't trace the other's origin, he could simply kill them on sight whenever he ran into another.
Just then, the giant wolf crept over, whining aggrievedly beside him. He reached out and stroked it twice.
After licking his hand fawningly, the giant wolf bolted forward again, heading straight for Marionette.
The middle-aged man had assumed the matter was settled, but once again, an unexpected twist arose.
He snapped his head up. With a crash, the giant wolf was sent flying backward, yelping as it tumbled to the ground.
A fist shoved outward with a harsh creak and groan, shoving aside the tree trunks piled above, and the figure within stood up once more.
His previously broken arm had already restored itself, while from his other arm, where the bones had been crushed to mush, came a series of sharp clicks as the fine fragments rapidly pieced themselves back together. The fractured bones throughout his body also knit together and healed.
Viewed from within, countless strands of mutated tissue were spreading across his entire body at incredible speed, clinging to every muscle and bone and fusing deeply with them.
As he slowly raised his head, a fire seemed to be kindling in those originally emotionless eyes—a fire burning with fierce intensity.
Catching his gaze, the middle-aged man felt a slight tremor in his heart. For reasons he could not fathom, a premonition of danger welled up within him.
This unsettled him greatly. With a cold snort, he vanished on the spot without any visible wind-up, reappearing instantly before Marionette to drive a fist downward toward that seemingly frail frame!
This strike was bolstered by his forward momentum and raw strength. Based on Marionette's earlier performance, it should have been more than enough to hammer him into the dirt. Yet this time, halfway through its arc, a palm snapped out and caught the fist with a sharp smack.
Even as the jin he unleashed surged forward, it proved entirely futile. The arm across from him did not even waver.
In that instant, he seemed suspended in midair.
Even as shock and fury welled within him, his offensive did not halt. The mutated tissue and the muscles in his lower back contracted and twisted, abruptly shifting his center of gravity as a kick lashed up from below toward Marionette's face!
Yet at that moment, Marionette pressed forward a step, hooking his leg, while his other hand clamped down on the fist. Grasping the leg, he swung his entire body around in a sweeping pivot and hurled the man away!
The figure vanished from his line of sight in a blur, followed by a series of rumbling explosions in the distance.
Marionette pushed off his feet, about to leap forward, when the giant wolf charged in from the side. With a casual punch, he slammed it into the earth. Amid a dull thud that shook the ground, the beast lay there lifeless, silenced completely.
Yet that slight pause was enough. When he looked ahead once more, the middle-aged man was already standing tall, deep blue flames of light flickering across his body and radiating outward in thin wisps. His eyes held deep anger tinged with astonishment.
If Marionette had previously been an ant he could crush with a bit of effort, he was now a challenger capable of threatening his life.
Without wasting any words, the man leaned forward. In a single stride, he covered an immense distance, appearing once more before Marionette to unleash a barrage of punches!
As his punching jin blasted out, thunderous booms erupted in rapid succession through the air, sending wide waves of radiance shimmering off the deep blue spiritual fire.
Yet in Marionette's eyes, the movements that had previously left him almost unable to react now seemed slowed down. Ducking low and weaving sideways, he slipped past every strike by a fraction of an inch. Because of their sheer speed, trails of afterimages stretched between them.
After unleashing over a hundred blows, the middle-aged man's gaze sharpened, and his fists abruptly accelerated. The burst was sudden, yet Marionette's speed escalated in tandem. Reaching out to parry, he brought the strike to a halt with a crisp smack.
The middle-aged man had assumed this strike would inevitably knock his opponent down, as power backed by spiritual fire held absolute supremacy over force without it—it was simply impossible to block. Yet what met his eyes made his pupils shrink.
A faint shimmer of near-golden light danced upon Marionette's blocking palm.
"A martial artist... You really are—"
Earlier, the middle-aged man had detected none of this strength from Marionette; the transformation seemed to have occurred out of nowhere. Had he broken through in the middle of combat just moments ago?
Marionette had no intention of explaining. Taking advantage of the brief stagnation in the man's breath after overextending his power, Marionette's other hand whipped the back of his hand toward his throat.
The middle-aged man instinctively contracted his mutated tissue and muscles to dodge and defend, but right as he reacted, the hand blocking his fist suddenly shoved forward. A wave of force bore down on him, and a surge of jin penetrated inward.
The danger lay not in the force itself, but in the impeccable timing of the strike, which landed squarely in the brief lull between his circulating breath and power, instantly destroying his center of gravity and balance.
Though he needed only a split second to recover, in that brief lapse, Marionette closed the distance. Slamming his body into the man's chest, the golden flames instantly shattered the spiritual fire enveloping him. At the same time, the hand that had swung halfway swept behind the back of the man's head, halting his backward momentum, while a knee drove upward—smashing violently into the middle-aged man's face with a heavy bang!
A burst of radiant aura shattered across his features.
Dizziness overwhelmed the middle-aged man. Before he could recover his senses, a surge of seizing jin drove deeply into his body, instantly locking him rigid.
Bringing his five fingers together into the shape of a hooked beak, Marionette struck out in a rapid flurry, jabbing over a dozen times into the man's torso and limb joints within an instant.
Every strike struck dead center on a nexus point of mutated tissue, shattering and rupturing the tissue across every joint.
Taking another step forward, Marionette dragged him by the arm and slammed him violently to the ground. Amid the thunderous impact, the spiritual fire across the middle-aged man dispersed in vast sheets. Sensing disaster, he rolled over on the spot, attempting to push himself up with his remaining strength.
Marionette simply stepped forward and kicked away his supporting hand, sending him crashing down once more. Then he brought his foot down, crushing the undefended bend of the man's knee with a sharp snap, before lifting his foot again to shatter the other leg.
Earlier, the man had snapped his cane and crushed his arms; now, Marionette had crushed both of the man's legs in return.
Even at this stage—even having reached this point—the middle-aged man's formidable vitality still sustained him as he attempted to heal his wounds and mount a counterattack.
Marionette reached down, seized him by the hair, and yanked his face backward. Bringing his hand down like a blade, he chopped across the man's larynx. With a wet crunch, the middle-aged man grunted, all strength finally draining from his frame.
Marionette seemed to recall something. He placed a hand slowly onto the middle-aged man's head. Sensing what was coming, the latter struggled frantically.
Pressing down with his five fingers, a surge of jin drove violently inward. With a crack, the skull beneath split in two. Releasing his grip, Marionette let the limp corpse collapse onto the ground.
Marionette stepped back a few paces, thrust his hands into his pockets, turned, and slowly walked away.
Chapter 1216