A Pact of Two Punches, No Corpse Left Intact

Boom! The two fists collided head-on without any deceit or flourish. For martial artists of the Divine Strength Realm, whose consciousness had merged with their bodies, speed and reaction time were trivial matters. Consequently, many Divine Strength martial arts discarded feints, pure velocity, and other deceptive maneuvers, as such tactics yielded little practical advantage. No matter how fast an attack was, the neural reflexes of a Divine Strength martial artist could easily register and counter it. Yet to those beneath the Divine Strength Realm, the spectacle was nothing short of staggering. A dense flurry of fist shadows filled the air, only for all of them to violently meet at a single focal point with an ear-piercing crash. A terrifying shockwave rippled outward in all directions from the center of their clash like rolling, turbulent waves. "Fall back!" Both Wang Feng and Luo Yun retreated almost simultaneously, putting distance between themselves and the duel. In a clash between Divine Strength combatants, even peak Refining Organs martial artists lacked the standing to intervene. "What? The strength of forty tripods?" Zhao Wuji's expression shifted slightly. Forty tripods of strength! His opponent possessed the strength of forty tripods! Zhao Wuji had advanced to the Divine Strength Realm many years ago, yet even he had not attained forty tripods of power. Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes and spoke in an even, tranquil tone. "You are not bad yourself. To withstand my strike and merely fall into a slight disadvantage, you must wield at least thirty tripods of strength!" With just a single exchange, each gained a clear grasp of the other's cultivation. Both were in the Ten Tripods Realm! One possessed thirty tripods of strength, and the other forty. Although Zhao Wuji was outmatched by ten tripods, he felt no fear. Combat between martial artists was never a simple contest of realms, nor was it determined purely by raw force. Numerous secret methods and martial arts could substantially magnify one's might. "Zhuang Thirteen, today my Myriad Poison Cult admits defeat and will withdraw entirely from Yancheng. How about we stop here?" "If we continue fighting, it will become a duel to the death!" Zhao Wuji's expression darkened. He had no desire to wage a life-or-death battle against Zhuang Thirteen; there was simply nothing to be gained. "Very well." A faint smile touched the corner of Lu Changsheng's mouth. Yet before Zhao Wuji could rejoice, Lu Changsheng continued, "Withstand two of my punches, and you may leave." "Two punches?" Zhao Wuji's eyes darkened further. He knew very well that a man like Zhuang Thirteen stood by his word; if he said two punches, it would be two punches and nothing more. While Zhuang Thirteen held a slight advantage in raw force, Zhao Wuji commanded formidable martial arts and secret methods of his own. How could he possibly fail to endure a mere two strikes? "Good. Two punches it is!" Zhao Wuji agreed. A glint of malice flashed deep in his eyes. If the opportunity presented itself and Zhuang Thirteen let his guard down after two strikes, Zhao Wuji would not hesitate to seize the opening and strike him dead. To someone like Zhao Wuji, pride and face were worthless. So long as he could kill his opponent, no tactic was beneath him! Lu Changsheng stood quietly where he was, separated from Zhao Wuji by three zhang. The entire hall fell into a profound silence. Whether Luo Yun, Squire Xia, or Wang Feng, every gaze was locked firmly onto Zhuang Thirteen and Zhao Wuji. Whoosh. Lu Changsheng moved. The moment he shifted, a sensation like surging ocean waves filled the hall, so vivid that the sound of breaking surf seemed to echo in everyone's ears. First Wave! Lu Changsheng unleashed the Triple Waves martial art. Triple Waves was a chain of strikes that required building momentum blow by blow to unleash catastrophic power. Although the First Wave merely channeled his full forty tripods of base strength, Lu Changsheng possessed the Divine Dragon Transformation. As he threw this punch, an extraordinary metamorphosis took place within his body. First Transformation! This was a Divine Strength secret method; the First Transformation directly bolstered his physical body by thirty percent. Thirty percent added to forty tripods amounted to fifty-two tripods of strength! A full twelve tripods of force had been added out of thin air. Unfortunately, Zhao Wuji remained completely unaware. Zhao Wuji struck out with a fist of his own, having executed a martial art that granted an amplification, though not an overwhelming one. Bang! The two fists collided violently. A faint smirk had initially lingered on Zhao Wuji's face. The martial technique he had executed enhanced his strength by thirty percent, bringing him to roughly thirty-nine tripods—scarcely any different from Zhuang Thirteen's baseline forty tripods. That was the source of his confidence! Yet the instant his fist slammed into Zhuang Thirteen's, Zhao Wuji's expression morphed in horror. A deluge of terrifying, earth-shattering force surged from Zhuang Thirteen's fist like an overwhelming tidal wave. A vast, torrential power crashed down upon him. This strike unequivocally exceeded fifty tripods of strength! Under such monstrous force, Zhao Wuji's arm felt strained to its absolute limit. When a martial artist broke through to the Divine Strength Realm, every stage of marrow transformation and blood exchange systematically elevated their physical constitution. Wielding thirty tripods of strength meant Zhao Wuji had undergone marrow transformation and blood exchange three times, granting him an exceptionally robust physique. That was why he had managed to endure Lu Changsheng's initial forty tripods of strength. Now, however, the balance had shifted. Even with his own power erupting to cancel out a substantial portion of the impact, Lu Changsheng had unleashed more than fifty tripods of sheer force. Such dreadful power was already pressing against the physical limits of Zhao Wuji's body. And it was far from over. Lu Changsheng threw another punch. Triple Waves was designed to deliver continuous blows in rapid succession, offering the opponent no room to breathe. Seeing Lu Changsheng launch another fist—like a towering, sun-blotting tidal wave rolling violently toward him—Zhao Wuji felt the icy chill of impending death. He could not withstand this blow! Without an instant's hesitation, Zhao Wuji chose to stake his life. "Blood Spring Secret Method, Blood Reversal!" Zhao Wuji invoked his forbidden technique. In a flash, the qi and blood within his body surged precipitously. His aura shattered its restraints. As he unleashed a desperate fist, the surrounding air seemed compressed to its absolute limit. This was an esoteric method from the Myriad Poison Scripture. Once activated, it boosted his strength by roughly thirty percent. With his current thirty-nine tripods augmented by another thirty percent, his power reached approximately fifty tripods. At fifty tripods, he would be roughly on par with Zhuang Thirteen and capable of weathering this blow. However, Zhao Wuji had not truly mastered this secret technique; he was forcing its execution. It would hold for a brief moment, but the moment it subsided, he would suffer severe backlash that would take at least half a year to recover from. Unless driven to the brink, Zhao Wuji would never have resorted to it. Yet he had no alternative. If he did not stake everything on this secret method, he would die! *Zhuang Thirteen, you forced me to suffer this backlash.* *I will remember this. Pray you never leave me an opening, or else...* Thoughts raced through Zhao Wuji's mind. He resolved inwardly to watch Zhuang Thirteen like a hawk and butcher him at the first opportunity. Yet when Zhao Wuji's eyes met Zhuang Thirteen's, he caught what seemed like a trace of cold mockery in the man's gaze. What did that mean? Zhao Wuji was already unleashing fifty tripods of power, fighting with his very life on the line. What other cards could Zhuang Thirteen possibly hold? Naturally, Zhao Wuji had no way of knowing that Zhuang Thirteen had never used his full strength. The strike before had only been the First Wave of Triple Waves. The Second Wave he was unleashing now represented Lu Changsheng's true pinnacle. Rumble! In the span of a spark, Lu Changsheng unleashed the full fury of the Second Wave. Like a vast, boundless ocean tide, it swept over everything in an instant. The Second Wave amplified power by fifty percent! Under the First Transformation of the Divine Dragon Transformation, Lu Changsheng's physical body had grown by thirty percent, reaching fifty-two tripods. Building upon that foundation, the Second Wave's fifty percent increase pushed his strength to seventy-eight tripods. Nearly eighty tripods of power! This monstrous might exceeded Zhao Wuji's fifty tripods by nearly thirty full tripods. A gap of a few tripods might be endured. Even a gap of ten tripods could be narrowly withstood through sheer grit. But a chasm of nearly thirty tripods was an insurmountable abyss. The instant Zhao Wuji's fist met Lu Changsheng's Second Wave, Zhao Wuji's eyes widened in sheer shock, bewilderment, and abject terror. "Ah..." Zhao Wuji's arm snapped instantly. The unfathomable force crashed into his torso without pause. Pop! Like an overinflated balloon, Zhao Wuji exploded. A shower of blood rained across the hall. Without even managing a scream, Zhao Wuji had been pulverized, reduced to countless fine fragments of gore and bone that scattered across the floor. Such was the terrifying might of nearly eighty tripods of force! No back-and-forth exchanges, no testing of boundaries—only unadulterated, overwhelming destruction! Silence. The entire hall plunged into dead quiet. "The Guardian Elder... burst?" As the Right Emissary of the Myriad Poison Cult, Wang Feng held an exalted position and stood on the verge of breaking through to the Divine Strength Realm. Yet what had he just witnessed? A revered Guardian Elder of the Myriad Poison Cult, an expert who had dominated the martial world for over a decade, an untouchable lord of the Divine Strength Realm, had been punched to bits! Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it. At this moment, it was not just Wang Feng who was dumbfounded; everyone present stood frozen. Though "Zhuang Thirteen of Nanyang" had recently achieved great renown and had even slain Zhang Tianwu, the leader of the Black Water Gang, how could Zhang Tianwu compare to Zhao Wuji, a Guardian Elder of the Myriad Poison Cult? Yet now, Zhao Wuji lay dead as well. He had been battered apart in a head-on clash, leaving not even a corpse behind—annihilated without a trace of his body intact. Lu Changsheng exhaled a quiet breath. This was the first time since reaching the Divine Strength Realm that he had unleashed nearly everything he had. And the results were quite satisfying. *The Divine Dragon Transformation and the Triple Waves truly stack together. After all, the Divine Dragon Transformation enhances the physical body in all aspects, whereas Triple Waves merely magnifies striking power.* *Once combined, the effect is staggering. My base strength is only forty tripods, but the First Transformation coupled with the Second Wave nearly doubled my output.* Lu Changsheng understood the implications well. Eighty tripods of strength was already approaching the Hundred Tripods Realm. Ordinary Divine Strength martial artists had no hope of withstanding such a blow. Turning his gaze toward Wang Feng and the others, Lu Changsheng spoke coldly. "Zhuang's two-punch agreement with Zhao Wuji was witnessed by all of you." "Zhao Wuji failed to withstand my second strike and fell beneath my fist." "To eradicate evil, one must cut it out by the root. You lot may accompany Zhao Wuji on his journey." Lu Changsheng needed to maintain the persona of Hero Zhuang, a noble chivalric champion, and thus carried himself with righteous transparency in word and deed, even before members of the Myriad Poison Cult. "No, Hero Zhuang, have mercy..." Wang Feng tried to beg for his life. Lu Changsheng gave him no opportunity. With a flick of his sleeve, the dense cloud of his qi and blood transformed into countless Silken Thread Swords. Swish, swish, swish! Each Silken Thread Sword flew faster and deadlier than a heavy crossbow bolt. Moreover, Lu Changsheng was still maintaining the First Transformation; the thirty percent enhancement to his physical form carried a thirty percent boost to his qi and blood as well. With a single volley of Silken Thread Swords, every Myriad Poison Cultist remaining in the hall collapsed to the floor. They had all been turned into corpses. Watching this unfold, Luo Yun, Squire Xia, and the soldiers drew in sharp breaths. Given their status, they had naturally heard tales of Divine Strength experts. Yet witnessing one slaughter so effortlessly with their own eyes still left their hearts pounding in terror. Against such a dense shower of Silken Thread Swords, anyone below the Divine Strength Realm was merely marching to their death, no matter their numbers. Even Luo Yun's three thousand elite troops would stand little chance if forced to face Zhuang Thirteen head-on. Divine Strength experts could no longer be judged by ordinary logic, nor could they be regarded as ordinary mortals. "General Luo, Squire Xia, there are still a few stragglers of the Myriad Poison Cult scattered throughout this stronghold. I leave them to you." Lu Changsheng rested his hands behind his back, projecting the demeanor of an aloof, transcendent hero. Internally, however, he felt a twinge of longing. The floor was covered in corpses. Ordinary bodies aside, Zhao Wuji's corpse... Well, Zhao Wuji had no corpse left. He had been blown to pieces. Naturally, nothing on Zhao Wuji had survived; everything had been obliterated in the blast. Still, the other bodies were well worth looting, given that the Myriad Poison Cult possessed plenty of valuable treasures. Yet as Zhuang Thirteen, a man fiercely intolerant of evil and upright to a fault, he could hardly stoop to scavenging corpses. If he cast aside his dignity to loot bodies in public, it would shatter Zhuang Thirteen's reputation and demean his heroic image. "Hero Zhuang, please wait!" At that moment, Squire Xia stepped forward to face Zhuang Thirteen. He did not suspect in the slightest that this man was Lu Changsheng. After all, Lu Changsheng's disguise and transformation techniques were fully on par with Li Hongzhuang's, virtually flawless. "Hero Zhuang, thank you for your righteous intervention in exterminating the Myriad Poison Cult and saving the people of Yancheng. Had the cult succeeded, there is no telling what calamity would have befallen our city." "Why not stay at my Xia Manor for a few days so that I may properly show my hospitality?" Squire Xia extended an invitation to his residence. Before an esteemed hero of the Divine Strength Realm like Zhuang Thirteen, Squire Xia naturally wished to forge a good relationship. "No need. Zhuang was merely passing through Yancheng and dealt with the Myriad Poison Cult along the way." "If you truly wish to express gratitude, take the spoils seized from this stronghold and use them for the welfare of Yancheng's common folk. That way, my efforts will not have been in vain." Lu Changsheng replied calmly. "Hero Zhuang is truly benevolent and chivalrous—a blessing to the people of Yancheng. Rest assured, Hero Zhuang, my Xia family will use the ill-gotten wealth recovered from this stronghold in your name to repair bridges, pave roads, and aid the people!" Squire Xia gave his pledge in a resolute tone. "Then Zhuang may depart with an easy mind." With that, Lu Changsheng cast a lingering, deeply regretful glance over the carpet of corpses. Finally turning away, he vanished into the distance in a few swift leaps. Watching Zhuang Thirteen disappear, Squire Xia and Luo Yun breathed sighs of relief. Regardless of his righteousness, standing in the presence of such a terrifying Divine Strength expert exerted immense pressure on them. "Hero Zhuang truly lives up to his name—uncompromising against evil, noble, and valiant." "We were fortunate to encounter him today. Otherwise, our fates would have been grim." Both Squire Xia and Luo Yun felt profound relief. Neither had anticipated that the Myriad Poison Cult's stronghold in Yancheng would harbor a Divine Strength powerhouse. Without Zhuang Thirteen, the consequences would have been unimaginable. A few surviving cultists who had slipped away watched Zhuang Thirteen leave, also letting out breaths they had been holding. "We must recover the Guardian Elder's remains." "But Zhuang Thirteen of Nanyang..." Lingering fear paralyzed them; they had no way of knowing whether Zhuang Thirteen had truly gone, and none dared make a reckless move. In the end, they could only dispatch word back to the Myriad Poison Cult, leaving the decision to their superiors.