Free Web NovelChapter 228: Chapter 199: Battle of the Burial Ground, Golden Body Horizontal Training Advancement
A fat rabbit poked its head out of its burrow, warily observing its surroundings as it prepared to go forage for food.
Just then, a black shadow rushed over at extreme speed. Before the rabbit could even react, the figure landed squarely on the moss-covered tombstone beside it.
BANG!
The tombstone, its age unknown, was stomped directly into the ground. The immense impact even caused the surrounding earth, including the burial mound, to collapse.
The unlucky rabbit was blasted to pieces by the shockwave, its blood and viscera splattering all over the ground.
Meanwhile, Wu Liangchen stood on the collapsed patch of land, breathing heavily yet in long, drawn-out gasps.
His upper garment had been completely shredded, revealing the chiseled, sculpted muscles beneath.
With every breath, these muscles rippled and trembled like flowing water, and a copious amount of sweat seeped from his skin.
But before the sweat could even drip off, it would instantly evaporate into a white mist. The vapor rose and swirled around Wu Liangchen, creating a mysterious and eerie sight in the desolate mountain graveyard.
About fifty meters away from him, Situ Hao stood on an old locust tree, his figure looking equally battered.
His hair was disheveled, and a long, bloody gash had appeared on his cheek.
It was clearly from a grazing arrowhead.
Ordinarily, with the powerful life force of a Fourth Realm Grandmaster, such a wound would heal in the blink of an eye.
But now, the gash had been there for over a quarter of an hour and was still seeping blood.
This showed just how draining the battle had been for him; he couldn’t even spare the energy to heal such a minor injury.
"You truly surprise me. With a mere Minor Fourth Realm cultivation, you not only managed to injure me but have also held out against me for this long," Situ Hao said slowly.
The reason he didn’t press his advantage was that he, too, was using the opportunity to recover his stamina.
After all, the intensity of that last exchange was so great that even he, a Martial Arts Grandmaster, felt somewhat overwhelmed.
This was also why he held Wu Liangchen in such high regard.
To be able to fight him for so long without having undergone Bone Marrow Cleansing... that sheer volume of Qi and Blood alone was enough to instantly kill any other Martial Artist at the same realm.
"But now, your prized long saber is destroyed, and you’re out of arrows. With only your bare fists, there’s no way you can be my opponent!"
"So give up. Out of respect for a genius, I will send you on your way in the manner of a Martial Artist. I guarantee you won’t feel any pain," Situ Hao said in a tone filled with regret.
This was, in fact, another form of attack.
Its purpose was to weaken Wu Liangchen’s fighting spirit as much as possible, to make him feel a sense of despair from being completely outmatched.
In a battle between Martial Artists, the greatest taboo is having one’s courage broken and losing the will to fight.
This was precisely why the Fourth Village Chief, Sun Lingchen, and the Fifth Village Chief, Jiang Aotian, had died so quickly before.
Now, after a bitter fight where he still couldn’t claim victory, Situ Hao already viewed Wu Liangchen as a formidable opponent who could not be underestimated. Thus, he began to employ a slow, methodical approach, chipping away at his fighting spirit bit by bit.
Wu Liangchen was well aware of this and wouldn’t be so easily swayed by a few words.
He slowly exhaled. The white vapor shot out several meters like an arrow before dissipating. Then, he gave Situ Hao a cold smile.
"Those words are better suited for you! And in fact, I should thank you."
"Oh? And why should you thank me?" Situ Hao asked slowly, all while secretly gathering his power, preparing for a final strike.
He wasn’t prepared to drag this on any longer. Even if it meant getting injured, he had to finish off this Wu Liangchen as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, if Wu Liangchen managed to escape, he would surely become a grave threat to him in the future.
"Thank you for letting me understand what the Fourth Realm is truly like."
"And what are your thoughts on it?" Situ Hao asked with a smile, as the hands hanging by his sides began to swell.
"To be honest, I’m very disappointed," Wu Liangchen said, shaking his head slightly.
Situ Hao froze, then subconsciously asked, "Why are you disappointed?"
"Because everyone always said that after successfully completing Bone Marrow Cleansing, one becomes a ’terrestrial immortal’ with immense power. But seeing it today, it’s nothing special. Especially you..."
Wu Liangchen looked up at Situ Hao. "Even though you’ve been putting on a big show, you just give me the feeling of being an... unfinished product."
Situ Hao’s expression twisted instantly, and he snarled in fury and shame, "Fine! Then let this ’unfinished product’ be the one to send you on your way today."
Before his words had even faded, Situ Hao, his composure completely shattered, charged forward.
This time, he held nothing back, wanting only to kill Wu Liangchen with a single palm strike.
The technique he cultivated was the Celestial Spirit Palm.
This was an incomparably hard and ferocious palm technique. Especially at Situ Hao’s level, it possessed the power to rip apart tigers and leopards or cleave mountains.
But faced with this palm strike, which descended like a violent storm, Wu Liangchen was completely unafraid. He didn’t even try to dodge. Instead, he stood there quietly, coldly watching the descending palm.
Situ Hao rejoiced internally.
’If this palm lands true, forget a person—even a block of stubborn iron would be shattered.’
But just then, wisps of gold suddenly appeared on Wu Liangchen’s upper body.
The moment this gold appeared, it spread rapidly. His arms, in particular, became the color of cast bronze and poured gold.
Immediately after, Wu Liangchen raised his arms and directly blocked Situ Hao’s descending palm strike.
DONG!
A tremendous sound, like the tolling of a great golden bell, rang out, and the surrounding weeds and trees were swept clean by the massive shockwave.
Looking back at the center of the clearing, Wu Liangchen’s legs were sunk knee-deep into the earth, but his arms were as steady as Mount Tai.
Situ Hao, on the other hand, was sent flying backward by the tremendous rebound force. He landed on a burial mound more than twenty meters away, a look of absolute horror flashing across his face.
At this moment, he only felt his palms swelling with pain and his arms aching with numbness. Not only had he failed to gain any advantage, but he had actually come out worse.
’What’s going on?’
’How did Wu Liangchen suddenly become so formidable?’
Situ Hao’s heart was filled with shock and uncertainty; for a moment, he actually didn’t dare to attack again.
At the same time, Wu Liangchen rejoiced internally.
Because just then, a line of text had appeared before his eyes.
[Golden Body Cross Training Skill: Level Advanced. Current Level: Mastery]
It turned out that even before his great battle with Situ Hao, Wu Liangchen’s Golden Body Cross Training Skill was already on the verge of a breakthrough. Now, stimulated by that palm strike, it had broken through directly, advancing from Skilled to Mastery.
In an instant, Wu Liangchen felt a refreshing coolness spread across his skin. His arms, which had been burning from taking Situ Hao’s palm strike head-on, instantly returned to normal.
Not only that, but the fatigue from the continuous battles was also swept away completely.
His entire body was filled with boundless power, and his condition was better than it had ever been before.
These were the internal changes; the external changes were even more astonishing.
The bronze-gold color that had originally covered his upper body continued to spread, covering his entire frame in the blink of an eye. It was as if he had donned a suit of golden armor, making him appear solemn and powerful.
Then, Wu Liangchen gave the horrified and hesitant Situ Hao a faint smile. "Did that last palm strike feel good?"
"Now... it’s my turn!"
