Chapter 38: The Arrival of Xu Yuan

Li Chenqiu suddenly felt a blur before his eyes, as if the surrounding space were massive hands tearing him apart and stitching him back together.

When he regained his senses, he was shocked to find himself no longer on the ground, but suspended in mid-air, still locked in the motion of a kick. Indeed, Feng Qian had used her ability to swap positions with him, and the dynamic of their battle had undergone a cataclysmic shift.

*Snap!*

Li Chenqiu’s whip kick landed on Feng Qian’s arm, but it carried only the force of inertia, devoid of any lethal impact.

"How will you dodge this time?"

A flicker of malice crossed Feng Qian’s eyes. Her arm, which had blocked his strike, hooked around his ankle like an eagle’s talon, and she yanked him violently toward the ground. In mid-air, there was no leverage to be found; Li Chenqiu was as helpless as if his hands and feet were bound. This had been Feng Qian’s plan all along.

"Interesting," Li Chenqiu remarked, his brows lifting and a subtle, imperceptible curve forming at the corners of his mouth.

As Li Chenqiu’s head entered her strike zone, Feng Qian leaned back, and in an instant, her leg whipped upward in a perfect line with her torso. Like a sudden, torrential downpour, it lashed toward his head with peerless momentum.

Excitement and anticipation filled the eyes of everyone watching, Feng Qian included.

"It’s over!" she thought, her eyes alight with fervor, as if she could already see his skull shattering like a watermelon.

The moment of contact arrived, and Li Chenqiu’s head instantly fractured, exploding with a loud *bang*. But it was not blood that sprayed through the air—it was clear, crystalline water.

"This... how is this possible?" Feng Qian’s eyes widened, her mind reeling with questions. What was this water? If his ability was facial transformation, why had he turned into liquid? Could an elemental ability transform parts of one’s body into the element itself? She had never seen such a thing. And more importantly, how could his body still move if his head had been destroyed?

Before she could find an answer, droplets of water shot out in all directions like bullets. Before the onlookers could react, they were pierced through the center of their brows, collapsing one after another.

"What is happening?!"

"Help! Sister Feng, save me!"

The Awakened who had been lucky enough to escape death cried out to Feng Qian, but she was already hopelessly entangled by Li Chenqiu, barely able to defend herself, let alone save others. Because everyone had been clustered near Li Chenqiu, the slaughter was swift; within seconds, only he and Feng Qian remained.

The intense strain and exhaustion had pushed Feng Qian to her limit. Faced with Li Chenqiu’s relentless onslaught, she had no defense left and could only rely on her ability to swap places with the corpses on the ground, stalling for time while waiting for Xu Yuan to arrive.

Meanwhile, Xu Yuan was rushing toward the creek, leaving trails of afterimages in the moonlight. Within a minute or two, he reached the source of the distress signal.

Upon witnessing the gruesome scene by the creek, Xu Yuan’s hulking frame shuddered, the horror in his eyes turning into something tangible.

"Dead... how are they all dead?" Xu Yuan stammered. The overwhelming shock caused him to selectively ignore Feng Qian, who was still locked in a desperate struggle.

Seeing Xu Yuan, Feng Qian clutched at the sight like a drowning woman grasping at a straw. "Brother Xu! Brother Xu! Brother Xu!" she shrieked.

It was only on the third shout that Xu Yuan snapped back to reality, but it was already too late.

As Feng Qian cried out, her defensive rhythm faltered. Li Chenqiu drove his fingers through her guard, piercing her brow with a sharp *thwip*. Just as he moved to retract his hand, he sensed a violent gust of wind approaching from behind and bent his upper body downward.

A split second later, a fist bearing the weight of a thousand pounds grazed his back. The terrifying force tore through his clothing, leaving a long, bleeding gash across his skin.

Feng Qian, however, was not so fortunate; her head was obliterated into a mist of blood.

*Thud!*

Xu Yuan landed on the ground like a mountain, the shockwave of his impact causing the surrounding trees to sway and lean.

"I thought you’d take a while longer. I didn't expect a big guy like you to be so fast!" Li Chenqiu ripped the tattered remains of his shirt off, revealing a perfectly sculpted upper body with well-defined, powerful muscles.

Xu Yuan turned around, his face dark and his anger suppressed. "Who are you? Why did you kill my people?"

"Didn't we just clash earlier? What, don't you recognize me?" Li Chenqiu said with a smile, reverting to his original appearance.

"Li Chenqiu?!" Xu Yuan exclaimed in disbelief. "You... you did this? You killed them all?"

"What's wrong? Do you think I'm incapable of it?" Li Chenqiu tilted his head, watching Xu Yuan with a mocking smile.

"You're only at the Third Prohibition—you don't have the strength to kill them. Call out your accomplices!" Even as he spoke, Xu Yuan’s eyes darted through the surrounding shadows.

"My strength is my own. If you want to know if I'm capable, why don't you try me?"

As the words left his lips, Li Chenqiu’s eyes sharpened. He lunged out like a predatory python, his speed significantly greater than before, pushing his mastery of absolute control over his own strength to the limit.

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and met the charge with a direct elbow strike.

*Boom!*

A thunderous collision echoed through the forest, sending green leaves fluttering into the sky.

After the first strike failed, Li Chenqiu did not hesitate. Retracting his fist, he drove his knee toward Xu Yuan’s groin, forcing him to defend and granting Li Chenqiu a chance to retreat.

Dozens of meters away, Li Chenqiu watched Xu Yuan with a wary, solemn expression. Though he could command the full power of his body, combat was a matter of reaction, and the constant reallocation of his strength could not compare to the raw, consistent power of a Fourth Prohibition expert.

"No wonder Feng Qian died at your hands. You do have some skill."

Xu Yuan gave a grim, savage grin and charged at Li Chenqiu with both fists clenched.

The two men clashed in the forest like wild beasts. The intensity of their battle leveled the surrounding trees and gouged deep craters into the earth. Xu Yuan’s offensive grew increasingly fierce, forcing Li Chenqiu into a desperate, retreating struggle just to avoid serious injury.

The chances of victory were slim, but they were not non-existent. Only by keeping his hidden blade in the shadows could he hope to defeat the stronger with the weak.

Amidst the gray, swirling dust, Li Chenqiu darted forward like a shark’s fin cutting through the sea, his clenched fist producing a deafening sonic boom as he struck toward Xu Yuan.

"Foolish!"

Xu Yuan let out a cunning smile, his forearm hooking toward Li Chenqiu’s wrist at a treacherous angle.