Chapter 560 - 556: Blocking the Way

Chapter 560: Chapter 556: Blocking the Way

On the main road, the autumn wind swept up a few withered yellow leaves, which spiraled between the two men.

Fang Han stopped in his tracks. His right hand quietly came to rest on the hilt of his sword as his gaze, as serene as still water, fell upon the dark gold figure before him.

Qi Zhen stood with his hands behind his back, his dark gold brocade robe shimmering with a cold luster in the afternoon sun.

The long saber at his waist trembled faintly with each breath, like a dormant beast slowly opening its eyes.

"Gang Leader Qi."

Fang Han spoke, his voice quiet but clear enough to reach the other man’s ears.

"You’re blocking my path. What do you want?"

Qi Zhen raised his eyes, his sharp gaze landing on Fang Han as the corners of his mouth slowly curved into an icy smile.

"And where might True Inheritor Fang be heading?"

His voice was low and hoarse, like sandpaper, tinged with a probing and scrutinizing tone.

Fang Han’s gaze lingered on Qi Zhen’s face for a moment before he slowly spoke:

"The Qingxuan Sect does not need to report its affairs to any other power."

He paused, a hint of coldness creeping into his voice.

"The Tiejiang Gang is overstepping its bounds."

Hearing this, the icy smile on Qi Zhen’s lips deepened slightly.

He stood with his hands clasped behind him, his gaze passing over Fang Han’s shoulder to the vast mountain range in the distance. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, slowly:

"Just as I feared. My worries have come to pass."

He withdrew his gaze and fixed it back on Fang Han’s face. A cold glint flashed in his sharp eyes and was gone.

"You have indeed become a grave threat to my Tiejiang Gang."

Fang Han had once tracked down a hidden Grandmaster Demon, making him widely recognized as the most skilled Martial Artist in the Tracking Technique within the county. The Tiejiang Gang was naturally wary of Fang Han’s tracking abilities and wasn’t certain their secret medicine could block his senses.

After discovering that Fang Han was investigating Zhang Yuanheng’s disappearance, their vigilance was raised to the highest level.

When he realized Fang Han was heading in the same direction he had taken after killing Zhang Yuanheng, he guessed that Fang Han already suspected him and resolved to eliminate him.

"You killed Zhang Yuanheng."

Fang Han’s pupils contracted slightly.

Not only had Qi Zhen blocked his path, but his words confirmed Fang Han’s suspicions.

Qi Zhen’s presence nearby was no coincidence. Qi Zhen had indeed killed Zhang Yuanheng.

"That’s right."

Qi Zhen didn’t deny it. Fang Han’s investigation had already led him to suspect, so a denial would be pointless.

"I killed him."

"Why is the Tiejiang Gang secretly targeting members of the major powers?"

Fang Han’s fingers tightened on his sword hilt as he asked.

"Dead men don’t need to know too much."

Qi Zhen’s reply was curt and cold, the killing intent in his sharp eyes now palpable.

"You’re a defeated foe. Where do you get the confidence to think you can kill me?"

At these words, a faint, mocking smile touched Fang Han’s lips.

Inwardly, however, he raised his guard.

The last time they fought in the Commandery City, Qi Zhen had been utterly defeated by him. He didn’t believe the man could be so confident about killing him all by himself.

BZZZ—

He pushed his *Thousand Mile Soul Lock* to its limit, his perception spreading out in all directions like invisible ripples.

He searched for any hidden enemies.

But to his surprise, his senses confirmed that besides himself and Qi Zhen, there was no one else lurking within a radius of several miles.

"Defeated foe?"

Qi Zhen repeated the two words, the icy smile on his lips deepening slightly.

He didn’t get angry. He just watched Fang Han quietly, his sharp eyes filled with a condescending scrutiny.

"Back in the Commandery City, if I hadn’t been holding back, you would not have been the one to win."

"What do you mean?"

Fang Han’s brows furrowed slightly.

Qi Zhen didn’t sound like he was bluffing. It seemed he really did have an ace up his sleeve back in the Commandery City, one that could have turned defeat into victory.

His voice remained steady, but beneath the calm, there was a new layer of gravity.

His intuition told him Qi Zhen was not bluffing.

Qi Zhen didn’t answer.

He simply raised his right hand slowly and placed it on the hilt of the long saber at his waist.

The next instant—

KLANG—!!!

The ring of the saber was like a thunderclap. The dark gold long saber left its sheath, its blade flashing with a blinding golden light in the afternoon sun.

An aura far more terrifying and condensed than the one in the Commandery City erupted from Qi Zhen.

The aura was like a tangible mountain, pressing down on the surroundings. Gravel on the ground was sent flying, and the withered weeds were flattened against the earth.

A ten-zhang-long golden Sword Gang shot from the blade, swelling as it flew through the air, carrying a terrifying power that seemed capable of tearing everything apart as it slashed straight for Fang Han.

Wherever the Sword Gang passed, the air shrieked as it was torn, and a deep trench was plowed into the ground, sending gravel flying like rain.

Fang Han’s pupils contracted sharply.

With no time to think, his right hand clamped down on his sword hilt, and the Cloud Splitting Sword was instantly unsheathed.

The dark cyan blade flowed with a reserved brilliance under the sun. His Wind Sword Intent erupted as he activated the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Great Success Realm.

He slashed out with his sword.

The Cyan Sword Light and the golden Sword Gang collided violently in mid-air.

BOOM—!!!

A deafening explosion rocked the open field, the shockwave spreading out in all directions like a tsunami.

Wherever it passed, a layer of the ground was violently scraped away, sending gravel flying and filling the air with dust.

Fang Han felt an irresistible force travel up the blade of his sword, making his entire right arm tingle with numbness. He was forced to take several steps back.

He steadied himself and looked up, his gaze falling on Qi Zhen.

An unconcealable trace of shocked disbelief flashed in his calm eyes.

Compared to their fight in the Commandery City, Qi Zhen’s aura had become noticeably more terrifying.

If Qi Zhen’s aura in the Commandery City was like a scorching fire, then now, it was like a volcano.

"A breakthrough Martial Artist..."

Fang Han muttered the four words, his voice laced with disbelief.

A breakthrough Martial Artist.

That was someone who had broken through at least one of the Three Gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Although it was only one step from the Late Stage of First Grade to breaking through, the difference was like that between heaven and earth. Many were stuck for their entire lives, unable to make the breakthrough.

In all of Qingyang County, there were no more than twenty such breakthrough Martial Artists, which was enough to show how rare they were.

Every one of them was a top-tier existence just below the rank of Grandmaster.

But Qi Zhen hadn’t been in the Late Stage of First Grade for long. How could he have become a breakthrough Martial Artist so quickly?

’This is completely abnormal!’

WHOOSH!

However, before Fang Han could think further, Qi Zhen moved.

His dark gold figure was like a streak of golden lightning, crossing several zhang in an instant to appear before Fang Han.

Golden Inner Qi gathered and compressed wildly on his long saber until it was almost solid, carrying the momentum to shatter mountains as he slashed down viciously.

There were no fancy tricks to this strike—only pure, ultimate power and speed, amplified by his potent Inner Qi.

Before the blade even arrived, the sharp pressure from the saber sent the hair on Fang Han’s forehead flying back and blasted the gravel on the ground in all directions.

Fang Han’s eyes narrowed.

He brought the Cloud Splitting Sword up horizontally before him, channeling his Wind Sword Intent and unleashing the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Great Success Realm.

A cyan-gold light solidified on the sword’s blade as he met the attack with a slash of his own.

CLANG—!!!

Saber and sword clashed, letting out a deafening ring of metal on metal.

Sparks flew as a tangible ring of destructive energy spread wildly outward from the point of impact.

Within a radius of a hundred zhang, a layer of the ground was violently scraped away, revealing the bare rock beneath.

Gravel was swept up, only to be pulverized into dust mid-air by the residual power.

Dust and smoke filled the air, blotting out the sky.

At the center of the Qi Force, the two figures drifted backward simultaneously.

Each of Fang Han’s steps left deep footprints in the hard ground, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading out around them.

He steadied himself. His sword arm was slightly numb and the blood and qi in his body churned, but his eyes remained as serene as still water.

Qi Zhen, too, plowed deep furrows into the ground.

He stabilized his stance and looked up, his gaze falling on Fang Han.

On his dark and rugged face, the initial composure and certainty were gone, replaced by an unconcealable shock.

"You... actually blocked it?"

Qi Zhen’s voice was hoarse, filled with irrepressible astonishment.

He had clearly broken through the Qi Pass, one of the Three Gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, becoming a breakthrough Martial Artist and increasing his combat power by more than tenfold.

Facing Fang Han, he should have been able to crush him.

But the reality was that he hadn’t gained much of an advantage.

Either Fang Han had been hiding his true strength before, or Fang Han’s strength had also skyrocketed at the same time as his own.

Compared to the latter, he was more willing to believe the former.

Because if it was the latter, it would be too terrifying. It would mean that Fang Han’s cultivation speed was so fast that it could rival his own, and he had taken a shortcut by cultivating the "Holy Skill".

"So you became a breakthrough Martial Artist. Is that the source of your confidence?"

Fang Han stood with his sword, his gaze fixed on Qi Zhen.

"But it’s not enough to kill me."

Although Qi Zhen’s breakthrough was a great surprise, it would be a huge mistake to think that this was enough to kill him.

His own strength had not remained stagnant during this time.

Having broken through to Great Success in his Swordsmanship, the growth in his power was no less than Qi Zhen’s.

"Arrogant—

Qi Zhen’s expression turned grim in that instant.

Because he had become a breakthrough Martial Artist, he was confident he alone was enough to kill Fang Han, which was why he had chosen to confront him by himself.

He never expected that Fang Han’s strength would have also improved so dramatically in such a short time.

He took a deep breath, and the Inner Qi in his body began to circulate wildly.

Dark gold Inner Qi erupted from his body like flames, making him look like a Golden Armored Divine Being.

He gripped his saber with both hands and slowly raised it over his head.

On the blade, golden Inner Qi gathered and compressed frantically. The light grew ever brighter as a terrifying aura—heavy as a mountain and tyrannical as thunder—rapidly surged.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze, and even the sound of the wind seemed to vanish at that moment.

Fang Han stared intently at Qi Zhen.

He felt the locked-in killing intent and the immense pressure, and his expression grew solemn.

The nimble and elegant Wind Sword Intent around him also began to quietly condense and climb, vying with the other’s mountain-like tyrannical momentum in an invisible domain.

"DIE—!!!"

Qi Zhen let out a deafening roar, the muscles in his arms bulging as he furiously chopped down.

A massive Sword Gang, condensed to its absolute limit until it almost resembled Dark Gold Glaze, shot from the blade. It carried a world-sundering power as it slashed straight for Fang Han.

Wherever the Sword Gang passed, the air was torn asunder and a deep trench was plowed into the ground. Gravel on either side was swept up, only to be pulverized into dust mid-air by the dissipating saber energy.

This strike was faster, fiercer, and more terrifying than the last.

Fang Han moved.

He didn’t retreat. Instead, he took a step forward.

His Early Stage of Second Grade Inner Qi and three hundred thousand jin of physical strength erupted without reservation, pouring entirely into the Cloud Splitting Sword.

He channeled his Wind Sword Intent, perfectly fusing the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Great Success Realm with the Wind Realm.

His sword rose.

There was no brilliant flash of light, only a thin, dark cyan line, as condensed as a crack in space itself.

Following a profound trajectory, it met the massive Sword Gang head-on.