Chapter 311 - 181: First Kill: Refining Viscera Late Stage

Chapter 311: Chapter 181: First Kill: Refining Viscera Late Stage

They were no more than five meters apart.

For an ordinary person, five meters is a distance that takes two or three steps to cross.

But for a Martial Artist in the Refining Viscera Realm, it was a distance that could be crossed in the span of half a breath.

Against any ordinary opponent, Tian Guipu was fully confident he could shatter their skull with a single palm strike before they even had time to react.

Unfortunately for him, the man standing across from him was Wan Ze.

Judging by the explosive force of Wan Ze’s earlier punch, Tian Guipu felt utterly uncertain.

He especially recalled the sword that had flown in from outside, piercing the stone pillar. The entire sequence had been so fast he’d only managed to glimpse a shadow.

That kind of speed couldn’t be achieved through brute strength alone. It was a Realm reached only when bone and sinew, blood and qi, and reflexes were all in perfect harmony.

As Tian Guipu considered it, ’I really don’t have the confidence to overwhelm Wan Ze in an instant.’

Wan Ze, meanwhile, had instantly seen through Tian Guipu’s intent.

He was, at this moment, impossibly calm.

Tian Guipu’s Refining Viscera Stage aura exuded an invisible, oppressive pressure. It wasn’t killing intent, but it was even more potent.

Any other Blood Tempering Realm Martial Artist would have found their legs turning to jelly just from standing before Tian Guipu.

But Wan Ze stood his ground, unmoving, letting that thunderous will wash over him without flinching.

At his side, Liu Chongyue also noticed Tian Guipu’s intent to strike.

His mouth was full of blood. The corners of his lips had been split open by Wan Ze’s punch, and blood trickled down his chin, dripping onto his clothes.

But there was no fear in his eyes, only the ferocity of a man pushed to the brink.

He suddenly flung his arms out from his sides to encircle Wan Ze. His reach was immense, his arms like two thick iron chains attempting to lock Wan Ze in place.

His thinking was simple.

If he could just pin Wan Ze down for an instant—even a single instant—Tian Guipu’s palm strike would land.

At that point, no matter how strong Wan Ze was, he would be nothing more than a stationary target.

"You’re dead meat now!"

Liu Chongyue’s vicious laugh was squeezed from his blood-filled mouth. His voice was garbled, but the smugness in his tone made it clear he could already picture Wan Ze being struck dead on the spot.

But he had still underestimated Wan Ze.

THUMP!

A dull thud reverberated through the air.

Power erupted from Wan Ze’s body, as if exploding from every pore simultaneously. Surging, Rulong blood and qi rippled across his skin and spread outward as a Shocking Force.

It was like a great bell being struck; the bell itself didn’t move, but the resulting vibration was enough to send a paralyzing jolt through anyone who touched it.

The moment Liu Chongyue’s massive body made contact with Wan Ze’s back, he felt as if he had slammed into a solid wall.

His encircling arms froze in mid-air. Before his fingers could even interlock, they were blasted apart by the Shocking Force.

In an instant, the webbing of his hands went numb and his wrists went limp. A paralyzing sensation, as if he’d been struck with an electric prod, shot up his entire arm from fingertip to shoulder.

Before he could even recover his wits, Wan Ze pounced.

He moved like a primordial divine bear.

His left hand shot down like lightning, his five fingers like hooks, and dug savagely into the muscles of Liu Chongyue’s neck.

Each of his five fingers was like a steel clamp.

Where his fingertips pressed down, flesh indented and veins bulged. The tips of his fingers sank deep into Liu Chongyue’s neck.

"Ah! Ssss—"

Liu Chongyue let out a short, agonized cry that turned into a sharp hiss. His face turned a deep, purplish red, and his eyes bulged as he stared at Wan Ze’s expressionless face, just inches away.

In that instant, his mind went completely blank.

He suddenly realized his predicament...

’Wan Ze... is going to kill me.’

The thought shot through him like a bolt of lightning, from the crown of his skull to the soles of his feet. Every hair on his body stood on end; every inch of his skin was screaming in terror.

He wanted to struggle, to fight back, to use the Martial Dao he had spent over a decade in Cultivation to break free from that grip, but his body wouldn’t obey.

The Shocking Force was still reverberating through his body, coiling around his spine and forcing him to expend ten times the normal effort for every slight movement.

Wan Ze gave Liu Chongyue no opportunity to escape.

The left hand gripping his neck suddenly tightened. Using the momentum from his pounce, Wan Ze lifted Liu Chongyue’s nearly two-hundred-pound body clean off the ground.

Liu Chongyue’s feet left the ground, dangling in mid-air. His legs kicked frantically, the soles of his shoes tracing useless arcs in the air.

Then, Wan Ze slammed that hand down with brutal force!

"Senior Brother, save me—!"

Liu Chongyue shrieked out the last words of his life, his voice filled with despair.

He truly regretted it now.

He regretted trying to kill Wan Ze after already being defeated.

He regretted the sneak attack from behind.

He regretted coming to the Holy City, regretted taking this mission, regretted ever stepping through that door...

But now Wan Ze was smashing his head toward the ground, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it!

His hands flew up instinctively, trying to brace against the ground and protect his head.

But under Wan Ze’s overwhelming pressure, his arms felt like limp noodles, completely powerless.

’This guy is clearly trying to kill me!’

’How dare he!’

As Liu Chongyue shrieked, Tian Guipu finally reacted.

"Wan Ze! Stop!"

Each word boomed like a thunderclap, exploding through the hall.

Tian Guipu’s aura erupted. Holding nothing back, his voice was like a thunderclap, and the very ground beneath his feet seemed to tremble.

But the thunderous killing intent erupting from Wan Ze didn’t falter for even a second.

It was a resolve that, once unleashed, would not rest until death. It was not anger, nor hatred, but something far purer than either.