Chapter 648: Thirty Lightning Strikes, and He Still Wouldn’t Fall

Chloe’s hands moved in a blur, jade-white blades flashing through the air as arcs of lightning danced along their edges. She had pushed her internal energy to its limit, pouring everything she had into each strike, yet Marcus simply refused to go down. No matter how many times her attacks crashed into him, he would only stagger slightly, at most taking a single step back before steadying himself and coming forward again.

It was unbelievable.

Chloe’s lightning was built for pure destruction. The sixth layer of Thunderbird’s Cry could split stone and shear through steel, and even veteran fighters from the previous generation would struggle to withstand a sustained barrage from her. Ethan Bright, the acknowledged foremost young expert of the old martial clans, could circulate his Celestial Mystery True Energy throughout his body to protect himself, but even he would be left shaken after five of Chloe’s strikes, while ten would be enough to inflict internal injuries.

Iron Tiger, who cultivated the Golden Bell Shield, was no better. Even with his Heavenly Bell Divine Armor at the seventh layer, he couldn’t simply stand there and endure Chloe’s lightning without consequence.

Yet Marcus had already taken more than thirty direct hits, and he was still fighting as though he had barely warmed up.

He wasn’t merely standing. He was relaxed, energetic, and completely alive.

How could Chloe and Anya not be shocked? How could they not be amazed by what they were seeing?

And, despite themselves, how could they not be excited?

Neither of them knew the truth. The golden light of the Celestial Prismatic Jade had already remodeled Marcus’s body once, transforming his physical foundation into something far beyond what either of them expected.

"Monster."

That was the only word Chloe could think of as she watched her full-powered lightning slam into Marcus again and again, each strike making him look less like a human being and more like an immovable piece of rock. The attacks that should have left even powerful martial artists badly injured barely seemed capable of doing anything to him.

Yet strangely enough, the sight didn’t make her dislike him.

Quite the opposite.

Watching Marcus take hit after hit without backing down, then gradually becoming more capable as the battle continued, filled Chloe with a sense of pride she hadn’t expected to feel. It was the same pride Anya had shown earlier, the quiet satisfaction of watching someone she cared about prove that all her concern had not been misplaced.

’Stupid Stone. You made me worry about you for nothing.’

She couldn’t help but think that as she continued attacking.

She was right, too. Under her relentless assault, Marcus was improving at an astonishing rate.

His talent was simply absurd.

Tonight was his first time using the Heaven-Earth Infinite Hand at full power, yet even as the spar continued, his movements were becoming smoother and more natural. What had initially felt unfamiliar was gradually becoming instinctive, the complicated motions settling into his muscles as though his body were memorizing the technique with every exchange.

Marcus wasn’t afraid of Chloe’s lightning, but Chloe couldn’t afford to disregard the golden light surrounding his hands. As his mastery of the Heaven-Earth Infinite Hand continued to improve, she was forced to spend more time defending herself and avoiding his attacks. Her offensive rhythm gradually broke apart, her attacks becoming less frequent and her strikes landing less often.

Then another change occurred.

As the Heaven-Earth Infinite Hand became more polished, its palm strikes began to merge perfectly with the true energy of Human Rock. The lost ultimate art of the ancient sect finally began to reveal its genuine power, and with it came the hidden characteristic Marcus had been unable to grasp before.

Its attacks carried defense.

As Marcus attacked, the power of his strikes continued to rise. The golden yin-yang disc surrounding his hands became sharper and broader, but at the same time, golden light began to circulate around his body. Thin threads of radiance intertwined with one another until they formed a three-dimensional sphere around him.

A golden yin-yang orb.

Marcus was completely enveloped within it.

Chloe’s expression changed the moment she realized what was happening. When her lightning struck the golden orb, its power was noticeably weakened, but that wasn’t even the most troublesome part. The orb seemed to possess a strange reflective quality, causing part of the force she sent into it to rebound toward her.

So that was the secret.

The Heaven-Earth Infinite Hand didn’t merely allow offense to carry defense. Its defense also carried offense.

No wonder it was considered one of the ancient sect’s ultimate arts.

"Thunderbird’s Feather!"

Chloe struck the blue bracelet around her wrist with a bolt of lightning. The bracelet immediately responded, releasing a surge of electricity as the seal on the mythic artifact was broken and Thunderbird’s Feather appeared in her hand.

She had no choice.

Her attacks were no longer effective against Marcus. Worse, the more aggressively she attacked, the more she risked having her own power reflected back at her. If she continued without a weapon, she would eventually have no choice but to concede to this monster.

Shing!

With a sharp metallic cry, the slender artifact left its sheath, lightning blazing along its edge.

"Marcus, be careful."

She gave him a brief warning before lunging forward.

The moment Thunderbird’s Feather was in her hand, Chloe’s movements changed completely. She moved with the fluidity of a dragon swimming through water, her speed and power both rising dramatically as she poured her internal energy into the artifact.

Then came a rapid succession of impacts.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just as Marcus had expected, Thunderbird’s Feather struck his body with enough force to make the surrounding air tremble, yet it felt as though the blade were cutting into solid stone. His clothes were torn apart in several places, but beneath the shredded fabric, his skin remained completely intact.

Not even a mark.

Chloe’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t about to stop there.

She continued increasing the amount of internal energy she poured into Thunderbird’s Feather until, at roughly seventy percent of her full output, the situation finally changed. The artifact’s edge managed to break through Marcus’s defenses enough to make him feel a sharp sting, and several thin white lines appeared across his skin.

Marcus glanced down at them. So this was his current limit. If Chloe used Thunderbird’s Feather at full power, she could injure him.

And that meant something important.

If he encountered someone stronger than Chloe before his body became stronger, there was a very real possibility that he could be killed.

The thought didn’t frighten him as much as it sharpened his resolve.

’I still need to train harder.’

The spar continued, and before long, they discovered yet another surprising fact.

Chloe’s internal energy was beginning to run low.

Her attacks gradually lost their initial ferocity, her breathing became heavier, and even her movements slowed slightly. Marcus, however, remained as energetic as he had been at the beginning. Despite enduring one attack after another and continuously using the Heaven-Earth Infinite Hand, the true energy within his body had barely diminished.

Everyone watching could only marvel.

Human Rock really was a bizarre and incredible martial art.

Since Marcus still had plenty of energy left, he eventually moved on to spar with Anya while Chloe stepped aside to recover. That was when he discovered something that made even his previous battle with Chloe seem almost tame.

Anya’s Phoenix Cry was terrifying.

At the stage known as "Phoenix Rebirth, Initial Awakening," Anya’s power was more than twice that of Chloe’s. The moment she moved, she seemed to become a phoenix taking flight, her entire body wreathed in brilliant crimson flames as she swept toward him.

She didn’t even need a weapon.

With nothing but the internal energy of Phoenix Cry, Anya’s jade-white hands were engulfed in roaring fire. Every movement of her arms resembled the wings of a burning bird, flames scattering through the air with each sweeping palm strike.

It was beautiful, and it was lethal.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Her flaming palms crashed into Marcus one after another. Even with the golden yin-yang orb protecting his body, the impact sent pain shooting through him, and every strike forced him backward. The heat alone was overwhelming, but the real danger lay in the power hidden beneath those flames.

Five consecutive strikes from Anya were enough to make Marcus’s blood churn violently and his true energy falter.

He had no choice but to acknowledge the truth.

’Phoenix Cry is monstrous.’

And so was Anya.

Marcus steadied himself after another blow, looked at the crimson flames surrounding her hands, and tightened his fists.

If even this level of power could force him back so easily, then there was still a long road ahead of him.

He needed to become stronger.