Chapter 117: An Unstoppable Advance

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: An Unstoppable Advance

The three had already signed the Life and Death Contract. According to the Sect Rules, once the contract was signed, the Life and Death Decision was officially sanctioned. No one had the right to interfere or stop it. The duel would not end until a victor emerged and life and death were decided on the platform.

Not even she had the right to drag Chen Yue off the platform now. She could only watch helplessly as this hopelessly mismatched slaughter was about to begin.

Liu Wenying stood beside Meng Yu Jin, her gaze fixed on the solitary figure on the platform. She then glanced at the menacing pair of Jiang Linkuo and Cheng Jun standing shoulder-to-shoulder across from him, a flicker of regret and self-blame crossing her eyes.

’It’s all my fault. I was so engrossed in the match that I completely forgot to go down and stop them right away. I missed the perfect chance to intervene.’

’This junior brother... he’s really going to die on that platform.’

She bit her lip, her hands unconsciously tightening around the hem of her robes.

Just then, Song Zhen, the Steward in charge of the Martial Arts Arena for the day, noticed Meng Yu Jin’s arrival.

He flickered and appeared at Meng Yu Jin’s side. With a smile, he cupped his hands in greeting. "Junior Sister Meng? What brings you to the Martial Arts Arena today?"

Meng Yu Jin’s gaze remained fixed on the young figure on the platform. Her voice was low, laced with a barely perceptible, complex emotion.

"That disciple... Chen Yue. He’s one of the outer sect disciples I’m assigned to instruct in the Panshi Skill each month."

Song Zhen was taken aback, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

Meng Yu Jin was responsible for instructing twenty to thirty outer sect disciples. She normally took a hands-off approach, gathering them for guidance once on the fifth of each month and paying them almost no attention otherwise.

’But for her to personally come to the Martial Arts Arena for one of them... that says a lot. It seems this Chen Yue is truly different, at least in her eyes.’

But as Song Zhen glanced at the opponents on the platform, he couldn’t help but shake his head to himself.

’No matter how different he is, a Bone Forging Realm disciple challenging a Law Enforcement Disciple from the Marrow Refining Realm is just asking to die.’

’And from the grave look on Meng Yu Jin’s face, it’s obvious she thinks Chen Yue is going to die on the Life and Death Platform today, too.’

Song Zhen sighed inwardly but knew better than to say anything more. He simply stood beside Meng Yu Jin, preparing to witness the impending slaughter.

On the Life and Death Platform.

None of the three had brought weapons. This had been agreed upon before the battle.

They could either all use weapons, or none of them would.

Jiang Linkuo didn’t think he needed a weapon to deal with a mere Bone Forging Realm Loose Cultivator. Besides, the Panshi Skill specialized in unarmed combat. His fighting prowess with his bare hands was in no way inferior to his skill with a weapon.

’His fists are his best weapons.’

Cheng Jun stared at Chen Yue, a cruel light glinting in his eyes.

He turned his head and whispered to Jiang Linkuo:

"Senior Brother Jiang, please provide support for me. I’ll take care of this brat. No need for you to get involved personally and dirty your hands."

"Once I take his head, those disciples on Dan Peak who don’t know their place will see the consequences of defying the Mutual Aid Association."

Jiang Linkuo kept his eyes on Chen Yue and slowly nodded.

Providing support didn’t just mean standing by and watching the show.

With a Marrow Refining Realm expert like him looming menacingly on the sidelines, Chen Yue’s attention would be split, making it impossible for him to fully concentrate on Cheng Jun.

He’d be lucky to bring even seventy or eighty percent of his full power to bear.

It was a form of psychological suppression—an invisible shackle more suffocating than any physical attack.

A vicious grin spread across Cheng Jun’s face, filled with bloodthirsty excitement and undisguised contempt.

He cupped his hands. "My thanks, Senior Brother!"

Before the words had even faded, Cheng Jun’s gaze turned frigid. He stomped his right foot back, and the hard bluestone ground beneath him erupted with a muffled BOOM as spiderweb cracks spread in all directions.

In the next instant, Cheng Jun shot forward like a cannonball, crossing fifty feet in a flash to lunge at Chen Yue!

With his Panshi Skill at full power, Cheng Jun’s right fist whistled through the air, carrying enough ferocious Power to shatter stone as it flew straight toward Chen Yue’s head.

From his very first move, he used a merciless Killing Technique.

And behind him, Jiang Linkuo also moved.

He didn’t attack head-on. Instead, he drifted sideways several feet like a phantom, changing his angle. His eyes, like a hawk’s, remained locked on Chen Yue, searching for a fatal opening.

Jiang Linkuo’s steps were light yet steady, his breathing even. His entire body was like a fully drawn bow, ready to release.

Facing the thunderous punch and the looming presence of Jiang Linkuo, Chen Yue slowly lifted his eyelids.

His gaze didn’t linger on the charging Cheng Jun. Instead, it passed over him, landing on Jiang Linkuo further back.

Then, Chen Yue slowly raised his arm and threw a punch of his own, meeting Cheng Jun’s seemingly unstoppable fist.

Fist against fist. No feints, no tricks.

Seeing Chen Yue’s casual posture, a wave of pure fury erupted in Cheng Jun’s heart.

’A Loose Cultivator who fled from some backwater town? A newly-joined Bone Forging Realm disciple? How dare he look down on me?’

Cheng Jun had been holding back some of his strength, ready to adapt his attack based on Chen Yue’s response. But now, provoked by Chen Yue’s dismissive attitude, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

With an inner roar, Cheng Jun poured every last bit of his reserved power into his right fist.

’I’ll shatter his right arm with this one punch! Then, I’ll crush every bone in his body, inch by inch.’

’He’ll pay the ultimate price for his arrogance!’

BANG!

A sickeningly muffled boom, followed by the distinct crack of shattering bone, exploded across the Life and Death Platform.

The sound was so loud that the disciples closest to the platform flinched involuntarily.

Time seemed to freeze.

The vicious grin on Cheng Jun’s face froze before it could fully form.

He felt his fist slam into an indestructible mountain of iron. A terrifying power, far beyond anything he could have imagined, surged up his arm like a tidal wave.

The sheer, domineering force completely shattered his understanding of the three words "Bone Forging Realm."

Then, before his disbelieving eyes, he watched as his own right fist deformed, splintered, and then utterly disintegrated under the impact of that power!

Then his wrist, then his forearm...

The sound of shattering bone was a continuous crunch. Before the eyes of the entire crowd, Cheng Jun’s right forearm was pulverized inch by inch by Chen Yue’s punch, reduced to a bloody pulp.

Shards of bone, stark white, pierced through the skin, mixing with blood in a horrifying spectacle.

The searing pain hadn’t even fully registered in his brain, but an indescribable terror had already overwhelmed his senses.

His pupils contracted violently as he stared in disbelief at what was left of his right arm, his mind going completely blank.

He forgot to even scream, simply staring dumbly at the gushing stump as if it belonged to someone else.

But Chen Yue’s fist, after shattering Cheng Jun’s arm, continued onward with unabated momentum, driving straight for Cheng Jun’s chest.

Cheng Jun had put too much power into his punch, concentrating all his strength in his right fist. Now, with his momentum spent and no time to generate new force, he had no way to dodge.

Driven by pure survival instinct, Cheng Jun desperately threw his left arm up to block his chest.

Further back, the instant Chen Yue’s fist shattered Cheng Jun’s right arm, Jiang Linkuo’s eyes narrowed involuntarily.

The look of calm and contempt on his face vanished, replaced by utter, incredulous shock.

He’d never imagined it. Cheng Jun, a peak Bone Forging Realm disciple who had practiced the Panshi Skill for years, a Martial Artist considered quite skilled among the outer sect, had been defeated so easily? He couldn’t even withstand a single punch?

’What kind of Loose Cultivator is this? Do even the strongest Bone Forging Realm disciples in the outer sect have this kind of power?’

’Am I seeing things?’ he wondered. But the splattering blood and splintered bone were all too real.

Jiang Linkuo instinctively wanted to intervene, but he was just too far away to reach Cheng Jun in time.

In a flash, a deadly glint appeared in Jiang Linkuo’s eyes.

’If I can’t save him, I’ll take this chance to attack Chen Yue!’

Jiang Linkuo pushed his Body Technique to its limit. He became a black shadow, skirting the direct confrontation and unleashing a silent punch charged with the immense Power of the Marrow Refining Realm, aimed straight at Chen Yue’s head.

The punch was fast, vicious, and aimed from a difficult angle. If it connected, it would shatter Chen Yue’s skull like a watermelon.

BOOM!

Another explosive impact!

Cheng Jun’s hastily raised left arm was like paper before Chen Yue’s fist. It snapped instantly, and the punch slammed, unimpeded, right into the center of his chest.

Cheng Jun’s feet left the ground as his body arched and flew backward. A great spray of blood mist, thick with bits of his internal organs, blossomed in the air—a gruesome flower in the light of the setting sun.

He slammed heavily onto the edge of the Life and Death Platform and rolled over a dozen times before coming to a stop, leaving a long, bloody smear on the bluestone.

Cheng Jun struggled to move but couldn’t get up. He lay in a pool of his own blood, his eyes desperately trying to find Jiang Linkuo.

His lips quivered, as if trying to form words, but only more blood foamed out.

And at almost the exact same moment...

BAM!!

Another heavy thud echoed out.

Jiang Linkuo’s guaranteed-kill punch didn’t crush Chen Yue’s skull as he’d expected. An inch from Chen Yue’s temple, it was caught and held fast by a hand that had appeared from nowhere.

Chen Yue’s left hand, like an iron vice, had clamped down on Jiang Linkuo’s fist.

He hadn’t taken a single step back.

While fighting two against one, he had taken a full-power blow from Cheng Jun and crippled him, then immediately pivoted to block a sneak attack from Jiang Linkuo, a Marrow Refining Realm expert.

And Chen Yue hadn’t even swayed.

The entire Martial Arts Arena fell deathly silent.

All the chatter, all the jeering, came to an abrupt halt.

Every single disciple in the crowd stared wide-eyed, their faces masks of utter shock and disbelief.

They had imagined many outcomes. They’d imagined Chen Yue would be crushed. They’d considered that he might have a few tricks up his sleeve and could last for a few exchanges. They’d even entertained the possibility of a drawn-out, bloody battle.

But they had never, ever imagined an outcome like this.