Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Lifeblood

CLANG!!

The Sword Aura slashed fiercely against Li Chen’s True Essence Shield, erupting with a deafening blast!

The shield violently shuddered, its light flickering rapidly. Although it wasn’t completely cleft apart by this strike, the attached Mind Blade carried a bizarre piercing tremor. It caused Li Chen’s Divine Soul to tremble slightly, involuntarily stalling his downward hacking motion with his saber.

Meanwhile, Fang Chen—boasting high attack but low defense—suffered the backlash once again.

In that case...

[Time Stop]

Adjust!

[End Time Stop]

The real world resumed with almost seamless continuity. Fang Chen’s Sword Momentum remained unabated; his second strike followed instantly, clinging to him like a relentless shadow! The Dual-Color Sword Aura, likewise imbued with the Mind Blade, viciously struck the exact same spot on the shield!

CLANG!!

The shield’s light dimmed further, revealing faint cracks.

[Time Stop]

Adjust!

[End Time Stop]!

Third strike! Fourth strike! Fifth strike!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!!

Like a tireless, painless combat machine, Fang Chen poured all his strength into every swing. Whenever he absorbed the backlash, he instantly recovered in the gaps of stopped time! His attack rhythm was unfathomably fast, and his power stacked exponentially!

Li Chen was going crazy! He had never seen such a bizarre opponent! Logically, the backlash from every strike was enough to shatter the arms and injure the internal organs of an ordinary High Martial Realm Martial Artist. Yet, his opponent acted as if nothing had happened; instead, his offensive grew fiercer and faster!

He was reduced to passively circulating his True Essence to reinforce his shield. Unable to find a single opening for a counterattack, his raised saber became a mere decoration.

CRACK... SHATTER!

Finally, under Fang Chen’s umpteenth berserk slash, that Attributeless True Essence Shield violently shattered! Li Chen’s expression drastically changed. This time, he had proactively held his breath and guarded his meridians. Although his True Essence wasn’t disrupted like before, the shockwave still caused him to stumble back a step.

Now was the time!

A fierce glint flashed in Fang Chen’s eyes. Bringing the fingers of his right hand together like a sword, he highly compressed the True Essence at his fingertips. A highly condensed strand of Sword Qi from the Heaven-Cutting Finger Sword shot straight for Li Chen’s face with an ear-piercing shriek!

Li Chen was scared out of his wits! He had naturally investigated how Ding Yan had been defeated. She was pierced straight through the cheek at close range by this very Finger Sword! Acting purely on reflex, he abandoned everything else. He hastily pulled his hands back, channeling his majestic True Essence to surge madly in front of him in a desperate bid to construct a defense.

[Extreme Speed]

[Phantom]

From a low crouch, Fang Chen launched himself at a tight angle. One hand shot out like a Spiritual Snake Emerges from the Cave, swiftly striking toward Li Chen’s lower abdomen!

A perfect feint! This strike was blindingly fast, rivaling the flick of the Heaven-Cutting Finger Sword! Before Li Chen could even react, Fang Chen already had his two ’destinies’ firmly gripped in his hand!

Li Chen’s vision blurred, followed instantly by a terrifying sensation seizing his vital regions below. His entire body’s True Essence instinctively stalled as his mind buzzed, going almost completely blank. Although he was wearing a Combat Suit, it was merely True Martial Level with limited defense. More importantly, his Protective True Essence had just been forcibly shattered, leaving him at his absolute most vulnerable state.

Through the fabric of the Combat Suit, Fang Chen’s hand flawlessly clamped down on his vitals. The True Essence gathered at Fang Chen’s fingertips felt like a needle pressed against a balloon—ready to pop everything at a moment’s notice. Even if only a tenth of that power penetrated through, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The spectating crowd instantly fell silent, only to erupt into an even noisier clamor of hushed whispers. Everyone clearly understood the situation.

"Fang Chen... won?"

"Isn’t that obvious! His ’destinies’ are literally in the guy’s hands. Would you dare to move?"

"I wouldn’t dare move either. I’d rather admit defeat and pay up... This move is way too ruthless."

"Wait, haven’t you guys noticed the most absurd part? Fang Chen—a High Martial Realm Martial Artist with no Qi Collection—just took down Li Chen, who’s at the Yellow Rank with Three Qi?"

"Yeah! Is... is the realm gap completely fake? I heard he won a one-on-two against two Yellow Ranks with One Qi before, but I was half-doubtful. Now..."

"Why don’t you go test if the gap is real or not?"

"Never mind, never mind..."

In the arena, Fang Chen slightly tightened his grip, his voice turning icy. "Go ahead, try condensing another shred of True Essence."

"No... I won’t! I won’t condense it!" Li Chen was frightened out of his wits. He hurriedly dispersed the breath he had just drawn, his voice pitching higher. "L-let me go! Fang Chen! What kind of skill is this? What kind of man does this?! Ahhh, it hurts, hurts, hurts! Don’t squeeze! Please, don’t squeeze!"

Fang Chen looked at his face, his eyes devoid of emotion. "I thought you were aware of your current predicament."

"I am! I am!" Li Chen said rapidly, drenched in cold sweat. "Let go, I’ll leave right now! I will absolutely never trouble you again! I swear!"

"Do you think I’d believe that?" Fang Chen’s tone was flat, yet it carried a bone-piercing chill.

Li Chen was genuinely panicking now. "Then... then what do you want? You can’t possibly... kill me over this little matter, right? That’s... completely unnecessary."

"Why not?" Fang Chen raised an eyebrow, speaking in earnest. "I defeated a stronger opponent as the underdog in a private duel. When the Martial Arts Association and the Superpower Bureau investigate, they might even award me a pennant to commend the bravery of a junior Martial Artist."

"Don’t! Fang... Fang! Mr. Fang!" Li Chen broke down entirely. "We can talk this out! This tiny matter isn’t worth it! It’s not like we have some deep, bitter grudge, right?

"I... I was just having a friendly spar with you! If I truly wanted to harm you, I would’ve struck from the shadows long ago. Why would I waste so much breath talking to you?"

He tried to justify himself, but seeing Fang Chen’s gaze grow even colder, he hastily begged, "Otherwise... otherwise, if you really rob me of my manhood, I... I’ll risk my life to... Ahhh! It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!!!"

Fang Chen applied pressure once more until Li Chen was too pained to speak. Only then did he say coldly, "You should rejoice that the only things my perception picked up from you were greed and hostility, not killing intent." His gaze shifted downward, landing on Li Chen’s True Martial-level Combat Suit. "Do you still want this Combat Suit of yours?"

Li Chen blanked, entirely perplexed, but could only nod. "I... I do. I bought it for over a hundred thousand..."

"Take off the Combat Suit’s top," Fang Chen commanded.

Though overwhelmed by confusion and humiliation, with his vitals held hostage, Li Chen didn’t dare disobey. With trembling hands, he slowly and painstakingly peeled off the top, revealing an ordinary cotton undershirt beneath it.

At the precise moment he removed the top, completely exposing his arms and allowing his focus to wane slightly—a sharp glint flashed in Fang Chen’s eyes!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!!!

The ear-piercing sounds of tearing air blurred into a single, continuous note! Having gathered his power long ago, Fang Chen flicked the conjoined fingers of his right hand in rapid succession. Ten extremely condensed strands of Sword Qi from the Heaven-Cutting Finger Sword shot out like the Grim Reaper’s roll call, striking with absolute precision into the elbows, wrists, and palms of Li Chen’s arms!

THUK! THUK! THUK! THUK!

Blood sprayed into the air!

Before Li Chen could even mount an effective response, he felt an agonizing, bone-deep pain erupt from multiple points across his arms, followed immediately by a rapid draining of strength and creeping numbness!

The half-removed top slipped to the floor as he staggered backward with a blood-curdling scream. His arms hung limply at his sides, multiple piercing blood holes gushing profusely. He couldn’t even manage the basic motion of clenching his fists.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Fang Chen released the hand that gripped Li Chen’s two ’destinies’ and took a light step backward. He watched as the man curled into a ball on the ground, rolling and wailing in agony while clutching his practically crippled arms.

"Making me waste ten Time Stops to adjust my condition and heal my injuries," Fang Chen thought coldly. "One Time Stop in exchange for one hole in your body. That’s fair."

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