Chapter 206: Battle in a Small Room

Chapter 206: Battle in a Cramped Room

"New-school mechanized bodies, old-school stimulants."

Li Jun curled his lip in disdain. "You Daoists sure know how to play dirty."

"Elixirs are heirlooms passed down by our ancestors! Don't lump us in with those degenerate, cow-nosed old fossils who've willingly fallen from grace!"

A flash of anger ignited in Chen Qisheng's bloodshot eyes; he seemed deeply offended by Li Jun conflating the New and Old schools of the Daoist sects.

His jaw moved, and he bit down on yet another Third-Revolution Gene Elixir stored within his teeth, crushing and swallowing it.

The efficacy was terrifyingly fast, near instantaneous.

Crimson threads bloomed in the Daoist's eyes, making him seem possessed, deranged. He pushed off the ground, seizing the initiative to attack.

"Let you have a taste of this Dao Master's Alchemical might!"

Amidst a roar, fist shadows flew. The Longhu Mountain Luotian Grand Festival commemorative shirt on his back snapped in the wind; his figure loomed like a dark cloud over Li Jun's head.

"Popping pills gave you confidence too?"

Li Jun sneered coldly, his hand shooting out with the Muscle-Twisting Bone-Displacing Hand to seize Chen Qisheng's wrist.

If mechanized bodies could be dismantled, flesh and blood were naturally no different.

Chen Qisheng seemed aware of the danger. A fleeting, sinister chill flashed through his seemingly deranged eyes. His fist, previously driving forward recklessly, abruptly shifted into a sword finger, stabbing unexpectedly toward Li Jun's palm.

"Hmm?"

The elixir Chen Qisheng had just taken seemed related to reaction speed; the shift from fist to sword was ferociously swift.

Caught off guard, Li Jun had no time to dismantle the move. He could only tense the tendons, bones, and flesh of his right hand to forcibly tank the sword finger strike.

*Pa.*

The sound of the collision was crisp, like a whip cracking against a drumhead.

The claw move closed to catch the sword finger, but the latter slipped away like a startled swan passing through a crevice, withdrawing with effortless grace.

"How was the taste of my Longhu Mountain Green Duckweed Sword Finger?"

Li Jun glanced at the tiny cut on his palm, then looked up at the Daoist's shoulder.

"Next time you brag, remember not to let your hand shake."

Standing with hands behind his back, Chen Qisheng's smile froze.

Where no eyes could see, the sword finger hidden behind his back was trembling slightly. It seemed he had suffered far more in that clash than the bleeding Li Jun.

The Daoist mocked, "Your hide is thick and your flesh tough—perfect for tanking Buddhist fists!"

The martial artist retorted, "Your body is hollow and your strength light; as a main attacker, I bet you can't even break defense!"

Chen Qisheng flew into a rage. "This Dao Master can't break defense? Have the guts to unclench your fist then!"

Li Jun cursed back. "You call that little scratch a wound? Do you even know what hacking someone looks like?!"

Squatting in the corner, Ma Wangye propped his chin with his hand, muttering to himself, "These two's trash talk is more exciting than the fight. But this old man wants to see the pill-popping maniac go up against the muscle-bound brute."

Thinking this, the red eyes in his helmet scanned the arena, and he shouted.

"I'm talking to you two—less yapping, more hands. Since neither of you accepts it, let your fists speak the truth!"

Before the words even landed, Li Jun had already closed the distance.

The martial artist sank his shoulder and crashed in, his hands parting like a horse's mane to tear through the Green Duckweed Sword Finger. His backhand became a palm, sticking to the momentum to strike Chen Qisheng's neck.

The Daoist's body flowed backward with the incoming force, unloading the power while simultaneously lifting a foot to kick Li Jun in the chest.

Li Jun rooted his feet, taking the hit without retreating. Switching from Bajiquan to the Muscle-Twisting Bone-Displacing Hand, he reached out again, grabbing for the other's collar.

Chen Qisheng's reaction was no less sharp. He pressed down on Li Jun's elbow joints, forcing them down. His attacking fingertips slid past the collar by a hair's breadth.

Simultaneously, his feet adopted a Wudouquan bow stance to brace against the opponent's popliteal fossa. Ferocity surged in his red eyes as his right elbow smashed down toward Li Jun's face.

A vicious wind rushed his face, yet Li Jun remained immovable as a mountain. He swung his left fist straight at Chen Qisheng's head.

Just trading punches. Could a flesh-and-blood martial artist fear a pill-popping Daoist disciple?

Seeing Li Jun's ferocity, Chen Qisheng could only reluctantly abandon the idea of smashing that arrogant face in. He retreated first, raising his left arm to block Li Jun's fist.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The two traded blows at high speed, fists coming, legs going, countering move for move.

Ma Wangye watched with relish, even extending a head from under his hood to broadcast the sparring match before him.

"Brothers, today Grandpa Ma isn't lecturing on the 'Nianhua Baodian.' Let you see what true masculine vigor is! Look at these two men, like eagles! A viewing spot costs only three thousand Baocoin, limited quantity, first come first served!"

In close-quarters killing, an inch of softness is an inch of danger.

Chen Qisheng had just chosen to defend on the rear flank, and Li Jun immediately seized the initiative, forcing him into a disadvantage.

Relentless fist force rolled over him like a tide, pressing the Daoist until he could barely breathe.

The bloodshot veins in his eyes had faded by more than half at some unknown time. Heart-piercing agony closed in step by step as the drug's effect waned!

Li Jun likewise noticed the pain hidden in the other's eyes. He unleashed the full power of his perfected Bajiquan, a rushing punch aimed straight for the Daoist's chest.

Chen Qisheng cried out in alarm, scooping his palms up from below to brace the fist peak, stepping back rapidly, trying to drag out the motion to unload the force on the fist.

Li Jun followed up, stomping to generate force, forcibly yanking his arm back, turning his body on his heel, and driving his other elbow into the Daoist's solar plexus.

Momentum like a mountain collision, ferocity reaching the heavens.

If that elbow connected, Chen Qisheng suspected even a full mechanized body would only end up disassembled.

In that critical instant, a jade-carved talisman tablet shot from the Daoist's sleeve, hovering before the elbow tip.

*Pa!*

The talisman shattered on impact. Sharp fragments grazed past both their faces like bullets, shearing off strands of hair and drawing specks of blood.

Only now did Chen Qisheng finally seize a moment to breathe, his figure hurriedly swaying back.

"Old-school Daoists use talismans too?"

"Of course!"

Chen Qisheng saw the mocking smile on Li Jun's face, and anger flared in his heart.

"Others draw theirs."

"I carved this one myself, damn it!"

As the words fell, the wind surged again.

Chen Qisheng's face was savage. Two crimson talismans flew from his sleeve into his palm, held as if they were two bricks.

As he swung them, a sudden wave of scorching heat rose in the air.

This crimson talisman, functioning similarly to a hand grenade, Li Jun had seen in the hands of the Divine Rosy Daoist, Wang Wenqin.

But everyone else threw them. This was the first time Li Jun had seen someone use them by gripping them in hand like Chen Qisheng.

*Boom!*

A scorching wave of flame erupted from the collision of fist and palm, engulfing Li Jun, burning without cease.

Strangely, the wave of flame surged toward Li Jun alone.

Beside the Daoist, it was as if an invisible barrier stood; not a whisper of wind stirred.

*Whoosh!*

The talismans in Chen Qisheng’s sleeve seemed inexhaustible. Another pair of vermilion seals dropped into his palm, clearly intent on delivering two more strikes to Li Jun.

"A close-combat mage? The kind the Martial Dao Sequence nearly hunted to extinction alongside us back in the day? There’s actually still someone in the Daoist sects playing that game?"

Lord Ma’s tone held shock, yet his fingers silently found the trigger of the 'Jing Ke' concealed in his sleeve.

But in the very next second, his hand withdrew back into his robe.

"Told you so. He wouldn't just get roasted that easily."

Amidst the flames, a pair of arms suddenly shot out, clamping down on Chen Qisheng’s seal-holding hands.

*Crack!*

The Daoist’s hands snapped at the sound. The engraved jade seals in his grip hadn't even time to detonate before they *clattered* to the floor.

*Thud!*

Chen Qisheng, struck as if by a cannonball dead-on, arched his back, bending at the waist, and flew backward.

The flame wave, spent of momentum, gradually dissipated.

Li Jun’s face was charred black, yet his eyes shone bright and terrifying.

He lifted a foot and stepped out; the small chamber trembled.

In the wake of his shooting figure, specks of drifting sparks trailed behind.

"Playing for keeps, huh? This Daoist Master will accompany you to the bitter end!"

Still mid-air, the Daoist gritted his teeth, chewing and swallowing yet another Fourth-Revolution Gene Elixir.

In pupils drained of blood, a green light swirled.

*Crackle.*

A tyrannical power surged from the Dao Foundation in his abdomen. His arms, bones twisted and shattered, were forcibly wrenched back into place by sheer muscular force.

Chen Qisheng spun in mid-air, stomping hard against the alloy wall with both feet.

Fingers pressed together like a sword, he slashed at the figure imprinted in his eyes!