Chapter 31: Not Bad Skills

Chapter 31: Not Bad Skill

"That day at the Longcheng arena, failing to crush you to death was your good fortune. Now you actually dare jump out to stand up for someone else? You really take yourself for a somebody?"

Killing intent filled Hu Zhong's eyes. In the entire Muddy Water Pao Ge, aside from Zhao Ding, the person he hated most was Li Jun.

If Li Jun hadn't killed Lang Ren in the duel that day, the Jidao Society wouldn't have collapsed, and he wouldn't have had to debase himself serving as Luo Zhen's bodyguard.

What was even more infuriating was that an ant he could have crushed with a single step had actually stepped on his head to leap over the Dragon Gate, becoming a Sequence Nine capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

This was the one thing Hu Zhong found most unacceptable.

"Come on. Try it, and you'll see just who has the better fortune."

Li Jun's gaze was haughty. He raised a hand, beckoning Hu Zhong.

His aura was arrogant and domineering, the very picture of a Martial Nine thug!

"Courting death!"

Hu Zhong let out a cold snort. A sound like a tiger's roar tearing through the air suddenly exploded within the council hall.

Qing Yun's expression changed drastically as he watched that figure wreathed in lightning.

The power and speed Hu Zhong displayed now were even more tyrannical than during the duel. The compatibility between the Thunder Division Celestial Soldier Mechanical Heart in his chest and his Soldier Path Genome had likely exceeded eighty percent.

This was practically touching the pinnacle of Soldier Nine—a true Peak Mechanic Disciple!

"Be careful!"

The warning had barely left Qing Yun's mouth when a fist wrapped in lightning had already slammed toward Li Jun's face.

*Bang!*

Everyone's chests tightened simultaneously, all horrified by the power of Hu Zhong's punch. If Li Jun took it solidly, even if he didn't die, he'd shed a layer of skin.

A Martial Nine's physical constitution was high, but it wouldn't be harder than a Soldier Nine's mechanical prosthetics.

Yet, defying everyone's expectations, the one forced back in the next moment was actually Hu Zhong!

Hu Zhong retreated violently several meters, his final step even driving his toes into the floor tiles just to arrest his backward momentum.

His entire right sleeve was shredded, the synthetic skin split and peeled back as if torn apart by a massive force, revealing the mechanical prosthetic beneath, crackling with lightning.

And standing opposite him, Li Jun had merely assumed the simple posture of a straight punch with one arm.

He even still clutched a few blood-stained bandages in his hand.

"Interesting. A Peak Martial Nine. So this is the trump card you saved for last, Zhao Ding."

Luo Zhen didn't fly into a rage at Hu Zhong's poor start. Instead, he wore a smile of everything being under control.

The feeling of forcing an opponent to reveal their bottom card with a casual strike was truly quite good.

Luo Zhen murmured with a smile: "What a pity, though. What waves can a single Martial Nine stir up? In a moment, this official will use his blood to see you off."

In the midst of the battle, Li Jun held his right arm level with his shoulder, fingers splayed. The bloodied bandages in his palm slowly fell.

The instant the bandages touched the ground, Qing Yun, standing behind him, suddenly bent at the waist. A black slit split open at the vertebrae of his neck, and a long saber shot out from within!

Its speed was like a powerful crossbow bolt, streaking straight forward!

*Crack!* A crisp sound rang out as the bluestone beneath Li Jun's feet shattered. His figure vanished from the spot, instantly catching up to the long saber.

He reached out, seized the hilt, stepped and spun, bringing the saber down in a standing cleave!

The motion flowed in one continuous breath.

The tiger stripes on Hu Zhong's face twitched. He met the blade with a raised fist, swinging out.

*Clang!*

The blade edge chopped viciously onto the metal fist peak, ringing out with an incomparably high-pitched saber hum.

Hu Zhong's fist plunged downward, seemingly unable to bear the massive force Li Jun brought down. He hurriedly chose to retreat and dissipate the force.

Li Jun pressed forward, repeating the same move—another spinning standing cleave.

Cold light, like a full moon, enveloped Hu Zhong's head.

*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The explosive sounds nearly merged into one, shaking the ear canals of everyone nearby.

A tall, straight Tianfu Garrison Guard frowned deeply, stepping to Luo Zhen's side and saying in a deep voice: "My Lord, shall we lend a hand?"

Luo Zhen let out a cold snort. "Lend a hand for what? Don't forget, we are here to maintain order."

The guard fell silent for a moment. "I fear Hu Zhong might slip up and ruin your plan, My Lord."

"Don't worry. Whether Hu Zhong wins or loses in the end, blood must be spilled here today. Once blood is spilled, it's a homicide case. That is when you should act."

The guard's eyes trembled. He silently nodded and retreated soundlessly to his original position.

Luo Zhen stretched his legs in his chair, watching that blinding mass of saber light, and deliberately raised his voice: "If Hu Zhong can't even handle a newly fledged chick, then he has no more value!"

Even amidst the thunderous clashes of saber and fist in the hall, Hu Zhong, whose organs were mostly mechanized, heard Luo Zhen's words clearly.

The former Jidao Society Leader's expression turned abruptly ferocious. The thought in his mind of retreating to defend and waiting for a counterattack vanished instantly.

His left foot, already raised to continue retreating and dissipating force, stomped down hard. His two mechanical arms crossed upward, meeting the descending long saber with a heavy crash!

The sound of this collision was like heavenly thunder detonating in the council hall.

Deep saber marks appeared on Hu Zhong's arms, but he successfully interrupted Li Jun's ferocious saber momentum.

He clamped the long saber between the backs of his hands like iron pincers. Lightning jumped from his palm, striking toward Li Jun's face.

Li Jun decisively crossed his arm before his face to block. The lightning lashed against flesh and blood, emitting bursts of a scorched smell.

But when the lightning faded, Li Jun's arm was merely charred black on the surface, not even cracked.

To Li Jun, who had pushed Iron Cloth Shirt to its later stages, this level of voltage was like a tickle.

"Let go!"

Li Jun roared. The muscles on both arms bulged. He forcibly wrenched the long saber free from Hu Zhong's clamp, twisting his waist and flinging it outward.

*Slap!*

Rather than saying he was cleaved away, it was more accurate to say Hu Zhong was swung away by Li Jun, crashing down several meters away.

By the time Hu Zhong scrambled up in a sorry state, the left side of his face had been shattered by that saber strike, revealing a hideous metal facial bone. Half a prosthetic eye's red light died out, sparks occasionally sputtering.

"Hide's pretty tough!"

Li Jun turned his head and spat, then stepped forward again, charging. The already chipped long saber thrust straight for Hu Zhong's heart!

By now, he understood. For Soldier Path practitioners, only the Mechanical Heart in the chest cavity counted as a true vital point.

Li Jun's idea was simple: since only a stab to the heart could kill, then he would just dig out that battery of his!

His figure moved like an arrow, arriving in a blink. Hu Zhong suddenly raised both palms and clapped them heavily together before his chest!

*Hum!*

Countless blue lightning snakes ejected from his joined palms, lunging at Li Jun.

*Clang!!*

Blue lightning slammed into the blade, instantly erupting into a vast spray of sparks.

Li Jun’s black hair stood on end at the crown of his head; the sensation traveling up the blade made him feel as though he had hacked into a water current—ethereal, yielding no purchase.

Worse still, the azure bolts clung to his body, a violent numbness freezing his movements, halting his forward charge for a fraction of a heartbeat.

Suddenly, Hu Zhong roared, his single eye blazing crimson, the Thunder Division’s Celestial Soldier Mechanism Heart in his chest roaring to life at full throttle with a thunderous hum.

Lightning once no thicker than a hair strand swelled in an instant, forming an ocean of electricity that swallowed Li Jun’s figure whole.

Crackle... crackle... crackle...

The sizzle of flesh persisted for several seconds before slowly dying away.

Only when the blinding glare faded did the onlookers see that the cyan floor tiles between the two men had vanished entirely.

Everywhere lay exposed earth and furrows plowed by the lightning.

Exhausted to the extreme, Hu Zhong gasped instinctively, his dead stare fixed upon that silhouette, charred black from head to toe.

The skin on his face had lost all motor function, revealing no expression, yet the hum of his Mechanism Heart was gradually weakening.

"Should be... dead, right?" Hu Zhong muttered vacantly.

Hope had barely sparked before it was extinguished.

The pitch-black figure suddenly swayed, carbonized skin rustling down like ash, then he planted his feet firmly, abruptly exhaling a plume of smoke.

"Hah."

Li Jun grinned, revealing a mouthful of ghastly white teeth, and said: "Good craftsmanship."