Chapter 302: Noon (2)

Chapter 302: Noon (Part Two)

"Get out!"

A thunderous roar erupted like winter lightning, and a crushing pressure, as if mountains were collapsing, descended upon his head.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan's face was grim, his feet planted in a bow stance, his spine slightly arched, his entire body resembling a taut, rigid bow. The black feathers of his cloak were stained with snow, and his left thumb pushed against the tang of his blade.

A sharp, icy gleam erupted, soaring straight toward the sky.

Clang!

The cold blade clashed, sparking fiery points that plunged into the furious gazes of both men.

Suddenly, an almost irresistible terror surged from the Wodao, and Feng Chen Jian Yuan even heard the metallic groan of his right arm's joints under strain.

The figure of Feng Chen Jian Yuan, wrapped in his feathered cloak, was shoved backward by this force, his shoes carving two trenches in the snow.

Mud surged upward, mingling with crushed grayish stone dust.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan stamped his right foot, sending up a spray of fine snow, forcibly halting his retreat.

His eyes fell to the Wodao 'Bai Guie' he had forged himself, and he instinctively recoiled.

A hole the size of a grain of rice had appeared on the blade.

"This power—could it be wild martial sequences? Gong Qing Hong, how much have you deceived me!"

The fury of betrayal still burning in his chest, Feng Chen Jian Yuan's vision abruptly darkened.

The shadow had closed in again.

The self-proclaimed 'Sword Master' immediately composed himself, ducking to evade the horizontal slash of the embroidered spring blade, his black hair severed by the edge and drifting down.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan straightened, raising his blade, its momentum splashing out a blade light like a storm, enveloping the space ahead.

Li Jun dragged his blade, entangling it around his body, deflecting the incoming blade light, then struck again with precision, cleaving into the crack of the Bai Guie.

Clang!

Feng Chen Jian Yuan's form plummeted downward, his left knee striking the ground, his right hand trembling as white blood began to seep out.

On Li Jun, he saw no refined martial artistry, only the terrifying force erupting from his primal physique.

Yet even this alone nearly suffocated him.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan clenched his teeth, his right leg sweeping forward. As Li Jun lifted his knee to block, he let out a tiger's roar, seizing the moment to push open the embroidered spring blade pressing on him, and his left hand tore open his cloak.

A sharp clang rang out as Feng Chen Jian Yuan drew a blade from his waist, its length matching his arm, its edge gleaming with blood.

Three intricate inscriptions were carved at the tip: Chi Xue Qie.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan pivoted, closing in on Li Jun's side, and the Chi Xue Qie cleaved straight down toward his right hand gripping the blade.

"Such combat skills in the military sequence—you're the first I've seen, Ma Ye."

A mocking voice echoed in the red eyes.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan's brow furrowed, unconsciously slowing his blade's descent.

At this critical moment, Li Jun's left hand suddenly thrust forward, his five fingers gripping the red blade's edge.

A grating sound erupted as Feng Chen Jian Yuan's eyes flashed fiercely, his wrist twisting the blade, its sharp edge scraping against the palm's armor plates, emitting a teeth-grinding screech.

Yet in the next instant, the malice in his eyes was replaced by an unmistakable shock.

Li Jun's fingers clenched, the armor plates contracting and pushing, actually twisting the thousand-forged Chi Xue Qie into a warped edge.

Thud!

Li Jun stamped his foot, a heavy boom echoing at his landing.

His form closed in within half a step, his shoulder pressing forward, and in this intimate space, the Eight Extremes' energy surged forth.

Feng Chen Jian Yuan let out a low growl, crossing the Bai Guie before his chest, colliding fiercely with Li Jun's shoulder.

Bang!

Feng Chen Jian Yuan's form was flung backward, fragments of his cloak and flesh flying into the air.

Though it was a collision, the wounds it wrought were like blade strikes.

His synthetic flesh at his chest was torn away, revealing beneath the silvery, scarred mechanical bones.

He glanced at Li Jun's shoulder, where the monstrous horn was receding and deforming, and spoke coldly: "Traditional martial sequences have strayed into the path of alchemy. I never expected a wild martial sequence like yours to become a lackey of the ink armor!"

"Damn it, another fool hypnotized by the 'Great Military Sequence Doctrine.' Just looking at you, a little Japanese brat, you've never been beaten by martial sequences, yet you dare spout such nonsense."

Li Jun moved, and Ma Wang Ye struck at his heart.

This was the unspoken understanding between them!

Screech!

Feng Chen Jian Yuan tore off his ruptured cloak, his upper body bare, his aura wild and fierce.

The mechanical heart in his chest buzzed rapidly, its hum nearly deafening in an instant!

The surrounding pine trees and mechanical hearts resonated in frequency, branches shaking and snow cascading down.

He stepped forward, lifted his head, his eyes blazing with scorching battle spirit.

"Military Sequence Tiger Minister, Feng Chen Jian Yuan!"

A disdainful cold snort echoed in the red eyes: "I am your father, Old Ma of the Ink Sequence!"

"You—"

Feng Chen Jian Yuan clenched his teeth, a palpable killing intent surging forward.

Li Jun, however, ignored it, lifting his gaze toward the courtyard's depths.

At this moment, it too was a battlefield splashed with fresh blood.

Xie Bi An, alone, was trapped in the encirclement of Sanchuan Heavy Industries, struggling to advance.

Ten zhang ahead of him, Gong Qing Hong crossed his arms before his chest, a mocking smirk on his face.

As if sensing Li Jun's gaze, Gong Qing Hong looked up.

Their eyes met, and Li Jun immediately understood his intent.

This time, Gong Qing Hong did not wish to flee but to witness firsthand how these Imperial Guards would perish here!

"Old Ma."

Li Jun withdrew his gaze, turning to Feng Chen Jian Yuan, whose face was flushed red, and spoke softly: "Time is pressing. Stop playing around."

His angular features remained expressionless, but deep within his eyes, a rogue flame was gradually igniting.

"Understood."

The ever-boisterous Ma Wang Ye immediately fell silent.

Clang!

The embroidered spring blade hung before him, Li Jun's left hand pressing against the black patterns coiled around the blade's edge, slowly wiping across them. Crimson flames gradually ignited.

This was the new ability loaded by Ma Wang Ye, Fettered Flame!

A suffocating wave of heat spread from the blade, twisting the icy air even though no snow had fallen at noon.

Furutenken saw this terrifying sight and immediately pushed his mechanical heart frequency to its limit, entering an overclocked state!

"Mechanical Heart Overclock, Liu Shou Zong Yan!"

Two mechanical eyes instantly turned pitch-black, all seven emotions and six desires stripped away, their expressions cold and resolute.

The mechanical sounds on his body surged, his form shrinking further, limbs becoming thicker and shorter.

Furutenken's right foot slammed the ground, his body lunging forward, the white bone severing sword gripped in his hand, the blade's edge cleaving the air, its icy light condensing into a whistling sound like a baby's cry, sending chills down the spine.

"Liu Shou, the killing blade!"

Li Jun remained calm, opening his mouth to swallow a mouthful of scorching air. The skin exposed beyond his armor darkened visibly.

Gall, devour the dragon!

His figure suddenly swelled to nearly seven feet, muscles bulging, and the ink-black armor on his body stretched and twisted, becoming more ferocious and grotesque.

A dark light radiated, its might like a prison!

The Fettered Flame of the embroidered spring blade surged straight toward the Japanese blade said to cleave white bones.

Clang!

An arm gripping the broken blade was hurled into the air, the severed end charred black, the synthetic flesh melting like wax, tightly encasing the silver mechanical bones!

This blade not only cost Furutenken his arm but also shattered his overclocked state.

The flames coiled around the blade seemed to interfere with overclocking.

Furutenken, fallen from overclock, could no longer maintain the aloof indifference on his face; his mind was entirely consumed by shock and fear.

"So this is the wild martial sequence..."

The dawning realization had barely left his lips when Furutenken's vision was overwhelmed by the red blade light.

Puchi!

His head soared into the sky, the flames wrapping it burning the synthetic skin into fluttering ash.

Only a mottled, ugly mechanical head remained.

[Mastered 100 points]

[Remaining mastery points: 194]

Clang!

At this moment, the other half of the severed blade finally clattered to the ground, embedding itself in the snow.

It also pierced Gong Qinghong's heart!

He never imagined that the formidable Furutenken, now a martial sixth-rank warrior, would die so easily at Li Jun's hands.

Even beheaded in a single strike!

According to the intelligence from Honghu, Li Jun had only recently ascended to martial sixth-rank on Jin Lou.

How could his strength have grown so drastically in such a short time?

"There's a miscalculation in the organization's assessment of Li Jun's power. We must flee, quickly!"

His body trembled, the gene's howl.

Originally planning to use the blade to kill, Gong Qinghong, seeing the situation spiral out of control, immediately thought of fleeing.

But as he turned around, even before taking a full step, he heard the sound of breaking air behind him.

An embroidered spring blade whizzed past his temple, clanging into the trunk of a pale pine ahead.

The blade trembled endlessly, and Xie Bi'an's urgent shout echoed:

"Bro, this bastard is trying to escape!"

As the shout faded, countless fiery bullets swarmed in, among them several snarling iron dragons trailing blazing tails!

The brutal firepower of Sanshou Heavy Industry devoured Xie Bi'an, still in the act of throwing the blade.

Boom!

Flames engulfed, smoke filled the air.

At this moment, all the gunfire in the entire Jianliu Garden seemed to fall silent.

Even Gong Qinghong, who had been sprinting recklessly, couldn't help but look back.

"Xiao Bai!"

Fan Wujiu roared, his mechanical heart nearly bursting from his chest.

The embroidered spring blade that had entered a person's body trembled incessantly, stirring out a heart-rending scream.

Xie Bi'an was neither a martial sequence nor a military sequence, but a nearly forgotten master of the imperial homeland, the Seventh Rank Zhashi.

Even with the Flying Fish suit's protection and the mechanical bones embedded in his skin, his body could not withstand the direct hit of "Fire Dragon Emerging from Water"!

"Sanshou Heavy Industry, I'll fuck your ancestors for eighteen generations!"

Bang!

Fan Wujiu shoved the muzzle of "Bei Wei" into the open mouth before him, blasting the opponent's upper body into minced meat. His form collided with the scattered limbs, rushing toward the direction of swirling black smoke.

"Xiao Bai, from now on, if you only hire a concubine to accompany me, Old Ma will experience life in the underworld. You can't keep shortchanging me, can you?"

In the black smoke, a glaring red light suddenly flared.

Xie Bi'an, who should have been reduced to ashes, stood in a massive pit, his body wrapped in ink-black armor, blood trickling from his lips, his eyes unusually bright.

"From now on, if you, Old Ma, only hire a concubine to accompany me, that's looking down on me, Xie Bi'an!"

"Brother!"

Xie Bi'an waved away the black smoke before him, then smiled at Gong Qinghong, who stood not far away, watching.

Their eyes met, each filled with bone-deep hatred, wishing to kill the other.

Without Xie Bi'an, Gong Qinghong's whereabouts wouldn't have been exposed so quickly.

Likewise, without Gong Qinghong's scheme to frame him, the Xijiao Police Station wouldn't have fallen into this perilous state, one step away from eternal doom.

Life-and-death struggle, never just the surface-level blade-drawing confrontation, but also the undercurrent of scheming and strategy.

The members of Sanshou Heavy Industry, realizing the enemy was not dead, halted their gunfire for a moment before it resumed in panic.

Xie Bi'an stood in the midst of gunfire and bullets, his ink-black armor splashed with sparks from the impacts.

Yet he did not hurry to evade the attacks, nor did he rage to slaughter and vent his fury. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand to his neck, extending his thumb to gently trace across his throat.

"You can't run anymore."

Xie Bi'an's lips curled into an expression of unbridled satisfaction.

Gong Qinghong's eyes narrowed, though the battlefield's gunfire roared like thunder, allowing him only to see his opponent's lips moving slightly.

In an instant, he understood the other's intention.

Suddenly, Gong Qinghong's entire body hair stood on end, he spun around, and his eyes collided with a towering, mountain-like figure!

Gong Qinghong felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, his stiff neck bending inch by inch, his gaze slowly climbing along the intricate and elegant patterns of the feiyu robe.

At last, he saw those downward-glancing, vicious eyes!

"Gong Qinghong."

"Li Jun."

Fear exploded in his heart, terror rampaged in his mind.

Gong Qinghong seemed unable to control his trembling body, his legs involuntarily bending downward, his knees inching closer to the ground.

But just as he was about to kneel, a sudden change occurred!

Gong Qinghong's body stiffened abruptly, a Wei Wu Zuo pistol sliding from his sleeve into his palm, the muzzle pressed against Li Jun's heart.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The thunderous gunfire echoed endlessly, spiraling over the desolate battlefield.

For a moment, all eyes turned toward the direction of the gunfire.

Though it was noon, the sunlight dared not show itself.

Dark clouds began to gather and loom, snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

Alongside them, twisted and deformed bloodied bullets fell to the ground.

The palm blocking Li Jun's heart had flesh and blood curling upon its surface.

Yet on the unblemished skin, patterns like armor plates in blue gradually faded.

The Wei Wu Zuo was famed for its lethal power, but now, even point-blank shots could not tear through Li Jun's defenses, not even breaking his metacarpals.

Click. Click. Click.

Gong Qinghong still stubbornly pulled the trigger, the hammer striking the empty magazine, emitting a clear, hollow echo.

A hand slowly approached, gripping his face, lifting him entirely.

Pfft.

The Wei Wu Zuo slipped from his grasp, sinking into the snow.

"Why must you block my path? Why can't you just die?"

Gong Qinghong's blood-red eyes squeezed through the gaps of his fingers, his facial features twitching nervously, distorting into an expression of extreme frenzy.

"I will not let you win. Even if I die, I will splash the blood of those sinners upon your Jinshan City Jinyiwei!"

There was no plea for mercy, only madness.

A dangerous aura emanated from Gong Qinghong's body.

"Li Jun, you wait for the Ghost King Da to collect your corpse! You will forever be a stray dog with no home and no roof to rely on! Hahahaha."

In the midst of the mad laughter, a dark, shadowy glint suddenly pierced Gong Qinghong's eyes.

His eyeballs unconsciously turned, gazing upon the impermanence ledger ring pressed against his face.

"Want to go to hell with me? You're not qualified enough."

With Li Jun's indifferent words, the neural filaments of the Yan Baihuang method, bearing legal authority, directly invaded Gong Qinghong's brain's vital point.

In an unreachable world, the layered defenses set by the Honghu organization crumbled like withered trees, and even his final self-destruct method was completely stripped away.

A fish caught in the net had only the fate of lying on the execution block, no chance to break free.

Pffft. Pffft.

As the neural filaments as thin as hair were drawn out of Gong Qinghong's body, the light in his eyes dimmed entirely.

"Hah."

Xie Bi'an finally exhaled a long, turbid breath, as if relieved.

"Brother Jun."

Before the words could finish, the courtyard outside suddenly echoed with the roar of engines, several armored off-road vehicles crushing the remnants of flowers and grass as they rushed in.

Sssss.

The leading vehicle screeched to a halt, and a robust figure like an ox kicked open the door and leapt down.

"The Jinshan City Jinyiwei is here to do business! If you don't want to die, drop your weapons!"

The strongman had just raised his eyes, not yet had time to look around, when he saw a face as familiar as his own.

Backed by a shotgun, the blade of the spring knife dripped with blood.

Fan Wujiu stood amidst the scattered remains of limbs, grinning as he said, "What, you sure you want to confiscate my weapon?"

The strongman's entire body stiffened, his eyes unconsciously drifting left and right, finally fixing on a scene of immense impact.

The tattered feather robe, the headless corpse, the broken Japanese sword, and a figure even more towering than himself, like a mountain standing upright, its palm-sized hand holding the now-idiotic Honghu.

"Shan Xia, you fucking beast! You actually want me to share your damn fate?!"

The strongman's ferocious expression suddenly changed, and in the stunned gaze of his subordinates, he stood straight with his legs together.

"The Jinshan City Jinyiwei has a Kui Niu as its chief officer, here to escort and protect Pao Ze of Huangshan City!"

"Consider yourself sensible."

Fan Wujiu nodded, "This year's New Year's gathering, I won't trouble you."

"Thank you, Brother Fan."

Kui Niu nodded and bowed, his face usually unapproachable now showing a hint of sycophantic smile.

"It's almost noon. Let's go now, we're going to pick up the old ghost and head home!"