Longevity by Grinding Skills

A dense crackle erupted from Xu Yunfan’s shoulder blades. He held the Jar Gold Hammer across his chest, twisted his body, and channeled the unified power of his waist and stance into a sweeping blow. The heavy hammer, weighing over two hundred pounds, smashed forward.

Just as the wind from the hammer tore through Chen Tiangang’s defenses, a rumble like thunder rolled in Chen Tiangang’s throat, and he let out a roar that exploded like a thunderclap.

"You can’t even fully gather strength from your muscles, bones, and skin. You haven’t even mastered the Outer Three Harmonies. You dare swing that hammer at your master?"

Xu Yunfan paid Chen Tiangang’s roar no mind. But in the next instant, Chen Tiangang’s shin scraped against the Jar Gold Hammer, producing a sharp clang as if metal had struck metal.

CLANG!

The sound of clashing metal exploded outwards, setting the very air humming.

’Such terrifying strength.’

Xu Yunfan’s expression flickered. The web of his hand went numb, but he used the rebound force to slide back seven steps, his cloth shoes plowing two deep grooves into the bluestone floor.

’It’s a good thing I have the Flying Leg Body Technique. Otherwise, I would have had no way to negate such astonishing power.’

"Hm?"

Chen Tiangang was a little surprised.

"I didn’t expect the Martial Arts you cultivated to the Second Level to be so exceptional. To think you could manage that."

Just as Chen Tiangang stepped forward, the sharp twang of mechanisms sounded from outside the tower.

Eight Triangular Armor-Piercing Arrows shot in fiercely from outside the Thunder Tower. Xu Yunfan’s heart leaped. His eyes widened, and his hands subconsciously formed the Linn Character Seal.

In an instant, the frantic emotions in his eyes subsided. As he watched the Armor-Piercing Arrows speeding toward him, the muscles all over his body trembled. He contorted himself into an incredibly bizarre posture—one arm extended, the other held back, his spine twisting.

The eight Armor-Piercing Arrows threaded the gaps between his limbs and torso, missing him by a hair’s breadth.

Three of the arrows continued past him, heading straight for Chen Tiangang.

Chen Tiangang’s shoulder muscles suddenly bunched into knots. His bulging trapezius muscles clamped down on the shafts of the three Triangular Armor-Piercing Arrows, stopping them dead.

The hairs on the back of Xu Yunfan’s neck stood on end. Fueled by the Blood Qi boiling within him, he used his momentum to roll across the floor. His Drumming Jar Golden Hammer scraped against a Bronze pillar, sending a shower of sparks into the air. A ninth Crossbow Arrow, which had been right behind him, slammed into the bluestone where he had just been standing.

Quickly disengaging the Linn Character State, Xu Yunfan seized the chance to roll behind one of the large pillars.

Xu Yunfan gasped for breath, his heart pounding like a drum. His body was flooded with a rush of adrenaline that spiked to an unimaginable level.

’That was close. I almost died.’

He stared intently outside the Thunder Tower at the majestic, armored figure atop a tall horse, a Yanyue Saber in his hand.

General Cui, Cui Yan. Though only a Vice General, his strength was formidable. His Dragging Sword Skill, executed from a charging mount, was utterly ferocious.

’A Blood Exchange Realm expert.’

"If these Armor-Piercing Arrows were laced with Profound Iron Star Sand, I might have given you a wide berth. But this junk? You’re just embarrassing yourself."

Chen Tiangang crushed the arrow shaft between two fingers. Blackish-purple blood trickled down his iron-gray skin, but the muscle fibers at the wound writhed like earthworms and pulled it shut. The injury vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He stepped back half a pace with his right foot, shattering the floor tiles. His spine arched like a great dragon, and as his vertebrae vibrated, a faint cicada-like hum sounded—the unmistakable opening move of a Celestial Cicada Robe killing art.

The urgency he’d felt upon first seeing Cui Yan was completely gone from his expression.

"Cui Yan, I remember you. You’re from Wuzhou, aren’t you? Back during the Eternal Firm period in Wuzhou State City, you were just a Captain. I never thought that after all these years, you’d become a Vice General in the Hu Ben Profound Armor. What a surprise."

Hearing Chen Tiangang reveal his identity, Cui Yan thought for a moment before realization dawned on his face. He burst out laughing.

"I remember you now. Of all the Sects from the Five Ridges and Seven Threes, yours, the Celestial Cicada Sect, was the one I had trouble recalling. I still remember you coming to offer me a toast back then."

"Hmph."

Chen Tiangang snorted, shot a glance at Xu Yunfan hiding behind the pillar, and then strode out of the Thunder Tower.

The Scale Horse beneath Cui Yan charged forward. As it gained momentum, it reared up, and Cui Yan, using the power of the charge, brought his seven-foot Meteorite Iron Yanyue Saber down in a diagonal slash.

The blade whistled through the air like a tiger’s roar, wreathed in a scorching, fiery aura.

Chen Tiangang neither dodged nor retreated, simply crossing his arms to block. His muscles bulged, shredding his sleeves and revealing dark golden skin beneath. His arms were covered in a dense pattern of blood-red, cicada-wing-like veins.

The blood-red patterns on Chen Tiangang’s arms flared to life. As he met Cui Yan’s Dragging Sword Skill, the impact rang out with the clang of metal on metal.

The Meteorite Iron blade bit half an inch into his skin and could go no further. Instead, Chen Tiangang’s hand shot out and clamped down on the blade.

Cui Yan roared and poured his strength into the push. The Scale Horse’s front hooves reared three meters into the air, but Chen Tiangang just sank his stance. The bluestone tiles beneath him exploded as he used a Thousand-Jin Drop technique to abruptly halt the warhorse’s charge.

In the instant the horse lost its balance, Chen Tiangang’s left palm shaped into a claw and clamped onto the spine of the blade.

The blood-red patterns crept down his arm to his fingertips. As he slid his hand along the Treasure Yanyue Saber, his fingers gouged five deep, sparking grooves into the metal. He used the motion to pull himself rapidly toward Cui Yan.

Cui Yan reacted instantly, leaning back and trying to pull his saber free. He swung the Yanyue Saber in a wide arc to create distance, but Chen Tiangang’s right leg lashed out like a Steel Whip. The iron plate on his boot tip struck the Heart Protection Mirror on Cui Yan’s chest armor with perfect accuracy.

With a sharp crack, the mirror spiderwebbed. In that same instant, Chen Tiangang’s knuckles, covered in the same blood-red patterns, were pressed against Cui Yan’s throat.

The Yanyue Saber finally swung around, but Chen Tiangang simply turned his head and caught the blade in his teeth. The impact of Meteorite Iron against bone shattered half his mouth of teeth.

Clenching the blade in his jaw, Chen Tiangang let out a grating, inhuman cackle.

The next moment, he unleashed an explosive burst of power from his knuckles.

CRUNCH!

With a series of sickening snaps, Cui Yan’s neck broke. His head lolled to the side, all life extinguished.

"General!"

The twelve Hu Ben Profound Armor bodyguards roared and charged, blades raised. But Chen Tiangang merely stomped his foot. The tiles in a ten-foot radius around him surged like a wave, blasting the guards back over a dozen meters. They were clearly dead before they hit the ground.

"To dare challenge a Blood Exchange expert with just a First Level Minor Achievement... the sheer ignorance."

Chen Tiangang turned his head and looked back. The Thunder Tower was empty. Xu Yunfan had taken advantage of the fight to flee.

Veins pulsed on Chen Tiangang’s temples like living snakes. All over his body, the blood-red marks shifted beneath his skin, tracing the patterns of cicada wings.

He whipped around and shot off in the direction Xu Yunfan had fled. Each time he pushed off, his feet left spiderweb cracks in the ground. With a howl of wind, a single leap carried him thirty meters.

He chased all the way down the mountain to an abandoned ferry crossing. Suddenly, two jets of blood sprayed from his nostrils, forcing him to a halt. His eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.

It seemed the True Blood taken from Ning Wuque’s body and transplanted into his own was being rejected. All at once, his muscles began to writhe uncontrollably, the flesh beneath his skin squirming as if infested with tiny insects.

His complexion turned red, then purple, then black, before finally, slowly, returning to normal.

’This won’t do. I have to find him!’

He forced himself to pick up the pace, his pursuit quickening even further.

At that moment, Xu Yunfan was leaning against a century-old pagoda tree, gasping for breath.

’I ran all the way down from the peak of Thunder Accumulation Mountain without stopping. I’m far from the Celestial Cicada Sect’s territory now. I should be safe, at least for the moment.’

He looked up. Night had fallen, and the frigid air by the crossing had condensed into a thin mist, reducing visibility to just a few dozen meters.

After a brief rest, Xu Yunfan pushed himself to his feet. But just as he was about to leave, he saw Chen Tiangang burst through the mist.