Transformation Diagram: Starting as a Skinny Dog

Boom!

Chen Ku struck first, raising his hand with fingers like mountains, pressing down towards the head of this Yuan Country spy.

The force of this palm was extremely fierce, and before the opponent had any chance to react, it was already half an inch away from Zhu Jianfu's head.

"Indeed!!"

In that split second, Zhu Jianfu's divine sense exploded. He had been suspicious of Chen Ku ever since he arrived, because the martial arts blood qi on him was too intense, not something a Qi Cultivator could achieve in a short time.

He wanted to probe with words.

But he didn't expect Chen Ku to strike without a word.

In this flash of lightning, his body erupted with astonishing spiritual energy, causing ripples to appear in the void, which is a specialty of Qi Cultivators.

In the Ninth Realm, one can sense the existence of the void.

Thus, this realm is called 'Void'.

An artifact appeared with a roar, an artifact was a Jade Ruyi above Zhu Jianfu's head, shaking the void. In an instant, it seemed to distance Chen Ku's descending palm.

Chen Ku's eyes flashed.

He was surprised, after all, this was his first encounter with a Ninth Realm Qi Cultivator, but he felt that the void qi mechanism on that Jade Ruyi couldn't fully compare to the broken void of a Thirteenth Realm Martial Practitioner's force.

He then vigorously raised the blood qi throughout his body, while a 'Yellow Sand' domain suddenly spread underfoot.

Pop~

Zhu Jianfu seemed to hear a brief 'breaking' sound, surprisingly, the 'safe distance' created by the Jade Ruyi above his head was instantly breached by the yellow sand domain.

Following that, the opponent's palm came crashing down like a giant star, conveying an indescribable terrifying gravity.

Which caused his body to uncontrollably collide towards that palm.

The next moment!

Bam!

Chen Ku's palm landed solidly on the Jade Ruyi atop Zhu Jianfu's head, as if a tsunami erupted in the sky, a terrifying blood qi exploded like compressed thunder.

Whoosh~~~

The maddening wave of air spread rapidly in ripples for miles.

"Hmm?"

What surprised Chen Ku was that his full-force Scattered Palm, according to the peak Ninth Realm blood qi he had mobilized, should have been able to crush any peak Ninth Realm expert in one strike.

But unexpectedly, with a 'crack' sound, his palm only shattered the Jade Ruyi on Zhu Jianfu's head.

The Ruyi shattered, scattering into countless light points, then enveloped Zhu Jianfu, forcibly shifting his body out from under Chen Ku's palm.

He appeared in the sky a mile away from Chen Ku.

"Is this... a lifebound item?"

Chen Ku detected a thread of qi mechanism from the shattered Jade Ruyi that was reminiscent of the 'Paperman Substitute' gifted to him by his elder brother Chen Xin.

"My Ruyi!"

Zhu Jianfu, who escaped from under Chen Ku's hand, shouted in the sky:

"Wasted in a place like this."

Meanwhile, not far from Chen Ku was the companion of Zhu Jianfu, a woman named Liu Li, who had witnessed everything that had just happened.

She didn't even have time to react before she saw Chen Ku strike, and if it weren't for Zhu's quick action, he might have died on the spot.

Even so, a precious lifebound item was wasted.

"To shatter an item like the 'Jade Ruyi', which could withstand a Tenth Realm strike, with just one blow, this person..."

Liu Li was terrified.

As spies and informants sent from Yuan Country to the heart of Ji Country, everyone knows this is a particularly dangerous task, but such tasks can only be undertaken by a generation of heroes.

Therefore, from Yuan Country's major sect, each of them had a lifebound item given by the elders of their family, containing means to save their lives in times of danger.

Just like the Jade Ruyi of Zhu Jianfu, which was a gift from a high master of Fang Xian Sect.

"Indeed it's a lifebound item, but can it work once, can it work twice?"

Since Chen Ku had already struck, he hesitated no longer. After one hit, his body moved quickly, launching a punch towards the nearest woman named Liu Li.

"Brother Zhu!"

Liu Li's face paled with fright upon seeing the situation, and she shouted loudly. In an instant, her view was dominated by a golden fist. Luckily, having already confirmed the enmity, she, as a Qi Cultivator deep within enemy lines, wasn't slow to react; she gave a shout to her companion and then without hesitation, extended her two jade lotus arms. Hundreds of treasures flew out from her sleeves, all targeting the incoming fist of Chen Ku.

Each of those treasures shimmered with brilliant colors—mirrors, embroidery needles, and hairpins, all seemed to be of good quality.

When Chen Ka's fist neared, the treasures swiftly collided with it, transforming into spheres of brilliant mana bursts.

Boom! Boom!

Chen Ku's fist was engulfed by the explosion of hundreds of treasures. He could feel that the power from the self-destruction of these treasures was comparable to the 'Sky Gang Thunder' he had used against the Champion Marquis.

However, Chen Ku was not the same as before; with the Ninth Realm's peak combat strength in his normal state, he had no need to evade. His fist was relentless, the fist wind swept like a nuclear shockwave, blasting open a path through the sea of explosive energy light.

"What?" Liu Li's complexion changed greatly; it was her first time seeing someone who could unleash such terrifying strength with mere fist winds.

Fortunately, her self-detonating hundreds of treasures did have some effect, successfully diminishing Chen Ku's fist wind power considerably.

This was when her companion Zhu Jianfu pointed a finger towards Chen Ku's fist.

The finger was of dark gold color.

Rather than a finger, it was more like a part of his body refined into a Magical Treasure, a common practice for Qi Cultivators, who believed in relying on external items, seeing the physical body as useless, while the universe is boundless.

Zhu Jianfu's pale gold finger collided with Chen Ku's fist, resulting in a massive explosion.

Bang!

His finger was blasted into a mist of blood under Chen Ku's fist, but within the blood mist, a blue gleam of radiance flew out, upon closer examination, within that radiance, threads appeared to be roaming about—all of them were Sword Qi.

A multitude of flying swords.

With a whistle, Sword Qi resonated, surging towards Chen Ku from all sides, targeting his chest, internal organs, throat, and neck.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Chen Ku sensed the power of these flying swords, not inferior to top-tier Divine Weapons, and when combined, he dared not claim he could take them all head-on with his body. In a flash, the Immortal Treasure Kun Bone Stick appeared in his hand, parrying back and forth, blocking all attacks outside.

"This stick is the standard Martial Artist Immortal Weapon; who exactly are you?"

After losing a finger, Zhu Jianfu saw Chen Ku using a weapon to fend off his sword array assault and his expression transformed greatly as he shouted:

"Junior Sister Liu, our identities have been exposed; we must leave here immediately!"

He finished speaking and surprisingly had no intention of further entanglement with Chen Ku.

Instantly, a yellow light enveloped his figure, he disregarded the sword array he sent out, choosing to abandon it and directly flee.

Liu Li too realized that the fight here would soon attract the Imperial Court and high-realm Martial Practitioners of Ji Country.

The priority now is their escape.

"Trying to leave?"

Chen Ku discerned their intent; from the recent exchange he had basically gauged their combat ability, believing they can't reach the Tenth Realm, thus it would be a piece of cake to capture them both.

Not to mention the two precious Ninth Realm Evil Qi.

The information they possess regarding Yuan Country is the most important.

Chen Ku's expression remained unchanged; he extended two large hands simultaneously towards the retreating duo, fully spreading out his Blood Qi, and in the sky, the two large hands transformed into a dragon and a tiger, this was the Catching Hand evolved by the Battle Technique.

The large hands descended to cover the two.

Zhu Jianfu and Liu Li's faces drastically changed; they seemed to understand why this person could defeat the projection of the Tenth Realm Fire De Ancestor.

"Battle Technique? Are you from the Fighting God Palace?"

With expressions greatly changing, Zhu Jianfu looked upon the scene of the large hand grabbing toward them, rapidly flipping his wrist, a delicate golden dharma conch appeared in his hand, unbeknownst to when.

Hoo~~

As the large hand was about to grab them, he placed the dharma conch below his lips and blew the treasure.

In the next instant, a golden Divine Thought ripple expanded with him at its core to the heavens and earth, shaking the void, while all airflow and tangible and intangible things seemed to sink into a mire, their actions exceedingly slow.

Even Chen Ku's Blood Qi hands extended were seemingly pressed down under a heavy mountain, falling heavily.

Furthermore, Chen Ku's mind unexpectedly showed a slight drunk sensation, as visions of Cultivators above the Tenth Realm and Divinity Transformation appeared, all wielding Destructive Heaven and Earth Treasures, striking towards him.

"This is the Golden Horn Sky Confusing Bell; he was affected; a great opportunity!"

Liu Li saw Chen Ku's actions were hindered and rejoiced, saying:

"Taking this chance, I can unleash that Lifebound Item, even if it won't kill him, it must injure him."

On Liu Li's shoulder, suddenly appeared a three-headed green snake, though palm-sized, after she sprayed it with a purple mist, it transformed into a purple trident, instantly piercing the sky, heading straight towards Chen Ku.