After swiftly eliminating Liu Hong's four subordinates, Zhao Heng's eyes flickered as he recalled the mention of the three words "Hua Gu Sect" (Bone-dissolving Gate). A realization dawned upon him, and he immediately uood the situation.

  The seemingly casual act of shifting bme to another party had uedly worked.

  After a brief moment of thought, Zhao Heng unceremoniously looted the fallen bodies and tinued moving toward the dire Liu Hong and his group had fled.

  After travelihan a mile, Zhao Heng once again heard the sounds of a fierce fight. Even from over a hundred meters away, the sharp sound of fists cutting through the air was faintly audible.

  Zhao Heng’s heart tightened. Holding his breath, he carefully followed the sound and stealthily approached.

  Finally, he parted the shrubs in front of him and saw what was happening.

  By a stream about thirty meters away, two figures were locked in an intetle.

  One of them was a burly man with a bald head and a single eye, his muscur torso bare and radiating a ferocious aura.

  The other was a man in a tattered blue robe, his face pale and slightly chubby. Although his robes were torn and his face smeared with dirt, making him look incredibly disheveled, Zhao Heng reized him at o was Liu Hong.

  The two were fighting barehanded by the stream. The one-eyed man swung his iron fists wide and forceful, with a feroomentum.

  Meanwhile, Liu Hong dispyed a bizarre palm teique. At times, his palms struck forward like crashing waves, and at other times, his hands sshed downward like sharp bdes, each move venomous and ing.

  Their fists and palms collided fiercely, but the bald man’s forehead was covered i, and his lips had turned a faint shade of blue—clear signs of poisoning. At this point, he was merely holding on with great difficulty.

  The csh between two Bone Refi Stage experts was extraordinary. Zhao Heng dared not act rashly and chose to quietly observe from the shadows.

  It was clear that the bald man was gradually losing ground, his mouth cursing bitterly.

  “Who would’ve thought that your Yu Hua Sect, which cims to be a righteous and noble fa, would stoop to poisoning people i! Suderhanded, despicable methods!”

  Hearing this, Liu Hong’s face twisted in anger. “Nonsense! I have y with you, yet you ambushed and hunted us down first! And now you dare accuse me of foul py?”

  The bald man sneered coldly. “y? A month ago, wasn’t it you who gravely injured a disciple of my Hua Gu Sed insulted our sect with your vile words?”

  “A month ago?”

  Liu Hong was momentarily stunned. He distinctly remembered that he hadn’t stepped out of the sect gates at all a month ago, so how could he have provoked the other party?

  But right now, expnations were pointless. His oppo had been hunting him and his group for days in the mountains near Niutou Peak, leaving them in a desperate situation.

  If not for poisoning their water supply beforehand, which turhe tables on these demonic sect martial artists, the oute of this battle would have been far less certain.

  Now, with both sides harb a deep and irrecible hatred for each other, Liu Hong had no iion of sparing this man.

  The moment, Liu Hong’s blood surged within his body, pulling his muscles and bones into motion. A powerful burst of energy erupted from him, eling through his palms.

  “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

  The collision of fists and palms echoed like firecrackers bei off.

  This was Internal Force, also known as Bone Force!

  Although the raw physical strength of Bone Refi Stage experts wasn’t much greater than that of Body Tempering Stage experts, the explosive feed within their muscles and bones far surpassed the tter, resulting iating damage.

  As both fighters unleashed their Bone Ford traded ferocious strikes, soured down their faces after only a few moments.

  The bald man had already been struck by several of Liu Hong’s palm strikes. His body swayed unsteadily, and blood trickled from the er of his mouth. He was clearly gravely injured and on the verge of defeat.

  Seeing this, Liu Hong immediately intensified his offensive, ung a series of killing moves. The bald man was forced to retreat step by step, eventually bag into the trunk of a massive aree.

  Another palm strike nded squarely on the bald man’s chest, smming him into the tree with a loud crash. Now ered with no way to retreat, his defenses were pletely exposed.

  Liu Hong’s eyes narrowed as he prepared to deliver a fatal strike to the bald man’s throat. Even the bald man himself thought he was doomed.

  “Swish!”

  Suddenly, at the critical moment, a bde light desded from above the tree, sshing directly toward Liu Hong’s head.

  The strike was so abrupt that Liu Hong sehe danger and shifted his footwork instantly, leaping backward like an agile monkey. He narrowly avoided the bde and looked up.

  To his astonishment, a masked figure dressed in bck hung upside down from the tree, swinging a short bde toward him.

  When the ambush failed, the masked man used his other hand to scatter something toward Liu Hong’s face.

  “Puff…!”

  A cloud of quicklime sprayed out, f Liu Hong to retreat swiftly.

  The masked man seized the opportunity to leap from the tree, sheathing his short bde as he pursued Liu Hong at high speed. At the same time, he scattered more quicklime from both hands.

  Although Liu Hong had been on guard, he hadn’t expected his oppoo have so much quicklime. The air became a hazy fog, blinding him and making it impossible to open his eyes.

  Suddenly, he felt a fierce punch hurtling toward his face, apanied by a powerful surge of energy. Liu Hong instinctively shed out with a palm strike, unleashing his Bone Force to ter the attack.

  “Boom!”

  Fist and palm collided with a deafening crash.

  Liu Hong staggered back a step, while the masked man was forced to retreat several steps before stabilizing himself.

  “A Bone Refi Stage martial artist?”

  Clearing the quicklime with his sleeve, Liu Hong finally got a good look at the masked man. His expression turned wary.

  Although he had held the upper hand in their exge, he clearly sehe faint trace of Bone Force emanating from his oppo. It wasn’t particurly strong, but it was undoubtedly real.

  The masked man was her than Zhao Heng, who had been lying in wait for the opportune moment to strike.

  Seeing the bald man about to be defeated, Zhao Heng had decided to intervene.

  Though the bald man was from a demonic sect, their shared goal of killing Liu Hong aligheir is.

  Zhao Heng hadn’t expected Liu Hong to be so alert, evading his ambush even while locked in a heated battle.

  Moreover, when Zhao Heng unleashed a full-force punch, the surge of blood energy and the resulting strain on his muscles and bones iently triggered a trace of Bone Forething he hadn’t anticipated.

  Having just broken through to the ninth level of the Body Tempering Stage, Zhao Heng’s impressive strength was undoubtedly the result of the Green Pieique’s (青松诀) perfect modifications.

  “Who are you, and why are you interfering in this matter?” Liu Hong asked coldly, his gaze fixed on Zhao Heng.

  Liu Hohat this masked figure looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he’d seen him before.

  Before Zhao Heng could respond, the bald man from the Hua Gu Sect csped his fists and spoke.

  “May I ask which sect you hail from, brother? I am Hua Gu Xiong, senior disciple of the demonic Hua Gu Sect. You have my gratitude for saving my life.”

  “Demonic sect?”

  Zhao Heng paused momentarily before realizing that his attire and tactics—spreading quicklime and ambushing from the shadows—made him look nothing like a righteous martial artist. Being mistaken for a demonic sect member was only natural.

  But that suited him perfectly. Zhao Heng had no iion of revealing his true identity, at least not before killing Liu Hong.

  Adopting a rough, gruff voice, Zhao Heng replied, “I am Ren Woxing of the Sun and Moon Divi. I could not stand by and wat injustice, so I drew my bde to assist!”

  “The Sun and Moon Divi!?”

  Both the bald man and Liu Hong were stunned. her had ever heard of such a sect among the demonic fas.

  Zhao Heng didn’t bother to expin further. Turning to Hua Gu Xiong, he said, “Brother, this Liu Hong is notorious for itting every vile act imaginable—murder, rape, even preying oy-year-old grandmothers! He has no respect for us demonic sects. Since we’ve entered him today, why don’t we join forces to take him down?”

  Hearing this, Liu Hong nearly spat out blood in rage. Was there no justice left in the world?

  He had barely dealt with the relentless pursuit of the Hua Gu Sect disciples, only to now face a self-procimed “Ren Woxing” from some made-up Sun and Moon Divi spreading even more lies!

  Liu Hong wao protest, but Hua Gu Xiong roared, “Very well! I will join you, Brother Ren, to elimihis scum!”

  Without further ado, Hua Gu Xiong charged at Liu Hong like an enraged bear, swinging his iron fists wildly.

  Zhao Heng als into a, attag from the other side with swift punches.

  The two of them coordiheir attacks, their bined Bone Force f Liu Hong onto the defensive.

  Although Liu Hong’s strength was formidable, fag two Bone Refi Stage oppos w in tandem left him no choice but to keep retreating and blog.

  To make matters worse, Zhao Hehrowing handfuls of quicklime at him, creating stant opportunities for Hua Gu Xiong to press the attack.

  During the chaotic battle, Liu Hong noticed that his strength was gradually weakening. The dee was subtle but unmistakable.

  “Poison!”

  Liu Hong immediately remembered the faint st of the quicklime Zhao Heng had thrown earlier. He now realized he had been poisoned.

  With his strength fading and his oppos growing bolder, Zhao Heng and Hua Gu Xiong’s attacks became even more ferocious aless.

  “Enough! You’ve gooo far!”

  Driven to his breaking point, Liu Hong’s fury erupted. His hand movements shifted as his palms turned into cws, unleashing a chilling energy toward his two attackers.

  When Zhao Heng and Hua Gu Xiong cshed with his strikes, they were both forced to stumble back.

  “The Yin Wind Cw! How do you know this demonic martial art?”

  [--------------------------------------------]

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