We're practicing all martial arts, so why did you switch to easy mode?

Chapter 140 Things Are Different Now, the Insidious Hong Ke

Dangdang Dangdang!
Ding Yi was like a small boat adrift in a torrent of armored soldiers, surrounded by enemies on all sides.

In a one-on-one situation, these so-called silver-armored soldiers were naturally no match for him.

However, his physical condition is not good now, and coupled with the fact that the silver-armored soldiers are quite strong, the longer the stalemate lasts, the more he appears to be losing ground.

Fortunately, although the silver-armored soldiers were formidable in both offense and defense, they were not fast. By seizing this opportunity, Ding Yi had a chance to break through the silver-armored soldiers' encirclement.

However, at that moment, a loud shout suddenly rang out, and a graceful figure rushed out from among the silver-armored soldiers.

"Take my move!"

Qiao Qiliang's gaze was deep and serious. Holding the Qingfeng Sword, he flashed forward and attacked. His arms moved, and the sword light rippled, sweeping over like a gentle breeze.

"Go away!"

Upon seeing this, Ding Yi's pupils contracted, and he uttered two words, his words brimming with overwhelming killing intent.

Ignoring the warning, Qiao Qiliang arrived in the blink of an eye, his Qingfeng Sword suddenly becoming incredibly sharp, transforming from a gentle breeze into a raging gale, its power multiplied.

Bang bang bang!
Swords clashed, sparks flew in all directions, and ear-piercing sound waves rose and fell, making everyone's eardrums tremble.

The two seemed to be amidst a sky full of flashing swords and shadows, their figures moving like ghosts, leaving the surrounding silver-armored soldiers unable to keep up. For a moment, they could only see afterimages, unable to see the real people.

Su Chen stood not far away, watching the two fiercely fighting, a faint doubt floating in his eyes.

He had met Ding Yi a few times, and although they were always masked, he had already recognized Ding Yi's identity from the Zhan Yue Dao (a type of sword) on Ding Yi's body when Ding Yi made his move.

That's why he was feeling a little strange at that moment.

Ding Yi's strength seemed to have weakened considerably compared to before. A Blood Transformation Realm warrior was actually at a disadvantage when fighting against a Bone Forging Perfection Realm warrior.

"Su Chen, watch out!"

Just as he was pondering, Su Chen suddenly snapped back to reality and heard Qiao Qiliang's exclamation. He looked closely and saw a figure rushing towards him at high speed.

Ding Yi had already noticed Su Chen standing behind the group and assumed he was the leader of the team.

To catch the thief, you must first catch the king, so he abandoned his fight with Qiao Qiliang and instead attacked Su Chen.

Once Su Chen is captured, escaping will be a piece of cake.
"You brat, you dare to lose your composure in front of me? I'll teach you a lesson!"

Seeing Su Chen standing there in a daze, Ding Yi cursed under his breath, his anger mixed with a confident air.

This guy looks like a pushover, someone who can be easily manipulated.

Thinking this, Ding Yi suddenly increased his speed by three points, completely ignoring the silver-armored soldiers, and easily rushed to Su Chen's side by dodging left and right.

"Boy, just surrender obediently, hehehe!"

Ding Yi chuckled and raised his Moon-Slaying Blade in a backhand motion. Just as he was about to capture Su Chen to save his life, his pupils suddenly dilated.

Where...where are they?
He was right in front of me just a second ago, how could Su Chen have disappeared in the blink of an eye?

"not good!"

A sense of foreboding washed over Ding Yi, and he suddenly felt a rush of panic. Suddenly, he felt a current flowing behind him.

He turned around abruptly and saw Su Chen looking at him with a half-smile, which made his heart tighten and a chill instantly spread throughout his body.

"You, how could you..." Ding Yi's saliva evaporated instantly, and he asked dryly.

Su Chen responded with a rather disappointed shake of his head. He didn't know if it was because his own strength had greatly increased, leading to faster speed, or because Ding Yi's strength had decreased and he couldn't keep up with his movements. In any case, at this moment, Ding Yi seemed too weak to Su Chen.

boom!
As Ding Yi unleashed his palm strike, he felt a gust of wind rush towards him, and then belatedly realized that a massive iron palm was hurtling down with an unstoppable force, striking his chest.

In an instant, muscles contracted, blood vessels burst, and the heart nearly stopped. As the violent force surged in, the body churned violently, causing excruciating pain.

puff!
Su Chen's palm strike completely disrupted Ding Yi's balance.

The deadly poison spread like ink throughout his body, and the side effects of the pill spread like a plague to his limbs and bones.

The combined effect caused Ding Yi's entire skin to darken.

Ding Yi's breath stopped instantly, and black blood flowed from his seven orifices, making him look utterly gruesome.

He didn't die from Su Chen's palm strike, but from the combined effects of poison and medicine.

Su Chen stared in astonishment at Ding Yi's corpse.

He didn't think he was strong enough to kill a Blood Refining Realm martial artist with a single palm strike, but when he saw Ding Yi's death, he suddenly realized.

So he was poisoned. No wonder his strength has become so weak.

"You remnants of the Rebirth Sect, where do you think you're going to run now!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out, its sound reaching everyone's ears like a wave. Upon hearing this, Su Chen's body trembled violently, and a sense of unease, enveloped by killing intent, surged into his heart.

A strong sense of crisis made Su Chen disregard everything else. He dodged to the side with lightning speed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an old man with a sinister smile, striking out with a palm towards his location.

Fortunately, he dodged in time and was not ambushed.

After regaining his balance, he looked at the old man with some surprise. This man was none other than Hong Ke.

At this moment, his face wore a righteous and self-righteous demeanor, which made Su Chen's brows furrow involuntarily.

"Where to run!"

Seeing Su Chen dodge, Hong Ke instantly adjusted her attack, showing a firm determination to kill Su Chen.

Seeing this, Su Chen understood Hong Ke's intention perfectly. A cold smile appeared on his lips, and he stepped forward instead of retreating, taking the initiative to meet her.

boom!
Their feet collided instantly, and a violent shockwave emanated from the two of them, the deafening impact echoing in all directions.

"what?!"

Both Hong Ke and Su Chen were shocked after their brief exchange.

The former was shocked by Su Chen's strength. Wasn't he just a martial artist who had only reached the minor stage of Bone Forging? Why was his strength so profound, no weaker than that of a martial artist who had reached the perfection of Bone Forging?
The latter was shocked by Hong Ke's strength. It was rumored that Hong Ke was a martial artist who had reached the peak of Bone Forging, but after just one exchange, Su Chen realized that Hong Ke had already entered the Blood Moving Realm and that his strength was comparable to Hong Hai's!
The two men each took a few steps back, looking at each other across the distance, their eyes both showing a hint of seriousness.

"Hong Ke, stop right now!"

Taking advantage of the lull, Qiao Qiliang finally reacted and roared angrily.

However, Hong Ke said without turning his head, "Young Master Qiao, I don't need your help. I can handle this traitor of the Rebirth Sect all by myself!"

Having said that, without waiting for Qiao Qiliang's reaction, he took a swift step and charged away like a tiger descending a mountain, roaring through the forest and displaying his domineering presence.

Su Chen didn't speak, but stared coldly at Hong Ke with a calm expression.

He didn't care about Hong Ke's hypocrisy; he could use this old guy to test his own strength.

You want to kill him?
Haha, it's not that easy!

"Stop them!" Qiao Qiliang roared angrily when he saw that Hong Ke was unmoved.

At Qiao Qiliang's command, a group of silver-armored soldiers raised their spears and surrounded the two men. However, neither Hong Ke nor Su Chen stopped their actions.

Two figures alternated in front of everyone, and with their strength, they couldn't tell who was who, let alone stop them.

With some reservations, the silver-armored soldier was unsure what to do and looked at Qiao Qiliang.

Qiao Qiliang stood there, his face ashen, his fists clenched, staring silently at the two men locked in combat.

Seeing Su Chen handle Hong Ke's attacks with ease, Qiao Qiliang's expression improved slightly.

"Kid, you're quite strong. It seems everyone underestimated you!" Hong Ke said coldly, a fierce glint in his eyes.

Su Chen ignored him, his expression unusually solemn. Only when he actually fought against a Blood Transformation Realm martial artist did he realize how powerful that realm was.

It felt completely different from the previous fights between Hong Shan, Hong Hai, and Ding Yi.

All three of them had experienced a decline in strength for various reasons, making it impossible for them to unleash their full power. In addition, Su Chen used various means to pursue a quick victory, so Su Chen did not feel the power of the Blood Moving Realm.

Now facing Hong Ke head-on, Su Chen immediately realized the huge gap between them. He could hardly believe that he had been able to kill three martial artists at the Blood Transformation Realm. He could only say that he was too lucky.

The most obvious characteristic of the Blood Transformation Realm is the ability to project force outwards, and the distance of this projection depends on the individual's strength.

Hong Ke's force could be released to a distance of about three inches, or about ten centimeters.

In other words, Hong Ke's attack radius has increased by ten centimeters without him even realizing it.

This resulted in Su Chen's force not even landing on Hong Ke before she had already blocked it and launched a counterattack against Su Chen.

How is this played?
Unless Su Chen's attack speed is so fast that Hong Ke's reaction cannot keep up and he cannot mobilize his strength in time, it is impossible for him to kill Hong Ke.

It's possible to perform the sword-drawing technique.

However, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Su Chen did not intend to use his sword-drawing technique. This was a killing move, and naturally it should be used at a crucial moment.

Fortunately, Su Chen was strong enough that although he couldn't injure Hong Ke, it was also impossible for the other party to take him down in a short time.

The two sides appeared to be engaged in fierce fighting, but in reality, they had reached a stalemate.

Hong Ke was both shocked and furious. On one hand, he was shocked by Su Chen's strength, and on the other hand, he was angry that the information given by his clan was wrong.

Damn it, a martial artist comparable to the Blood Transformation Realm, and you're telling me the opponent is at the Bone Forging Perfection stage? Are you all blind?! If he weren't currently busy, he would definitely find those intelligence agents, beat them up, and then make them open their eyes wide when gathering intelligence next time.

Unable to break through after a prolonged siege, Hong Ke was anxious but helpless.

Suddenly, a figure flashed over and landed between the two, using both hands to block them.

"stop!"

It turned out that Zhou Qing had arrived and, upon seeing the two who had made the move, quickly stepped forward to stop them.

"Commander Zhou, you've come at the right time! Quickly, come with me to capture and kill this man; he's a fugitive from the Rebirth Sect," Hong Ke said hastily.

"Bullshit! He's my friend, how did he become a remnant of the Rebirth Cult!"

Before Zhou Qing could even speak, Qiao Qiliang launched into a tirade, showing no respect whatsoever to Hong Ke.

Upon hearing this, a dangerous glint flashed in Hong Ke's eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. He feigned surprise and exclaimed, "How is that possible?!"

Seeing Hong Ke's hypocrisy, Qiao Qiliang was furious.

Zhou Qing, who was standing nearby, spoke up at the right moment: "Vice Chief Hong, this person is indeed Young Master Qiao's friend, not a remnant of the Rebirth Cult. I think you've made a mistake."

"Oh, really?" Upon hearing this, Hong Ke looked puzzled, glanced at Qiao Qiliang, and then chuckled, "Alright, then I was mistaken."

Then, he looked at Su Chen with a smile and said, "Young friend, this is my fault. My old eyes are failing me and I made a mistake. Please don't take offense."

"Heh, ignorance is no excuse!" Su Chen replied with a forced smile, his eyes icy cold.

Qiao Qiliang snorted coldly, his face still looking rather unpleasant.

Seeing that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Zhou Qing said loudly, "Alright, this matter is not over yet. Let's not waste any more time and go meet up with the others."

After saying this, he left with the silver-armored soldiers.

Hong Ke waved his hand and followed closely behind with the Xuan Shui Gang members. Before leaving, he gave Su Chen and Qiao Qiliang a meaningful look.

"That old scoundrel!"

Upon seeing this, Qiao Qiliang cursed under his breath, wishing he could teach Hong Ke a lesson.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Su Chen, who had been watching Hong Ke walk away, and asked with concern, "Su Chen, are you alright?"

"I am fine."

Su Chen shook his head expressionlessly and replied calmly. Qiao Qiliang breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"It's good that you're alright, let's go then!" Qiao Qiliang opened his mouth, hesitated, and then said with some helplessness.

"Please do me a favor."

"What?" Qiao Qiliang was stunned.

"Get me a hundred Qi and Blood Pills, the sooner the better!"

After saying that, Su Chen walked away, leaving Qiao Qiliang standing there frozen. He nodded silently, as if in response to Su Chen.

They didn't notice at all that Su Chen's palm was slightly blackened.

As the saying goes, "If you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your feet wet." Su Chen never expected that Hong Ke would have a poisoned needle hidden in her palm.

As expected, he was injured by the poisoned needles in Hong Ke's hand during their fight.

Fortunately, the poisoning was not severe.

One reason is that Su Chen has thick skin, so the poison needle only pierced his skin a little.

On the one hand, it is because of the healing function of Wudinggong that the speed at which toxins are destroyed is far slower than the speed at which Wudinggong heals. In addition, the surrounding attack of other forces quickly forces the toxins out of the body.

The operation to eradicate the remaining members of the Rebirth Cult continued until nightfall, finally resulting in the capture and execution of all remaining members.

Because the incident happened so suddenly, many of the materials of the Rebirth Sect were not destroyed. Therefore, Zhou Qing and Hong Ke decided to stay in Shanghe Town for one night and move the materials back to the city the next day.

After dinner, Qiao Qiliang found Su Chen, took out a small packet of pills from his pocket, and said, "I only collected fifty pills. If you want more, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Su Chen said, accepting the pill.

"Why are you being so polite between us?" Qiao Qiliang waved his hand dismissively. "But why do you suddenly need so many Qi and Blood Pills?"

“Cultivation!” Su Chen replied.

Qiao Qiliang: "...!"

"If I cultivated as diligently as you, I would probably have reached the Blood Transformation Realm long ago!"

Qiao Qiliang sighed, then took his leave so as not to disturb Su Chen's cultivation.

Carrying the fifty Qi and Blood Pills he had just obtained, Su Chen returned to the house and began to swallow the pills, activating his Thick Earth Force to assimilate other forces and consume the medicinal effects of the Qi and Blood Pills.

One, two...

He also pondered during his spare time from cultivation.

The only way to quickly improve your strength in a short period of time is to upgrade your Iron Shirt skill.

It's not just because Iron Shirt is Su Chen's main cultivation technique, but also because Iron Shirt is a combination of multiple techniques, and its strength is the most powerful. When you advance to a higher level, the total amount of strength will increase several times.

This is something that other single-method exercises do not possess.

However, upgrading Iron Shirt to the next level requires sixty Qi and Blood Pills, and he is currently short ten.

No, to be precise, it's three short.

Because during his cultivation period, Su Chen had accumulated seven units of Qi and Blood Pills on his panel.

"But three Qi and Blood Pills are a bit tricky!"

He doesn't have any Boiling Blood Powder on him right now. Even if he did, it would take thirty packets of Boiling Blood Powder to achieve the effect of three Qi and Blood Pills.

After thinking for a moment, Su Chen decided to take the risk, since after tonight, he would never find such a good opportunity to make a move again.

"But now is not the time. Let's wait until we've finished consuming all these Qi and Blood Pills!"

Having made up his mind, Su Chen buried himself in his training, exerting his full speed and focusing all his energy on frantically assimilating the internal force.

In this cycle of assimilation, Su Chen could feel that the various forces seemed to become much purer, and at the same time, there was a sense of interconnection between them.

It seems that a subtle feeling arose from the mutual assimilation of the Thick Earth Force with the other four forces, but it was not very obvious.

Su Chen didn't care too much; as long as it didn't affect him, it didn't matter.

The third watch.

Su Chen finally finished swallowing fifty Qi and Blood Pills. Although swallowing so many pills at once consumed a lot of the medicinal power, he still felt weak and unable to absorb the nourishment, to the point that Su Chen's skin turned slightly red.

After taking a few deep breaths, Su Chen calmed his inner turmoil and then looked out the window.

The moon is hidden and the stars are few; the cold wind is biting. It's time to make a move.

A dark figure moved swiftly through the darkness and arrived at the Xuan Shui Gang's resting place.

In the courtyard, only the faint candlelight flickered among the lanterns, casting streaks of light and shadow.

Su Chen went straight into the courtyard.

This is not where Hong Ke lives, so he doesn't need to worry too much.

He found the room where the Xuan Shui Gang members lived, and then used a low-cost version of the fourth-generation mind-control powder on each of them. This kind of mind-control powder only had a drowsy effect and would not cause burping or farting.

Perfect for this moment.

After the mind-control powder took effect, Su Chen entered the first room.

After an incense stick had burned, Su Chen entered the second-to-last room.

This time, however, he came out quickly because he had already found three Qi and Blood Pills on these people.

More than fifty people were searched, and only three Qi and Blood Pills were found, which was pitifully few.

Although there was only one room left, Su Chen didn't plan to waste time searching for it, since he already had enough.

He swallowed three Qi and Blood Pills, and while circulating his Thick Earth Energy, he returned to his courtyard.

As the panel refreshed, Su Chen said softly, "Activate simple mode."

[Easy Mode Activated: Take a warm bath for one and a half hours to train your Iron Shirt skill to level seven.]

He had prepared warm water beforehand, and as soon as he returned to his residence, he took off his clothes and began to cultivate.

An hour and a half later.

Su Chen suddenly opened his eyes, a fierce glint in them. He murmured, "Finally improved, Hong Ke, are you ready?"

(End of this chapter)