Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"..."

The branches, leaves, and trunk magnified rapidly in his eyes. Only then did Zhu Kuilong understand what the governor of Liangjiang had seen before his death. All his escape routes were cut off, and before he even understood what was happening, he was smashed into a pile of mangled flesh.

"Thump—!!"

A resounding blow!

At the moment he was hit, Zhu Kuilong tried his best to straighten his body and use a technique to neutralize the force in mid-air, but... this technique is not a panacea. As the saying goes, "Great strength makes bricks fly," when the strength is great enough, it can make up for the advantage of technique, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. If you don't even have four ounces, then you can't neutralize the force of a thousand pounds.

……

"boom!!!"

Like a nail driven into the ground, he slammed down hard, bounced high into the air, creating a crater in the stone pavement, and then slid along the ground, looking utterly pathetic. Fortunately, Zhu Kuilong was still conscious and didn't give up.

"laugh--!!"

By rolling to dissipate the force, and then inserting the Fish Intestine Sword into the ground as a handbrake, producing a series of ear-piercing friction sounds, it finally managed to stop, albeit with great difficulty.

He coughed twice, spitting out blood, and straightened his neck. In the firelight, Zhang Renfeng stood with his feet firmly planted on the ground, like a wild beast breaking free of its cage. He lifted a log with one hand, unleashing a powerful roar that shook the ground. In his hands, the massive log was no different from a sword or spear, merely an ordinary weapon, and it did not hinder his rapid advance in the slightest.

opportunity!

"middle!"

Zhu Kuilong's eyes flashed with a sharp light. With a flick of his left hand, he threw a golden bracelet, which struck Zhang Renfeng on the forehead with lightning speed.

"when!"

Like the sharp sound of metal striking stone, Zhang Renfeng was completely unprepared for this move. He was struck on the head, his neck snapping back and his steps halting. Zhu Kuilong, taking advantage of the brief moment of shock, abruptly ripped off the cloud-patterned blanket covering his shoulders!

"boom----!!!"

This time, it wasn't a brazier or a fish tank, but an unstoppable thick fog. The fog wasn't white, but mixed with a dark red, and it spread rapidly, instantly surrounding the two of them and obscuring them. Only Calaway saw Zhu Kuilong make a move before they completely disappeared—he produced a handkerchief from somewhere and covered his mouth and nose.

"Ah, cheating, cheating!" Xiaomei couldn't help but exclaim. "Didn't we agree to a martial arts competition? How can there be so much nonsense involved!"

No one could answer her question, since everyone here was a foreigner and not very familiar with the dueling procedures in other countries.

Only the chief wrinkled his nose.

Do you have any handkerchiefs or tissues on you?

"What's wrong?" Mike was the first to realize something was wrong. "Is there poison in this fog? Surely not. I think he and Hongzhong have a pretty good relationship. Are they going to release poison already?"

“No…maybe I’m just overthinking it, but…” The chief reached out and picked up some ingredients from the mist, rubbed them between his fingertips, and found tiny particles. “I’m not sure what the ingredients in this smoke are, but it will definitely have a negative effect on the human body.”

“I have made a living on this land for nearly fifty years. Everything that my people and I need in our daily lives comes from the land. We don’t have a clinic; the herbs that grow on the land are our medicine.”

"This smell is very similar to crushed herbs."

Chapter 267: The Immortal's Rope, Begin!

"Cough...cough cough cough..."

Zhang Renfeng was very oblivious to these things. After taking two inhalations, he realized something was wrong, coughed, and choked until tears welled up in his eyes. "What is this? Pollen?"

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air. Zhang Renfeng's pupils contracted, and he had no choice but to let go, causing the log to crash to the ground with a thud. He reached out with his right hand and caught a silver needle that had been thrown at him with his fingers. The needle tip changed color slightly and emitted a strange medicinal smell, as if it had been soaked in some kind of liquid.

"call out!"

A short, powerful hissing sound came from the smoke, and more silver needles flew out in succession. Zhang Renfeng dodged them one after another, relying on his ability to locate the needles by sound.

He casually broke off a branch from the log, stripped away the excess twigs and leaves, leaving a bare stick about the length of a sword. With a weapon in hand, he felt less flustered and deflected the silver needles one by one.

"Blowgun?" Even now, Zhang Renfeng was still curious. "Senior brother, didn't you used to mainly use unorthodox methods to steal credit? When did you start to change to this style?"

"Heh... Hahahaha... What an interesting question. I can hardly remember it myself, maybe..."

Zhu Kuilong's mocking smile echoed deep within the smoke, making it impossible to discern his location.

With a soft sound, a spark ignited in the smoke. Then came the crackling of the flames as the Fish Intestine Sword was rekindled. He held the sword in one hand and the corner of the cloud carpet in the other, his eyes shining brightly as if radiating light.

"Perhaps it was from the moment I was implicated by you, forced to go into hiding in the martial world, and then endless enemies came knocking on my door?"

"I quickly realized that forgot about all the rules of the underworld... being able to kill was the most important thing. When facing multiple opponents, you had to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time to have a chance to escape. This isn't your arena where you can only take lives after signing a death contract. The reality is that anyone can want my head anytime, anywhere!"

"boom----!!"

Amidst the flickering flames, Zhu Kuilong pressed forward, but it was clear his movements were no longer as agile as before; it seemed the earlier blow had inevitably had an impact. Rather, to be able to stand up and continue fighting after being hit head-on by a solid log weighing around 300 pounds was, in the eyes of ordinary people, monstrous.

Unfortunately, his opponent was Zhang Renfeng.

A martial arts champion, one in ten thousand.

"drink---!!"

Zhu Kuilong wielded the Fish Intestine Sword, unleashing a magnificent and powerful three-stage slash that drew three strong straight lines in the air.

How could Zhang Renfeng's wooden stick possibly contend with him? Each time he parried, a section of it was chopped off, quickly turning into useless wood chips. Zhu Kuilong saw an opportunity, and just as the opening widened, he spun around and unleashed a powerful circular slash straight at Zhang Renfeng's right shoulder!

"when!"

The sword pierced his flesh, but it felt as if he had struck a piece of solid, naturally formed iron, making his hands go numb from the shock!

The sword was slightly embedded under the skin, but was stopped by a huge resistance and could not go any further.

Judging from his expression, Zhang Renfeng seemed to have anticipated this attack. His face was extremely calm, but he tightened the muscles in his chest, turning them into a block of obsidian. He used the wound to firmly wed the Fish Intestine Sword inside, making it difficult to pull out.

"Do you remember, senior brother?"

Neck tilted back.

His entire head tilted backward like a pendulum.

"My master always says I have a stone head!"

"Boom————!!!"

The headbutt was incredibly fierce, with the shoulder and neck, two areas where muscles are rarely developed, all working together to create a sonic boom as the head swung. Zhang Renfeng's stone head slammed solidly into Zhu Kuilong's forehead, sending him flying, sword and all.

Such an ordinary collision wiped out all the gaps that had been painstakingly built up in an instant—that's the power of numbers!

Zhu Kuilong was thrown several meters away. He endured the excruciating pain in his forehead, dizziness, and seeing stars, and used his sword as a cane to barely get up.

"Thorn--!"

In the firelight, Zhang Renfeng tore off his shirt with his bare hands, revealing a body of solid muscles that seemed to be cast from bronze and iron. His eyes were wide open, staring intently at him. The sword strike had indeed left a wound on his body, but it was only a very shallow cut, from which blood flowed, which seemed more like an embellishment to this body.

At least in terms of his posture and breathing, he did not appear to be affected in any way.

What about yourself?

……

"Boom!!"

It sank steadily, its stance so deep it resembled an old tree, its roots firmly planted in the ground, unmoving.

Zhang Renfeng assumed a horse stance, his body strong and stable, like a pillar ready to strike. His left fist hovered slightly above his waist, his entire body frozen in place, seemingly in a state of "stillness." But anyone could see that within this stillness lay explosive kinetic energy, waiting only for an opportunity to transform from extreme stillness to extreme movement!

"Ha, Bengquan (a type of fist technique), it looks pretty good."

Seeing his junior brother's stance, Zhu Kuilong spat out the mouthful of sweet blood that had welled up in his throat, and they were of one mind. He spread out his body again, and the burning Fish Intestine Sword was drawn in a semicircle by him, with the tip pointing to the ground and the burning blade pressed lightly under his armpit, his whole body like an arrow that had been drawn.

"You want to go all out with me... then let's go!"

With toes barely touching the ground, his movements were like a soaring swan!

A fiery slash, forming a semi-circular arc amidst the dissipating smoke, hurtled straight towards Zhang Renfeng's face. This strike, imbued with the full power of the Wild Goose Skill, aimed directly at his center. Zhang Renfeng felt an intense, oppressive tremor; the attack from his senior fellow disciple had created a sense of imminent life-or-death crisis.

But he was not confused.

"break---!!"

Just as the fierce slash came hurtling towards him, Zhang Renfeng gripped the ground with his toes, almost carving finger marks into the stone slab, to stabilize his footing. His shoulders shifted, and his arms completed a rapid, alternating motion, a short, powerful thrust that seemed to exhaust all his strength to complete the exchange.

His body moved like a crossbow bolt, his hands like a hundred arrows piercing through the air!

This punch, without dodging or flinching, concentrates all the strength of the body into one point and shoots out towards the center line!

"Thump—!!!"

----

……

After the loud noise, the courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Everyone upstairs stared in disbelief at what was happening below, and no one uttered a comment.

"Dang Cang——"

The sound of the Fish Intestine Sword hitting the ground.

Zhu Kuilong was struck by a punch, which forced him to his knees, and he almost couldn't catch his breath. He took out a pill from his waist, put it in his mouth, then conjured up a gourd and swallowed it with medicinal wine. It took him a long time to catch his breath.

After doing all this, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and, without holding onto anything, slowly stood up using only the strength of his waist and abdomen.

He tossed the pills and gourd to Zhang Renfeng.

“…Senior Brother.” Zhang Renfeng took the two items but didn’t consume them. He merely frowned slightly. “Shall we continue fighting?”

"Ha... What are you saying? I'm still standing here, aren't I?" Zhu Kuilong revealed a strange smile, his phoenix eyes widening instantly, as if emotions that had been suppressed for a long time were breaking through the cage of his reason. "You little rascal, you really make me happy!"

"..."

Zhang Renfeng sensed something was wrong and dared not be careless. He got into a fighting stance again, but this time, what appeared before him was something he had never expected.

Zhu Kuilong took out the rope hanging from his waist, threw it into the air with a vengeance, and shouted angrily, "Immortal Rope, rise—!!!"

"boom----"

A great storm raged in the sky.

The golden rope, like a dragon awakened by magic, climbed up to the clouds amidst the ceaseless thunder.

Chapter 268: The First and Last Enemy (Third update today!!)

"Snapped!"

Calaway suddenly fell ill and slapped himself hard, so hard that he staggered.

After truly feeling the pain, he covered his face, still unable to believe it. "Is this real? You all saw it, right? It's not just my imagination, is it?"

Mike looked grave. In his fifty-plus years of life, he had never witnessed such a battle that defied common sense. The scene before him was no less extraordinary than those described in mythology.

The course of the battlefield is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

"In the end, what will happen..."

----

"Senior brother, this is no longer martial arts, but an illusion, isn't it?"

Of all those who witnessed this trick, only Zhang Renfeng was not surprised.

He had found it strange when he first witnessed Zhu Kuilong's magic tricks at the theater. Most of the tricks Zhu Kuilong performed were ones he had mastered seven years ago—the kind of tricks he could perform with his eyes closed, relying solely on muscle memory. Knowing Zhu Kuilong as he did, he couldn't have remained stagnant for so long; he must be hiding some powerful secret weapon.

Nevertheless, this final trump card still took him by surprise.

Zhu Kuilong has already broken free from the constraints of the concept of "magic tricks" and reached a new level, stepping into a completely new positional realm.

Illusion.

Throughout the land of China, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who can perform magic tricks and make a living through them; they are not uncommon. It's just that Zhu Kuilong was of a higher caliber and managed to enter the imperial court through his magic tricks.

But when it comes to illusion magic... describing it as "one in ten thousand" is no exaggeration.

"I realized one thing a long time ago: if I were to compete with you in martial arts, no matter how hard I try for the rest of my life, I would never be your match."

Zhu Kuilong bit his thumb, pressed the blood-stained finger to his forehead, and slammed it down hard!

A dark red vertical line appeared between his eyebrows, as if a vertical pupil had opened.

"We've had enough of the fighting on the ground."

Zhu Kuilong offered no further explanation. Like a nimble monkey, he leaped lightly and climbed onto the upright Immortal Rope. He gripped the rope with his legs, held his sword in his right hand, and held the rope with his left. In just a few moments, he reached a height almost the same as the rooftop.

"If you have the guts, come and meet me in heaven!"

He gently gripped the rope with his left hand.

"brush!"