Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"'Intimidation'?" Kusaya Kari raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Kid, this world is very realistic. Not everything can be solved by 'intimidation'."

“That’s true, not everything,” Ren replied with a cold laugh. “But you can.”

……

"when----!!"

The two swords clashed.

Sparks flew everywhere.

----

"Damn it... This is fucking terrifying! Who the hell are they?!"

Colonel Monroe, covered in dust and cursing under his breath, quickly pushed aside the bushes in front of him and headed towards the open rooftop of the mobile building.

At this moment, this place temporarily became the central command center for the soldiers. In complete darkness, nothing could be seen clearly, so Jack could only use binoculars, squinting with difficulty to observe the overall situation. The situation on the front lines could only be relayed to him by Colonel Monroe's men.

“Let me tell you, Jack, it’s like the Civil War… I feel like I’m fighting the elite of the Confederate Army!”

He threw his hat down and cursed, "Their organization is at least twice as strong as ours, and they're all like madmen, completely fearless! It's unbelievable, besides the military, what other organization has such firepower?"

"We've been ambushed?" Jack's tone remained relatively calm.

"An ambush?! Let me tell you, there was no ambush. We were walking along, and it was quiet all the time, when suddenly there were people all around us. Their weapons were very advanced, and they were definitely professionally trained; they could throw grenades that far... I barely escaped with my life!"

He wiped the dust off his face, still shaken, and seemed to finally understand why Colonel Jaworth's entire army had been wiped out in Gaoshu.

The enemy's military equipment, organizational capacity, and fighting spirit far exceeded his expectations.

Despite Samuel offering a hefty price for this battle, what's the point if people die?

"...You're not thinking of leaving, are you?" Jack's tone turned somber.

"Well...it's not that bad."

Colonel Monroe was taken aback by the murderous aura he exuded and quickly said with a forced smile, "I...I just wanted to discuss with you whether...this kind of...frontline work, could it be..."

"No, you have to go. If you don't, morale will collapse even faster!" Jack's tone was full of the authority of a superior. "The safety of this city must be guaranteed, even if it costs lives. Fight to the death, you must give it to me..."

……

"boom!"

A bullet pierced the back of Monroe's head, splattering blood, and all his anger, fear, worry, and greed ended in that one look.

"thump!"

He slowly collapsed.

"..."

"So majestic."

Calaway slowly emerged from the dark corner and said coldly, "Jack."

Chapter 855: The Second Battle Begins!

The moment the tea was finished, Lu Aniu made his move without hesitation.

Without giving any warning or hints, he attacked directly, displaying an attitude of wanting to wipe out his opponent completely, which showed a lack of the demeanor of a master.

But Lu Aniu didn't mind at all.

As Zhang Renfeng said, in this battle, it's either him killing himself or him killing him; there's no room for mediation.

Giving our all is the best way to respect Zhang Renfeng.

……

Lu Aniu is the type who enjoys fighting; to put it simply, he loves to fight to his core. He will bring out different levels of skill to deal with opponents of different levels. However, the level he displayed in the first stage was already enough to easily defeat most people.

In the first stage, Lu Aniu's performance was similar to a super-enhanced version of Zhang Renfeng.

With the highest level of Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, supplemented by extremely powerful Qi Hard Skill and Golden Bell Cover, none of the three old subordinates on the ship could withstand this stage and were all instantly killed.

After being struck by a wolf's sonic attack and fatally wounded, Lu Aniu was resurrected using the Divine Illumination Technique and immediately began the second stage—using the [Innate Technique] as its core to create a robust internal energy circulation system.

During this stage, his various martial arts techniques will be used in turn.

Techniques like Toad Style, Wild Goose Style, Northern Darkness Divine Skill, and Xuanming Divine Palm... all possess abundant internal energy as their core, making them even more powerful when unleashed. They're essentially a final-level boss, not only boasting stats that seem impossible to quantify, but also possessing over thirty skill slots, each with considerable power. As the fight progresses, you'll be overwhelmed by the dazzling array of skills.

Fortunately, Zhang Renfeng was no pushover either; if you drive, I'll drive too.

He also activated the second phase of berserk mode and withstood Lu Aniu's second phase.

At this point, Lu Aniu began the third stage—the most powerful internal energy cultivation method, the Nine Yin Manual, paired with the most powerful sword technique, the Six Swords. These two were the first martial arts he encountered, and he devoted the most time to them, becoming most proficient in them, reaching a state of perfection!

The result of this mix-and-match approach is the earth-shattering "Falling Leaf Slash".

It's fair to say that anyone other than Zhang Renfeng would be a sitting duck, and only his powerful physique could barely withstand the damage from that sword strike.

The moment he slashed down, Lu Aniu already knew that Zhang Renfeng would return sooner or later: when the sword struck, the sword energy only wounded the flesh, but couldn't cut through the bones and tendons. And reality proved him right. With the experience from their last encounter as a foundation, this time, Lu Aniu didn't use the gradual escalation approach; he went all out from the start.

The internal energy of the Nine Yin Manual and the sword techniques of the Six Swords directly entered the third stage, aiming to continue the battle that could not be completed last time on the edge of the cliff!

----

The sword is drawn, like a python swallowing its prey!

"when----!!"

The sudden metallic clang startled Lu Aniu. In his memory, Zhang Renfeng's internal energy cultivation was insufficient to withstand this sword strike. Looking again, he saw that Zhang Renfeng had somehow managed to leap backward with incredible agility, using his astonishing jumping power to create some distance between them.

His eyes were filled with emptiness, showing no trace of the tension one would expect in the face of battle. But his actions were quite the opposite, swift and decisive. He turned the teacup upside down, using its rim to meet the sword's edge, thus absorbing the cold glint of light that was thrusting towards his throat.

speed.

power.

Accuracy.

To perform this move, all three elements are indispensable. It's akin to dancing the whirling dance on a tightrope, requiring the full and precise application of every muscle. The slightest carelessness will immediately lead to loss of balance and a fall. If it were Zhang Renfeng on the cliff the other day, Lu Aniu didn't think he would be able to withstand his sword strike.

"A scholar who has been away for three days..."

He thought to himself in surprise, "Truly, I'm impressed."

Zhang Renfeng held the teacup in his left hand and stopped the thrust of his sword.

His right hand, however, had already clenched into a fist, dissipating all its force, like a piece of cotton fluttering in the air, moving slowly and leisurely towards his face.

Even at the very last moment, knowing he couldn't dodge, Lu Aniu didn't close his eyes.

For most people, the instinctive reaction to seeing something hurtling toward their face is to close their eyes; this is one of the human defense instincts.

But Lu Aniu was always outwardly lenient but inwardly ruthless, especially to himself. Many of the weaknesses that ordinary people have had been worn away by his daily martial arts training. He would rather take the heavy blow with his eyes open than not see the trajectory of his opponent's attack. In this situation, every second he saw was a second more to analyze his countermeasures.

However, after examining more than thirty martial arts techniques, he still couldn't discern the pattern of this punch. It seemed to be entirely spontaneous, stopping at will, having already grasped the essence of martial arts, reaching a higher realm.

"Just like that... in just a few short days, it's still possible..."

"boom------!!!"

Before the thought could even finish, Lu Aniu's body, like a baseball being hit, blurred and crashed into the wall, shattering it instantly.

Bricks and dust flew out like raindrops, and because he couldn't dissipate the force, he flew straight out of the Paladin Palace and crashed into the finely paved road, smashing a beautiful stretch of road in two.

"..."

Lu Aniu was somewhat stunned. He didn't get up immediately, but lay in the pit for a while. After a while, he raised his hand and wiped the area below his nose, only to find his hand covered in blood—the power of that punch had actually pierced through his Qi-hardening technique, Golden Bell Shield, and powerful internal energy defenses, injuring him!

"Internal strength?"

After thinking it over, there's only one possibility: if it were just physical strength, it wouldn't be able to achieve this effect.

In just a few days, after falling into the sea, this kid learned a new and exquisite internal skill and came to his side.

"How could that be?" Lu Aniu wiped the blood from his nose, picked up his sword with one hand, slowly stood up, looking puzzled, and muttered to himself, "Even if he really did cultivate internal energy, I should be able to sense it once it's activated."

but……

That punch was truly as unremarkable as a willow catkin brushing against one's face; no internal force was detected whatsoever. In fact, Lu Aniu couldn't even fathom the power within it until he actually felt the blow, only then realizing its formidable nature.

……

"Boom!!"

Zhang Renfeng lightly touched the ground with his toes, and in a rather bizarre posture, with his hands flat at both ends, he floated out from the gap he had blasted open, landing precisely halfway down the road. It was as if he were walking on air, without touching a single leaf, making him incredibly graceful.

“Interesting, truly interesting. I’ve seen quite a few light-body skills, but I’ve never seen one as supple and boneless as yours.”

Lu Aniu gripped the sword hilt with his fingers, preparing to strike, and sneered, "To achieve such a breakthrough in just a few days is truly remarkable."

"In that case..."

"Take another sword strike from me, I'm sure it won't hurt you!"

Chapter 856: Take this!

After saying this, Lu Aniu's pupils dilated, and he channeled his inner strength, condensing it in his palm, and then pushed it out forcefully!

While saying "Take my sword," he was actually channeling his inner strength to unleash his most ruthless and dangerous killing move.

"boom-----!!"

Zhang Renfeng did not dodge. After striking with his palm from afar, he did not retreat violently, but merely lowered his head slightly. Instantly, his clothes were pierced through by his internal force, leaving a dark green palm print on his chest. Chilling internal force seeped out, transforming into thousands of dark ink-colored dotted lines that spread slowly throughout his limbs and bones, like worms, yet undeniably surging.

"..."

Zhang Renfeng looked at him expressionlessly.

“Don’t blame me for being cunning, Zhang Renfeng. All's fair in war; deception and trickery are just part of military strategy,” Lu Aniu said calmly. “There’s no need to continue fighting.”

"You've been hit by my [Bone-Melting Palm], and in an instant, your bones and flesh will dissolve, turning into a pool of blood. Perhaps your constitution is a bit special, but this process is still unavoidable."

"You've lost. While there's still time, say whatever you want to say before you die."

……

Zhang Renfeng's expression changed drastically. He bit his lip, suddenly realizing, "So that's how it is..."

"how?"

“I had heard long ago that during the development of the Illuminati, there were many powerful enemies in politics, business, and the military. These people didn’t fall for your secret society’s methods. In the end, they all mysteriously disappeared, neither alive nor dead… They just vanished from the face of the earth, leaving their families to search desperately, but to no avail…”

"So after all that, you just used this trick to take them all down, didn't you?"

“…Heh…” After a moment of silence, Lu Aniu finally revealed a cold smile, but quickly withdrew it, returning to his deep-thinking demeanor.

“Some people are in too high a position or have too powerful a background. We can’t let them be associated with the word ‘death,’ but we can’t let them live either.”

"Only when there is no one left to rely on or use, how can a shoemaker's son of humble origins have the opportunity to rise step by step to a high position?"

"My Bone-Melting Palm technique is so powerful that it has reached a state of perfection. Combined with the internal energy of the Innate Skill, an ordinary person would not last three quarters of an hour after being struck by it. In an instant, they would turn into a pool of blood. This name is not given lightly. It can even melt bones, leaving no trace of evidence."

"You'll soon find out what happens."

……

"is it?"

"..." The other party's tone was too calm, which made Lu Aniu feel uneasy and became alert again.

Upon closer inspection, the speed at which those dark, fine lines extended within his body began to slow down. It was as if beneath this skin lay not flesh and blood, but stone, with no bones to break down! Seeing this, Lu Aniu's expression changed slightly, and his gaze towards him held a hint of disbelief.

The night was long, and in such a short time, Zhang Renfeng unintentionally gave him another "surprise".

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Renfeng straddled the ground, his eyes sharpened, and he activated the Rama Technique!

"Hiss—!!"

His internal energy circulated throughout his body, and white vapor rose from within, soaring upwards like a dragon in the clouds. In an instant, the dark green dotted line receded without a trace, vanishing into nothingness. Even the rather terrifying dark palm print left on his heart was forced to fade away by his internal energy, leaving not a trace whatsoever.

Lu Aniu's pupils widened to an unprecedented size, like two copper bells, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Having already learned of the Wolf Body's mastery of the Rama Technique during the battle in the chapel, seeing this technique again in Zhang Renfeng no longer filled him with jealousy, but rather astonishment.

"To defeat me, you...you actually...broke the oath you swore when you joined my sect?" Lu Aniu's surprise was tinged with a hint of amusement. "In just a few days, you've even mastered the Rama Technique? Hahahaha! Good, good, good! What an unparalleled genius!"

"As long as I can kill you, even if it means being condemned to the deepest hell and shattered to pieces after death, I'm willing!"