Martial Cultivator

Daoist Qian Ji grew more and more alarmed.

Originally, this great daoist sage had believed that his cultivation realm surpassed Chen Chao’s by a considerable margin. Even if Chen Chao had some strange tricks up his sleeve, he was destined to die by his hand within a short time.

But as the fight dragged on, although he had managed to injure the young martial artist before him to some extent, he had never truly succeeded in seriously wounding him. Worse yet, even he himself now bore injuries.

This turn of events left Daoist Qian Ji not only shaken, but even a little furious.

After another brief exchange, Chen Chao took a palm strike from Daoist Qian Ji to the chest. Though the black runes did not spread across his body, the blow was backed by the full might of someone truly at the end of Nepenthe. Chen Chao’s tattered robes finally disintegrated completely at this moment.

Chen Chao’s upper body which was covered in scars was once again revealed.

His body could not be called heavily muscular, but his musculature was defined, and his posture upright, he was definitely anything but frail.

Daoist Qian Ji’s hands continuously formed overlapping seals. From his sleeves surged wave after wave of black runes, which floated upward into the sky. In just a breath’s time, the sky behind him was filled with runes.

Runes filled the heavens.

From within the runes, countless vengeful spirits emerged and began to roam the world.

In his early years, Daoist Qian Ji had been a titan of the heretic path. Later, he was suppressed by Daoist Yinli, but instead of being slain, he was subdued and made to serve, becoming the current master of the Glaze Temple. Over the years, the Glaze Temple had flourished and appeared to advance swiftly within just half a lifetime. But at its core, it was Daoist Yinli who supported them from behind the scenes, while the Glaze Temple’s role was to handle all the dirty work for Yinli that could not see the light of day.

And in this span of three decades, how many unspeakable atrocities had Glaze Temple committed that could not be known by the world?

And the lives of ordinary civilians that he, Daoist Qian Ji, used for cultivation, how many tens of thousands had he sacrificed?

The countless vengeful souls filling the sky were proof enough.

Chen Chao gripped the hilt of Cloud Mud that had already turned white, his eyes filled with killing intent.

Although he clearly knew there was a gap in realm between them, at this moment, a thought that had never arisen before forcibly emerged in his mind.

He was going to kill the Glaze Temple Master before him, all by himself, to avenge the people of Great Liang.

The grudge of Great Liang, shall be avenged by a Liang person!

Taking a deep breath, the white mist at his mouth and nose surged and flowed. Chen Chao stomped heavily on the ground, and dozens of miles outside the city began to tremble at that moment. Even within the city of Yingchun Commandery, a faint tremor could be felt.

Seizing the momentum, Chen Chao leaped upward, his entire figure shooting up from the earth like a streak of light, rising into the sky. In his hand, Cloud Mud surged with saber qi, and white mist coiled around the saber edge.

Without a word, Chen Chao brought the saber down in a single strike. A massive arc of saber qi burst forth between heaven and earth. In that instant, the night sky seemed to be pierced by a snow-white, dazzling light, bringing a momentary brightness to the world.

Between heaven and earth, the sound of dragon roars echoed.

It was as if, in some unknown place, a true dragon suddenly raised its head at this very moment.

A fierce wind swept across the world at this moment.

Daoist Qian Ji’s expression did not change. He urged forth the sea of black runes behind him to suppress ahead, while coldly uttering four words: “Uncouth martial artist.”

The saber qi and runes collided, not shattering upon contact, but locked in deadlock mid-air. The saber qi could not push through, and the black runes could not erode it.

Yet neither side was satisfied with this result.

Especially Daoist Qian Ji, he was a full major realm above Chen Chao, and in terms of cultivation realm, he should have been able to completely suppress the other. But now, to be locked in a stalemate, this was something he could not accept.

He spat out a mouthful of black qi. The wound on his palm had already scabbed over, but at this moment, it suddenly burst open, and a stream of black blood surged from his palm, scattering across heaven and earth.

Droplets of black blood landed on those black runes, and each rune began to emit a dark light. Their power surged dramatically. What had previously been evenly matched now shifted, those runes became unusually terrifying in might.

At the very tip of the massive saber qi, the point of the blade began to shatter under the corrosion of the runes.

Chen Chao frowned slightly. Seeing that the balance between the two was about to be broken, the veins on his arms bulged, and streams of white mist from within his body poured into his arms.

Clenching his teeth, Chen Chao pressed downward with force.

Once more, dragon roars echoed through heaven and earth.

That massive saber qi, already on the verge of shattering, suddenly plunged downward at that moment, breaking through the surrounding black runes and continuing its descent toward Daoist Qian Ji’s head.

With a crack, a bloody gash appeared on Chen Chao’s arm, showing just how much pain he had endured while pressing downward.

Two vast and terrifying auras tore at each other continuously in this space.

Vengeful souls drifted endlessly across the land, emanating waves of dreadful aura. The screams that rang out seemed to come straight from hell, and the terrifying sound waves genuinely disrupted one’s state of mind.

Chen Chao’s expression was incredibly grim. His focus at this moment was razor-sharp, showing not the slightest lapse in focus. Though the wails of the vengeful souls constantly battered at one’s spirit, Chen Chao was hardly affected. On one hand, it was due to the white mist within his body. On the other hand, Chen Chao believed it had something to do with his identity as a Lord Warden Commander.

In other words, perhaps it was because of the token at his waist.

As the Lord Warden Commander of Great Liang, tasked with guarding the realm for generations, this waist token was proof of identity, it was naturally passed down through generations as well. From the perspective of qi refiners, it meant Chen Chao bore the fortune of Great Liang. These vengeful souls were once the people of Great Liang. Perhaps it was for this reason that their influence on him was so minimal.

However, there was still a difference in realm between the two. Chen Chao’s saber qi was the first to shatter under the overwhelming runes, and he was also forced back because of that terrifying aura.

But just as Chen Chao landed on the ground, he immediately shot back up again, transforming into a streak of flowing light that surged straight ahead, dragging a brilliant white line behind him. Upon reaching the high sky, he charged directly toward Daoist Qian Ji.

Originally, after such a clash, both sides would pause briefly before making another move. But Chen Chao paid no mind to any of that. Even while slightly disadvantaged, he launched an attack with such fierce resolve, forcibly trying to reverse the current situation.

A flood of overwhelming, massive qi force roared forward. With one punch, he shattered all the remaining black runes, and along the way, even blasted a deep crater spanning several miles where Daoist Qian Ji had just stood.

Daoist Qian Ji managed to escape the range of the punch qi a step ahead, but was still affected by its force, feeling the skin on his face sting with pain.

Before he could steady his footing, another punch from Chen Chao came crashing toward him. The terrifying punch qi swept across the land. Faintly, it already bore the bearing of a grandmaster in fist techniques.

Among martial artists in the world, those who reached the pinnacle hardly used weapons anymore. Figures such as the Great Liang Emperor and the Lord Warden Commander possessed peerless bodies that were invincible in this current era. Their vast and mighty qi alone could split mountains and sever rivers, enough to rival most of the so-called exquisite daoist techniques in the world.

How to release the qi throughout one’s body, this was what those mighty martial artists had to consider.

Thus, certain fist techniques came into being. These techniques often did not pursue subtlety or finesse, but sought only to release one’s mighty qi to its fullest extent.

Chen Chao used the saber more than the fist, but that did not mean he had no skill in fist techniques. In fact, after receiving the cultivation insights of the Great General and the Great Liang Emperor, not only did he gain considerable proficiency in fist arts, but he could even be called a rare fist grandmaster of this age.

It was only now that he finally put it into action.

He opened up a grand, forceful fist stance, and the intent of the fist flowed through his whole body. After one punch landed, another followed closely behind. punch after punch. After several punches, their combined force and the overwhelming intent behind them forced Daoist Qian Ji to retreat again and again, unable to remain standing where he was.

Chen Chao pressed the advantage, and with each punch that followed, it was as if a clap of thunder sounded in the sky.

Unceasing and relentless.

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