Before he went in training and developed his Badao zhenqi, Fan Xian did not believe a human’s body could be harder than rock. But after one of his palm strikes left his handprint on a rock, he changed his mind.
Even now, he still didn’t believe a person would be completely fine after jumping several tens of meters down a cliff, especially without slowing down during the descent. Wu Zhu helped him disprove that thought, and at the same time gave him unparalleled fright; Fan Xian would have never imagined the true skills of this world’s strongest to be this terrifying!
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The black cloth which covered Wu Zhu’s eyes resembled flowing black silk as it trailed during Wu Zhu’s high-speed descent. Wu Zhu, however, was like an arrow striking down with the force of thunder. He aimed his feet at the small boat.
Wu Zhu wasn’t using qinggong, he was merely freefalling with the help of gravity. While falling several tens of meters, he never stopped gaining speed. By the time he was about to land on the boat, he was going tremendously fast. A frightening whooshing sound could be heard as he fell faster than the sound of the wind, as if he had split the air itself.
The force Wu Zhu carried reached the boat before his body did. On the boat sat a singing man wearing a bamboo hat which was violently blown away.
The bamboo hat flew far away before landing in the sea, exposing the man’s face.
The man had a simple, humble expression, his eyes clear as autumn waters. However, his pupils contracted when he saw the pair of feet crashing down from above.
A pair of hands, pale as white jade, came out of the man’s sleeves and waved gently. With his fingers parting like bare branches sprouting new leaves, countless jets of qi rushed out of his fingertips. In the moment before Wu Zhu landed on the boat in the restless sea, those jets of qi forcefully blew the boat two paces backwards.
Wu Zhu brutally crashed down like a meteorite. Due to the boat being blown back two paces, Wu Zhu landed on the deck, not on the singing man.
There was no way this small boat could withstand such force, and before the sound of rushing air died down, there was a loud crunching noise.
Because Wu Zhu landed on the bow of the boat, he forced the entire font half of the boat into the water, while the stern was lifted out of the water, pointing to the sky.
The singer was catapulted high into the air. While airborne, he could do nothing but spread out his arms, looking quite miserable.
With a huge splash, the boat broke from the intense impact and sank.
A black shadow erupted from the waters, locking onto the singer, who was still in the air. In the blink of an eye, fingers shot out like swords, aiming at the singer’s throat.
The singer moved his hands, as though he were constructing the beams of a roof. With great steadiness and grace, he forcefully blocked Wu Zhu’s killing blow.
Small explosions tore through the air, the result of strong qi clashing against each other. It was hard to count just how many techniques these two world-class warriors unleashed in this short exchange.
Moments later, the two shadows separated, landing on the two sides of an extremely narrow sandbar just beneath the cliffs.
On the sea, the boat’s flotsam slowly surfaced, looking like debris left in a jar. The back half of the boat was still floating, ownerless, looking quite desolate.
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"Your assassination failed, so you have to pay me back for the boat." The singer stared at Wu Zhu’s blindfold and smiled. He reached out and waved with his hand, as if expecting immediate payment.
There were about nine meters between him and Wu Zhu. In response to this hand gesture, Wu Zhu frowned, turned his body to the side, and took two steps back with unparalleled quickness.
With a light shuffle, the ground where Wu Zhu was standing moments ago appeared thickly dotted, as though rain had fallen on the sand.
From nine meters away, with a slight wave of his hand, the singer’s strong qi penetrated through the sand. In this world, not many could accomplish such a feat.
"Why have you come here?" Wu Zhu tilted his head slightly. While remaining expressionless, he was noticeably more cautious than usual.
"I fought you once 16 years ago. Since then, I’ve failed to find a worthy opponent," the singer replied with a grin. "Last year I visited the capital and Ye Zhong said you had been missing for the past few years. I thought you really followed Lady Ye over to the other side. I got two jars of alcohol, one of which I poured into the ground along with a few tears. I set out again this year and felt a strong qi from far away, so I came to investigate… Who would have thought it was you?"
The singer then became angry. "I’ve not seen you in over a decade, old friend. How come you tried to kill me on sight? You are well aware that we cannot slay each other."
Wu Zhu thought about it for a moment, then tilted his head as if accepting this fact.
The singer knew of the blind man’s strange temperament. If Wu Zhu really could kill him, he wouldn’t hesitate, and the singer was mindful of that possibility. He then said with a smile, "After the Lady departed, I thought you’d go back to the temple. Why did you come to Danzhou Harbor?"
"You know why I want to kill you," Wu Zhu said coldly, ignoring the singer’s question. "The amount of people in this world who know me are few. And among them, you have the biggest mouth."
Not knowing how to respond, the singer became embarrassed.
Wu Zhu continued, "If I can silence you by killing you, I’m more than happy to do so."
The singer let out an uneasy smile and sighed. "You’ve still got that same old temper I see. It’s rare for someone to train to such a high level and still remain so bloodthirsty."
Wu Zhu shook his head. "The ends justify the means." He suddenly frowned. "Since you found what you were looking for, you may leave now." Quite a crisp way of shooing someone away.
The singer breathed in before letting out a lengthy laugh. He clenched his fist as he smiled. "In truth, I am not much of a talker."
As soon as he said that, the singer rolled up his sleeves and put his arms behind his back. Just like that, he coolly floated back to what remained of his boat, which was somehow still floating. Standing on the wreckage and humorously resuming the motion of rowing, the singer moved his half of a boat with his inner qi and set off towards Danzhou.
Wu Zhu faced the same direction, silent under the black cloth.
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"Who was that?" Fan Xian, who just made his way down from the mountain peak, did not hear the conversation. He was still shaken after witnessing a battle between two of the world’s strongest fighters.
"Ye Liuyun."
"As I thought…" Fan Xian sighed as he followed behind Wu Zhu. They too were headed towards Danzhou Harbor.