Madman!

Chapter 123: A Contest Between Men

As Shark Jiu's palm coiled around Master Xin's hand-blade, Xin rotated his wrist, transitioning from a piercing strike to a slicing motion.

He wielded his palm like a sword or a saber, intending to sever Shark Jiu's hand directly at the wrist.

However, Shark Jiu's hand clung to his hand-blade, her fingers gripping the edge and moving with his momentum rather than against it.

Master Xin's strike felt as though it had slashed into loose cotton—soft, drifting, and completely devoid of resistance.

"Hah!" Master Xin's eyes bulged with rage as he let out a sudden, explosive shout. It resonated like thunder rolling across the horizon, leaving everyone's ears ringing with a dull roar. Simultaneously, he inverted his left hand, fingertips pointing down. His palm turned a metallic iron-blue hue as he struck at Shark Jiu.

The Voice Strike had existed since ancient times within the Old Arts, practiced by every sect and school.

On one hand, the shout stunned the opponent's mind; on the other, the sound propelled the force, increasing explosive power by twenty percent.

Yet, what Master Xin unleashed was more than a mere Voice Strike.

Although Master Xin came from a background in New Arts, his perspective was far from shallow. Over the years, while unable to restore his full strength, he had researched many other disciplines.

He had particularly delved into Buddhist scriptures.Buddhism focuses on cultivating the mind rather than the body, and many of its meditation and visualization techniques shared commonalities with New Arts.

As the Dragon Head of Hetu, he naturally couldn't grasp the true meaning of compassion, but he had managed to uncover some of the practical methods.

This strike wasn't just a martial palm technique; it was the Buddhist Demon-Subduing Seal, imbued with the intent to crush evil spirits and destroy all obstacles.

Combined with his glaring eyes, the thunderous shout, and a fraction of his ability as a Magnetic Field Level expert, Shark Jiu's vision blurred. She felt as if she were facing a towering Arhat, eyes wide with fury, descending to suppress her.

She couldn't intercept it. She couldn't block it. She could only flee.

It was just like when Chen Wujun had apprenticed under Zhou Qing. By controlling his heartbeat alone, Zhou Qing had dragged Chen Wujun into a mental battlefield, forcing him to experience an aura of absolute invincibility.

Zhou Qing had said that once Chen Wujun reached the Magnetic Field Level, he would naturally understand these techniques.

Master Xin was employing exactly this kind of power.

He had realized moments ago that Shark Jiu's kung fu had reached the realm of perfection. Since he had already hired several experts, he unleashed his full power immediately, intending to kill Shark Jiu in the shortest time possible.

"What a joke! Master Xin, do you really think this is enough to shake my resolve?" Shark Jiu's mind was steadfast, naturally immune to such illusions. She bit the tip of her tongue, and the vision of the Arhat dissipated, leaving only Master Xin. However, the Demon-Subduing Seal was still hurtling toward her chest, carrying an unstoppable force.

Shark Jiu arched her back, forcing her spine backward to create two extra inches of space.

Simultaneously, her right hand retracted rapidly, fingers snapping straight and the webbing between her thumb and index finger bulging high. It struck out like a tiger's claw, grabbing at Master Xin's forearm.

The moment she made contact, Shark Jiu felt a jolt of electricity surge from Master Xin's arms. Her hands went numb instantly, the sensation shooting all the way up to her shoulders.

Her left hand failed to wrap around his hand-blade, and his palm seal was already right in front of her. She mentally cursed.

Yet her kung fu had reached a state of perfection. The situation was perilous, but not yet a dead end.

Shark Jiu's control over her own body had reached an inconceivable level.

Her chest suddenly collapsed inward, shrinking back another two inches just when it seemed impossible. Her body fell backward, her left foot hooking behind her right. With a boneless twist, she utilized the "Python Turning Body" technique to slip under Master Xin's armpit.

Master Xin followed closely, his Demon-Subduing Seal still pressing forward with devastating power.

Within a single exchange, this old fox had utilized all three of his accessible Magnetic Field capabilities. First, he created a magnetic swamp to trap Shark Jiu's hammer strike; next, he projected a momentary illusion; and finally, he unleashed a sudden surge of electricity from his arms.

He wanted to kill Shark Jiu in a single move to intimidate the others.

Furthermore, if the primary target—Shark Jiu—was dead, Yuan Hong, Sea Duke, and Xu Anquan would have no reason to continue the fight.

This was the ruthlessness, experience, and decisiveness of a veteran of the criminal underworld.

Yet his vision blurred. In a moment that should have been impossible, Shark Jiu's body dipped and twisted, vanishing from right in front of his eyes.

Master Xin's heart sank. He spun around, maintaining the Demon-Subduing Seal, only to find Shark Jiu had already leaped more than ten meters away. She stood facing him, shaking out her arms.

Her arms were currently numb and powerless.

Despite suffering a setback, her face showed no fear; instead, she looked radiant and high-spirited.

"Master Xin, you truly live up to your reputation as a former Magnetic Field Level expert. Your methods are formidable. But how many more times can you use those tricks?"

Although their exchange had lasted only a single move, it contained multiple variations, each fraught with lethal intent.

Even though the onlookers couldn't see every detail, they could feel the heart-stopping tension.

Had it been anyone else, they likely would have been killed instantly.

Master Xin stared at Shark Jiu expressionlessly. They had swapped positions.

Shark Jiu was now positioned between him and his subordinates, Tall Guy and Fat Nan.

Meanwhile, he stood between Shark Jiu and her allies, Yuan Hong and the others.

"Her hands are temporarily paralyzed. Kill her!" Master Xin commanded in a low voice.

Fat Nan stomps the ground, blasting a pit into the concrete as he launched himself toward Shark Jiu like a cannonball.

He had always managed Master Xin's business, and given his portly appearance, many people underestimated his strength.

In reality, his build was genetic; the layer of fat on the surface hid a mountain of solid muscle underneath.

When he moved, he struck with the momentum of a thunderbolt.

Tall Guy and two other men in suits also charged at Shark Jiu.

"You think numbers matter?" Yuan Hong sneered. With a single step, he crossed dozens of meters. His ten fingers snapped out, his spine undulating like a rising mountain range, the muscles on his back rippling like dragon scales.

Utilizing the same Dragon-Tiger Combined Force, he pounced toward Master Xin with both hands.

Even a real tiger would pale in comparison to his ferocity.

Master Xin's expression remained unchanged as he countered with the Demon-Subduing Seal. When Yuan Hong's tiger claws struck, it felt like hitting a steel plate.

Bang!

The concrete beneath their feet cracked instantly.

Yuan Hong's hands were jarred to the point of numbness and flung high into the air.

"Old man, you've got some tricks!" Yuan Hong laughed loudly, twisting his body to the side while bringing his arm down in a devastating Throwing Body Hammer strike aimed at Master Xin's groin.

Both Yuan Hong and Shark Jiu had long limbs, but Yuan Hong stood at 1.9 meters. When he unleashed that rotating hammer strike, it looked like a mighty general swinging a massive war hammer.

Yet Master Xin responded with another Demon-Subduing Seal.

His technique was as hard as diamond, seemingly indestructible.

The collision between Yuan Hong's hammer fist and the seal rang out like a blacksmith striking iron, causing a deafening boom to echo through the area.

The ground beneath them caved in.

Surrounding chunks of concrete rippled and flew outward like splashes of water.

Yuan Hong turned his hands into hammers, repeatedly clashing against the Demon-Subduing Seal, filling the air with the clamor of forging metal.

Meanwhile, Shark Jiu faced the siege of Fat Nan, Tall Guy, and the others. Although her hands were numb and useless, her agility remained unaffected.

Faced with Fat Nan's steamroller-like charge, Shark Jiu suddenly dropped low, circling to the side while unleashing a series of sweeping kicks.

Despite his bulk, Fat Nan was not as clumsy as he appeared. He retreated continuously, but just as Shark Jiu's leg swept past, he suddenly lunged forward. He stomped down viciously while his hands reached for her shoulders.

Fat Nan specialized in grappling; once he got a hold of an expert, escape was nearly impossible.

However, Shark Jiu suddenly flipped her body and launched a kick as fast as lightning directly into Fat Nan's chin. His head snapped back violently, lifting his body off the ground. His jaw was obliterated in a mess of blood and flesh.

This was the "Three Rings Ensnaring the Moon" from Mo Family Fist—using consecutive sweeping kicks to force a retreat, followed by a sudden, undefendable flip kick.

With one kick heavily injuring Fat Nan, Shark Jiu darted out of the encirclement.

At that moment, Pei Qingzhi intercepted Tall Guy. His arm snapped out like a great spear, covering Tall Guy's entire frame. Tall Guy's eyes narrowed, and with a flick of his wrists, two daggers appeared in his hands.

Chen Wujun, wielding a pair of sickles and treading the Bagua steps, locked onto one of the men in suits.

His original target had been Tall Guy, wanting to test the mettle of one of Hetu's Four Heavenly Kings, but Pei Qingzhi had beaten him to it.

Aside from Fat Nan and Tall Guy, the two men in suits, both around thirty years old, had reacted the fastest. Recognizing them as experts, Chen Wujun singled one out. He raised his sickles, crossing his arms to shear at the man's neck like a pair of scissors.

The man shrank back, ducking low to circle around. One hand struck upward at Chen Wujun's left arm, while the other punched viciously toward his kidney.

Sickles were originally farm tools. As weapons, they were non-intuitive, relying primarily on hooking and cutting, making it difficult to change moves mid-strike.

The opponent had spotted the sickle's weakness instantly and closed the distance. In close-quarters grappling, a sickle was less useful than a wooden stick.

However, the sickle was a primary weapon of the Swimming Dragon Palm, a style famous for its footwork and body mechanics. Chen Wujun slid his right foot forward and twisted his left foot outward, spinning past the man's side. Simultaneously, he hooked his weapon backward toward the man's spine.

The man's vision blurred, and he realized the danger—Chen's movement was as eerie as Shark Jiu's. He immediately dove forward to avoid the hooking strike that would have ripped him open.

Still, the tip of the sickle left a bloody gash across his back.

Chen Wujun turned, his feet alternating rapidly as he swayed left and right in his approach. He twirled the sickles, switching from a standard grip to a reverse grip. The wooden handles pressed against his forearms, with the blades protruding past his elbows. He stepped in with a straight punch to the face, hiding the true killing blow—the sickle blade beneath his arm.

The man leaped back. Chen Wujun slid forward, slicing at the man's flank, followed by an elbow strike that drove the sickle blade toward the abdomen.

Chen Wujun's fighting style was treacherous, pushing the hit-and-run tactics of the Swimming Dragon Palm to their limit.

The man was forced to dodge continuously, unable to find an opportunity to close the distance.

Within moments, several more bloody streaks appeared on the opponent's body.

After a dozen exchanges, seeing the man darting left and right, Chen Wujun rolled his eyes. He suddenly stopped and tossed his sickles far off the road.

"We may be enemies..." he shouted at the man, "but I won't use weapons to bully you. Let's have a real man's fight!"

He walked forward, assuming a traditional cupped-fist greeting stance.

Seeing the sickles discarded, the man's face twisted into a sinister grin. He returned the gesture, cupping his fists with a mockingly polite smile.

After all, the opponent had thrown away his weapons.

Then, Chen Wujun stomped the ground, blasting a pit into the concrete as he launched himself like a cannonball. He slammed a violent, two-handed Arching Hand Hammer straight at the man's face.

The man's pupils constricted. He instinctively raised his forearms to shield his head.

He only had time to scream one word filled with indignation:

"Fuck!"

Boom!

Pain exploded in his arms as he was sent flying backward.

Chen Wujun followed close behind, delivering another Arching Hand Hammer.

Boom!