Chapter 188: Bombard to Death and Slay to Slag
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Level Seven? Just so so!”
As Junior Leopard’s words coming out, he walked toward Dragon Granny, each step accompanied by increasingly greater Qi Power. Flame of the black fireballs invisible to ordinary people burnt fiercer and fiercer. The Fire Dragons entwined Junior Leopard, tinting his surroundings red.
At this time, surrounding people were all stricken dumb with amazement.
River Heart Island was located in the center of Luo River, with vehicles shuttling back and forth each day. Though there were few masters of martial arts in the audience, many were old cons who had been in the Jianghu for many years. They may be not good at practicing but they still had the eyesight for good martial arts.
They could not figure out who would win the battle at first. The battle was too dazzling and both performed exceptionally well. Once Dragon Granny took out her Dragon Head Crutch and revealed her face, those who had roamed the Jianghu for many years and well-informed ones immediately recognized her identity. After all, there were only few Level Seven experts around. When it came to Level Seven experts, there were no secrets.
And Dragon Granny was particularly famous among them.
That was because she had a strange background.
She was a family servant of the Meng Family in Ningzhou. There were few Level Seven experts in the world and only one with the identity of a servant. Even in millennium family or prestigious sects and schools, those who were born in servant households typically would not consider themselves as servants if they had the opportunity to cultivate and became a Level Seven expert. At least, it was simple enough for them to be an Elder in the sects. This was a form of respect not only for them but also for other Level Seven experts in the world.
Dragon Granny of the Meng Family in Ningzhou was quite different.
She was a private handmaid who joined the household when her mistress married into the Meng family. She had a decent cultivation but to her gender and status as a servant, she had few opportunities to learn even more unfathomable martial arts skills. Then, for reasons unknown, she came across happy encounters again and again after joining the household. She climbed from mere Level Two to Level Six in the past decades. But that was beside the point. The Meng Family in Ningzhou was a wealthy family and influential clan in the world with abundant resources. With Dragon Granny’s great aptitude, it was nothing surprising for her to reach Level Six.
When Dragon Granny reached Level Six, she became an even more trusted subordinate to the mistress of Meng Family. An expert that was so close to the family was a very rare find.
Theoretically, Dragon Granny’s cultivation would not increase anymore. After all, there was an unbridgeable huge gap between Level Six and Level Seven for many in the martial arts world. She was, in fact, satisfied with her current condition. Though she was a family servant in the household, she was more like a trusted subordinate to the mistress. With her high cultivation, she lived a comfortable life even in a well-known household like the Meng Family.
But she truly deserved all this luck.
The Meng Family was one of the most well-known clans in the world. Just as fame tended to cause trouble for an individual, so did prosperity for a famous clan. The power struggles within the clan meant endless conspiracies. The danger of living within the household was no less than that in the Royalty. Though the branch of the Meng family that Dragon Granny served belonged to the direct line of descent, there were still enemies. And their enemies were not just any weaklings.
A Level Six expert roaming the Jianghu could be considered as a true danger but considered merely acceptable to an aristocratic family like the Meng Family.
The turning point came when the power struggles in the Meng Family reached to a boiling point. The only thing she could do was staying beside her mistress and protecting her from any suspicious threats. One of those tasks was testing the food for poison.
As a matter of fact, she did not need to do poison testing personally because there were exclusive servants for the job in the household. It happened that the mistress’ daughter-in-law, the young master’s wife, met complications while giving birth. She had to take medicines because she could not deliver the baby. In the chaotic situation, they could not find the food taster and was about to forgot it. It was Dragon Granny who became suspicious of the food taster’s disappearance. She decided to test the medicine and, as expected, there was a problem with it.
The medicine was laced with Meridian Heartbroken Soup.
It was a commonly-used poisonous drug in Jianghu with a deadly toxicity. It would take only minutes for a person to die after taking it. The only disadvantages were its strong taste and pungent odor. Even ordinary people could smell tang from a distance, let alone Jianghu folks. Thus, few people would use it now.
No one in the household ever thought someone would use this poison against them.
But someone did and he did it in a very smart way. There was a miraculous medicinal usher in the medicine named Heavenly Lotus Seed. It was a nontoxic ingredient for benefiting Qi and activating blood circulation. Besides, it was effective for covering the tang of the Meridian Heartbroken Soup, neutralizing the poison to be colorless and flavorless.
Perhaps God was muddleheaded that day. Dragon Granny was quickly poisoned after taking the Meridian Heartbroken Soup. As a martial artist, her first response was to practice and drive the poison out. But this response earned her an amazing result. The Meridian Heartbroken Soup and the Heavenly Lotus Seed should cause an incredible chemical reaction inside her body, unexpectedly strengthening her Internal Qi several times over. She grew into a Level Seven expert from a Level Six expert inexplicably. One level means an immeasurably vast difference.
Considering her strength and loyalty, the Meng Family naturally would not treat her as a family servant anymore. They decided to promote her as a Family Elder and were ready to return her indenture signed decades before. But she stubbornly insisted she was her mistress’ servant for life and there was no logic for a servant to become a Family Elder.
The Meng Family, including the mistress, tried to persuade her but when it did not work, they let her be.
Thus Dragon Granny remained a servant in the Meng family even if she was a Level Seven expert. The news caused a sensation in the Jianghu. Some thought she was foolish but others regarded her as loyal. While more envied the good fortune of the family for coming across such a fine person.
She may be a family servant but her position and treatment in the household were comparable to that of a Family Elder. The servant status was only in name.
Thanks to this, Dragon Granny became famous throughout Jianghu.
Though she was a Level Seven expert, she seldom appeared in Jianghu. As a family servant, she spent most of her time accompanying her mistress. She was always dressed in a set of black clothes and held the Dragon head Crutch in her hand. Few in Jianghu had seen her real appearance.
But there was no need for them to see her. The rumors were enough. After all, most stories in Jianghu were hearsay.
When the girl used the Universal Three-chop Sword, some long-time Jianghu dwellers had figured out she was a member of the Meng Family in Ningzhou. They also somewhat guessed Dragon Granny’s identity when she showed up. When they heard the girl shout, they finally confirmed her identity.
Thus, their eyes were wide open in disbelief as they watched Junior Leopard forcing a Level Seven expert into such situation with his strength alone.
Wasn’t Zhou Bao a Level Four expert?
Did he not just reach Level Four few months ago?
Since when could a Level Four expert not only compete with a Level Seven expert but also gain the upper hand after a fierce battle?
Was this even possible?
When a Level Seven expert makes her move, she would squash people beneath her level. Was there not such a saying?
Why was the current situation so different? Why was the Level Seven expert being forced into such a pathetic position?
Was Zhou Bao hiding his power all the time? Was he actually a Level Seven expert, too?
How old was he again?
16? Had he even turned 16?
Even if he was 16, he was still a 16-year-old Level Seven expert!
What did this mean?
Some people with high aspirations were already looking at Junior Leopard differently. While more people revealed deep feeling through their burning eyes. The Water Army Camp soldiers in River Heart Island, in particular, seemed capable of melting Junior Leopard with the intensity burning in their eyes.
An expert!
A Level Seven expert! Our boss was a Level Seven expert!
They were soldiers in the lowest of ranks. It was difficult enough for them to meet a Level Four expert, let alone a Level Seven expert.
A Level Seven expert in their eyes was no less than an immortal. The former may even have more deterrence than the latter. After all, no one knew if immortals truly existed in this world but a Level Seven expert was real and tangible.
Now they were abruptly told that their boss, the commander of the Navy, was a Level Seven expert, or at least an expert that could hold his ground against a Level Seven expert. They couldn’t help expressing their mad joy. It was because those soldiers in the lowest ranks knew clearly that the stronger their boss was, the fewer people who would dare bully them. There would be more benefits for them too.
In the past few months, thanks to Junior Leopard’s powerful strength, the navy in Jiang City that was crushed psychologically and feeling hopeless was revived. It wasn’t a mere path of survival of them. Junior Leopard had also led them to occupy Broken Dragon Beach and wipe out the Yellow Dragon Gang. The outcome of these two incidents made them profits equivalent to several years’ worth of income. In addition, they had complete control over the Broken Dragon Beach port and were about to build a goods yard near the port under Junior Leopard’s supervision. No one understood the meaning of these acts more than those who made a living in Luo River!
It meant a stable and abundant income. They could easily finance the operations of the entire Water Army Camp with only the goods yard and port.
Where did all these come from?
All these came from Junior Leopard’s power. The foundation to all these was his power. Now that they found out that Junior Leopard’s power was even stronger than what they had imagined, how could they not be ecstatic?
Dragon Granny was downhearted, very much so. She had never expected a newbie who had reached Level Four not long ago could force her into such a pathetic situation.
Was he really a Level Four expert?
As a Level Seven expert, she could easily see through the cultivation of a person beneath her level.
Junior Leopard’s cultivation was absolutely clear to her. He was in Level Four and a newbie at that. It ought to be a piece of cake for her to handle him. But what was the fact now?
She was surprised to find she couldn’t figure out Junior Leopard’s strength.
Just put the six golden flames he used earlier aside first, the amount of Internal Qi these two Fire Dragons entwining him alone need required him to be at least a Level Six expert.
His Internal Qi was even clearer than that of a Level Seven expert. This was completely beyond her expectations and surprised her a lot.
It was easy to explain his clear Internal Qi. Blaze Technique of the Heavenly Nine Dragon was a cultivation method famous even in Great Jin. It was not a secret to people, especially a Level Seven expert like her, that the method had two forms. Naturally, they knew that when a person had a profound and abstruse knowledge about the method, it was possible for him to practice the second state. That meant using Internal Qi to form a true Fire Dragon! This Fire Dragon was molded purely by Internal Qi. Even it was formed by someone under Level Seven, its quality would not be worse than the cultivation of Internal Qi of a Level Seven Expert. If the Fire Dragon was formed by an expert over Level Seven, its power would be more stunning.
Therefore, she was surprised but not astounded when she saw Junior Leopard’s two Fire Dragons. Considering he had reached Level Four at such young age, he must be a genius. There was nothing truly shocking about a genius being able to comprehend the second state of the Blaze Technique of the Heavenly Nine Dragon that few could do in hundreds of years.
But in her fierce battle with Junior Leopard, she had been distracted by the power of the Fire Dragons. Till now, she just realized she had ignored something.
The amount of his Internal Qi!
The quality and quantity of Internal Qi were the decisive factors in one’s cultivation. Quantity was the crucial quality to someone under Level Seven. In other words, the stock of Internal Qi in one’s body.
Junior Leopard had only Level Four cultivation and was not a Level Seven expert’s match no matter in terms of quality or quantity. But from her tussle with the Fire Dragons, she was distinctly aware that the amount of Internal Qi required by them was beyond Level Six cultivation! That was to say Junior Leopard had the cultivation of someone beyond Level Six while still in Level Four. That was what amazed Dragon Granny.
No matter observing from his physical strength or cultivation of Internal Qi, Junior Leopard appeared to be a Level Four expert. How could he consume so much Internal Qi in his attacks?
And what were those six balls of eccentric flame? They could melt her Green Spiritual Glass Cover! The Internal Qi of Blaze Technique of the Heavenly Nine Dragon was certainly incapable of such feat. She had never heard of any cultivation methods capable of it. Her first thought was he was using a secret skill. Those fireballs must be an amazing secret skill like her Green Spiritual Glass Cover. Then her second thought was that this guy must have an External Elixir!
Yes, External Elixir! Only External Elixir could help him to use Internal Qi with a mismatched cultivation and physical strength.
But that was an External Elixir!
That was an incredibly rare thing. There were few materials in the world that could be used to make one. Even in her age, she had only heard about it but never seen it. Even in prestigious sects and schools like the Meng Family, it was said that only a certain powerful, cloistered Family Elder owned one. Could this young man have one too? If he did, he was too incredibly lucky!
Considering the possibility that Junior Leopard may own an External Elixir, she certainly needed to be cautious. She stood there with her walking stick, gasping for breath as she set her sight on him. She stared at him as his Qi Power intensified with each step he took. Her expression remained unchanged. Finally, her eyes landed on the eccentric osseous earring on his left ear.
“External Elixir!”
She gently blurted out the two words. By then, Junior Leopard was only five feet away from her.
“External Elixir!”
Startled, Junior Leopard momentarily staggered. His Qi Power, huge as a mountain, also halted. At that moment, Dragon Granny found a gap in the power that had suppressed her earlier. She roared and abruptly raised her Dragon Head Crutch, thrusting at him.
This thrust was flashy like a shooting star, quick like lightning.
Junior Leopard raised his hands and two Fire Dragons immediately flew toward Dragon Granny’s walking stick.
Hiss!
An ear-splitting sound rang out as if cold water was poured into a hot pot. With a hiss, the impetus of Dragon Head Crutch was alleviated. Junior Leopard turned his body and evaded her crutch. With a wave of his hand, he sent the three golden fireballs toward her.
Dragon Granny wasn’t a weakling. When her attack failed, she stepped back rapidly and dogged again and again until she narrowly escaped the fireballs. They hit a building in the port instead, where an awful rumbling reverberated. The building was bombed to smithereens, leaving none of its structure behind.
After dodging this attack, Dragon Granny pressed toward Junior Leopard with her ghostlike figure.
“Kid, I don’t believe there is no limit to your secret skill!”
She said this eerily, waving the Dragon Head Crutch in front of her. It made her look like a golden tornado as she charged at Junior Leopard.
Junior Leopard smiled because he had finally figured out Dragon Granny’s real power. She was most definitely a Level Seven expert, but he believed she must be the weakest one among her peers.
Despite being pushed to Level Seven for some inexplicable reason, she had few great techniques she could use. Perhaps Green Spiritual Glass Cover could be considered one, but that was only a defensive secret skill. There was no offensive function to it at all. What was more, it was firmly suppressed by his Lion and could not be used any further.
She had no other offensive tricks besides her cultivation, which was superior to his own by one level. Her skill with her Dragon Head Crutch was decent, but merely so. He did not have a high regard for it.
He was now proficient in Thirteen Punches of Desolation. He also had a profound comprehension of martial art skills. Dragon Granny’s skills would not do anything to him at all.
Indeed it could be said as full of flaws.
What he feared was no more than her Level Seven cultivation.
Seeing Dragon Granny and her walking stick approaching, Junior Leopard stepped forward and sent his two Fire Dragons flying toward the golden tornado. Simultaneously, he slammed a fist into the golden tornado.
Hong! Hong! Hong!
The spectators heard only the clash and hurriedly covered their ears. They felt as if numerous people were beating drums and gongs beside their ears. It was noisy enough to wake the dead. Among these sounds, they could also hear Dragon Granny’s reproach.
Golden red lights flashed everywhere. Neither Junior Leopard nor Dragon Granny was willing to step back. They both confronted each other with their own power without compromising.
Dragon Granny was Level Seven while Junior Leopard was Level Four, their gap was huge. Generally speaking, the only result of this “diamond cut diamond” situation was Dragon Granny destroying Junior Leopard to smithereens.
But what happened was Junior Leopard breaking Dragon Granny’s tendons and meridians with his fists.
Extraordinary Strength Fist, Snake-like Breath Holding Skill, Black Sun Fist Intent, the mutated Internal Qi of Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire cleared by Mysterious Fire, as well as the two Fire Dragons!
The combined five factors were enough to help Junior Leopard kill half the Level Seven experts in the world.
Those factors aside, the mental cultivation method of Extraordinary Strength Fist alone could increase the power of Junior Leopard’s fist by dozens of times. More importantly, Junior Leopard found that unexpected effects would be generated when combining Snake-like Breath Holding Skill with Extraordinary Strength Fist.
Snake King had mentioned Snake-like Breath Holding Skill was one of the Seven Wonderful Techniques. As for the mysterious Extraordinary Strength Fist, he received it from Xue Wuya.
In the past, Junior Leopard had attempted the combination of the two secret skills’ mental cultivation methods to great results. But he had never given it his all to contend against a Level Seven expert like he did today.
Gradually, these two mental cultivation of secret skills generated an amazing reaction as he put them into use. The reaction was indescribably subtle. Then he felt the mental cultivation method of Extraordinary Strength Fist was almost combined with that of Snake-like Breath Holding Skill.
Hong! Hong!
He slammed his fist on Dragon Granny’s Dragon Head Crutch, creating an unexpected result. Dragon Granny, who had been relying on her cultivation and Dragon Head Crutch, was thrown more than ten feet away by his fist. A crack appeared on the walking stick. He had actually cracked the crutch with his attack!
After this fist, Junior Leopard’s eyes gleamed. He finally sensed it.
The only difference with this punch compared all previous ones was that this punch was ten times stronger.
His power became ten times stronger again! After his punch being enhanced by the Extraordinary Strength Fist, it was already ten times stronger than usual without any additional cost. At the moment, the eccentric punch he threw earlier was a hundred times stronger than normal using the same amount of energy.
What did this mean?
It meant he had the power to destroy a Level Six expert!
Junior Leopard was sure that the strength of his fist was capable of destroying Level Six expert to smithereens!
But his current opponent was a Level Seven expert.
A Level Seven expert not only excelled a Level Six expert because of his higher Internal Qi of cultivation but also due to his body entering a new phase called the Tendon-Changing Realm.
Junior Leopard had just entered the Bone-Forging Realm from Skin-Toughening Realm and he understood the change particularly well. Each time a person’s body entered a new phase, his body would be strengthened at least ten times over. Thanks to the Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique and the Lion, Junior Leopard was able to contend with and later prevail against Dragon Granny. He also used unique moves like Extraordinary Strength Fist and Snake-like Breath Holding Skill in hand-to-hand combat to retain his upper hand. Dragon Granny may look weak and emaciated but he believed her physical strength to be forty times stronger than his. That was why she could fight recklessly against him with her Dragon Head Crutch. Most importantly, she was able to prevent a complete breakdown after taking on his eccentric punch. Only her walking stick was damaged and she was forced several steps backward.
Dragon Granny felt something surged within her, sending her blood boiling. Her Qi suddenly moved in retrograde motion and she nearly spat blood and fainted.
But she was a Level Seven expert after all. In the end, she suppressed her pain and shoulder on.
She took a deep breath and struck her walking stick hard on the ground. Surprisingly, she managed to chuckle. “Not bad, kid. You are just too ambitious for quick success. Do you still have any strength left after that powerful punch? Do you really think you can defeat me in one round? You underestimate me too much!”
Junior Leopard’s mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh but stopped himself.
It was not strange that Dragon Granny would think so. Junior Leopard’s punch earlier was so powerful that it looked like it would consume all his strength. Therefore, she would consider it his most powerful attack that he used to defeat her in one go. She thought he would not be able to deliver any stronger attacks because he had already worn himself out with that punch.
Junior Leopard was delighted that she thought in this way. He hoped she would persevere in their fight a little longer so he could try that punch again. Thus he said nothing and pressed on with his fists aimed at Dragon Granny, beginning another bombard.
Dragon Granny became confused when she saw Junior Leopard approaching again. She raised her cracked Dragon Head Crutch and defended against him once again. After countering several punches, her face paled. Junior Leopard’s punches were not weakening at all. Though they were not as strong as the first, each was fierce enough.
Before she suffered Junior Leopard’s powerful fist, she could take them. But the fist had resulted in her Qi and blood surging, internal injuries, and a cracked Dragon Head Crutch broken. In her current state, it was really difficult for her to combat Junior Leopard’s iron fists.
People could once again hear the sound of crash in the field. What was new was that Dragon Granny kept stepping back.
Naturally, Junior Leopard didn’t care about any of that. All his attention was on experiencing the mental cultivation methods of Snake-like Breath Holding Skill and Extraordinary Strength Fist. As he gauged the power in his every punch, he sensed the connection between their mental cultivation methods and gradually discovered something. His eyes gleamed after he threw his 20th punch as if he had a brilliant idea.
“Explode!” he growled, throwing a punch. Dragon Granny retreated for a few steps and successfully withstood the punch in the end. Junior Leopard’s smile stretched wider.
“Explode! Explode! F*cking explode!”
He roared and directed his punches fiercely toward Dragon Granny.
One after another, over and over, his fists rained on Dragon Granny’s walking stick waving in front of her. The sounds of clashing lingered on incessantly.
“Explode! Explode! Explode!”
Clang!
Bang!
A thunder-like crash rang out besides people’s ears. Even when they were covering their ears firmly, they could still hear the sound caused by the strike.
Junior Leopard performed that amazing punch once again!
“Ugh!” muffled groans escaped Dragon Granny’s lips. She was finally unable to bear the attacks and her body was hurled away. Her Dragon Head Crutch broken into pieces and was scattered everywhere. Her body was in Tendon-Changing Realm but half of her bones shattered as if she was hit by a huge hammer. Blood was spewing from her seven orifices. Her body was like a shabby cloth sack as she fell from the sky, with all her vitality gone.
“I got it! Haha! I got it!” Junior Leopard was enveloped in a berserk Qi Power, emitting a sun-like bright spirit. He stood there with blood dripping from his fists. He smiled joyfully, changing from an innocent high school student to a bloody butcher.
He waved his hands in the sky, without holding back his excitement.
“I got it! Hahaha! I got it! I finally got it!” bursting into maniac laughter, he ignored both the frightened girl on the ground and Dragon Granny who he had just killed. He left the place with the unconscious Little Du. The stupefied audience only left a minute later, recalling the dreamlike battle earlier.
…
…
“84 punches!”
A man in his forties in the crowd muttered to himself, staring at Junior Leopard with amazement.
84 punches! There were 84 punches in total!
A Level Four newbie fought a Level Seven expert with 84 punches and prevailed!
This was something no one had ever heard of, let alone witnessing!
But Junior Leopard did it. He fought against the crutch with his fists and used 84 punches to bombard a Level Seven expert to death in front of hundreds of people!
“Am I dreaming?” the man murmured, looking at Junior Leopard’s disappearing figure. “Who and where did this guy come from?”