Li Feng stared coldly at the middle-aged man who had suddenly appeared. The moment he left New Century, his divine sense had already detected him. That was why he had told Song Zhiyuan to leave.
Clearly this man was tailing him with hostile intent. Against anyone below the innate realm, Li Feng was confident he could escape even if he couldn’t win, but if Song Zhiyuan had stayed, things would have been different. If the enemy used Song as a hostage, should he save him or not?
What Li Feng truly wanted to know was who had sent this man.
The middle-aged man looked at Li Feng, smiled faintly, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. “Defeat me, and you’ll find out who sent me.”
Li Feng gave a cold laugh, chill light flickering in his eyes. “So you really do plan to fight me? Are you from the Hongmen?”
This man’s martial skill was no trifle. The list of people who wanted him dead was short: the young masters of the top-tier families like Qin Feng, or the four great clans of Tianhai City.
The four great clans had just lost three peak post-natal ninth-layer ancient warriors to him. He doubted they would seek revenge so quickly, and even if they did, they wouldn’t send just one man. After he had already killed three, sending a single fighter would be no different from suicide.
That left only the Hongmen. They suspected him of killing Chen Haotian. Still, fewer than three days had passed since Chen Haotian’s death. Could Hongmen experts really have arrived this fast?
“Hongmen?” The middle-aged man shook his head scornfully, then stared at Li Feng. “I told you, defeat me and I’ll tell you everything. If you can’t, you die.”
The word “die” carried murderous intent.
“We’ll see if you have the strength for that.” Li Feng raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. The Hongmen had been his prime suspect. If not them, then who?
Could it be Wu De?
He immediately dismissed the thought. Possible, but unlikely.
He had only offended Wu De today. They had clashed at New Century barely an hour ago, and from Wu De’s reaction back then, he clearly hadn’t known Li Feng would be there. Even if Wu De flew into a rage and wanted revenge, there hadn’t been enough time. Unless, of course, this middle-aged man had also been inside New Century.
The two stood thirty metres apart, one with icy eyes, the other perfectly calm. An invisible pressure swept outward in all directions.
Boom!
A fierce wind whipped the surrounding trees into chaos.
The middle-aged man’s figure blurred as he charged at Li Feng, palms striking out in layered shadows that enveloped Li Feng from every angle.
Li Feng laughed coldly, his body flickering, leaving trails of after-images as he danced through the sea of palm shadows.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ferocious palm force blasted past, carving deep craters where Li Feng had stood moments before.
Now Li Feng reappeared behind the man. “If you want to kill me, show your real skill.”
“Such speed.” The man’s pupils contracted, gravity filling his eyes.
He had studied intelligence on Li Feng before coming and knew he faced a formidable opponent, but only now did he realise he had still underestimated him. That speed far exceeded the reports.
Yet shock did not breed fear. He trusted his own strength.
“Li Feng, I didn’t expect such movement skill from you. Let’s see whose technique is faster, your footwork or my palms.” The man snorted coldly and struck again.
Clap!
His palm shot forward like a hundred flowers blooming at once, filling the air with dense palm shadows.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Countless shadows tore through the air, whistling sharply as they blanketed Li Feng.
Li Feng laughed coldly and unleashed Phantom Ninefold to its limit.
Boom!
His figure was pierced, only to dissolve into nothingness, a mere after-image.
“Iron Mirage of Ten Thousand Shadows!”
The middle-aged man snorted in humiliated fury. Palm force exploded from his hands, turning into countless shadows that shot toward Li Feng.
Li Feng’s eyes flashed. He pushed Phantom Ninefold to its extreme, slipping through every gap in the storm of palms with ease.
“Remarkable movement skill.” The man snorted again, irritation flashing in his eyes. At first he thought Li Feng was struggling to counter his attacks, but he quickly realised the truth: Li Feng was using him to train his footwork.
Exactly. Li Feng was training Phantom Ninefold. His overall strength had risen sharply, yet Phantom Ninefold remained at its previous level, which would hinder him in future. So he was borrowing this man to improve it.
Not out of arrogance, but because this opponent, though powerful, was merely at the early post-natal ninth layer. Li Feng was confident he could handle him. That was why he wasn’t in a hurry to finish the fight.
Potential always exploded under pressure, and movementing movement skills was no different. Among his subordinates, the strongest were the Bloodkill Twin Eagles, but they specialised in combined strikes, useless for training Phantom Ninefold. The moment this middle-aged man appeared, Li Feng had decided to make use of him.
Fury blazed in the man’s heart. His palm momentum shifted, becoming a tempestuous storm raining down on Li Feng.
Li Feng laughed coldly, flickered, and split into three separate figures.
At that instant, Phantom Ninefold finally broke through another layer, from two images to three.
Though only one layer, the breakthrough was enormous for Li Feng. Every layer of Phantom Ninefold increased his speed by a third.
He wove through the palm shadows, gradually closing in on the man.
“Take this fist!”
Li Feng snorted coldly. True qi surged within him as he unleashed a devastating punch.
The fist roared forth like a tiger descending the mountain, smashing irresistibly toward the middle-aged man.
Bang!
All the palm shadows dissolved instantly beneath the fist force.
The man’s pupils shrank. He had only experienced Li Feng’s movement skill before, but now, facing this attack, he finally understood why Li Feng’s reputation was well earned.
In that moment he felt himself completely enveloped by the fist’s pressure, as though an entire mountain were crashing down on him, earth-shaking, capable of annihilating everything.
“Damn it!”
Cursing inwardly, the man circulated his true qi. His palms instantly turned blood-red. Then he struck, sending waves of crimson palm force forward.
Boom!
Like thunder on flat ground, his blood-red palm force formed a triangular formation and met Li Feng’s attack head-on.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion rocked the earth. Violent qi blasted outward, shredding grass and trees, carving horrifying cracks into the ground.
Thud, thud, thud…
An immense force slammed into the middle-aged man, forcing him back several steps.
“How is this possible?”
Only after retreating more than a dozen steps did he steady himself. His face was grim as he stared at Li Feng. He had believed that while Li Feng’s movement skill was impressive and his attacks sharp, his own abilities would still triumph.
He had never expected Li Feng to be this difficult. Not only was his movement skill inconceivable, his true qi was terrifyingly abundant. Had he not used that last technique, he might already have been gravely injured.
Li Feng gave him no chance to catch his breath. The moment his punch forced the man back, he pressed forward again, unleashing another storm of ferocious fists.
Step, step, step…
The middle-aged man was driven back repeatedly, circulating true qi throughout his body while sending layers of palm shadows at Li Feng.
Li Feng laughed coldly, unflinching. He advanced boldly and struck with his own palm, vast and overwhelming, shredding every incoming shadow.
“What?”
Seeing Li Feng counter his renowned palm technique and even gain the upper hand, the man was horrified. Even he, who had trained in palm arts for over twenty years, could not produce such power. And Li Feng was so young.
He could accept Li Feng matching him in overall strength, but he could not accept being surpassed in palm technique.
At this moment, the man’s expression turned grave. He stomped the ground, retreated several steps, and stared at Li Feng with dark, sinister eyes.
“Li Feng, your strength truly exceeds my expectations. I admit I underestimated you earlier. To be this strong at such a young age is indeed something to be proud of. From now on, I will show no mercy.” The man declared coldly.
“Mercy?” A scornful smirk curved Li Feng’s lips. If he hadn’t been using the fight to train Phantom Ninefold, would this man still be breathing? Anyone who wanted to kill him had better be prepared to die.
“Let me tell you something. If you have no strength, stop wasting breath.” Li Feng said icily. “Show me what you’ve got, if you really have anything.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The man’s gaze turned frigid. He stepped forward heavily, and two beams of sharp light shot from his pitch-black pupils. Instantly, a terrifying aura erupted from his body, sweeping through the surroundings. In that moment, he seemed like a heavenly god, lofty and untouchable.
“Just the aura of post-natal ninth layer. Nothing to brag about.” Li Feng laughed scornfully. The first time he encountered a post-natal ninth-layer ancient warrior, he had been somewhat shocked. Now, having killed countless such experts, it was nothing special.
As he spoke, an aura no weaker than the man’s burst from Li Feng’s body.
Instantly, Li Feng’s presence transformed completely, sharp and overwhelming like an unsheathed sword.
“I never imagined someone so young could reach this level. Still, even if you are stronger than me, you will die today.”
The middle-aged man stared coldly at Li Feng and declared, “Because I am Iron-Hand King.”
