Invincibility Begins with Mastery of Fist Techniques-Chapter 81: The Escaping Black Shadow

Keeping steel balls hidden in his mouth and using his powerful lungs to shoot them out in an instant, unleashing force comparable to a high-powered slingshot—this was the bespectacled man's hidden killing move.

"Oh?"

The bespectacled man was slightly taken aback to see Zhou Yuanjue had actually blocked his attack.

But a smile quickly spread across his lips. 'He dodged it this time, but can he dodge the next one?'

He had a full twelve steel balls hidden beneath his tongue.

"I see."

Zhou Yuanjue's expression grew calm. After this exchange, he had a complete grasp of his opponents' capabilities.

Physical conditioning comparable to a Great Master of Fist Techniques.

A peculiar, abnormal Spirit for self-defense.

Certain parts of their bodies had mutated, granting them abnormal abilities that surpassed those of an ordinary person.

Beyond that, there seemed to be nothing else out of the ordinary.

They shouldn't have possessed such strength. They had simply used some special method to obtain something they were never meant to have.

But as the saying goes, disaster befalls those whose virtue does not match their station. Loss awaits those undeserving of wealth.

If a beggar were to become emperor overnight, could he truly rule the world?

If a ruffian were to win a massive lottery prize overnight, could he truly become a nobleman?

In this world, everything is a balance of yin and yang, of gain and loss. Jade must be carved to be of use.

'When it comes to life and death, how can there possibly be a shortcut?'

"You people have gravely underestimated the meaning of the Martial Dao."

Caught in their pincer attack, Zhou Yuanjue suddenly made a move they couldn't comprehend.

He abandoned all defense, throwing himself forward as if he had a death wish, his chest aimed squarely at the tip of the blade Wells was thrusting at him.

'Throwing himself onto the blade? This guy has a death wish!'

Yet, in the instant before impact, Zhou Yuanjue's upper body bizarrely seemed to shrink and contort.

The blade, originally aimed at his chest, shifted off target by about one or two inches.

SQUELCH!

The sharp blade plunged into his upper right chest, bursting straight out of his back.

And by using this suicidal-looking attack, he succeeded in slamming hard into Wells.

CRACK!

The tremendous force sent the sound of cracking bones through Wells' body, and he sprayed a mouthful of blood.

Their bodies tangled and rolled away with the momentum. The blade lodged in Zhou Yuanjue's upper right chest churned inside the wound from the violent motion, tearing out a spray of blood and shredded flesh.

SLICE!

As they tumbled, the sharp short sword in Zhou Yuanjue's hand cleanly sliced open Wells's bulging neck, severing the air sac and trachea completely!

Blood flew, and the infrasound that had been steadily draining his stamina came to an abrupt halt!

The longer the fight dragged on, the greater the effect of the infrasound would become. That was why he had made the split-second decision to risk mutual destruction, all to eliminate Wells—the most troublesome threat—at the earliest possible moment!

Wells clutched his slit throat, his eyes bulging as he stared at Zhou Yuanjue.

It all happened so fast that the bespectacled man at the side was only just snapping back to reality, the smile still frozen on his face.

He couldn't fathom it. They had the absolute advantage, so how had Wells been incapacitated in a single instant?

'Throwing yourself onto an enemy's blade? Using your own chest to block a knife just to create a killing opportunity? This is the Martial Dao?!'

Zhou Yuanjue slowly rose from the ground, the military recurve blade still embedded in his upper right chest, blood streaming from the wound.

Though he had done his best to shift his vitals, the blade had inevitably nicked his lung. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his breathing was slightly unsteady, but his gaze remained calm and resolute, as if a great fire burned within.

SQUELCH!!

With a gentle reverse grip, he pulled the blade from his chest. A great torrent of blood sprayed out, spattering the ground.

He violently tensed his muscles, constricting the blood vessels to temporarily slow the bleeding.

"Strength and nobility are never measured by physical function alone."

"Courage, resolve, fearlessness, sacrifice... Do you understand the true meaning of these words?"

At this moment, despite his grievous injuries, the oppressive aura he exuded toward the bespectacled man grew ever more immense and terrifying. A faint tremor ran through the man's very soul.

"You're that badly hurt and you're still running your mouth? Do you really think you've already won?!"

The bespectacled man's face twitched, a wave of humiliation turning to rage washing over him.

He took a sharp breath, his mouth moved slightly, and he charged toward Zhou Yuanjue with extreme speed.

"It seems you'll never understand."

Zhou Yuanjue said calmly, his eyes downcast.

...

...

DRIP! DRIP!

Blood dripped steadily from Zhou Yuanjue's body.

Steel balls were embedded deep in his flesh at multiple points on his body. After the intense struggle, the already severe wound in his chest was bleeding profusely, and he coughed up blood intermittently.

But his enemy was in a far more wretched state.

There was hardly an unmarred spot on his entire body. His eyes were sunken sockets, filled with a black, viscous, bloody paste—they had been stabbed blind.

His mouth hung slightly open, the inside a mangled ruin of flesh, churned to a pulp by Zhou Yuanjue's short sword. A few remaining teeth were visible within the gore.

His chest had been stabbed so many times it looked like a hornet's nest.

And yet, despite all this, the man was still faintly breathing, not yet completely dead.

"Such tenacious Life Force."

Zhou Yuanjue's gaze was calm. In his spiritual perception, the "Evil Ghost" behind the man was completely enveloping his body, forcibly preserving the last vestiges of his life.

However, even that protection could not overcome the absolute limits of life.

SWISH!

Zhou Yuanjue's sword flashed, and the man's head flew from his shoulders, rolling across the ground.

With that, the man was finally still.

But at that very moment, something strange happened.

The very instant the bespectacled man's last breath left him, a black shadow—perceptible only to the Spirit—lunged viciously at Zhou Yuanjue.

SCREECH!!

Zhou Yuanjue's eyes narrowed. As if by reflex, he unleashed his Heart's Desire Bursting Out. A massive Firebird instantly spread its wings.

The black shadow was thrown back. Seemingly realizing its attempt was futile, it didn't press the attack. Instead, it fled, rapidly melting into the darkness of the night and vanishing from sight.

'The thing that was behind them? The man is dead, but the thing isn't? It can detach from a human body and continue to exist?'

Zhou Yuanjue frowned and turned to look at the other body.

Wells lay quietly on the ground. Even with his throat slit for so long, he hadn't actually died yet; he still had a faint heartbeat.

Zhou Yuanjue walked over to the man and raised his short sword.

SWISH!

The short sword plunged through the center of his brow and into his brain. Zhou Yuanjue then twisted the blade, churning it viciously. Wells's body twitched once, then fell completely still.

WHOOSH!

Sure enough, as Wells died, another black shadow shot out from his body. This one, however, didn't try to attack Zhou Yuanjue, but immediately tried to flee.

However, Zhou Yuanjue had no intention of letting it escape.

SCREECH!

The Flaming Giant Bird manifested, its sharp beak snapping down to snatch the fleeing black shadow, halting its escape.

Within Zhou Yuanjue's Spirit, it was an abnormal spiritual entity, like a ball of black mist that constantly struggled and writhed. It was invisible to the naked eye, appearing only to one's spiritual intuition.

'It can only be perceived and captured by the Spirit...'

'A spiritual entity that can exist independently of a physical body... does such a thing truly exist?'

'What in the world is this thing?'

Zhou Yuanjue narrowed his eyes, manipulating his own Spirit to expand continuously.

His Heart's Desire Bursting Out couldn't be sustained indefinitely. This meant that if he didn't act quickly, he wouldn't be able to hold on to this black shadow.

Therefore, he had to seize this moment to tear open that black mist and see what was hiding inside.