Chapter 67: Erosion

"There are seven of you, all martial artists. Defeat these seven, and I shall let you all go."

Lin Heier and the other six men stood at the very front; it was clear that the martial artists the Unborn Mother spoke of were these seven.

Wu Pifu and his two companions did not argue about the unfairness. Although they were three against seven, they were the ants driven to a desperate end. This opportunity had only been secured because Wu Pifu had truly been willing to commit suicide, forcing the other side to fear for the consequences. It could be said that this was their only chance at survival.

Amida stepped forward and said, "I'll go first!"

"No!"

Wu Pifu immediately said to Amida, "You two must absolutely not step even half a step outside the shelter. The Unborn Mother will not kill me, as she wants to enslave me, but she will not hesitate for a second when it comes to you. She might even use you to threaten me. Therefore, I must be the one to fight this battle!"

Amida did not insist. He was a veteran of the Third War and naturally possessed no indecisiveness. Upon hearing this, he immediately retreated, standing about fifteen to twenty meters away from Wu Pifu. At the same time, he gripped the N5 bombs in his hand and said, "If I discover that you are being mentally controlled, I will immediately throw these bombs to kill you. Is that understood?"

Wu Pifu laughed heartily and said, "Well done!"

Xu Shilan was silent for a moment. She gripped the now-active Jiu Jiu in her hand and said, "Be careful."

Wu Pifu said nothing, merely raising his head again to look at the seven people before him.

This time, no strange tricks appeared; the five-colored lotus flowers no longer appeared in the seven people's eyes. When Wu Pifu looked directly at them, they also looked at Wu Pifu. And just as Wu Pifu watched them, their gazes actually began to grow lively. Then, the seven of them stood apart, each twisting their bodies, and they actually seemed to gradually recover like normal people.

But Wu Pifu knew this was merely an illusion.

Among the seven, Lin Heier was the first to step out. Her face was full of sorrow, her words caught in her throat. Finally, she could only sigh and cup her hands, saying, "Lin Heier, greetings!"

Wu Pifu felt sorrow in his heart as well, but at this moment, he could not afford the slightest emotional distraction. He also cupped his hands and said, "Wu Pifu, greetings!"

He saw Lin Heier tread with lotus steps, flashing with every step. After three steps, she arrived before Wu Pifu, her palm striking straight out. With a move of "Respecting the Buddha," she slashed toward Wu Pifu's throat.

Wu Pifu was fully focused, and he saw this palm seem to slow down by nearly ten percent.

This sensory experience was extremely wondrous. It was as if he knew the approximate speed of the opponent, yet when he saw it with his eyes, he clearly felt a sense of time difference. This perception allowed Wu Pifu to have more reaction time when facing attacks, and he could see them much more clearly.

(Is this... the specialty of Hua Jin? Or has the attribute of my Rank Three physical body become stronger?)

At this instant, this thought flashed through Wu Pifu's mind. Then, he saw him extend his palm backward, striking Lin Heier's supporting palm with a palm strike that arrived after but struck first.

With a "Pop!" sound, Lin Heier's palm actually hung limp, and bones could be seen protruding from the back of her hand. In just a single exchange, one of Lin Heier's hands was crippled. That wasn't all; Wu Pifu struck out with his palm, then transformed it into a claw, directly grabbing Lin Heier's web of the hand. In the blink of an eye, Wu Pifu almost pulled Lin Heier into the shelter range behind him.

But he suddenly saw a slight movement in Lin Heier's eyes. Instinctively, he shifted from pulling to pushing, using a palm strike to push Lin Heier at least five meters away.

As Lin Heier retreated, she smiled lightly at Wu Pifu, and then her entire body began to gradually dissipate as she retreated. Before she even hit the ground, she turned into fly ash.

Wu Pifu stood silently in place, his mind recalling Lin Heier's smile and the slight fluctuation in her eyes just now. He suddenly realized that if he had dragged Lin Heier into the shelter range, it definitely would not have destroyed the shelter; instead, it might have been some kind of trap.

The Unborn Mother had too many methods, and he could not afford to take a single wrong step.

"Come again!"

Wu Pifu remained with half his body outside and half inside, gesturing to the remaining six people in the distance.

"The younger generation today is truly remarkable. Looking at you, you have only just entered Hua Jin, yet this strength is already immeasurable."

Among the six, a short, thin man suddenly spoke. However, he did not step forward; instead, a large man wearing the uniform of a Qing Dynasty military officer stepped forward with large strides.

This officer stood three meters away from Wu Pifu. He looked down at Wu Pifu coldly, cupped his hands, and said, "Imutu, greetings."

When Wu Pifu saw this officer, his heart felt a bit of awe, but he still cupped his hands and said, "Wu Pifu, greetings!"

This officer was a Hua Jin master!

When Wu Pifu saw this officer cup his hands, he immediately understood this point.

Although the battle with Lin Heier had only lasted two seconds, Wu Pifu had roughly understood his current strength and the strength of Lin Heier after being controlled by the Unborn Mother.

Lin Heier had originally been an An Jin practitioner, but during the battle just now, she had already reached the Great Completion of An Jin, one step away from Hua Jin. Moreover, her physical strength and Jin power were at least two or three times stronger than before. The most terrifying thing was the cold, yin energy during contact.

However, compared to Lin Heier, Wu Pifu's strength had increased even more exaggeratedly. After consuming two top-tier heavenly treasures, his Human Immortal Martial Dao had been pushed directly to the Great Completion of Skin Tempering, and Flesh Tempering had begun. His physical fitness had skyrocketed, and his Qi and blood had increased several times over.

Now, even without circulating his Qi and blood, his conventional physical strength alone was about three to four tons with one hand. If he unleashed his Qi and blood, his Jin power could erupt with over fifty tons of force. This was already superhuman strength; his Rank Three physical body was already in the extraordinary realm. It was perfectly normal that Lin Heier was crippled by a single move from him.

The officer Imutu looked directly at Wu Pifu for two or three seconds, then stepped forward and arrived before Wu Pifu. Both fists struck out simultaneously like two drum hammers, one punching toward his face and the other toward his chest. When the fists struck, the wind howled. With just these two punches, they gave a sense of being invincible and unstoppable. This was Intent!

Martial Intent, Fist Intent, Blade Intent, Sword Intent... all of these were this!

At this instant, Wu Pifu immediately realized this aspect of martial arts and the Martial Dao.

Speaking of which, it wasn't actually that mysterious; it was essentially just a form of self-confidence forged through long-term training.

Just like a person who has been immersed in a certain thing for decades, they naturally have great confidence in the field related to that thing. Whether talking to others or doing things within that field, they give off a master's demeanor of having everything under control. This was what was called Intent.

The officer before him was also a martial arts master, perhaps even a hidden Grandmaster in the imperial court. He had honed this move to the extreme, and when the fists struck, no one could stop them. Over time, this Intent naturally formed. When fighting someone of the same rank, having this Martial Dao Intent versus not having it made a world of difference.

However...

Wu Pifu faced these two incoming punches, and now that he had a measure of things in his heart, he also extended both hands, meeting the two fists with his palms.

Disdain immediately appeared in Imutu's eyes. His fists suddenly accelerated again, the power on the fists becoming even more violent. Moreover, at this moment, the fists rotated slightly, possessing a sense of circularity.

"Move, Block, and Hammer!"

The two fists struck out, meeting Wu Pifu's palms head-on. When the two made contact, Jin power erupted simultaneously. Imutu's fists also carried cold, yin energy. The Jin power and the cold energy collided into Wu Pifu's palms, then followed his arms, intending to surge upward.

However, the Jin power and cold energy had barely entered his palms by a third when a vast Jin power surged back from his palms. Even the cold energy was repelled by the vast Jin power at this moment.

Imutu felt that what his fists were striking was not a human body, but a mountain—a mountain crushing down upon him.

!

With palms against fists, Wu Pifu pressed his palms downward. Imutu wanted to withdraw his fists and retreat, but under the massive strength gap, he couldn't even manage to retreat.

According to Wu Pifu's current estimation, this Imutu—excluding the cold energy and considering only fist strength—had Jin power erupting from his fists at about seven to eight tons. This was already a very terrifying strength; a single punch could almost shatter a human body.

But Wu Pifu's palms had about fifty tons of force. The Jin power erupted by both sides was simply not on the same level. A seven-fold gap was no longer a simple crushing.

Everyone saw Wu Pifu's palms crushing the fists and pressing down, seemingly slow but actually fast. In Imutu's horrified gaze, his arms were directly crushed into meat paste. Then, the palms closed, like a python coiling around its prey. With just a squeeze, Imutu's entire body rotted away, collapsing to the ground motionless, and quickly turning into powder.

Wu Pifu withdrew his palms, stood, and breathed. Two seconds later, he waved his hand again and said, "Come again!"

"Good!"

The short, thin man let out a violent shout and was about to step forward, but another Qing Dynasty military officer stepped out before him. He stood in the distance, cupped his hands, and said, "Erguawa, Brave, greetings!"

Erguawa was this officer's surname, while Baturu was his title, meaning "brave."

Wu Pifu didn't care. He was carefully experiencing the qualitative change after the combination of National Martial Arts and Human Immortal Martial Dao. Human Immortal Martial Dao increased the essence and origin of the human body, making his flesh extraordinary and possessing powerful Qi, blood, and physical fitness. National Martial Arts, on the other hand, was the explosive multiplication of this Qi, blood, and physical fitness, which was why he could have this crushing effect.

He also cupped his hands and said, "Wu Pifu, greetings!"

Erguawa let out a strange cry, stepped with his feet, jumped to a height of at least three meters, and kicked toward Wu Pifu's temple like an awl with one foot.

Wu Pifu remained standing in place, not even dodging. He supported his temple with one palm and reached out with a claw toward the lower leg of the kicking foot. However, halfway through the claw strike, Erguawa changed his move in mid-air, changing the kick toward Wu Pifu's temple into a stomp, stomping toward the arm that was reaching out with the claw. At the same time, his other leg extended, his body rotated slightly, and he kicked toward the other side of Wu Pifu's temple.

In the blink of an eye, Wu Pifu's entire body also flipped, his hands supporting him against the ground, while his legs met the other legs, kicking against Erguawa.

Two muffled "Pop!" sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Wu Pifu's legs were like refined steel, directly breaking Erguawa's two legs that were stomping and kicking. Then, his legs did not stop, crossing and clamping like scissors, actually snapping Erguawa's waist and spine. By the time he landed, his upper and lower body were paralyzed on the ground, unable to even struggle.

The next second, this Erguawa also turned into powder and dissipated.

Wu Pifu flipped up, took a deep breath, and gestured again, saying, "Come again!"

The remaining four people were silent for a time, each looking at Wu Pifu with grave gazes.

And in the distance, Amida and Xu Shilan stared fixedly at the battle in the arena, their hearts about to jump out of their throats.

Yet, neither they, nor Wu Pifu, nor even Jiu Jiu, had discovered...

That the powder turned into by Lin Heier, Imutu, and Erguawa had scattered onto the ground outside the shelter. It was invisible to the naked eye, but every grain was drilling into the soil, surrounding the very edge of the shelter's range, and was...

Eroding inward, millimeter by millimeter!

Wu Pifu, without realizing it, was already more than half-stepped outside the shelter range!!

And in the deepest part of Wu Pifu's memory, that information which had been deliberately forgotten seemed to be flickering and emerging...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 68 =====