Chapter 497: What do you think you can use to fight me!

The entire Xiao mansion fell into deathly silence.

All eyes turned to Guo Wuqiu.

Guo Wuqiu remained seated, his expression calm to the point of eeriness. He slowly scanned the crowd, his gaze finally settling on Chen Mu.

"Chen Xuncha Shi, impressive tactics," he said softly. "I underestimated you."

Before the words were out, he slammed his hand down on the table!

Boom—

The entire table exploded into splinters, wood shards flying in all directions.

Several men seated nearby were flung back by the shockwave, crying out as they flew through the air.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Guo Wuqiu shot upward, speeding toward the mansion's exit!

"Trying to run?"

Chen Mu sneered, launching upward after him.

Below, everyone in the Xiao mansion looked up at the sky, stunned.

…

In the sky, two figures raced forward, one chasing the other.

Guo Wuqiu fled with all his strength, moving at an astonishing speed.

He had cultivated for over seventy years and spent more than a decade refining his cultivation at the Ascend Soul Altar realm, mastering the use of true qi to perfection.

Now, with all his power, he became a streak of blue light, vanishing hundreds of zhang in the blink of an eye.

But he was fast—Chen Mu was faster.

Chen Mu's form moved like a dark phantom, trailing three zhang behind him, unhurried and steady; no matter how hard Guo Wuqiu accelerated, he could not shake him by even an inch.

"Lord Guo, why run? Weren't you just so composed?" Chen Mu's voice came from behind, laced with mockery.

Guo Wuqiu said nothing, only pushed his true qi to its limit.

The two chased and fled, soon leaving Yangzhou City behind and arriving above a desolate hill to the east.

Guo Wuqiu suddenly stopped, turned, and fixed his gaze on Chen Mu.

"Chen Mu."

Guo Wuqiu spoke slowly, word by word: "I have no grudge against you. Why do you seek my death?"

Chen Mu halted three zhang away, hovering with arms crossed, his tone cool: "Three hundred lives—do you call that 'no grudge'?"

A flicker of complexity passed through Guo Wuqiu's eyes, then hardened into ruthlessness.

"Good. Good. Good." He uttered three "good"s in succession. "If you insist on forcing me, then today, we settle this with life and death!"

Before the words ended, his aura erupted violently!

This aura was vast and tyrannical, saturated with fierce killing intent, instantly engulfing a hundred zhang around him.

The desolate hill below was swept by the aura—rocks shattered, trees snapped.

The full-power eruption of an Ascend Soul Altar realm was terrifying!

Chen Mu's expression did not change; he merely drew his Xian Long Sword.

The blade glowed in the setting sun.

Guo Wuqiu formed hand seals, and a crimson glow surged around him.

The glow grew thicker, brighter, gradually coalescing into a blood-red phantom figure over ten feet tall.

Iron Blood True Art!

Unified offense and defense, tyrannically powerful.

"Die!"

Guo Wuqiu roared, unleashing a punch.

The blood-red phantom mirrored him, slamming its fist downward with terrifying force.

Where the punch wind passed, air tore open with a piercing shriek.

Chen Mu did not retreat.

He merely raised his hand and swung his sword.

A flash of blade-light, carrying the Sword Intent of the Second Heaven, met the crimson giant fist head-on.

Boom!

The blade-light shattered; the crimson fist was also shoved back several feet.

Guo Wuqiu sneered: "Second Heaven Sword Intent? Not impressive!"

He struck again—this time with both fists.

Two crimson fist shadows, left and right, closed in on Chen Mu.

Chen Mu still did not retreat; he shifted his sword stance, and his Sword Intent surged instantly!

Third Heaven!

The blade-light exploded, slicing through the left fist shadow; he spun, and another sword stroke cleaved the right one.

Guo Wuqiu's face changed slightly: "Third Heaven?!"

But he was a veteran powerhouse of the Ascend Soul Altar realm—shocked, yet not disoriented.

He formed hand seals again; the crimson glow around him surged once more, the phantom solidifying further, radiating even more tyrannical pressure.

"Iron Blood True Art: Blood Battle in All Eight Directions!"

Guo Wuqiu roared, unleashing a continuous barrage of punches.

Each punch channeled his lifetime of cultivation—each stronger, faster than the last.

In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with crimson fist shadows, raining down like a storm.

Chen Mu stood amid flying fists, his Immortal Long Jian weaving a curtain of light.

He unleashed the full force of his third-tier sword intent; swordlight wove like a net, blocking every fist shadow.

But each block sent him retreating a step, clearly outmatched in strength.

Guo Wuqiu, seeing this, intensified his assault.

"Whelp, what do you think you can use to challenge me?!"

Guo Wuqiu laughed wildly, "I've cultivated for decades, honed my soul on the Ascend Heaven Soul Altar for over ten years—how could a whelp like you, who just broke through to See the Divine and Unbroken, possibly match me?!"

Chen Mu said nothing, continuing to swing his sword.

Swordlight and fist shadows clashed endlessly, each impact exploding into visible ripples in the air.

These ripples spread outward, bringing ruin to the wasteland mountains below.

Rocks shattered, trees uprooted, dust filled the sky.

On the walls of Yangzhou City, countless heads tilted upward, watching the battle above, cries of shock rising in waves.

"Is that Guo Wuqiu, Lord Guo? Who is he fighting?!"

"It's Chen Mu! That Inspector!"

"The Ascend Heaven Soul Altar unleashed fully—its power is this immense?!"

"Can Chen Mu hold out?!"

"…"

In the Xiao family courtyard, Xiao Yuanshan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze piercing the void to fix on the battlefield above.

Xiao Jingxing stood beside him, nervously asking: "Father, can Chen Mu win?!"

Xiao Yuanshan did not answer, only a faint smile tugging at his lips.

In the sky, the battle had reached its fever pitch.

Guo Wuqiu grew wilder with each strike, pushing his Iron Blood True Art to its limit—each punch carried the power to split mountains and shatter rocks.

The crimson shadow had solidified into substance; one punch sent ripples through the very void.

Chen Mu still blocked, still retreated.

But his retreat was steady, each step deliberate and controlled.

Though his swordlight was suppressed, it remained unbroken, growing denser and sharper with every collision.

Guo Wuqiu sensed something was wrong.

Why is this brat's sword intent growing stronger?

It began at the early stage of the third tier—now it had reached its peak, on the verge of breakthrough!

No more delay!

Guo Wuqiu gritted his teeth, formed a hand seal, and his body erupted in blazing crimson light.

The crimson shadow swelled violently, transforming into a three-zhang-tall crimson giant that slammed its fist downward!

This punch condensed all his strength—it was his ultimate secret technique!

"Iron Blood True Art: Blood Battle the Heavens!"

Before the fist arrived, its wind pressure made Chen Mu's robes snap violently.

Chen Mu looked up, gazing at the overwhelming crimson fist that blanketed the sky—his eyes flashed with sharp brilliance.

He raised his hand, swung his sword.

Swish!

Fourth-tier sword intent.

Boom—

A piercing, unmatched sword intent surged skyward!

Pure and razor-sharp, it solidified into an invisible colossal sword, meeting the crimson fist head-on.

The instant swordlight met fist shadow, heaven and earth dimmed!

A visible shockwave exploded outward, tearing through clouds and trembling the void wherever it passed.

The wasteland mountains below were swept by the shockwave—half the peak collapsed in thunderous ruin, rocks tumbled, dust shot into the sky.

Guo Wuqiu's face turned ashen.

"Fourth-tier sword intent?! You… how is this possible?!"