Chapter 198: Dark Flame Fierce Dragon Force

After Chen Yuzhi visited, Li Fei and Shangguan Xiao sent people to gather information.

First, they investigated which faction was causing trouble in Datong Prefecture City, and second, they inquired about who had recently arrived in Xingcheng and was interacting with the Chen family.

In just two days, there were results on both fronts.

The party collaborating with the Chen family to purchase exotic beast rations in Datong Prefecture City was the "Beast King" faction.

Datong Prefecture belongs to Feng Province, but because Datong Prefecture City houses a Wu'an University, the city possesses greater strength and influence in all aspects than the provincial capital.

Truth be told, Datong Prefecture City is actually the true center of Feng Province!

Therefore, Chen Yuzhi's remark that "the waters in Datong Prefecture run deep" was a genuine statement.

Aside from the righteous factions, the underworld of Datong Prefecture City is controlled by the "Seven Kings," and the "Beast King" is one of them, controlling the market for exotic beast breeding.

Over the past few years, the Tiger Blade Gang has been trying to establish a connection with the "Beast King" faction to purchase exotic beast rations directly from them, so as not to let the Chen family earn an extra cut.

Unfortunately, the "Beast King" only recognizes the Chen family, and the interest-based relationship between the two is more secure than the Tiger Blade Gang imagined.

Now, in order to help the Chen family secure that exotic beast farm, they have even sent a Dao Foundation realm expert!

This Dao Foundation realm expert is Zhang Shan, and his whereabouts have also been discovered.

Although the Chen family did a good job with concealment, Zhang Shan was too high-profile; he went out to seek pleasure every night, and his "needs" were great, so it was naturally easy to find out about him.

Originally, Shangguan Xiao intended to plan carefully, but Li Fei proposed taking action immediately.

"Rather than waiting to be plotted against, it is better to take the initiative and let them know who is in charge of Xingcheng now!"

Li Fei said this to Shangguan Xiao.

The "Beast King" faction is indeed very powerful in Datong Prefecture City, but that might not hold true once they come to Xingcheng!

Thus, tonight's operation took place.

Li Fei went directly to find Zhang Shan!

Clang—

The Ghost Severing Blade left its sheath.

Zhang Shan's eyes were gloomy as he bared his teeth in a cold sneer:

"You're courting death!"

Bang!

The stone slabs beneath his feet cracked, leaving two deep footprints.

The next second, he vanished from where he stood.

On the other side, Li Fei also vanished from his spot.

Bang!!!

With an explosive sound, Li Fei was sent flying backward.

Zhang Shan's entire body was enveloped in a dark red force, looking like a burning flame!

"Early Qi Transformation?"

Zhang Shan's surprised voice rang out, "You are not the Green-Faced Ghost?"

He did not believe a martial artist at the early Qi Transformation stage could fight a Dao Foundation realm expert head-on.

But the next second, despite having been hit by his Dark Flame Force, Li Fei rushed toward him again, completely unharmed.

Zhang Shan pushed his palms forward, and the dark red flames formed a massive cone in front of him.

The Dark Flame Force is condensed from Ding Fire Profound Qi; Profound Qi is versatile, so the characteristic of the Dark Flame Force is its strong plasticity, allowing it to take on various forms.

The Ghost Severing Blade, flashing with golden light, struck the tip of the flame cone, sliced through the dark red flames, and finally collided with Zhang Shan's force-enveloped palms.

"Hmm?"

Zhang Shan was somewhat surprised.

"Geng Metal True Qi? Your strength is quite high."

He slapped the side of the blade with one palm, knocking the Ghost Severing Blade away, then turned his left hand into a palm blade and slashed in front of him.

A dark red flame blade took shape, cutting through the air and slashing toward Li Fei.

Li Fei struck out with his left fist against the flame blade, his fist wrapped in dark golden Geng Metal True Qi.

Bang—

The flame blade cut through the outer layer of Geng Metal True Qi and struck Li Fei's left fist, leaving only a faint mark in the end.

At the same time, Li Fei flicked his right hand, and the knocked-away Ghost Severing Blade returned, continuing to slash at Zhang Shan with a blade containing immense power.

A thunderclap erupted in the silence; the faint moonlight shone into the alley as the dark golden blade light flashed again—indistinguishable from the moonlight—and struck a flame shield.

This time, the blade light could not immediately cut through the flames; Zhang Shan clenched his fists and stepped forward, hammering toward Li Fei like a volcanic eruption, his momentum surging!

Li Fei retracted his blade to defend, and the moment Zhang Shan's fists struck the blade, he used the momentum to spin himself and the blade in a large circle, appearing behind Zhang Shan in an instant and stabbing at the back of his head.

Zhang Shan did not dodge or parry; another flame shield formed behind him, blocking the incoming blade tip, and then he suddenly turned and kicked at Li Fei.

The flames attached to his leg transformed into a battle-axe, hacking toward Li Fei's neck.

Li Fei retracted his blade to block vertically at his side, pressed his left hand against the back of the blade, and gave it a slight twist, turning the edge to collide with the incoming flame battle-axe.

Boom!!!

A sound of metal and stone rang out in the alley.

Li Fei was sent flying again, smashing through a wall on the side!

But he quickly rushed out from the pile of rubble and continued to swing his blade at Zhang Shan.

Zhang Shan frowned, finally losing his patience.

The Dark Flame Force has strong adhesive properties; after hitting an opponent, it will more or less leave a portion of force on them to continue burning.

But the opponent before him was very strange, completely unaffected by the force, unexpectedly durable, and possessed great strength—stronger than the vast majority of force-training martial artists.

The Geng Metal True Qi was extremely sharp, and with the support of great power, it was enough to pose a certain threat to Zhang Shan, so Zhang Shan stopped holding back; the dark red flames suddenly became vivid, the temperature in the alley soared, it became as bright as day, and a high-pitched dragon roar resounded.

"Dark Flame Fierce Dragon Force!"

On a building not far from the alley, Shangguan Xiao stood on the roof watching the movement in the alley, her expression turning grave.

The Dark Flame Fierce Dragon Force is a high-level fire-attribute force that requires the fusion of three types of innate Qi, and it must include the innate Qi of a dragon-species implant.

Dragon-species implants are notoriously difficult to cultivate, and once mastered, the resulting force is extremely powerful!

That this person could master the Dark Flame Fierce Dragon Force meant he was definitely a rare powerhouse among Dao Foundation realm experts. If it were one-on-one, Shangguan Xiao would not be confident of winning.

Boom—

It was like an earthquake in the alley, and a large crater was blasted into the ground.

"This kid."

Shangguan Xiao showed a look of worry.

Li Fei had previously proposed that he wanted to spar with this Dao Foundation realm expert alone, and until he gave the signal, Shangguan Xiao was not to intervene.

As it turned out, the opponent had already used a high-level force, and Li Fei still hadn't given the signal.

In the alley, Li Fei jumped out of the large crater in the ground and lunged at Zhang Shan again.

At this moment, his black martial robe was completely shredded, revealing the dark green protective suit underneath.

After the last battle, his protective suit was already damaged in many places, and now, fighting a Dao Foundation realm expert head-on, this level-three protective suit would likely be ruined.

However, Li Fei's gains were not small; the last battle allowed him to absorb a large amount of energy and added valuable experience in fighting Dao Foundation realm experts.

Although Shangguan Xiao is also in the Dao Foundation realm, she could not truly harbor killing intent toward Li Fei, so Li Fei took the initiative to ask to fight Zhang Shan alone.

Previously, when he fought Yu Hu, he was actually being suppressed because the gap in technique was too large; relying solely on brute force made it difficult to threaten the opponent.

But after this period of guidance from Shangguan Xiao, combined with the development of Geng Metal True Qi, Li Fei had improved significantly, and now fighting the stronger Zhang Shan was not as difficult as facing Yu Hu back then.

Howl—

Another high-pitched dragon roar sounded, and a dragon head formed of flames opened its mouth to bite at Li Fei.

A powerful suction force emanated from the dragon head, and a gale rose in the alley.

Not only that, an invisible pressure emanated from the dragon head, chilling to the bone—it was not a spell, yet it surpassed a spell!

This is the power of the Dark Flame Fierce Dragon Force.

But Li Fei was completely unaffected by that dragon might; he rushed forward, holding his blade with both hands to slash, and five layers of blade light were unleashed in an instant, then overlapped together.

Previously, Li Fei could only achieve "Three-Fold Wave," but now he could achieve "Five-Fold Wave."

Moreover, the outer layer of the blade light slashed this time was dark golden, while the inside was blood-red.

This was a method Li Fei had newly developed after the last actual combat:

Using Geng Metal True Qi as the shell and filling the inside with Blood Fiend Qi to form a power that is not a force, yet surpasses a force!

Geng Metal True Qi is extremely sharp but not condensed enough, like a blade that is too rigid and easily broken.

Blood Fiend Qi is the exact opposite; the more blood souls consumed, the more condensed the resulting Blood Fiend Qi becomes.

It is just that Blood Fiend Qi is only useful against living organisms and is not suitable for colliding with other forces.

So Li Fei found a way to fuse the two, one as the exterior and one as the interior.

This change seems simple, but it actually requires very strong control; if Li Fei hadn't completed his breakthrough by "breaking the heart barrier," his mental power far exceeding that of martial artists in the same realm, he would not have succeeded so quickly.

Soon, the five layers of blade light were swallowed by the dragon head, and finally, the Ghost Severing Blade, flashing with dark golden light, pierced into it.

The next second, the flame dragon head cracked open, and then the gap grew larger and larger, finally being cut in two!

Slash—

Li Fei was sent flying again, but a wound also appeared on Zhang Shan's chest.

A strand of highly condensed Blood Fiend Qi burrowed into his body, causing his expression to change; he hurriedly used the Dark Flame Fierce Dragon Force to suppress this Blood Fiend Qi and forcibly expel it from his body.

But in that blink of an eye, a patch of muscle on his chest had already withered!

"What kind of force is this?"

Zhang Shan was both shocked and furious, and he hurriedly activated his extraordinary ability.

Soon, a powerful life force was injected into the withered muscles on his chest, and they quickly recovered as if nothing had happened.

This was the extraordinary ability of the wood-attribute implant 【Evergreen】—Life Storage.

It allows one to store life force with healing effects in advance during ordinary times and use it during battle, thereby healing while fighting.

At the Dao Foundation realm, not every extraordinary ability provided by an implant is very useful; many implants that form the foundation of martial arts provide extraordinary abilities that are quite mediocre, as their only function is to further strengthen the martial artist's body while providing innate Qi to strengthen their power.

The reason Zhang Shan was so arrogant was not only because he had mastered the extremely difficult Dark Flame Violent Dragon Power, but also because the three implants he had integrated all provided useful extraordinary abilities, including a powerful extraordinary ability like "Life Storage"!

"Do you think you can deal with me with just this little bit of skill?"

While controlling the Dark Flame Violent Dragon Power to form a flame armor on his body, Zhang Shan arrogantly clamored:

"Within one minute, I will turn you into a real ghost!"

"Oh."

Li Fei calmly responded to the other party with an "oh," and then slashed a dark golden blade aura into the air.

He had already tested the effect of his new method and was very satisfied with it, so he began to call for help.

Zhang Shan felt very dissatisfied with Li Fei's attitude and rushed toward Li Fei while wearing his flame armor.

He instantly rushed in front of Li Fei and reached out to grab him, and a powerful suction force emanated from his palm.

After using the Dark Flame Violent Dragon Power, his speed and strength had improved by another level!

Li Fei allowed the other party to grab his neck; he stuck his Ghost-Slaying Blade into the ground and then used both hands to lock the other party's arm tightly.

Zhang Shan felt that something was wrong and exerted force, wanting to snap Li Fei's neck, but he felt as if he were squeezing a solid iron pillar and could not snap it at all.

The next second, bolts of lightning descended from the sky and struck Zhang Shan's flame armor.

Immediately after, Shangguan Xiao descended from the air with the sound of wind and thunder, and the violent wind force, like an invisible small mountain, pressed down on both Zhang Shan and Li Fei at the same time.

Zhang Shan raised his head, his eyes full of murderous intent colliding with Shangguan Xiao's cold gaze; just as he was about to unleash his Dragon Might, his mind suddenly shook, and a boundless sea of blood appeared before his eyes.

By the time he regained his senses, Shangguan Xiao had already landed on top of his head, and she struck down fiercely with both palms carrying the power of wind and thunder!

Boom—

There was another earthquake in the alley, and the walls on both sides were shaken down one after another.

A pit larger than the previous one appeared on the ground!

Inside the pit, Li Fei was still tightly restraining Zhang Shan's body, and then he continued to use 【Blood Might】.

Taking advantage of the moment when the other party's mind was under shock, Shangguan Xiao struck rapidly with both palms, landing over a dozen blows in the blink of an eye!

Zhang Shan first took a few hits to his head, and his flame helmet was shattered; then he raised his left hand, which was not restrained, to block, and immediately after, a cracking sound was heard as the bone in his left arm was broken.

Seeing Shangguan Xiao strike with another palm, Zhang Shan roared angrily, and the flame armor on his body suddenly exploded!

Like a volcanic eruption, dark red lava surged out from the pit, and a pillar of fire shot into the sky.

Shangguan Xiao and Li Fei were both blown away; the Storm Qi Shangguan Xiao used to protect her body was broken, and she herself suffered some injuries.

She turned her head to check on Li Fei's condition at the first opportunity, only to see that Li Fei had already completed his transformation and looked unharmed.

Li Fei, having entered the "Blood Demon State," walked to the side and picked up the Ghost-Slaying Blade he had just stuck into the ground.

At the same time, a golden blade aura suddenly slashed into the large pit where Zhang Shan was, knocking the just-leaping Zhang Shan back down!

This blade aura was not slashed by Li Fei.

A man with a sharp, piercing look between his brows landed in this alley holding a long blade.

This person's name was Cao Mu, and he was the only remaining official martial master of the Xingcheng Stop-War Academy.

After the "Luoshan Incident" occurred, the second batch of experts sent by the Stop-War Academy was led by Cao Mu, and Li Fei had even met this person at that time. (See Chapter 53 for details)

Cao Mu was a strength-training martial master at the peak of the Qi Transformation realm, enough to pose a threat to experts at the Dao Foundation realm.

For the battle tonight, Li Fei had not brought only Shangguan Xiao with him.

The remaining experts from the Qingyuan Fist Stronghold and the Stop-War Academy had all come!

Not only that, when Li Fei made his move against Zhang Shan here, people from the Inspection Academy also flooded into the Kaiping District, though not to deal with Zhang Shan, but to set up checkpoints on various streets, preparing to block the arrival of reinforcements from the Chen family's experts.

After taking a fierce blade strike, Zhang Shan finally leaped out of the pit.

He first glanced at Cao Mu, who had just slashed him, and then looked at Shangguan Xiao:

"A dignified Dao Foundation expert actually resorting to a sneak attack from behind; if you have the ability, let's fight one-on-one!"

Before Shangguan Xiao could speak, Li Fei said disdainfully:

"Are you very good at fighting?"

"What is the use of being good at fighting?"

"When you are out in the world, you have to talk about influence!"

As his voice fell, he, Shangguan Xiao, and Cao Mu all charged toward Zhang Shan together.

(End of chapter)