Chapter 289: The Real Thing—Always the Real Thing! (5/5, Autumn Subscription)

Fang Yue's pupils shrank, his face turning pale.

The corpse seized the opportunity to accelerate, rushing to Fang Yue's front and raising its hand-blade high, replacing blade technique.

"Hahahaha! Is this the heart method currently popular outside? Hmm… it smells like the Flame Sect—no real improvement over the old ones!"

The flame hand-blade slashed toward Fang Yue, its momentum so sharp it crushed the edge of Leng Yue Dao!

Fang Yue barely raised his blade to block…

Boom!!

"-1!"

The blade of Leng Yue Dao shattered, scattering fragments across the ground.

Amid the shattered pieces of Leng Yue Dao, the corpse's hand-blade struck Fang Yue squarely in the chest!

Boom!!

"-51!"

Flames erupted; Fang Yue's chest took a crushing blow, sending him flying backward to slam against a bronze pillar of the Bronze Room.

Leng Yue Dao… Leng Yue Dao was destroyed??

How could his hand-blade be this powerful!

He stared at the hilt still clutched in his hand, and the searing pain in his chest—his expression turned utterly grim.

"Surprised? A martial artist's body is no mere fragile thing. Let me teach you a lesson: the body is the strongest weapon!"

The corpse instantly surged forward again, its flame hand-blade slashing once more toward Fang Yue's chest.

Fang Yue hurled away the hilt and rolled desperately sideways, the searing flame hand-blade slicing over his head, igniting a few strands of his hair.

He rolled swiftly to create distance, and as he lifted his head to observe the corpse, his health had fully regenerated, the wound on his chest now cooled, its pressure suppressed.

Night's Breath, forever divine!

Fortunately, Fang Yue had delayed his search for the ruin until nightfall.

Otherwise, the current situation would have ended differently.

"Huh? Quite agile!"

The corpse shook its right hand, still embedded in the bronze pillar, then—shhh! —both hands burst into roaring flames.

"Flame Heart Method—excellent!"

Flames ignited on its feet; the corpse's speed surged again.

Fang Yue's pupils narrowed…

"Flame Heart Method!!"

Flames engulfed Fang Yue's entire body, turning him into a ball of fire as he charged toward the corpse.

Fist against hand-blade!

Bang!!

A thunderous explosion as the two collided.

"-11!"

Numbers appeared above the corpse's head.

"-30!"

Numbers appeared above Fang Yue's head.

The corpse's attack was superior, but Fang Yue's damage-reduction value was no joke!

"Interesting!"

After a brief pause, the corpse launched a frenzy of hand-blade strikes.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Block! Block! Block! Block! Block! Block!

Fang Yue's tight defense held firm against the relentless assault!

When the corpse's final kick struck Fang Yue's guarding arm, it pulled back to create distance.

As it landed, it calmly clapped its hands.

"Excellent parries and timely counterstrikes. But are you a pig? I took three punches from you—my Qi and Blood loss is less than one-tenth."

"Meanwhile, you've taken at least fifteen hand-blade strikes. Based on your body's Qi and Blood capacity, you probably have only one-tenth left—on the brink of Heavy Injury. Do you think this exchange favors you?"

The corpse grinned, its aura seemingly rising further.

But Fang Yue stared at it expressionlessly.

"Oh, I'm a pig. I'm about to die."

The corpse's smile faltered slightly.

For some reason, it sensed no fear from Fang Yue.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"What is life worth? What does death demand? I lived great, I died glorious."

"Oh, you're a poet with ideals!"

The corpse bowed in solemn respect—such high spiritual awareness.

"Fine. I've always loved poets. Now, I'll give you a swift end. A dignified death!"

Boom!!

The flames that had gathered in the corpse's limbs suddenly compressed inward—the once-red flames now turned blazing white!

Almost the instant Fang Yue assumed his defensive stance, the corpse, wreathed in blazing white fire, was already before him.

Its speed had increased by several orders of magnitude compared to before.

And that terrifying high temperature hadn't even struck Fang Yue yet, but it was already burning him so that '-1' '-1' damage numbers began popping up over his head.

"This is my final mercy to you. Give me… die!!"

A frenzied fist absorbed every last bit of the White Flame on the corpse's body, compressing it to the extreme, and the instant the fist slammed into Fang Yue's chest where his crossed arms were guarding, it erupted completely.

BOOM!!!

The frenzied, blazing pure-white flame swallowed Fang Yue in an instant.

In the entire frame, there was nothing but white flame—Fang Yue's figure couldn't be seen at all.

351!!

"This is the true mystery of the Blazing Fire Heart Method! Too bad, you already…"

The corpse was mumbling to itself, as if lost in memory.

Suddenly, a hand shot out violently from the carpet of White Flame on the ground, and in a flash clamped onto its neck, choking the words back down its throat!

What?!

The corpse's pupils contracted. It saw Fang Yue, who should have been dead beyond doubt, instead gripping it from within the surging tide of White Flame, and slowly lifting it off the ground!

"Now, it's my turn!!"

A voice, ferocious and bearing a savage grin, leaked out from Fang Yue's mouth—the White Flame had burned clean through his lips, so the words came out whistling through the gaps.

The White Flame, like Amaterasu, refusing to die, clung to Fang Yue's face, his body, his hands, burning fiercely.

Above his head, jumping damage numbers like '-5!' '-11!' '-9' kept popping up.

But Fang Yue was still alive.

Alive and well!

"Im-pos-si-ble!! I scanned your body. As someone in the post-Heaven Second-rate Realm, your Qi and Blood could never possibly withstand my assault! That strike just now should have killed you beyond doubt! Beyond doubt!!"

The corpse struggled and roared, but Fang Yue turned a deaf ear.

He just kept throwing punches.

Punching like a madman!

One punch! Two punches! Three punches! Four punches!

35!

38!

32!

30!

With no attacks being blocked, every bit of Fang Yue's damage landed on the corpse.

Beating the corpse—who had been so high-spirited moments ago—into wailing miserably.

No matter how the corpse pummeled Fang Yue's right hand, no matter how it kicked at his body, Fang Yue stood rock-steady, letting the damage numbers jump, trading blows like a walking blood bank.

"Impossible! Impossible! How can your Qi and Blood be so abundant! This can't be!!"

The corpse finally panicked.

Sure, Fang Yue's damage per hit wasn't high, but he just kept taking beatings!

And since it had copied Fang Yue's body, inheriting his stats, its HP… was only a mere 400 points!

So the corpse was shedding its skin!

Its skin was deflating like a punctured ball.

Fang Yue noticed the corpse had stopped counterattacking and was instead changing form, trying to do something. He immediately sped up his attack rate, the Blazing Fire Fist landing blow after blow on flesh.

Today, I'm going to be Jinfu! A Jinfu against the bizarre! Specializing in beating the bizarre, blow after blow on flesh!

Seeming to sense Fang Yue's attack speed increasing and the rate of damage on its own head quickening, the corpse's face changed drastically.

"Wait…"

BAM!

A fist landed on the bridge of the corpse's nose.

41!

"So you're the corpse, huh!"

It barely shook its head clear, came back to its senses, and another fist was already at the door.

"Lord Mo, huh!"

BAM!

Stars burst before both eyes! -

36!

"Don't, don't do this!"

BAM! -

39!

"Final mercy, huh!"

"I, I…"

BAM!

"What 'you' you! Stuttering, huh!"

The corpse, on the verge of tears: "Don't hit the head! Wait for me to shed my skin…"

BAM! -

44!

"Shedding skin, huh!"

"Y-you y-you!"

Boom!

"You think I'm not playing by the rules, huh!"

"..."

Boom!

"You won't speak, huh!"

I!!

Boom!!

"You're pretending to be a master by staying silent, huh!"

The corpse was stunned, beaten into a daze.

Seeing its remaining dozen or so HP, it grew afraid.

"Let's talk this over..."

"I'll give you a punch to the face—go argue your case in the Underworld!"

Fang Yue paid it no mind, delivering a final heavy punch wreathed in searing flame, smashing the shriveled monster flat.

99!

ps: Tomorrow, ten chapters.

(End of Chapter)