Bang, bang, bang, bang—
Chu Feng launched a relentless barrage of strikes, violent and overwhelming, like ten thousand meteors raining down simultaneously as he bombarded the militant faction's Martial Emperor without pause.
The militant faction's Martial Emperor had let his guard down, and one of Chu Feng's punches broke through his defenses, slamming directly into his left ribs.
BOOM—
Another deafening explosion. The militant faction's Martial Emperor was sent hurtling back thousands of meters, crashing hard into the rock wall.
The wall remained completely unscathed, but his body creaked and crackled — from that single punch alone, Chu Feng had shattered three of his left ribs.
"With abilities like these, you dare call yourself an elite of the Yaojiao King Beasts?" Chu Feng said with a contemptuous smile.
"I'll make you die!" The militant faction's Martial Emperor flew into a towering rage, producing an enormous meteor hammer, and smashed it toward Chu Feng.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The meteor hammer whirled through the air with a deafening roar, leaving nothing but pitch-black devastation in its wake — even the void was torn apart. It was, after all, a half-finished Emperor Armament.
"Comparing weapons? I'm afraid you're still no match." As he spoke, Chu Feng drew the Heavenly Immortal Sword into his hand, and with sword techniques as sharp and fierce as a storm of pear blossoms, he not only deflected the militant faction's meteor hammer but launched a counterattack at the same time.
"Damn it!" Pressed back again and again, the militant faction's Martial Emperor gritted his teeth in fury, veins bulging across his body.
Say what you would — he was a true second-grade Martial Emperor. Wielding a half-finished Emperor Armament, he should have been able to unleash its full power, and this meteor hammer had been his companion for years, reaching a level of near-perfect harmony between beast and weapon. Countless Martial Emperors of the same grade had fallen before it.
As for Chu Feng — his cultivation might technically be that of a Martial Emperor now, but it had been artificially boosted. The militant faction's Martial Emperor refused to acknowledge it.
In his eyes, Chu Feng was nothing but a counterfeit Martial Emperor. Yet this counterfeit not only suppressed him in hand-to-hand combat but was now outperforming him in the use of a half-finished Emperor Armament as well. How could he possibly accept that?
But the most frustrating thing was — even if he couldn't accept it, he had no choice but to endure, because he truly was no match for Chu Feng. That was a fact he could not change.
"That hammer of yours is quite nice — it's a shame you can't handle it. You use it terribly, practically wasting a fine weapon." Chu Feng taunted even as he continued to press his advantage.
"Chu Feng, you go too far in bullying beasts!" The militant faction's Martial Emperor was so enraged that his organs felt ready to explode. In his fury, he suddenly let out a thunderous shout, and a vast, torrential power surged outward from within his body.
In this state, he turned the tables — no longer retreating passively but engaging Chu Feng head-on in a clash of raw force.
However, this tremendous power had not come from nowhere. Crimson-red patterns began to appear across his body, glowing like molten lava, searingly bright. But Chu Feng noticed something — the crimson patterns were bleeding. The blood was real.
"A self-destructive technique?" Chu Feng had already discerned the militant faction's Martial Emperor's secret.
"Chu Feng, watch out! He's burning his bloodline — he's trading his life for yours!" Yaojiao Tingyu shouted urgently.
"Burning his bloodline — can that make him stronger?" Chu Feng asked.
"Yes. He's burning it so intensely that after this technique, his body will explode and he will die without a doubt. But in exchange, he'll gain power approaching that of a third-grade Martial Emperor," Yaojiao Tingyu explained.
"In that case, I'll give him the chance." Chu Feng smiled faintly, then — with a feint — dodged to the side and stopped attacking altogether.