At that moment, the old man’s pupils shrank. His fingers could pierce metal and shatter stone, and their strength could crush Refined Iron with ease.

Yet they only sank into Xu Yunfan’s shoulder and neck before being forced out by muscles as taut as steel cables.

’How is this possible?!’

’Even if the man was at Second Level Perfection, with my power at the Great Success of the Flesh Refining Realm and my mastery of Claw Martial Arts, I can’t even tear a shred of his flesh?’

"This Flesh Refining Realm of yours..."

Xu Yunfan lifted his head. His eyes held a profound darkness that made the purple-robed old man’s heart lurch. As Xu Yunfan’s Blood Qi surged and his body’s hormones spiked, the old man’s sense of dread intensified.

’This man’s strength far surpasses that of an ordinary Third Level Martial Artist.’

"Is it watered down? So feeble?"

As Xu Yunfan spoke, the purple-robed old man grunted. With a sharp tug on his Nine-Section Whip, he ripped the entire roof beam in two.

In an instant, crossbeams and tiles from the roof came crashing down, burying everyone below.

BOOM!

The next instant, a sound like a muffled, thunderous drumroll exploded across the third floor of Cui Bo Tower.

Xu Yunfan, wielding his Heavy Hammer, twisted at the waist and brought it crashing down into the rubble before him with the force of a Reversed Celestial River.

The air hummed and warped. Fueled by Xu Yunfan’s Blood Qi, molten patterns began to trace their way across the handle of the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer. The head of the hammer flickered, weaving arcs of free-floating electricity.

The purple-robed old man had just blasted away the debris covering him when he looked up to see the Heavy Hammer descending upon him.

A guttural, beast-like roar erupted from his throat. He crossed his arms, the Nine-Section Whip coiling around them like a python rising to meet the descending Thunderfire Qilin Hammer head-on.

The moment the hammer head collided with the Steel Whip, the entire third floor of Cui Bo Tower collapsed. The elegantly constructed building was largely demolished by that single blow.

Fortunately, the patrons had all fled when the Incense and Candle Sect members flooded in. Aside from the Celestial Craft Cave disciples on duty, only Xu Yunfan and Yan Yuwei remained.

Xu Yunfan’s back muscles rippled like a Furious Tide. He used his downward momentum to press the Heavy Hammer down another half-inch. The molten patterns on the hammer’s face seared into the Steel Whip, burning its Cold Iron sections red-hot!

CRACK!

The purple-robed old man’s muscles bulged, shredding his loose robes and revealing the purplish-blue veins beneath his skin. The beam beneath his feet could no longer withstand the force and suddenly splintered.

His feet, a dark purplish color, burst from his tattered shoes. Stomping through the flying splinters, his toes latched onto a support pillar like iron hooks.

As his toes gouged five deep grooves into the pillar’s green lacquer, the old man roared. With a powerful sideways shove, he finally deflected the crushing weight of the Heavy Hammer.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the Nine-Section Whip shot out like a venomous snake, coiling around Xu Yunfan’s waist.

The moment its barbs tore through his linen shirt, Xu Yunfan’s abs contracted like an iron plate, trapping the spikes between his muscle fibers.

The purple-robed old man was shaken to his core once again.

’Horizontal Training can make someone this tough?’

His Nine-Section Whip was a Middle Grade weapon, yet it couldn’t even pierce the man’s skin. How could he not be shocked?

A Master of the Flesh Refining Realm, being completely overpowered by a Third Level Martial Artist... The humiliation was immense.

Even if his opponent were at Second Level Perfection, it shouldn’t have been enough to leave him this helpless.

"Is that all there is to the Flesh Refining Realm?"

Xu Yunfan’s expression was icy. He spun, the gust from his Heavy Hammer shredding the cloud of wooden splinters.

The next instant, his left hand clamped down on the Nine-Section Whip, preventing the old man from retracting it. The muscles on his right arm, which held the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, swelled violently. Veins pulsed like serpents, and thin lines of blood appeared on his bulging muscles as Great Tendon, muscle, and bone worked in concert. He swung the hammer in a great half-moon arc. The wind from its passage shrieked like a cicada, and the very air in Cui Bo Tower seemed to hum and vibrate with the force.

The entire tower seemed to shake with it.

The old man was a half-beat too slow in bringing his Steel Whip back to defend. The Heavy Hammer grazed his left shoulder. Had his muscles not rippled like waves to dissipate the force just in time, his arm would have been shattered.

Without breaking the hammer’s arc, Xu Yunfan twisted his body and smashed two black-robed men who were trying to climb up, sending them flying like broken dolls.

Yan Yuwei, having just climbed from the rubble, saw this and didn’t even turn her head. She leaped through a newly smashed hole in the floor, dropping to the second level. Wielding her long-handled Straight Blade, she pounced on the Incense and Candle Followers like a hungry tiger descending a mountain. In a flash, she pinned three crossbowmen and their weapons to the floor tiles.

"You wretched girl, you’re courting death!"

Seeing his Incense and Candle Followers being cut down like weeds, the old man roared in fury and swept his whip horizontally. But midway through its arc, Xu Yunfan threw out his hand. The handle of the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer extended into a Chain Hammer, ensnaring the Nine-Section Whip.

As the two men wrestled for dominance, the chain and the whip ground against each other, striking a shower of sparks that wove a fiery net in the air.

The purple-robed old man’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was horrified to find that his strength was no match for Xu Yunfan’s.

Xu Yunfan suddenly released his grip and leaned back. The chain whipped forward like a venomous dragon’s tail, the hammer head striking the old man and plowing a bloody furrow across his cheek. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

At this, the purple-robed old man was forced to shake his Nine-Section Whip free, disengaging from Xu Yunfan’s Chain Hammer.

He leaped into the air to evade, only to see Xu Yunfan scale a pillar like a gecko clinging to a wall. The Thunderfire Qilin Hammer suddenly erupted with a three-foot projection of Qi Force as it swept toward him!

BANG!

The two smashed through the floorboards of the third story, falling amidst a shower of brick and stone into the second-floor banquet hall.

The instant the old man’s back hit the ground, Xu Yunfan’s knee was already driving toward the Danzhong acupoint on his chest.

The old man’s pectoral muscles suddenly squirmed as if alive. His Danzhong Acupoint shifted half an inch, and with a muffled grunt, he managed to evade the fatal blow.

’Shifting acupoints?’

After reaching the Flesh Refining Realm, the body’s flesh and blood become saturated with Strength. This allows a martial artist to shift their vital points through muscle control, and depending on the Martial Arts they practice, their body can even undergo structural changes.

Xu Yunfan’s transition was impossibly fast. He changed the knee strike to an elbow strike, every single movement imbued with the principles of Emitting Force from his Celestial Cicada Force, Copper Body Skill, and Flying Leg.

As the iron elbow smashed toward the old man’s collarbone, the old man caught the descending strike with one hand.

The old man seized the opening, whipping his Steel Whip backward, its barbed tip stabbing toward Xu Yunfan’s temple. But Xu Yunfan didn’t even turn his head. He opened his mouth wide and caught the tip between his teeth!

The sight made the corner of the purple-robed old man’s eye twitch. He had expected Xu Yunfan’s teeth to shatter, but he never imagined the man had teeth of steel. The impact of the bite even struck sparks.

CRACK!

The second-floor window lattice suddenly shattered as Yan Yuwei crashed through the glass, rejoining the fray.

The muscles on her right arm knotted like the roots of an old tree. With a series of crisp clicks from a mechanism within her long-handled blade, the three-foot Straight Blade shot forward, extending its reach as it chopped down toward the purple-robed old man’s neck.

Yan Yuwei’s Blood Qi was boiling. Her face was twisted in a mask of sheer, ecstatic excitement.

’A Third Level Martial Artist slaying a master of the Flesh Refining Realm.’

’If word of this got out, my name would be known throughout the land!’

The purple-robed old man’s eyes twitched. His fingers on the Nine-Section Whip trembled, channeling a pulse of shivering Strength through it. The middle section of the whip flicked out, knocking Yan Yuwei’s blade aside. Its momentum unabated, the whip then lashed heavily across her body.