He had left the Captain alive so the man could report back. The entire purpose was to draw the attention of the Daqian Military Department forces stationed in Qingzhou and Cangzhou onto himself.

The disciples of the Celestial Craft Cave’s Giant Kite Team patrolled Yanbei Dao day in and day out, so he knew full well that the vast majority of the Daqian Army’s forces were tied up by the Nine Radiance Sect and Yanbei City. That was precisely why he dared to do this.

’Senior Brother, this is the only thing I can do for you now.’

「One hour later, at the Cangwu Ridge pass.」

Just as a triangular arrow was about to pierce the skull of the warhorse beneath Xu Yunfan, his seven-foot Thunderfire Qilin Hammer whipped up a bloody Gang Wind. The sheer force of its swing blew the arrow away.

Before the hammer’s head even arrived, the Blood Qi in his body surged. The roiling Red Flood Dragon Force erupted from his spine, shot through his arms, and poured into the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer. The resulting Qi Force blast sent three Heavy Armored Spearmen flying. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The Chain Armor of these elite Daqian Border Army soldiers tore like paper in the hammer’s wake. The sound of snapping iron rings mixed with cracking bones as seventeen Blood Lotuses bloomed on the official road.

"Flesh Refining Realm?"

A shocked and uncertain voice came from the end of the mountain path.

The Daqian Captain, Wang Ben, approached on his horse, holding an Iron Lance. The Golden Silkworm Silk Ribbon wrapped around the web of his hand trembled softly.

His Cloud Stepping Snow Horse snorted puffs of white air, but it suddenly reared up twenty zhang away.

The steaming, crimson Blood Qi around Xu Yunfan was so intimidating that the warhorse, which had drunk the blood of wolves, dared not approach.

"Finally, someone who looks a little interesting."

Xu Yunfan hoisted the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer onto his shoulder and, with a single stomp, shattered the head of a still-struggling soldier at his feet.

These were depraved men who had openly slaughtered a village before encountering him, hoping to kill innocents and claim them as military achievements.

Tiny Blood Beads burst from the corners of Wang Ben’s eyes. He stared, his eyes seeming to split open with rage, at the field of shattered armor.

His brothers-in-arms were now wedged into the cracks of the road in twisted poses. A bloody half-piece of Chain Armor hung from the shaft of a broken Iron Lance.

A low growl, honed by the wind and sand of the northern frontier, rumbled in his throat. His five fingers crushed an iron ring on his saddle to dust.

A roar like muffled thunder erupted from Wang Ben’s chest as thirty-nine dark red lines crawled from the side of his neck to his temples.

This was the True Blood of the Wang Family, which could make one move like the wind. As the True Blood now burned, crushed stones within a three-zhang radius levitated into the air.

The Cloud Stepping Snow Horse beneath him cried out pitifully, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed. The sudden surge of Blood Qi had actually pressed its four hooves half a chi into the rock.

"You deserve to die!"

Wang Ben took a deep breath, his expression turning icy.

"For those like you who sow chaos with Martial Power, only the extermination of your three clans can quell my hatred."

The Profound Iron Bracers on his arms shattered as his muscles swelled. Strange patterns appeared on Wang Ben’s bare right arm, and the eighty-two jin Iron Lance in his hand felt as light as a reed.

Xu Yunfan grinned, his muscles coiling and uncoiling like pythons. Each one was like a steel cable, separated by deep grooves.

"You’re still not quite there. I’m rather curious how people like you, with your True Blood, actually developed it."

As his foot shattered a Bluestone Slab, the seven-foot Heavy Hammer transformed into a crimson meteor.

The instant Wang Ben raised his lance to block, he finally saw clearly the illusory Red Flood Dragon coiling around the hammer’s head. It was actually formed from Strength powering the Heavy Hammer’s Qi Force!

Wang Ben’s pupils contracted. How could he not understand now that the Heavy Hammer in his opponent’s hands was a Treasure Artifact?

’Isn’t this just bullying?!’

"Wait—"

The clang of metal on metal shook down pine needles like rain.

As the Iron Lance bent into the shape of a full moon, the python-like tendons in Wang Ben’s arms snapped.

The last thing he saw were the crimson patterns moving beneath Xu Yunfan’s bronze skin, as if a true Flood Dragon were churning within the muscles under his hide.

"The eighth one."

Xu Yunfan nonchalantly shook the iron filings from his hammer’s head, his muscles slowly relaxing. ’No one in the Flesh Refining Realm can last a single exchange with me. It’s making me wonder if I’m even in the Flesh Refining Realm myself.’

Three sinister gusts of wind suddenly attacked from behind. He didn’t dodge or evade, allowing the Poisoned Bone-Piercing Nails to strike his shoulder blades. The Longan Wood-handled Hidden Weapons exploded into dust on impact, and their Triangular Nail Heads scraped sparks against his bronze skin, not even leaving a white mark.

The astonishment of the three black-clad assassins froze in their throats.

The Gang Wind from the Heavy Hammer’s sweep caught their not-yet-fallen bodies and slammed them into the green brick wall of the signal tower, causing it to collapse.

From within the dust cloud, Xu Yunfan’s thunderous roar echoed: "If you want to take the head of this Su, at least send someone from the Blood Exchange Realm!"

The surviving soldiers trembled all over. Some could no longer hold their nerve and fled, screaming like ghosts and howling like wolves.

By the time dusk stained the pass red, the gate was already covered with three hundred mangled corpses in shattered armor.

Xu Yunfan stood at the Cangwu Ridge pass, his Thunderfire Qilin Hammer embedded in the green rock. He looked up at the now-empty battlements of the pass and couldn’t help but be struck speechless.

’This is an Extraordinary World, after all. A natural chokepoint defended by hundreds of men, broken by me and my hammer alone.’

He undid the Rhino Hide belt at his waist, revealing eight abdominal muscles that looked like they were cast from Profound Iron. Three Armor-Piercing Crossbow Arrows were lodged between the grooves of his muscles, their tips only half an inch from his internal organs.

’These three Armor-Piercing Crossbow Arrows are truly astonishing. They actually managed to pierce my Horizontal Training Body. The material of the arrowheads is extraordinary; if melted down, it could be forged into a Treasure Artifact.’

"Out!"

As his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength circulated, the muscles on his back rippled like a Furious Tide.

The three crossbow arrows shot back out, and the Bed Crossbow that had just been set up on the opposite side immediately exploded into wooden splinters.

Xu Yunfan grabbed his Heavy Hammer and leaped onto the battlements. His bronze body glowed with a metallic luster in the setting sun, like a Dharma Guardian Vajra stepping out of a temple.

Looking down, he saw that the elite Daqian troops had lost all will to fight. Xu Yunfan couldn’t be bothered to chase them down.

He simply continued forward. Thanks to the fleeing soldiers, his direction of travel was now known, and the Daqian Army in Qingzhou would soon be aware that a powerful Martial Artist was wreaking havoc behind their lines.

The true expert appeared at the Hour of Xu.

When a Mixed Copper Mace tore through the night sky, Xu Yunfan’s expression finally turned grave.

The newcomer wore black Fish Scale Armor. As he moved, the sound of a dragon’s roar seemed to follow him, and the blood in his body roiled like ocean waves—the mark of a Blood Exchange Realm at Minor Achievement!

The instant the Heavy Hammer and copper mace collided, the earth and stone within a three-zhang radius rolled back like a wave, and the sound of ringing metal echoed through the pass.

"Someone from Cangwu Mountain’s Profound Mountain Sect?"

Before him stood a middle-aged man holding a Heavy Mace. With the back of a tiger and waist of a bear, his body was like an iron pagoda.

The man was also extremely surprised, but his expression relaxed. "You’re not Su Zhenhe of the Profound Mountain Sect. This Hammer Technique is clearly from Divine Weapon Ridge."

"The Sect Leader of the Profound Mountain Sect, Shi Ze?"

"I am."

Shi Ze’s expression was calm, his gaze holding a hint of appreciation.

"To be able to take a blow from me while only in the Flesh Refining Realm, your talent is quite good. Of the three trainings—tendon, bone, and skin—you’ve likely reached Perfection in one of them."

A flicker of surprise showed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes.

"Everyone said the Incense and Candle Sect slaughtered everyone in Qingzhou back then. I didn’t expect to see anyone from Qingzhou still around."

A flash of sorrow crossed Shi Ze’s eyes, but it vanished in an instant, his expression returning to calm indifference.

"I also didn’t expect to find a successor of Divine Weapon Ridge wandering out here."

"You joined the Daqian Luo Net?"

"The Great Zhou of today... I wish I could devour their flesh and drink their blood. One day, I will go to Jade Capital City and drag that Female Witch from her throne."

"Then let’s see what Sect Leader Shi is made of first."

Xu Yunfan shook his slightly numb hand, but a fierce fighting spirit ignited in his eyes.

His answer was the Thirty-six Paths of Shattering Star Mace Technique, raining down like a storm.