In the next instant, Jiang Bohong’s figure suddenly blurred!

He left only an afterimage behind as his entire body turned into a streak of gray smoke.

His right hand, gaunt as a bird’s talon, spread its five fingers. The palm, black as ink, rushed forward with an evil wind—it was his trump card, the Withered Bone Rotting Heart Palm!

Before the palm arrived, a gust of bone-chilling, sinister wind had already enveloped Chen Qing’s major acupoints.

Chen Qing’s pupils shrank as the True Qi in his body surged violently.

He instinctively executed his Wave Treading Step Technique, his body like a resilient willow in the wind as he slid sharply half a step to the right.

At the same time, his Cloud-Coiling Spear transformed into a cyan shadow, like a furious dragon bursting from the sea. With a whine that tore through the air, he forsook defense for attack. The tip of the spear, condensing a point of pure Cyan Wood True Qi, erupted with a cold glint and stabbed straight for the pulse point on Jiang Bohong’s approaching wrist.

"CLANG—!"

The spear tip struck Jiang Bohong’s claw-like palm strike with pinpoint accuracy.

The impact produced a deafening sound, like the tolling of a great bell. A massive force surged down the spear shaft, but Chen Qing activated his Eight Extremes Vajra Body, and his feet, like Pan Stone, did not move an inch.

Jiang Bohong’s figure also swayed slightly, a trace of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

’This kid’s True Qi is so powerful and pure,’ he thought, ’far beyond that of an ordinary Mid-stage Embracing Pill Power cultivator!’

But a cold smirk immediately appeared on his lips. That last palm strike had been nothing but a feint.

Jiang Bohong’s coiled left palm struck out like a viper from its den—silent, yet as fast as lightning. Its five blackened fingers slammed viciously toward the unguarded left side of Chen Qing’s chest, right over his heart.

This palm strike condensed the immense True Qi from his ten Main Meridians and was the culmination of his life’s work in poison skills—sinister and vicious to the extreme.

"THUD!"

A muffled impact sounded, like a heavy hammer striking tough leather.

The triumphant smile on Jiang Bohong’s face instantly froze, then morphed into one of utter, incredulous horror.

He felt as if his palm hadn’t struck flesh and blood, but a city wall cast from Cold Iron.

An incomparably powerful rebounding force shot up his arm from his palm, making his finger bones ache and his Qi and blood stagnate.

What made his heart pound even more frantically was that his Withered Bone Rotting Heart Palm—a technique that could destroy anything and even corrode holes in Fine Steel—had vanished as if into thin air. An impossibly resilient force beneath his opponent’s clothes had blocked it completely, preventing even a trace from penetrating.

"Treasure Armor?! Top-Grade Treasure Armor?!"

Jiang Bohong cried out involuntarily, his voice cracking.

He stared intently at the dent in Chen Qing’s robes, where a piece of Inner Armor was faintly visible through the torn fabric.

Top-Grade Treasure Armor! A priceless defensive treasure like that was enough to tempt even an Astral Force master!

’This kid is just a Dean from the Wutai Sect,’ he fumed. ’By what right does he possess something like this?!’

"Kid! Just how many secrets are you hiding?!"

A sharp glint appeared in Jiang Bohong’s eyes, greed and killing intent crazily intertwined.

The more astonishing Chen Qing’s hidden strengths proved to be, the more determined he was not to let him leave alive.

’If I don’t eliminate this boy today, he will become a grave danger in the future!’

In a flash, Jiang Bohong reached into his robes and pulled out a Small Jade Bottle, crimson as blood. Without a second glance, he flicked off the stopper with his thumb and swallowed the single Elixir inside.

"Hm?!"

Alarm bells screamed in Chen Qing’s mind.

As the Elixir entered his stomach, Jiang Bohong let out a low roar.

The skin all over his body instantly turned blood-red, and his veins bulged and writhed beneath the surface.

An aura of True Qi, several times more tyrannical than before, erupted from him.

The shockwave of Qi blasted a shallow crater into the mud beneath his feet and instantly pushed back the surrounding Poisonous Miasma by several feet.

"Now, die!"

Jiang Bohong’s eyes were bloodshot. His speed exploded, turning him into a crimson blur as he thrust both palms forward. The wind from his palms howled, stirring up a thick, stinking black fog.

Layers upon layers of palm shadows, like Ghost Claws from the Nine Netherworld Hell, descended overwhelmingly, targeting all of Chen Qing’s vital points.

Each palm strike contained enough force to shatter stone and a soul-melting, bone-eroding poison.

The compressed air crackled, as if on the verge of collapsing.

Facing this explosive increase in power, Chen Qing held back his True Qi no longer.

"HUMMM—!"

His Cyan Wood Eternal Spring Technique was the first to spin to its absolute limit.

Immense and pure Cyan Wood True Qi flooded his limbs and meridians in an instant, like a raging river.

As the Cyan Wood True Qi circulated, the other four streams of True Qi grew much calmer, forming a layer of Protective True Qi on his skin’s surface that blocked the drifting poison mist.

Chen Qing pushed his Wave Treading Step Technique to its limit. His figure dodged and weaved within a tiny space, like a small boat on a stormy sea, avoiding the fatal palm strikes by a hair’s breadth each time.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! HISS HISS HISS—!"

The Cloud-Coiling Spear transformed into an impenetrable screen of cyan-gold light.

The spear’s shadows crisscrossed, as steady and heavy as a mountain, clashing directly with Jiang Bohong’s frenzied Palm Power. The deafening clang of metal on metal rang out, sending sparks flying everywhere.

The longer Jiang Bohong fought, the more terrified he became.

He had taken a Violent Qi Pill, and his strength was now infinitely close to the Perfection of the Late-stage Embracing Pill realm. The ferocity of his Palm Power and his speed were enough to crush any peer at his level.

And yet, this kid from the Wutai Sect was actually able to contend with him for so long.

That spear of his was as heavy as a mountain, yet also nimble and cunning.

In the next moment, Chen Qing’s Cloud-Coiling Spear struck from an exceptionally clever angle, piercing straight through the poisonous fog.

BOOM!

The long spear swept out with a thunderous crack.

"He... It seems he has more than one type of True Qi in his body. Just what kind of monster is this kid!?"

Jiang Bohong was both shocked and enraged, a powerful sense of unease rising in his heart.

’How is this possible!?’

’To cultivate two types of True Qi at the same time... what kind of genius is he?’

’If someone like that appeared, word would have spread throughout the entire Yunlin Prefecture long ago. It’s impossible for him to have remained unknown until now.’