Chapter 653 – Fist to Flesh

Sun Zhen’s gaze grew increasingly heated. His purple robes billowed without wind, snapping in the air.

Li Guanqi shrugged. “In that case, I’ll play along.”

He kept his true cultivation hidden, keeping his aura at the peak of the mid Illusory Refinement Realm, equal to his opponent.

Li Guanqi studied Sun Zhen with a strange expression. He rarely encountered people his own age at the same cultivation realm. Even Ye Feng and Cao Yan had only reached their current level through the Daxia Sword Sect’s backing, extraordinary talent, and inhuman perseverance. Yet Sun Zhen’s cultivation surpassed theirs, built on an unhurried and solid foundation.

A pair of crimson-gold gloves appeared on Sun Zhen’s hands. He wasn’t fighting at full force yet.

Li Guanqi’s eyes gleamed. He flicked his wrist. His blood surged, and a faint dragon’s roar echoed through the air.

Sun Zhen was startled. Li Guanqi vanished from his sight.

Boom!

A deafening impact echoed. The ground beneath Li Guanqi collapsed several zhang, the entire pavilion shaking as though it would crumble. The onlookers flew into the air in a panic, and the pavilion collapsed behind them.

Wei Qian clutched his shoulder, staring down at the ruins with pain in his eyes. But this was a battle between two powerful cultivators, so he dared not speak up.

Qian Qiusui kept her distance, wary of Wei Qian.

Boom!

Li Guanqi and Sun Zhen clash violently, fists raining down like a storm. They exchanged hundreds of blows in the blink of an eye.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Their fists collided in a blur, every part of their bodies becoming weapons.

Sun Zhen straightened his fingers into a blade and thrust at Li Guanqi’s eyes, a technique called the Cloud-Seeking Hands. Li Guanqi stepped back three cun to dodge, then countered with a heavy punch to Sun Zhen’s collarbone.

Crack!

The bone shattered. Light flashed beneath Sun Zhen’s feet as he retreated a zhang. He cursed under his breath, “Damn. He’s blind.”

In past battles, Cloud-Seeking Hands forced opponents to flinch, closing their eyes instinctively. Even if the strike missed, the opening was enough to gain the upper hand. But Li Guanqi was blind, so the trick backfired entirely.

Sun Zhen pushed his collarbone back into place with a sharp motion.

Li Guanqi shot forward like a dragon, fists aimed at his face. There was no time to think. Sun Zhen advanced instead of retreating, blood surging through him until his muscles bulged. He shifted his stance, stepped forward with his right foot, clenched his fist, and drove his elbow forward.

He slammed into Li Guanqi’s fists, leaving burning scratches across his arms.

Li Guanqi’s fists were blasted backward. He drove his right knee up beneath Sun Zhen’s elbow, the force so great that the surrounding space collapsed. Sun Zhen was sent flying by the knee strike.

The exchange left the onlookers horrified. Every punch landed like a phantom, and the sheer fluidity of their movements stunned them.

Li Guanqi remained standing. His knee had nearly shattered from the impact, cracks spreading across his kneecap. That elbow strike had been fast and brutal, aimed straight at his heart. If it had landed, his heart would have exploded.

Yet Sun Zhen had redirected his force downward the instant Li Guanqi struck with his knee. The man’s adaptability was terrifying.

Li Guanqi’s expression grew solemn. The pressure was immense.

Both fighters precisely controlled their power, concentrating every strike within a cun of its target. To outsiders, the battle might have looked like a brawl between mortal warriors, but the two of them knew how perilous those brief exchanges had been.

Swoosh!

After a short pause, they charged at each other again.

Li Guanqi’s fists were fierce and open, while Sun Zhen’s were structured yet flexible, his swift footwork keeping him evenly matched.

Fifteen minutes later, their robes hung in tatters. Sun Zhen’s face was bloodied, his nose broken. Li Guanqi’s cheeks bore cuts from the fist winds, his body covered with bruises.

Sun Zhen’s chest heaved. He bit his finger and dragged blood across his left arm. His skin hardened as the bloody mark twisted.

“Li Wuji! Enough playing. Show me your true strength! Ancient Method, Mountain Diagram!”

Buzz!

The weight of a mountain pressed down on all space within a thousand zhang. The oppressive force made all the elders retreat, struggling to breathe.

Li Guanqi stood unmoving. “Sword Spirit, should I learn a fist technique too? The feeling of striking flesh is quite satisfying...”

A flash of spirit light struck his mind. A fist technique materialized in his mind.

Shattered Skies.

But Sun Zhen was already charging at him. Li Guanqi said,

“Even if you give it to me now, I don’t have time to study it!”

Despite his complaint, he was already studying the technique’s first move. Its essence lay in three punches: beginning with the power of a thousand waves, merging with the weight of ten thousand mountains, and ending with thunderous might capable of shattering the skies themselves.

The heart must be as clear as a mirror, merging inner and outer selves. The cultivator shatters the heavens with the might of his fist alone.

Li Guanqi’s eyes lit up.

Flowing clouds become shadows. Shattered Skies breaks the void.

Inner mystery gathers, outer force strikes.

Heart like still water, intent like drifting snow.

Move like thunder, qi piercing the sky.

Waves surge, fists rise like tides.

The weight of mountains descends, a force like the collapse of the heavens.

With a flash of lightning, fists split the skies.

Before he could fully grasp the technique, Sun Zhen charged forward. His fist struck out, strengthened by a physique-tempering technique.

Li Guanqi closed his eyes, tilting his head to dodge. The sonic boom blew his hair loose, the wind slicing his ear.

Sun Zhen stomped on the void and swept his leg low. Li Guanqi lifted his foot to evade the sweep, using the momentum to counter with a kick to Sun Zhen’s chest. But Sun Zhen was prepared. His arms locked around Li Guanqi’s left leg, and though his sweeping kick had missed its initial target, he redirected the momentum toward Li Guanqi’s right ankle.

Li Guanqi snorted, spun upside down in midair, and pressed his left hand against the void. His right leg whipped out.

He pushed the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra to its fifth tier. His kick fell like a giant axe splitting the heavens.

Boom! Crash!

His foot connected with Sun Zhen’s neck, sending him flying. Sun Zhen blurred through the air and crashed into the ground with a thunderous boom.

Did he really think his physique-tempering technique could compare to mine?

Li Guanqi shook his head, the Dragon-Elephant Subduing Sutra surging to its limit. The surrounding space trembled and shattered, unable to withstand his aura.

Having grasped the first punch of Shattered Skies, Li Guanqi clenched his fist and looked down at Sun Zhen in the crater. He crooked a finger. “Come. Let’s continue.”