Chapter 253 - 247: What Kind of Small Fry Dares to Touch Me?

Chapter 253: Chapter 247: What Kind of Small Fry Dares to Touch Me?

SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH—

The rain fell even harder.

The battle at the head of Vermilion Bird Street was nearing its end. The emaciated Smoker stood among countless strewn corpses, blood pooling into streams at his feet. A Fused Copper Iron Rod had completely pierced his chest, yet his face wore an expression of release.

The Instructor’s eyes sharpened. He flicked his long rod, flinging the Smoker away like a broken sack. Then, with a look of indifference, he strode toward the end of the street.

Tang Jing, gripping twin blades, followed behind him with the few remaining members of the Revolutionary Faction, his lips pressed into a thin line.

CLANG CLANG—

Beneath the tall, heavy Tongji Gate, a rickety old tram, covered in rust, swayed as it turned in from a side street.

As the tram approached the Dingqing Tea House, the cloaked giant standing in the middle of the street—one of the three from the Black Tower—suddenly struck. His massive palms slammed into the side of the tram’s rear car.

With a gut-wrenching SCREECH of twisting metal, the old tram’s rear instantly deformed. The vehicle derailed, tumbling several times on the waterlogged street before finally crashing onto its side with a BOOM.

The rickshaw puller stopped dead in his tracks, all the color draining from his face.

Before he could react, a figure landed as lightly as a hawk on top of the overturned tram.

The figure merely glanced down at him with indifference before turning their gaze further ahead.

A second figure, then a third... more figures slowly emerged from the rooftops and dark alleys on both sides of Vermilion Bird Street.

But now, their attention was no longer on the stationary rickshaw. Instead, it converged on a roiling, expanding mass of white mist beneath the memorial archway in the center of the street.

The roiling white mist seemed to be drawn in by some invisible force, rapidly contracting and coiling toward its center.

Amidst the downpour and the dense fog, no one could see clearly what was happening inside.

Suddenly, the clear ring of a blade, sharp enough to pierce the clouds and shatter stone, rang out, followed by—

BANG!

The entire mass of white mist suddenly exploded!

A figure shot backward out of the mist. The tip of the long saber in his hand scraped against the ground, kicking up a long, sharp, and dazzling trail of orange-red sparks!

Finally, the figure halted his retreat, bracing himself with his saber.

He slowly raised his head, revealing a handsome face that was both ferocious and tinged with shock.

"Xue Hen!"

Many of the onlookers looked startled, as if this was unexpected. Immediately after, from within the rapidly dissipating water vapor in the street’s center, they saw a tall, slender figure slowly emerge.

Fu Juemin no longer held an umbrella; he simply stood unprotected in the rain.

But none of the rain falling from the sky could touch his body.

Several feet from his hair and clothes, the raindrops would spontaneously disintegrate into fine puffs of mist.

His entire body emitted wisps of a nearly tangible, pale white vapor. This vapor mingled with his spotless white suit, and on the gray, rain-drenched street, he looked like someone who had unintentionally stepped into an old painting.

Countless gazes converged on Fu Juemin.

The approaching footsteps of the Instructor and Tang Jing slowed. On the third floor of the Dingqing Tea House, Wen Zhiqiu and Madam Ding stood up by the window...

The entire street seemed to fall silent for several seconds.

But soon, a sudden roar shattered the brief calm!

"Kill!"

Xue Hen, who was facing Fu Juemin, suddenly erupted. The Blue Tassel Long Saber in his hand unleashed a brilliant flash of light, like a bolt of white silk. A terrifying Saber Momentum tore through thirty yards of rain, slashing straight toward Fu Juemin!

"Mountain Opening and Water Dividing!"

The instant the saber’s light flared, Xue Hen was almost upon Fu Juemin.

His entire body released an indescribably terrifying Sword Qi. Amidst the countless exploding droplets of mist, his figure blurred until he was nearly one with the Blue Tassel Long Saber in his hand, indistinguishable from the blade itself!

’Inner Sensing, Man and Sword as One?!’

A flicker of light crossed Fu Juemin’s eyes.

He lightly raised his right hand, and the endless vapor swirling around him instantly converged into his palm like a thousand rivers returning to the sea.

The surrounding rain and mist were inexplicably drawn toward him. A low roar, like a Dragon’s cry and an Elephant’s trumpet, sounded out. At this moment, with the water gathering out of thin air, Fu Juemin’s palm strike displayed a terrifying Momentum, like a truly raging tidal wave.

The Six Great Seal Techniques of Dragon and Elephant—the Sea Covering Seal!

The Six Great Seal Techniques of Dragon and Elephant had long since been enhanced to a minor level of mastery. During his battle with the water monkey, he had an epiphany amidst the awesome power of a flash flood and grasped the Sumeru Seal.

Now, as he used the Sea Covering Seal again, its spiritual essence and his subtle control over its finer points had ascended several levels. Its power was on a completely different scale!

BOOM!

The Palm Momentum collided with the saber’s light. They were locked in a stalemate for a moment, but soon the elegant, condensed flash of the saber shattered as if it had struck an unseen reef.

Xue Hen’s body froze, but he immediately followed up with a slash at Fu Juemin’s throat.

Without even looking, Fu Juemin’s palm strike, carried by its remaining momentum, struck first despite being launched second, landing lightly on Xue Hen’s chest.

BANG!—

Xue Hen let out a muffled grunt and was sent flying backward.

Fu Juemin, however, frowned slightly.

He looked at his right hand, which still had wisps of white vapor floating around it, and fell into thought.

’Without the boost from the Black Flower, it seems my current Martial Arts and strength aren’t quite enough to kill an expert at the Middle Stage of Gratitude in a single blow. I can break his technique, but the remaining Force isn’t enough to penetrate the defense of an Inner Sensing master. I can only suppress them, not kill them. However, compared to before, this is still a huge improvement.’

Just as he was thinking this, he felt a faint stinging sensation between his eyebrows.

Fu Juemin’s eyelids twitched upward. A jet-black Big Gun suddenly tore through the heavy curtains of rain, aiming straight for his face!

Fu Juemin’s expression didn’t change. He casually reached out with his bare hand to grab the spear’s glint, which shone like a cold star.

CLANG!

His palm met the spear tip. With the clear ring of metal on metal, a shockwave of air erupted!

Before Fu Juemin could catch the spear tip, a Black Gold Iron Fan chopped down from the side, striking the right side of his neck with the force of a thunderbolt!

Then came a fist! A leg! A palm! A finger!

Six figures suddenly shot out from the curtain of rain.

Five men and one woman, all acting with perfect coordination, struck in the brief opening after Fu Juemin had sent Xue Hen flying, a moment when his old strength was spent and new strength had yet to be generated.

Six types of Martial Arts! Six killing blows! All of them landed mercilessly on the vital points of Fu Juemin’s body!

In the downpour, Fu Juemin was pinned by the six figures, some armed and some bare-handed, each in a different stance.

Among the six, a black-faced man with a short beard framing his chin and thick, sharp eyebrows spoke in a savage voice. His chilling words pierced the rain and echoed clearly down the long street.

"To have such strength at such a young age!

You have such monstrously high Talent, yet you insist on walking the evil path!

Given time, you’ll surely become a great devil who brings disaster to the Martial Arts world!"

"Today, we, the Seven Heroes of Jiangzuo, will first kill you, you little devil, and then we’ll kill that old devil Ji Shaotong!"

With that, the six people pressed against Fu Juemin unleashed their power simultaneously!

BOOM!

Six torrents of Vitality erupted at once! The explosive Momentum instantly blasted away the white vapor endlessly circling Fu Juemin and vaporized the curtain of rain in a radius of over ten meters!

Not far away, the approaching Instructor and Tang Jing stopped dead in their tracks. On the third floor of the Dingqing Tea House, Madam Ding’s hand shot out to grip the rain-soaked windowsill, her knuckles turning white!

Everyone watched the battle with cold detachment.

However, once the explosive mist settled slightly, the scene at the center of the battle was revealed once more.

And every onlooker’s gaze suddenly froze.

The expected scene of carnage did not appear.

The six members of the Seven Heroes of Jiangzuo were still in their combined attack formation, pressed tightly against Fu Juemin.

However, the ferocious, cold, and murderous intent on their faces was now being rapidly replaced by a single emotion—

Astonishment.

And then... incredulous horror.

"N-No... Impossible..."

The black-faced man who had spoken earlier, his pupils shrinking, asked in a dry, trembling voice, "How is this possible?!"

In his line of sight, all of their Attacks—the spear tip, the fan’s edge, the striking surface of the fist, the edge of the palm—everything that touched the young man in the white suit was firmly blocked by a layer of dark light, as thick and tangible as a solid object, flowing slowly around him!

No matter how they channeled their Force, they couldn’t penetrate it by even a fraction of an inch.

At the same time, a sinister, bone-chilling, and almost suffocating aura began to emanate slowly from him.

"Three at Outer Sensing, three at Half-step Gratitude Gratitude..."

Fu Juemin murmured, then lifted his head.

Illuminated by the dark Vitality, which was empowered by the Five Evils Reincarnation Black Flower, his handsome, somewhat gloomy face now wore a cold smile filled with undisguised mockery.

"Really..."

"All sorts of small fry dare to swarm me... and actually lay a hand on me!"

As he spoke, Fu Juemin forcefully spread his arms, as if pushing out an invisible, rapidly expanding ball of dark, turbid energy!

"A Hundred Birds... Pay Homage to the Phoenix!"

The ball of energy exploded. Countless streams of thick, twisted black energy, like millions of writhing, venomous snakes, shot out madly from the center.

In an instant, they completely engulfed the six figures!

In that moment, the shriek of the energy streams even drowned out the roar of the downpour.

...

Don’t worry, everyone. I want to take my time writing this "siege" plotline and try to make it as exciting as possible.

There will be extra Chapters tonight. I’ll write in one go until I physically can’t anymore. Of course, I can’t guarantee the update time, so I hope you all understand. Thank you. orz