Chapter 12 (1/2)

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

Xu Yi had reached the peak of Body Forging and had skin as tough as hide and bones as hard as steel. Even with a blade, an ordinary person would not be able to penetrate his skin, but the wind from Zhou Shirong’s palm penetrated like an iron needle through bone.

He did not even dare to imagine what would happen if the strike had landed. Would his body actually explode from impact?

Just the wind from the strike was terrifying, and Xu Yi dared not face it head on. Like an agile snake, he slithered under the horse’s belly. As he did so, the sound of a fist breaking through the air exploded next to his ear.

Xu Yi’s heart almost leapt out of his mouth. He had never thought that a human fist could be capable of such power. By now, he knew in his heart that Zhou Shirong was not someone he could handle. He was truly too naïve when he thought he could kill the old thief’s son.

Although Xu Yi was stunned by Zhou Shirong’s power, Zhou Shirong, on the other hand, was also shocked by Xu Yi’s resilience.

With Zhou Shirong’s abilities, he easily identified Xu Yi’s current stage of cultivation. In the entire Lingxiao Hall, there was not a single person within the Body Forging stage and below who could avoid the kind of punch that he’d thrown. For Xu Yi to dodge it so easily shocked him greatly.

But Xu Yi was in no mood to figure out what Zhou Shirong was thinking. For him, this was a life and death situation. The cogs in his mind turned furiously, and he suddenly had an idea. He reached out and viciously pinched the horse’s belly. The white horse felt pain and immediately dashed meters ahead in a blink of an eye, dragging him along.

Xu Yi flipped back onto the horse, grabbed the reins, and steered the horse north. With his legs, he urged the horse to go faster, and the white horse increased its speed. In no time at all, they were over a dozen meters away from Zhou Shirong, who was still dazed from shock.

The wind howled as the sun began to set. Xu Yi rushed the horse with a whip and fled with all his might. Although he had never learnt any horse-riding skills, he had cultivated to the peak of Body forging. With his knowledge of body structure, flows of energy, and how to exert and redirect force, he rode the horse like a natural.

He sat on the horse, riding the wind, swaying naturally, and moving along with the horse.

What was more exceptional, however, was the white stallion under his legs. It performed better than any regular horse. With its hooves stretched out wide, every step it took was easily twice the distance a normal horse could move.

As Xu Yi was enjoying the sensation of riding a horse, the trees rustled behind him. He looked back, only for his eyes to almost pop out of his sockets in shock.

Zhou Shirong was flying through the air, stepping only on the tops of the large trees by the road. He had propelled his way forward as though he were flying. Within a few breaths, he quickly closed the 12 meter gap between them.

There were only a few meters left between them. Zhou Shirong leapt off the tree. With continuous strikes from both palms, a swirling air current was created out of nowhere. Xu Yi felt as though a tornado had been created in mid-air, threatening to suck him up into the sky.

Xu Yi had never seen such a skill before, which scared him out of his wits, but desperate to cling to life, he kicked hard at his stirrups. The strong force broke the stirrups, and the momentum carried downwards, sending him down to one side of the horse, almost causing him to fall off.

Using the downward momentum, Xu Yi’s body slanted to the side, and once more, he hid underneath the horse to avoid the blow.

The terrifying force suddenly vanished. Thankfully, the horse was as tall as a mountain. No matter what kind of wind blew, it would definitely not be able to blow past it to reach Xu Yi.

Although he was hiding underneath the horse, Xu Yi was still in great fear, as the abilities that Zhou Shirong had just displayed were beyond his understanding.

From what he knew, no matter how strong the force of a punch was, it still had to hit an object in order for its power to take effect. He had never heard of anyone using just the wind of a punch to kill someone.

But the attack that Zhou Shirong just performed was clearly a ranged attack. From a distance of three meters, an air current was created, and this air current was definitely not the kind of wind that was created from extremely high speed of a thrown fist. It was clearly the pure force of a palm.

And the force of that palm was greater than anything Xu Yi could imagine, even at the peak of Body Forging.

With that, Xu Yi could completely confirm that Zhou Shirong was definitely not still within the Body Forging stage. As he feared, he was already at the Qi Ocean stage, the same stage as his already deceased master, Liaochen.

As Xu Yi was truly fearing Zhou Shirong’s Martial Way cultivation, Zhou Shirong kicked off the ground again and caught up a dozen meters. With a gentle leap, he landed, standing on top of the horse’s back.