Night had fallen and midnight had arrived.
Qifeng Tower was an abandoned tavern in the west of the city. From the outside, only the dilapidated eaves and mottled wooden walls remained. However, Xiao Wuchen knew that a monster with concealed killing intent lurked within.
Instead of entering through the main entrance, he scaled the second floor like a monkey, sliding along the building walls and disappearing into the shadows.
A faint smell of blood and stale wine wafted through the air. His senses pushed to their limits by the system, Xiao Wuchen could clearly hear heavy breathing coming from a room at the end of the corridor.
'It's there.'
He took a deep breath and silently recited the incantation for the system's movement technique. With a light tap of his feet, he moved like a leaf caught in the wind, silently drifting towards the target room.
[Flying Swallow Acupoint Strike (Optimised): Activated.]
Almost instantly upon touching the door, it creaked softly open. A collective gasp filled the room, followed by a furious roar.
'Who!?'
Boom!
A thick, pillar-like iron arm, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, pierced through the wooden door and headed straight for Xiao Wuchen's hiding place! This was the hard-hitting signature technique of "Iron Arm" Fang Xiong, leaving no time for the enemy to react.
In the instant before the iron arm struck, Xiao Wuchen's body folded backwards so quickly that his afterimage remained in place. With a bang, the wooden door, along with the spot where he had just stood, was blasted open by Fang Xiong's punch, sending splinters of wood flying.
'Such a fast reaction!' Fang Xiong's voice came from inside the room, carrying a hint of surprise and suppressed killing intent.
Xiao Wuchen didn't waste any words. He knew he had to seize the initiative and not give Fang Xiong time to put on armour or fully deploy his defences.
He entered the hole from the side at an incredible angle, his short knife tracing an arc that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye. His target wasn't Fang Xiong's torso, but the tiny opening where the tendons met in his shoulder following a full-force punch!
Fang Xiong was in the process of unleashing his external power, with his blood and qi surging and his external defences at their strongest. However, Xiao Wuchen's blade tip was precisely aimed at the 'weak point of power generation' pointed out by the system.
"Clang!"
The short sword struck Fang Xiong's shoulder with a metallic clang.
Xiao Wuchen's pupils contracted. He had pushed his speed and power to the limit, but Fang Xiong's physical strength was even more formidable than the system had predicted. The blade tip merely pierced a layer of Fang Xiong's flesh before being repelled by the instantaneous tension in his muscles.
Fang Xiong roared, momentarily stunned, but immediately countered with a "Mountain-Splitting Palm", channelling his inner force — the palm wind whistling!
Ignoring the pain, Xiao Wuchen unleashed the full essence of the Flying Swallow Acupoint Strike technique — extreme speed solely for evasion, not for a fight to the death!
Like a startled swallow, he narrowly avoided Fang Xiong's palm strike. The palm struck the wall with a deafening boom, sending dust billowing and leaving a deep, hand-shaped crater.
'You eunuch, you're courting death!' Fang Xiong roared in fury, his arms gleaming even brighter. Seeing that Xiao Wuchen was dressed as a lowly eunuch, Fang Xiong knew that the man had been sent from the palace, and his expression became even more vicious.
Using the dust as cover, Xiao Wuchen sped up again and flew over Fang Xiong's head! This time, he aimed his short sword at Fang Xiong's elbow joint.
Fang Xiong instinctively sensed the powerful wind above him. Without looking up, he swiftly crossed his arms to block, his hard-style internal energy protecting his body like two iron shields.
'Clang!' Clang!"
Two incredibly fast blows from Xiao Wuchen's blade left only two shallow bloodstains on Fang Xiong's arm. However, the location of the blows temporarily disrupted the fluidity of Fang Xiong's arm, preventing him from using all his strength.
'You little brat! You're specifically targeting my joints!' Fang Xiong finally realised that something was wrong. This eunuch was far weaker than him, but his speed and the angle of his attacks were cunning and vicious beyond anything he had ever encountered.
Ignoring the scroll, he spread his arms wide, the air in the room churning wildly with the force of his movements.
'Iron Arm Sweep!'
Fang Xiong whirled around, his arms sweeping out in a crescent shape and sealing off all avenues of manoeuvre in the room. This move, which used brute force to overcome skill, forced Xiao Wuchen to take the hit head-on.
[Ding!] [Please use your maximum speed to find the only opening!]
The system warning sounded instantly. As Fang Xiong swept his sword, there was a fleeting lapse in his balance, created by the need to control his power as he used his hard skills to their maximum!
Xiao Wuchen's eyes narrowed and his footsteps were like someone stepping on deathly notes as his speed surged once more. He no longer dodged, but instead lunged downwards into the blind spot of the iron arm's sweep.
He slid along the ground, his body almost disappearing into the dust, successfully avoiding the fatal sweep. His short sword emerged like a venomous snake from its hole, aiming directly at the Weizhong acupoint behind Fang Xiong's knee — a crucial acupoint that is extremely difficult to master in external hard skills and which is also the weakest point for blood and qi circulation.
'Thud!'
This time, the short sword made not a metallic clang but a dull thud as it pierced flesh.
No matter how strong Fang Xiong's hard skills were, he could not cover every part of his body with internal energy. The Weizhong acupoint had been severely injured, and the intense pain that spread throughout his body was instant. His sweeping movement stopped abruptly, his right leg buckled and his tall frame lost its balance.
'You—' Fang Xiong's eyes widened in horror. He couldn't believe that a mere servant had injured his very foundation.
Xiao Wuchen immediately retreated after attacking, not seeking further glory. He knew the injury was severe, but not fatal.
While Fang Xiong knelt on one knee, writhing in agony, Xiao Wuchen unleashed his speed again and rushed towards the bed where Fang Xiong had just been lying like a ghost.
The scroll wasn't on Fang Xiong — it must be hidden under his pillow!
He yanked back the covers, revealing a tightly wrapped scroll in oiled paper beneath the pillow.
'Don't even think about it!' Fang Xiong roared, enduring the pain as he whipped his left arm towards Xiao Wuchen's back.
Xiao Wuchen gripped the scroll with one hand and glanced back at Fang Xiong's terrifying iron fist. A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.
Success!
He suddenly pushed off the wall, carrying the scroll, and vanished into the night like an arrow from the hole that Fang Xiong had just blasted.