"Damn your sister's calamity!"

Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, his punch making the old man spit blood too, but his own injuries were even more serious.

However, even though Ye Chen's combat strength had soared, exploding tenfold, he was merely on par with this peak grandmaster. With little time left, he could only win by surprise, risking his life to fight!

"We are all martial artists, what's the point of fighting so savagely?" the diminutive grandmaster scolded angrily. He struck Ye Chen's chest with a palm, forcing him back several steps, but the grandmaster himself also had his face pummeled to a pulp by Ye Chen.

"Complaining so much about fighting and killing?" Ye Chen seemed like street gangsters brawling, devoid of any technique, simply exchanging injury for injury, life for life. "I'm ready to throw away my life right now. You want me dead? I'll drag you down with me!"

"Aren't you a grandmaster? Shouldn't you maintain some dignity, even in a duel?" the small grandmaster was getting frantic. "Show me your fists, let me see whether it's the Southern Sect or the Northern Sect!"

"One punch to bloom your face bright red with splendor!" Ye Chen, struck on the shoulder, bore the bone-piercing pain and landed a punch on the old man's face. "What I practice is freestyle fighting. Who cares about the Southern Sect, Northern Sect, as long as I can turn you into a pig-headed mess, that's a good punch for me!"

"..."

The diminutive grandmaster, infuriated beyond measure, unleashed a series of continuous palm strikes on Ye Chen. The latter coughed up blood non-stop but withstood it all and countered with a slap to the grandmaster's face.

"You're driving me insane!" The small old man wiped the blood from his face and roared at Ye Chen. "Can't you stop hitting the face!"

"No way!" Ye Chen rejected flatly.

"..."

The two peak grandmasters fought hand-to-hand, resembling two hooligans brawling in the streets.

In truth, this flesh-and-blood combat was extremely dangerous. Their every move carried the force of thousands of pounds. If it weren't for their bodies being virtually indestructible, having been developed to an inexhaustible treasure, they would have already torn each other's flesh apart and ripped off limbs.

Ye Chen fought with a boiling passion, shining with excitement, for the face he now smacked was that of a peak grandmaster!

In this era, with the Land Gods dormant, the peak grandmasters were undoubtedly the strongest beings, truly giants of the martial world!

"Slap!"

"You old thief, you almost flattened me to death; I'll beat you to death!"

"Slap!"

"Damn it, you smack down with a palm, and I don't dodge or avoid. I hit your face, why do you shrink your neck in response!"

"Slap!"

"Not only are you short, but you also play dirty. Can't you fight properly? Stretch your face out..."

The diminutive grandmaster's face turned purplish red, coughing up blood. In actuality, his injuries weren't serious, but Ye Chen's words were so deadly, they sent the grandmaster into a heart-choked frenzy, unable to stop the gushing blood.

"Is he handsome?" Chu Yanran, standing next to Fang Ruolan, suddenly asked nonchalantly.

Fang Ruolan looked at Empress Chu oddly but did not speak; she did not want to evaluate Ye Chen.

"He's getting pummeled and coughing up blood, appearing as if he could fall at any moment, but he will never fail!" Chu Yanran declared.

"You seem to have a lot of confidence in him," Fang Ruolan scoffed coldly. "He's used an over-stimulating secret technique to boost his fighting strength limitlessly, but he's still only on par with this peak grandmaster. To think of finishing him is pure fantasy!"

"I know nothing of martial arts, but even I can tell that elder is indeed formidable!" Chu Yanran nodded. "However, haven't you noticed that he has a certain spirit about him?"

"Tenacity, resilience, domineering, unbending... I alone am the world, a haughty sovereign!" Chu Yanran murmured gently, as she watched Ye Chen, who fought like a street thug, as if she were seeing a god descending to earth.

"You like him, so naturally you speak well of him!" Fang Ruolan said icily. She knew this woman fancied him.

"I'm telling the truth. There's an indefinable grace to him that draws people in unwittingly!" Chu Yanran insisted. "Isn't it so?"

"..."

Fang Ruolan felt an unexpected stir in her heart. For some reason, Chu Yanran's words tempted her to agree.

"A while back, did the Xue Family seek you out to curse those two women with Gu?" Chu Yanran asked, seemingly out of the blue, but knowing Fang Ruolan would understand.

Fang Ruolan understood what Chu Yanran meant, yet she remained silent.

Saint Fang felt uneasy with the sensation she was experiencing because Chu Yanran was just an ordinary person, devoid of any foundation in martial arts, yet emanated an aura of a martial arts master—a demeanor that loomed high above, looking down on all life.

"Is that so even today?" Chu Yanran pressed.

The Xue Family had indeed approached Fang Ruolan to cast Gu on Tong Xingtong and Ye Wushuang, nearly costing the lives of the two women. This crossed Chu Yanran's bottom line, so she triggered economic turmoil, wiping a portion of the Xue Family's assets clean, resulting in heavy losses—an act of pure retaliation.

What Chu Yanran hadn't expected was the audacity of the Xue Family, even daring to send a master to assassinate her!

"You're wrong about one thing!" Fang Ruolan said. "Today, everyone here is because of this man, and it has nothing to do with you. You just got caught up in it all!"

"I see," Chu Yanran nodded.

"This guy is extraordinary, to have provoked a siege by Grandmasters!" Fang Ruolan said, her gaze toward Ye Chen carrying a hint of complexity. Ye Chen was indeed a peerless talent, yet he aspired to suppress and refine her Gu, inevitably dooming their relationship to a bitter end!

"This peak Grandmaster, he's also been brought in by the Xue Family, right?" Chu Yanran asked, seemingly in search of confirmation.

"Correct!" Fang Ruolan replied. Chu Yanran gave her an unusual impression, so she didn't mind conversing more with this woman.

"Excellent!" A trace of cold light flitted across Chu Yanran's eyes. Even if the Xue Family hadn't targeted her this time, their offense against Ye Chen was as good as encroaching on her territory.

"Fang, if you join forces with me to kill this short old man, I will return the Gu King to you!" Ye Chen roared. Even with his life-risking fighting style, he couldn't pose a fatal threat to the diminutive Grandmaster; their gap in realms was simply too vast.

Moreover, the boost from the Secret Technique he had deployed was running out fast. Should the diminutive Grandmaster survive the time limit, Ye Chen would perish.

At this moment, Ye Chen's only chance lay in allying with Fang Ruolan, leveraging the power of her Indestructible Vajra Gu to annihilate the peak Grandmaster.

"In your dreams!" Fang Ruolan snapped coldly. "You suppressed my Gu King, and now you expect me not to attack you, but to help you kill a powerful enemy? That is nothing but wishful thinking!"

"I'll ask one more time, will you help me or not!" Ye Chen roared, caught off guard by the old man's palm strike to his chest, violently coughing up blood, his condition dire.

"I'll just sit here and wait for you to die, then collect your corpse," Fang Ruolan responded coldly.

"Ha-ha, this woman, her life Gu King under your control, would rather you die—how could she help you!"

The diminutive Grandmaster continued to unleash his power, driving Ye Chen into retreat step by step.

Ye Chen's skin felt like it was about to split; his whole body seemed to be falling apart, and the taste of blood in his mouth stirred up his ferocity. He became more ruthless, his hand morphing into an eagle's claw, tearing the short Grandmaster's face, leaving it bloodied.

"Can't you avoid hitting the face?" the diminutive Grandmaster wailed.

"No!" said Ye Chen.

"Even if you hit my face, it's not fatal. Why can't you strike a vital spot or something?" the diminutive Grandmaster said.

Ye Chen's injuries were definitely ten times more severe than his. For no other reason than that each of the Grandmaster's strikes targeted Ye Chen's vital spots, looking to swiftly kill him, while Ye Chen was monotonously relentless, bombarding the Grandmaster's face without ceasing.

"Can't do it, I'm just going to hit your face. It makes me feel good!" Ye Chen said loftily. "We young people live freely, and that's the kind of sensation we seek!"

"..."

A chill settled in the diminutive Grandmaster's heart. Under Ye Chen's ceaseless torment, he could be absolutely certain that his face was now disfigured.

Ye Chen was arrogant and unrestrained. Despite being severely injured and continuously coughing up blood, he didn't attack the diminutive Grandmaster's vital points, focusing solely on hitting the face.

"This is bad!"

Ye Chen's body shook, his face losing color, as the powerful sensation brought on by the Secret Technique quietly faded—the effect of the Secret Technique was about to end.

"Fang Ruolan, I'm at the end of my rope, about to die," Ye Chen said viciously. "However, even if I die, I won't make it easy for you!"

"You left me to die. I'll bring you down with me, completely obliterate your life Gu King. Even if it doesn't cost you your life, I will drain your vitality!" Ye Chen declared fiercely, with the aura of preferring to shatter rather than to be whole as mere clay.

"Stop resisting. I won't kill you. I only want your Secret Technique!" the diminutive elder said gravely. He didn't want Ye Chen to die so soon because he had yet to obtain that kind of Secret Technique.

"You persecute me like this, and you still expect me to hand over my family's Secret Technique?" Ye Chen smirked coldly.

"That's not up to you!"

The diminutive elder, perceiving Ye Chen was almost exhausted, reached out with a withered hand, attempting to capture him.

"Boom!"

Just as the diminutive elder's hand was about to touch Ye Chen, a huge figure flew swiftly beside Ye Chen, standing behind him.

"Xuan Gui, kill this old man!"

Fang Ruolan pinched a spell to command the Xuan Gui Corpse Gu, charging at the diminutive Grandmaster.

"You wench, weren't you eager to kill him? How come you're helping him now!" the diminutive Grandmaster bellowed furiously. "He's our common enemy, and yet you switch sides at the last moment!"

"If he's in your hands, then my life Gu King would also be under your control!" Fang Ruolan said, her eyes shining coldly. "Compared to you, I find him slightly more agreeable!"

"You two despicable creatures!" the diminutive Grandmaster shouted, then got punched and sent flying by the Xuan Gui Corpse Gu. Having suffered a long battle with Ye Chen, his face already swollen from hits, and having expended a great deal of energy, the Grandmaster found himself at a disadvantage against the renowned power of the Indestructible Vajra Gu in a state where the enemy was strong and he was weak.

"This tells us that appearance is quite important. You were ugly to begin with, and now after my repeated strikes to your face, you're without any appearance at all. It's natural for the goddess to despise you!" Ye Chen, though coughing up blood, revelled in Schadenfreude.

"You damned thing, I will tear you to pieces, to soothe the hatred in my heart!" the diminutive Grandmaster spat venomously.

"You faceless old fiend, you're almost beaten to death and still dare to talk tough to Little Ye?!" Ye Chen collapsed on the ground, laughing as he watched the diminutive Grandmaster being swept away. "Seeing you beaten down like this brings me such joy. Do you know why the goddess dislikes you?"

"Because you don't have long legs. You, you shorty, with your little legs!" Ye Chen pointed at the Grandmaster's legs, laughing uncontrollably.

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