Chapter 50: Half-Step Grandmaster, the Whaler Strikes!

"Warhorses are nothing—let this old monk topple them all!"

Bang!

The old monk, Yuan Mo, wore a cold, ruthless expression. With one hand, he seized a charging horse and, exerting his strength, flung the beast directly to the ground, sweeping it aside and knocking down five or six advancing soldiers in one breath!

"Ha!"

He threw out both fists, detonating the air with explosive force. Two heavily armored soldiers were blasted away, their breastplates caving in and shattering!

These soldiers all bore the marks of hard training and formidable vitality—they were the elite of the Qianshan Army. Yet before this old monk, they seemed unbearably fragile.

“How terrifying! Is this the strength of one ranked in the top twenty of the Black List?”

Zhao Yuancheng leapt aside, narrowly avoiding the fallen warhorse, his heart pounding with shock.

“If you have not broken through your vital energy three times, withdraw at once!”

At this moment, the manor had become a battlefield. Blades and swords clashed all around, bodies fell, blood flowed in rivers. Poseidon Cultists quickly rallied to counterattack, and several experts who had achieved a third breakthrough surged into the ranks of the soldiers. Each fought ten at once, cutting down seven or eight soldiers in a flash.

Though the Poseidon Cult were hunted and reviled like rats crossing the street, their power had never been broken; indeed, they had only grown stronger—a testament to their might.

"Yuan Mo, your resistance is futile. This Poseidon Cult branch will be purged today!"

The scholarly general flashed forward. "Demonic monk, die!"

He was a rare expert among the officials, the direct superior of the Blade Seizers, and had once, in a campaign against bandits, slain four peer-level foes singlehandedly. He held the rank of subordinate general, and his name was Liu Zong.

Boom!

Their fists and palms collided, the air bursting with explosive force, a fierce wind sweeping aside. Yet the scholarly general was forced into retreat.

"You’ve broken through?"

That blow spelled trouble, and his face changed dramatically.

"I hadn’t intended to reveal myself so easily, but you’ve pressed me too far. Now, I’ll simply have to kill you all!"

Yuan Mo’s laugh was cruel. His fists clenched, suddenly manifesting tangible imprints—vital energy condensed to the extreme. A single punch could shatter steel!

His palm technique was but a ruse; his true mastery lay in the fist.

"Not good—half-step grandmaster!"

Elsewhere, Zhao Yuancheng’s face was drawn in horror.

This was the power of a half-step grandmaster—vital energy solidified into form, a single strike enough to slay any expert of the third breakthrough in an instant!

...

Behind the mansion.

Within a great hall, the cellar lay open. Around it sprawled seven or eight corpses, fresh blood still pooling.

"Thank goodness—some are still alive."

Bai Xuan dragged people out from the cellar, all unconscious, eyes rolled back, breath weak—among them, the young sailor with the broken leg.

Had he come two or three days later, these people would have perished here.

"I’m not their nursemaid. I fear I can save them for a time, but not for life."

As he pulled out dozens of victims, Bai Xuan shook his head.

Clearly, these people had believed the Seven Seas Society’s lies, lured here only to meet such a fate.

"Still, if I can save them for the moment, and my own life is not at risk, it’s little trouble to lend a hand."

Raising his head, Bai Xuan’s gaze sharpened with a chilling intent to kill.

He’d long wished to spill blood.

The stench of rot in the cellar was thick, evidence this was not the first group thrown down here. From what he’d gathered, these unfortunates were only fodder for the demon shark below—mere blood sacrifices.

"Though killing can only end the evil for a moment, a moment’s end is enough!"

Now, a jade-green slit pupil gleamed in Bai Xuan’s eyes, his vital force threading through it like dragon and serpent.

The time for slaughter had come!

...

At the front of the manor.

Boom!

Yuan Mo’s fist crashed down, shattering the scholarly general’s heavy armor in one unstoppable blow!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Fragments of broken steel whirled out, peppering the ground as if with a hail of iron.

In the nick of time, the scholarly general displayed astonishing agility, shrinking back like a cicada shedding its shell.

Swish!

In a blink, he retreated ten meters, face pale and drenched in cold sweat.

Had he been half a step slower, he’d have ended up like his armor—blasted apart!

Vital energy solidified—nothing could withstand it!

"Retreat at once! There’s a half-step grandmaster here—we must summon General Wu!"

A half-step grandmaster might not possess the defense of a true grandmaster, who could battle thousands alone, but his offensive power was already terrifying.

A single fist, vital energy condensed into a mark, would obliterate any who dared block it!

Such a fighter could take on a hundred with ease. There were only two hundred soldiers here—how could they withstand this foe?

"He hasn’t advanced by his own power. He must have drunk the demon shark’s blood and used some secret art to turn himself demonic!"

Zhao Yuancheng, old and experienced, cursed, "Damn it! If only a Divine Constable were here, he could slay him at once!"

Such artificially boosted imposters, while not truly invincible, still required a half-step grandmaster to subdue.

"Leave? Too late!"

Yuan Mo burst out laughing.

Once a kindly old monk, he now wore a hideous, monstrous grin. Tentacles writhed faintly beneath his skin, horrifying to behold.

"You will all die here, sacrificed to the Sea God!"

He strode forward, seizing another charging horse and dragging it to the ground, exploding the rider above with a single punch.

"Ten Thousand Waters Fist!"

Several Blade Seizers attempted a sneak attack from behind. Yuan Mo’s fist swept out, as if waves surged within it, and with a single blow, they were sent flying—bursting into bloody mist midair!

"Not good—Zhao Yan!"

Zhao Yuancheng’s eyes nearly burst from his head.

Zhao Yan, a Blade Seizer himself, was part of tonight’s battle. Now, not far from Yuan Mo, he shouted and lunged straight at him!

"You killed Brother Yuan, you beast!"

Consumed by rage, Zhao Yan, who hated evil above all, ignored the terrifying gulf between himself and Yuan Mo, swinging his long blade to cut him down!

"Where did this brat come from?"

Yuan Mo’s form flickered, suddenly appearing before Zhao Yan, ready to strike him down.

At that instant—

Swish!

A blurred shadow flashed past. Yuan Mo’s face changed dramatically as he whirled and punched back. Thunderous explosions rocked the air, a cloudburst obscuring all sight!

Thud, thud, thud!

To the astonishment of all, Yuan Mo staggered back three steps, a flicker of shock on his face.

Boom, boom, boom!

With each retreating step, his feet sank into the earth with a resounding crash, the force so fearsome it chilled the blood.

"How is this possible—"

The scholarly general’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Someone had repelled a half-step grandmaster with a single blow?

"He actually blocked it?"

Yuan Mo was more shocked than anyone.

His punch, vital energy condensed into a mark, should have shattered anything in its path—yet now, it had been blocked, as if he’d struck an immovable slab of black iron, and he himself had been forced back!