Chapter 149: 86 Qi-Blood Wolf Smoke! Ghost Bat!_3
“A vendetta among martial artists? Stay back!”
“That young man fell from the second floor and is completely unharmed?”
The huge commotion here had already attracted the passersby on the street. These onlookers all kept their distance, and people poked their heads out from the windows of the houses and taverns on both sides.
In this era, it was not uncommon to witness martial artists engaging in vendettas in the streets, and it was hardly big news. When encountering such events, the best thing to do was to watch from a safe distance, or to report to the authorities. As for intervening or trying to stop it? That was simply asking for trouble!
Everyone was there to watch the excitement and didn’t mind making it a big deal.
Su Changkong’s gaze swept around him warily, on alert for anyone other than the grey-clothed man who might be lurking and preparing a secret attack against him.
“Kid, stop looking. It’s just me who’s come. Meng Sang asking me to take action means he’s given you plenty of attention. Remember, my name is Qi Chenghong!”
The grey-clothed man sneered with some arrogance, introducing himself.
“Qi Chenghong? The one known as Ghost Bat Qi Chenghong?”
This name was somewhat unfamiliar to Su Changkong, who could not recall such a person among the Hall Masters and Deputy Hall Leaders of the Giant Whale Gang, but soon he remembered the man’s identity!
In the Giant Whale Gang, Su Changkong had naturally taken an interest in the top fighters within the gang. The number one expert of the Giant Whale Gang was naturally the Gang Leader Sikong Yong, who became famous at a young age and was now one of the few renowned fighters in Ink Forest Prefecture City! No one in the Giant Whale Gang would deny his prowess!
If Sikong Yong hadn’t been in seclusion for many years and out of sight, Meng Sang wouldn’t have dared to make so much trouble.
Below Sikong Yong, there were more than ten martial artists in the Gang who had reached the Qi-Blood Realm, and those who could stand out among these Qi-Blood Realm martial artists were qualified for the position of Hall Master.
Su Changkong had heard of the name Qi Chenghong before. Qi Chenghong was known as Ghost Bat, renowned for his qinggong and claw technique. He used to be the Hall Master of the Wind Whale Hall, one of the four major halls of the Giant Whale Gang, but he was demoted because of his ruthless nature and for accidentally killing a fellow disciple in a fit of rage.
In the Giant Whale Gang, most disciples would feel frightened when talking about this name, indicating his notoriety.
In other words, this was a master whose strength was not inferior to any of the four Hall Masters of the Giant Whale Gang, a top-notch expert ranked among the top ten in the tens of thousands of elite martial artists of the Gang!
Meng Sang, although in charge of the Giant Whale Gang, did not take action personally. Instead, to ensure absolute certainty, he directly sent a formidable fighter like Qi Chenghong to take the lead!
“Ghost Bat Qi Chenghong is known for his qinggong. I’m afraid I won’t be able to run away from him! I have no choice but to fight desperately! To chop him down!”
Su Changkong’s heart was heavy. His only option was to use all his strength to slay Qi Chenghong!
“Kid! Don’t blame me! Meng Sang wants your death to be a gruesome one, so I have no choice but to dismember you!”
The grey-clothed man Qi Chenghong’s mismatched eyes flashed with a fierce and bloodthirsty glint. His favorite thing was to snuff out the lives of young and vital martial artists.
“Ka ka ka!”
Qi Chenghong’s fingers trembled on both hands, and his palms turned gaunt and elongated, and the long fingers and withered palms looked just like ghost claws!
Qi Chenghong had no interest in further conversation with Su Changkong. He couldn’t wait to torment and slaughter his current enemy!
“Ghost Bat Claw!”
With a flit of a shadow, Qi Chenghong swooped in like a giant bat. His now gaunt and elongated claws pierced the air silently, aiming for Su Changkong’s chest with razor-sharp talons that could easily puncture metal.
“Pfft!”
This claw pierced through Su Changkong’s chest, but it only hit an afterimage.
Su Changkong twisted his foot, his body spinning like a nimble crane, performing the transcendental Crane Play technique, light and illusory, evading Qi Chenghong’s claw strike while simultaneously appearing behind him.
But Qi Chenghong seemed to have anticipated this, casually flinging his left arm, turning it into a soft, boneless limb. Five sharp and long claws swept towards Su Changkong’s face, aiming to tear apart his head!
Su Changkong was startled by Qi Chenghong’s speed; he immediately retreated backward. The claws swept past his face, and from their pitch-black tips emanated a faint stench of decay, making Su Changkong, who inhaled a bit of it, feel slightly dizzy.
Su Changkong’s heart grew vigilant; Qi Chenghong’s claws were poisoned, he couldn’t afford to be scratched in the slightest!
The Ghost Bat Claw technique practiced by Qi Chenghong required his claws to be soaked daily in a special medicated liquid. Over time, his claws became capable of tearing through metal and also carried a toxin. Even the slightest scratch from his claws could cause an opponent to lose combat capability in a short time, leaving them at his mercy to be slaughtered.
Qi Chenghong’s speed and strength were both superior to Su Changkong’s, a real gap that couldn’t be bridged by even the most exquisite techniques!
“I must use all my strength and chop him down!”
Cold light burst forth from Su Changkong’s eyes. Facing such a high-level expert, any reservation was tantamount to seeking death.
Faced with Qi Chenghong’s relentless assault, giving him no chance to catch his breath, Su Changkong’s left hand suddenly aimed at him. His fingers clenched into a fist, and with a forceful press of his wrist downward, he triggered the mechanism of his sleeve crossbow!
“Bang bang bang!”
Within the muffled, loud sounds of the mechanical trigger, three heavy crossbow bolts more than half a foot long whistled through the air in a character “品” pattern, directly targeting Qi Chenghong’s face and chest.
The bolts from Su Changkong’s sleeve crossbow were poisoned with Boiling Blood Poison; a mere scratch would be fatal even to a Martial Artist of the Qi-Blood Realm!
Su Changkong’s sleeve crossbow attack was swift and unexpected, hard for ordinary people to dodge, but Qi Chenghong moved like a phantom. His body contorted and swayed oddly, each crossbow bolt grazing past his body without injuring a single hair.
Naturally, Su Changkong didn’t expect to easily injure a high-level expert like Qi Chenghong with this, using the sleeve crossbow was just to slow down Qi Chenghong’s ferocious onslaught to create an opportunity to counterattack!
At this moment, Su Changkong’s palm was already on the hilt of his Iron-Cutting Sword, his left hand grasping the scabbard and his right the hilt. His aura changed, as if his whole body was radiating Blade Qi that could sever everything!
Since arriving at Ink Forest Prefecture City, Su Changkong had yet to use the Iron-Cutting Sword. Resting the sword for nearly a year, the Blade Qi it had accumulated had already peaked, and facing an expert like Qi Chenghong, he had no choice but to draw his sword!
“Hmm?” Qi Chenghong’s eyelids twitched, sensing an overwhelming sharpness. Before Su Changkong even drew his sword, he felt as though his body was being cut.
Iron Blade Technique, Upward Slash!
Clang!
Adjusting the angle of his draw, Su Changkong stepped forward, the blade scraping against the scabbard as the Iron-Cutting Sword was unsheathed!
“Aang!”
In the faint sound that filled the air, like a dragon’s roar, a silver dragon seemed to break free from the scabbard, soaring from the bottom up, like a dragon ascending to the heavens.
After nurturing the sword for nearly a year, the accumulated Blade Qi merged with Su Changkong’s Essence Qi Spirit, unleashing a divine might capable of shattering mountains and splitting stones!
“Gaaw!”
Under this slash, Qi Chenghong dared not be the slightest bit careless. A high-pitched, shrill screech erupted from his throat, like a giant bat screaming, his Qi and Blood boiling madly.
From his skin and pores, the intense flow of Qi and Blood surged, turning into a blood-red smoke that shot up to the sky, dying the airspace above the streets crimson, visible from miles away.
Qi-Blood Wolf Smoke! The second tier of the Qi-Blood Realm, the Qi-Blood Wolf Smoke level!