As soon as the words fell, Li Chonglou took the initiative to attack.
Tian Gou’s face lit up with joy. While he might not know Tai Chi, he understood its essence – defense to await attack was its greatest strength!
In other words, this cultivation method wasn’t suited for offense!
Tian Gou sneered and met the attack directly, but a second later, he regretted it. Li Chonglou hadn’t used his fists, but as he approached, a large palm landed firmly on his chest from an unexpected position.
“Pfft!”
Tian Gou spat out a large mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He had clearly used his palm, so why was the power still so immense?
“Can’t understand it, right? That’s good. If China’s martial arts could be understood by a frog in a well like you, then they wouldn’t be the strongest martial arts.”
Tian Gou’s eyes narrowed: “It’s just some deceptive trickery!”
He threw a straight punch, Tian Gou fully unleashing the ferocity of Western boxing. In the dim cave entrance, countless phantom images rained down towards Li Chonglou.
Western boxing, as a type of boxing, emphasized both grand, sweeping movements and the use of subtle strength, making it a relatively popular martial art in the West.
But for Li Chonglou, it was merely that.
Chinese martial arts alone had hundreds of boxing styles. The core of almost all martial arts was about countering and controlling the center line. Western boxing was fierce enough, but it had a fatal flaw.
Unstable lower stance.
Li Chonglou converted his palm into yielding energy, blocking Tian Gou’s punch. Then, using his waist to generate power, his arm instantly penetrated Tian Gou’s center line.
With the center line broken, the lower part also fell. With just a simple shoulder bump, Tian Gou was sent flying backward, his face a mask of confusion, crashing heavily against the rock wall.
“Pfft!”
Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Tian Gou’s face turned pale, unnaturally so, like white paper.
Li Chonglou didn’t rush to finish him off but instead withdrew his aura and slowly approached.
“I heard that when you were thirteen, you claimed to be invincible in China? What I want to know is, did you ever leave your small village back then?”
Tian Gou tried to struggle to his feet, but the intense pain within him made him question his own existence. He, a dignified half-step top-tier expert, couldn’t even stand steadily after just two moves?
However, regarding Li Chonglou’s words, Tian Gou still retorted: “If it weren’t for you trash suppressing me, I would have broken through long ago!”
Li Chonglou smiled: “Break through? You want to break through the Mortal Realm? A beast that only vents its incompetence on innocent ordinary people – Heaven isn’t blind.”
Tian Gou’s expression changed. He suddenly understood Li Chonglou’s meaning and sneered: “I get it. Another brainwashed idiot who thinks he’s righteous, trying to demoralize me with this?”
Tian Gou suddenly laughed wildly at the sky.
“You don’t know how happy I am when I see the despair in those people’s eyes. That feeling is like you walking in the desert, suddenly finding an oasis, and plunging into that sweet lake.”
As he spoke, he licked his lips with a pathological smile.
Li Chonglou’s smile faded.
“Is that so? But may I ask, have you ever been to a desert?”
Tian Gou suddenly froze.
“Have you seen an oasis?”
Tian Gou’s expression shifted slightly, and he grunted, “What do you know? I was using a metaphor!”
“Heh, you must be very angry right now, wanting to kill me to avenge that trash, right? Haha, what does it matter if you kill me? I’ve already enjoyed myself, and I expected this day to come.”
Li Chonglou stopped, quietly gazing at the man before him, who was now revealing a manic demeanor.
His body, his eyes, his expression – all indicated that he was a psychopath. Death seemed not to frighten him at all.
It was more like he had been prepared to die from the beginning.
“So what.”
Li Chonglou suddenly spoke, interrupting Tian Gou’s wild laughter.
Tian Gou’s brow furrowed.
“What ‘so what’.”
Li Chonglou’s calm reaction was completely different from what Tian Gou had expected, leaving him momentarily stunned.
Li Chonglou continued calmly, “So, what are you trying to say with all that talk?”
Tian Gou scoffed, “I admit you are the strongest I have ever met, but so what? Before my divine envoy, you are still trash! What does it matter if you kill me today? The divine envoy will sooner or later conquer the entire world!”
Li Chonglou shook his head.
“Heh, I understand. How could someone brainwashed like you understand the greatness of the divine envoy!”
“How great?”
Tian Gou was stunned again but couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger.
“What exactly do you want to do!”
Li Chonglou shook his head: “I want to kill you.”
“Then come on! If I blink, I lose!”
Li Chonglou didn’t answer him but instead asked Old Lin in the soul bottle, “There’s a good opportunity now, do you want to come out and try?”
“Okay.”
Surprisingly, Old Lin didn’t respond with his usual flippancy this time, merely uttering a single word.
Li Chonglou’s figure suddenly flickered, and a sharp glint flashed in Tian Gou’s eyes.
“You really think I’ll surrender obediently?”
He had merely been stalling for time to regulate his internal energy. A fierce look instantly rose in Tian Gou’s eyes. He targeted Li Chonglou’s heart, fumbling on the side of his pants and pulling out a short knife.
“Die for me!”
The short knife streaked through the air with a cold gleam. Just as it was about to pierce Li Chonglou’s heart, Tian Gou’s vision suddenly blurred.
The short knife stabbed the air, and he stumbled forward.
“Damn it!”
As a fourth-level expert, Tian Gou’s reaction was quick enough. He immediately drew back, intending to attack from behind, but Li Chonglou was faster.
In the time it took Tian Gou to turn halfway, a large hand had already firmly gripped his right arm.
“Then I’ll break an arm for you first.”
As soon as the words were spoken, a crisp bone-snapping sound echoed through the cave.
Tian Gou’s expression changed drastically, but he endured the pain and didn’t cry out, because the cave entrance was now clear, and the path to escape lay before him!
“Escape first!”
Tian Gou made up his mind instantly, but in the next second, Li Chonglou’s voice sounded again.
“I told you, who did you have to provoke? You had to provoke this kid.”
One minute later, Tian Gou’s piercing screams echoed through the cave, filling the entire cavern.
The sound lingered for a full half hour. Fortunately, the location was secluded, with no human habitation for kilometers around.
“Little Li, I’m tired. You handle it yourself.”
Old Lin withdrew from the fusion with a hint of exhaustion. This time, he had certainly had his fill. He had forced Tian Gou into a prolonged battle for nearly half an hour!
After all, in his life, he was only at the third level. Even with one arm broken, Tian Gou had fought him back and forth.
This time, he had used all his lifetime’s skills, and he had to deliberately avoid killing the man. Who wouldn’t be tired in such a situation?
After Li Chonglou regained control of his body, he first fused with Wen Yi before slowly walking up to Tian Gou, whose eyes had already rolled back.