Chapter 137: Shattering the Blow!

Indeed, although Chief Guo managed to break through to the Xiantian realm by consuming an unknown medicinal pill, he had no idea how to properly utilize the primordial energy within his body. He could only instinctively mobilize the primordial energy in his dantian to fight.

"To dare to use primordial energy for ranged attacks so recklessly when you are merely at the Spirit Gathering realm—I truly do not know whether to call you bold or simply ignorant," the Mad Monk said harshly, flexing his numbed hands.

"However, the power of that crescent blade Qi just now was not bad at all! It actually managed to leave a nick on my hammer." As he spoke, the Mad Monk already swung his massive hammer toward Chief Guo.

The howling sound of the piercing wind was akin to an incoming missile. Chief Guo knew that if he were struck squarely by the Mad Monk, he would undoubtedly meet a gruesome end, so he flashed aside and narrowly dodged the blow.

The Mad Monk's strike missed its target, instead hitting a tree. The tree neither fell nor was sent flying by the giant hammer; only a multitude of leaves drifted down from its branches.

From this, it was evident that the Mad Monk had not used his full strength at all; it was merely a feint meant to scare Chief Guo. Yet this very feint had frightened Chief Guo out of his wits just moments ago.

"Hahaha! It seems Chief Guo truly lacks the self-awareness of a Xiantian expert! Hahahaha!" Seeing that Chief Guo had fallen for his trick, the Mad Monk burst into hearty, unrestrained laughter.

"You!" Realizing he had been tricked, Chief Guo's face turned the color of a pig's liver. Burning with shame and anger, he snapped, "Mad Monk, I will let you see what a true Xiantian realm really is!"

With that, he charged forward with his saber, moving so fast that only a blur remained; those with weaker cultivation were completely unable to capture his movements with their eyes.

"Hmph! I think it is time I taught you what a true Xiantian expert looks like!" The Mad Monk did not hold back in the slightest, and the two immediately engaged in a fierce melee.

The Mad Monk was an authentic Xiantian expert blessed with innate divine strength, completely suppressing Chief Guo in terms of sheer power.

Although Chief Guo was a makeshift, artificially elevated Xiantian expert whose raw strength could not match the Mad Monk's, his advantage lay in his exceptionally agile footwork. Moving as though his soles were greased, he managed to narrowly and thrillingly evade the Mad Monk's onslaught time and time again.

"You bald donkey, didn't you talk a big game? Why are you all show and no substance?" After dodging several of the Mad Monk's attacks, Chief Guo's confidence swelled, and he laughed aloud.

No sooner had the words left his lips than he wielded his saber even more furiously, every single stance and movement carrying primordial energy attacks, effectively turning close-quarters combat into an exchange of long-range bombardments.

Dodging a burst of blade Qi sent flying by Chief Guo, the Mad Monk sneered and muttered under his breath, "A fake is a fake. Let us see just how long you can keep this up. Once your primordial energy is exhausted, killing you will be effortless."

To be honest, the Mad Monk was not afraid of Chief Guo in the slightest, not even now that Chief Guo shared the Xiantian realm.

Because Chief Guo fundamentally did not know how to channel his inner primordial energy, his reckless conversion of it into blade Qi attacks would consume a terrifying amount of energy.

His speed in absorbing ambient vital energy was likely far slower than the rate at which he expended his primordial energy, not to mention that converting vital energy into usable combat-grade primordial energy required a brief span of time.

The Mad Monk paused in his steps, suddenly curling one hand into a fist and punching fiercely behind him.

"Aah!"

"Aah!"

Two miserable screams rang out as a pair of sneaking bandits were sent flying by the Mad Monk's single punch, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up billows of dust.

It turned out that these two ignorant bandits had attempted to take advantage of the situation to ambush the Mad Monk. However, having already been ambushed once before, the Mad Monk had no desire to taste that bloody, painful lesson a second time, and had long been secretly guarding his blind spots.

"Hmph! As expected of mere trash who only know how to launch sneak attacks from the shadows, lacking the courage to fight a fair and square battle to the death." The Mad Monk wore a look of utter disdain. But the moment he remembered how his nether regions had been brutally pierced earlier that day, his expression instantly contorted into one of blistering rage.

Consumed by fury, the Mad Monk completely disregarded the blade Qi hurled by Chief Guo, shattering every single wave of energy with swings of his giant hammer.

"Th-this is impossible?!" Chief Guo felt a wave of disbelief. Just moments ago, the Mad Monk had been driven steadily backward under his fierce offensive; why had he suddenly become so ferocious? Could it be that he, too, had resorted to some special technique?

How could Chief Guo possibly know that previously, the Mad Monk had simply wanted to exhaust his primordial energy to make the eventual kill simpler?

In other words, the Mad Monk had been exercising restraint all along. Now that someone had attempted another sneak attack on him, he cast all hesitation aside, determined to obliterate Chief Guo right then and there.

After all, the agony in his nether regions was heart-wrenchingly painful, not to mention utterly humiliating! The Mad Monk was going to slaughter every single enemy here; he could not afford to let a single person who knew the truth escape alive!

"How can you possibly be this strong?! You must have consumed some sort of pill as well, right? It has to be!" Chief Guo gritted his teeth, utterly unable to accept that the Mad Monk possessed such terrifying strength.

A profound sense of helplessness welled up within him. He could not help but cry out inwardly in alarm as he sensed that the primordial energy in his dantian was nearly depleted. Damn it, why did such a mishap have to occur at a critical juncture?!

Chief Guo's complexion turned terribly unsightly. He finally understood what the Mad Monk had meant earlier when he said he had no idea how to wield his primordial energy.

"Is your primordial energy about to run out?" The Mad Monk smiled grimly and said, "Guo, today is your day of death! Once I kill you, I will send that fellow surnamed Li down to keep you company!"

The mere mention of Chief Li nearly caused the Mad Monk to lose his sanity. After all, anyone who experienced such an ordeal would lose control of their emotions, let alone someone as violently tempered as the Mad Monk.

"Martial Skill: Descent of the Wild Hammer!" the Mad Monk roared. His aura suddenly surged outward, radiating a bone-chilling sense of impending death to Chief Guo.

The Mad Monk's entire body was wrapped in golden primordial energy, with his giant hammer shining blindingly like a miniature sun.

With an explosive leap, the Mad Monk soared into the air, leaving two massive footprints indented into the earth. Instinctively, Chief Guo looked up, only to see a ball of golden light hurtling down from the heavens.

"Not good!" Chief Guo had a premonition: if he failed to dodge this single move, he was guaranteed to die without a burial site!

Driven by this thought, Chief Guo rapidly drained the absolute last reserves of his primordial energy, generating a blue barrier of light that enveloped his body. Veins popped on his forehead as he let out a furious roar.

The Mad Monk's giant hammer slammed viciously into Chief Guo's protective barrier. A destructive shockwave swept outward in all directions, sending any bandits too close to the combatants flying through the air, leaving them either dead or severely injured.

*Crack.*

A subtle, barely audible sound rang out. Chief Guo's expression changed drastically. Before he could utter a word, spiderweb-like cracks fractured across the light barrier before it shattered into a million pieces with a deafening crash.

The word "No" had barely reached his throat when Chief Guo's head vanished into a mist of blood. Immediately afterward, his entire body was blasted apart by the Mad Monk, bidding a permanent farewell to the world.