Chapter 208 - 207: Just Lie Down, I’ll Handle the Rest
Chapter 208: Chapter 207: Just Lie Down, I’ll Handle the Rest
As Wu Chen twisted to a stop and looked up, he saw the barbarian spy—the one who had fought him earlier with the golden-ringed broadsword—slowly getting to his feet, the ropes around his ankles having snapped.
Seemingly convinced he had already won, the burly man straightened up slowly. His expression was completely relaxed, showing no sign of tension or any intention of fighting for his life.
It was as if the coming battle would be entirely under his control.
The burly man stood tall. His leopard-like eyes narrowed as he scanned his surroundings. An intimidating energy pulsed from him, and as his gaze swept over the area, many lowered their heads, daring not to look at him directly.
All except one.
"Thanks, kid. You really helped me out with these nuisances," the burly man said, his voice hoarse.
"Otherwise, it would’ve been a real pain."
"Still, now that I only have to deal with you, things are much simpler."
As he spoke, he freed his fan-sized hands and tore at the remaining ropes binding his upper body.
The ropes, forged from Silver-Refined Iron Sand, seemed to be made of paper in his hands. A light touch was all it took for them to snap apart, inch by inch.
The immense force also shredded his clothes, which fluttered away in tatters, revealing a bronze-colored, tower-like physique.
Even refined iron, forged a thousand times over, would look inferior before such a body.
’So that’s the Secret Pattern?’
Wu Chen narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the man’s chest, right over his heart. There, a fist-sized mark, dark as ink, stood in stark contrast to the bronze skin.
The ink-black mark seemed alive, sending out countless veins that twisted and spread across the burly man’s body.
As the dark ink writhed, the aura emanating from the burly man grew so heavy that the very air seemed to thicken, making it difficult to breathe.
"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"
Behind Wu Chen, Sun Yuting finally managed to spit out the object in her mouth after frantically shaking her head and working her tongue.
Her mouth now free, and realizing how dire the situation was, she immediately shouted at the figure in front of her:
"Untie me, now!"
"That barbarian activated his Secret Pattern! His power will skyrocket! You can’t handle him alone!"
"I have other skills we can use! If we fight together, taking down this barbarian will be no problem!"
After her series of desperate shouts, the figure before her finally moved.
But he didn’t make the move she expected—untying her ropes. Instead, he just looked down at her and said coolly,
"Now *that* is what you call real muscle."
"Hah! You—!"
Sun Yuting choked on her anger, unable to finish her sentence.
She couldn’t understand what this man was thinking. ’Can’t he see how urgent the situation is?’
’And he’s still talking about muscles!’
Suppressing her frustration, she took a few deep breaths. She wanted to patiently explain the stakes, get her colleague to untie her, and then take down this spy together.
But to her surprise, Wu Chen had already turned away. He said unhurriedly,
"Your only job is to lie there quietly. Leave the rest to me."
With that, he turned his gaze back to the barbarian.
In the time they had been talking, the dark ink on the burly man’s chest had fully spread, covering his entire body in a spiderweb-like pattern.
The burly man’s aura surged, his realm breaking through the Blood Coagulation Realm in a single leap and entering the Initial Realm of the Leakless Realm.
But his aura didn’t stop there; it continued to skyrocket.
It wasn’t until he reached the third level of the Leakless Realm that the explosive surge of power finally halted.
A powerful aura erupted from the burly man, blanketing the area. The wind in the forest died completely, leaving only the sound of everyone’s heavy breathing.
"Are you done with your second phase?"
Wu Chen watched the barbarian spy close his eyes in rapture, feeling rather speechless. He reminded him, "Because if you are, I’m going to make my move!"
"Arrogant!"
The burly man had been reveling in the feeling of ascending to a higher realm, of immense power flowing through his limbs. His mood was sublime.
Being interrupted so bluntly naturally sparked a flash of anger in him.
He didn’t know what "second phase" meant, but he understood the threat perfectly well.
"This is the part where you should be begging me for mercy."
The burly man cracked his neck, the joints popping. "Perhaps then I’ll try to leave you a complete corpse."
"So much nonsense. I guess the second phase really is complete."
Wu Chen nodded, then asked, rather randomly, "Are you using a weapon this time?"
"A weapon? Heh!"
The burly man sneered contemptuously. "You have no idea what my power is like now!"
"I don’t need a weapon! Crushing you will be child’s play!"
Wu Chen nodded and also let go of his scabbard.
The sword, still sheathed, fell and planted itself upright in the soft earth.
"..."
Seeing this, Sun Yuting, who was lying on the ground behind him, almost fainted from sheer fury.
"Don’t be a fool! This is no time for martial ethics!"
"He’s a Barbarian..."
’Trying to match strength with a barbarian? Is he insane?!’
’And a barbarian who’s activated his Secret Pattern, at that!’
She opened her mouth to say more.
BOOM!—
But a powerful blast of air erupted in front of her, forcing dirt and rotten leaves into her mouth. With a mouthful of soil, she had no choice but to shut up, her eyes filled with despair as she watched the two mismatched figures collide violently.
...
"You reckless fool!"
The burly man watched the rapidly approaching figure, the smile on his face slowly vanishing, his expression turning grim.
He hadn’t expected his opponent to dare take the offensive, especially knowing he had activated his Secret Pattern.
And to do so bare-handed, no less.
It felt like a personal slight, a loss of face.
Based on past experiences, whenever he activated his Secret Pattern, those people from the Demon Suppression Bureau would always react with extreme caution, hesitating to even approach.
Why was this person today doing the exact opposite, showing no fear at all?
Not to be outdone, he strode forward, his body carrying a thick, violent aura that bore down on Wu Chen.
He would crush this slender figure in one blow and reclaim the face he’d lost when he was sent flying by two of his opponent’s moves, unable to fight back.
In the span of a single breath, the two were almost on top of each other.
The burly man swung his massive, fan-like hand, bringing it down hard on the slightly built figure’s head.
He held nothing back in this palm strike, using every ounce of his strength.
From the way Wu Chen moved through his oppressive aura, completely unaffected, he already knew this young man’s realm was no lower than his own, even with the Secret Pattern activated.
Therefore, he didn’t dare to be careless.
One hundred percent of his power, augmented by the Secret Pattern, and constantly drawing on the origin of his Leakless Realm.
A black light, powerful enough to smash refined iron into dust, gathered in his palm.
The turbulent energy radiating from it was so intense that even the men lying scattered on the ground dozens of yards away felt a strange numbness and pain deep in their bones, right through their skin and flesh.
It felt as if their very skin might split apart at any moment.
"Die!"
The burly man roared, pouring even more Qi Power into his palm as the black light accelerated, slamming down toward the head of the figure before him.
Facing this full-powered attack, Wu Chen neither dodged nor retreated. His expression remained placid. Even the stinging pain traveling through his body from the pressure failed to cause a single ripple on his face.
A glimmer flashed in his eyes. Then, he casually raised his left arm to block above his head.
CLANG!
With a sound like solid iron striking, Wu Chen blocked the unstoppable blow. The seemingly invincible black light was halted mid-air, unable to descend another inch.
Then, Wu Chen shifted his body slightly. He slowly clenched his right hand into a fist, a white radiance gathering over his knuckles.
All this seemed to happen slowly, but it took place in an instant.
The next moment, that radiant fist shot forward, punching viciously at the figure before him.
Compared to the sheer spectacle of the burly man’s attack, Wu Chen’s punch had no presence at all. It seemed as gentle as a spring breeze, silent and without a trace of force.
It even looked like it would do little more than tickle its target.
But!
Pulse Severing, Dragon Capturing!
The instant he threw the punch, a light glittered in Wu Chen’s eyes.
At that same moment, the burly man’s massive physique seemed to transform before his eyes.
He could see it all: the muscles and bones wrapped beneath the thick skin.
And in that same instant, Wu Chen easily perceived the flow of the man’s core aura, something normally hidden deep within flesh and bone.
’Strike a snake at its vital point, strike a man at his meridians!’
And so, Wu Chen’s punch, brimming with Qi Power, landed squarely on one of those barely-visible veins hidden beneath the bronze skin.