"Save it, Old Cat," Liu Hui sneered at the cajoling. "If my steel pellets weren't a threat to you, you wouldn't be kindly advising me. Remember, I killed your brother—and yet you’re letting me go? I really can’t tell if you’re the idiot or if I am."

The smile vanished from Old Cat’s face. He channeled his gong, and the dim white light emanating from him suddenly flared intensely. Liu Hui’s steel pellets struck him repeatedly, making dull thudding sounds, before clattering to the ground. Not a single hair on Old Cat’s body was ruffled. Old Cat slowly advanced on Liu Hui, his immense presence forcing Liu Hui to retreat step by step.

Old Cat closed the distance, then kicked off the ground, surging toward Liu Hui. The sheer force of his movement shattered the stones beneath his feet. With the rock wall at his back, Liu Hui had no room to maneuver, and Old Cat’s hands tore a strip of flesh from his shoulders. Shrieking in pain, Liu Hui punched Old Cat squarely in the eye. Though the blow caused no real damage to Old Cat’s eye, it momentarily blurred his vision.

Liu Hui and Old Cat changed direction. Liu Hui drew an iron spear from his storage space and thrust it at Old Cat. Old Cat did not dodge; he allowed the spear to pierce his throat. Liu Hui shoved forward with all his might, but Old Cat remained rooted to the spot. Under the strain of their contest, the iron spear slowly began to bend. Suddenly, Old Cat exerted force in his throat, launching the deformed spear into the air, and followed up with a powerful punch aimed at Liu Hui.

Liu Hui countered with a punch of his own, their fists colliding in mid-air. The sound of several distinct snaps echoed from Liu Hui’s right arm as his body skidded backward, carving a deep furrow in the ground.

While sliding, Liu Hui seized the opportunity to fire several steel pellets at Old Cat using his uninjured left hand. Perhaps due to panic, most of the pellets flew too high, sailing harmlessly over Old Cat’s head toward the cliff face above. Old Cat laughed heartily and continued walking toward Liu Hui, who kept firing pellets upward.

Just as Old Cat was feeling triumphant, a deafening crash echoed from above. He looked up to see that Liu Hui had been targeting a large tree on the cliff overhang above him. The tree had been shot clean through its middle and was now plummeting downward. What truly shocked Old Cat was the tree’s trajectory: it was aimed directly at a jutting stone platform halfway down the cliff, upon which rested an enormous, perfectly round boulder. The tree, using the immense force of its descent, propelled the massive, spherical rock, sending it rolling down toward the canyon floor.

Old Cat’s face drained of color. He realized with horror that Liu Hui’s original position was the absolute lowest point in the entire canyon, surrounded by towering stone walls—a death trap with no escape. He had been cunningly lured into this kill zone. If the giant rock fell, there was no evading it; it would certainly crush him, and even his Golden Bell Shield skill wouldn't withstand a boulder of that size. Old Cat rushed forward several steps, desperate to flee that spot. Liu Hui’s position, however, perfectly blocked Old Cat’s path of retreat.

Liu Hui had gone to great lengths to lure Old Cat to this location; he certainly wouldn’t let him escape now. He continuously fired steel pellets at Old Cat. Although the pellets caused no injury, the kinetic energy they carried offset Old Cat’s forward momentum, preventing him from advancing even a single step.

Desperate, Old Cat leaped into the air, summoning all his strength, and brought his palm down in a sweeping strike meant to obliterate Liu Hui, the obstacle in his way. Liu Hui knew this was the moment of life or death—he absolutely could not retreat. Gritting his teeth, he focused all his remaining power and met Old Cat’s descending palm with both his own hands. With a muffled thud, Liu Hui let out a pained scream as he was sent flying backward, a long trail of blood spraying out behind him in the air. Old Cat, having no purchase in the air, tumbled back to the spot where he had been standing.

At that moment, the giant boulder finally rolled down, smashing into the canyon floor with a collision that kicked up a massive cloud of dust and debris. The boulder paused briefly, then quickly rolled toward the lower ground.

"No!" Old Cat cried out in terror. All escape routes were sealed. He leaped up, attempting to jump onto the rolling boulder, but it was simply too vast. He failed to gain purchase and was violently struck and enveloped beneath the massive stone, which then slammed against the canyon wall at the bottom with a world-shaking crash.

Struck by Old Cat, Liu Hui smashed through several large trees before finally collapsing onto the ground. He was critically injured by Old Cat’s full-force blow—numerous bones were broken, his internal organs violently shocked, and blood streamed from all seven orifices, leaving his expression horrific. He coughed repeatedly; likely broken ribs had pierced his lungs, causing him to expel large mouthfuls of bright red blood with every spasm. He possessed not a shred of strength left, not even the will to twitch a finger.

The giant boulder had finished its descent. Liu Hui needed to confirm Old Cat’s death; if the foe still lived, next year would be the anniversary of his own demise.

Moving with agonizing effort, Liu Hui dragged himself to where Old Cat lay. The boulder had stopped, having punched a hole in the stone wall. Lying before the rock was the mangled, unrecognizable form of Old Cat. Liu Hui crawled closer. Old Cat was crushed beyond recognition; his abdomen had burst open, exposing his intestines, and both legs were severed, lying some distance away.

A wave of relief washed over Liu Hui. Old Cat was finally dead. He had been overwhelmingly powerful. It was only by exploiting the environment that he had succeeded; otherwise, he would surely have been the one killed. As he was marveling at his luck, the supposedly dead Old Cat suddenly opened his bleeding eyes and crawled toward him with a "heh-heh" chuckle, the white light on his body beginning to shimmer anew. Liu Hui was aghast—was Old Cat still not dead? The only things he could move were the two fingers on his left hand. He fumbled in his storage space, retrieved steel pellets, and flicked them toward Old Cat. Alas, the precision afforded by two fingers was too poor; even at this close range, he couldn't hit the head. The pellets struck Old Cat's body instead. Now that the Golden Bell Shield was broken, it could no longer deflect the steel. The pellets embedded themselves in Old Cat’s flesh, eliciting wails of agony.

Ignoring the continuous barrage of pellets, Old Cat shrieked and kept crawling toward Liu Hui. Liu Hui kept firing, and finally, one steel pellet struck Old Cat’s head, obliterating it. Old Cat went still, never to move again.

Liu Hui let out a long, shuddering breath, his last reserve of strength completely spent by the effort. He lay on the ground, resting until he recovered a fraction of his energy. Then, he crawled to a relatively flat patch of ground and retrieved the Bio-Healing Tank from his storage space.

With great difficulty, Liu Hui lifted the lid of the tank and pressed the red activation button. He secured a respirator over his mouth and climbed into the tank. Before he could secure the lid overhead, his vision suddenly tunneled to black, and he lost consciousness.

Liu Hui passed out inside the Bio-Healing Tank. The tank immediately engaged its miraculous function, its mysterious energy bathing Liu Hui’s gravely wounded body, stimulating rapid cell regeneration. The liquid inside the tank began to lighten in color.

Twelve hours passed. Liu Hui opened his eyes, instantly startled to find himself submerged. He scrambled to stand up. His eyes were wide with confusion, taking a moment to refocus. The heart-pounding battle from the previous night flooded back into his mind.

Liu Hui leaped out of the Bio-Healing Tank and tested his limbs. Every single one of the grievous wounds he had sustained the night before was completely healed; his physical functions were as if he had never been injured. Considering he had been on the brink of death—countless broken bones, several large chunks of muscle ripped away by Old Cat, having lost at least two-thirds of his total blood volume, and with ribs piercing his lungs—he should have been dead.

It was now noon. Everything around him was sharply visible. Were it not for the surrounding devastation and the bloody pulp of Old Cat’s corpse on the ground, Liu Hui might have suspected the entire previous night had been a dream.

Liu Hui sighed, impressed by the sheer power of the Zerg bio-technology. The liquid in the Bio-Healing Tank was now perfectly clear, rendering it unusable. It was sheer luck; if he hadn’t needed to save Zhou Tengyun, he never would have exchanged for a Bio-Healing Tank from the Zerg in the first place. He would be dead now. Compared to his life, the price had been negligible! He touched the tank, storing it back in his space. Though it was spent, he resolved to ask the Zerg if he could trade it back next time; such a large piece of equipment must still be worth something.

Fortunately, they were deep in the mountains, completely deserted. The massive fight and his subsequent healing had gone unnoticed. He retrieved a set of clothes from his space, swapped out his tattered rags, tidied his appearance, and walked over to Old Cat’s corpse.

In life, Old Cat had been terrifying, but now he was undeniably dead—bisected, with his head blown to smithereens by Liu Hui, leaving not even a complete body.

Liu Hui sighed. "Though we fought to the death, once a man is dead, the feud is settled. Given that you were a brave fighter in life, I will grant you a proper burial, lest you suffer the indignity of exposure."

Liu Hui dug a shallow pit. He then attempted to align Old Cat’s severed upper and lower halves, preparing to bury him. As he lifted the body, a book tumbled out of the pocket on Old Cat’s lower half. Liu Hui kicked the book aside, placed Old Cat in the grave, and covered him with soil.

Liu Hui stood dumbfounded before the makeshift grave for a long moment before retrieving the book lying on the ground. The title, emblazoned across its cover in three large characters, read: Golden Bell Shield. Liu Hui wasn't in the mood to read. He placed Golden Bell Shield into his storage space, then meticulously cleaned the area, erasing any trace that could betray his presence.

Liu Hui retrieved his phone from his space and powered it on. Checking the time, he realized it was already three o'clock the following afternoon. He tried to call Mei Peng, but there was no signal in the mountains. Relying on his memory from the chaotic retreat, Liu Hui searched for a long time before finally reaching the main road and locating both his and Old Cat’s discarded motorcycles.

Liu Hui checked his own bike; it had only superficial scratches and was otherwise intact. He pushed Old Cat’s motorcycle off the cliff edge, then retrieved a gasoline canister from his storage space, topping off his own tank. After confirming his direction, he sped off toward Bashan City.

To my readers: This is the second update for today. If this book has managed to capture your eye, please help spread the word. If you have any spare energy, please cast some recommendation votes and add it to your collection. Qian Yu thanks you sincerely!