This is the most insidious move in the Fēnjīn Liánzhǎn (Split Gold Continuous Slash), concealing the killing blow within the sleeve, much like a Jí (Water Parsnip). It strikes with the lethality of a mantis suddenly lunging from the shadows of a cave, and rarely misses its mark when delivered!

Back in the day, when Wanyan Tiegu defeated the then Tenth Commander of the Black Wind bandits, [Jìng Zhōng Cáng Huā] (Flower Hidden in the Mirror) played a decisive role!

His fingertips approached rapidly; Wanyan Tiegu could almost feel the pressure of the digits, shielded by the sleeve, making contact with the skin of Qian Jin's wrist—the next sound should be the crisp snapping of bone being pierced.

Suddenly, he saw Qian Jin’s wrist turn sharply, like the slick venomous snakes found deep in the jungle, twisting away to graze the side of his index finger while his fist drove straight toward Wanyan Tiegu’s chest.

[Shé Dòu Jì] (Snake Fighting Technique)? Wanyan Tiegu immediately dismissed the thought. The movement was certainly reminiscent of a jungle viper, but it wasn't the genuine Snake Fighting Technique! Still, the reaction speed was impressive. Did he possess some form of prescience?

In a flash of lightning and thunder, Wanyan Tiegu blocked with his left forearm, intercepting the path of Qian Jin's fist. His right hand continued its relentless thrust toward Qian Jin’s chest. Under the impact of his steel fingers, chíu!—the air tore with a violent ripping sound, as if a powerful arrow had just been loosed from an archer's taut bow.

Such a ferocious thrust could puncture even a stone statue! The [Fēnjīn Liánzhǎn] associated with the Iron Arm Mantis bloodline was once praised highly even by those who had awakened as the ultimate bloodline warriors.

Fen Tu Kuangge, watching from the Battle Garden, felt his heart clench; he had no doubt that if this finger struck, it would leave significant marks even on solid rock.

Faced with such a brutal penetration attempt, Qian Jin made no move to dodge. Emulating Wanyan Tiegu, he raised his left arm to block while driving his right fist straight toward the other’s sternum.

A direct trade? Fen Tu Kuangge's face darkened. He thought Qian Jin was being utterly reckless! These complementary bloodline combat techniques were forged through countless generations of rigorous refinement; how could they be countered so easily? Wanyan Tiegu's eyes, sharp and angular as cut lines, were filled with a cruel smile—First, I’ll disable your left arm!

What? Wanyan Tiegu’s smile froze abruptly. The moment Qian Jin’s fist reached his arm, it suddenly twisted again! It cleanly slipped past the blocking arm and burrowed toward his chest!

This wasn't a snake; it was clearly an eel! Wanyan Tiegu, shocked and enraged, was too slow to adjust his guard. But an instant later, a smirk returned to his lips. The Iron Arm Mantis was not merely about iron arms or an iron back; the entire body became extraordinarily tough! This was the key reason why the Iron Arm Mantis family dared to charge forward fearlessly on the battlefield!

Let him strike! Let him taste what the Iron Arm Mantis Body feels like! His fingertip stabbed viciously into Qian Jin’s left arm, while the fist, slippery as an eel and seemingly lacking force, slammed into Wanyan Tiegu's upper abdomen. Puff! Bang! Crackle…

Wanyan Tiegu’s index finger throbbed with intense pain, feeling as though he had stabbed granite, not human flesh. The fist that had slid like an eel, seemingly lacking power, suddenly transformed into a sledgehammer above his abdomen! Three ribs instantly shattered!

The sheer force of the impact lifted Wanyan Tiegu’s feet clear off the ground, his body arcing backward like a crescent moon, leaving a streak of bright crimson across the air!

What? What exactly happened? Pain didn't dull Wanyan Tiegu's mind; it spun furiously. The Iron Arm Mantis Body meant that even a blow from a wooden staff the thickness of a finger wouldn't cause the slightest discomfort. Even facing an opponent from the Jiàngmó Jiǔ Zhàn (Nine Battles to Subdue Demons), what was the issue? His internal Qi rotation had long surpassed its peak—a full 2,900 rotations! His finger, capable of piercing trees, how could it hurt so much this time?

“How is this possible?” Zeng Chuandong spurred his horse forward from the Battle Garden, halting abruptly as he stared at the unbelievable scene. Wanyan Tiegu, possessing thicker Qi, a superior bloodline warrior, had been defeated by Qian Jin, an ordinary warrior not even at the peak of the Jiàngmó Jiǔ Zhàn? Dang ji r yi r yi r yi dang qie \ shi yi shi yi shi yi—

Several mercenaries and Black Wind bandits were so astonished they forgot to grip their weapons, letting them slip unnoticed to the ground.

Fen Tu Kuangge’s entire musculature jumped in shock. He heard Duan Feng Buer shout beside him, “Magnificent! What strange technique was that? It looked like the Snake Fighting Technique, yet also like the eel! Comrade, does your arm hurt where he poked you? I have healing liniment here—one pack of cigarettes for one bottle! Use three bottles first to guarantee your complete recovery.”

Qian Jin grimaced and glanced at his aching left arm. He drove forward with his right leg, closing the distance on the recoiling Wanyan Tiegu. Simultaneously, he raised his left arm high, letting the Jiàngmó Jiǔ Zhàn Qi surge into it. The muscles beneath the skin expanded slightly with a peng sound. He clenched his five fingers fiercely, squeezing the air until it cracked sharply, and brought the blow down toward Wanyan Tiegu’s head.

Having survived years of life-and-death skirmishes as a bandit, Wanyan Tiegu instantly sensed mortal danger. Ignoring the pain attempting to disrupt his Qi circulation, he snapped his head up to view Qian Jin’s attack. Surprise and confusion flashed in his eyes. Am I hallucinating due to the pain? Is that a hammer descending, not a fist? Why do his movements look like a blacksmith swinging a hammer in the forge? Hua Yan Bujian, behind his metallic mask, also displayed a look of curiosity! What kind of coarse blacksmithing movement was that on a battlefield? Did Qian Jin look down on Wanyan Tiegu that much? “Hammering iron?” Zeng Chuandong couldn't believe his eyes.

“How can he be that fast? Could his Qi rotation speed be… Impossible!”

Wanyan Tiegu’s eyes gleamed with fierce intensity. Shaking off the pain, he dug his right leg into the mud, stomped his left foot hard, and raised both arms high despite the agonizing break in his ribs. His two index fingers were ready to intercept the attack, intending to immediately hook and twist the enemy’s right wrist!

Qian Jin saw only his opponent, Wanyan Tiegu. His body entered a state he’d never known before. His opponent no longer seemed like a moving warrior but rather a piece of red-hot iron billet, bouncing predictably after being struck. Qian Jin felt as if he were hammering iron, and Wanyan Tiegu’s subsequent movements seemed to trace a perfectly predictable path of the billet’s rebound.

In the endless world, he had practiced the second strike of the Shēngfēng Shibā Chuí (Ascending Wind Eighteen Hammers) for two decades, swinging that hammer tens of thousands, even millions of times. It erupted purely on instinct, striking the human-shaped iron billet that was Wanyan Tiegu.

Bang! The sound was like a watermelon being brutally crushed by a wooden club, a continuous chorus of shattering bone. Wanyan Tiegu still held both arms crossed high, but his head was now the shattered, overripe watermelon, spraying red and white matter everywhere.

Shi yi yi ^ yi yi yi “What just happened?”

Fen Tu Kuangge blinked hard, trying desperately to recall the descending fist from moments ago, yet unable to comprehend how that single strike had pierced Wanyan Tiegu’s seemingly impregnable defense to strike its target.

Zeng Chuandong rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. That punch was utterly bizarre. It looked identical to ordinary hammer strikes in a forge, but when it landed, it produced a completely different result. He couldn't analyze how it was achieved.

“If I only used the abilities of Jiàngmó Jiǔ Zhàn, could I have blocked that punch?” Hua Yan Bujian quietly asked himself from beneath the metal mask, then sighed softly, murmuring, “Truly a strange combat technique.”

The surprise in Duan Feng Buer’s eyes vanished quickly, replaced by a faint sorrow. He kept sighing, “Alas~ It seems his arm is fine. I guess I won’t get a chance to trade medicine for cigarettes. What a pity, such a pity…”

Qian Jin stared blankly at his left hand, which had just dealt the killing blow, and bitterly smiled as he recalled the process of that punch. He wasn’t confident he could replicate that exact punch again. His original plan was to rely on the incredible durability of the Wind and Cloud Golden Body (Fēngyún Jīnshēn) to trade injuries with Wanyan Tiegu until he was beaten down. Unexpectedly, under that strange sensation, he ended the fight with one punch.

“The recovery power of the Wind and Cloud Golden Body is truly strong,” Qian Jin murmured, flexing his left hand. The spot that had just hurt was already pain-free. The two years spent soaking in the strange great lake of the Four Seasons Valley were finally showing their effects.

“Right!” Under everyone’s gaze, Qian Jin quickly ran his hands over Wanyan Tiegu’s body and soon pulled out a slightly yellowed scroll from the inner folds of his clothing. Bold characters were inscribed on the front: [Qiānjūn Wǔ Zhǎn] (Thousand Armies Five Slashes) 0. Opening the aged scroll, the first page displayed [Fēnjīn Liánzhǎn] 0.

“Exactly,” Qian Jin tucked the complementary combat technique of the Iron Arm Mantis bloodline into his embrace, sending it directly into his Dou Realm. He then unceremoniously collected the dozen gold coins from Wanyan Tiegu’s belt and turned to face the distant mercenaries. “Say, this guy’s head is gone—can I still claim the bounty?” Wanyan Tiegu, the Tenth Commander of the Black Wind bandits, was dead! The Tenth Commander of the Black Wind Bandits, ranked eighth among the Ten Great Outlaw Horse Thief Groups beyond the frontier, was killed!

The mercenaries felt their minds short-circuiting; some even wondered if they were still dreaming and hadn't woken up.

“Comrade~~” Duan Feng Buer waved his arm and shouted loudly, “You only needed to chop off one of his arms and bring it back! The arms of an Iron Arm Mantis bloodline warrior are very special; the Zhence Dynasty has a way to verify their authenticity.”

As Qian Jin searched for a broken piece of the saber to sever an arm, the Black Wind bandits all turned their gaze to Hua Yan Bujian, their eyes filled with questioning intent. The Tenth Commander was dead; what should they do next?

Beneath the black, faintly glowing metal mask, the pair of captivating dark eyes had returned from thin slits to their original circular shape. The warhorse snorted, sending a series of puffs of air that made the atmosphere of victory suddenly turn bizarre again.

Qian Jin carefully wrapped the severed arm in Wanyan Tiegu’s clothing, looked up at the distant Hua Yan Bujian, and asked, “How do you plan to thank me?”