From a purely technical point of view, Chen Fan was not much different than Lei Qianjue.
Lei Qianjue had perfected both his physique condition and usage of Internal Force. He had reached the peak of the Transcendent State and had started to grasp the power of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, he was not any less powerful than an Immortal cultivator at Ethereal Enlightenment level.
What he lacked compared to real Immortal cultivators were Dharma Spells and Divine powers. Without the aid of Chen Fan’s divine powers, the match might have lasted much longer than it did.
Unfortunately, Lei Qianjue had met Chen Fan after he had obtained the Azure Thearch Longevity Body. The Connate Body was so powerful that it let Chen Fan break the sound barrier. That being said, even at Chen Fan’s level of attainment, he would save the hypersonic punch for the very last moment since his body could not sustain the burden of executing hypersonic movement for a long time before he actually reached the Connate Spirit Level.
“Shu!”
The azure colored Blade Aura flashed and lit up the dark alleyway, revealing the menacing face of Blacksnake.
The Blacksnake’s power was a far cry from that of Lei Qianjue. Therefore, Chen Fan reckoned that he didn’t even need to use any Divine powers, the Azure Wood Blade Qi would be enough for the job. Suddenly, Blacksnake’s face tightened as his body elongated unnaturally until he turned into a two-meter long cheese string. He spun around as he pulled out two curved blades that looked like two poisonous vipers. The two blades came after Chen Fan as black smoke ran down from the sharp edges.
“Kill!”
Chen Fan didn’t even flinch and hacked the blade, sending a wave of belligerent and indestructible Blade Aura. The blade aura was so sharp and deadly that it seemed to have torn through the very fabric of space.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The curved double blades and the Azure Wood Blade Auras collided a few times.
The two curved blades swirled about the tall and stringy looking man as dark lights ran down from its body. They were both surrounded by dark mist that not only gave off a terrible stench but was also extremely poisonous. The grass and plants near the dark mist quickly shriveled up and died. However, Chen Fan was unfazed by the danger, the Azure Thearch Longevity Body was a Connate Body, and there was no poison on earth that could have threatened him.
“What a powerful Blade Qi!”
Already, Blacksnake started to be scared of his opponent. His curved blades were made out of special alloys and he had treated the surface of the blade with a layer of paint so that it creates no shadows even under the light. He had learned the sword fighting skills from an Iranian Royal Palace Guard. However, after a few impacts with Chen Fan’s Blade Qi, these curved blades seemed to have already reached their limit.
“Everyone talked about the Grandmasters in China who are able to form a thread in the air using Qi and wove them into a Four Righteousness protection layer. I never believed in that, but now I do.” Blacksnake kicked a wall and turned his body sideways to press tightly against the wall like a gecko. He then scrambled toward the top of the wall in lightning speed.
“Blade, arise!”
Chen Fan launched himself up to catch up with the escaping assassin as the Blade Auras grew more intense until the alleyway was as bright as daylight.
“Sssth-Wack!”
Life hanging by a thread, Blacksnake abruptly turned his head back and hissed at Chen Fan. His eyes had turned into golden color and reflected the bright light of Blade Auras. His seemed to have folded himself up by twisting his spine in the most unnatural way and dodged the incoming azure Blade Auras. Then, he kicked the wall again, propelling himself toward Chen Fan like a hungry tiger plunging down at its prey.
While the assassin was still in the air, the dark mist that shrouded his blades suddenly grew in size and quickly filled up the entire alley, smothering the light of the Blade Auras.
“You wish to fight me blindly?”
Chen Fan cracked a light smile.
By then, Chen Fan finally understood what had made Blacksnake such a deadly assassin. His power was on par with a Martial Arts Grandmaster or a Mixed Martial Arts Master. Chen Fan reckoned that although Blacksnake’s power was not any stronger than that of Lu Tianfen, he was a much more cunning fighter and had many tricks up his sleeve such as the light-blocking dark mist. These mists were so thick that the complete darkness would throw off even a Grandmaster. However, Blacksnake swam in the mist like a fish in a tank.
The advantage of sight in the blinding mist could give him a big enough leverage to topple a Grandmaster.
“However, unfortunately, today your opponent is me.”
Chen Fan locked his Divine Will onto Blacksnake as golden light shone in his eyes. As a fire elemental Divine power, the Li Fire Golden Eyes were able to penetrate through any smokescreen and illusions to reveal the truth.
Two beams of golden lights penetrated the dark smoke and revealed the shadowy figure of Blacksnake.
“Die, NOW!”
Chen Fan formed blade auras at the tip of his fingers; layers of Azure Wood Blade Qi formed in the air and stacked on top of each other, forming a thirty centimeter long Blade Aura. Despite the aura’s seemingly unsubstantial appearance, its energy was condensed, and therefore was a few times more powerful than the blade auras he had unleashed earlier.
As the Blade Aura sliced through the dark mist, light ran down from the seemingly impenetrable dark smoke. The Blade Aura caught Blacksnake off guard while he was already on his way to attack Chen Fan. The assassin let out a panicked shriek and then backed away from Chen Fan to safety.
Chen Fan didn’t hesitate and started running after Blacksnake, turning his figure into a wash of white light. He chased after the assassin for a few dozen meters and reached the edge of the dark mist. Suddenly, Blacksnake let out a hideous grin and said: “Chen Beixuan, you force me to do this! ”
Then he turned around as his pupils turned into two golden slits. In a blink, the energy in him surged a few folds, and a layer of dark scales appeared on his face. It looked very similar to the scale on the Yin Snake. A grey shadowy form appeared behind him, and it was in the form of a giant black snake.
“Huh? What is that?”
Chen Fan was taken aback. However, his attack didn’t slow down as he hacked at Blacksnake with the same deadliness as it had before. The Azure Wood Qi Blade at the highest level was able to cut through steel and cut open an armored vehicle. Even Lei Qianjue dared not to block the attack of the Azure Wood Qi Blade with his body.
“The Art of Snake Breathing!”
Blacksnake started to mutter an ancient and vile language that sounded like hissing snakes from hell. However, Chen Fan was able to understand his words using his Divine Will. He watched as Blacksnake jerked open his eyes and his chest went up and down like a blower. His elongated body and scaly face made him look like a giant snake breathing laboriously. The shadowy form behind the assassin also plunged into its host’s body. A fraction of a second later, the assassin’s body grew in size as a plume of smoke bellowed up and formed the head of a giant snake. The hideous snakehead snarled and plunged its poisonous fangs into Chen Fan.
The snakehead formed from smoke looked real and lively. It opened its huge mouth, revealing its sharp fangs that could snap a tiger in half.
This was the coup de grace of Blacksnake. Thanks to this art, he was able to escape many life and death moments, and he even killed a Mixed Martial Arts Master using this technique. However, the incredible power of the art came with a heavy cost, as it would over-spend his vitality every time he used it. Therefore, Blacksnake often saved this secret art for the last moment.
“It’s very similar to Tong Shan’s Tiger Demon’s Physique Refinement Art” Realization finally dawned upon Chen Fan.
The secret art used by blacksnake was one kind of body tempering art. However, the power of the assassin’s body tempering art was a far cry from that of the Tiger Demon’s Physique Refinement Art. Tong Shan had only started the art for a few months yet he had already surpassed the decades of hard training of the assassin. In addition, Tong Shan’s body tempering art didn’t have any negative effects and therefore could be used at any time.
After getting a handle on his opponent, Chen Fan no longer held back his power. He charged up his Qi as the Blade Auras surged a few meters in size and the azure color also became much stronger, making the wavy aura look like a pool of blue water.
Chen Fan had finally pushed the secret art of the Five Elements Immortal Sect to the limit.
“Kacha!”
The blade aura sliced through the snake head first without any resistance, it then landed on Blacksnake who had hidden behind the appreciation, and cut the assassin’s body into half from the middle of his eyes.
The blade auras didn’t stop until it dragged itself on the ground for another few dozen meters, creating a deep groove.
The King of Assassins, an elite member of the Blood Skull was laid low by Chen Fan with a single decisive strike.
“This is… Impossible!”
The surprise lingered on Blacksnake’s face when he was dealt a blow. The Art of Snake Breathing was the top-secret art of the Blood Skull, and even a Mixed Martial Arts Master would have to tread carefully while faced by it.
However, he had no time to lament his downfall. Blacksnake’s body opened up from the middle as blood gushed out from the wounds, spraying the walls of the alley red.
Chen Fan stopped the Blade Aura and walked away with his hands linked behind his back.
He wagered that after the death of Blacksnake, the assassin groups would have to think twice before messing with him again. He should have taught them the most basic lesson in life: their actions carried consequences.
When the news of what happened at Lin City reached overseas, the entire underground criminal world boiled over. The assassin groups stamped their feet and gritted their teeth as they cursed Hong Sect for their misleading information. Many of the assassin groups had sustained heavy losses since they had sent in their best and now they were all dead. To train an elite Assassin required a tremendous amount of resources and time. The process usually took as long as ten years.
The Blood Skull had suffered the heaviest blow of all the assassin groups.
Blacksnake used to be their champion Assassin since he was one of the very few people who were able to kill a Grandmaster. The death of such a powerful member set The Blood Skull back at least ten years, in the worst case, they might have to retire from their line of business altogether in order to recuperate.
Suddenly, the billion-dollar bounty put up by the Hong Sect became a hot potato.
Even those assassins who planned to kidnap Chen Fan’s relatives to force Chen Fan to his knees left China quietly. No one in their right mind would piss off a powerful Grandmaster who was able to kill Blacksnake in a one on one fight. The rest of the assassins also died within a very short time frame and that had made a lot of people suspect that the Chinese government was involved, otherwise, no one could have located so many assassins within such a short time.
“The Chinese Government must be behind Chen Beixuan!”
Thunder King Zoro grunted.
The meeting was held at the same underground base of the Hong Set. However, only the old man in the traditional Chinese dress was sitting by the table as the rest of the attendees joined the meeting via video conference calls.
“We have just got a tip that he was the head sergeant of a special Law enforcement unit called Cang Dragon. Based on our sources’ description, Chen Beixuan’s power was way beyond what Romon suggested. Not even Blacksnake could survive his one blow.” Crimson Lady said coldly. “Boss, we are facing a super-soldier from China.”
The rest of the regional underbosses kept their silence.
At this point, they were less concerned about Chen Beixuan than the ire of China. Despite Chen Beixuan’s surprising power based on the new information they gathered, they were quite confident in their plan since no individual would stand up against an entire organization. However, messing with the Chinese government was an entirely different ballgame. Hong Sect’s power couldn’t compare with that of the super nation China.
The man in traditional Chinese dress sat still with a gloomy face. After a long silent moment, he waved a hand and said: “Pause our operation in China and cancel the bounty and call back the Dark Moon.”
The other underbosses nodded.
From that day on, Chen Fan’s fame surged among many international organizations and was recognized as one of the most powerful men in the world.