"Hmph!"
Han Lang spat out a mouthful of blood and slowly got to his feet. With a running start, he charged at Liu Jian again.
Liu Jian also seemed unwilling to give Han Lang any chance to catch his breath, meeting him head-on in the same manner.
Soon,
Their figures collided, fists and feet meeting.
Both attacked each other's vital points with lightning speed.
The battle seemed to have entered a white-hot stage,
With solemn expressions, both sides parried with one hand and attacked with the other, patiently searching for each other's openings.
Suddenly,
A cold glint flashed in Han Lang's eyes. Seizing the opportunity, he lunged like a venomous dragon straight for Liu Jian's chest.
But he failed to notice,
At the same time, a smug, triumphant sneer involuntarily appeared on Liu Jian's lips.
He arched his body perfectly, sidestepped slightly, narrowly dodging Han Lang's cunning strike, and then crouched down.
"Damn it, I've been tricked!"
Han Lang, realizing what had happened, was greatly alarmed, but Liu Jian showed no mercy. He raised a palm and slammed it hard onto Han Lang's chest.
"Puff!"
Han Lang immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a kite with a broken string.
Before he could even land, Liu Jian pushed off with his legs, flying towards Han Lang in mid-air.
In just a second, he was almost face-to-face with the airborne Han Lang.
Looking at Liu Jian's face, Han Lang instinctively tried to strike his head, but Liu Jian flung him away and followed up with a flurry of punches.
In a flash, a series of crackling sounds echoed as a rain of fists landed on Han Lang's face, chest, and body.
Instantly, Han Lang bled profusely!
His entire body, including his face, was battered and swollen.
Finally, Liu Jian delivered a spinning heel kick, sending him crashing heavily towards the scaffolding nearby.
With a loud "Boom!"
Han Lang's body, like a ball, hit the steel pipes of the scaffolding and then fell powerlessly to the ground.
At that moment, excruciating pain surged through his entire body.
At this point,
Han Lang felt as if every inch of his skin, every bone, and even every neuron was being torn apart!
Seeing Han Lang sprawled on the ground, motionless, Liu Jian's lips curved into a smug smile again.
"Heh heh heh... I thought with your strength, you could last a bit longer with me. I didn't expect you to be so easily defeated! It seems I overestimated you!"
Han Lang, enduring the intense pain, swallowed another Spirit Gathering Pill. The surging spiritual energy within the pill slightly eased the pain all over his body.
He struggled to his feet, his bloodied and battered form dragging itself, and glared fiercely at Liu Jian.
Seeing this, Liu Jian was not worried but delighted, chuckling, "Oh, you can still stand? Looks like we can play a bit longer, haha..."
Hearing this, Han Lang's lips also curled into a sinister smile, which, combined with his blood-smeared face, looked exceptionally ferocious!
"Play! Today, I'll play with you to the very end!"
With that, he let out a roar and, dragging his right arm, ran straight at Liu Jian.
Liu Jian also shed his contemptuous expression, shouting excitedly, "Good! Then let me send you off again!"
He said this while clenching his fist and charging forward.
As the two drew closer,
Liu Jian raised his fist to strike Han Lang's chest; Han Lang opened his palm to slap Liu Jian's face.
At this critical moment, Han Lang suddenly swung his left shoulder, throwing Liu Jian's punch off course. The fist ended up hitting Han Lang's shoulder.
"Crack!"
His shoulder bone snapped.
Han Lang's body staggered, and the palm that was striking Liu Jian's face drooped slightly, turning to hit his chest instead.
But seeing Han Lang's weak palm, Liu Jian not only showed no panic but instead had a look of provocation.
It was as if he was saying to Han Lang: What damage can your light palm possibly do to me?
But before he could savor his victory, a wisp of pale blue flame suddenly ignited in Han Lang's palm with a "puff."
"Martial skill?"
Liu Jian looked at the flame in Han Lang's hand with utter horror. He wanted to dodge, but it was impossible at this moment.
He could only watch helplessly as Han Lang pressed the flame onto his chest.
"Puff, cough cough..."
Liu Jian staggered back a few steps, blood gushing from his throat with each cough.
He looked at Han Lang in disbelief, covering his chest with one hand and pointing at him feebly, asking.
"You... you're only at the Qi Refining stage, why... why do you know martial skills?"
Martial skills are a general term for the offensive techniques of martial cultivators.
For immortal cultivators, they are generally referred to as immortal methods or sorcery.
Liu Jian's current disbelief stemmed from the fact that practicing sorcery or martial skills requires specific cultivation levels.
Generally,
Immortal cultivators typically need to reach the Foundation Establishment stage before they have the capacity to practice sorcery;
Martial cultivators, on the other hand, must reach the martial artist level before they can practice martial skills.
However, Han Lang's current strength was clearly no match for Liu Jian, who possessed peak inner strength.
This meant that his strength could not possibly have reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
But why...
Han Lang naturally would not tell Liu Jian that what he condensed was merely the alchemist's fire used in his daily pill refining, and it couldn't be considered a martial skill at all.
Seeing Liu Jian utterly perplexed, Han Lang's lips curved into a ferocious smile. He condensed another wisp of alchemist's fire in his palm and then said faintly.
"Play! Didn't you like to play? Let's play this out today!"
With that, he dragged his wobbly right arm and, with faltering steps, slowly approached Liu Jian again.
Liu Jian was terrified.
Although he didn't look as disheveled as Han Lang, he had already suffered severe internal injuries from the burning alchemist's fire.
If he were to fight desperately against Han Lang, who possessed the alchemist's fire, he would likely be the one at a disadvantage.
With this thought, his steps began to retreat.
As he retreated, he didn't forget to point at Han Lang and curse.
"Kid! You've got guts! I was careless this time and didn't dodge! Wait until I heal my injuries, and next time I'll ensure you have no burial ground!"
After saying this, he turned around, endured the pain, and with a "swish," disappeared into the darkness.
Only after confirming that Liu Jian had indeed left did Han Lang let out a painful groan and collapse to the ground.
After the series of blows, he was already at the end of his rope.
If it weren't for his identity as an alchemist, with an inexhaustible supply of Spirit Gathering Pills, he would never have been able to muster the strength to condense the alchemist's fire and heavily injure Liu Jian.
Nor would he have been able to scare him away.
Lying in the pile of dirt, Han Lang felt the world spinning. With his last shred of will, he laboriously pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed Han Kang.
"Hello, brother!"
"New development... Central... Save me..."
After saying this, he completely passed out.