Chapter 247 Part 1

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Chapter 247 Part 1: Superb Rank (1)

There was a loud bang.

A fierce gust of wind stirred up a whirlwind of dust, sweeping in all directions.

King Qin looked down at the hole in his chest, and stumbled unconsciously.

Unlike other Taoist soldiers like Luohan, he had completely transformed into a golden body, strong and indestructible.

There was no fresh blood flowing out from the hole in his chest, nor any flesh or organs.

For an ordinary person, this would undoubtedly be a fatal wound, and even for King Qin, this injury was very serious.

More severe than the wound on his chest was the huge impact suffered by his spirit.

King Qin’s mind was extremely determined.

Twenty years ago, when he was still the lord of Zhong Province small town, he showed the utmost sincerity towards the Tao when he killed his wife in front of the Xuantian Sect cultivator to prove his dedication, severing worldly ties.

Although the Xuantian Sect cultivator didn’t accept him as a disciple, Qin Shiqing’ mind became as sharp as a blade, his martial arts practice became smooth sailing, stepping into the Spiritual Refining Realm effortlessly, eventually reaching the 1st rank of the Spiritual Refining Period and overseeing the Imperial Capital’s heavenly prison.

But martial arts was never his sole pursuit, the path of immortality was what he sought in life.

The dust can be thrown away, the physical body can be thrown away, the more things he abandons, the further he gets from ordinary people, and the closer he gets to the Great Dao, until he transforms into King Qin, achieving the Martial Arts Golden Body.

But this time….

"He didn’t use a strong internal strength like Qiao Gui to strike from a distance, but combined his physical strength with internal strength, directly facing my iron fist with strength?"

King Qin’s heart was only filled with shock at this moment, even his palms were slightly trembling.

This kind of power was what he had dreamed of back then…

Due to this kind of physical strength and internal strength, it has already surpassed the level of the 9 ranks of martial artists…. This is known as the superb rank.

The so-called superb rank doesn’t refer to a martial arts realm, but a title, indicating martial artists who are far superior to the 1st rank, subtly surpassing the control abilities of the Great Yan Imperial Court.

In the world of martial arts, the ultimate is the 1st rank, and there is no way forward.

Therefore, a superb martial artist is someone who goes further after reaching the end of the 9th rank of martial arts and there is no specific realm to describe the difference.

"Why can he achieve a superb rank in martial arts? And it’s a double superb rank in both Qi and internal strength."

Unconsciously, King Qin felt a sense of resentment rising in his heart.

"I have been devoted to the martial way for decades without any relaxation. I have cut off all external things and people that could shake my mind. Walking alone in this vast life, I am left with a heart as firm as iron dedicated to the martial arts. I have paid a great price to achieve the Martial Arts Golden Body. What makes you think you can compare to me?"

King Qin clenched his teeth and once again raised his only remaining left fist.

What greeted him was a torrent of blood-colored energy that engulfed him in an instant, along with a pair of eyes as sharp as sword edges.

For an instant, it felt like a sword was stirring back and forth in his mind, making his consciousness unclear.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Amidst the intense rumbling, punches and strikes came like a fierce storm. King Qin could only see a dense cluster of punch shadows in front of him.

He raised his only remaining left fist to protect himself, but after only two or three breaths, the single arm was forcefully pushed aside, leaving his chest and head wide open.

Qiao Mu grabbed his one-armed opponent tightly and punched him repeatedly in the head.

Visible ripples of energy spread through the air as the head made of Blazing Essence Gold twisted and deformed under the continuous blows.

The twenty Copper Skin Soldiers, who had formed a circle surrounding Qiao Mu, widened their eyes in shock.

Although Qiao Mu didn’t use the Eye Sword Technique to attack their minds at that moment, they still felt greatly frightened as their minds were stirred.

If their physical bodies could press down on King Qin, who had already achieved the 1st rank Golden Body, then what was the point of practicing the Golden Body Technique?

Furthermore, this was not a strike from a distance like Qiao Gui’s powerful internal strength attacks, but a direct and powerful exchange of punches without any fancy techniques.

After three breaths.

Qiao Mu stopped punching and stood still, looking at King Qin in his hand.

At that moment, King Qin’s head was visibly deformed, flattened by the immense force, with a crooked nose, twisted eyes, and multiple dents and deformities, looking less human-like.

"Almost done," said Qiao Mu as he took a deep breath.

In his dreams, he had repeatedly attacked King Qin in the first thirty years to comfort himself.

After putting in a lot of effort, he finally restored King Qin to his appearance with a crooked nose and off-center eyes after being attacked in the dream.

His mood improved.

"Well, struck!" King Qin, barely alive and severely injured both physically and mentally, burst into laughter:

"This punch not only ends my life but also the lives of the entire martial arts Qiao family clan. Congratulations!"

"I am King Qin, supported by the Great Dao Sect, one of the Nine Immortal Gates. If I die, the immortals will seek retribution! It’s a pity that all other Qiao family members will die because of your rash actions!"

"You are too selfish and reckless! If you cared for the rest of the Qiao family and for the people, you wouldn’t have acted and invoked the wrath of the immortals!"

"If you spare my life, there is still a glimmer of hope in this matter…."

"Okay, I’ll spare your life," Qiao Mu readily agreed.

This reaction even left King Qin somewhat puzzled, as he completely didn’t understand what he meant.

Just now, due to the injury from the Eye Sword Technique, his mind was in agony, blurting things out only under the threat of death, but didn’t expect… it actually convinced him?

King Qin gritted his teeth, trying to control his Blazing Essence Gold body again, but at this moment, he felt his usually agile body as heavy as a thousand pounds, finding it almost impossible to even lift a finger.

"My mind has suffered a heavy blow…" King Qin, who had practiced martial arts for many years and was at the 1st rank of the Spiritual Refining Period, instantly understood his current condition with a single thought.

Before facing Qiao Mu’s fist, he was full of confidence, with a determined heart, enduring Qiao Mu’s Eye Sword Technique head-on.

However, when his iron arm was directly broken and his chest was pierced, his mind had already been breached.

"My Dao heart is showing signs of collapse… I must hold on," King Qin gritted his teeth in secret.

As a top-ranked Spiritual Refiner, he knew the consequences of a mental breakdown. So, he quickly calmed his mind and said to himself inwardly:

"It’s me who lost, not the leader of the Great Dao Sect, nor the Dao of Immortality!"

"My decision was absolutely right! It was just a moment of carelessness…"

"As long as I keep my mind steady and not collapse, as long as the leader of the Great Dao Sect comes, there will still be hope for Mount Dong to rise again!"

Even if this body is damaged, as long as my mind remains intact, King Qin can still survive… This was due to a change in his soul after his body died for the first time.

The real Qin Shiqing had already died at that time, and the current King Qin is actually similar to a wandering soul, although he cannot live long in this world, he is not comparable to ordinary people.

It was because of this that he caught the attention of the leader of the Great Dao Sect and was appointed as King Qin, entrusted with the task of establishing the Earthly Immortal Kingdom!

"This member of the Qiao family is quite amusing, so naive," thought King Qin, feeling both a cold sneer in his heart and a sense of relief.

Did he really spare his life?

As long as he’s alive, there’s still hope!

Qiao Mu could somewhat guess his thoughts.

He thought he was very strong and important, so he was willing to challenge King Qin without hesitation. He decided to go through with his plan.

"Being skilled and fearless? Many martial artists trust their abilities too much… unfortunately, they don’t understand the ways of the immortals, they don’t understand the depth of the Immortal Gate," King Qin sighed to himself.

There was a time when he was as ignorant and arrogant as Qiao Mu in front of him, until one day he accidentally witnessed the mysterious abilities of an immortal cultivator, and then he realized that his martial arts practice was actually misguided.

Qiao Mu noticed the change in his expression, but he didn’t speak, he just looked down at his own fist.

His fist was cut and bleeding, his bones were visibly fractured and sunken.

Although he could harm King Qin’s Blazing Essence Gold body, his physical body, made of flesh and blood, was not as strong as the immortal iron in terms of hardness.

But fighting is not the same as fencing. It’s not about who is tougher.

With a single thought, the bleeding on his fist stopped quickly, the torn skin began to heal and close up, even the sunken bones started to slowly mend themselves.

Now he has reached the highest level of Spiritual Refining Period, with a much stronger energy level than ever before.

With the strong mind at the highest level of Spiritual Refining Period, mastering the "mastery" of the Shape Changing Skill makes it easy to heal skin and bone injuries.

"It seems like I should practice some tough skills…" thought Qiao Mu.

After he turned sixty, he mainly relied on his strong internal strength and the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method to fight. The punching power of his body is much weaker compared to the destructive power of internal strength that has been building up for hundreds or thousands of years.

So practicing tough skills had very little effect.

But now things have changed.

Qiao Mu practices three types of tough skills.

Apart from the specialized Iron Crotch Skill training, he only practices two tough skills, the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt Skill.

These two tough skills are not of high quality, and are somewhat outdated now.

As for the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method…

Qiao Mu took two deep breaths, calming down his almost boiling blood and energy swiftly.

Painful sensations like tearing spread through his body’s meridians as usual. With a slight movement in his mind, his whole body followed suit…

Qiao Mu’s Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method was actually on a different level compared to other martial artists. Its explosive power and aftermath far surpassed theirs.

Taking the Qiao family member’s Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method as an example, just a moment of using it could damage the body’s meridians enough to require a normal person twenty years to recover.

Damages to the body’s meridians are hard to heal with common medicines, usually requiring slow recovery over a long period of time.

For Qiao Shui, it takes about seven days.

For Qiao Mu now, about three days.

If the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method lasts for three to four breaths, the time needed for complete recovery will also extend to around seven days…

But it’s not a big problem.

Even if his meridians were damaged and it was difficult to unleash internal strength, with his current physical body, relying solely on physical strength was enough to handle many things.

"As for now…" Qiao Mu glanced at King Qin beside him.

Keeping King Qin alive was naturally useful.