114: Chapter 114 One Punch

The night was as thick as ink.

The surface of Star Continent Anchorage shimmered with fine silver scales under the moonlight; in the distance, the lights of the fishing grounds had long been extinguished, leaving only the waves tirelessly lapping against the reefs in an eternal rhythm.

A long, narrow, pitch-black swift boat, about a hundred feet in length, silently cut through the sea's surface, heading toward the designated meeting point at the northeast corner of Fishing Ground No. 4.

The fish lanterns hanging on the boat were half-covered with black cloth, emitting a hazy, dim yellow light that barely illuminated an area of about ten feet around the bow.

At the bow, a middle-aged man dressed in deep blue martial attire, with a sallow face and a pair of rat-like whiskers, stood with his arms crossed, his brow furrowed and his eyes full of impatience.

It was the Vice Chairman of the Prodigal Society, "Black Water Snake" Chen San.

"Dilly-dallying, insisting on renegotiating the split..." Chen San spat and cursed under his breath. "If I hadn't been unable to find suitable people for the time being, I would have replaced these three pieces of trash long ago."

Behind him, nineteen experts from the Prodigal Society either sat or stood; each had a fierce aura, with the lowest having an Iron Bone Realm cultivation, and three among them had even reached the Early Stage of the Viscera Burning Realm.

This was a force sufficient to run rampant in Star Continent Anchorage.

"Vice Chairman, we're almost there," the man at the helm whispered.

Chen San looked up; in the dark sea ahead, the silhouette of a small fishing boat was faintly visible. Three figures stood at the bow, looking in their direction.

It was Liu Quan, Sun Li, and Zhou Meng.

Chen San let out a cold snort and signaled the swift boat to pull alongside.

The two boats approached and stopped thirty feet apart.

Liu Quan and the other two stood at the bow of the small fishing boat. Their faces looked somewhat pale under the dim yellow fish lanterns, their eyes darting around as they occasionally glanced toward the pitch-black cabin of their own boat.

"Chairman Chen!" Liu Quan forced himself to remain calm, cupping his hands and smiling. "You've come in person?"

Chen San didn't care for pleasantries and said coldly, "Cut the crap and get on the boat to talk. If you try to stall again this time, don't blame me for turning hostile."

The three of them exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and leaped onto the swift boat.

On the deck, the members of the Prodigal Society watched them with eyes like knives, their gazes cold.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

"Speak, how much do you want exactly?" Chen San got straight to the point. "Seventy-five percent is already the limit. If you get any greedier, be careful you don't end up with a life to take it but no life to spend it!"

Liu Quan swallowed hard and squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Chairman Chen, it's not that we're greedy, but the risk this time is truly too great. The newly arrived resident Disciple has achieved a Breakthrough to the Dragon Elephant Realm. The fishing ground is currently on high alert, we..."

"Dragon Elephant Realm?" Chen San's pupils constricted, but he then sneered. "So what if he broke through? How much capability can a kid who just entered the Dragon Elephant have? Our Chairman is also in the Primal Form Realm. If we really start fighting, it's hard to say who would win or lose!"

He paused, a flash of cunning in his eyes.

"However, since the risk has increased, the split can be discussed again. But the premise is that you must prove your value—tonight, you must produce at least three hundred Silver-Scaled Saberfish!"

Three hundred!

Liu Quan, Sun Li, and Zhou Meng gasped.

This was nearly thirty percent of the fishing ground's current stock!

If the loss was that large, the Dragon Abyss Palace would surely investigate to the end!

"What, you don't dare?" Chen San narrowed his eyes, his hand already resting on the water-dividing thorn at his waist.

Just then—

"Chen San, step back."

A low, raspy voice, sounding like sandpaper rubbing together, drifted out from the cabin.

Chen San's expression changed, and he immediately bowed and stepped aside with utmost respect. "Chairman."

The cabin curtain was lifted.

A burly figure slowly stepped out.

This man was about forty years old, eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back. He wore a dark red, open-chested short jacket, revealing a bronze-colored chest tattooed with a ferocious River-overturning malevolent flood dragon.

His features were coarse, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. His pupils were a strange pale yellow, flashing with sharp light as they opened and closed. His entire body radiated a blood-and-Qi pressure as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, like a Vicious Beast that could strike and devour someone at any moment.

It was the Chairman of the Prodigal Society, "river-flipping hand" Jiang Tao!

A Primal Form Realm Martial Artist!

Liu Quan and the others' hearts stopped. Every hair on their bodies stood on end as if an invisible giant hand were clutching their throats, making even breathing difficult.

This was the pressure of the Primal Form Realm!

Even though Jiang Tao had only entered this realm a few years ago, the gap in life levels was enough to make Viscera Burning Realm Martial Artists feel as if they were facing heavenly majesty!

Jiang Tao's gaze was like lightning as it swept over the three of them. His pale yellow pupils were filled with indifference and disdain.

"The Dragon Abyss Palace's newly promoted Dragon Elephant?" A cold curve formed at the corner of his mouth. "Perfect. I've just mastered the third layer of the 'River-Flipping Force,' and I happen to lack a heavyweight opponent to test my moves."

He took a step forward.

"Boom!"

The entire swift boat suddenly sank, and seawater splashed ten feet high!

Invisible Qi energy rippled out from Jiang Tao as the center. The lower-cultivation members of the Prodigal Society on the deck groaned in unison, staggering backward.

Liu Quan and the others felt as if they had been struck by a heavy blow; their faces turned deathly pale, and blood seeped from the corners of their mouths.

"For tonight's matter, the split will be renegotiated," Jiang Tao said flatly, yet with an unquestionable dominance. "You get thirty percent, and the Prodigal Society gets seventy percent. If you're unwilling..."

He slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers forming a hollow grip.

The whistling sound of rushing water rang out in the air. A visible pale blue Qi energy condensed in his palm, faintly taking the shape of a vortex and emitting a heart-palpitating tearing force.

River-Flipping Force!

Liu Quan and the others suffered Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. They didn't even have the courage to haggle and nodded repeatedly. "We... we're willing! We'll follow all of Chairman Jiang's arrangements!"

Jiang Tao nodded in satisfaction and was about to speak—

"How about... I give it all to you?"

A calm, slightly playful teenage voice abruptly rang out in the night sky.

The voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears, as if the speaker were right beside them.

Jiang Tao's expression changed drastically!

His pale yellow pupils contracted sharply. His blood and Qi erupted violently, and the pale blue River-Flipping Force instantly covered his body, forming a constantly flowing Qi energy shield.

"Who's there? Come out!"

He shouted sternly, his Divine Sense sweeping out like a tide while he simultaneously whipped his head around toward the direction of the voice—

The direction of the small fishing boat's cabin.

The cabin door had opened at some point.

A figure was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching them with ease.

The moonlight was like water, cascading over him.

It was a youth who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing simple deep gray cloth clothes. He stood as straight as a pine tree, with a handsome face and eyes that were terrifyingly calm.

It was Jiang Hanzhou!

No one knew how long he had been standing there; not a single person had noticed!

Jiang Tao's pupils trembled.

With his Divine Sense at the Primal Form Realm, he actually hadn't sensed this person's presence at all!

There were only two possibilities: either this person practiced an extremely sophisticated breath-concealing secret technique, or... his cultivation far exceeded his own!

"You are Jiang Hanzhou?" Jiang Tao suppressed the alarm in his heart and said in a deep voice, "The Dragon Abyss Palace's newly promoted Dragon Elephant?"

Jiang Hanzhou didn't answer; he simply gave a light leap.

No leverage, no sound.

He moved effortlessly, as if stepping on an invisible staircase, walking step by step from the fishing boat into the air. Walking on air, he arrived thirty feet above the swift boat.

The sea breeze blew, and his sleeves fluttered.

Under the moonlight, he suspended in the air, looking down at the people on the deck who were as if facing a great enemy. A slow, excited, almost fanatical smile curved on his lips.

"river-flipping hand Jiang Tao?"

Jiang Hanzhou licked his lips. Red-gold and azure-blue light flickered alternately in his eyes, and his blood and Qi began to boil.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Before his voice had even faded—

He moved!

No gathering of momentum, no fancy moves.

Just a simple, single punch thrown out!

His right arm pulled back, his spine connecting link by link like a great dragon, and his blood and Qi instantly boiled to the extreme!

Tidal True Intent and Pure Yang True Intent erupted simultaneously!

On the left half of his body, azure-blue blood and Qi surged like a tide, layer upon layer, endless, causing the seawater below to roar in response!

On the right half of his body, red-gold blood and Qi blazed like the sun, shining brilliantly and illuminating the night sky as if it were day, while a scorching heatwave swept in all directions!

The two types of True Intent converged at his fist, fusing into a terrifying fist projection of intertwined red-gold and azure-blue, faintly taking a spiral shape!

When the fist projection first appeared, it was only the size of a fist, but the moment it left his hand—

It expanded! It surged!

It turned into a destructive torrent over ten feet in diameter, seemingly concentrating the power of the tides and the fire of the sun, and crashed down toward the swift boat below!

"Not good!"

Jiang Tao's expression changed wildly. He let out a roar and thrust both arms upward!

He pushed his pale blue River-Flipping Force to the limit, forming a deep blue Qi energy vortex twenty feet in diameter that spun rapidly above his head, attempting to deflect and neutralize the force.

At the same time, he stomped his foot heavily, about to pull back and retreat.

However, it was too late.

This punch of Jiang Hanzhou's was called "Great Sun Tide."

It was a fist technique he had created during the last three days of his secluded meditation, relying on his fifth-grade fate's Comprehension Ability to combine the Tide and Pure Yang True Intents!

Although it was only a prototype, its power already far exceeded the full-strength strike of an ordinary Primal Form Realm Martial Artist!

"BOOM—!!!!!!"

The red-gold and azure-blue fist projection collided violently with the deep blue River-Flipping Force vortex!

There was no stalemate.

Only total crushing!

The River-Flipping Force vortex was like paper, annihilated the instant they made contact!

The momentum of the fist projection didn't diminish as it slammed solidly into the middle of the swift boat!

"Crack—Rumble!!!"

The ear-piercing sound of wood bursting and a world-shaking explosion erupted simultaneously!

The entire hundred-foot-long swift boat began to be crushed from the middle as if by an invisible giant hand; wood chips flew, and the ship's structure disintegrated inch by inch!

The twenty experts of the Prodigal Society, including Vice Chairman Chen San, didn't even have time to scream before they were struck by the violent aftershocks of the fist projection. Those with weaker cultivation were directly blown into a mist of blood, while those in the Early Stage of the Viscera Burning Realm had their bones and tendons snapped, spitting blood as they were sent flying into the sea!

Only Jiang Tao, at the critical moment, narrowly activated a protective Magical Artifact—a black tortoise shell hanging on his chest.

The tortoise shell emitted a deep black light, forming an eggshell-shaped barrier that protected him within.

But even so, that terrifying impact still sent him and the barrier flying like a cannonball, crashing through the stern railing and flying over two hundred feet before he barely managed to stabilize himself on the sea surface. His face turned various shades of pale, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

The swift boat had completely disintegrated.

The front half of the bow was still somewhat intact, jutting out of the sea at an angle.

The back half had completely disappeared, leaving only wood chips and blood mist drifting through the air.

The power of a single punch was as terrifying as this!