25: Chapter 25 Even if you're a frog in a well, my well is deeper than yours.

He Yunqi looked at Jiang Hanzhou as if he had just heard a joke.

"Hahaha, you, a mere Iron Bone Realm, actually dare to make such bold claims to me, a Viscera Burning Realm; how truly naive."

He Yunqi laughed up at the sky, then reached out a finger and pointed at Jiang Hanzhou.

"People from small places are always like frogs at the bottom of a well..."

Before his words had even faded, Jiang Hanzhou's figure had already vanished from the spot like a ghost!

The next second, He Yunqi felt a sudden gust of wind behind his head, and a coldness as concentrated as a needle pierced straight toward the back of his neck!

"So fast!"

He Yunqi's pupils constricted slightly, and the Qi and blood of the Viscera Burning Realm erupted with a roar!

He spun his entire body like a top, his right hand forming a sword finger, wrapped in a scarlet aura of blood-evil, and struck backward.

"Clang!"

The sword finger and the tip of the water-dividing thorn collided in mid-air, actually bursting with a crisp sound like metal striking metal!

A wave of Qi exploded outward, and the bluestone slabs beneath their feet shattered inch by inch!

He Yunqi did not move an inch, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth: "The force is not bad, but it's a pity..."

Before he could finish his words, his expression changed abruptly.

Because the figure of Jiang Hanzhou before him was like a reflection in water shattered by a stone, rippling in layers before dissipating!

It was an afterimage!

The real Jiang Hanzhou had already appeared three steps to his left, the water-dividing thorn in his hand tracing an eerie arc, like a viper flicking its tongue, stabbing toward the place under his ribs where an old injury was faintly aching.

That was where the hidden injury remained from when He Yunqi's Dantian had been broken years ago!

"How did you know?!" He Yunqi was shocked in his heart, and in his haste, he flicked his left hand, his sleeve puffing up like an iron plate to block this strike.

"Rip!"

The water-dividing thorn, forged from refined steel, actually cut a gash in the sleeve he had infused with Qi and blood; although it did not injure his flesh, the terrifyingly precise attack location sent a chill down his spine.

Jiang Hanzhou remained silent and moved his body again.

This time, he seemed to transform into three, four, five... countless blurry black shadows, moving rapidly around He Yunqi.

【Tidal Shadow Thousand Hands】—Like the tide, like a shadow, a thousand hands emerge together!

Each black shadow was indistinguishable between real and fake, and every attack came from an inconceivable angle.

Like crashing waves hitting the shore, the force was heavy and deep; yet also like an undercurrent, insidious and tricky.

Ultimately, it transformed into dozens of cold stars, shrouding all his vital points!

At first, He Yunqi could barely cope by relying on the vigorous Qi and blood and speed of the Viscera Burning Realm.

But he soon discovered something was wrong.

Jiang Hanzhou's offensive seemed endless, one wave higher than the last.

That pitch-black water-dividing thorn seemed to come alive in his hands, no longer a single weapon, but transformed into an extension of attacks from his fists, palms, fingers, claws, elbows, knees... all parts of his body!

Even more terrifying was the force.

Clearly, it was only the Qi and blood of the Iron Bone Realm, but when it struck, it carried a strange, layered, and endlessly persistent force.

The first layer of force was dispersed by him, but the second immediately surged up, then the third, the fourth... like true tidal water, one layer shattered, and a larger one immediately followed!

"Layered Wave Force?! No, that's just a Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique, how could it be this powerful?!"

The more He Yunqi fought, the more alarmed he became.

The purple-gold shadow of the mother Gu on his chest seemed to sense the threat as well, wriggling uneasily and emitting an even stronger aura of craving and violence.

"I cannot drag this out!" A fierce look flashed in He Yunqi's eyes, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of essence blood, sprinkling it onto the light shadow on his chest.

"Thousand Calamities Nirvana, Ten Thousand Gu Devouring the Heart!"

"Boom—!"

The purple-gold light shadow suddenly expanded, transforming into countless blood-colored threads as thin as hair, shooting out in all directions with He Yunqi as the center!

Each thread carried a sharp screeching sound, as if countless Gu insects were shrieking at the same time.

The air was corroded with a hissing sound, and the grass and trees in the courtyard withered at a speed visible to the naked eye!

This was the Origin power of the mother Gu, nurtured with the essence blood of over a hundred relatives; it was supremely evil and poisonous, specifically designed to break Qi and blood, and erode human bones and tendons!

The blood-colored threads covered a range of about a zhang around He Yunqi, dense and unavoidable.

Jiang Hanzhou's rapidly retreating figure suddenly paused, as if he had collided with an invisible wall.

Several blood threads had already wrapped around his arms and calves like living creatures!

"Hmph!" Seeing this, He Yunqi sneered, "No matter how strange your movement technique is, or how peculiar your Martial Skill, once you are touched by my 'Blood-Devouring Gu Threads,' your Qi and blood will be like boiling soup poured on snow, melting instantly! No matter how hard your bones are, how many breaths can you last?"

He seemed to have already envisioned the miserable state of Jiang Hanzhou's flesh withering and his bones shattering.

However—

Jiang Hanzhou lowered his head to look at the blood-colored threads wrapped around his arm, feeling the insidious power that was trying to burrow into his skin and devour his Qi and blood.

He suddenly raised his head, facing He Yunqi, and revealed an even brighter smile.

"Young Master He," he said softly, his tone even sounding a bit regretful, "have you ever thought..."

Beneath the skin of his entire body, those pale Gold Bones suddenly lit up!

It was not the light of Qi and blood, but the bones themselves, revealing a warm, heavy, and immortal, indestructible texture like refined gold!

And within this texture, a layer of jade quality was slowly emerging!

【Gold Bone】, fully activated!

At the same time, the Hundred Refinements Viscera Essence Method revolved, his internal organs resonating, transforming into an invisible furnace.

The Blood Fortifying Secret Record was activated, vitality burst forth from the depths of his bone marrow, and his Qi and blood surged continuously like a great river!

Those few "Blood-Devouring Gu Threads" wrapped around his body, the moment they touched his pale gold skin, were like ice and snow meeting a red-hot branding iron, emitting a "hissing" wail.

They actually faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually turning into a few wisps of foul-smelling black smoke and dissipating into the air.

"—The bugs you raised," Jiang Hanzhou shook his arm, as if he had just brushed off some dust, "seem... to not like my blood?"

He Yunqi's smile froze completely on his face.

He widened his eyes, looking in disbelief at the skin on Jiang Hanzhou's arm, which didn't even have a red mark left on it.

Then he looked at the phantom of the mother Gu on his own chest, whose light had dimmed by several shades.

A ludicrous realization, accompanied by a bone-chilling cold, instantly overwhelmed him.

How is this possible?!

The Blood-Devouring Gu Threads, specifically designed to break a Martial Artist's Qi and blood, to erode bones and suck marrow, were always effective!

Even for a Martial Artist known for their defense, it would be absolutely impossible to break free so easily after being wrapped up!

Unless... unless his bone tempering level had already reached the legendary...

"Jade... Jade Bone?!"

He Yunqi's voice carried a tremor for the first time.

Jiang Hanzhou did not answer.

He only raised the water-dividing thorn in his hand once again.

The pitch-black thorn body reflected He Yunqi's pale, bloodless face in the moonlight, along with the purple-gold light shadow on his chest that was flickering due to the backlash.

"A frog at the bottom of a well only ever sees that small patch of sky above its head."

Jiang Hanzhou's voice rang out calmly, as if stating a fact that couldn't be simpler.

"Young Master He, you are right."

"But it's a pity..."

He bowed slightly, the Qi and blood in his body silent as if before a mountain torrent, all his strength, all his killing intent, all his "tides" were concentrated at the tip of the thorn at this moment.

【Tidal Shadow Thousand Hands · Return to Void Style】!

The next instant, his body followed the thorn, transforming into a black light that tore through the night, stabbing straight toward He Yunqi's chest, where the core of the mother Gu was located!

"—The well I stand in is just a little bit deeper than you imagined."

As his voice fell, the tip of the water-dividing thorn had already touched that eerie purple-gold light shadow.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.