47: Chapter 47 Where there are dragons, slay them!

Bai Tianxiao's fist carried the "Evil Flood Dragon Blood Essence" unique to the half-step Dragon Elephant Realm. The pitch-black Protective Aura condensed into a solid form at the tip of his fist. Wherever it passed, the air let out a sharp, explosive boom, and raindrops were steamed into white mist before they could even get close.

Jiang Hanzhou's fist was simple and unadorned; only the faint golden luster flowing beneath his skin was subtly visible. The air in front of his fist distorted slightly, and a dragon-tiger phantom flashed and vanished.

Rumble—!!!

The two fists collided!

There was no sharp sound of metal clashing, only a dull thunderous explosion, as if two mountains had violently slammed into each other!

With the tips of their fists as the center, a visible circular airwave exploded outward, sweeping across the entire deck.

Crack, crack, crack—!

The iron-clad deck of the flagship, three inches thick, actually shattered layer by layer like fragile thin ice, bulging and blowing apart!

Wood chips and iron fragments mixed with rainwater, shooting out in all directions like a Storm of Pear Blossoms, embedding themselves deeply into the gunwales and the remains of the masts, even flying dozens of feet away to fall into the river.

Bai Tianxiao's pupils shrank suddenly.

With this punch, he had already used seventy percent of his Evil Flood Dragon Blood Essence. If an ordinary Peak Viscera Burning Realm expert took it head-on, their arm bones would surely shatter and their five internal organs would certainly rupture.

But the counter-shock force coming from the tip of the fist felt like hitting an erupting volcano!

That power was incomparably fierce, yet it was also continuous, coming in layers upon layers, as if it were infinite!

Even more terrifying was that the opponent's fist was incredibly hard.

That wasn't the hardness of a Protective Aura, but the bone and flesh itself, which had already surpassed hundred-refined steel!

"You..." A sweet taste rose in Bai Tianxiao's throat as his blood and Qi surged. He was actually shaken by this punch and slid back three steps, each step plowing a deep groove into the shattered deck.

Jiang Hanzhou's figure only swayed slightly. The steel plate beneath his feet dented an inch, yet he remained as steady as a rock.

He looked up, a golden light flashing in his eyes.

"Half-step Dragon Elephant, that's it?"

Before his voice could fade, he moved!

There was no gathering of momentum, no bells and whistles, just a simple step forward.

Bang!

A large hole exploded in the deck beneath his feet, and his figure closed in on Bai Tianxiao's left side like a phantom. His right fist was like a cannon, blasting directly toward the ribs.

Fast!

So fast that Bai Tianxiao only had time to barely turn sideways and hastily block with his left arm.

Thud!

Fist and arm collided. Bai Tianxiao felt as if his left arm had been hit by a battering ram. The pain was piercing, and his Protective Aura was actually broken through by this punch. His arm bone let out a groan as it reached its limit.

"Seeking death!" Bai Tianxiao was both shocked and furious. His right hand formed a claw, his five fingers glowing with a pitch-black light as he lunged straight for Jiang Hanzhou's heart.

This claw, "Evil Flood Dragon Heart Extraction," was a poisonous killing move from his Evil Flood Dragon Wave Surfing Art. The finger force could penetrate the body and was specialized in destroying internal organs. Three Viscera Burning Realm experts had once died to this move.

Jiang Hanzhou, however, neither dodged nor avoided it. His left palm struck first, his five fingers spreading and clamping down on Bai Tianxiao's wrist like iron pincers.

Bang!

Claw and palm met. The moment Bai Tianxiao's black Protective Aura touched the skin of Jiang Hanzhou's palm, it actually made a sizzling, corrosive sound. Yet it only left a few faint white marks on that jade-like skin before it could advance no further!

And Jiang Hanzhou's five fingers had already tightened like steel bands!

Crack!

Bai Tianxiao's wrist throbbed with pain as the bones creaked under the pressure. His Protective Aura shattered like paper.

"Get lost!" Bai Tianxiao roared. Black Qi exploded from his body, and the evil flood dragon phantom at his spine hissed and coiled. A violent force erupted from within him, forcibly shaking off Jiang Hanzhou's fingers as he used the momentum to retreat rapidly.

The two had only exchanged three moves in the blink of an eye, yet the remains of the entire flagship were already teetering.

"Satisfying!"

The Battle Intent in Jiang Hanzhou's eyes burned even brighter. He gave a long laugh and suddenly exerted force with his feet.

Boom—!

The already shattered deck could no longer withstand this immense force. With his feet as the center, a large hole about two yards wide collapsed with a roar.

Wooden beams snapped, steel plates twisted, and the entire flagship let out a shrill groan as the hull began to slowly break apart from the middle.

"The ship is sinking!" someone on the shore cried out in shock.

At the very moment the hull broke and the river water rushed in—

Bai Tianxiao tapped the tip of his foot against a broken mast, and his figure soared into the sky!

His hair and beard were flared out, his eyes were as red as blood, and the dark red blood essence at his chest shone brightly. The black Protective Aura around him condensed into a solid form, transforming behind him into a ten-foot-long, ferocious evil flood dragon phantom that bared its fangs and claws, roaring silently at the sky!

With the full explosion of the half-step Dragon Elephant Realm, he was already able to briefly stay airborne!

He looked down from above, pressed his palms together, and then suddenly pushed downward.

"Evil Flood Dragon Overturning the River—Suppress!"

Boom!

The curtain of rain in the sky seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, suddenly spinning and gathering into a pitch-black water tornado about a yard in diameter. The evil flood dragon phantom coiled around it, carrying the weight of ten thousand tons as it crashed toward the center of the slowly sinking wreckage below.

It smashed down toward where Jiang Hanzhou was!

This strike had already drawn upon the pressure of heaven and earth. The rain borrowed the wind's momentum, and the wind aided the water's power. Its might far exceeded ordinary Viscera Burning Realm martial arts.

Jiang Hanzhou looked up at the roaring evil flood dragon water tornado. Golden light flowed in his eyes, and he showed not a hint of fear.

He bent his legs slightly, and the piece of ship plank beneath him that was about to sink suddenly exploded.

Using the force of that kick, his figure was like a reverse shooting star. He didn't dodge or avoid it, but charged straight up!

He clenched his right hand into a fist and pulled it back to his waist.

The pale golden blood and Qi around him were like boiling lava, frantically pouring into his right fist. The radiant light of the dao bone beneath his skin was faintly visible, condensing into a point of brilliant, dazzling golden light at the tip of his fist!

Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill killing move—Crouching Tiger Collapsing Mountain!

The punch was thrown!

There was no sound.

Because the air in front of the fist was completely drained and compressed in that instant, and then—

Explosion!

A visible pale golden fist aura shot out. At first, it was only the size of a bowl, but it grew as it met the wind, transforming into a roaring tiger phantom that bared its fangs and claws, violently colliding with the evil flood dragon water tornado!

Tiger's roar against flood dragon's hiss!

Golden light against black baleful Qi!

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!

In mid-air, it was as if a small sun had exploded!

Golden and black lights intertwined frantically... and annihilated each other!

The evil flood dragon phantom wailed and collapsed, and the water tornado was torn apart from the center by the fist aura, turning into a torrential downpour that poured down.

The remaining force of the fist aura was not yet exhausted, and it slammed heavily into Bai Tianxiao's crossed arms.

Pfft—!

Bai Tianxiao was hit as if by a bolt of lightning. Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, his arms throbbed with excruciating pain, and his Protective Aura shattered inch by inch. He was sent flying upward more than ten yards by this punch.

In his eyes, an unbelievable horror finally appeared!

The power of this punch... how is it possible?!

This was definitely not the power of the Viscera Burning Realm.

After Jiang Hanzhou threw the punch, his momentum was spent, and he began to fall.

But a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly stepped on the void with his right foot.

Bang!

He actually stepped out a circle of visible white airwave ripples!

Void Treading!

Using this leverage from thin air, his downward momentum suddenly stopped. His figure turned like a falcon, pouncing once again toward Bai Tianxiao above.

"Impossible!"

Bai Tianxiao let out a sharp, lost roar, frantically driving his Evil Flood Dragon Blood Essence. He struck with both palms repeatedly, and dozens of pitch-black palm shadows covered the area like a rainstorm.

Jiang Hanzhou was in mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, yet he was not at all flustered.

His hands were like butterflies flitting through flowers—sometimes a fist, sometimes a palm, sometimes a finger, sometimes a claw. He performed the Tidal Shadow Thousand Hands at the Perfection level to its limit, and dozens of arm phantoms, difficult to distinguish between real and false, appeared simultaneously in the air!

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Explosions as dense as drumbeats rang out in the air!

Every single pitch-black palm shadow was accurately intercepted and smashed!

Jiang Hanzhou penetrated the curtain of palm shadows and was already within three feet of Bai Tianxiao.

Bai Tianxiao's face changed drastically. He retreated frantically while simultaneously throwing a whip-like kick, sweeping toward Jiang Hanzhou's waist and abdomen.

Jiang Hanzhou neither dodged nor avoided it. His left hand shot out like lightning, his five fingers forming a hook as he accurately caught the incoming ankle.

It felt cold and hard, like holding a steel pillar, but Jiang Hanzhou exerted force with his fingers, and the radiant light of the dao bone flowed.

Crack!

The Protective Aura shattered!

The ankle bone let out a groan as it reached its limit!

"Get down here!" Jiang Hanzhou roared. He pulled down violently with his left hand and slammed his right knee upward like an iron hammer.

Bai Tianxiao was in the air with nowhere to gain leverage, and he watched helplessly as that knee strike rapidly enlarged in his pupils.

At the critical moment of life and death, he let out a sharp cry and actually stopped struggling. Instead, he twisted his body with the momentum, his hands forming claws, stabbing straight for Jiang Hanzhou's eyes.

Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao!

A cold light flashed in Jiang Hanzhou's eyes. His right knee continued its course, but his left hand released Bai Tianxiao's ankle and turned to block upward.

Thud!

The knee strike slammed hard into Bai Tianxiao's lower abdomen.

Ugh, ah—!

Bai Tianxiao let out a shrill, miserable wail. The black Protective Aura at his abdomen exploded, and his five internal organs and six bowels felt as if they had been hit by a giant hammer. Intense pain instantly swept through his entire body, and fresh blood mixed with internal organ fragments sprayed from his mouth!

And his claws were also parried by Jiang Hanzhou's left hand, only leaving several bloodstains deep enough to see the bone on his arm.

But in an instant, those bloodstains healed and scabbed over at a visible speed, leaving only faint white marks!

With the dao bone newly formed, the self-healing power of his Physical Body was already beyond what ordinary people could achieve!

"You..." Fear finally appeared in Bai Tianxiao's eyes.

Jiang Hanzhou, however, would no longer give him any chances.

His right hand shot out like lightning, his five fingers spreading and grabbing Bai Tianxiao's waist and abdomen.

At the point of contact, beneath that dull, iron-like skin, the Evil Flood Dragon Blood Essence throbbed frantically, trying to resist.

But Jiang Hanzhou exerted force with his fingers, and his pale golden blood and Qi poured in like a raging fire, forcibly suppressing the blood essence's riot!

"It's time to end this."

Jiang Hanzhou spoke indifferently. Holding Bai Tianxiao by the waist, he turned his body, head down and feet up, and toward the rolling river water below—

He fell down with a crash!

"No—!!!" Bai Tianxiao's miserable wail was swallowed by the howling wind and torrential rain.

The two were like shooting stars falling to the earth, slamming hard into the center of the river!

Boom—!!!

It was as if a ten-thousand-ton boulder had been thrown into the river!

A huge splash of water over ten yards in diameter exploded from the river's surface, soaring up over twenty yards high!

Following that, with the point of impact as the center, terrifying waves of water, like an angry dragon turning over, surged frantically in all directions!

Splash—!

The river water lunged toward the shore like a tsunami.

"Run! The water is coming!"

"Retreat! Retreat to higher ground!"

The crowd on the shore screamed in terror, pushing and crying as they fled frantically toward the higher ground behind them.

Some who were too close to the riverbank and fled slowly were instantly hit by the yard-high waves, swept into the water, and struggled with screams.

The soldiers of the Patrol Inspection Division also couldn't care less about maintaining order and retreated one after another.

The sheds of the Canglang Water Dock were directly flattened by a wave. Dock Master protected his son as they retreated rapidly, looking at the center of the river with a pale face, his eyes full of horror.

This... is this a commotion that human power can cause?!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deep in the center of the river, it was as if two ancient Vicious Beasts were fighting frantically.

Dull, thunderous booms continuously came from underwater, shaking the river surface so violently that it churned, and water pillars exploded one after another.

The river water was stirred into a muddy soup, and countless bubbles rolled and surged out, mixed with broken water plants and the corpses of fish and shrimp...

No, not just fish and shrimp!

"Look! Fish! So many fish!"

Someone pointed at the river surface and cried out in alarm.

In the muddy river water, large patches of white-bellied fish corpses floated up. The small ones were the size of a palm, while the large ones were actually half a man's length. They were densely packed, covering dozens of yards of the river surface!

None of these fish corpses were intact. Some had their internal organs shattered, some had their bones broken, and more were bleeding from their seven orifices with their eyeballs exploded.

It was as if a destructive vibrational slaughter was taking place underwater!

The river water was dyed red once again.

It wasn't just a localized red, but large patches of crimson that continuously bled out from the depths of the river, mixing with mud, fish corpses, and broken ship planks, spreading through the churning waves. It was a shocking sight!

On the shore, there was dead silence.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes wide, staring fixedly at the churning river center that looked like it was boiling.

Time passed—one second, two seconds, three seconds...

Ten seconds.

The river surface suddenly became calm for a moment.

It was as if that terrifying struggle underwater had suddenly stopped.

And then—

Splash!

A figure broke through the water, bringing with it a shower of water, and landed steadily on a large piece of driftwood on the river.

It was Jiang Hanzhou.

He was soaked through, his coarse cloth clothes clinging to his body. On his exposed skin, aside from a few faint white marks that were rapidly healing, there were actually no more wounds.

And in his right hand, he was dragging something.

That was Bai Tianxiao.

Or rather, it was Bai Tianxiao's corpse.

The once majestic and overbearing leader of the White Dragon Gang was now like a tattered sack, held by the waist in Jiang Hanzhou's single hand and lifted into the air.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated, and his face was frozen in an expression of extreme fear and unwillingness.

His chest had collapsed into a terrifying hollow, his spine was snapped at a bizarre angle, his limbs hung limply, and almost every bone in his body was shattered.

That mass of "Evil Flood Dragon Blood Essence" that had once throbbed incessantly had long since dimmed and dissipated.

He was as dead as could be.

Jiang Hanzhou stood on the driftwood, his gaze indifferently sweeping over the dead silent, terrified, and incredulous crowd on the shore.

Then, he swung his arm.

Whoosh—!

Bai Tianxiao's corpse flew through the air like a cannonball, crossing dozens of yards of river surface. With a heavy thud, it slammed onto the muddy clearing on the shore, splashing a large amount of mud. It rolled a few times before lying there, face up, its hollow eyes seemingly still staring at the sky.

The entire scene was pin-drop silent.

Everyone stared blankly at that corpse, and at the figure standing alone on the driftwood in the river.

After a long while.

"Gang... Gang Leader Bai... is dead?"

"A half-step Dragon Elephant... was... was beaten to death?"

"My god..."

Whispers spread like a plague, soon turning into an uncontrollable uproar and commotion!

Fear!

Awe!

Shock!

Unbelievable!

Countless complex gazes were cast toward that figure in the center of the river.

Jiang Hanzhou, however, no longer looked at them.

He stood alone in the center of the river, the driftwood beneath his feet swaying gently with the waves. The gale whipped his wet hair, and the rain drenched his face.

He slowly closed his eyes.

In his chest, a wildness that had been suppressed for far too long was like a Vicious Beast breaking free from its shackles, surging violently up to his throat!

That was the frustration of a Soul from another world, being cautious and calculating every step in this strange world.

That was the anger of having to endure in the face of injustice, oppression, and this damn world.

That was the irritability of having just gained power yet still needing to disguise and calculate.

And tonight, all of this, as his fist crushed the powerful enemy, as the blood dyed the river red, and as that corpse landed heavily—

Was completely released!

"Ha..."

Jiang Hanzhou suddenly gave a low laugh.

The laughter grew louder, turning into a long laugh, and finally—

He let out a long roar toward the sky!

The sound was like a dragon's roar, penetrating the curtain of rain, the river waves, and the heavy night, echoing over the entire Old Stork Bay!

"My heart is clear—turbid waves—three thousand miles—!!!"

Every word was like a thunderclap, containing majestic blood and Qi and endless wildness, making the eardrums of the people on the shore ache and their blood surge!

Everyone looked up in shock.

Before Jiang Hanzhou's roar could fade, his figure was already like a giant roc spreading its wings. He kicked off the driftwood and sped toward the darkness downstream!

His figure grew distant, but that final roar was like a brand, slamming hard into everyone's hearts—

"Where! There! Is! A! Flood! Dragon—"

"Slay! The! Flood! Dragon—!!!"

The lingering sound echoed endlessly on the river.

On the shore, thousands of people stood blankly in the rain, their Souls seemingly lost.

Only the river waves sobbed, and the blood flowed eastward.

Tonight, the White Dragon Gang was wiped out.

Tonight, the name of Jiang Hanzhou will be like that roar that cut through the rainy night—

Resounding across the three rivers!