That was close, but luckily I was more skilled.

Fang Chu first looked in Xu Mu's direction, then gazed at the destroyed pyramid behind him.

A monstrous wave of shock had already surged in his heart. The distance between them was at least a thousand meters.

What did that mean?

One must know that the effective range of a standard handgun bullet is only about a hundred meters.

Effective range meant lethality.

If it exceeded this range, even though the bullet could still fly, it would lose its momentum and could no longer inflict lethal damage on a person.

Meanwhile, a standard sniper rifle had an effective range of around two thousand meters.

Yet Xu Mu's massive sword qi could actually slice through stone from over a thousand meters away.

Gu Yongming's eyes widened into perfect circles. "This move... Earth-tier... No! Heaven-tier! It's a Heaven-tier cultivation method!"

Judging from Xu Mu's power, he was only at the early stage of the Grandmaster realm.

At this realm, to unleash an attack of such magnitude—an Earth-tier method couldn't achieve this. It had to be Heaven-tier.

He remembered Ye Chen saying earlier that Li Jiao was at the peak of the early Grandmaster realm.

The reason he had agreed to help Ye Chen this time was because Ye Chen would provide pills to help him break through to the mid Grandmaster realm.

But to his surprise, Li Jiao was killed by Xu Mu in a single move.

"Alright, next."

Xu Mu stomped on the ground and broke into a wild sprint. His physique stat of over a thousand was pushed to its absolute limit at this moment.

The stone slabs beneath his feet reacted as if explosives had been planted underneath them.

With every step he took, the ground exploded.

Rumble!

Xu Mu was like a human bulldozer; the ground behind him continuously shattered, sending clouds of dust and smoke into the air.

Swish!

In the blink of an eye, Xu Mu appeared right in front of Fang Chu. Gripping his longsword tightly, he slashed down at him.

At this moment, the black longsword was wreathed in blood-red flames, which were accompanied by an aura of black gas.

This was precisely the Heaven-tier technique, the Heaven-Burning Sword Art.

Seeing this, Fang Chu immediately drew a thick short sword from behind his back.

This was the weapon he had obtained earlier from the Jiuli Tribe's tomb.

The Jiuli Tribe's weapon forging could be said to be the strongest in the world.

"Xu Mu!"

Fang Chu roared through gritted teeth.

Crack!

Suddenly, Fang Chu turned pale with fright—his weapon had actually snapped! He rapidly retreated.

Slash!

But even so, Xu Mu's longsword left a straight, bloody gash across his face.

Fang Chu retreated dozens of meters away. He reached up to touch his face, looking at the dripping blood, his eyes resembling an enraged beast.

[Destiny Power -50]

Buzz!

Countless stones and clouds of dust from the surroundings began to swirl around Fang Chu's body.

Even in the air, one could see the dust continuously rising.

Seeing this, Xu Mu carried his black longsword and walked over step by step.

Dust Shadow Control.

He had seen Fang Chu use this move before when fighting Ye Chen.

It could control the dust and dirt within a certain range—it was indeed a top-tier technique.

"Xu Mu! I want you dead! I want you dead!"

Fang Chu let out a furious roar and instantly charged at Xu Mu.

Xu Mu's body gradually released a golden radiance, which completely enveloped him.

Finally, it formed a suit of golden armor interlaced with dark red lines.

"Come, confront your destiny!"

The moment Xu Mu stepped into Fang Chu's range, he felt his body sway.

To think that this Heaven-tier dust-controlling technique actually bypassed the defense of the Demon's Guard.

As expected of the male protagonist.

At this moment, Xu Mu felt as if he had spun in circles a hundred times; his head was spinning wildly.

However, he took a deep breath and, relying on his powerful physique, quickly returned to normal.

The physique stat didn't just represent external physical defense, but also the internal organs of his body.

Fang Chu suddenly widened his eyes; he also felt the world before him begin to spin.

However, he could still see Xu Mu in front of him. His expression turned somewhat crazed. "Die!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Countless stone spikes shot toward Xu Mu, but they failed to pierce through his armor.

Conversely, on Fang Chu's side, bloody holes suddenly burst open on his legs and torso.

[Destiny Power -50]

Fang Chu felt a chill run down his spine and fell to his knees uncontrollably. What was going on?

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Gu Yongming flashed in front of Xu Mu and smashed a punch into his chest.

Crack!

With just a single strike, the armor on Xu Mu's chest shattered, leaving a fist-sized hole.

Xu Mu's body instantly flew backward, crashing into the pyramid structure behind him.

"Senior, I thought you were going to just watch me die."

Fang Chu turned his head to glare at Gu Yongming in the distance. "If you hadn't made a move, I would have run away."

At this moment, Xu Mu's body was embedded in the stone behind him.

He pulled himself out and shook his body slightly. It hurt a little. As expected of the Transcendent realm.

"Senior, are you planning to take my life?"

Xu Mu was a bit surprised. The old man had punched him, so why was he completely fine?

"To tell you the truth, I didn't want to kill you, but you... are a successor of the Jiuli Tribe!"

Gu Yongming clenched his fists, his eyes dark and gloomy. "In that case, you must be killed. Do you have any idea what the Jiuli Tribe did to me back then?"

Xu Mu shook his head slightly. As far as he was concerned, this was just Fang Chu's protagonist halo at work.

"I'm very curious, why are you unhurt?"

Xu Mu looked at Gu Yongming and asked.

"I understand this move too well."

As Gu Yongming spoke, he lifted his shirt. On his chest, there was a patch of solid ice that had frozen over his own flesh and skin.

"The Demon's Guard was created by Chi You, the God of War. Only the royal bloodline of the Jiuli Tribe is qualified to cultivate it. This move is a defensive shamanic art that can reflect a portion of an incoming attack."

Gu Yongming continued, "However, the reflected damage has a delay. After I punch you, the damage of that punch takes a moment to reflect back onto me."

"I see."

Xu Mu nodded inwardly. "Just now, immediately after punching me, you defended your own body to block the reflected damage."

"Correct. But this shamanic art reflects damage directly to the physical body, so Qi defenses are useless. You can only do what I did and fortify your physical defense."

Gu Yongming took a deep breath. "Xu Mu, if you weren't a successor of the Jiuli Tribe, I might have let you go. But today, you will undoubtedly die."

"If I told you I got this move by pure coincidence, would you believe me?"

Xu Mu smiled and shrugged.

"I don't! Without the guidance of the Jiuli Tribe, it would be impossible for you to cultivate it to this level."

Gu Yongming raised his hand. Water droplets gradually condensed in front of him, then froze into ice, forming an ice sword.

Whoosh!

Gu Yongming instantly charged at Xu Mu.

"Hahaha! Xu Mu! Watch out!"

Fang Chu let out a loud laugh and immediately unleashed his Dust Shadow Control.

Xu Mu, who was just preparing to counterattack, felt that strange sensation in his body once again.

In a battle between experts, the slightest misstep could affect the entire outcome.

Even though Xu Mu reacted in an instant, Gu Yongming's attack had already arrived.

"Beast-Trapping Ice!"

Gu Yongming slashed out with his sword, and the ice sword in his hand dissolved into water droplets and vanished.

The next moment, dense clusters of water droplets appeared all around Xu Mu's body.

Even though Xu Mu's figure flickered rapidly as he dodged, the water droplets continued to follow him.

"Give up. Now that you're locked on by my Beast-Trapping Ice, you can only defend; you can't break free. But can you even defend against my attack?"

As soon as Gu Yongming's voice fell, the water droplets surrounding Xu Mu suddenly transformed into a dense array of sharp spikes, piercing straight toward him.

Ice rapidly formed over Gu Yongming's body as well, completely encasing him in solid ice.

Crack!

In an instant, Xu Mu's Demon Guardian armor shattered, and the sharp ice spikes vanished into thin air.

Xu Mu grinned. "That was a close call. Good thing my skills are a cut above."