Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 167: Chapter 129: Flatten This Path! Who Dares to Stop Me

Copper Mountain’s mouth hung open, his eyes wide as saucers. Witnessing the scene, he seemed to forget how to breathe.

He suddenly shuddered.

Striding quickly to Wan Ze’s side, he said in a low rumble, ”Let’s go together.”

Wan Ze nodded. ”This way.”

The two of them charged toward the West Gate.

The people blocking their path were no match for them at all.

But just then, a figure suddenly appeared, approaching at high speed, his surging vital energy completely undisguised.

Copper Mountain’s pupils shrank.

Even from over ten meters away, he could feel the momentum pressing down on him like an invisible wall, constricting his chest and making it difficult to breathe.

’”What the hell... is this a Refining Viscera Late Stage expert?!”’

’”What have I ever done to deserve this?!”’

A grimace twisted Copper Mountain’s lips.

He had seen too many masters during his time in the Secret Palace; this sense of oppression was all too familiar.

He instinctively raised his arms to block in front of him.

But he was nowhere near as fast as the man before him.

”BANG!”

The savage Fist Force precisely slammed into Copper Mountain’s raised arms.

The sound of shattering bone was drowned out by the muffled boom of the air being blasted apart before it could even reach his ears.

The next instant.

Copper Mountain was sent flying backward a full ten meters.

”BOOM!”

He slammed heavily into the alloy wall, caving in a section of it as cracks rapidly spread outward from the point of impact.

Wan Ze’s expression changed slightly.

He wanted to save Copper Mountain, but he had no chance.

At almost the same moment, Wan Ze’s figure flickered, dodging the man’s follow-up attack.

But the palm strike grazed past his ear, the wind it generated stinging his cheek.

He was forcefully driven back again.

The exit was now completely sealed off.

”A little interesting.”

The newcomer retracted his palm and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

His voice was hoarse and tinged with coldness. ”The Fire Thunder Celestial God of Nanyang, gracing us with his presence...”

It was Old Ke.

He glanced aside at Black Panther, who was embedded in the wall.

The corpse was completely lifeless...

Old Ke’s face darkened further. His gaze grew grim as he turned back, his eyes lingering on Wan Ze’s mask for a moment before he ordered those behind him, ”Take him away.”

Two dark figures shot out from the shadows, rushing toward Black Panther’s body by the wall.

At that moment, Wan Ze took a step forward.

A cold smirk played on Old Ke’s lips. ”Your opponent is me.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he moved.

His vital energy erupted. The ground beneath his feet exploded, and shattered bricks flew in all directions as if blasted by dynamite.

Dust and smoke billowed up, quickly filling the air.

In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Wan Ze.

A palm strike chopped down from above.

Before the palm wind even arrived, the shattered bricks on the ground were pressed down an inch.

Wan Ze’s expression remained unchanged as he used the sound of the wind to pinpoint the position.

He sidestepped to evade.

The palm strike missed, hitting the wall instead.

”BOOM!”

The wall cracked.

Fissures spread out more than three meters from the center of Old Ke’s palm.

The broken pillars, shattered bricks, and rubble along the way were jolted into the air by this force, only to fall back down and crumble into even finer dust.

Copper Mountain, who had just gotten to his feet, felt his chest tighten from the aftershock and took another two steps back.

Seeing his palm strike miss again, Old Ke raised an eyebrow, a rare note of admiration in his voice. ”The Fire Thunder Celestial God... truly lives up to his reputation.”

As he spoke, he was already turning to launch his second attack.

Wan Ze didn’t move.

Because another figure shot out from the side to meet the attack.

”BANG!”

As their palms met, a shockwave erupted.

The surrounding ruined walls were swept by this shockwave and toppled outward in unison.

Dust and smoke once again filled the air, obscuring the sky and moon.

The two figures separated.

One of them retreated to Wan Ze’s side.

He was also wearing a mask.

It was the mask of the Fire Celestial God.

Zhai Jia shook his wrist, turned to Wan Ze, and said in a low voice, ”This guy’s tough. Find a chance to leave later. I’ll cover your retreat.”

Copper Mountain looked at the back of the man wearing the Fire Celestial God mask, then at Wan Ze, then at the ruined wall toppled by the shockwave. His throat felt dry.

’Since when...?’

’...has my Brother Wan gotten this damn amazing???’

...

Old Ke’s gaze shifted between the two of them.

”So, it turns out you two are the real Fire and Thunder Celestial Gods.”

He frowned slightly. His tone held a hint of surprise, but beyond the surprise was a growing interest.

”Two Martial Artists from Nanyang. What are you doing here?” he said slowly.

But before he could finish, Zhai Jia had already charged forward.

Old Ke’s gaze was frigid. He didn’t back down.

The two of them clashed once more.

Fists and palms met, sending out one shockwave after another.

In a duel between Refining Viscera Level experts, every blow carried the power to shatter stone tablets.

The surrounding ruins crumbled like paper-mache wherever the aftershocks passed.

Meanwhile, Wan Ze supported Copper Mountain, planning to use the opportunity to break out.

Old Ke caught this from the corner of his eye. While still fighting, he ordered everyone, ”Don’t let any of them escape.”

He forced Zhai Jia back with a palm strike, his gaze sweeping over the distant Copper Mountain before returning to the two masked men in front of him.

’Copper Mountain must be kept here.’

’These two suicidal Fire and Thunder Celestial Gods must be kept here as well.’

’Because the lab needs more ready-made test subjects.’

At this thought, a smile tugged at his lips.

It was devoid of warmth.

More like a... greed for ultimate power.

...

”Block the West Gate, don’t let them escape!”

The man with glasses’ voice came from the flank. He and seven or eight guards were flanking them from behind the ruins, their guns already raised.

These weren’t ordinary guns.

The barrels were half a length longer than standard models, and some sort of metal device was attached beneath the muzzles.

”Look out—”

Copper Mountain’s shout had barely left his lips when the guns fired.

A muffled HISSS, like the spray of high-pressure gas.

The bullets’ trajectories were nearly invisible in the flickering room, marked only by the shriek of tearing air.

Wan Ze was about to move.

But a massive figure moved sideways faster than he could.

It was Copper Mountain.

’This guy is as loyal as ever!’

”THWIP.”

The bullet sank into flesh.

Copper Mountain let out a muffled grunt of pain.

A flower of blood blossomed on his left shoulder.

Wan Ze noticed icy blue patterns rapidly spreading from Copper Mountain’s wound. The skin at the edge of the wound turned a strange pale white, and the bullet itself was still emitting a trace of eerie cold air.

’Is this... a freezing effect?’

Wan Ze frowned.

Copper Mountain’s entire left arm now hung limply, but he didn’t fall. Gritting his teeth, he turned his head and forced out a few words to Wan Ze, ”These bullets... are strange... Don’t get hit...”

The man with glasses stood seven or eight meters away, the muzzle of his gun still emitting faint white smoke. He licked his lips, a look of a cat toying with a mouse on his face. ”Copper Mountain, you’re a tough bastard. But none of you are getting away today. Old Ke is holding one of them back, so we’ll finish things quickly over here—”

He paused, turning his gun on Wan Ze, and said with narrowed eyes, ”After we take care of you two, we’ll go help Old Ke with that Fire Celestial God. All the credit tonight will be ours.”

The guards behind him started to laugh along.

But their laughter had just begun when it died abruptly.

Because the man wearing the Thunder God mask... moved.

It wasn’t just fast.

It was explosive!

A ferocity like a crashing thunderbolt!

The ground beneath Wan Ze’s feet shattered with a ROAR. Debris shot out in all directions like shrapnel as his figure, trailing an afterimage in the moonlight, charged straight toward the gun.

The man with glasses’ pupils contracted violently.

He decisively pulled the trigger.

”HISSS-HISSS-HISSS-HISSS—”

The bullets formed a continuous line.

But about half a foot from Wan Ze’s body, the bullets suddenly seemed to hit some kind of invisible barrier.

Almost simultaneously, Wan Ze reached out. His fingertips tore through the air, and he actually flicked the incoming bullets away with his bare hands!

This speed and this formidable Horizontal Training far exceeded anyone’s imagination!

The warheads were instantly deflected, peppering the ruins with dense bullet holes. Some guards, unable to dodge in time, were hit and fell screaming into pools of their own blood.

’”How the fuck is this possible?!?”’

’Not even Black Panther dared to take these bullets head-on, but this Thunder Celestial God from Nanyang can do it?’

’Does he really think he’s a celestial god?’

The thought flashed through the man with glasses’ mind.

But before the thought could fully form, Wan Ze’s figure had already charged into the group of guards.

The guard at the front swung a sharp knife, but before it could even descend, Wan Ze’s fist had arrived.

”BANG!”

The punch landed squarely on his chest.

The guard’s chest visibly caved in. As if hit by a speeding truck, his feet left the ground, and he flew backward, knocking over two of his companions behind him.

The sound of shattering bones was as dense as popping beans, a rapid CRACKLE-POP.

Wan Ze didn’t stop.

The effect of his Mysterious Shadow Step activated directly.

His figure weaved through the guards like a phantom.

With every punch, someone was sent flying. They were lifeless by the time they hit the ground, splattering blood everywhere.

In the blink of an eye, within the span of a single breath, five people went from contact to collapse, all of them dead.

The man with glasses witnessed this firsthand. Holding his gun, his arms began to tremble.

He jerked his gun up.

He wanted to kill Wan Ze as quickly as possible.

But...

Just as he saw Wan Ze’s figure at the moment the last guard fell, that shadow had already vanished from its spot.

’He’s... Where did he go?’

The man with glasses’ eyes widened as he frantically scanned his surroundings.

’To the left?’

’The right?’

’Or... above?’

But before he could spot Wan Ze, a hand suddenly shot out from behind and clamped around his neck.

The power was a surging, violent torrent, like a landslide and tsunami crashing into his body.

Before the man with glasses could react, he was lifted clean off the ground by that hand.

His body, weighing over sixty kilograms, dangled in mid-air.

He struggled to turn his head, wanting to see the face clearly.

But he could only vaguely make out... a Thunder God mask.

’It’s him!’

The man with glasses opened his mouth, wanting to say something...

’Beg for mercy?’

’Or make a threat?’

In truth, he didn’t even know what he wanted to say.

More accurately, the hand didn’t give him the chance!

”BOOM!”

The man with glasses was slammed violently onto the ground.

His neck snapped completely.

Brain matter... splattered!

...

In an instant, the surrounding guards froze in place.

They stared at the headless corpse, then at the masked man standing beside it... covered in blood.

Their feet seemed rooted to the ground; no one dared to move an inch.

The pale light shone on the Thunder God mask.

Cold...

And silent.

A dead silence filled the air.

Everyone looked at Wan Ze as if they were looking at a great demon lord who had just crawled out of the Nine Nether Abyss.

...

Just then, a furious roar came from the distance.

”Bastard!”

Old Ke forced Zhai Jia back with a palm strike and turned his head to look over. His gaze passed over the ruins, looking at the guards who were too afraid to move with bitter disappointment, before finally landing on the man in the Thunder God mask.

Black Panther was dead, and now the man with glasses had also died at this guy’s hands!

The entire secret base had suffered heavy losses. Of the three administrators, he was the only one left. Even if he managed to keep Wan Ze and the others here... he would still be held accountable in the end!

”You... you really deserve to die!”

Old Ke’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot.