"Whoooosh—!"
In that instant—
Vast torrents of life energy swept across Zhao Xuan's entire body.
No—
Not just his body.
The moment he swallowed the small segment of divine stone bamboo shoot that he had hidden in his mouth—
The moment he released the life energy he had been forcefully suppressing within his bones—
Because his body's capacity had limits—
Enormous quantities of life energy surged outward through his pores, spilling from within him.
Within half a meter around Zhao Xuan, the air was saturated with dense life energy.
So dense, in fact, that it showed faint signs of liquefaction.
From afar, it looked as if Zhao Xuan had suddenly been enveloped in a thin layer of pale white mist.
Within 0.0001 seconds—
Zhao Xuan's body, which had been gravely weakened due to the backlash of the One-Second Technique and the deliberate blow he had taken from Hawkins, instantly recovered to peak condition.
Then—
Almost at the same time—
The One-Second Technique activated once more.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous punch.
A punch with no restraint.
A steel fist wrapped in dense Armament Aura and endless lightning shot upward.
In a blink, it had already arrived before Hawkins.
Hawkins was strong.
Zhao Xuan had to admit that.
But—
To ensure an instant kill—
Zhao Xuan had put on one hell of a performance.
Just moments ago, he had truly looked like he was on the brink of death.
And Hawkins' attention had been almost entirely focused on the divine medicine bamboo shoot clutched in Zhao Xuan's left hand.
So—
By the time Hawkins realized something was wrong—
Zhao Xuan's fist was already right in front of his face.
At that instant—
A terrifying sense of danger flooded Hawkins' entire body.
"Bad—bad—bad—bad—bad!"
A voice screamed hysterically inside his mind.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
His heart began to pound violently.
An overwhelming sense of dread seized him.
Feigning weakness to strike like a tiger.
Those four words surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.
"Damn it!!!"
Hawkins roared hoarsely.
BOOM!!!!!
He activated his extreme forbidden technique.
An aura surpassing the Seventh Rank erupted from within him.
Eighth-Rank power.
Yes—
With the boost of his forbidden technique, Hawkins had also reached Eighth-Rank King-level combat strength.
But—
The timing of Zhao Xuan's strike was simply perfect.
When Hawkins was less than one meter away.
When his focus was entirely on the divine medicine.
When his guard had almost completely dropped—
The eruption came.
Hawkins reacted in that instant and activated his forbidden technique.
But—
What good was that?
He had entered an explosive state—
Yet there was no time left to do anything else.
BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!
The next moment—
Zhao Xuan's iron fist smashed brutally into Hawkins' face.
The collision was deafening.
The terrifying power contained within that punch surged like a breached dam, crashing violently into Hawkins' skull.
Crack crack crack—!
Crisp sounds of bones shattering rang out.
Hawkins' high-bridged nose snapped instantly.
His face caved inward.
Teeth exploded from his mouth.
"Ugh—!"
With a muffled groan, Hawkins was sent flying backward.
Step! Step!
Strike while he's sick—kill him.
How could Zhao Xuan possibly give Hawkins a chance to recover?
How could he allow him even a moment to breathe?
With overwhelming life energy supporting him, Zhao Xuan no longer feared the backlash of the One-Second Technique.
He maintained True Man Mode throughout the entire assault.
With 40,000 physique points, his base speed was already terrifying—nearly rivaling a low-tier Eighth-Rank King.
Now—
With the One-Second Technique layered on top—
His burst speed could even rival a mid-tier Eighth-Rank King.
What did that mean?
It was explosive.
To put it simply—
In Dragon-Man form alone, Zhao Xuan's speed already exceeded the speed of sound.
With the One-Second Technique, that speed increased by at least fifty percent.
…
BOOM!!!
A violent sonic boom erupted as Zhao Xuan vanished from his spot.
The next instant—
He appeared directly in front of the still-flying Hawkins.
BOOM!!!
Another punch, wrapped in Armament Aura and raging lightning, slammed forward.
Fast.
Too fast.
Unbelievably fast.
Zhao Xuan wasn't just fast—
His mind was clear.
His decisions were ruthless and decisive.
Hawkins hadn't even processed Zhao Xuan's previous punch—
No—
He hadn't even understood how Zhao Xuan had gone from near death to full recovery—
When the second punch smashed into his head.
THUD!!!!!
A brutal impact.
"AAARGH!"
Before his scream ended—
The third punch landed.
Boom! Thud!
Boom! Thud!
Boom! Thud!
Punch after punch after punch!
At that moment—
Hawkins was nothing more than a volleyball, repeatedly battered through the air by Zhao Xuan.
If this had been a frontal, fair fight—
With Hawkins' strength, Zhao Xuan could never have dominated so easily.
During Hawkins' forbidden-technique burst, Zhao Xuan might even have been suppressed.
But—
One wrong step leads to endless mistakes.
Under Zhao Xuan's storm-like onslaught—
Hawkins couldn't counterattack.
He couldn't even defend.
His head was struck again and again.
Five punches.
Ten punches.
Fifteen punches.
Twenty punches.
Twenty-five punches.
Thirty punches.
Thirty punches.
In the few seconds Hawkins was airborne, Zhao Xuan unleashed thirty consecutive blows directly onto his head.
After thirty punches—
Hawkins' face had completely collapsed inward.
Blood poured from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.
Within that vivid red—
One could even see fragments of pale white matter.
BOOOOM!!!!!!
Hawkins finally crashed to the ground.
The ancient city street shattered.
The ground within several kilometers trembled violently.
A massive crater formed.
"Ah… ugh… ah…"
Hawkins lay curled at the bottom of the crater, howling weakly.
Step. Step. Step.
Zhao Xuan was already standing before him again.
"Impressive toughness."
"After thirty punches in True Man Mode, you're still alive."
"With that level of force, I could've killed a low-tier Eighth-Rank King already."
The thought only intensified Zhao Xuan's killing intent.
The next instant—
BOOM!!!
He attacked again.
One hand pressed Hawkins' neck into the ground.
The other clenched into a fist.
And slammed down on his head.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In moments, seven or eight punches landed.
Each impact shook the ground for kilometers around.
Finally—
When Zhao Xuan's next punch smashed down—
Hawkins' skull could no longer endure it.
Pop.
Like an overripe watermelon exploding—
Blood and pale matter sprayed everywhere.
After killing Hawkins, Zhao Xuan didn't pause for even a second.
He grabbed the Spatial Ruin Core that had fallen from Hawkins' body and leapt cleanly out of the crater.
His gaze shifted—
Toward the remaining seven members of Hawkins' group.
"Next…"
"It's your turn."
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Read Chapters ahead: [email protected] / KaiOynx