Hu Qiangda laughed loudly upon seeing Zhang Yong flee, raising his fist and shouting, "You coward! Have you no warrior's honor?! How dare you run from me like a rabbit!"
But he didn't stop there. He began to chase him with astonishing speed, his massive muscles bulging with every step, his booming voice echoing through the forest: "Come back here! I'll make a real man out of you today!"
Zhang Yong, running at full speed, couldn't help but look back. This bastard is fast!
'This lunatic... why does he look so happy?!'
Hu Qiangda was sprinting at top speed, the broad grin on his face not disappearing but shining even brighter with each passing moment. He seemed to be enjoying the chase more than the fight itself!
"Your running is fast! Good! That's an important part of physical strength! But you can't escape me!"
Zhang Yong suddenly stopped, his cold gaze fixing on the giant man before him. "Tch, damn you for chasing me," Zhang Yong snarled at him.
Hu Qiangda smiled, placing his hands on his hips. "I was born with the Heavenly Law Body of Strength, which is looked down upon as an inferior sub-law, didn't I tell you? My dream is to restore the glory of the ancient path of Strength! Therefore, I will kill every genius with a Heavenly Body, including that girl!" Hu Qiangda raised his hand and pointed at Long Yuliang.
"But I thought I had found my rival, the one with whom I could become stronger! Yet I am shocked by the reality that he is a woman-chaser!!" Hu Qiangda raised his fist and punched the ground hard. "Don't worry, I'll fix you. I'll kill that girl, and then there will be no woman left to hinder you, so you can become my worthy rival! Because that's what men are like!" Hu Qiangda raised his arms high, striking a pose that accentuated his muscles even more.
Zhang Yong looked at Hu Qiangda, who was showing off his muscles in an exaggerated manner, and felt a headache coming on. This man was not only terrifyingly strong, but also annoyingly talkative! Worst of all, he had a... strange logic.
Zhang Yong sighed and stole a glance at Long Yuliang. The poison was still coursing through her body. He couldn't delay.
He sighed again and looked at Hu Qiangda. "I'm not really interested in this girl. I just saved her because of a promise between our sects. Now that you know this, do you still want to fight me so fiercely?"
Hu Qiangda laughed loudly, pounding his chest with his bulging muscles. "Of course! You are a splendid opponent! Even though you're still influenced by women, I will fix you! Real men don't need women obstructing their path! What we need are muscles! Strength! Honor!"
'Ah... a bodybuilder in a world for cultivation ,Fortunately, he's not a Son of Fortune, or dealing with him would really be painful.'
He raised his massive fist and waved it in the air, then continued: "But don't worry! I'll help you! I'll drive out all traces of weakness and cowardice from you! I'll shatter your bones and rebuild you anew!"
"Wait, what?"
There was no time for shock, as Huo Qiangda shot towards Zhang Yong with astonishing speed, aiming a direct punch at his face!
But this time, Zhang Yong was not prepared to take the hit. He spun around quickly, avoiding the huge fist that passed by him to smash into a tree behind him, shattering it into splinters as if it were a piece of brittle bamboo.
Zhang Yong jumped away quickly, and at the same time, the snake moved swiftly, baring its fangs as it attacked Hu Qiangda. However, the latter showed no concern. On the contrary, he smiled enthusiastically, as if he had found a new, entertaining opponent.
"No, boy!" Zhang Yong shouted desperately.
"A pet?!" Hu Qiangda guffawed as he clenched his fist. "Zhang Yong! You dare hide behind a snake?! Where is your manhood?!"
The snake tried to bite him, but at the last moment, Hu Qiangda grabbed its upper and lower jaws with his bare hands, preventing its fangs from reaching him. The bulging muscles in his arms tensed before he forced the snake to stop moving.
With a deafening roar, he lifted the snake into the air, spun around, and threw it with immense force towards one of the trees. It collided with a tremendous crash, producing a loud boom.
Crash!
Zhang Yong roared, "Hey, you! Catch me if you can!" He turned and started running in another direction.
Hu Qiangda charged after him like a raging beast, each step leaving deep imprints on the ground.
Zhang Yong was running at his maximum speed, but he couldn't help glancing back for a moment. Seeing Hu Qiangda chasing him with an excited smile sent shivers down his spine.
Time was running out for Long Yuliang. Even after feeding her the anti-poison pills, if she didn't sit down to absorb their medicinal properties, it would be over.
Zhang Yong drew his sword and began sending blades of Death Qi towards the trees, creating walls that had to be breached to advance. Technically, they weren't to stop Qiangda, but to delay him.
Hu Qiangda plowed through them as if he had a body of steel without even slowing down a bit. He looked like a Terminator.
Immediately, Zhang Yong used the Nightmare King's Soul Bone and instantly created several illusory copies of himself, sending them in all directions.
Hu Qiangda's eyebrows rose when he saw dozens of Zhang Yongs scattering in every direction, but he soon burst out laughing. "The tricks of the weak! Pathetic!"
He stomped the ground hard with his foot, causing the earth beneath his feet to crack and sending a wave of dust and small rocks flying in all directions. However, this wasn't just a display of strength; it was his way of sensing his surroundings!
His laughter boomed loudly as he raised his fists high before striking the ground once more with even greater force, creating a violent shockwave that caused some of the illusory copies to vanish instantly.
He didn't have an advanced spiritual technique to identify the real copy, but he didn't need one. His method was simple: destroy everything until he reached the target! Because, simply put, even if the copies existed, they were weightless and had no distinct footsteps, and that was their weakness.
"Found you!"
The human beast shot towards Zhang Yong like a meteor, raising his huge fist to bring it down on his head. But at the last moment, Zhang Yong spun quickly, jumped high, raised his hand, and launched a compressed sphere of the Great Sun Flame.
The heat radiating from the sphere was enough to make the surrounding air vibrate, but instead of showing concern or trying to dodge it, Hu Qiangda burst into loud laughter.
"Fire?! Hahaha! You're trying to burn my body?!"
He raised his arms in front of his face, adopting a defensive stance. When the fireball hit him, it exploded with intense heat, but his body emerged unscathed.
His chest was heaving from laughter, his eyes gleaming with excitement as if he was enjoying the pain. Then he shouted proudly, "Fire?! Punches?! Swords?! Nothing can stop me! Because I am Hu Qiangda!! The strongest warrior under heaven!"
Zhang Yong realized he was facing an extremely stubborn person. 'Honestly, I tip my hat to him; the most annoying enemy I've encountered.'
But he had no time to waste. Long Yuliang was on the verge of collapse, and he needed to get rid of this man quickly.
Zhang Yong had already put some distance between himself and Hu Qiangda in the midst of this and didn't stop while continuing to run.
Hu Qiangda roared upon seeing Zhang Yong flee again. He pounded his chest with his fist forcefully, producing a sound like the beating of drums, then shouted angrily, "Have you no dignity as a warrior?! Face me like a man, don't run like a rat!"
But Zhang Yong didn't respond. Instead, he increased his speed even more, completely ignoring his shouts.
But despite his speed, Hu Qiangda was charging right behind him. Zhang Yong raised his hand and began hurling explosive talismans at the ground.
The explosions struck the earth around Hu Qiangda, creating a thick cloud of smoke and dust. Rocks flew, trees were uprooted, but amidst all this destruction... he didn't stop.
From within the heart of the smoke, his laughing voice boomed loudly: "Explosions?! Do you think I'm afraid of explosions?! Zhang Yong! If you're going to blow something up, make it a direct punch to my face!"
'I'm tired of this clichéd way of talking. Too arrogant,' Zhang Yong grumbled internally and didn't stop running.
Then, suddenly, he burst out from within the smoke like a raging beast, his massive body charging through the flames and rubble.
Zhang Yong snarled upon seeing this sight: "This bastard... is he even human?!"
But he had no time for astonishment. Hu Qiangda charged at him with terrifying speed, raising his huge fist to bring it down like a hammer.
Zhang Yong had no choice but to jump back at the last moment, allowing Hu Qiangda's fist to land on the ground with force.
BOOOOM
The ground cracked under the blow, and rocks flew like arrows in every direction. The shockwave alone pushed Zhang Yong back several meters.
But even as he retreated, he didn't stop thinking quickly. 'Everything he uses is brute force, no techniques. Being born with the Law Body of Strength, as he said, means he can't practice attribute-based techniques. That means he possesses body-tempering techniques and beast spirits, if I'm not mistaken. But what kind? I assume they are of the wild type, so likely the strength of an ox or bear would be suitable, but nothing's certain.'
In the midst of this, these struggles made Long Yuliang's condition worse. Her face began to turn purple.
Zhang Yong landed on his feet and roared powerfully, using Xiao Hong's ability, the Bloodline Roar. Even if only for a minute, it was enough for a situation like this.
RAAWWWRR!
The roar spread through the area like a subtle shockwave, causing the surrounding trees to shake and dust to fly into the air.
Hu Qiangda's smile froze for a moment, and his massive body shook slightly. The effect was momentary, but it was enough.
Hu Qiangda forced his hands to move and slapped his ears hard, causing blood to drip from them. "Oh, what was that? I felt like I was about to retreat," Hu Qiangda smiled again, wiping the blood from his ears with his hands.
Nonetheless, Zhang Yong pushed himself forward and started running, but ended up at a steep cliff, forcing Zhang Yong to stop.
"Damn it."
He looked back and found Hu Qiangda approaching quickly, his booming laughter reverberating in his ears. He was jogging like a frenzied beast, his eyes gleaming with madness, his muscles contracting and expanding with each step as if the earth was shaking beneath him.
"Hahaha, show me where you'll run now!" Hu Qiangda shouted excitedly.
Zhang Yong turned towards Hu Qiangda and shouted, "Stop!"
Hu Qiangda stopped a few meters away from Zhang Yong. "Oh, have you surrendered? Will you fight?"
Zhang Yong smiled calmly. "One move. I will make one move. If you survive it, I will fight you."
Hu Qiangda smiled defiantly, laughed deeply from his heart, and said, "One move? Ha! As if I'd believe you could do anything against me! You're just a cowardly runaway, what can you do in one move?"
But Zhang Yong, who knew exactly what he was doing, moved his hand quickly and released a bright light from his fingers. Three lights ignited before him: yellow, white, and purplish-black.
That was his one move, one he knew from his previous life, but its effect was lethal.
'I'm not proud of stealing from a fellow Transmigrator, but it's worth a try.'
Great Sun Flame.
Desolate Moon Flame.
Devouring Abyssal Flame.
Fusing three of the Essence Flames - Lotus of Buddha's Wrath!
When this almost insane idea appeared, it caused Zhang Yong to shudder involuntarily.
Battle Through the Heavens, the most famous skill. It wasn't exactly that, but it could be applied.
Theoretically, Zhang Yong could activate it. But practically, merging three Essence Flames was difficult. The Sun and Moon Flames were balanced, and the success rate of using just both of them was high, but the offensive power was barely noteworthy.
However, with the Devouring Abyssal Flame, they became unbalanced, the success rate dropped, but the damage... was much higher!
Zhang Yong didn't want to gamble, but he thought in his heart, 'If this move succeeds, it will be useful in the future.'
But the problem was that Zhang Yong only knew the external appearance and the requirements, so it was still dangerous.
Nevertheless, at this moment, Zhang Yong was somewhat calm. He raised his hand high towards the sky, and a dense white flame rose on his left hand. Its burning heat distorted the air. Then the yellow flame rose following it, and the two flames began to twist in his palm.
'Good, starting with two balanced flames.'
The two flames began to revolve around each other, then the purplish-black flame appeared and began to spin rapidly. The three Essence Flames rotated simultaneously.
The turbulence began to become violent, yet Zhang Yong compressed the three flame sparks, forming a lotus with three petals of three different colors, large as a tree, above Zhang Yong's head.
Upon seeing this lotus, Hu Qiangda's blood boiled with excitement. 'My rival! It's undoubtedly him!'
"Sorry, I have no intention of fighting." Zhang Yong jumped off the cliff at the last moment and dropped the lotus at the last second onto the ground near Hu Qiangda.
The moment the lotus fell to the ground, it was followed by an uncontrollable explosion that shook the world, erupting into the empty air.
Destructive energy spread from the point where the lotus fell at that moment, and waves of ripples appeared in the empty air. The ripples spread and shattered the cliff entirely, along with every spot of earth within a radius of a hundred meters!