Chapter Forty-Two: Monkey Sword

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Power! Power! Power! Power! Power!

Liu Tian’s three heavy punches made no attempt at disguise; he wanted everyone to instantly see who his target was.

Yet, facing these fists whose aim was obvious at a glance, the three originally aggressive opponents steeled their nerves to the utmost.

It wasn’t only because they’d already heard from Captain Edward about how Snake had suffered a crushing defeat at Liu Tian’s hands—it was also because Liu Tian’s punches were so unimaginably fast, so overwhelmingly forceful.

Even before his fists arrived, the gale stirred up in their wake had already tousled the trio’s hair.

The will contained within his punches crashed violently into their minds. Even without Liu Tian uttering a word, they understood his meaning perfectly—

If you can’t take it, then just die!

Though the force of the punches seemed to come at them all at once, Liu Tian only had one left fist—therefore, the blows landed in sequence.

The first to receive it was the monkey-faced martial artist, standing at just 1.2 meters tall atop the Iron Hammer.

This fighter’s features were gaunt, his build light and nimble, and the ten claws on his hands gleamed dangerously, razor sharp at a glance.

Facing Liu Tian’s assault, the monkey-faced warrior relied on his agility and lightning-fast reflexes, counterattacking in the blink of an eye. His ten fingers snapped shut and opened, transforming into ten blades that, in an instant, slashed the incoming fist shadows to pieces, then in one fluid motion cut through Liu Tian’s afterimage.

But the other two weren’t so quick; they took their hits head-on. The last in line, the mountainous man of flesh, fared alright—his bulk rippled like a wave from the impact, and with a single step backward, he dissipated Liu Tian’s force, seemingly unharmed.

The so-called Queen of Protein, wielding a massive hammer, was less fortunate. Though Liu Tian hadn’t used his full strength, her defenses weren’t as formidable as her teammate’s, nor did she have the reflexes to react in time. She had no choice but to take the blow directly.

Liu Tian’s formidable power pierced from the outside in, breaking through skin and muscle to strike her heart, causing blood to involuntarily trickle from the corner of her mouth.

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Of the three, the weakest was the woman who had stepped out first.

With just a single exchange, Liu Tian instantly gauged the relative strengths among them.

Perhaps there’s something to the saying that a person’s face reflects their character—among martial artists, it seemed especially apt. The trio’s abilities and fighting styles matched their appearances almost exactly.

The flesh mountain was the strongest in defense and raw strength; the monkey-faced elder, the fastest and most agile; and the woman, somewhere between the two. To put it nicely, she was versatile; less charitably, she was utterly mediocre.

Having landed a decisive blow and closed in to the optimal range, Liu Tian gave his opponents no chance to catch their breath. After that probing strike, he immediately unleashed his fastest move, the Heartbreaker, targeting the trio’s weakest link.

But Liu Tian’s advantage of surprise was gone. The flesh mountain, reacting with a speed belying his bulk, pulled the woman behind him before Liu Tian’s attack could reach her. The fat on his arm tensed, absorbing Liu Tian’s blow, and his other huge hand, webbed wide, sought to seize Liu Tian, willing to take the hit in exchange.

Meanwhile, the elder, who had been standing on the woman’s hammer, leapt nimbly behind Liu Tian. His ten fingers crossed in the air, slicing soundlessly, cutting off all routes of retreat.

Monkey Fist: Scooping the Moon!

The woman, now pulled behind the flesh mountain, seemed to anticipate this. She spun rapidly, her massive hammer whistling through the air, sealing the gap between the monkey-faced fighter and the flesh mountain.

Truly, these three were veterans of countless battles, their teamwork seamless and instinctive.

Though Liu Tian had seized the initiative, in an instant they unleashed a tried-and-true combined assault, laying a trap for him.

With this tactic, the trio could achieve results greater than the sum of their parts—together, they could even challenge the squad’s foremost fighters: Snake, Tiger, and Bull.

Individually, each was at best a first-rate fighter, but combined, they underwent a qualitative transformation.

Taken as a whole, they were faster than Tiger, stronger than Bull, and the elder’s razor-sharp hand strikes could pierce Snake’s defenses. In every aspect where Snake, Tiger, and Bull excelled, the trio had surpassed them—except for the inhuman, where they still lagged just a bit behind Snake.

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Yet this choice, while granting them the strength to stand on a stage they never should have reached, also gave them a fatal flaw.

The woman and the monkey-faced elder’s attacks landed almost simultaneously, but by then, the giant hand had grasped nothing but air.

Shadow-Dragon Step: Phantasmal Body.

This step technique had reached a realm never before attained, conjuring an illusion indistinguishable from the real thing.

Unless one’s speed was enough to catch Liu Tian at the very instant he struck, no one could tell where he truly was, so long as he wished to remain hidden.

Unfortunately for them, given their specialized abilities, even when Liu Tian had just broken through with this technique, only the elder among the three had even a chance of catching him in that fleeting moment. Now, after upgrading his physical prowess further by looting every family and antique dealer in the area to invest all his points into Martial Slayer, none of them stood a chance.

“Using this fat pig as the bait on the surface, with the woman—actually the weakest—as the real lure, a double-layered trap... Not a bad idea.” As the illusion faded, Liu Tian’s voice suddenly sounded behind the elder.

“It’s just too bad.” One hand slammed the elder’s head into the ground with brutal force, blasting a deep crater the moment his face hit the earth. “Your speed is too slow, and the flaws of any one of you alone are too glaring. If someone can take out one of you in an instant, the other two are nothing but easy prey—just like now.”

Liu Tian stepped back, snapped the elder’s neck, then ripped off both his arms. “I just so happen to need a handy weapon. Let me borrow these for a bit; I’ll make sure you get a proper burial later.”

Without pause, Liu Tian began swinging the dead elder’s severed arms, instantly slicing the giant iron hammer in two and effortlessly carving deep wounds into the flesh mountain.

The terrifying sharpness put a look of satisfaction on Liu Tian’s face, while the remaining two could only watch in utter despair.

“Don’t be afraid—pain is but a moment.” With his warm-up complete and eager not to delay the other battle raging elsewhere, Liu Tian delivered the final blow, granting the two, who had lost all will to resist, a swift end.