Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted

"Long..."

A low growl rolled from deep within Sagat's throat.

It wasn't anger.

It is something deeper, more profound, and more intense than anger.

He felt the pain in the scar on his chest—the pain of humiliation, the obsession, the nightmare that would wake him up in every midnight dream in the past.

And that nightmare seemed to be standing right in front of him, looking at him with the exact same eyes.

"You dare to... look at me like that?!"

Sagat's voice exploded, which even puzzled Wu Fengshui, who was standing to the side—why did this tall guy seem to be the one who broke through the defense when he was clearly in an absolute advantage?

While Wu Fengshui was still wondering, Sagat had already bared his claws like an enraged tiger.

His blood and qi surged, and faint traces of crimson flames even appeared. His bronze muscles hardened under the influence of the flames, veins bulged on his forehead, and a terrifyingly fierce light burst forth from his single remaining eye.

Noticing Sagat's abnormal condition, Chun-Li's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Yuan Chen! Retreat immediately!!"

As she spoke, Chun-Li disregarded all rules and shot towards Sagat like an arrow released from a bow.

With her right leg brimming with all her fighting spirit, she delivered a sweeping kick towards Sagat's knee. She knew she couldn't possibly defeat him, but by distracting him, Yuan Chen could gain even less than a second of breathing time.

Sagat simply looked at Chun-Li behind him, then his left arm swung backward like a spinning iron pillar, accompanied by a deafening roar.

His blood was surging, and his forearms were so thick that it was hard to tell whether they were hands or legs. Beneath his bronze skin, layers of muscles bulged, and he roared toward Chunli with the fierce wind.

Upon noticing Sagat's attack, Chun-Li did not dodge. Perhaps her ankle had already swelled from the previous clashes, making it difficult for her to exert force smoothly. Instead, Chun-Li chose to put all her strength into a heavy blow as she charged towards Sagat.

Faced with the strong wind rushing towards her, Chun-Li simply crossed her arms to protect her face.

"boom!!"

A dull thud exploded outwards.

Chun-Li opened her eyes, but she did not feel the expected shock.

Rushing forward at an astonishing speed, Yuan Chen raised his leg, his hard knee colliding with Sagat's arm. The enormous impact knocked Sagat's arm back, and Yuan Chen was also pushed back half a meter by the recoil.

It's gotten faster?! With his attack intercepted, Sagat's eyes also revealed a hint of disbelief.

He could clearly feel that even though Yuan Chen had suffered more serious injuries in the previous exchange, his speed, strength, and even angle had improved.

Yuan Chen, however, was oblivious to all of this. His eyes were fixed intently on Sagat, feeling his own potential surging forth. Yuan Chen gritted his teeth and growled:

"Chun-Li! Hit her!"

Before he could finish speaking, Yuan Chen's figure shot out like a cannonball.

He slammed his right foot into the ground, sending shards of stone flying, and his entire body transformed into a blur as he charged straight towards Sagat's inner circle.

At the same moment, Chunli also moved. She did not hesitate, and did not even have time to think about how Yuan Chen had crossed several meters in front of her in that instant.

Or perhaps Chun-Li doesn't care now; she's just instinctively following Yuan-Chen's figure.

Unable to push off the ground due to the pain in her right leg, she used her left leg to propel herself into Sagat's blind spot from the side, like a short knife thrust out of the darkness. Her arms circulated with energy, completely disregarding the backlash of the Qi Gong Fist, and together with Yuan Chen's movements, she launched a fierce attack on Sagat's lower back.

As Sagat felt the two attacking him from both sides, a hint of ferocity flashed in his single eye.

Without hesitation, he slammed his right arm forward at Yuan Chen and rammed his left elbow backward at Chun Li's hand.

He attacks with offense, and fights violence with violence. He doesn't need to defend. His reach, his strength, and his bone density, combined with the striking techniques of Muay Thai, give him enough confidence to knock them both back before their attacks even touch him!

But his right arm missed its mark.

Just as Yuan Chen had envisioned, having lost an eye, Sagat is clearly not yet familiar with the limited field of vision he has while being one-eyed.

With astonishing speed, he veered to one side, combining the centrifugal force from the rotation of his waist. Most of Yuan Chen's back muscles tensed, his fist clenched tightly, placed on one side of his chin, the clenched fist seemingly gathering all the weight of his body.

Before he even swung his fist, the muscles all over his body began to tremble incessantly, like a shot putter ready to throw. The moment Sagat's attack missed, he suddenly exploded, and with a whooshing sound, he threw a punch that struck Sagat's face, creating a ripple of impact.

Along with the pain, Sagat's vestibular system was impacted, his soft brain kept bumping against his skull, his remaining eyes became hazy, and even his thoughts briefly stagnated.

Immediately following, a surge of energy erupted from Chun-Li's arms, a powerful burst of true energy that resembled scorching flames but was even more intense than fire, once again jolted Sagat awake.

A strange sense of unease lingered in Sagat's mind—it was Yuan Chen's state.

Amidst the clash of flesh and blood, Sagat could clearly feel the stagnant blood within the young man's body being devoured by the revitalized tissues, the torn muscle fibers being rewoven, and with every breath and every heartbeat, the young man's body becoming stronger, more flexible, and more powerful.

It was as if their attacks had not truly worn him down, but rather were grinding and forging him, forcing the young man to adapt and purify himself more quickly.

Another one... another one like this!

"You...are all the same!!"

As he spoke, a chilling killing intent flashed in Sagat's eyes. He spread his arms to the sides, easily shattering Chun-Li's gathered energy. But Sagat paid no attention to Chun-Li. He simply mixed his scarlet killing intent with his energy, turning it into flames that exploded around his body. Then, it continuously condensed, compressed, and condensed again on his fist, wrapping his already hammer-like fist into a ball of burning blood.

Just watching, Chun-Li's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints.

Then, Sagat unleashed all his power into Yuan Chen's body at near-zero distance—

"die!!!"

Volume 1: Chapter 15 - Dead or Alive

As Sagat's aura surged and transformed into a condensed, persistent black-red blood aura, Yuan frowned in the distance, preparing to make a move. However, he seemed to notice something and paused slightly, a look of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

Wu Fengshui, who was located on the street, lost his voice almost immediately when the black and red blood aura rose around Sagat.

As a clan of assassins, they are no strangers to this power that exists only in legends—the wave of killing intent.

Its manifestation is Qi, which is essentially a forbidden spiritual energy formed by the condensation of extreme bloodlust, obsession with victory, and negative emotions. It is also one of the 'ultimate' goals pursued by every assassin.

Although everyone theoretically has potential, throughout history, very few people have been able to awaken it. Only those who value "winning" more than life and humanity are likely to touch this forbidden energy deep within the soul.

As the price for obtaining this power, most awakened individuals throughout history have gradually been consumed by murderous intent, turning into Asuras who only know how to kill, losing their emotions, morality, and compassion.

Ultimately, they either die in the endless battle or are utterly destroyed by the wave itself.

And now...

Accompanied by a sudden surge of murderous intent, Sagat paid no attention, and was not even aware that he had unconsciously awakened.

Its only remaining eye stared intently at Yuan Chen, letting out a low growl.

Those two fists, enveloped in a blood-red aura, were like a cannon fired from its barrel. They accelerated to their limit in a very short distance, tearing through the air with sharp sonic booms, mercilessly blasting all their power and killing intent into Yuan Chen's chest.

Almost instantly upon contact, a series of cracking sounds came from Yuan Chen's chest.

It wasn't a subtle click, but a series of dense, crisp sounds, like ice shattering.

It was as if he had been pierced by an iron hammer. First, his flesh was crushed and torn, then his sternum shattered, and finally, the solidified golden energy surged into his chest like a flood, impacting his heart, lungs, and all his soft internal organs.

Yuan Chen's heart stopped beating at that moment.

This is not a metaphor, but rather a description of the surging force directly impacting the heart, causing it to contract abruptly under the sudden pressure and then stop beating.

Blood stopped flowing, oxygen stopped being delivered, and consciousness went blank for a moment.

With a loud bang, Yuan Chen's tall and strong body became as light as a withered leaf under Sagat's fist.

With both feet off the ground, his body traced a straight trajectory in the air, smashing through the already shaky gate of the martial arts school, smashing the screen behind the door, smashing the weapon rack placed on the wall, and finally crashing heavily into the wall at the deepest part of the martial arts school.

Miscellaneous items were shaken off and hit Yuan Chen, leaving the scene in a mess.

"Ah Chen!!"

With her eyes narrowed, Chun-Li's voice ripped through the night sky. Ignoring the excruciating pain in her ankle, she instinctively rushed towards the shattered gate of the martial arts school.

Standing still, Sagat fell into a long silence.

There was no excitement that should accompany a victory. His face was downcast, his shadow fell, and with his constantly trembling pupils and heaving chest, Sagat could feel that his body and mind no longer belonged to him.

He turned around slowly, like a rusty heavy machine struggling to make noise.

“It’s over already…” Wu Fengshui muttered softly, “They really are professional… Let’s go, Garuda, it will definitely be troublesome if we stay any longer.”

Wu Fengshui subconsciously reached out to pull Wu Jialouluo away, but as soon as he reached out, he found that he couldn't pull him at all.

Looking up, Wu Fengshui saw Wu Jialouluo staring intently at the figure buried in debris in the martial arts hall.

“Garuda?” Wu Fengshui subconsciously reminded him.

“It’s not over yet.” Wu Jialuo shook his head and said blankly, “Something… is awakening.”

"...?" Wu Fengshui looked puzzled.

Chun-Li was completely unaware of what was happening outside; she simply rushed into the martial arts gym on instinct and then witnessed a scene that left her breathless.

Yuan Chen fell backward between the shattered weapon rack and the plaque.

His chest—Chun-Li almost dared not look at his chest.

The fist imprint was deeply embedded in the flesh, and the surrounding skin was charred black by the surging force. The sternum showed an unnatural indentation, and broken bone fragments pierced out from under the skin, white and stained with dark red blood.

With his arms outstretched to his sides, the force ripped away a layer of skin, revealing broken muscles and shattered bones.

His eyes were half-open, but they were no longer as fiery as before; they were dull and lifeless, his pupils dilated, staring motionlessly at the swaying light bulb on the ceiling.

"Ah... Ah Chen?"

Chunli's voice trembled, and she subconsciously reached out her hand, but only felt a chill.

His heart stopped beating. I pressed my fingertip on Yuan Chen's carotid artery and waited for a long time, but there was still no pulse.

As she felt the gradually cooling, lifeless corpse, Chunli felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

All physiological responses of a living human being, such as pulse, breathing, and heartbeat, have now disappeared from Yuan Chen's body.

As a suffocating sense of despair washed over her, Chun-Li suddenly sensed something.

That was the sound of my heart starting to beat.

At first, the sound was so faint that even Chunli, who was holding Yuan Chen, couldn't really feel it.

But soon, the heartbeat grew louder and louder, and not only Chun-Li could hear it, but Wu Feng-shui, who was standing nearby, and even Sagat, who was about to leave, could hear it clearly.

Along with her heartbeat, Chunli could clearly feel an invisible energy flowing at an astonishing speed through Yuan Chen's spine towards his limbs and bones, accompanying the pumping of his heart.

Along the meridians, along the bones, along every muscle fiber and fascia. Then, accompanied by the frantically writhing flesh, dark red blood energy burst forth from Yuan Chen's body.

"A surge of murderous intent?!"

If Sagat and Chun-Li still couldn't understand what this dark red aura was, then both Wu Fengshui and Wu Jialouluo, who came from a family of assassins, were stunned in that instant.

According to family records, the fluctuations of murderous intent do indeed possess the ability to sense emotions, perceive malice, erode the mind, and even induce the murderous intent deep within others.

Even so, isn't it a bit too fast for such a rapid awakening of murderous intent?

Or, if the wave of murderous intent were really that easy to awaken, it would be commonplace by now!

Standing on high ground, looking at Yuan Chen's condition, Yuan Yi frowned, his withered fingers unconsciously rubbing his beard, but after sensing for a moment, a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

The reason is simple: the murderous intent... is being consumed.

Soon, not only Yuan, but also Wu Fengshui and Wu Jialouluo quickly realized that something was wrong.

As Yuan Chen stood up from Chun Li's embrace, his body was originally surrounded by dark red blood energy, but then, accompanied by a surge of inexplicable energy.

Amidst the pounding of his heart, he was constantly evaporated and burned, just like coal being swallowed by that astonishing body temperature.

Looking at Yuan Chen, Chunli was slightly taken aback, then said in disbelief, "Ah...Ah Chen?"

"……what."

Yuan Chen nodded, but then took a step towards the door, his burning eyes looking at Sagat with a morbid excitement.

"Hey! Long time no see!"

Volume 1: 16. The Driving Force of Life Energy

Staring at Yuan Chen, who exuded an unusual aura, Sagat was also taken aback for a moment, and then, after a brief silence, said:

"Is it real...? Is he back to life?"

"Ah, yes, full of energy!"

Yuan Chen nodded, his eyes filled with madness as he stared at Sagat. Then, he stretched out his palm, displaying the constantly healing scars and skin like a child who had received a brand new toy, and said:

"Although I had already sensed it, I still needed to die to truly feel this power."