Chapter 23: The first appearance of unique skills

The moment Chu Hengkong leaped out of the swamp, the Swamp Curse Master immediately turned and fled. He wasn't a Transcendant nor possessed by a demon, and his fame depended entirely on poison and relic weapons. But his most skilled swamp traps couldn't stop this vicious man for even a second. What was the point of him staying here except waiting to die?

He ran without hesitation, leaving his client and the damned million behind. His boots whirred, making him literally as fast as the wind. These were wind boots, a relic that boosted his speed for a short period of time. The Swamp Curse Master had relied on these boots to escape capture many times. He used the wind to propel himself up onto the rooftop, determined to get away from this dangerous place completely.

But the whistling sound was followed by another gust of wind, which was Chu Hengkong following closely. He used his legs alone to keep up with the relic's enhanced foot power, and the tentacle whip was about to strike.

"Go get the Hundred Palms!" The Swamp Curse Master dodged the whipping with a panicked jerk. "I'll finish you off first." Chu Hengkong sped up and joined him. They both leaped from the rooftop edge, punching in mid-air! The Swamp Curse Master threw a desperate right punch, but it was entangled in Chu Hengkong's tentacles. Then, Chu Hengkong unleashed a lightning-fast three-punch combo.

“Woo——!”

Abdomen, chest, and philtrum—three consecutive blows with protruding knuckles struck almost simultaneously. The Swamp Curse Master, nearly losing consciousness, forced himself to play a flute, transforming his footsteps into a swamp in an attempt to delay Chu Hengkong. But Chu Hengkong's attack wasn't over. After three consecutive strikes, he used his tentacles to pull the Swamp Curse Master closer, then delivered a mid-air knee strike!

Saliva, stomach acid, and blood gushed from the Swamp Curse Master's mouth, the excruciating pain nearly rupturing his nerves. He lost consciousness and fell into the swamp he had created. Chu Hengkong, using his tentacles to hook onto the security window outside the building, swung lightly back to the market, landing ten meters behind Bai Zhang. Intelligence about the enemy flashed through his mind.

"Hundred Palms"

Reward amount: 170,000 Liuzhu.

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He has strange beliefs, is bloodthirsty by nature, and has a strong physique.

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He haunts the East District of the Atrium and kills people randomly with brutal methods.

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The particle's "skillful hands"! Astonishing pressure, one-hit kill!

He dealt the most severe blow to the Swamp Curser, because the poisonous swamp posed a greater threat than any weapon. The final enemy was a "skillful hand" who did not want to fight a particle on a poisoned ground.

"What a fucking waste! Two guys using spears can't even last as long as the one who poisoned them!"

Bai Zhang cursed and turned. His palms were thick, his skin rough as well. A crescent-shaped scar etched across his solid chest gave him a particularly ominous look. This time, Chu Hengkong, contrary to his usual practice, didn't close the distance. He hurled two water bullets at Bai Zhang's eyes. Bai Zhang raised his palm to defend himself. The water bullets hit his palm, causing water to splatter everywhere, but Bai Zhang remained unscathed.

"It's okay..." Bai Zhang raised his hand with a fierce smile, "I'll kill you anyway!"

He slammed his palm down on the tin shed selling noodles on the roadside, and it instantly collapsed with a teeth-grinding creak. The people inside had already fled screaming. They saw the shed, which could easily have accommodated several people, shrink layer by layer under the pressure of his palm, and in the blink of an eye, it was compressed into a fist-sized iron ball. Bai Zhang scooped up the iron ball and threw it loudly. The iron ball narrowly missed the dodging Chu Hengkong and smashed into the ground, creating a deep crater.

This was why Chu Hengkong didn't rush in. Intelligence reported that this man's deft hands possessed a near-lethal compression ability, enough to compress a living being into a ball of blood and bone. Chu Hengkong didn't intend to use this to test his own strength. He dodged and hurled water bombs in return, but Bai Zhang's broad palms acted like a shield, blocking the water bullets. That "pressure" could also crush incoming bullets and hidden weapons. His reaction speed was far quicker than it appeared, and his defense was equally impenetrable.

"What's wrong, Chief Inspector? Is that all you can do?" Hundreds of palms compressed the earth and metal, hurling them one after another. Three more boulders of astonishing mass came crashing down with a powerful gust of wind. Chu Hengkong stopped throwing water bombs. He stood firm in his horse stance and swung his tentacles. The silver whip struck the boulders, but it didn't split them as everyone expected. The tentacle curved like a rubber band, using its elastic force to redirect the boulders and fling them away.

Before new stones could be formed, the old ones were already turning and flying back. Bai Zhang quickly retracted his palm to defend himself, crushing three boulders with his palm. The scattering dirt and rocks obscured his vision. Chu Hengkong seized this opportunity and sprinted, shooting like an arrow from a bow, behind Bai Zhang. He intended to strike at the palm's blind spot, crushing his opponent with a decisive blow.

However, Chu Hengkong's punch was a beat too slow, and only when he reached the back could he clearly see Bai Zhang's other hand. In that hand was a transparent sphere, the hand that had been squeezed hard by the "skillful hand"...

It is highly compressed air!

Hundreds of palms crushed the air sphere. The air burst transformed into invisible blades, carrying the force directly towards Chu Hengkong's face. Chu Hengkong immediately crossed his arms in defense. He felt like he was hit head-on by a car, the unbridled force instantly propelling him several meters. He knocked over countless fruits and vegetables along the way, only barely coming to a stop when he hit a concrete wall.

The overwhelming force of the impact caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the wall. The air blades carved wounds into his arms, and silver blood flowed from his tentacles. Chu Hengkong took a deep breath and compressed his muscles to stop the bleeding. Bai Zhang's laughter pierced his ears. He charged forward with his hands raised, as ferocious as a truck with the accelerator pressed to the floor.

"I will offer your flesh and blood to the moon!" Bai Zhang laughed wildly. "Before you die, watch this... this is what 'skillful hands' are!"

The crescent scar on his chest glowed darkly, and ugly flesh-colored bulges sprouted on either side of his wrists. The flesh that had grown from nowhere rapidly grew and formed, unexpectedly becoming another pair of palms. Four palms continued to multiply without stopping, from four to eight, eight to sixteen... In the blink of an eye, the shadows of the giant hands covered the earth. The hundred palms became a vast tree with branches and leaves, and the growing giant hands were its branches and leaves. A hundred palms surrounded Chu Hengkong, forming a web, each palm possessing a terrifying compression power, each a "skillful hand"!

This is the origin of the title "Hundred Palms." He is a formidable warrior possessing a hundred deft hands. Even a hundred elite warriors would be no match for him. Chu Hengkong, repressed by the pressure, found it difficult to breathe. The air in the net was dwindling, and a hundred compressed air balls were being generated simultaneously. Hundred Palms intended to blast him to death within the net. If he dared to break through, he would be the one to die within its palms.

"He only has brute force, but no dexterity." Chu Hengkong said, "He is not a skilled hand."

Even then, he still had the energy to smile, critiquing his enemy's actions like a master. The long-awaited injury had invigorated him, his fighting spirit surging, his warrior side overshadowing his killer side. Chu Hengkong placed his right hand behind his back, leaning forward slightly, his left arm tense like a silver, flexible sword. He thrust the sword straight out, aiming directly at one of the hundred palms before him.

Bai Zhang's eyes flashed with bloodthirsty excitement, anticipating the bloody spray as the tentacle was crushed. But suddenly, he felt a needle-like pain, a pain that penetrated deep into his bones, robbing his nerves and causing his palm to turn involuntarily. The half-formed air bomb ruptured, and the violent wind blade sliced ​​his palm!

Bai Zhang was dumbfounded. He caught sight of Chu Hengkong's smile through his fingers. After a stealthy thrust, the tentacle retracted, followed by a flurry of cunning strikes. They struck the fingertips, the bottoms of the palms, sometimes even barely glancing past the fingertips. But once they landed, the palms moved haphazardly and uncontrollably. The compressed air bombs' rhythm was completely disrupted, and the raging wind blades sliced ​​through flesh, causing streaks of blood to bloom across the web of the hundred palms.

The attack of a hundred palms was instantly shattered, because the moment Chu Hengkong struck, the enemy's flesh no longer belonged to him. This was the true skill of a skilled hand, able to control every inch of one's own flesh and blood, thus freely controlling the bodies of others. In some legends, this was called acupuncture, some faiths called it the devil's puppet hand, and in most of the islands of the Shendong Realm, it had a thunderous reputation -

Longxiang boxing!

"You... a Longxiang martial artist?!"

Bright red blood rained down, the web of clever palms easily ripped apart, and Bai Zhang cried out in disbelief. Chu Hengkong leaped from the gap in the web, somersaulting mid-air behind Bai Zhang. In a moment of desperation, Bai Zhang abandoned the encirclement and turned, spreading his palms flat in front of him for protection. Chu Hengkong concentrated, preparing to deliver a powerful blow, but at that moment, his tentacles leaped with joy. The excitement of battle seemed to activate his fighting spirit, giving him a vague recollection of the feeling he had felt during his transformation.

He adjusted his stance in response to the strange feeling, letting the inspiration surge through his body. His right fist, about to strike, clenched into a claw, and the surging force flowed into his left arm, causing the tentacles to compress inwards inch by inch. As his power reached its peak, Chu Hengkong's eyes lit up like bright lights. He exhaled, chanted, and stomped his left foot forward. The power in his body instantly converged, and his raised left arm transformed into a silver flash!

This was the fastest attack Chu Hengkong had ever delivered. The tentacles shot out like an indestructible spear, and a white sonic boom erupted from the front. The explosive force directly knocked Bai Zhang's hands apart, opening a bloody hole in his chest and abdomen!

Hundreds of palms were blown high into the air by the raging wind, and his blood splattered in a crimson path. The team members in the rear, who had previously held up their communicators to call for help, instinctively dropped their arms. They, along with the other citizens, stared at the man who had delivered the punch, as if looking up to a hero beyond human intelligence.

Chu Hengkong retracted his tentacles and brushed off the dust on his body, feeling extremely satisfied with this brilliant move that had come to him so quickly. He was just thinking about what to name this move when he turned around and saw Ji Huaisu leading his team to support him.

"Wow." The blonde girl's mouth dropped open. "Tentacle spring punch!"

(End of this chapter)