Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

The Cangnan Empire was immeasurably vast. The Southern Border Prefecture alone contained several cities, with even the smallest boasting a population in the tens of millions.

On this day, atop a high mountain outside one of the cities, a youth appeared, riding a turtle.

This youth was, of course, Lin Hao.

After leaving the Heaven-Stepping Sect, Lin Hao rode Turtle Egg, keeping to the mountain ranges.

His plan was to hunt Devil Beasts along the way for training.

After all, he had plenty of time.

But Lin Hao had miscalculated. Wherever Turtle Egg passed, everything fell deathly silent. He didn’t even encounter a single wild beast, let alone a Devil Beast.

"Let’s go, let’s go! Let’s go into the city! That city looks spectacular. There must be a ton of Martial Artists in there. You can fight to your heart’s content," Turtle Egg chattered excitedly, looking at the city in the distance.

With that, it hurtled down the mountain without waiting for Lin Hao’s reply.

Every tree in its path was snapped in two.

"Wait, wait, wait! I think this is Celestial Jade City," Lin Hao shouted, but his words were swallowed by the rushing wind.

Turtle Egg’s speed was simply too fast.

Before long, they were approaching the main road, and Turtle Egg’s speed suddenly slowed.

Not only that, but its body shrank as well, until Lin Hao’s feet were just brushing the ground as he straddled its back.

"Heh heh..." Turtle Egg chuckled slyly. There was no telling what it was plotting.

Lin Hao rolled his eyes and let it be.

A short while later, Turtle Egg appeared on the main road, carrying Lin Hao.

THUDDA THUDDA THUDDA!

The ground suddenly began to tremble as several riders thundered up from behind, their approach menacing.

Turtle Egg continued at a leisurely pace, completely unconcerned.

"Hey, Young Master, look! There’s someone riding a turtle up ahead," a voice called out from behind.

"Hahaha, you’re right! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone stupid enough to use a turtle as a mount."

"At that speed, even Lame Zhang could crawl faster."

Judging by the voice, the speaker wasn’t very old.

"Hey, they’re insulting us. Aren’t you angry? Go on, make a move," Turtle Egg goaded from ahead.

Lin Hao remained unmoved.

’This creature is unbelievable; it’s clearly doing this on purpose.’ Lin Hao refused to give it the satisfaction.

"You three jackasses! Get over here if you’ve got the guts. My master says he could crush you with one finger!" Seeing that Lin Hao was ignoring it, Turtle Egg suddenly turned and bellowed at the three riders.

"A talking turtle!" the three exclaimed, their eyes all fixed on Turtle Egg.

’A Devil Beast has to be at least Tier Two Late Stage to speak. Could this plain-looking turtle really be a Tier Two Devil Beast?’

The three men’s expressions changed.

The one with the highest cultivation among them was only at the first layer of the Elemental Realm.

However, after staring for a long while, they relaxed slightly.

’This turtle has none of the traits of a Devil Beast. It can’t be one.’

’That kid must be playing tricks!’

’Hmph, does he take us for fools?!’

’Just a Blood Coagulation Realm Peak, but he’s got some nerve!’

They had gauged Lin Hao’s cultivation level from his aura.

The three of them came to their senses, staring at Lin Hao with cold smirks.

"You bastard, you must be tired of living!" one of them then snapped.

Lin Hao’s brow furrowed.

It wasn’t because of their words, but because Lin Hao now had a clear view of the situation ahead.

Three Martial Artists sat atop three mounts. The one in the center was an unusual beast, and the person on it was dressed in lavish clothes, clearly the young master of a prominent family.

The two men flanking him, one fat and one thin, were middle-aged men around thirty years old, likely his lackeys.

The reason for Lin Hao’s frown was the person tied behind the unusual beast in the center.

The person’s hands were bound, and they were being dragged face-down.

A trail of blood stretched out behind them.

Clearly, this person had been dragged for a very long distance.

Upon seeing Lin Hao, the person struggled to lift their head, a glimmer of hope appearing in their cloudy eyes.

Lin Hao saw a face weathered by hardship.

"Let him go," Lin Hao said, pointing directly at the person being dragged.

"You can’t even save yourself, and you’re spouting such nonsense! Zhugan, break his legs, tie him behind your horse, and drag him into the city. Pang Hu, grab that turtle. I’ll be making soup with it tonight," the young master in the center ordered his men condescendingly, his face a mask of arrogance.

The person on the left was rail-thin—that must be Zhugan—while the one on the right was fat with large ears, who was Pang Hu.

Upon hearing the command, they spurred their horses and charged straight forward.

Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move.

’In Turtle Egg’s presence, I don’t need to do a thing. Those two horses should be trembling in fear.’

However, things did not go as he expected at all.

The two horses charged onward with undiminished momentum; the scene Lin Hao had anticipated did not occur.

’Damn it, this turtle can hide its aura! Turtle Egg must have been planning to use someone as a punching bag the moment we came out.’

At such a short distance, and with the horses’ speed being anything but slow, they were on him in the blink of an eye.

From the horse on the left, Zhugan leaped up, his right hand forming a claw as he grabbed for Lin Hao’s head.

From the horse on the right, the fat Pang Hu’s body was surprisingly agile. He bent his upper body down from the saddle and snatched at Turtle Egg on the ground.

Lin Hao glanced up.

’The aura of my attacker is powerful. He’s definitely an Elemental Realm Martial Artist.’

But Lin Hao did not retreat. Both his hands moved at once.

One hand shot out to meet the still-charging horse, while the other balled into a fist and punched toward the clawing hand!

For Lin Hao to make such a move at this moment was simply courting death.

Although he had defeated the Elemental Realm’s Luo Yulou in War Dragon City, he had relied on his Body Technique to do so.

A Body Technique he had deduced using an Imperial Art.

Although the Peak of the Ninth Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm was only one step away from the first layer of the Elemental Realm, the difference in pure strength was a factor of ten!

A first-layer Elemental Realm Martial Artist could casually throw a punch with a colossal ninety-thousand-pound force!

Luo Yulou was known as the top young master of the Southern Border Prefecture. If Lin Hao had clashed with him head-on, he would have undoubtedly lost.

Therefore, Lin Hao had chosen the most effective method: winning with his Body Technique.

But now, facing a strike from an Elemental Realm Martial Artist, he didn’t dodge or evade, but chose to punch back!

Zhugan looked at Lin Hao’s fist, a bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes.

He was absolutely certain Lin Hao’s arm was done for.

Staring at the approaching fist, he could almost picture Lin Hao’s arm snapping, blood and flesh flying everywhere.

"Kid, as much as I want you dead, I enjoy the thrill of torture even more!" Zhugan stared at Lin Hao and said sinisterly.

With that, the power behind his strike sharply decreased.

But even so, it still held a massive force of thirty thousand pounds!

This was still not something a Blood Coagulation Realm Martial Artist could withstand.

BOOM! BOOM!

Lin Hao’s two fists struck the horse and Zhugan at almost the same time.

A massive bang echoed as dust and sand flew into the air.

Zhugan’s expression changed as he looked at the horse beside him, its head exploded. He then flicked his sleeve, and a fierce gust of wind raged.

Most of the dust and sand immediately scattered.

Before he could get a clear look at the situation, a fist was already rapidly growing larger in his vision.

In a panic, Zhugan circulated his True Essence and crossed his arms to block the punch.

BOOM!

With a dull thud, Zhugan was knocked back several steps by an immense force before he could steady himself.

"What?!" Then, his eyes widened in utter shock.

He saw Lin Hao standing not far away, completely unharmed.

If not for the large crater beside Lin Hao, he would have suspected he was dreaming.

"Zhugan, you can’t even take down a piece of trash from the Blood Coagulation Realm? Did Little Peach drain you dry last night?" Pang Hu, who had already grabbed Turtle Egg, mocked from the side.

Zhugan stared intently at Lin Hao, the shock in his eyes not diminishing in the slightest. "I only used thirty percent of my strength in that last strike!" he answered.

"Thirty percent? That’s still nearly thirty thousand pounds of force. If that were true, how could his arm still be in one piece?" Pang Hu didn’t believe Zhugan.

It was impossible for a Blood Coagulation Realm Martial Artist to be completely unscathed after taking a thirty-thousand-pound blow.

"I..." Zhugan started to speak but was cut off by Pang Hu.

"Here, hold this. I’ll show you what a real thirty-thousand-pound force looks like!"

Pang Hu tossed Turtle Egg to Zhugan as he spoke.

’If I warn him now, I’ll be the one who looks like a fool. I’ll definitely lose standing with the Young Master.’

With this thought in mind, Zhugan took Turtle Egg, opened his mouth, but said nothing.

"Kid, twenty percent of my power is more than enough to deal with you!" Pang Hu said, throwing a punch at Lin Hao.

As a lackey, he naturally hoped to perform better in front of his master to win more of his favor.

The corner of Lin Hao’s mouth lifted into a smile.

Taking Zhugan’s punch head-on just now had indeed been a reckless gamble.

He had originally been prepared for the worst, but who knew Zhugan would only use thirty percent of his power.

A force of thirty thousand pounds, though still more than he’d expected, was something Lin Hao was confident he could fight.

So just now, Lin Hao had circulated his Cultivation Technique at full power, suffusing his fist with True Essence, and met the attack with a punch of his own.

The result was that Zhugan’s punch had driven his body into the ground, but it hadn’t caused him a single bit of damage—and that was without Lin Hao even using a martial technique.

For an ordinary Ninth Layer Blood Coagulation Realm Martial Artist, possessing ten thousand pounds of force without using a martial technique was the absolute limit.

But Lin Hao possessed a force of thirty thousand pounds.

One could only imagine how terrifying he was.

This was all thanks to the Blood Coagulation Realm Tenth Layer.

This punch made Lin Hao look forward to achieving the Great Perfection of the Blood Coagulation Realm Tenth Layer even more.

Seeing Pang Hu make his move, Lin Hao actually hoped he would increase his power. Lin Hao wanted to see where his own limits truly lay.

But this guy, trying to be clever, was only using twenty percent of his strength. He was practically asking for a beating.

How could Lin Hao not laugh at Pang Hu’s punch?

Seeing Pang Hu’s fist coming, Lin Hao advanced instead of retreating and threw a punch of his own!

BOOM!

The two fists met in mid-air with a tremendous sound.

On the main road, a fierce wind erupted.

Within this gale, Pang Hu’s body was sent flying backward like a sack of potatoes.

His twenty-percent-power punch not only failed to shake Lin Hao, but he was sent flying by him instead.

As Pang Hu’s body flew backward, it paused impossibly in mid-air before shooting back toward Lin Hao.

His obese body was surprisingly nimble.

Without a word, he threw another palm strike!

Fifty percent power—a massive force of fifty thousand pounds!

Lin Hao took a step forward and met the attack with his own fist.

BOOM!

An even louder bang rang out. The carcass of the horse Lin Hao had killed was tossed into the air like a piece of paper, where it was torn to shreds by the powerful gale generated by the impact of their fists.

Within this gale, Lin Hao’s body was forced steadily backward.

With every step back, he left a deep footprint on the main road.

With each subsequent step, the footprints became shallower.

After retreating more than ten steps like this, Lin Hao finally dissipated the enormous force.

The force of fifty thousand pounds—Lin Hao had withstood it once again!