6: Counterattack

As the man woke up, a brilliant light suddenly erupted outside the wooden house. Everyone except Hong Yu and the man was enveloped in white light, and after it flashed, they all disappeared.

Hong Yu's guess was correct; the man's name was Wu Wang, an Outer Sect Disciple at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining. He had just undergone a trial, the contents of which were set by Shu Wangnian to select a successor for his Legacy.

With his success, the others were naturally kicked out of the Secret Realm.

Wu Wang approached the skeleton. He didn't rush to collect the tempting pile of items; instead, he looked at Hong Yu with extreme caution and questioned coldly, "Who are you? Why are you still able to stay here?"

It turned out that after the trial ended, Wu Wang was told that only one person would be eligible to inherit Shu Wangnian's Legacy. Thus, the fact that Hong Yu could still remain in place made him incredibly wary.

Seeing that Hong Yu didn't speak but instead continued to focus on his Cultivate, even increasing his speed by a few notches, fury immediately surged within his chest.

"Your cultivation is a mere Fourth Level of Qi Refining. Even if you have a trump card, such an arrogant and dismissive act is simply not taking me seriously!"

Wu Wang thought to himself. Then, the Spiritual Energy around his body began to boil as he started gathering power, preparing to take down the person before him in a single strike.

At this moment, Hong Yu truly had a grievance he couldn't voice. In his mind, he had already cursed the System to high heaven.

"You moronic System, can you hurry up and stop? Someone's about to die! You really won't be happy until you see me dead, will you?"

"System lord, can we please resolve this trouble in front of us before we Cultivate? If you don't act now, I'm really going to kick the bucket."

"Kill him first, hurry!"

"You brain-dead thing, if you don't want to fight, can we at least run? Don't freaking sit here like a sitting duck for someone else!"

Seeing Wu Wang's Aura rise higher and higher, all the Spiritual Energy around his body had gathered in his right palm, which even emitted a faint fluorescence.

When his power reached its peak, Wu Wang threw out a palm strike that seemed light as a feather but was actually as heavy as a mountain, aimed directly at Hong Yu's head.

"Keep acting. Go ahead and keep acting. You want to be overconfident? Let's see how long you can keep that up!"

Seeing that Hong Yu still had no intention of defending himself, a sense of gratification rose in Wu Wang's heart. He could already envision the scene of the man's head exploding under his palm.

The wind pressure generated by the palm struck Hong Yu's face, making him feel a stinging pain. At that moment, the System finally responded.

"Ding! Detected that the Host is under attack. This Autopilot Service has ended. Please rate your satisfaction with this service!"

"Rate your ass! You piece of garbage!"

Hong Yu was furious. The moment he felt control of his body return, he hurriedly mobilized all his Spiritual Energy and raised his right arm, narrowly blocking Wu Wang's attack.

His left forearm and Wu Wang's right palm collided, producing a massive boom.

How could a hasty defense match a fully charged strike? Moreover, his opponent was a Realm higher than him. Hong Yu was instantly sent flying back ten meters. With a crisp 'crack,' Hong Yu's left arm was snapped.

Upon landing, Hong Yu felt as if he had been hit by a speeding car. He felt tight-chested and short of breath, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. Every part of his body ached, especially his left hand, which sent waves of piercing pain through him.

Fortunately, over the years, he had gritted his teeth and practiced the Body Tempering Art without the aid of any Medicinal Pills. This gave Hong Yu an extremely high threshold for pain. Forcing himself to stay alert, he flipped over and stood up from the ground.

Seeing that his strike hadn't killed the enemy, Wu Wang's expression changed, and he gasped in a low voice, "Golden Skin? How is that possible?"

His face immediately turned fierce. He came from a humble background; in the Outer Sect, he had worked desperately on missions to gather resources and exchange them for Medicinal Pills to undergo Skin Tempering, yet he had only reached the Iron Skin stage. This man before him could achieve Golden Skin, so he must have a deep background and extraordinary Aptitude.

"If you don't pull up the weeds by the roots, they will grow back when the spring breeze blows. Since he had already offended such an enemy, he absolutely could not give him a chance to turn the tables."

Thinking of this, Wu Wang continued to mobilize his remaining Spiritual Energy and lunged at Hong Yu frantically.

Hong Yu parried and blocked. As the two clashed, the sound of metal hitting iron rang out frequently.

Because his left hand couldn't exert force, it was difficult to block all of Wu Wang's attacks with just his right hand. In their exchange, Hong Yu didn't know how many times he had been hit.

However, the defensive power of the Golden Skin level was indeed effective. Although being hit repeatedly was painful, it didn't cause any severe internal injuries.

Furthermore, the enemy didn't seem to have learned any Offensive Techniques, so Hong Yu was able to hold his own for now.

Gradually, his temper also flared up, and the attacks from both sides became even more vicious.

At first, their attacks were somewhat organized, but as time passed, it devolved into a street brawl. They traded punches and palms, each blow hitting home and causing them to spit blood.

It became a contest of whose Spiritual Energy would run out first and who would be the first to give in.

Clearly, although Wu Wang's Realm was higher, his previous charged strike had wasted too much of his Spiritual Energy. In terms of remaining Spiritual Energy, Hong Yu actually had the upper hand.

Seeing his opponent throw another straight punch at his face, Hong Yu tilted his head to dodge. At the same time, he keenly observed that his opponent's footing was a bit unsteady—clearly a flaw revealed after a full-force strike missed.

The chance had come!

Hong Yu bent down and grabbed Wu Wang's thigh with his right hand.

"Hah! Down you go!"

Then, he suddenly exerted force, stood up, and shoved forward, actually flipping Wu Wang onto the ground.

Hong Yu took the opportunity to press down, straddling Wu Wang. He clenched his right fist tightly, infused it with Spiritual Energy, and hammered frantically at Wu Wang's head.

The sudden turn of events left Wu Wang shocked and panicked. He could only cover his head with one hand while desperately attacking Hong Yu's already broken left hand with the other.

Feeling the increasingly intense pain in his left hand, Hong Yu's ferocity grew. His eyes turned blood-red, and ignoring what might happen to his left hand, he hammered his right fist even more ruthlessly at Wu Wang's head.

One punch, two punches...

He didn't know how many times he had punched. Hong Yu felt Wu Wang's struggles beneath him grow weaker and weaker until he finally stopped moving altogether, the hand that had been protecting his head falling limply.

"Die!"

However, Hong Yu didn't stop. At this moment, he was like a mad demon, continuing to clench his fist and smash down until his Spiritual Energy was exhausted. Only then did he stop.

He had killed Wu Wang. This was the first time he had killed someone across his two lives.

As his sanity returned, a strong sense of nausea, fear, and discomfort flooded his heart. Wu Wang's head was like a shattered watermelon, with red and white fluids leaking everywhere.

The System panel was still flashing, as if urging Hong Yu to provide a rating.

Hong Yu was in no mood to give a rating. Moreover, he didn't know what other suicidal things the System would do with his broken body after the rating. He simply ignored it, turned around, and staggered toward the skeleton, his mind racing to think about what to do next!