# Chapter 238: Silver Needle Piercing Meridians, Fire Pill Igniting Blood
Arriving outside the Poison Spider Merchant Association's stronghold, Zhang Ruochen looked toward the low courtyard ahead and could already clearly sense Hua Minggong's aura.
"This is the place!"
Zhang Ruochen walked to the main gate of the courtyard, standing thirty meters away, raising one arm as his five fingers rotated.
True Qi surged from his palm, like an invisible pillar of air, striking the gate.
"Bang!"
The stronghold's gate was directly shattered from a distance, turning into wooden splinters.
The dozen or so evil path martial artists originally ambushed behind the gate were all sent flying by the powerful True Qi, falling to the ground in disarray.
Each evil path martial artist had bloody holes punched through their bodies by the wooden splinters. Some had their heads pierced, others had their abdomens ruptured... Half of them died on the spot, while the other half suffered severe injuries.
Entering the stronghold, Zhang Ruochen didn't even glance at those evil path martial artists as he walked straight toward the inner courtyard.
Moments later, Zhang Ruochen saw Hua Minggong, who was healing his injuries.
Hua Minggong sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands pressed together, forming a True Qi barrier thirty meters in diameter around his body.
True Qi, like luminous mist, enveloped his body.
As Zhang Ruochen entered the stronghold, Hua Minggong had already stopped healing and opened his eyes, saying coldly, "Zhang Ruochen, you've caught up again. I believe I left no traces behind. Can you tell me how you found me?"
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn't reveal the secret of his martial soul, merely saying indifferently, "Hua Minggong, no need to stall for time. Today, I won't give you another chance to escape."
Hua Minggong stood up and roared, "Then let's fight! It's either your death or mine."
Beside him lay a huge stone mill, weighing several thousand jin.
Gripping the stone mill with one hand, Hua Minggong spun his arm twice and hurled it at Zhang Ruochen.
At the same time, Hua Minggong turned and fled, having no intention of fighting Zhang Ruochen to the death.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen shattered the stone mill with a palm strike and pursued Hua Minggong.
"Still trying to escape? Stop right there!"
Zhang Ruochen released his Space Domain, covering a five-hundred-meter radius, and activated the power of "Space Freeze."
Hua Minggong, who had already fled a hundred meters away, suddenly felt the surrounding space completely solidify. His body felt as if sealed in ice, and even moving was extremely difficult.
Hua Minggong felt the pressure on his body growing increasingly intense. He could only activate his bloodline power and violently crash against the void.
"Crack!"
The space seemed to tear apart, and Hua Minggong regained his freedom.
But in that brief moment he was sealed, Zhang Ruochen had already caught up and struck out with a palm.
"Dragon-Elephant Returns to the Field."
Hua Minggong's eyes turned bloodshot, his entire body's blood energy surging. Stepping on a crimson blood formation beneath his feet, he spun around and punched out.
"Shake Heaven and Earth."
Fist met palm, emitting powerful True Qi fluctuations.
Hua Minggong's throat turned sweet as he spat out a mouthful of blood, his steps retreating continuously.
After landing, Zhang Ruochen charged forward again. His blood energy surged through his meridians, producing a rushing sound as it gathered in his arm, and he struck out with another palm.
"Wild Elephant Stamps the Ground."
The profound palm force formed a semi-transparent giant palm print in front of Zhang Ruochen's hand, emitting the thunderous roar of an elephant.
Even before the palm print struck Hua Minggong, the overwhelming momentum seemed ready to blow him away.
Hua Minggong's eyes bulged like an angry Vajra as he threw both fists forward, once again clashing head-on with Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom!"
Hua Minggong was sent flying horizontally, landing over thirty meters away. His arms ached as if they might shatter, his bones feeling broken.
"Damn it! If my Black Gold Gloves were still here, how could I have lost to your palm technique?"
The fist technique Hua Minggong cultivated could only unleash its full power with the Black Gold Gloves. Unfortunately, his gloves had long been shattered by the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Boy, you've forced me to use forbidden arts."
Hua Minggong flipped up and took out eight half-foot-long silver needles, simultaneously inserting them into the eight main meridians of his body.
At the same time, he took out a bright red pill and quickly swallowed it.
In an instant, Hua Minggong seemed fully healed, the flow rate of True Qi in his body doubling.
The skin on his body turned completely charcoal black, and his bloodshot eyes were icy cold, staring at Zhang Ruochen like a venomous snake.
"Silver Needle Piercing Meridians, Fire Pill Igniting Blood."
Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly, saying, "Using this forbidden art to stimulate your meridians and burn your blood will probably reduce your lifespan by twenty years."
"So what? If I don't use this forbidden art, wouldn't I be dead for sure?" Hua Minggong said.
"Well said."
Zhang Ruochen nodded, drew the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and no longer underestimated Hua Minggong. His expression turned serious as he prepared for a proper battle.
Just using the Silver Needle Piercing Meridians had already restored Hua Minggong to his peak state. Combined with the Fire Pill he had swallowed, which could burn his blood, he was now even more formidable than at his peak.
One could say Hua Minggong was now truly in the Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist state.
Of course, using forbidden arts had a time limit. At most, after one hour, if Hua Minggong couldn't kill Zhang Ruochen, the power of the Silver Needle Piercing Meridians and Fire Pill Igniting Blood would fade. Then he would become extremely weak, at Zhang Ruochen's mercy.
Zhang Ruochen felt Hua Minggong was deliberately stalling for time, so he didn't want to wait him out. He decided to end the battle quickly to avoid any unexpected changes.
"Zhang Ruochen, let me show you my true power."
Hua Minggong laughed loudly, erupting with a speed of two hundred and eighty meters per second. By the time his voice sounded, he had already charged before Zhang Ruochen.
"Shake Heaven and Earth!"
He threw a punch, carrying powerful fist wind.
The opponent was too fast; Zhang Ruochen couldn't even dodge and could only block horizontally with his sword.
"Boom!"
A tremendous force came from the sword blade, surging toward Zhang Ruochen's arms, sending him flying.
Before Zhang Ruochen could land, Hua Minggong immediately threw a second punch, a third punch... completely not giving Zhang Ruochen a chance to counterattack, throwing forty-nine consecutive punches until his fist technique was fully executed.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen didn't know how far he had been pushed back, having knocked down all the houses on the entire street, flattening every building. His hair, clothes, and face were covered in a layer of dust and grime, looking somewhat disheveled.
Zhang Ruochen had his Space Domain protecting him and wore the Ice Fire Qilin Armor, so he wasn't injured, just looking a bit disheveled.
After throwing forty-nine punches, Hua Minggong paused briefly to catch his breath.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Ruochen soared into the air, channeled all his True Qi, and slashed downward with his sword.
"Whoosh——"
Hua Minggong looked up to see a brilliant sword light descending from the sky, like a river composed of sword Qi.
He spread his arms, gathering a large amount of True Qi in his hands, and brought them together in the middle, using a technique of catching a blade barehanded. He actually caught Zhang Ruochen's full-powered sword strike.
"Boom!"
The ground beneath Hua Minggong's feet shook violently, then split apart, sending up a wave of mud that surged in all directions.
The smoke and dust cleared.
The ground within a ten-meter radius had sunk over a meter, forming a huge pit.
"Boy, you're nothing special. I can catch your Ninth-rank True Martial Treasure barehanded. If I also had a Ninth-rank True Martial Treasure, I could kill you with one move."
Hua Minggong laughed loudly, still holding the war sword with both hands. He kicked off the ground, shooting straight up, flying above Zhang Ruochen's head, and stomped downward fiercely.
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head. His hand, which had been gripping the sword hilt, suddenly released it, falling to the ground as his arm slashed through the void.
"Space Rift!"
Hua Minggong's expression changed. He instinctively sensed a dangerous aura approaching but didn't know where the danger came from.
"Ssss!"
Suddenly, the void before Hua Minggong trembled slightly, revealing tiny cracks. Those cracks gathered together, forming a three-foot-long rift.
Inside the rift was a chaotic void.
A powerful devouring force came from within that rift. Even with Hua Minggong's Heavenly Extreme Realm cultivation, he couldn't resist.
The Space Rift, like a void mouth, instantly devoured Hua Minggong's head.
"Boom!"
A headless corpse fell from midair, bright red blood gushing from the neck, emitting a nauseating bloody smell.
Zhang Ruochen extended his arm. The Abyssal Ancient Sword, which had been held between Hua Minggong's hands, trembled, flew up, and landed in Zhang Ruochen's grasp.
"The power of the Space Rift is indeed formidable. Even a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist can't withstand it. I wonder how powerful the force would be if I could cultivate Space Collapse?"
Looking at the corpse on the ground, Zhang Ruochen crouched down and removed the Space Ring from Hua Minggong's finger.
The Space Ring was filled with treasures. Besides pills and True Martial Treasures, it also contained a large number of Spirit Crystals and a small amount of silver coins.
The pills and True Martial Treasures were secondary, their grades not high. The best pill was only a Third-grade pill, and the best True Martial Treasure was only a Sixth-grade True Martial Treasure. For a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist, this seemed too meager.
But the number of Spirit Crystals shocked Zhang Ruochen. They were piled up like a small mountain, totaling over nine thousand two hundred pieces. Combined with some high-quality medium-grade Spirit Crystals and premium Spirit Crystals, the total value of these Spirit Crystals definitely exceeded ten million silver coins, a massive fortune.
Why did Hua Minggong carry such a huge amount of Spirit Crystals on him?
Generally, martial artists would convert Spirit Crystals into silver coins and deposit them in the Martial Market Bank.
Even evil path martial artists of the Black Market mostly had a public identity and could deposit their wealth in the Martial Market Bank without carrying it on them.
The Black Market had also established banks, but because of the numerous internal factions and severe divisions, these banks couldn't compare to the Martial Market Bank and often went bankrupt.
Therefore, even evil path martial artists of the Black Market preferred to store their wealth in the Martial Market Bank.
Although somewhat risky, they didn't have to worry about the Martial Market Bank going bankrupt, and withdrawing money was very convenient. Every city definitely had a branch of the Martial Market Bank.
Of course, once the Martial Market Bank discovered their identity, the wealth deposited there would be frozen.