In this heart-stopping moment, the wheels of destiny turned violently, and the air grew thick with a scent of blood and tragic heroism. When Du Bufan's sun-bright dragon shadow struck his arm, the limb snapped into seven or eight pieces as if it were a fragile, dead branch. At that instant, a flash of lightning-fast astonishment crossed his eyes, followed immediately by a terror that rolled over him like a surging legion of demons from the darkness—a terror so intense it nearly devoured the last shreds of his sanity.
Yet, he was a man who had spent years fighting his way through the underworld, and those cruel years had forged his ruthless disposition like the toughest steel. This temperament acted as an imposing, indestructible dam, forcefully beating back the flood-like terror. Even now, when the cold shadow of death already enveloped him like a massive black canopy, not a single trace of regret stirred in his heart. The lights of resentment and grievance flickered in his eyes like will-o'-the-wisps, sinking so deep into a bottomless abyss that one could clearly discern his stubbornness and utter malice. He was like the densest, heaviest shadow in a dark world, stripping away all light and vitality wherever he went. To the Du Family, his existence was undoubtedly the harbinger of utter destruction, a crushing sense of threat that plunged the entire story into an atmosphere of suffocating tension—just like the heavy, dense rain clouds pressing relentlessly down upon everyone's hearts before a storm, threatening to crush every last hope beneath an endless weight.
"Well, have you made your choice?" Wang Weisuan's sinister laughter echoed through the hall, blooming like an evil flower in the dark and exuding a hair-raising aura of death. Every petal looked as though it had been meticulously watered with venom, shimmering with a bizarre sheen that seemed capable of withering life at the slightest touch. His smile held not a shred of warmth, only endless malice and mockery, like a spitting viper fixing its prey before delivering a fatal strike.
"Young Master, run! Avenge us in the future! I, Du Rong, fear neither life nor death!" Du Rong's eyes split wide, the bloodshot veins within them burning like a blazing fire fueled by loyalty to his clan and the defense of their young master. His roar shook all directions like a wounded lion's, filled with absolute resolve and tragic heroism. Every syllable seemed torn from the depths of his soul, carrying a courage that stared death in the face, playing a sorrowful song of clan loyalty within the death-haunted hall.
An elder of the Du Family wore an iron-cold expression, his face seemingly cast in steel, every line carved with unyielding grit. "That's right! We men of the Du Family have iron bones; we would rather die than yield, and we will never submit to coercion! Du Bufan, run!" His voice reverberated like an ancient, booming bell through the hall, every echo proclaiming the dignity and unyielding spirit of the Du Family. The voice contained a power that refused to bow even in the face of death—like a mountain standing tall for a millennium, remaining completely unshaken despite wind and rain.
"What do we men of the Du Family have to fear from death?" the members of the Du Family shouted in unison. Their voices converged like a surging wave, rising higher and higher to form an overwhelming, mighty force. The flames of a do-or-die resolve burned in everyone's eyes—flames so intensely hot they seemed capable of burning away all the evil in the world. Their figures stood like towering, indomitable mountains, unshakable in the face of any violent storm. They were the backbone of the Du Family, the final line of defense guarding the clan's dignity.
"This... this script is all wrong!" Du Bufan gazed at these Du Family members, steadfast as steel, feeling as though his heart had been struck by lightning. He knew the Du Family was united, but he had never imagined that in this moment of life and death, such unity could be as indestructible as steel and burn with the intensity of a blazing fire. This power possessed a certain magic that gradually calmed his somewhat panicked heart, replacing it with an unprecedented firmness.
The killing intent in Wang Weisuan's eyes surged like boiling magma, the scorching malice hot enough to seemingly ignite the surrounding air. "These Du Family members have bones too hard to crack—an absolute nuisance. To prevent any future trouble, I'll wipe out their entire clan today!" He had already resolved to erase the Du Family completely from this world. Yet, within his twisted psyche, there lurked an even more perverted desire. Like a cunning cat before devouring a mouse, he wanted to toy with them to his heart's content first, savoring the struggle of his prey caught in fear and despair. He regarded Du Bufan as the key chess piece in this cruel game, intending to shatter the convictions of the entire Du Family by torturing him.
"Come on, Du Bufan—life or death, make your choice!" He stared mockingly at Du Bufan, a cruel light flashing in his eyes like two sharp daggers thrusting straight at the young man. He understood the weaknesses of human nature all too well; if Du Bufan showed even a shred of cowardice now, the convictions of everyone else in the Du Family would instantly collapse like fragile sandcastles under the pounding waves. This tactic of breaking a man's spirit first was his favorite form of torture, bringing him a twisted sense of gratification as though he were a demon lording over life and death.
Yet at that moment, Du Bufan's heart was filled entirely with disgust toward Wang Weisuan and Li Muge—a disgust that surged relentlessly within him like a swelling tide. In his eyes, their actions were like a reeking, nauseating pile of trash defiling all the beauty in the world. He had simply wanted to return to his room to continue his cultivation and pursue the supreme path of martial arts, yet they were driving his entire clan to a dead end over some absurd and ridiculous pretext. How utterly overbearing! This was a severe trampling of his bottom line and a merciless desecration of the Du Family's dignity.
"A choice? I choose your grandmother!" Du Bufan cursed fiercely, flames of fury burning in his eyes like a phoenix reborn from the ashes—hot and blinding. Beneath the blaze of this raging anger, the fear in his heart vanished completely, replaced by a fearless courage. He felt no dread toward the demon-like enemy before him, standing like a brave warrior who would not yield an inch even when facing an entire army.
"You're courting death!" Wang Weisuan's killing intent erupted like a volcano, and he suddenly lashed out with a palm strike carrying the momentum of a collapsing mountain toward Du Bufan. The palm strike was like a sky-obscuring storm cloud laden with world-shattering power; wherever it passed, the air shrieked under the pressure, threatening to crush Du Bufan completely and grind him to powder before this boundless might.
With a gaze as cold as ice, Du Bufan took a deep breath and activated "Heavenly Dao Breathing". In an instant, the surrounding spiritual Qi rushed madly toward him as if summoned, and the aura around his body grew immensely powerful, as though he had merged with heaven and earth.
"Golden Light Protection, fully activated!" At his loud shout, his body was instantly enveloped in a layer of brilliant, sun-like radiance. The blinding light was dazzling to behold, making him look like a god of war descended to the mortal realm—sacred and inviolable.
"Heavenly Dao Fist, Dragon-Shaped Fist, First Form—Strike!" He shouted again, his voice thunderous and heart-shaking. He launched himself at Wang Weisuan without holding anything back, every movement condensing his full strength and determination. Facing an expert in the Void Flight Realm three major realms higher than his own, he dared not slacken in the slightest, knowing this battle concerned not only his own life and death, but the very survival of the Du Family.
Roar! Accompanied by Du Bufan's punch, a majestic, brilliant golden dragon shadow emerged over his fist. Baring its claws and looking startlingly lifelike, the dragon shadow seemed like a divine beast awakening from an ancient legend. Carrying a world-shattering momentum, it whistled toward Wang Weisuan like a shooting star, slightly warping space and stirring ripples in its wake, as if the very fabric of space could not bear such mighty force and might collapse at any moment.