The air trembled as the three auras fully descended on huo chen.

  Wei Zhao charged first, his blade already descending in a blazing arc.

  "Flaming Slash!" Flames wreathed the blade. The heat alone distorted the air.

  Huo Chen shot forward to meet it. Earth qi coating his fist as he drove it upward.

  Fist met sword.

  CLANG!

  Fire and earth Qi exploded outward. The Shockwave rippled through the clearing,tearing grass from their roots.

  Their eyes locked across the clash—Wei Zhao's burning with fury, Huo Chen's cold and focused.

  Then Huo Chen felt it—a sharp, cutting sensation raising the hairs on his neck. He moved.

  Whoosh.

  A wind blade sliced through the space where he'd been standing, so sharp it left a trail in the air. The attack came from the wiry cultivator, hands still extended from forming the technique.

  Huo Chen landed a few paces away.

  Wei Zhao straightened, sword still trailing embers. "Brat, you're dead today," Wei Zhao said coldly.

  Huo Chen's lips curved slightly. "You don't have the ability."

  A figure blurred from the right. The younger cultivator charged in, both fists wreathed in flames. "Let me show you what happens to arrogant fools!"

  He closed the distance in explosive bursts of speed. His first fist came straight at Huo Chen's face. Huo Chen's stone-covered fist met it head-on.

  BOOM!

  Fire and earth collided. The impact scattered embers. The younger one's other fist came from the side. Huo Chen blocked with his forearm. The flames scorched his sleeve.

  They exchanged rapidly—fist after fist, each collision sending sparks and stone fragments flying.

  Then Huo Chen saw it—an overextension in his opponent's left hook.

  He tilted his head sideways, the flaming fist grazing past his cheek, singeing a few strands of hair. In the same motion, Huo Chen drove his own palm into the guy's exposed shoulder. Earth qi detonated on impact.

  Bang!

  The younger man's eyes went wide and was hurled backward like a ragdoll, crashing through two small trees before skidding to a halt, coughing blood.

  "Liu Ming!" the wiry one called out.

  Huo Chen barely registered the name.

  Wei Zhao's sword was already descending—a flaming slash aimed at his exposed back. The attack came too fast for him to react.

  Yet an earthen wall erupted from the ground between them.

  CRASH!

  The sword shattered through it, but the barrier had slowed the strike enough. Huo Chen was already gone.

  The blade struck empty ground. In that same split second, Huo Chen's senses screamed again. The wiry one—Xu Ping—had formed another wind blade. It was already upon him, cutting through the air from his left.

  Huo Chen spun. His leg swept upward, coated in a layer of flowing earth qi that hardened into a dark-green sheen. The spinning kick met the wind blade head-on.

  Crack—!

  The technique shattered. The force of the collision sent Huo Chen sliding backward, his foot carving a trench through dirt. He landed in a low stance, breathing harder now, his eyes tracking all three opponents.

  All three cultivators resettled their positions, forming a loose triangle around him.

  Liu Ming pushed himself up from the tree, clutching his shoulder, face twisted with pain and fury.

  Xu Ping's calculating eyes swept over Huo Chen, reassessing. Wei Zhao raised his sword again, flames intensifying along the blade.

  Wei Zhao's eyes narrowed, studying Huo Chen. "So you have some ability after all. That's why you're so arrogant."

  Xu Ping's voice was cold and analytical. "But you're wrong if you think that's enough."

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  Liu Ming clutched his shoulder, face twisted with rage. "You'll see real power now, brat."

  Wei Zhao's spiritual pressure flared. He glanced at Xu Ping. "Support me."

  Xu Ping's hands moved into position, wind Qi already gathering.

  Wei Zhao launched forward with explosive speed, sword raised high. Flames erupted along the blade, burning brighter than before.

  He came down with devastating force. Huo Chen's stone-covered fist shot up to meet it.

  CLANG!

  They collided and immediately broke apart. Wei Zhao's sword came again—a horizontal slash. Huo Chen blocked with his forearm. Sparks flying.

  They moved. Wei Zhao pressed forward with a rapid series of strikes. High. Low. Middle. Each one flowing into the next. Huo Chen met each attack, stone meeting steel, neither giving ground.

  Both men shifted—Wei Zhao twisting to slash horizontally, Huo Chen countering with a rapid series of fist strikes. Blows landed in a blur: sword edge scraping against armored qi, fists hammering flame-wreathed steel.

  The exchange moved them across the clearing in jagged bursts, each impact sending tremors through the earth.

  Xu Ping closed in from the side. His wind-wrapped palm came from Huo Chen's blind spot, driving toward his side. Huo Chen's free hand came up to block. Their fists collided.

  BOOM!

  The impact threw off his balance. His footing shifted. His guard dropped for a split second.

  Wei Zhao saw it. His flaming sword came down hard, aimed at Huo Chen's head. Huo Chen's hands came up, both coated in stone. The blade struck his crossed forearms.

  CLANG!

  The force was enormous. Fire exploded against his guard. The impact drove him backward, boots sliding across the dirt, carving deep trenches as he fought to stay upright.

  Then from his right — "Blazing Meteor Fist!" Liu Ming's flaming fist came out of nowhere, already mid-strike, flames spiraling around it.

  BANG!

  The impact caught Huo Chen square in the chest. Fire detonating.The force lifted him off his feet and sent him flying backward through the air. He crashed into a tree trunk.

  CRACK!

  Bark splintered. The trunk groaned. Huo Chen hit the ground hard, gasping for breath.

  Liu Ming laughed, the sound filled with pleasure. "Not so tough now, are you?" He flexed his fist, still wreathed in flames, clearly pleased with himself.

  Wei Zhao and Xu Ping remained calm, watching silently.

  Huo Chen pushed himself up slowly, one hand pressed against the cracked tree trunk. He coughed once, tasted blood.

  "Damn. I can't coordinate with my clone. Not with multiple eyes watching, guess i have to improvise".

  He straightened, looking at all three of them. His expression hardened, then said slowly.

  "It's time for me to be serious".

  Liu Ming's laughter cut off. Then he grinned mockingly. "Listen to yourself! Even at death's door, you still have the courage to boast!"

  Wei Zhao's lips curved slightly. "The coffin's already waiting for you, boy."

  Huo Chen moved.

  BANG!

  He exploded forward with such speed the ground beneath him cracked. He closed the distance to Liu Ming in a blink.

  Their fists collided.

  BOOM!

  Wei Zhao and Xu Ping didn't hesitate. They moved instantly, closing in from both sides. The fight erupted.

  Huo Chen's fist came at Liu Ming's face. Liu Ming blocked. Wei Zhao's sword cut from the left. Huo Chen twisted, his stone-covered forearm deflecting the blade. Xu Ping's wind palm struck from the right. Huo Chen's other hand caught it.

  Then he moved. His speed increased. His feet shifted constantly, never staying in one place. He flowed between them like water, blocking, striking, dodging.

  Wei Zhao and Xu Ping kept pace, their experience showing. They coordinated without words, cutting off angles, supporting each other's attacks.

  But something changed.

  The earth beneath them responded. A stone spike erupted from the ground, aimed at Wei Zhao's leg. He jumped back. Another spike shot up where he'd land. He twisted mid-air, barely avoiding it.

  Xu Ping's wind blade came at Huo Chen's back. An earthen wall rose instantly, blocking it. The wall shattered but the attack had been intercepted.

  Liu Ming's flaming fist drove toward Huo Chen's face. The ground beneath Huo Chen's feet shifted, propelling him aside. The strike missed.

  The earth had become an extension of Huo Chen's body. Spikes erupted to intercept attacks. Walls rose to block near-fatal strikes. The ground itself moved to aid his footwork, giving him speed and leverage.

  Wei Zhao pressed forward, sword technique flowing. "Blazing—" A stone spike shot up from directly beneath him, faster than before. It caught his leg.

  CRACK!

  Wei Zhao's eyes widened. Pain exploded. He stumbled.

  Huo Chen was already moving. His stone-covered fist drove into Xu Ping's chest with devastating force.

  BOOM!

  The impact echoed. Xu Ping's eyes went wide. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His body lifted off the ground and flew backward, crashing into a boulder. He slumped, gasping, unable to rise. His combat ability was gone.

  In that same instant, Huo Chen's foot planted on an earth pillar that rose beneath him like a springboard. He launched into the air. Liu Ming saw him coming.

  "Blazing Guard!" His arms came up, flames wrapping around them in a defensive technique. Huo Chen's flying kick came down like a meteor. His earth-coated leg drove into Liu Ming's raised guard.

  BANG!

  The force was enormous. Liu Ming's guard held for a heartbeat—then shattered. The kick broke through and connected with his face. Liu Ming's head snapped back. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose. His body flew backward and crashed into the ground hard, rolling twice before stopping. He coughed, blood pouring from his mouth.

  Wei Zhao looked around. Xu Ping slumped against the boulder, barely conscious. Liu Ming on the ground, coughing blood, unable to stand.

  His leg throbbed where the spike had caught him. His sword hand trembled. His eyes met Huo Chen's. It was over. He knew it.

  Wei Zhao's face twisted with rage and humiliation. "Brat, this isn't over," he spat, blood on his lips. "Just hope we don't meet again outside this forest."

  His hand shot to his robe and pulled out an escape talisman. Without hesitation, he crushed it. Wind Qi exploded outward, wrapping around him in a spiraling vortex.

  Before the technique fully activated, he thrust both arms out. Wind tendrils shot toward Liu Ming and Xu Ping, coiling around their bodies and yanking them across the ground toward him.

  The wind vortex expanded, swallowing all three.

  They vanished.

  Huo Chen stood in the destroyed clearing, breathing hard. Blood ran from several cuts. His robes were torn and scorched.

  He didn't chase.

  "Chase them? too lazy to do that".

  The clearing fell silent except for his breathing.

  Around him—cracked earth, shattered stone, scorched ground where techniques had collided. He checked his storage bag.

  Everything was intact. Huo Chen exhaled slowly, the tension easing from his shoulders. The adrenaline faded, leaving only the dull ache of his wounds. He scanned the horizon once, then turned away, steps measured as he melted into the forest's embrace.