Xu Nian blocked Qian Cheng's fierce Long Spear with his sword and retreated, putting some distance between them.
"Ha ha, kid, your sword was indeed terrifying, but you never expected that I have Xuan Iron Armor protecting my body. No matter how powerful your Swordsmanship, you can't injure me."
Lin Ji laughed heartily as he stood up from the ground without any serious injury.
Lin Ji and Qian Cheng both sneered. Through the exchange of blows just now, they had realized Xu Nian was strong but not to the extent that they would fear him.
"Kid, surrender now, and perhaps I'll leave you a whole corpse, or else I'll make you wish you were never born," Lin Ji said with a cold laugh.
A mocking expression also appeared on Qian Cheng's face.
He and Lin Ji were already evenly matched with Xu Nian, and once his elder brother arrived, Xu Nian would surely be dead.
Xu Nian looked at the two mocking faces before him and also revealed a faint smile.
"It seems I need to show some real strength before you'll shed tears." With a flick of his arm, the Xuan Iron Sword in Xu Nian's hand disappeared, replaced by his Meteorite Iron Hammer.
He had previously stored the Meteorite Iron Hammer in his storage ring for convenience, and now, holding it again, Xu Nian felt a sense of nostalgia.
"A hammer? Kid, you think changing weapons will let you defeat us? You're courting death," Lin Ji laughed heartily.
"Enough talk, Third Brother, let's finish him together," Qian Cheng said.
The two of them then charged toward Xu Nian once again.
From a distance, Wang Siyu watched this scene with a worried expression for Xu Nian.
Even if Xu Nian was strong, how could he possibly be a match for two Two-star War Sect members, especially since they both had Inner Armor?
However, the next moment she froze in shock.
Xu Nian swung his hammer, meeting Lin Ji's sword head-on.
Lin Ji's Xuan Iron Sword was bent out of shape by the hammer blow, and still, the hammer crashed heavily onto Lin Ji's chest.
Blood sprayed wildly from Lin Ji as his chest and Inner Armor caved in. He was flung like a giant rock and smashed into a distant wall, bringing it down with him.
The surrounding members of the Heavenly Slash Gang were completely stunned; even Qian Cheng stood there dazed, his attack hanging in mid-air.
Xu Nian stood proudly, holding the hammer.
Lin Ji struggled to get up from the rubble but collapsed again before he could take a step.
"Third Brother!" Qian Cheng cried out in alarm, rushing over.
But there was no breath left in Lin Ji; his organs had been shattered by Xu Nian's hammer blow.
What good was Xuan Iron Armor when facing the Three-Forging Hammer Thunder Strike? It wasn't easily defended against.
With a single strike, except for those above a Four-star Body Sect, nobody could withstand his hammer head-on.
This was merely sixty-five percent of Xu Nian's mastery of his Thunder Strike.
Once he reached one hundred percent, the power would be even more terrifying.
The members of the Heavenly Slash Gang looked on as if they'd seen a ghost.
A hammer strike that killed a Two-star War Sect member wearing Inner Armor - what kind of strength was that?
"You killed Third Brother; I will have your life!" Seeing Lin Ji dead, Qian Cheng's eyes turned blood-red, and he lunged at Xu Nian with his Long Spear.
A cold light flashed in Xu Nian's eyes, and he swung the hammer.
Xu Nian's hammer smashed against Qian Cheng's Long Spear, instantly sending it flying while Qian Cheng himself was thrown backward.
Xu Nian did not stop there but leapt up and, with a hammer raise like splitting heaven and earth, smashed down with thunderous force.
Two-star's face dramatically distorted as he hurriedly rolled on the ground.
Xu Nian's hammer struck the ground, and the earth instantly caved in to form a one-meter-wide crater.
Beside him, Qian Cheng's expression turned to one of horror, and it was only at this moment that he truly realized just how terrifying the hammer in the young man's hands was.
But before he could get up to flee, Xu Nian's next round of attacks had already arrived, and the hammer thunderously crashed down on his back.
Qian Cheng spat out blood, his spine completely shattered.
"Ah..." Qian Cheng let out an extraordinarily mournful cry.
Members of the Heavenly Slash Gang around them all felt a tingling in their scalps; they knew that giant axes, sharp swords, and battle sabers were terrifying. When wielded with great power, they could slice a person in half with a single stroke. But they had never imagined that a hammer could be just as dreadful.
Because a hammer's blows damaged not the surface, but the insides of a body. Even a slight hit could either shatter internal organs or break bones, causing unimaginable pain.
"Beg... begging you, don't kill me! I'll give you as much money as you want," Qian Cheng pleaded in agony.
Xu Nian snorted coldly and asked, "What happened to the two girls you and Lin Ji took away?"
At these words, Qian Cheng's face changed, and he struggled to say, "Dead... they're dead..."
Xu Nian's gaze became instantly icy.
Before coming here, he had looked into Qian Cheng and Lin Ji's backgrounds and knew these two men enjoyed torturing women.
He had thought he was quick enough, but it turned out he was still a step too late.
Six girls, and three were dead!
A wave of rage surged in Xu Nian's eyes. Even though he had tried his best and was no saint overflowing with great mercy, this kind of thing still made him extremely uncomfortable.
"Then you can go down and join them!"
Xu Nian roared, swinging the hammer toward Qian Cheng's head.
Qian Cheng was terrified and shouted loudly, "Big brother, save me..."
But at the moment Qian Cheng's voice fell, a thunderous yell came from afar, "Stop!"
Xu Nian paid no heed. Once the hammer was in motion, there was no retracting it.
With a loud sound, Qian Cheng's head was smashed into the soil, dead beyond any doubt.
At the same time, a burly middle-aged man swept in from a distance. He looked at Qian Cheng, now a formless heap, and his eyes darkened to the extreme.
Xu Nian also sized up the middle-aged man. If he wasn't mistaken, this person should be Yuan Xiong, the Gang Leader of the Heavenly Slash Gang.
What puzzled Xu Nian, though, was that Yuan Xiong was still alive.
He had heard that Yuan Xiong had been dual cultivating with a stunningly beautiful woman. His first thought had been of Lin Ruolan.
If it really was Lin Ruolan, the only outcome for Yuan Xiong would be death.
But Yuan Xiong was, against all odds, still alive.
"Could I have guessed wrong? But a mistake is good news," Xu Nian mused to himself.
He was more afraid of encountering the half-human half-demon Lin Ruolan than facing Yuan Xiong.
But the next second, he knew he was wrong.
He saw a woman in a bright red dress, of peerless beauty, approaching from the distance, her presence sometimes ethereal, sometimes almost demonic.
Xu Nian's heart skipped a beat. Who else could this stunning woman be other than Lin Ruolan, who had slain Zhao Yan and then vanished?