Letting out a long breath, Qin Ming slowly straightened up.
Staring at the ruined landscape ahead, he waved his hand to disperse the remaining energy in his palms.
Just as he was about to move forward to check on Vega’s condition, a dark shadow suddenly shot out from the thick smoke ahead.
Even with Qin Ming’s current perception and reaction speed, he could only barely catch the rough outline of the figure—it was far too fast to block or evade in time.
His expression stiffened, and by instinct, he tightened every muscle in his body and activated Arhat Golden Body.
Defense up—impervious to blades and bullets!
A deafening clang rang out like metal being struck. Qin Ming was blasted backward from the direct hit.
His legs gouged two deep trenches into the ground as he skidded, only stopping when he slammed hard into the steel wall behind him.
The entire wall caved in from the impact, thoroughly warped.
Qin Ming leaned against the wall, golden light flickering over his body. He had nearly been embedded into it.
Ahead of him, Vega—who had just launched himself like a cannonball—landed with a crazed laugh, hopping back with a flourish before slamming into the ground and resuming his arrogant stance, arms crossed.
Only now, his military uniform was tattered, and his hat was long gone.
Staring at Qin Ming, who had struggled free from the dented wall and stood up again with golden light still rippling from his body, Vega’s smile twisted into something wild.
"You even know Hard Qi Gong? And you can take a direct hit from my psychic charge? I have to admit it—you’re impressing me more and more, boy!"
Qin Ming gritted his teeth and rubbed his chest. Looking down at the spiderweb cracks spreading even through his reinforced defense, his brow furrowed.
He realized he might’ve misjudged Vega. This guy wasn’t just some crazy psycho—he was a true martial grandmaster, one who had surpassed first-rate mastery.
Not in terms of fists and kicks, but through his bizarre and overwhelming psychic power.
With such formidable mental force boosting him, Vega had terrifying destructive potential and could defend just as well as he attacked. A difficult opponent.
Eyes flashing, Qin Ming quickly circulated his blood to heal the internal damage. As soon as he recovered, he raised his hands again to prepare another Hadouken.
But this time, before he could even gather his energy, Vega had already launched himself forward again.
His arms crossed above his head and body wrapped in a whirlwind of psychic force, Vega rocketed forward like a spinning drill—headfirst toward Qin Ming.
Seeing this, Qin Ming’s face twitched. He’d already experienced how painful this move was and knew better than to take it head-on again.
His body flickered and dragged out afterimages as he executed a strange sidestep, vanishing from the spot in an unnatural movement.
It was one of the Assassination Sect’s Four Supreme Secret Arts: the Asura Flash Step!
Thanks to that ghostly footwork, Qin Ming managed to narrowly dodge the incoming strike.
Vega missed by a hair’s breadth, slammed into the wall behind, and blew a massive hole several meters wide into the reinforced metal.
But before Qin Ming could let out a sigh of relief, a gust of wind howled from the breach—and Vega reversed course in mid-air and shot right back toward him again!
Qin Ming used Asura Flash Step to dodge again! Vega chased once more! Qin Ming kept flashing! Vega kept pursuing!
If judged purely by martial ability, Vega couldn’t really be considered a martial grandmaster. His hand-to-hand skills were lacking, and his control over physical strength was inadequate.
But the problem was, Vega had terrifying psychic power as his foundation. Backed by that force, his movements might not be refined, but they were relentlessly brutal!
At this moment, he was like a firecracker monkey—zipping around the room nonstop!
No matter what was in his path—even his own allies—he never slowed. Anything he ran through would be shredded to pieces.
Faced with this tank-like, never-stopping bulldozer tactic—offensive and defensive in one—Qin Ming was momentarily overwhelmed.
He couldn’t tank it! He couldn’t dodge them all! And there was no way to intercept him! What the hell kind of cheat move was this?!
This guy’s been spinning around like that—doesn’t he get dizzy?!
Qin Ming finally understood what it meant to have one cheap move that gets you through every fight! So those scumbag players in old legends—camping in corners, spamming the same projectile endlessly, disgusting everyone with one pattern—they were real!
Dodging another of Vega’s charging tackles, Qin Ming watched as the brute turned to come at him again, clearly intent on continuing this strategy until he crushed him to death. Qin Ming’s expression suddenly twisted.
His body surged with crimson killing intent, and just as Vega spun and rushed at him again, Qin Ming’s entire aura exploded outward.
A wave of red killing aura spread out, dyeing the area in blood. The ongoing melee froze in place. Vega, spinning violently mid-charge, froze too. Even the dust and shattered debris hanging in the air stopped in mid-fall.
Qin Ming, finally pissed off, had used his ultimate technique!
One Thousand Strikes in an Instant—
By compressing time within a radius using sheer killing intent, Qin Ming created a moment where only he could move. Face blank, he strode toward the immobilized Vega.
Staring at Vega’s twisted grin and body wrapped in psychic energy, Qin Ming gave a sudden shiver.
The next instant, countless shadows identical to him appeared from every direction, lunging at Vega simultaneously.
"A thousand strikes in an instant?" No—this was more like a full-blown beatdown!
In these few seconds of frozen time, Qin Ming unleashed a merciless flurry on the helpless target. That was the truth of the "Instant Hell Murder."
To an outsider, the technique ended in a flash—like he’d really hit Vega a thousand times in one second.
But in reality? Qin Ming had been pounding on him for several full seconds!
As the blood mist detonated outward, the skill ended—and frozen time resumed.
Hovering in midair, Vega suddenly screamed. Hundreds of impact bursts erupted from his body as his severely twisted form went flying, tumbling backward through the air.
Back at the center of the scene, Qin Ming stood with his back to the others, his body wreathed in killing intent. Behind him, a massive kanji character—"灭" (Annihilation)—manifested from the blood mist. It was terrifyingly majestic.
Was this part of the technique? No—this wasn’t a move. It was just special effects purely for showing off.
Otherwise, from the outside, all people would see was Qin Ming strike a pose, shift positions—and then Vega just flew out dead. Who would even know what happened?
But slap on a cool finisher effect , and boom—it’s clear you just used some unstoppable secret technique and obliterated your opponent instantly.
When you’re out in the world, all your badass moments have to be manually created. It wasn’t just Qin Ming—even if it were Akuma (Gouki), he’d do the same. Otherwise, who would know he used the ultimate technique—Shun Goku Satsu?
Without the flashy effect, people might think the opponent just had a seizure—and how could Akuma’s Instant Hell Murder become the legendary unbeatable move?