Volume 4: Hidden Battles – Chapter 234: Life Is Worse Than Death

As the dust cleared, Chu Tianyu’s figure reappeared. His expression remained calm—neither the joy of demonstrating strength with a punch nor the panting after a fierce strike. Even the sudden yellow glow from earlier had vanished without a trace. If one looked only at Chu Tianyu, it seemed as though nothing had happened at all.

But for Zhan Zifeng, it was a world of difference. Thanks to a stroke of luck, he had undergone an evolutionary upgrade in his bloodline after being severely injured by Tai Nianran’s desperate attack. He had successfully transformed into a blood-colored qilin, which not only healed his wounds instantly but also reshaped his body, lifting his martial skills to a legendary level he had never dared to imagine before.

Yet now, in less than ten minutes, it seemed fate had played a cruel joke on him, throwing him back from a paradise to an endless hell. Why? Why?

This question lingered in Zhan Zifeng’s mind, as he ignored the intense pain throughout his body and the sensation of his blood almost boiling.

A rhythmic set of footsteps sounded. Zhan Zifeng stared blankly as Chu Tianyu slowly approached. The sound of those footsteps felt like heavy boots crushing his heart, causing his muscles to tighten and his heart to tremble.

He simply couldn’t understand. With such noble bloodline and the breakthrough that would excite his entire family, how could he still be defeated by this Chu Tianyu! And not just defeated—completely crushed. Just moments ago, during their fistfight, he had been filled with immense confidence and a sense of dominance, believing that his powerful strike, enhanced by the blood-colored qilin, would reduce Chu Tianyu to ashes and relieve his hatred.

But as soon as they made contact, an irresistible force erupted instantly, overwhelming him like a storm. He could even hear the blood-colored qilin inside him roaring in struggle—a roar of defiance, of helplessness, of humiliation…

And it was Zhan Zifeng himself who truly felt humiliated. His earlier arrogance and dominance now made him look like a fool, a “frog in a well” who had no idea how high the sky or how deep the earth was.

So, at this moment, Zhan Zifeng’s face was crimson—not due to the backlash from the Blood-Qilin, but from shame. Endless shame and humiliation, like two venomous snakes, writhed and bit throughout his body, devouring him…
“Ah!” Zhan Zifeng finally couldn’t bear it any longer and let out a roar of agony. His blood boiled, his entire body seemed to ignite, and he shot upward in an instant. A red glow surged around him, forming an imaginary Qilin with bared fangs and claws, ready to pounce on its prey.
“The Qilin is originally a symbol of peace. Don’t you realize that what you’ve conjured is nothing but a grotesque abomination, worse than an animal? And your so-called family legacy and studies are nothing but trivial distractions for this monster—what nobility is there in that? For it, the Blood-Qilin and all these transformed beasts are merely treats, perhaps even meant to fatten you up so that its ‘food’ becomes more nutritious!” Just as Zhan Zifeng stopped roaring, Chu Tianyu’s voice rang out.
“Damn you, Chu Tianyu! Stop talking nonsense here! I… ah…”
Before Zhan Zifeng could finish, Chu Tianyu appeared like a ghost, striking him in the face with a punch. The speed and force were so great that Zhan Zifeng had no chance to react. The momentum of the punch even hit the Blood-Qilin he had conjured, causing it to twist with a faint cry before both Zhan Zifeng and the Qilin were thrown dozens of meters away.
Zhan Zifeng’s head was completely numb. Faced with an opponent far beyond his match, his will had shifted from initial arrogance to defiance and anger, only to now sink into utter despair.
“Do you know why you’re not dead yet?” At that moment, Chu Tianyu reappeared before him, as if nothing had happened at their previous location, and as if he hadn’t struck at all.
Zhan Zifeng was confused by Chu Tianyu’s words. His pupils contracted, and he couldn’t react at all, only instinctively shaking his head.
“That’s because you deserve to die! That’s why I can’t let you die easily!” Chu Tianyu’s voice rose in pitch.

After speaking, Chu Tianyu paused for a moment, then steadied himself before continuing fiercely, “Since you’re illiterate, what good is your so-called noble bloodline or Qilin heritage? Today, I’ll erase it completely!” As soon as he finished speaking, before the stunned Zhan Zifeng could react, Chu Tianyu suddenly leaped upward and punched downward with great force. A beam of light as thick as an arm shot through, causing the ground around to shake violently. Zhan Zifeng felt an immense force lift him into the air from below. Before he could even feel the excruciating pain in his buttocks, he sensed his blood boiling again—this time not just boiling, but burning! At the same time, the blood-red Qilin appeared as well, though it was forced to do so under Chu Tianyu’s overwhelming energy, not of its own will. This only intensified its ferocity; its form twisted continuously, and the red light around it grew darker in some areas. A bloody smell gradually filled the air, growing stronger by the second, until the entire space seemed to become grim and bloody in an instant. “How does it feel to be repaid with harm? Heh, I can already smell your blood!” Chu Tianyu said emotionlessly from a distance. Hearing this, Zhan Zifeng, who was struggling in pain, realized with horror that his blood was indeed burning, and the immense energy generated was flowing out through the Qilin’s meridians. The bloody smell in the air indeed came from his own body. Suddenly, a sense of utter despair surged in him. He never expected that the pride of his family for thousands of years—its so-called noble bloodline—was actually just food for these “illusion stones.” It was a shame that his family members regarded them as rare treasures, offering sacrifices to them day after day, believing that absorbing and assimilating them was the highest goal and greatest honor in cultivation. In the end, he himself was merely their food and source of energy… “But it doesn’t matter. I’ll do you a favor and eliminate this abomination for you!” Chu Tianyu’s cold words continued. As soon as he spoke, he moved without stepping, vanishing into the growing light of the blood-red Qilin, as if swallowed by it.

At this point, Zhan Zifeng was like a walking corpse, able only to watch helplessly as Chu Tianye, just a few feet away from him, emitted a dazzling yellow light that gathered in his fists before being hurled like a storm toward the imaginary blood-colored qilin. There was no pain, only intense heat! Zhan Zifeng’s numb nerves could only sense the scorching heat of his blood, the continuous howls coming from the blood-colored qilin, and its despair and fear as its “life” slowly vanished. As soon as he resigned, Zhan Zifeng felt the blood in his body flowing faster, and his veins and entire body seemed to be gradually burning. He knew the blood-colored qilin was using his “energy” for a final desperate struggle. If this continued for another half minute, he knew he would surely be reduced to ashes. To be honest, at that moment, Zhan Zifeng no longer had any desire to survive; on the contrary, he even looked forward to that moment, because for him, “death” was the best form of liberation. Yet his wish wasn’t fulfilled. Suddenly, Chu Tianye roared, “Your task is complete. Let me give you one last blow!” With that, Chu Tianye threw a punch. Unlike his previous lightning-fast attacks, this punch, glowing with intense light, traced a beautiful arc through the air, as if in slow motion. The short distance made one feel as though time had stopped, and everything in the world was waiting to see this punch. With a “boom,” the punch finally struck the center of the blood-colored qilin’s illusion. A flash of yellow light appeared, and almost instantly, it spread outward from the qilin like a blooming flower. The entire body of the blood-colored qilin shattered like a solid object, leaving behind wisps of reddish smoke that drifted away with the wind… Zhan Zifeng wasn’t surprised at all. Everything that happened before his eyes seemed entirely inevitable. Faced with a force he could never resist, he could finally be freed.

But perhaps fate wanted to play another joke on him. As the transformed Qilin disappeared, Zhan Zifeng thought his own life would end as well. However, when Chu Tianyu’s fist landed on him lifelessly, causing his cells to explode and sending through an indescribable pain beyond any human terms, he finally understood the meaning of Chu Tianyu’s words earlier: “Because you deserve to die! That’s why now you’ll suffer more than death!”