Chapter 1035: Tears of Heaven and Earth

Qiao Jiajin’s shout interrupted Zhang Shan’s thoughts.

“Da Zhuo Lao.”

“You hate your own body, so you’ve been holding back your strength until now?”

“Hmm…?”

“Because you accidentally killed someone with your hands, every punch you’ve thrown since then has felt burdensome,” Qiao Jiajin said. “That won’t do. I don’t want you to lie on the ground making excuses to me, saying something like ‘I wasn’t using my full strength just now.’ That way, my win won’t feel satisfying, and your loss won’t be convincing.”

Zhang Shan slowly stood up. “You’re really a strange person. What if I go all out and you can’t handle it?”

“I can handle it,” Qiao Jiajin said.

“Even if I use brute force to break your ‘San Jiao Suo’, I can handle that?”

“I can handle it,” Qiao Jiajin repeated.

“Good.”

Zhang Shan moved around in the open ground to loosen his sore limbs, then looked down at the spot on his forearm where Qiao Jiajin had grazed him earlier. Since he had been sweating profusely, the blood wouldn’t clot. Now, his entire hand was covered in a sticky red mess.

Qiao Jiajin pushed himself up on his knees and stood, his first reaction being to turn around, facing his back toward Zhang Shan, and ask, “Da Zhuo Lao, quickly check for me—has the text on my back been rubbed off?”

Zhang Shan looked closely and saw that Qiao Jiajin’s back was badly scraped over a large area. The tattooed words were still there, but many parts were bleeding.

Rows of blood flowed like blades through the words “Tian Di Ben Kuan, Er Bi Zhe Zi Ai”.

“The words are still there,” Zhang Shan replied.

“That’s great,” Qiao Jiajin smiled. “As long as those words are still there, I can go see the vast heavens and earth.”

Zhang Shan paused for a few seconds before saying gravely, “But you’ve lost a lot of blood—it’s almost covering those words. Can you really still see this vast world?”

“Maybe that’s not my blood,” Qiao Jiajin said with his back turned, “It’s the heavens and earth shedding tears.”

Zhang Shan looked at Qiao Jiajin’s back, and just as he described, every word on it was accompanied by trickles of bloody tears, making the swirling tattoo resemble a bloody rain falling from the heavens and earth.

Zhang Shan sighed after hearing this. “You’re right… No matter how vast the heavens and earth are, we’re trapped in this blood-red world.”

“It won’t be trapped forever.” Qiao Jiajin turned back and stared seriously at Zhang Shan. “The words are still there, so someone will wipe away the blood and tears and take us to see this vast world.”

“But for the two of us… maybe only one can see that vast world,” Zhang Shan said.

“We both will,” Qiao Jiajin said with unwavering conviction. “Each of us will see the vast world again, because someone promised me. By then, the space between heaven and earth won’t be this blood-red anymore.”

Zhang Shan fell silent after hearing this, seeming to show great hesitation about “whether to go out.”

“Gangster… have you ever been in prison?” Zhang Shan asked again. “How can someone who’s been in prison dare to glimpse the vast heavens and earth?”

“I have, and it doesn’t stop me,” Qiao Jiajin answered. “What about you? Have you been in prison too?”

Zhang Shan didn’t speak, as if silently admitting it.

“That’s strange,” Qiao Jiajin laughed. “You’ve been in prison, and I’ve been in prison too. How come I never saw you there? Otherwise, seeing how pessimistic you are, I definitely would have patted you on the shoulder.”

“Ha…” Zhang Shan frowned and shook his head. “If only I had half your optimism.”

Both of them stretched their limbs, preparing for the next round of their deadly fight.

After several minutes of combat, both had lost most of their energy and sustained injuries, but no one was there to give them water, and no medical staff would come to check on their wounds. They could only rely on themselves.

They had to decide the winner before their strength was completely exhausted.

“Gangster, since that’s the case, I’ll go all out,” Zhang Shan said. “If you can’t handle it, you can surrender.”

“What a coincidence,” Qiao Jiajin replied. “I’m holding back my trump card too, so you can surrender as well.”

Zhang Shan took off his shirt, revealing a body as solid as stone.

Generally, someone as tall as Zhang Shan would need a huge amount of energy every day, consuming large amounts of food, which would increase body fat and make it hard to maintain well-defined muscles while being so large.

But Zhang Shan’s body was like it had been carved with a knife, every muscle ridge clearly defined.

To achieve that level, one would either need daily intense training or…

Qiao Jiajin guessed that Zhang Shan was the latter, because he had said he “hated this body,” so he probably wouldn’t train it rigorously every day.

So, this powerful body was innate.

Zhang Shan didn’t need to put in any effort—he neither had to train hard nor maintain his shape—for his muscles to grow in the most perfect form.

But for him, was this body a blessing or a curse?

“What the heck…” Qiao Jiajin murmured with a hint of envy. “Can you really get to this level just by eating?”

Zhang Shan calmly moved his body, as if awakening the dormant muscles within.

Qiao Jiajin raised his hands in front of him and slowly lifted one knee, assuming the stance of Tai Quan.

To counter strength with strength.

It might only take a short time to decide the winner, and perhaps just as short to bid farewell to this world.

Qing Long watched the fight below, cheek in hand, as if it had entered the final battle in just a few minutes.

Exciting, but not cruel enough.

“Di Long,” Qing Long called out. “If these two really become ‘Tian’… or even ‘Di’, would anyone be able to handle them?”

“Are you afraid you couldn’t beat them?” Di Long asked with a laugh.

“Hard to say,” Qing Long also laughed. “These two rely too much on human fighting styles, focusing on balance and technique… A simple ‘Jin Feng’ would end them.”

“Then why not say you’re too reliant on ‘Xian Fa’?” Di Long said. “Their physical strength is their own, but is your ‘Xian Fa’?”

Qing Long fell silent after hearing this, his expression naturally turning sour.

“‘Xian Fa’ only exists in this space…” Di Long said. “As soon as you leave here, it will all be gone… Not just ‘Xian Fa’, but even ‘Shen Li’ will vanish… That’s why you’ve always wanted to govern this land properly, right?”

“That’s true…” Qing Long narrowed his eyes. “But I feel like ‘Tian Long’ doesn’t care about losing these things…”

“Hmm?”

Qing Long paused, thinking, and then said, “He seems not to care about losing them… Has he found a way to ‘retain’ them?”