Chapter 194: Self-Created Killing Technique – Frost Sky Fist

After entering the borders of the Zenit Empire, the atmosphere among both the Shampoo Expeditionary Force and the Sorros Merchant Caravan instantly lightened.

Because here, no Vassal State would dare to attack anyone from the Shampoo Kingdom within Imperial territory. Otherwise, regardless of status—even if it were a prestigious First-Class Vassal State King—they would immediately be arrested by the Judgment Knights of the Knight Hall. Then, they would be executed directly for Treason and plotting to overthrow the Imperial Capital Emperor. No arguments were allowed, and there were no hesitations or exceptions.

This was the authority of the Empire.

For Sun Fei, it was his first time setting foot inside the territory of an Empire, and it made him very curious.

He could clearly sense that the atmosphere here was completely different from the Vassal States. It was much more strict and powerful. Right at the border, he could see numerous obvious and hidden guard posts scattered along the frontier line. Plus, there were large groups of fully armed Imperial cavalry patrolling back and forth. Their routes and time intervals were controlled extremely tightly, as if a giant net were being cast across the earth. This, along with tall lookout towers every three li, ensured that no force could enter Imperial territory without being noticed immediately.

Within just a dozen kilometers of entering Imperial territory, the Expeditionary Force and Sorros Merchant Caravan faced over ten rigorous inspections and detailed questioning from Imperial soldiers, who treated it as if facing a great enemy.

This made Sun Fei quietly gasp in amazement, but also stirred a bit of confusion in him.

“The situation feels a bit strange. Even with the strong presence of Imperial troops, there’s no need for such intense vigilance,” he thought. “It feels more like frantic preparations before a war breaks out, which is really puzzling.”

Sun Fei secretly watched and pondered.

“Maybe because the Martial Arts Combat Tournament is near, and 250 countries are sending elite soldier teams, so the questioning is stricter,” he finally reasoned, trying to reassure himself.

By now, one day had passed since the battle at Twin Peaks.

During that day, Sun Fei hadn’t been idle. He kept up his old habit, seizing every minute to reflect on his gains and losses from the fight with Sun Golden Knight Chris Sutton. That battle had given Sun Fei a real jolt, reminding him of the pressure again. He had a strong feeling that this trip to Imperial Capital would bring more experts and challenges, so he had to boost his own strength quickly to face the storm.

Through that day of reviewing and summarizing, Sun Fei gained quite a lot.

For Sun Fei, the biggest lesson from that battle was improving his Barbarian Mode fighting skills using pure Might in real combat.

On the vast, endless Azeroth Continent—a place rumored to be too immense even for a Deity to traverse completely—one thing was certain: whether Warriors or Mages, each had their own unique combat secrets. These secrets evolved through generations of talented individuals, with each holding profound mysteries and unmatched killing power. Among them, Aura Skills and Magic chanting spells were the hallmarks of such superior combat secrets.

Mages, due to their specialized nature and endless need for money to grow stronger, were much rarer than Warriors. Since his arrival, Sun Fei hadn’t seen many Mages, and most were low-level, untalented ones. The strongest among them was actually Bazel, a traitor Herald from Shampoo City. But Bazel was only a Four-Star Mage, and as a grassroots Mage without noble heritage, his knowledge was limited. Much of his strength came from stumbling his way to that Four-Star Mage level. He didn’t master any true chanting secrets fit for a Four-Star Mage. Without those, a Four-Star Mage was like a soldier fighting bare-handed, greatly weakened. Because of this, Bazel never showed the true power of a Four-Star Mage, leaving Sun Fei with an inaccurate view of how strong the Mage profession really was.

Excluding Mages, Sun Fei had encountered numerous Aura experts among Warriors. The strongest were undoubtedly the white-haired old man from Paris’s side in the Eastern Battle summit clash and the Zenit War God, Andrew Arshavin. However, the opponent who left Sun Fei the most direct shock was definitely the Sun Golden Knight Chris Sutton from the Twin Peaks peak.

The Judgment Knight’s Aura Skill, the “Ripping Wolf Slash,” gave Sun Fei a huge jolt.

For the first time, Sun Fei clearly realized that such an Aura Skill could let a Warrior with peak Five-Star Level power produce combat strength rivaling early or mid-Six-Star Level.

This existence of a high-level Aura Skill shattered Sun Fei’s previous understanding of such techniques.

Before, he felt a bit smug and even thought of himself as a genius after creating Aura Manuals like “Lightning Fist” and “Accumulated Corpse Qi Shockwave.” But compared to the terrifying boost from “Ripping Wolf Slash,” his self-made manuals clearly couldn’t match that kind of increase. This surprise discovery only hardened Sun Fei’s resolve to get his hands on a high-level Aura Manual quickly. Only by studying those manuals could Sun Fei use the Qi Channels from his Assassin Mode—where Battle Qi flowed through suitable meridians—to create more Aura Qi Channels, unlocking their full potential and forging a super-powerful killing move that surpassed high-level Aura Skills like “Ripping Wolf Slash.”

Beyond that, Sun Fei’s other big surprise from the battle with the Sun Golden Knight was discovering new combat uses for the Barbarian’s body strength.

Whether it was Battle Qi as an “inner strength” or the Barbarian’s pure Might, they were both forms of force, essentially no different. But before this, under Barbarian Mode, Sun Fei mostly relied on raw instincts and some crafty Barbarian Skills to fight. While that playstyle was tricky and unpredictable, as long as Sun Fei hadn’t leveled up enough to unlock higher-tier attack skills with more skill points, his offensive options as a Barbarian felt limited and hard to amp up suddenly. Plus, except for throwing, Barbarians lacked much in ranged attacks.

The battle finally let Sun Fei joyfully uncover another use for Barbarian Might:

The long-distance fist print assault mode.

In the clash with the Sun Golden Knight, Sun Fei got so pumped, he entered a mysterious battle state. At that moment, every cell in his body went wild, and his Barbarian Might unexpectedly changed—in full-power bursts, he managed to punch out semi-transparent fist prints visible in the air, each as big as a millstone. These prints shimmered like liquid metal, with knuckles clear and lifelike.

Even more astounding, each fist print held killing power nearly equal to Sun Fei’s full-strength strike. The force inside didn’t disperse or vanish quickly but lingered briefly. That strange state allowed Sun Fei to stack the prints instantly. Combining thirty or forty punches doubled the killing power, like having thirty or forty Sun Fei striking at one point simultaneously. The resulting burst and shattering strength could push Sun Fei’s Might beyond peak Five-Star Level to Six-Star Level, matching the effect of a high-level Aura Skill.

This was the real reason why Sun Fei, despite being badly cut from head to toe by Sharp Metal Combat Aura, turned defeat into victory, broke the high-level Aura Skill “Ripping Wolf Slash,” and defeated Sun Golden Knight Chris Sutton.

It also made Sun Fei understand that to battle opponents of such caliber, he needed his own Aura Skills. Otherwise, winning would be near impossible.

This was Sun Fei’s new insight into combat under Barbarian Mode.

In the one day after the battle with Golden Knight Sutton, Sun Fei tried repeatedly to recreate that state and fire off those transparent fist prints. Eventually, he mastered the skill. He also found that at level 38 in Barbarian Mode—with his body strength, physical instincts, battle experience, and combat awareness—he could stack up to forty-six punches before the prints wouldn’t hold together for more. At that point, the first one dissolved.

Combining forty-six punches into one strike produced a killing force ranging from early to mid-Six-Star Level, an amazing effect.

“This fist print stacking technique is as strong as high-level Aura Skills, and since I invented it, it deserves a cool name. What? Let’s call it Frost Sky Fist!” he recalled the move from “Storm Riders” starring Wind and Cloud, but liked the name so much he stole it without hesitation. Picturing its greatness, Sun Fei burst out laughing.

Through the battle, Sun Fei felt like he’d opened a new window, seeing clearly now how combat in the Diablo World wasn’t limited to set class skills. He could flexibly use and uncover unexpected moves, which for Sun Fei, a former hermit with quirky tastes, was endlessly fascinating.

“But with an offensive move sorted, what about defense?” a thought sparked in Sun Fei’s mind, and he began pondering again.

Barbarian fighting focused only on attack, with no blocking skills, just relying on armor and his body as the only shield. He couldn’t keep ending battles covered in blood like a half-dead dog.

Lately, though, he struggled to fully concentrate.

Because behind him, somewhere in far-off Shampoo City, faint but persistent urgent calls drifted in. They often made Sun Fei dazed, as if something was summoning him.