How Strong Was Jiang Bei, Really?

Xue Long moved with incredible speed, reaching Jiang Bei in the blink of an eye. His hand shot out, grabbing for Jiang Bei's shoulder.

Jiang Bei shifted slightly to the side and easily dodged the grab.

But Xue Long reacted just as quickly. His other hand lashed out again, driving straight for Jiang Bei's chest!

The attack was ferocious.

Every move targeted a vital spot!

Jiang Bei's eyes narrowed. His five fingers shot out and clamped directly around Xue Long's wrist. At the same time, his knee drove fiercely toward Xue Long's abdomen!

Xue Long's eyelids twitched violently. He swiftly pressed his elbow downward, smashing it against Jiang Bei's knee.

Bang!!

A heavy muffled impact erupted.

Xue Long staggered rapidly backward, his footsteps stomping one deep crater after another into the ground.

"J-Jiang Bei actually has the upper hand!"

"H-How is that possible? Squad Leader Xue is an Eighth Rank Minor Training!"

A wave of astonished cries rose from all around.

Xue Long himself found it hard to believe.

But the chill in his eyes deepened, and fury surged forth!

"Good, good, good! Today, only one of us will leave here alive!"

Xue Long said "good" three times in a row.

Then he stomped his foot down, shooting forward like a cannonball.

He was so fast that he effortlessly tore through the air!

Both hands thrust out together, weaving like venomous snakes as they unleashed one savage attack after another, each aimed at Jiang Bei's vital points!

"Jiang Bei is done for! Squad Leader Xue is really going all out now!"

"What did you expect? Jiang Bei killed Squad Leader Xue's favorite subordinate, and he did it right here in the military camp. How could Squad Leader Xue not go mad?"

Seeing this, the onlookers around them held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Whoosh!!

At that moment, Xue Long threw a punch straight at Jiang Bei's face.

It was just about to land.

Jiang Bei's foot slammed into the ground, leaving behind a ghostly afterimage as he narrowly dodged the punch at an incredibly dangerous angle.

At the same time, he turned slightly to face Xue Long, and both palms shot out!

"Not good!"

Xue Long's heart pounded wildly. His face instantly turned pale as he tried to retract his fist and retreat, but it was already too late.

Jiang Bei's palms latched on like iron hooks, tightly gripping Xue Long's arm. His fingers locked with terrifying precision onto every major joint.

Twist his waist! Push off the ground! Sink his hips!

The tendon-severing, bone-dislocating force of the Xing Tian Gong erupted!

Xue Long's entire arm was instantly twisted into a knot. His tendons snapped with a muffled sound like bowstrings breaking, and jagged white bone burst through flesh as blood sprayed out, splattering across Jiang Bei's cold face!

"Ah—!"

A pig-slaughtering scream burst from his throat.

But just as it rang out, Jiang Bei seized Xue Long's throat in one hand, crushing the scream short.

Crack!

With a muffled sound, his Adam's apple seemed to shatter. Xue Long's eyes bulged, bloodshot and horrifying, filled with terror and despair.

"T-This... this..."

The surroundings fell silent. Everyone stood dumbfounded, unable to say a word for a long time.

Just moments ago, they had been saying that Xue Long had gotten serious and that Jiang Bei was surely done for.

They never imagined that in the span of a few moments, Jiang Bei would beat Xue Long into such a state!

His arm had been twisted into a knot, with broken bones protruding from it. He could not even let out a scream before Jiang Bei brutally crushed it short.

How was this merely miserable?

It was misery beyond measure!

He was no better off than Wang Teng!

Everyone was secretly horrified. Jiang Bei's methods were so ruthless. Even if he had now become a Squad Leader himself, this was still the Ren-Rank Camp—wasn't this going too far?

But more importantly...

Just how strong was Jiang Bei, really?

Even an Eighth Rank Minor Training warrior like Xue Long was no match for him!

Jiang Bei's gaze was ice-cold as he looked at Xue Long before him.

Every move Xue Long had made just now had targeted his vital points.

Naturally, Jiang Bei had no reason to show him any mercy!

"Enough! Stop fighting!"

At that moment, a sharp shout suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned to look and saw Xu Qi approaching from afar.

"Battalion Commander!"

Upon seeing Xu Qi, everyone hurriedly saluted.

Xu Qi walked straight up to Jiang Bei, glanced at Xue Long on the ground and his arm twisted like a rope, and his pupils involuntarily contracted.

"Bat... Battalion Commander, you... you have to stand up for me! Jiang Bei killed Wang Teng, and he beat me into this state!"

Seeing Xu Qi arrive, Xue Long seemed to have grasped a lifeline. With tears and snot running down his face, he cried out.

The excruciating pain from his arm had nearly made him lose all control over it.

He had never imagined it.

Jiang Bei's strength could be this terrifying!

The only way he could think of to get back at Jiang Bei now was to seek Xu Qi's help!

"You still have the nerve to say that? Wang Teng died because he brought it upon himself! And as for you... don't think I didn't see it. You were the one who went looking for trouble with Jiang Bei. If you were dissatisfied and merely wanted a spar, that would be one thing, but every one of your attacks was aimed at his vital points. Did you ever intend to let Jiang Bei live? If you ask me, you brought this upon yourself too!"

Xu Qi rebuked coldly.

He had witnessed their fight from a distance just now.

He had originally intended to come over and stop them.

But before he could even arrive—

Xue Long had already been defeated so thoroughly!

Xu Qi looked at Jiang Bei and said, "Jiang Bei, although Xue Long provoked you first, if something like this happens again, you must inform me first. Do not act rashly. This is a military camp, and there are military regulations here. Never fight without authorization!"

"Yes, Battalion Commander!"

Jiang Bei cupped his fists.

"Mm. You may go."

Xu Qi waved a hand, then looked toward the distant soldiers. "Two of you, bring over a stretcher and carry Xue Long away."

After giving the order.

Xu Qi looked down at Xue Long again, wearing an expression of disappointment. "You've utterly disgraced the entire Ren-Rank Camp. Now that so many people know about this, they'll think that everyone in our Third Battalion is a bunch of useless fools with nothing better to do. If the Commandant learns of this, do you know how serious the consequences will be?"

"I..."

Xue Long could not utter a word for a long while. Looking again at the onlookers around him, he felt his cheeks burn with pain and was overwhelmed by shame.

He had come to find Jiang Bei today for two reasons: to vent his anger and to put him in his place. What kind of person was Jiang Bei to stand on equal footing with him and become a Squad Leader?

Who would have thought that not only had he failed to achieve either goal, but he had instead humiliated himself completely?

If he had known Jiang Bei was so powerful—

Even if he had been given ten times the courage, he would not have dared come!

Xu Qi once more looked at Jiang Bei's departing back.

His deep eyes were also filled with shock.

Jiang Bei had already astonished him once when he killed Wang Teng.

At the time, he had thought Jiang Bei's strength was most likely already close to that of an Eighth Rank Minor Training warrior.

He had never imagined it.

Even Xue Long, an Eighth Rank Minor Training warrior, had now been so easily defeated by Jiang Bei.

It seemed Jiang Bei's strength had fully reached the Eighth Rank.

Within their entire Third Battalion, he could absolutely rank among the top three.

Even across the whole Ren-Rank Camp, he would be in the first tier.

After returning to the barracks.

Yu Rou immediately ran over, looked Jiang Bei over, and asked worriedly, "Husband, are you all right? There was such a huge commotion outside just now. What happened?"

"It's nothing. Someone who didn't know his place came looking for trouble, so I sent him packing."

Jiang Bei said softly.

"All right, but Husband, you have to be careful. Rou'er doesn't want anything to happen to you."

Yu Rou tightly wrapped Jiang Bei in her embrace.

Jiang Bei nodded, then glanced at the darkening sky outside the window. "It's already late. Once I take a bath, we can go to sleep."

Yu Rou froze for a moment and looked up into Jiang Bei's eyes. Then, bashfully pressing her flushed cheeks against his chest, she said, "Alright, Husband. I'll wait for you."

Jiang Bei stroked Yu Rou's head.

He then went to take a hot bath and changed into a clean set of clothes.

When he returned, he found Yu Rou already lying obediently on the bed.

"Husband..."

Watching Jiang Bei approach with lingering moisture on him, Yu Rou's little face turned bright red. She shyly covered her face with the blankets.

A smile curled across Jiang Bei's lips. He blew out the oil lamp in the room and pounced directly onto the bed.

Huff!

After a night-long battle, Jiang Bei woke the next morning feeling as though his entire body were about to fall apart. He let out a long breath of stale air.

He had never been this exhausted, not even when killing Barbarians.

"Husband."

Just as Jiang Bei sat up from the bed, a pair of fair, slender arms wrapped tightly around him from behind. They held him so tightly, while a warm cheek pressed against his back, as though afraid that he would leave.

"Xiaorou, lie down a little longer. I'll go make you breakfast."

Jiang Bei turned around and touched Yu Rou's scorching, bashful face. Then he got dressed and rose from the bed.

After breakfast, the entire Ren-Rank Camp grew lively. From time to time, the sounds of soldiers running could be heard outside.

If Jiang Bei were still an ordinary soldier, he would have needed to go out for morning drills every day.

But now that he had become a Squad Leader, he no longer needed to.

After considering it for a moment, Jiang Bei decided to make a trip to the Merit Hall.

As a Body Tempering Method, Xing Tian Gong could only be cultivated to the fourth layer at most—the realm of Eighth Rank Great Training.

Now, he had already cultivated Xing Tian Gong to perfection.

He needed to obtain a cultivation method for the next realm.

As far as he knew, the Seventh and Sixth Ranks were realms for tempering and refining one's qi and blood. They were also known as the Qi and Blood Stage, and one needed to cultivate a Qi and Blood Method.

He had to acquire a Qi and Blood Method. Otherwise, he would be unable to break through to the Seventh Rank.

All the cultivation methods of their Ren-Rank Camp were generally stored in the Merit Hall and had to be exchanged for military merit.

He had killed those Barbarians yesterday. He wondered whether his military merit would be enough to exchange for a Qi and Blood Method...

I need to raise my strength as quickly as possible. Eighth Rank Great Training still isn't enough.

Jiang Bei suddenly felt a sense of urgency.

He did not know Xie Kaiyue's exact strength. He only knew that the man was very powerful and eager to kill him.

If Xie Kaiyue learned that Liu Kui had already been killed by him, he would definitely realize that Lin Jie had also been killed by him back then, and that he possessed such strength. When that time came, Xie Kaiyue would certainly launch an even more frenzied retaliation.

All Jiang Bei could do was raise his strength as quickly as possible!