An elbow for you!

Lu Chen was speechless.

So what if I know who your father is? Does that mean I won't kill you?

Isn't that a little too naive?

Li Jun swept a quick glance over everyone in the courtyard, and despair welled up in him.

I have to escape!

The weak point... the weak point is this young man!

He's the youngest one here, and he doesn't look strong at all. If I break through him, I might be able to escape!

Li Jun's face darkened. Still hoping to struggle, he said, "Elder Ning, I'll add another five thousand taels of silver. How about we continue the job?"

As he spoke, he took a seemingly casual step toward Lu Chen.

Elder Ning merely drank his tea.

The others watched Li Jun with half-smiles, as though watching a man put on a monkey show.

They also wanted to see what Lu Chen could do.

Among them, aside from Crippled Blade, only one person was in the Marrow Washing Realm: Elder Ning.

But Elder Ning was no good at fighting and killing. He was a physician, and healing injuries was what he did best. He was also relatively weak among this group.

Ghost Hand specialized in poison and was only average in strength, but with poison, his killing power was astonishing.

Lang Gou and Xiong Pi were brothers who had once been hunters. After joining the Black Kill Pavilion, they had trained in a joint attack technique. Though they were only in the Blood Exchange Realm, they had already killed several Marrow Washing Realm fighters by joining forces.

As for the swordsman, there was no need to even mention him. He was young, and his strength was only at Organ Refining.

Crippled Blade had the greatest raw strength among them and was also the only four-star assassin.

Ordinarily, they held Crippled Blade's strength in very high regard.

Yet he had been crippled by an utterly ordinary-looking greenhorn like Lu Chen?!

It wasn't that they didn't believe Elder Ning. They simply wanted to see for themselves whether he really was that strong.

Li Jun's heart had sunk to rock bottom.

He said no more. Suddenly, his eyes widened as though he had seen something shocking, and he pointed at the sky. "What's that!?"

Lu Chen merely watched Li Jun, his fists clenched, unmoved.

Before the words had even left his mouth, Li Jun charged toward the courtyard gate, in Lu Chen's direction.

Lu Chen stepped forward and blocked his path.

Only a fool would fall for a trick meant to fool a three-year-old, right?

In the courtyard, Ghost Hand instinctively turned to glance at the sky.

The others remained expressionless.

"Out of my way!"

Li Jun roared, his face twisting savagely as he drove out a vicious punch. Like a sharp spear, it hurtled swiftly toward Lu Chen's chest.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor retreated. He opened his left hand and reached out, firmly catching Li Jun's fist. His right hand was already raised, drawing back before smashing forward.

"Bang!"

His enormous fist struck Li Jun's face like a tumbling boulder, carrying terrifying force.

"Crack!"

Li Jun let out a miserable howl, his head snapping back. His nose broke on the spot, and his neck nearly snapped as well.

Blood spurted from his nose, and the broken nasal bone pierced through his skin.

With his left hand, Lu Chen pulled Li Jun back as he staggered away from the blow, then drew back and punched again.

"Crack!"

This time, Li Jun's neck really did break. His eyes stared blankly at the sky behind him, as though something were there.

A crushing victory!

Just two punches, two utterly straightforward punches, made the faces of everyone present change slightly.

Li Jun was not weak; he was in the Organ Tempering Realm as well. That punch had been a move from the Formation-Breaking Spear, transformed from a spear thrust into a punch. It poured the strength of his entire body into a single blow, making it swift and difficult to block.

At the very least, the swordsman and Ghost Hand both reckoned that, facing Li Jun, they would have had trouble easily blocking that furious punch delivered with all his might.

Yet Lu Chen had easily stopped it with one hand and didn't even seem the least bit hurt...

Oh, he wasn't entirely unhurt.

A few sharp-eyed observers saw Lu Chen put his hand behind his back and shake it.

Heh, he nearly fooled us. We thought he really was that strong. So he's not immune to pain after all!

They exchanged glances and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Elder Ning, look, now that the employer has died in an accident, how about I go find Li Ziren right now? I'll strike while the iron is hot and complete the trial."

Lu Chen deliberately puffed hard, making his face look a little redder, as though it were flushed with blood.

He looked at Elder Ning and asked in a casual manner.

"Ah, there's no hurry! Ghost Hand, carry the corpse away. It's an eyesore. Lu Chen, come sit. We have a newcomer today, so this is a perfect chance to celebrate! Lang Gou, pour the wine!"

Elder Ning called for everyone to sit down.

Lu Chen showed nothing unusual and sat down with them. When Ghost Hand returned, he flicked his sleeves and sat down beside the swordsman, who was next to Lu Chen.

Elder Ning sat opposite Lu Chen, the swordsman to his left, and Xiong Pi and Lang Gou to his right.

"I went all the way to Apricot Blossom Village to get this wine. If you get there too late, it'll all be sold out! Brother Lu, have a taste!"

Lang Gou stood up, brought a jar of wine over to Lu Chen, filled a ceramic bowl, and placed it in front of him.

The others all watched Lu Chen with smiles.

Lu Chen hesitated for a moment, then picked up the bowl and drained it in one gulp.

"Cough, cough!" He coughed, having choked on the wine.

The others all laughed.

"Good! You really are forthright!"

Lang Gou spoke loudly and filled Lu Chen's bowl again.

"Come on, have another bowl! I like a man like you!"

Lu Chen shook his head, his face red. "I can't... hic... drink any more. I can't hold my liquor! Why don't you have a cup instead, brother?"

"How could that do? It's our rule here: when a newcomer arrives, he has to drain three cups in a row! You're not saying you can't do it, are you?"

Lang Gou taunted him.

"That's right. I had three cups in a row when I joined too. Wine from Apricot Blossom Village isn't easy to buy!"

The swordsman joined in, egging him on.

The others urged him to drink as well.

Lu Chen seemed to take offense. "Fine, I'll drink! Who says I can't?"

Once again, he drained it in one gulp.

His gaze had already grown somewhat hazy, and his face was gradually turning red.

"Come on, fill it up!"

Lu Chen stood, planted one foot on the bench, and slammed the ceramic bowl down on the table.

The others quickly exchanged glances, faint smiles appearing on their faces.

He's still young. He can't stand being goaded.

Lang Gou was quite satisfied. He patted Lu Chen on the shoulder and poured him more wine.

After three bowls in a row, Lu Chen was already swaying a little.

He steadied himself against Lang Gou's arm and shook his head, then said smugly, "How about that? A man can't say he can't do it!"

"Good! You can really hold your liquor!"

Xiong Pi said loudly, standing up as well. "Brother, let's have a drink!"

Holding his bowl, he moved to urge Lu Chen to drink.

Lu Chen felt the strange sensation inside his body and glanced at the others around the table. A smile appeared on his face.

Fuck, I've had enough of your monkey show!

Smiling, he held the bowl out in front of Lang Gou and pointed at Lang Gou and Xiong Pi. "Come on, Doggy, pour Grandpa some wine! Little Bear, don't you run off later. Grandpa's going to drink you to death!"

Without looking at their somewhat sour faces, he turned to the others and pointed at them in turn. "It's settled, none of you can run. Whoever runs is a grandson!"

"Oh, right, I really didn't mean to do it this afternoon. Who told Crippled Blade to run up and ambush me? Where is he? Call him out, and I'll drink with him to make amends!"

He spoke loudly.

"Crippled Blade is resting inside. If you want to make amends, wait a few days until he's better."

The smile had vanished from Elder Ning's face.

"Wait until he's better?" Lu Chen held his wine, his hand trembling a little, spilling quite a bit. "All right then. Come on, let's..."

He swayed, and his hand slipped, tipping both bowl and wine over the swordsman's head.

The swordsman sprang to his feet.

Everyone else's gaze fell on the swordsman as well.

Seeing this, Lu Chen bent his left arm and slammed his elbow into Lang Gou's chest on his right.

An elbow for you!