Do You Know the Power of This Punch of Mine?

After the auction ended, Zhao Huai and Li Yanqing walked out of the venue side by side.

Zhao Huai swept his gaze around, waiting for danger to strike.

With the blessing of the Firm Dao Heart destiny, his mind was exceptionally sensitive to everything around him.

Even the slightest rustle of wind and grass could not escape his notice.

Unfortunately, there was not a single stir.

Zhao Huai tossed the copper coin again, but the result was the same as before: respond steadily, and he would pass through safely with ease.

"Senior, are you waiting for someone?"

Seeing Zhao Huai looking about, Li Yanqing could not help asking curiously.

"No. I'm worried those people you competed against earlier might ambush you."

Zhao Huai shook his head.

Yet Li Yanqing looked quite optimistic. Pointing at the servants beside him, he said, "Don't worry. My father found several guards for me. They may not compare to you, Senior, but at Qi Refining Level 3 or 4, isn't that enough to protect ourselves?"

The next second, Zhao Huai's large hand landed on Li Yanqing's shoulder, startling him.

Zhao Huai's expression turned solemn. "Remember, never underestimate anyone. This is the first lesson I'm teaching you."

"This disciple shall heed your teaching."

Li Yanqing nodded seriously as well.

"Let's go. The Prefect's Residence is on my way."

Seeing that nothing was amiss for now, Zhao Huai walked ahead and said leisurely.

Li Yanqing quickly followed with his attendants.

"Why do you want to cultivate Qi?"

As they walked, Zhao Huai suddenly asked.

Li Yanqing sighed. "My father said that if I don't cultivate Qi, he won't let me inherit the family business. But teacher after teacher came and went, and I still failed."

"Then your father must treat you well."

Li Yanqing immediately shook his head. "No. He's too fierce, and he's busy all day. I hardly ever see him."

"Everyone envies me, but I don't like living this way."

Zhao Huai smiled faintly and began to instruct him.

"You are surrounded by blessings yet fail to recognize them—"

Suddenly, in an instant.

A bone-piercing sense of danger shot up Zhao Huai's spine, cold beyond measure, as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.

The Firm Dao Heart stirred faintly, sending a cool breath through his entire body. As if driven by a reflex, his body flashed backward.

Several sharp flashes of cold light tore through the sky and descended from above.

Flying daggers as thin as cicada wings streaked past before his eyes at terrifying speed.

In Zhao Huai's eyes, time seemed to slow.

Every glimmering shard of cold light before him radiated a chilling murderous intent.

In a flash, time returned to normal.

Zhao Huai shifted his center of gravity backward, dragging Li Yanqing beside him with his right hand, then quickly steadied himself.

They had moved four or five meters away from their original position.

"Pfft!"

The three attendants who had originally surrounded Li Yanqing were pierced straight through by the flying daggers falling from the sky.

Their bodies crashed heavily to the ground, blood splashing across the scene. "Assassins! Protect the young master!"

One attendant shouted at the top of his lungs.

The remaining attendants wrapped Li Yanqing within their ranks, their expressions tense as though facing a great enemy.

Zhao Huai alone remained calm. His gaze swept the area as he activated his spiritual power, searching for traces of the assassins.

No wonder he had not found them earlier. The enemies had been positioned high above.

Zhao Huai's sharp gaze passed over the empty alley ahead and locked onto two figures standing on a distant roof.

Their cultivation was also in the Qi Refining Realm.

"Scholar, your Sleep Inducing Flying Daggers failed. What happened?"

On the rooftop, the broad-shouldered, bear-waisted Butcher questioned him in a muffled voice.

A grave look appeared on Soul-Reaping Scholar's lean face. "This man seems to have some skill. He isn't so simple. We cannot be careless."

For this man to evade his flying daggers, he was undoubtedly a cultivator too.

"Damn it, the two of us have never failed when working together!"

"If an ambush won't work, then we'll do this the hard way!"

The Butcher spat, then leaped twenty meters into the air and landed heavily on the ground. Green tiles shattered with a crack, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Soul-Reaping Scholar tapped the roof with his toes and descended elegantly.

Facing the two of them, Zhao Huai felt no fear. Instead, he rubbed his fists together, eager to test the power of his destiny.

Both wore black bamboo hats that concealed their faces. Only their builds revealed one to be fat and the other thin.

Li Yanqing watched from afar, held back by his attendants, his eyes full of worry.

These two looked incredibly formidable. He hoped Senior could defeat them.

Zhao Huai had originally thought that after revealing themselves and leaping down, they would say something—perhaps throw around a few threats.

But the next instant, Soul-Reaping Scholar's gently swaying fan flicked sharply.

Another six flying daggers shot out from within the fan.

The Butcher charged him like a leopard. Though massively built, he was astonishingly fast, rapidly closing in on Zhao Huai.

They had clearly attacked without a word.

Their plan was clear: one would attack from afar to draw attention, while the other closed the distance and sought to subdue him swiftly.

The Butcher was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he had flashed to Zhao Huai's side.

From the moment they realized Zhao Huai's strength was not right, the two had intended to kill. Every move was made with full force, enough to decide life and death.

Facing their pincer attack, Zhao Huai remained unhurried. He ignored the flying daggers entirely and focused solely on the Butcher before him.

But soon, a scene that left the Butcher dumbfounded unfolded. His rushing punch carried fierce force, True Qi coursing through his meridians as veins bulged. He could have turned even a bull into minced meat with one blow.

Yet it was caught by an invisible giant hand, as though he had punched cotton—soft and utterly powerless.

Zhao Huai caught the Butcher's move with his right palm without losing momentum.

His left hand clenched into a fist, throwing a plain, unadorned punch, but the wind around it howled with ear-piercing force.

"Whoosh!"

The Butcher's reaction was already extremely fast. By the time his eyes refocused, the fist had reached his left cheek.

Yet he was powerless to block it.

"Bang!"

With a tremendous explosion, a blast of air spread violently outward from Zhao Huai.

A figure flew backward at high speed, smashing straight through the trunk of a willow tree. But it did not end there. Only when the figure was embedded in a sturdy earthen wall, sending mud and stones bursting apart, did he finally stop.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

At that exact moment, the flying daggers pierced Zhao Huai's left chest over his heart, his forehead, and his neck. Yet the crisp sound of metal striking metal was so unreal.

The six flying daggers dropped weakly to the ground.

At the sight, Soul-Reaping Scholar's pupils contracted. His icy face filled with astonishment, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.

Li Yanqing and the watching attendants were all shocked, exchanging looks.

This... was it over already?

Zhao Huai wore a smile as he rubbed his wrist. Narrowing his eyes, he let out a scoff, sympathy mingling with mockery in his gaze.

"Coming here to die—do you know the power of this punch of mine?"

Soul-Reaping Scholar glanced back at the Butcher, who had only half a life left, and fear surfaced in the depths of his eyes. In a tone laced with uncertainty, he demanded, "Who are you?"

They had come to assassinate someone, not to be assassinated themselves.

"That's a question I should be asking you."

Zhao Huai could not help laughing.

Soul-Reaping Scholar immediately fell silent.

The next second, the feather fan in his hand swished, and six sword tips extended from hidden compartments. Empowered by True Qi, the Six Fan Swords rose into the air.

The opponent clearly still had the will to fight.

Extreme Intent, activate!

Zhao Huai was not polite either. Holding nothing back, he directly entered his peak state.

All the True Qi in his body was mobilized, and his Qi Refining Level 9 cultivation doubled outright.

The commotion created by the True Qi was enormous.

The willow trees in the distance rustled violently, while the signs of the shuttered shops around them trembled under the battering airflow.

Dusk was approaching. In the gradually darkening Jin Province City, amid unknown alleys, someone was still stirring the currents of this place.