Defeating Qin Wu

"Final round: Jiang Qinghe of Wanping Martial Academy versus Qin Wu of Golden Thunder Martial Academy."

At that moment, the atmosphere in the martial arena was instantly pushed to a climax.

Everyone's gaze snapped in unison toward the center of the arena.

With a Calm Expression and Steady Steps, Jiang Qinghe walked into the arena and came to a stop.

Qin Wu, meanwhile, strode in with the bearing of a dragon and tiger, covering several steps in a leap.

He fixed his eyes on his opponent and realized it was the person he had encountered at the medicine hall days ago.

"Heh!"

Qin Wu let out a scornful laugh.

"No wonder you looked somewhat familiar. So it's you?"

Then he said darkly,

"Last Time at the medicine hall, you had the luck of stepping in dog shit. You just happened to run into that meddlesome Captain Zhao, so you were spared a beating."

He rolled his wrists, and his knuckles crackled sharply.

"This time, you came knocking on my door asking for a beating. Once we start, don't blame me for not knowing my own strength!"

Jiang Qinghe slightly raised his eyelids, his calm gaze sweeping over Qin Wu's face, which was written all over with arrogance. He said indifferently,

"This isn't an opera stage. Why are you whining like a woman with so much nonsense? If you want to fight, then fight. What are you yapping for?"

"Whoo—!"

The entire arena erupted!

Those words were like an invisible slap across Qin Wu's face.

The Wanping disciples were stunned at first, then burst into laughter.

Qin Wu's expression instantly darkened like ink. Veins bulged at his temples, and a savage glint Flashed through his eyes.

"You're courting death!"

With an explosive roar, he shot forward, his entire body like a powerful arrow loosed from a heavy bow as he charged at Jiang Qinghe.

Before he even reached him, his right leg had already risen high like a battle-axe.

It carved a supremely sharp arc through the air and hacked viciously down toward Jiang Qinghe's left shoulder and collarbone!

This kick was driven by rage.

If an ordinary Martial Disciple were struck by it, their tendons and bones would surely break. Without a hundred days of rest, they likely would not recover.

Yet Jiang Qinghe did not move in the slightest. Just as the shadow of the leg was about to strike him, his right hand suddenly rose, fingers spread wide, and steadily caught the heavy kick.

Bang!

Amid the dull impact, Qin Wu felt as though he had kicked an iron wall.

What alarmed him even more was that Jiang Qinghe's palm had not moved at all. Even his arm did not tremble in the slightest.

"How... how is that possible?"

Qin Wu's pupils constricted sharply, and his heart jolted.

Even if he had underestimated his opponent and had not used his full strength in that kick, it still carried close to eight or nine hundred pounds of force.

That strength was enough to sweep aside any Martial Disciple at Major Accomplishment in Body Tempering.

Even someone at ordinary Body Tempering Perfection could not possibly take that blow so effortlessly.

This guy... how could he?

The shock left Qin Wu's mind blank for an instant.

Before he could recover, Jiang Qinghe's five fingers suddenly tightened, firmly locking around Qin Wu's ankle.

Not good, I was careless!

Qin Wu's heart tightened as he gathered his strength and tried to pull his leg free.

Yet his opponent moved after him but arrived first. His hand clamped down like an iron pincer, and no matter how Qin Wu exerted himself, it would not budge.

"Your kicking technique has some impressive momentum, but unfortunately, it's a little slow."

Jiang Qinghe spoke lightly. In the instant Qin Wu's old force had faded and his new force had yet to arise,

Jiang Qinghe fiercely twisted and rotated the right hand gripping his ankle, then abruptly let go.

A strange, cleverly applied force carrying intense rotation instantly acted upon Qin Wu.

"Argh!"

Qin Wu instantly lost his balance. Like a spinning top struck and sent flying, he involuntarily whirled through the air.

Thud!

Under countless horrified gazes, Qin Wu, the young genius of Golden Thunder Martial Academy and a Body Tempering Perfection cultivator,

was flung away by Jiang Qinghe and crashed down at the edge of the arena.

An uproar rose from the sidelines. No one had expected that Qin Wu, the renowned genius of Golden Thunder Martial Academy—and even of Lin'an County—

who had reached Body Tempering Perfection at only fifteen and was about to step into the Martial Master realm,

who might not even be confined to a single county in the future and had a sliver of hope of making a name for himself in Cangfeng City,

would suffer such a crushing loss in a single exchange.

The flesh on He Chong's face twitched violently, his eyes filled with uncertainty and shock.

Zhao Guangyi looked as though he could scarcely believe it. A trace of delight appeared in his eyes as he continued staring fixedly at the arena.

At that moment, overwhelming humiliation drowned out all of Qin Wu's reason.

He roared and sprang back to his feet with a carp's leap.

"That one doesn't count. Again!"

Qin Wu's eyes were bloodshot now. Not a trace remained of a genius's composure or pride.

From childhood to adulthood, he had received nothing but admiration and reverence. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

He had actually been flung away like a discarded rag doll.

Fury completely devoured his reason, and Qin Wu launched himself forward once more.

This time, he drove every ounce of strength in his body to the absolute limit without holding anything back.

His legs kicked out in rapid succession, transforming into a sky full of leg shadows. Every kick was infused with the utmost force his Body Tempering Perfection cultivation could unleash.

Jiang Qinghe remained as composed as ever. As his palms flickered and turned, he dissolved Qin Wu's kicks one by one, each palm precisely striking two inches outside Qin Wu's knee with heavy force.

Smack!

Smack!

Smack!

Crisp strikes rang out in rapid succession.

That spot was near the Knee Eye acupoint.

It was a critical node for transmitting strength through the leg, as well as a relatively vulnerable point of force.

Every one of Jiang Qinghe's seemingly Understated strikes Contained a penetrating force.

They precisely struck at the root of Qin Wu's leg muscles' exertion, disrupting the circulation of his qi and blood and sabotaging the transmission of his strength.

After more than a dozen exchanges, Qin Wu's attacks visibly slowed.

The intense pain in his knees even caused his moves to lose their form.

"Qin Wu truly deserves to be a genius meticulously nurtured by Golden Thunder Martial Academy. Among Martial Disciples, he's indeed among the very best. His overall strength surpasses the likes of Liao Hu by far more than a single level."

As Jiang Qinghe countered each move, he quietly analyzed and assessed his opponent.

Though he appeared utterly at ease, he was genuinely surprised to feel that every one of his opponent's strikes carried nearly fourteen hundred pounds of force.

"Without considering the additional strength granted by cultivating the Wood Splitting Skill, and judging solely by the foundational strength of Body Tempering Perfection, his explosive power is nearly five hundred pounds greater than mine!"

Jiang Qinghe sighed inwardly.

"Is it simply due to the difference in physique, or does it also have something to do with Golden Thunder Martial Academy's cultivation techniques and resources?"

"If I didn't possess overwhelming strength myself, I'd probably be finished..."

As his thoughts raced, Qin Wu's attacks had already become riddled with openings.

His footwork was unsteady, his rhythm completely gone. He was clearly an arrow at the end of its flight.

A sharp gleam Flashed in Jiang Qinghe's eyes. It was time to end this.

He gave a low shout, and his body suddenly accelerated. With sheer, domineering force, he broke through Qin Wu's increasingly disordered assault and drove his right palm into Qin Wu's chest.

Pfft!

Qin Wu spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward, crashing outside the arena.

He struggled to rise, only to fall back to the ground. He had clearly been seriously injured.

The entire martial arena fell into a suffocating silence!

Qin Wu, Golden Thunder Martial Academy's genius, Lin'an County's foremost talent of the younger generation, who had achieved Body Tempering Perfection at fifteen and had one foot in the Martial Master realm,

had actually lost?

And he had lost so thoroughly, so cleanly!

He Chong abruptly rose to his feet. The flesh on his face would not stop twitching as he glared fixedly at Jiang Qinghe, who stood in the center of the arena.

A suppression he had gone with the flow to arrange, one he had been certain of winning, had ended in such a disastrous defeat.

On Wanping Martial Academy's side, after a brief deathly silence, the crowd erupted like a volcano.

"Senior Brother Jiang!"

"Senior Brother Jiang is too strong!"

"Senior Brother Jiang is invincible!"

Jiang Qinghe withdrew his palm and turned to Zhao Guangyi.

"Senior Brother Zhao, I have not failed your trust."

"Good! Good!"

At that moment, Zhao Guangyi felt an exhilarating sense of holding his head high and venting his grievances surge straight to his skull.

He strode forward in great steps and vigorously patted Jiang Qinghe's shoulder, his eyes full of undisguised admiration.

"You brat, you hid yourself deeply enough. But you did an absolutely brilliant job!"

In the distance, He Chong's face was livid, as though covered by a layer of frost.

He said nothing. Dark clouds gathered across his fleshy face.

He coldly swept his gaze over the excited, cheering members of Wanping Martial Academy, his eyes as cold and sinister as a venomous snake's.

At last, his resentful and unwilling gaze lingered on Jiang Qinghe for a long while before he snorted coldly and left with the Martial Disciples of Golden Thunder Martial Academy.

The setting sun spilled down, dyeing the martial arena gold.

The Wanping Martial Disciples were still immersed in immense joy, surrounding Jiang Qinghe and the other two in layer upon layer.

Excited shouts and worshipful gazes wrapped around them as tangibly as substance.

Standing amid the crowd, Jiang Qinghe felt the warmth and sincerity around him. A sense of belonging and accomplishment quietly spread through him.

At the deepest part of the Martial Academy, on the second floor of a pavilion, a wooden window stood open.

Elder Ping stood by the window with his hands behind his back, watching the scene from afar.

Deep within his ancient-well-still eyes, an exceedingly faint, Hard to Detect trace of gratification and appreciation seemed to pass.