The next instant.
The woman's smile abruptly froze.
She widened her eyes in disbelief and clutched at her neck.
A bloody hole had appeared there, with fresh blood gushing out.
She opened and closed her mouth, her body swaying.
After falling to the ground and twitching twice, she went still.
Then...
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Several pebbles shot out at high speed.
They punched holes through the legs and feet of several people charging at the front.
"Ah!"
"My leg!"
A mass of people fell, clutching their legs.
Chen Duan shook his shoe, scattering off some stone fragments.
"I don't like people interrupting me."
His voice did not sound loud.
But strengthened by the inner force of the True Skill Mountain Breaking Roar, it reached every person present clearly.
His voice was calm, yet it sent a chill through everyone.
The scene fell silent once more.
Those who had been charging forward no longer dared to continue.
The gang members were the first to react. They immediately seized those people.
Seeing this, Xiao Zhenghui secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed Chen Duan was not one of these unruly commoners causing trouble.
Afterward, he did not dare conceal anything and answered Chen Duan's questions truthfully and in full.
Chen Duan gave a slight nod, having obtained the information he wanted.
Then he drove a fist into Xiao Zhenghui's chest.
"Urgh!"
Xiao Zhenghui grunted, staggering backward seven or eight steps before collapsing onto the ground.
He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned deathly pale, and his breath gradually weakened.
He could feel the inner force he had painstakingly cultivated for many years being shattered.
His martial arts were ruined.
The cultivation he had earned through half a lifetime of hard work had gone up in smoke!
Even so, Xiao Zhenghui struggled to prop himself up and cupped his fists toward Chen Duan, his voice hoarse:
"Thank you, Senior, for sparing my life."
That first punch of his had also been aimed at taking Chen Duan's life.
Now that his opponent had merely crippled his martial arts without killing him, it was obvious that Chen Duan had shown mercy because he had honestly answered the questions just now.
He had been outmatched. There was nothing more to say.
Chen Duan did not look at him again. After obtaining the information he needed, he walked straight into the heavily sealed entrance of Ruantu Town.
"Lord Xiao, how are you?"
Only then did his trusted subordinates dare gather around him, panic-stricken.
Xiao Zhenghui gritted his teeth and ordered:
"Go report to our superiors! Tell them a top-tier Five Refinement Master has forced his way into the town. Report everything that happened here, exactly as it occurred."
"Yes!"
His subordinate hurried off to send the message.
Xiao Zhenghui struggled to his feet and gazed in the direction where Chen Duan had vanished.
As far as the gang's assignment went, he had done his best. His superiors might not hold him responsible for dereliction of duty.
But according to the "customs" here in Chuzhou, having his martial arts crippled meant he was now a useless man.
His standing in the gang had plummeted.
Although the gang had let him off,
his old enemies and the opponents he had once suppressed would not pass up such a perfect opportunity.
He had to hurry back and pack his things, then leave Hunxi Valley at once.
He would find a more peaceful place.
And spend the rest of his life there.
The Jianghu was heartless.
The world was full of unforeseen changes.
In less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense,
a Fourth Level Master who had made a name for himself had withdrawn from the Jianghu in dejection.
"Brother Sun, did you see through that man's true depth just now?"
Yan Fuzhen asked in a low voice, his eyes still fixed on the direction where Chen Duan had departed.
Sun Baizhan slowly shook his head.
"That gang leader was far too weak. He failed to force out the man's True Skill."
"Miss Xiaoqing, your eyesight is the sharpest. Did you..."
He had not finished speaking when he noticed that Nie Wanqing was behaving strangely.
He saw her delicate body sway. She staggered on her feet and nearly fell.
Yan Fuzhen reacted quickly and caught her.
"What happened?"
Nie Wanqing steadied herself with his support. Only after taking several deep breaths did she barely ease the dizziness before her eyes.
What followed was a surge of horror in her heart. She could not believe what she had seen.
But this time, she was certain she had not been mistaken.
Today, wanting to see more clearly, she had pushed her Pupil Skill to its limit and observed for longer, so she had been able to see considerably more clearly.
Yet beneath that clarity came terror.
What she had seen far exceeded her understanding.
Could a human really cultivate martial arts to that extent?
Was that truly a human?
From what she had seen alone, there were at least four types of inner force in Chen Duan's body that had cultivated true qi. Apart from those, countless other kinds of inner force were mixed among them.
And this did not seem to be everything. It was merely what her Pupil Skill could see at that moment.
It was the limit of her Pupil Skill, not the limit of her opponent.
It was densely packed.
A dazzling, bewildering mess.
It did not look as though a human had cultivated inner force.
It looked more like a person had been mixed into the inner force.
Moreover, in her dazed state, she had seen some things that did not resemble inner force at all—things she simply could not understand!
"Lord Yan..."
Nie Wanqing gripped Yan Fuzhen's arm, her voice solemn.
"Be extremely careful around that person! Something is very wrong with him. He's incredibly strange. If we encounter him later, it would be best not to make him our enemy!"
Although Yan Fuzhen was puzzled, he knew her temperament. She was not someone who liked to joke around.
For her to lose control like this and even say such things showed how immense the burly man's impact on her had been.
"Mm. I'll remember that."
Yan Fuzhen responded seriously, but this was probably not realistic.
Whether they became enemies was not up to them.
With the matter of the Desire Flower causing such a commotion recently, any expert encountered in Chuzhou could be deemed a potential competitor.
If the other party's target was also the Desire Flower, then he would be standing in their way, making conflict nearly impossible to avoid.
Yan Fuzhen now attached somewhat greater importance to Chen Duan's strength, but he showed little intention of retreating.
If the other party truly became their enemy, that would prove his strength was still at the Fifth Level, placing him in the same league as them.
As long as they were in the same league, he was not unbeatable.
After all, true slaughter took many factors into consideration. Strength was merely the most basic element.
Every member of their group was an expert. With proper coordination and the use of certain "means," they would at least have the strength to fight anyone they faced.
But... if a Break Apex expert got involved, that would no longer be their concern.
The situation would have exceeded their ability to control it, and someone else would naturally step in.
"What? You're saying a Five Refinement Master forced his way inside?"
A roar shook dust from the rafters.
The speaker was a middle-aged man with an exceptionally broad build and a prominent belly like a general's.
He seized the collar of the subordinate before him and lifted both his feet off the ground:
"You think Five Refinement Masters are weeds? That they can sprout anywhere?"
"It's absolutely true!"
The subordinate wore a mournful expression.
"We couldn't stop him! The brothers couldn't stop him at all! Even Helmsman Xiao wasn't his match for a single move."
"What about true qi? Did you see him use true qi?"
"We didn't see that. Perhaps people like us weren't worthy of making him use it..."
"Useless! Get out!"
Dong Kui angrily flung his hand, sending the subordinate flying.
The subordinate crawled and rolled his way out of the place.
Seeing this, Hua Xiong hurriedly brought over a cup of tea, smiling obsequiously.
"Second Brother Dong, calm down, cool your temper, and have some tea to soothe your throat..."
"I'll drink your ancestors!"
Smash!
Dong Kui slapped the porcelain cup away. It struck the wall and shattered into pieces.
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