Poise

Iron Sword Sect, Hong Lie?

Baili Qingfeng was stunned for a moment.

After a moment, his expression darkened. "Then do you know who I am?"

"Hm?"

Hong Lie frowned. "Who?"

"Me, Qin Shi Huang. Transfer the money!"

Hong Lie, Ran Tianying, Ran Tianchi, and the others looked at Baili Qingfeng, who had solemnly uttered those six words, their expressions somewhat bewildered.

I don't understand, but it sounds impressive.

"You mean... your surname is Qin? What's your relationship with Qin Zhan, chairman of Putian Group?"

At this moment, Ran Tianying seemed to think of something and asked.

"..."

Baili Qingfeng looked at the few people who were being utterly serious and did not answer again.

There was a generation gap.

"Say what you have to say."

Ran Tianying glanced at Hong Lie. Hong Lie spoke indifferently. "I merely heard that someone from Jiang's Martial Hall in Sumen City used some unknown method to frighten the two young masters of the Ran Family and the Wang Family. He even dared to charge them tens of thousands in tuition fees for a single month, so I came to see for myself. Now that I've seen you, though, you're nothing more than a brash young swindler. You don't even know who I, Hong Lie, am. Don't tell me you don't know that Jiang Family of Sumen City... was wiped out by my Iron Sword Sect two months ago?"

"Jiang Family of Sumen City was wiped out by Iron Sword Sect two months ago?"

Baili Qingfeng looked at Hong Lie.

This news...

He truly had no idea.

Hadn't he been the one who killed Jiang's Three Heroes? Could it be that the people he killed had merely been incarnations or projections of Jiang's Three Heroes?

The Jiang Family had actually been wiped out by Iron Sword Sect?

"That's right. I was one of the people who took action against the Jiang Family. If you really were from Jiang's Martial Hall, how could you fail to recognize me?"

"You say you're you, so you're you. Whatever makes you happy. I'm going to practice my sword. I don't like being disturbed while practicing, so excuse me."

Baili Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to argue with him any further.

"Practice your sword?"

Hong Lie let out a cold laugh. "Your swindling act has been exposed by me, yet you still have the nerve to practice your sword here? At first, I only intended to expose your hypocritical mask, make you return the tuition fees the young masters paid, and then let you leave. But now, it seems that I'll have to teach you an unforgettable lesson."

As he spoke, Hong Lie shook out the sleeve of his arm and rolled up the cuff. "Young Master Ran said that you know a method for cultivating Fist Intent? I've never heard of any young person in Xia, or even the whole of Xia Hai Province, being so outstanding as to cultivate Fist Intent before the age of twenty. Why don't you display your Fist Intent and broaden my horizons?"

Baili Qingfeng's gaze immediately fell on Ran Tianchi, sharp as a blade. "Ran Tianchi, you actually don't believe me?"

"This..."

Ran Tianchi shrank his neck. "Grandmaster Hong said that what you taught us isn't any top-tier Body Refining Technique, but merely some basic Body Refining Methods. There are plenty of similar ones online. We looked into it, and it seems he's right. The effects aren't particularly obvious, either..."

"A basic Body Refining Method? Ridiculous!"

Baili Qingfeng looked at Ran Tianchi and said expressionlessly, "You're merely finding excuses for your laziness. Don't think I don't know that a month ago, you already reduced the tasks I assigned you. Originally, I required you to practice the first thirty-six forms of the Primordial Thunder God One Hundred and Eight Forms thirty times a day. But you couldn't endure the hardship—not even ten times a day. By now, I'm afraid you've reduced it to fewer than five times a day. Fishing for three days and drying the nets for two, and you expect to achieve anything without cultivating diligently? That would be the strange thing."

"But we really have been working hard... That Body Refining Method is very difficult to practice. Forget thirty times a day—even ten times is asking too much. Jack forced himself to practice it, and after only a month, his Qi and Blood were already depleted. He even had to be hospitalized..."

"Practicing it ten times a day left his Qi and Blood depleted?"

After hearing that, Baili Qingfeng snorted. "Then was my demonstration of practicing it twenty times in one breath fake? Clearly, you relied on having some money, indulged in eating, drinking, womanizing, gambling, and squandered your health. That's why you couldn't endure it after practicing for only a while. I told you before: a master leads you through the door, but cultivation is up to the individual. I gave you painstaking advice, and you turned around and treated it as wind past your ears? Being so unwilling to improve has truly disappointed me."

"Heretical Path!"

Before Ran Tianchi could answer, Hong Lie had already shouted angrily, "It's clearly because the Body Refining Technique you taught was flawed that the young man called Jack ruined his health and was forced to enter the hospital. They're outsiders who don't understand the intricacies, so they fell for your trick and ruined their health. Not only that, they wasted more than a hundred thousand! But I, Hong Lie, can see the truth clearly!"

"You say what I taught is flawed? When one wants to frame someone, any pretext will do."

Baili Qingfeng looked at Hong Lie. "Looks like you've come to challenge the hall. Someone from Daluo Province has come to challenge the hall in Xia Hai Province?"

"I merely accepted Mr. Ran Tianying's invitation to expose the true face of a fraud like you."

Hong Lie spoke with righteous conviction.

"Very well. Then we'll settle this with our hands."

Baili Qingfeng glanced at Hong Lie and walked toward the Martial Arts Arena.

He was someone who enjoyed peace and loved peace. He never took the initiative to cause trouble, especially when the other party belonged to a sect. What if he beat the younger ones and the older ones came afterward? How troublesome would that be?

And if he ended up defeating both the old and the young, only for them to hire assassins like the Jiang Family had, that would be even more terrifying.

That was why, even as Hong Lie pressed him relentlessly, he continued to endure again and again.

But now...

Hong Lie had already bullied his way to his doorstep and directly challenged the hall. No matter how much Baili Qingfeng wished to treat others kindly and make money through harmony, he had no choice but to resist in order to defend his dignity.

"I won't use any advanced swordsmanship or fist techniques to bully you. I'll use the so-called Heretical Path Body Refining Technique you just mentioned. The Body Refining Method I taught them also contains some basic combat techniques. Although they're only the most basic things, they're more than enough to deal with you. They can also prove that what I taught them was genuine."

When Baili Qingfeng reached the Martial Arts Arena, he stepped aside and made an elegant gesture of invitation.

He was graceful and refined, clearly a gentleman of impeccable conduct at first glance.

As for Hong Lie standing before him...

His eyes were stern, and his features were fierce.

A bona fide villain.

"You don't need to use those basic combat techniques to stall for time. Use whatever you have. That way, you won't refuse to admit defeat afterward."

Hong Lie loosened his muscles and bones, then clenched his fists, producing a burst of crackling sounds.

"Please. A guest is always honored; I'll let you strike first."

"Overestimating yourself. If you let me strike first, you truly won't have the slightest chance!"

The instant Hong Lie finished speaking, his body shook violently. As his right foot stamped forward and his toes touched the ground, his force surged, traveling directly through his waist before being twisted by his spine into a single stream of power. It transformed into a furious punch that blasted forward.

The instant his fist was launched, it was as though he had exploded the air itself, producing a firecracker-like crack across the Martial Arts Arena.

"A sound worth a thousand pieces of gold! What a fist technique!"

Ran Tianying, who had invited Hong Lie, shouted loudly.

However, before Hong Lie's punch could strike Baili Qingfeng, Baili Qingfeng moved.

He did not retreat even half a step.

He met Hong Lie's incoming fist head-on and stepped forward.

At the instant he took that step, his entire body bent slightly. His right hand swept backward and clenched into a fist, like a great bow drawn to its utmost limit...

Thrusting Sword!

This was the most basic Thrusting Sword of the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms!

And just as Hong Lie came charging before Baili Qingfeng with his fist force tearing through the air, the taut string of that great bow drawn to its utmost limit...

was released.

His fist thrust out, like an unparalleled divine sword concealed within its sheath, blooming with a razor-sharp, icy radiance never seen before!

"Whoosh!"

The air split apart.

Baili Qingfeng's seemingly ordinary yet endlessly tempered thrusting punch struck first despite being launched second. In an instant, it cut into Hong Lie's attack and slammed into his lunging body.