Hidden Energy

Jiang Tian was stunned for a moment.

Immediately after, that handsome face turned completely cold.

"Kid, are you going to snap your own limbs off, or should I do it for you?"

Xiao Shan sneered as he closed in, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists.

Jiang Tian remained expressionless, his voice calm: "Who sent you? Zhang Qingfeng?"

"Since you're not willing, I'll just do it myself!"

Xiao Shan couldn't be bothered with more talk; he stomped forward, his figure shooting toward Jiang Tian like an arrow released from a bowstring.

His blood and qi surged, the muscles in his arms tensed so tightly that the cuffs of his sleeves emitted faint tearing sounds.

"Mountain Opening Fist!"

He was absolutely certain that this punch would leave the kid crippled.

The wind of his fist whistled, heading straight for Jiang Tian's face.

However, the moment the fist was only a foot away from Jiang Tian's chest.

Jiang Tian vanished.

Yes, that's right, he simply vanished.

He was wiped from Xiao Shan's line of sight out of thin air.

Xiao Shan's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

Didn't this kid just join the Martial Arts Hall?

How could he have this kind of speed?

Before this thought could even settle in his mind, a tiger's roar exploded in his ears.

"ROAR--!"

The sound made his eardrums ache, as if a real tiger were roaring right against his ear.

Immediately following, a force as overwhelming as a collapsing mountain slammed into his chest.

"CRACK--"

The sound of bone fracturing was crisp and dense, like a bundle of dry firewood being snapped underfoot.

Xiao Shan felt as if he had been struck by a battering ram; his body flew backward uncontrollably, tracing a parabola through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground and rolling twice before finally coming to a stop.

"AAAH--!!"

A miserable wail echoed through the alley.

Xiao Shan vomited blood, his sternum caved in significantly, and four or five ribs were broken. Several jagged bone fragments even pierced his lungs, and every breath he took produced a wheezing sound mixed with bloody foam.

He trembled all over from the pain, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

Before he could recover his senses, a large foot stepped heavily onto the back of his hand.

"CRACK, CRACK, CRACK--"

That foot twisted back and forth with cruel force.

The hand bones shattered inch by inch, from the phalanges to the metacarpals, breaking into pieces.

"AAAAHHH--!"

Xiao Shan's scream rose an octave; he curled up like a shrimp, his face smeared with snot and tears.

Jiang Tian looked down at him from above, his expression cold: "Was it Zhang Qingfeng?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!"

Xiao Shan was in so much pain he nearly fainted; he dared not hide anything anymore and spilled everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube—how Zhang Qingfeng found him, how they negotiated the price, and how he described Jiang Tian's sister-in-law, leaving nothing out.

"Spare me..." he lay on the ground like a stray dog, looking up and begging Jiang Tian, "This was all Zhang Qingfeng's idea, it has nothing to do with me! I have money, I'll give you all my silver, all my Blood Vitality Pills, just spare my life!"

"Spare your life?"

Jiang Tian smiled.

"Alright. Then I'll let you take one step."

A look of joy immediately appeared on Xiao Shan's face, though a flash of ferocity flickered in the depths of his eyes.

Since he had been injured so severely, no matter the cost, he would make this Jiang Tian pay.

Jiang Tian's expression was indifferent: "Go on, why aren't you moving?"

"Good, good, good! I'm going! I'm leaving right now!"

Xiao Shan forced himself to stand up, his bones creaking and popping, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto the bluestone pavement.

He gritted his teeth, turned around, and took a step.

"Bang."

A dull thud.

It felt as if the back of Xiao Shan's head had been smashed hard with a brick; his head sank violently, his vision began to darken, and the entire world seemed to have a curtain slowly drawn over it.

In his final moments of consciousness, he heard a voice.

"I told you to only take one step, why didn't you listen?"

Jiang Tian shook the blood off his hand and cast an indifferent glance at Xiao Shan's corpse on the ground.

"Zhang Qingfeng..."

His current urge was intense: to rush straight to the Zhang Family and slaughter Zhang Qingfeng.

But his reason told him that he could not do so yet.

In the memories of his predecessor, Zhang Qingfeng had once mentioned that his family supported an elderly martial artist who had mastered Hidden Energy.

He usually did not intervene, but if someone were to come to the door to kill, that would be a different matter entirely.

"Hidden Energy, huh..."

Jiang Tian clenched his fists, his knuckles making a "creaking" sound.

He rummaged through Xiao Shan's body and found a few pieces of broken silver, totaling no more than seven or eight taels.

A poor wretch.

The next day, before dawn had even broken, Jiang Tian arrived at the Martial Arts Hall.

He was a full hour earlier than usual.

Practice punches, practice punches, and practice punches again.

[Beep! You possess Innate Martial Bone and Superb Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9!]

[Beep! You possess Innate Martial Bone and Superb Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9!]

[Beep! You possess Innate Martial Bone and Superb Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9!]

With every punch thrown, the blood vitality within his body surged like the tide, only to recede just as quickly.

After training at high intensity for a while, Jiang Tian felt the blood vitality in his body begin to hollow out, as if it had been drained by something.

He took out the Blood Vitality Pill he had received from Yuan Long that morning and swallowed it in one gulp.

The medicinal power dispersed in his stomach, and a warm current surged toward his limbs and bones, replenishing his depleted blood vitality.

But one pill was clearly not enough.

By the time lunch arrived, his body was nearly empty again.

The lunch at the Martial Arts Hall today had more meat than usual, but for Jiang Tian's current consumption, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

Just as he picked up his bowl, Li Batian walked over carrying a food box.

Jiang Tian was slightly stunned.

Didn't he ignore Li Batian's lackey yesterday? Why was this person still coming over?

Why was there someone so insistent on fawning over him?

However, this portion of food was not enough for him anyway.

"Junior Brother Jiang, this is the meal I brought for you today, have a taste." Li Batian smiled, adding with a meaningful tone, "Today's meal is much better than yesterday's, you know."

Jiang Tian gave him a simple, honest smile: "Then I shall accept your kindness."

He took the food box and opened the lid; a familiar medicinal fragrance wafted toward him.

Resting quietly atop the meal were three round pills: Blood Vitality Pills.

"Good fellow."

Jiang Tian smacked his lips, looked up at Li Batian's face, and suddenly felt that this face was much more pleasing to the eye.

Since someone was rushing to hand over money, he naturally wouldn't refuse.

He picked up the three Blood Vitality Pills with his chopsticks and swallowed them in one go.

As the three pills entered his stomach, his blood vitality was instantly replenished, like a parched riverbed welcoming a torrential rain.

"Comfortable! Satisfying!" Jiang Tian's eyes brightened, his spirit greatly invigorated.

"Hahaha!" Li Batian chuckled and leaned in, "As long as Junior Brother Jiang likes it. How about I bring you some every day for the next few days?"

"Sure."

Jiang Tian agreed readily, lowering his head to shovel rice into his mouth, the corners of his lips curling upward.

Four days later.

At nightfall, in the courtyard of the Jiang Family residence.

Moonlight like water spilled over the figure leaping and shifting within the yard.

Jiang Tian's figure shifted constantly; one moment he was like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, unyielding and powerful; the next, he was like a nimble deer leaping over a stream, light and swift; then, he was like a bird darting through wind and rain, elusive and unpredictable...

The five styles rotated, flowing together as if by nature.

[Ding! Your Five Animals Creation Play has reached the Great Completion level!]

The moment the panel popped up, Jiang Tian's vision suddenly blurred.

In a trance, he saw a white-browed tiger with piercing eyes.

It was trapped in a cramped iron cage, struggling even to turn around.

The tiger was gaunt and skeletal, its skin stretched tight over its bones, lying listlessly on the ground like a dying cat on its last breath.

Yet, those vertical pupils—

Were exceptionally bright.

It was waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.

The image dissipated like a bubble, and the system panel suddenly popped up.

[Host: Jiang Tian]

[Lifespan: 16/17]

[Realm: Hidden Energy]

[Martial Arts: Five Animals Creation Play (Great Completion) (1+/500)]

[Traits: Innate Martial Bone (Purple) (446+/5000), Superb Comprehension (Purple) (1+/5000)]

[Momentum: Tiger in a Cage]

If you can't find the book title, you can try searching for the author; perhaps it just changed its name!