First Signs of Prowess

Li He pushed the door open and walked in.

The counter was just inside the entrance. A green-haired attendant lounged behind it with a cigarette dangling from his lips, idly scrolling through his phone. His expression was obscured by the swirling smoke.

Li He walked straight up to the counter.

The attendant lazily lifted his eyelids. "Three hundred an hour to open a card, one thousand for the night."

Li He did not answer his question about opening a card. "I'm looking for someone. You know Tiger? Where do his lackeys usually hang around? Or where is he now?"

The green-haired attendant froze for a moment and sized Li He up. Though Li He was muscular, he was not particularly large and did not look very threatening.

He sneered and blew out a smoke ring. "Who are you? Why are you looking for Tiger? Looking for a fight, or trying to pay your respects?"

Li He looked at him calmly and lightly tapped the hard terrazzo countertop with a finger resting on it.

Thud!

The green-haired attendant clearly felt the counter tremble.

At least seven points of Vitality—a Martial Artist in the Apprentice Realm! Why would someone like that come to a dingy internet café instead of training properly? Could he have been hired by one of Tiger's enemies to get revenge?

The green-haired attendant immediately sat up straight. "You're asking about Tiger? That's not very convenient. How about you...?" He rubbed his fingers together, hinting that Li He should show some sincerity.

But Li He merely gave a cold smile.

"When do you get off work?" The threat needed no further explanation.

"Uh, hahahaha, you must be joking." Green Hair laughed awkwardly. "Well, Tiger usually hangs around Old Black Billiards Hall, or plays cards at the repair shop in the alley behind it. Today... he should be at the repair shop. I just saw him post on Moments that he was drinking there."

"Thanks." Having gotten what he wanted, Li He did not linger. He turned and left.

The abandoned repair shop stood at the end of a dead-end alley, surrounded by piles of construction debris. Only a dim yellow streetlamp swayed in the distance, casting warped shadows.

Li He came to the half-open metal gate of the repair shop. From inside came faint sounds of crude laughter, clinking beer bottles, a suppressed groan of pain, and curses.

The repair shop was spacious. More than a dozen people were gathered around several tables, playing cards.

Wang Hao was there too. He was curled up in the shadows of a corner, his left arm twisted unnaturally. Several new injuries marked his face, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

At the center of the crowd, beside a relatively intact table, sat a burly man with a buzz cut. It was Tiger.

Across from Tiger sat a man in a black skin-tight training suit. He looked to be in his early twenties, with knotted muscles and a pointed head. Clearly, he was no ordinary thug.

The two were drinking together.

"Brother Zhao, didn't you say a couple days ago that you wanted someone to test your new drug on? I got you one. What do you think of this kid?"

Zhao Meng, a formal disciple of Kaishan Martial Arts Hall.

He looked toward Wang Hao in the corner. "This kid's Vitality is probably a little over five, right? Only a bit stronger than an ordinary person, but he should do. Tiger, you're fairly reliable when it comes to handling things."

Tiger beamed at the praise. "As long as Brother Zhao is satisfied. This kid didn't know what was good for him and refused to repay his debt, so he might as well be put to use."

He turned and roared at the thugs holding Wang Hao down. "What are you standing around for? Force the drug into him and let Brother Zhao see the results."

One thug took a syringe filled with dark red liquid from a silver metal case by Zhao Meng's feet and walked toward Wang Hao.

Seeing the cold gleam of the needle and the strange red liquid, Wang Hao struggled desperately. "Let me go! What are you trying to do? Let me go!" But he was pinned down tightly. The difference in strength was too great, and he could not break free.

Bang!

The door was kicked open.

Everyone jumped and whipped their heads toward the entrance. In the dim light, Li He stood silently in the doorway.

His gaze swept over Wang Hao, who was pinned to the ground, before finally settling on Tiger and Zhao Meng at the center of the crowd.

"You were hard to find." Li He sneered. "So you lowlifes were the ones who dared to follow me?" His booming voice instantly drew everyone's attention.

"It's you?" Tiger sprang to his feet. "There's a road to heaven, but you refuse to take it. There's no door to hell, yet you barged right in. I was already planning to let you go, but you dared come looking for me? You're courting death!" He recognized Li He—the ruthless bastard who had broken his ribs that day.

Zhao Meng also set down his wineglass and rose with a vicious grin, sizing Li He up. As a formal disciple of Kaishan Martial Arts Hall, he had mastered a special secret technique that allowed him to roughly sense a target's blood and vitality.

At that moment, he secretly circulated the technique to probe Li He's true strength.

The information returned by the secret technique made Zhao Meng's face turn deathly pale. Nearly ten points! A Martial Artist on the verge of advancing!

So, while the thugs surrounded Li He, he quietly grabbed his bag and rushed for a half-open window at the side of the workshop. With one hand braced against it, he vaulted out and immediately fled.

But Tiger failed to notice.

"Get him! We've got Brother Zhao backing us, and there are so many of us. Why should we fear him alone?"

"Yeah, charge!"

"Kill him!"

Li He's eyes did not waver in the slightest as he faced the rushing thugs. These people had already abandoned the martial path. Their Vitality hovered between six and seven points—they were nothing but rabble.

His footwork activated. His body slid and twisted sideways like a phantom, moving with unbelievable speed. Each time, he effortlessly evaded the steel pipes smashing down at him and the batons sweeping toward him.

The thug charging at the front only saw a blur before his target vanished.

When Li He appeared before them again,

he was already gripping one thug's arm.

Li He flicked his wrist. His arm coiled upward along the thug's limb like a python, clamping onto his shoulder. His five fingers appeared gentle, but they contained deep, overwhelming force.

He yanked backward.

Rip!

A scalp-numbing tearing sound rang out.

Blood sprayed out like a fountain, instantly staining the ground red. An entire arm was torn straight from the thug's shoulder by Li He.

"Aaaah—!!!" The thug whose arm had been ripped off let out an inhuman, agonized scream. The pain made him pass out instantly.

Even Li He was stunned.

He had only intended to dislocate the thug's arm. He had not expected the man to be so fragile, resulting in such a gruesome outcome.

"Fuck, he crippled Lao Liu!"

"Damn it, avenge Lao Liu!"

"Chop him up! Get him, brothers!"

Several men who were normally close to the one-armed thug saw their companion in such a miserable state, and their eyes instantly turned red.

They howled as they waved machetes and steel pipes, charging Li He again with the air of men fighting for their lives.

The machetes came down at his head, while the steel pipes swept at his waist and abdomen. Every attack was aimed to kill.

"You're courting death!"

Li He's gaze sharpened.

He had not wanted to strike so heavily, but since they were attacking to kill with every move, they could not blame him.

Facing the desperate assault of several men, he held nothing back. His blood and vitality surged as he unleashed the full results of his hard training during this time.

Wild Goose Eight Steps, Forest Piercing Willow Brushing!

He drove his footwork to its limit, eight steps linking together as his body followed his steps, turning into blurred afterimages in the dim, cramped space.

A machete slashed down with a vicious gust of wind, but it struck only empty air.

Just as their old momentum was exhausted and their new strength had yet to arise, the flowing, agile aura around Li He abruptly vanished, replaced by the savagery of an ancient ape.

Old Ape Stretches Arms, Ape Climbs Mountain!

His previously soft, extended arms now bulged with knotted muscles and protruding veins. They lashed out like vine whips, and one punch caved in a thug's breastbone, sending him flying into a pile of discarded parts that collapsed around him. Whether he lived or died was unknown.

But it was not over.

Li He twisted his waist and hips, channeling power through his spine. His right leg swept out like a steel whip, its wind howling with immense force.

Crack! Crack!

Of the two thugs lunging in from the sides, one was struck in the knee and suffered a comminuted fracture, while the other was hit in the waist and ribs, his ribs snapping. Both screamed as they flew away like rag dolls.

The entire fight was even more brutal than before! Li He seemed to have transformed into a humanoid beast of prey, every strike accompanied by the sound of breaking bones and spraying blood.

In less than ten seconds!

Several more thugs lay on the ground, rolling about and howling, their bones broken and tendons torn, blood staining an even wider stretch of floor red.

"Murder! Murder!"