Before his words had even faded, the ground beneath Yang Ning's feet exploded!
He shot forward like an arrow loosed from its string, like a猛虎 pouncing on its prey, crossing five paces in an instant!
His right fist burst from his waist without a hint of flourish, aimed straight at Wang Teng's face!
"Whoosh—"
The wind of his fist tore through the air with a muffled tiger's roar. His fierce, scorching blood and qi condensed around his knuckles. This punch was heavy and powerful!
"Good!"
Wang Teng roared with laughter. He neither dodged nor yielded, swinging his right arm like a steel whip. The muscles in his forearm swelled like iron as he slammed it into Yang Ning's fist.
Iron Wire Fist—Iron Arm Across the River.
"BOOM—!!!"
Fist met arm with a deafening clang, like iron striking iron!
The collision sent visible waves of air bursting outward from the two of them, overturning nearby tables and chairs and making the diners close by scream and stumble backward.
Yang Ning felt a vast force surge toward him at the same time as a sharp, needle-like penetrating force.
Pain shot through his fist. His body skidded backward three steps, leaving two deep scrape marks in the floor.
"So this is the strength of a Body Tempering warrior at the same level? That penetrating force... is that劲力?"
Wang Teng's body swayed as well, and his right arm went slightly numb. His eyes filled with even greater surprise.
"What a hard fist! What domineering blood and qi!
Your Tiger Fist has some tricks!"
He shook his arm, his savage grin growing wider.
"But it's still not enough!
Let me show you what true ferocity looks like!"
Wang Teng suddenly stepped forward, shattering the floor tiles beneath his feet! His fists fired like cannons, one after another!
Each punch seemed to carry tremendous force. They came straight and true, without any flourish, yet they were as fast as lightning, covering every vital point around Yang Ning!
The wind of his fists howled, carrying the faint sound of leather tearing. It was the strange noise of blood and qi circulating at its limit and grinding violently against the air!
Iron Wire Fist's killing move—Cannon Fist.
"I can't take those head-on!"
Yang Ning's gaze turned grave. He didn't dare meet the full force of Wang Teng's blows.
His footwork shifted like a猛虎 circling a ravine, nimble and swift. By the narrowest of margins, he dodged several punches.
At the same time, he seized his chance. Using his palm in place of a claw, he flashed toward Wang Teng's wrist at the instant his old force had ebbed and his new force had yet to rise!
Tiger Soul Fist—Tiger Claw Grab!
Wang Teng reacted incredibly quickly. His arm quivered and snapped like a boneless whip, deftly slipping free of the grab. He used the motion to drive a punch toward Yang Ning's ribs!
In an instant, the two were locked in combat!
Their figures crossed and clashed. The impacts of fists and feet rattled like a downpour beating on roof tiles, unbroken and relentless!
The furious roars of a猛虎 and the hum of iron wire intertwined, making the entire restaurant hall buzz.
Yang Ning's Tiger Soul Fist was fierce and domineering, yet held subtle, nimble variations. At times, he pounced like a猛虎 on its prey, unstoppable.
At others, he darted and wheeled like a nimble cat playing with a mouse, attacking joints and vital points.
As his blood and qi circulated, it seemed to take on the shape of a tiger, its might astonishing.
Wang Teng's Iron Wire Fist, meanwhile, brought the word "fierce" to its absolute limit!
His arms truly seemed like two red-hot iron wires, sweeping and chopping, smashing forward with force. He relied entirely on strength to overwhelm his opponent, using sheer ferocity to break through technique!
His blood and qi were even more abundant, and his stamina astonishing. Each punch weighed a thousand jun, forcing Yang Ning to expend even more blood and qi to dodge or block.
"Thud!"
Yang Ning's sweeping kick struck Wang Teng's side, but it was like kicking an iron pillar. The recoil numbed his lower leg.
"Smack!"
Wang Teng's punch grazed Yang Ning's shoulder. Its force ripped his clothes and left a bloody streak across his skin.
The two parted as quickly as they had clashed, each retreating several steps. They breathed lightly as they stared intently at each other.
Wang Teng rubbed his side, where a dull ache lingered, and grinned.
"Good lad, you haven't been tempering your body for long, have you?
Your blood and qi are remarkably concentrated, and your fist packs a punch!
But you're too inexperienced. You haven't given birth to劲力 yet, and your strength still falls short of mine!"
Yang Ning steadied his roiling blood and qi. Beneath the White Jade Mask, his gaze remained calm.
He admitted Wang Teng was right.
His opponent had practiced Body Tempering for a long time. His overall reserves of blood and qi and his explosive power did have a slight edge. He had also already developed劲力 and was not far from Tendon Changing. His combat experience was richer and more seasoned, too.
If not for the support of his Destiny System—his astonishing recovery, stamina, and sharp senses—and the White Jade Mask's ability to calm his mind and steady his focus, he would likely have lost long ago.
But victory was not beyond reach.
With the support of the White Jade Mask, he had keenly observed that:
Though Wang Teng's Iron Wire Fist was peerlessly fierce, he focused too much on raw power, leaving his changes somewhat stiff. After every full-power burst, there was an extremely brief pause to regain his breath.
That pause vanished in the blink of an eye. Ordinary people simply could not spot it, much less exploit it.
"Warm-up's over."
Wang Teng rolled his neck, producing a series of cracks. His eyes turned utterly vicious.
"My next move will send you to your grave!"
He drew a deep breath. His already burly frame seemed to swell another size, and his blood and qi steamed violently around him like boiling water. His skin took on an unnatural, dusky red hue.
He crossed his arms over his chest and tensed his muscles to their limit, producing a teeth-grating creak.
His next strike would gather all his blood and qi and every ounce of his strength, enough to shatter mountains and rocks!
A terrifying pressure blanketed the room. Everyone held their breath.
Qin Yurong closed her eyes. He Xiang collapsed to the floor in despair. Yang An and Liu Ying clutched Xiao Hua tightly, their hearts in their throats.
At the instant Wang Teng's aura reached its peak and he was about to erupt—
Yang Ning moved!
He did not retreat or dodge. Instead, he stepped forward into that overwhelming wave of savagery!
That step was like a猛虎 descending the mountain, resolute and fearless!
Every insight he had gained into this fist art, every lesson he had learned in battle, every correct path shown to him by Heaven Rewards Diligence—all of it converged in that moment!
His spine undulated like a great dragon, each vertebra cracking like thunder!
He drew his right fist back to his waist, twisting his entire body's strength into a single cord and pouring it all into that punch.
Beneath the White Jade Mask, his eyes shone like stars.
His fist shot out!
There was no gleam, no earth-shaking aura bursting outward—only a tiger's roar condensed into a fist shadow of utmost purity.
As if it had seen through everything Wang Teng could do, it struck after his move yet arrived first.
In the imperceptible pause before Wang Teng's fists could burst outward, it landed with absolute precision at the very center of his crossed arms.
That was also the core of his blood and qi circulation, and its most vulnerable point!
Time seemed to freeze.
Wang Teng's savage grin stiffened. First came confusion in his eyes, then boundless horror.
He felt a sharp, domineering fist intent, unstoppable as a red-hot iron nail, violently pierce through the Iron Wire defense he had always been so proud of.
It drilled viciously into his body!
Like a blade piercing his heart!
"Pfft—!"
Wang Teng's massive frame jerked as if struck by lightning. His knees buckled, and he crashed to the floor.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Instead, mouthfuls of black blood mixed with shattered organs gushed out.
A dense series of bone-cracking snaps, like beans popping in a pan, came from his crossed arms. They fell limply to his sides.
The blood and qi boiling around him burst like a punctured balloon, vanishing in an instant.
He lifted his head and stared fixedly at the luminous jade mask before him. His eyes filled with unwillingness, fury, and a bewilderment that bordered on disbelief.
"You... you... I... Yang... Ning..."
He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, no words came. His massive frame pitched forward and smashed into the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Wang Teng was dead!
Everything had settled.
The hall was as silent as death.
Only Yang Ning's slightly hurried breathing remained, along with his fist, slowly drawing back and still clenched tight.
He had won.
With only the strength of someone newly entered into Body Tempering, he had defeated Wang Teng of the Blood Ape Gang head-on—a notorious late-stage Body Tempering warrior who had developed劲力!
The White Jade Mask came away, revealing the calm yet slightly pale face of a young man beneath it.
He glanced at Wang Teng's body on the floor, then turned and walked toward his family in the corner.
As he passed He Xiang, slumped on the floor and drained of color, he did not slow down. He did not even look down at her, as if she were no more than dust by the roadside.
He Xiang parted her lips, staring at the blind date who had once been the "mud-legged peasant" she scorned and mocked.
The man who might have become her husband, whose bond she had severed with her own hands—and whose back now stood as tall as a mountain.
Boundless regret and shame gnawed at her heart like venomous snakes. Her vision went black, and she fainted.
With the help of her guards, Qin Yurong steadied herself. She looked at Yang Ning with a complex mix of emotions: shock, gratitude, curiosity, and a barely perceptible warmth.
She pushed aside her guards and stepped forward. Facing Yang Ning's back, she bowed gracefully and spoke in a soft yet clear voice.
"I am Qin Yurong of the Qin Family. Thank you, Young Master Yang, for saving my life. The Qin Family will never forget this kindness."
Yang Ning paused, but did not turn around. He merely waved a hand.
He slowly reached his elder brother and sister-in-law, then took Xiao Hua in his arms. Her eyes were wet with tears, though she had stubbornly held them back from falling. He hugged her gently.
"It's all right now."
He spoke softly. His voice carried a trace of exhaustion, yet it was strangely reassuring.
Yang An patted his younger brother's shoulder firmly. Liu Ying, meanwhile, wept and could not speak.
Yang Ning did not let his guard down. Dozens of Blood Ape Gang members still glared outside, though few among them were martial artists. They were mostly young, bold men, but it was best to be prepared.
Just as he steadied his mind and waited for the Blood Ape Gang members outside to charge in, a rush of hurried, orderly footsteps came from outside the restaurant, accompanied by the clanging scrape of blades.
"I am Patrol Chief Qian Zhong of the Patrol Bureau's East Third Street branch!
The Patrol Bureau is on duty! Nobody inside move!"
Yang Ning relaxed slightly. It seemed the Patrol Bureau had already driven off the Blood Ape Gang members outside.
As its name suggested, the Patrol Bureau's main duty was to patrol the city on a daily basis.
But out here on the frontier, far from the reach of imperial authority and plagued by chaos, the Patrol Bureau had become little more than a figurehead. The city's various powers and great clans had infiltrated it until it was full of holes.
Even so, no matter how weak it was or how much people criticized it, it remained the Great Yue Dynasty's official force in Kuishan County.
As long as Kuishan County had not fully broken away from the Great Yue Dynasty, every faction in the county had to uphold the Patrol Bureau's authority.
Yet, through the competing interests and compromises among the city's various powers, this tottering "public institution" had somehow managed to serve a purpose.
It could not touch the truly powerful, but it could still do something about "small fry" and the "wild dogs" kept by wealthy families.
The Patrol Bureau was made up of trainee patrolmen, patrolmen, Patrol Chiefs, Patrol Commanders, and the highest-ranking officer, the County Magistrate.
Qian Zhong, a Patrol Chief of the Patrol Bureau clad in soft armor, filed into the restaurant, his tense gaze sweeping the surroundings.
The smell of blood filled his nostrils. His expression tightened, but when he looked up, the scene before him was nothing like what he had expected.
After receiving a report at the Bureau that the Blood Ape Gang had surrounded Chunyuan Restaurant, led by that madman from the Wang Family, Wang Teng, he had rushed over.
He had expected to find another human tragedy inside the restaurant.
But the expected carnage and tragedy had not come to pass.
Only a hulking man like an iron pagoda lay dead in the middle of the restaurant.
At a glance, he spotted the corpse in the center of the hall. The tension on his face slowly gave way to a blank stare, then to astonishment, until the whole thing seemed absurd.
"Is... is that Wang Teng of the Blood Ape Gang?
Wang Teng, ranked ninety-seventh on the Top Hundred List, is dead?"
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