Taking Control of Fate

"Teacher, you're incredible! One punch and you snapped a wooden post as thick as a bucket."

Chen Han stood with his hands clasped behind his back. "Keep training hard. This is already my limit. Before long, you'll be stronger than me."

Chen Han served Li Mubai that pie with a perfectly straight face.

"Understood, Teacher."

Chen Han watched Li Mubai. The muscles across his body had begun to take shape, his skin was dark, and his eyes were bright and alert. He looked as though he had energy to spare.

For the past four months, Li Mubai had trained hard. Every day, he either held a horse stance or practiced standing meditation, laying a solid foundation for martial arts.

"Mm, not bad. Your qi and blood are abundant, and your spirit is strong. Today, I'll officially teach you the Chen Family's secret art—the Mountain Breaking Fist."

At last, the words Li Mubai had been waiting for came from Chen Han's mouth. His fighting spirit surged, and a brilliant light flashed in his eyes.

"All right!"

He'd had enough of horse stances and standing meditation these past few months!

"The Mountain Breaking Fist—just as the name suggests, one punch can shatter a mountain!"

Chen Han planted his feet firmly, his gaze sharp. Without any fancy technique, he drove a steady punch into the wooden post.

"Keep your stance steady! Your fists must be steady, too!"

As he spoke, he threw punch after punch, each one solid and controlled. Then, at one moment, he stepped forward halfway and suddenly unleashed his strength. That punch landed with twice the force!

Yet Chen Han's stance remained steady. Even after such a fierce strike, he could advance or retreat with ease, ready to attack or defend.

"Fighting is about constantly looking for your opponent's weaknesses while minimizing your own."

Chen Han's attacks alternated between strong and weak, his body shifting constantly. Heavy punches, light punches, blocks, dodges—in the blink of an eye, his flurry of fighting moves dazzled Li Mubai.

Li Mubai watched in stunned alarm. Chen Han felt like a mountain, his stance so stable that he seemed like a pine tree that would never topple.

Now he finally understood why Chen Han had made him practice horse stances on the very first day.

That was the foundation of the Mountain Breaking Fist.

After finishing the set, Chen Han was breathing a little heavily.

"My body still hasn't fully recovered. My stamina and qi and blood are still far from sufficient. Every move in this Mountain Breaking Fist is so forceful and heavy that I really can't practice it yet."

"Watch closely. I'll do it slowly once."

Then Chen Han guided Li Mubai through the movements one by one. It wasn't until the sun had set that Li Mubai finally learned the entire set. He'd imitated the moves, going from awkward at first to looking somewhat competent.

Chen Han couldn't help but marvel. Li Mubai's comprehension was almost on par with Chen Lei's.

Back home, Chen Han went to the small courtyard shared by the three households and, as usual, began practicing the Taiji Health Cultivation Technique.

"Oh, it's Chen Han. I thought it was someone else."

Aunt Wang's tone was mocking.

"Honestly, you should stop messing around with that weird martial art all day. You look like a girl dancing. Why not let my Xiao Hu teach you a few moves? It won't cost much—just five taels of silver."

Aunt Wang's son, Lu Xiaohu, was a martial apprentice at the Formless Martial Hall in the city. He was a Mingjin Martial Artist, but nothing special.

The family loved to show off their son in front of the neighbors. Whenever they heard praise or flattery, they'd lift their chins and wear the smug, arrogant look of people on top of the world.

"You're joking, Auntie. I'm just practicing for fun, to keep healthy. Xiao Hu's strong and sturdy. Just looking at those legs of his scares me."

The Formless Martial Hall didn't train with fists. They trained with legs!

The hall's Formless Leg Technique often caught opponents off guard. It was one of the more famous martial arts halls in Black Lion City.

But in Chen Han's eyes, they were nothing special.

"Heh, true enough."

Aunt Wang agreed without a trace of embarrassment, baring her big yellow teeth.

"Could you stop drinking? We're nearly out of silver at home!"

Then came a woman's cries from across the way. It was the young couple.

"Shut up! Black Lion City could be flattened by those damn Red Spiders any day now. What's wrong with me having a drink? Better to drink myself to death or starve than let those Red Spiders swallow me whole."

By now, Chen Han had gotten a general sense of the young couple.

The woman was gentle and virtuous, while the man was violent-tempered and beat his wife from time to time. After learning about the Red Spider incident, he knew he had no way to flee, so he'd given up on himself and spent every day drinking.

"Ah, what a pity. What a pity."

Aunt Wang glanced at the house reeking of alcohol. She seemed reminded of something unpleasant, sighed, and went back inside.

Chen Han didn't pay much attention. There were worse people in this world than that fat man. Things like this couldn't stir the slightest ripple in his heart. It wasn't that he was heartless; he'd simply seen it all too often.

He ignored them, took a strip of dried meat from his pocket, and popped it into his mouth. He'd made it from Exotic Beast meat.

Whenever practicing the Taiji Health Cultivation Technique depleted his qi and blood, he'd take out a strip and eat it to replenish them.

As Chen Han practiced deeper, his mind grew as clear as a mirror. All things in the world seemed to vanish before his eyes, and he sank into a state of complete self-forgetfulness.

Then a knock at the door startled him. He looked toward the sound and saw a tall, burly man with a vicious expression.

Another Black Mountain Gang thug.

The Black Mountain Gang's influence was everywhere in Black Lion City. Apart from a few powerful, wealthy families, nearly every household had to pay a certain amount of protection money.

As long as they remained in Black Lion City, there was no getting out of paying it.

The residents of the inner city were no exception.

Chen Han instantly put on a beaming smile, bent at the waist, and went to open the door.

"Same as always: half a tael of silver for protection. If you don't pay... you won't be safe."

The thug's meaning was clear.

"Heh, sir, you're joking. You can scrimp on anything, but you absolutely can't skimp on your safety."

Hearing the commotion, people from the other two households came out as well. They handed over their silver with strained smiles and cringingly obsequious expressions, as if they wished they could drop to their knees on the spot.

Even Aunt Wang, who usually looked down her nose at everyone, put on a different face. She was a far cry from her earlier arrogance, fussing over the thug and asking after his well-being, her smile practically blooming across her face.

Across from her stood a frail woman, plain-looking, with reddened eyes. She had clearly just been crying.

After collecting the money, the thug didn't leave. Instead, he asked Chen Han, "What were you practicing just now? You were so focused."

"Nothing much. Just some cheap stuff I bought from a street stall, to keep my body in shape."

"Heh, I knew it. With a body like yours, I thought some peasant was trying to learn martial arts."

As he spoke, the thug roughly pinched Chen Han's cheek, grinning lecherously. "If you're short on silver, just tell me. Your wife and Xiao Mei could fetch a pretty penny. If you can't bear to part with them... you could sell just their nights."

"I wouldn't dare..."

The muscles in Chen Han's face twitched, but he suppressed the murderous intent surging within him.

Just then, a chilly breeze swept through the late-autumn air. The thug shuddered, casually wiped the disgusting, viscous snot that had run from his nose, and smeared it on Chen Han's clothes with a look of disgust.

Then he smiled at Chen Han and left.

What he hadn't noticed was that, on this freezing day, Chen Han was wearing even less than he was. Yet that bone-chilling breeze seemed to have no effect on him at all.

Chen Han glanced at the disgusting mess on his clothes, his face expressionless. Only four words lingered in his mind: "Take control of fate"!