Gold Card, Plum Bone

Lu Chen heard him out and laughed. "This arm of mine is right here. I'm afraid you won't be able to take it."

Boss Mo was so furious that he laughed too, his smile full of scorn, as if he were looking at an idiot.

"Fine, kid. You've got guts! I was feeling charitable and only planned to cripple one of your arms, but since you're begging to die, I'll take that leg of yours too!" He spat, then waved his hand and barked, "Brothers, get him! Cripple him for me!"

"Kill!"

The twenty-odd men behind him roared in unison, then came charging forward, howling as they swung their weapons.

"Boss!"

"Let's fight them!"

Lu Chen's men gripped their knives and were about to charge in.

A withered hand stopped them.

It was Blind Man. There was no fear on his face; instead, he broke into a strange smile. "Keep calm and watch. Let big brother loosen up a bit."

"But there are too many of them..." Baldy said anxiously, but before he could finish—

A sudden change erupted in the middle of the alley!

Lu Chen moved.

Facing the first thug charging at him, he pressed forward instead of retreating and threw a simple punch.

"Pfft!"

The man's head burst like a watermelon, spraying red and white everywhere.

The Rat Gang thugs were startled.

Lu Chen had already darted into their midst. Plum Blossom Quick Fist: Double Strike, activated!

"Thump! Pfft!"

"Crack! Thud!"

Every time he paused, there were two nearly simultaneous muffled thuds—simple, efficient, brutal.

This wasn't a fight. It was a massacre.

Like a猛虎 charging into a pack of wild dogs, wherever his claws fell, flesh and blood flew.

In barely a dozen breaths, all twenty-odd thugs lay dead in the alley.

Lu Chen stepped through the thick, warm pool of blood, leaving bloody footprints with every step, and stopped before Boss Mo. His voice was as calm as if he were recounting an everyday matter. "You were unlucky to pick the very day I broke through."

Boss Mo looked at the bodies strewn across the ground and stammered, "You've reached External Force?"

"Yes!"

Boss Mo gave a bitter smile. "Master Lu, I admit defeat. I'm thoroughly convinced. I know the rules of the underworld. This life of mine should be yours. But there's always a price outside the rules. I have a thirty-percent stake in two pawnshops in North City. They're all yours. I still have a family to look after. I beg you to show mercy, Master Lu. From now on, the Rat Gang will remember your kindness throughout North City."

Lu Chen was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Boss Mo looked as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He clasped his hands and bowed deeply. "Thank you for your kindness, Master Lu! The deeds and tribute will be delivered before noon tomorrow!"

Lu Chen waved a hand.

Boss Mo didn't dare linger. He backed away a few steps, bent over, then turned and fled in a flash.

Blind Man stepped forward. "Big brother, letting him go just like that—isn't that too easy on him?"

Lu Chen gazed toward the alley's entrance. "He's the head of the Rat Gang. They control the grain trade and have money and manpower. Killing him wouldn't be hard, but dealing with the endless entanglements afterward would be. This way, we get something out of it and avoid trouble down the road."

Blind Man nodded, then solemnly offered his congratulations.

"Congratulations on breaking through, big brother, and reaching External Force!"

The other brothers were first stunned, then overcome with joy. Their own boss had become an External Force expert. From now on, they'd be able to share in his good fortune.

Lu Chen wiped the red-and-white mess on his hands against the wall and smiled. "Tonight, drinks are on me."

Everyone cheered in unison, grinning from ear to ear.

Before they went drinking, Lu Chen returned home to change into clean clothes. Blind Man, meanwhile, briskly led the others in loading the bodies onto a handcart. They covered them with a worn straw mat, hauled them out of the city, and dumped them in the mountains to feed the wolves.

That night, they gathered at a familiar tavern in South City, set out the tables, ordered fine wine and food, and celebrated in high spirits.

Night had grown late.

Lu Chen walked home beneath the moonlight, slightly tipsy and tired from the banquet. He flopped down on the kang without changing, closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them again. The drunkenness had vanished from his gaze, leaving only calm.

He had spent over thirty taels of silver on this round of draws, pulling from the Proud Bone Cold Plum card pool a full two hundred and forty times.

This time, besides pushing Plum Blossom Quick Fist's experience bar to 100% and advancing its level, he had also drawn a Gold Card.

"Plum Bone (Gold)" effect: Base defense increased by 100%. In cold wind, low temperatures, or snowy and icy environments, this defense bonus is doubled (increased to 200%).

The effect of this Gold Card was genuinely impressive.

Unfortunately, he had only one trait card slot.

He also had only ten inventory slots. There hadn't been enough room for all the common and green trait cards he'd drawn, so in the end he'd had to discard some.

It seemed he couldn't keep drawing from just one martial arts card pool from now on.

He'd have to draw from the basic card pool now and then, if only to get a few more trait card slots and inventory slots.

Without hesitation, Lu Chen removed "Cold Plum Trembling Shadow Force (Purple)" from his slot and replaced it with the card that shimmered with golden light: "Plum Bone."

He recalled the fight in the alley that day. More than twenty lives had fallen beneath his fists like so many blades of grass, and it had been so easy that even he felt a little surprised.

The sense of control that came with surging power, the sheer destructive force—it made him feel an addiction deep in his bones.

Lu Chen focused inward. The wisp of newly formed inner force in his dantian was slowly circulating.

He suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze seemed to reflect cold plum blossoms beneath the snow, and a long-hidden ambition, like a spark falling onto a withered plain, quietly caught fire.

He had reached External Force. It was time to set his plan in motion and dominate South City!

Today was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, the liveliest and most festive holiday of the year in the Northern Lands after the Spring Festival.

Plum Blossom Martial Hall was wrapped in the festive atmosphere too.

Many of the direct disciples who traveled outside the city had returned that day to pay their respects.

Master's Wife had prepared hot tea and pastries in the main hall early that morning, and chatted with the returning disciples.

Plum Blossom Martial Hall had only seven direct disciples in all.

They were all promising students whom Master's Wife had personally selected and carefully trained.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, only four had returned. The other three were far away in other provinces and simply couldn't get away.

Among them,

one disciple, a handsome young nobleman who idly waved a folding fan, asked with a smile, "Master's Wife, I heard the martial hall has a promising junior brother these days. At the midmonth sparring trial, he actually defeated four opponents by himself with ease?"

"That's right."

Master's Wife smiled and nodded. "His name is Lu Chen. He's a kindhearted, decent boy who knows how to conduct himself."

She had taken great care with her clothes and makeup that day.

Most striking of all was the South Sea Shell Hairpin in her hair, which made her already dignified and beautiful face shine all the more.

Just then, a petite female disciple with a neat short haircut spoke softly. "But when I walked around the hall, many of our fellow disciples didn't have a good impression of him. They all said he was cold and ignored people when they spoke to him. Some even sincerely asked him for guidance in martial arts, but he turned them all down and only practiced by himself."

Another disciple, dressed in black with a dark complexion, chimed in. "Indeed. I've also heard he isn't very popular around the hall."

Hearing this, Master's Wife merely smiled gently. "His family is in South City, so of course he doesn't know how to deal with people as tactfully as the children of wealthy families. But he is kindhearted."

The handsome young nobleman with the fan picked up the thread. "If Master's Wife says so, then there's no need to doubt our junior brother's character."

The short-haired junior sister shot the nobleman a sidelong glance and sneered. "Young Master Zhou, it's cold enough to make people shiver, yet you're still waving that fan around. You really do love putting on airs."