Bright Force

Ocean City's foreign concession, inside a Western Mansion secretly established by the Black Dragon Water Stronghold.

The hall was deathly silent. The thick stench of blood mingled with the tobacco scent of cigars, making it hard to breathe.

Duan Hu, second-in-command of the Black Dragon Water Bandits, strode in through the door, his face ashen. He went straight to the genuine-leather sofa with its steel frame bent from the impact, lowered his head, and clasped his hands.

"Boss, I've got the facts."

Duan Hu gritted his teeth, his eyes full of murderous intent. "The one who actually killed the Young Master on that iron ship at Soul-Falling Gorge was A-Kuan, the personal instructor at Old Master Gu's side! Gu Yanzhi, the eldest son of the Gu Family, was on the speedboat too, personally backing him up."

The Duan Hai seated in the shadows snapped his eyes open, their whites webbed with terrifying red veins.

"Gu Yanzhi... A-Kuan..."

Duan Hai clenched his thick fists until they crackled, violent Bright Force and blood-qi surging around him.

But he didn't lose his head.

Fujita Shoichi's icy warning still rang in his ears.

The Gu Family was a local power in Ocean City, and an indispensable part of the Kwantung Army's "grand plan." Gu Yanzhi was the Gu Family's only heir, and A-Kuan was Gu Wanshan's right-hand man. If either of them died at the hands of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold at this stage, it would surely bring down the Eastern Foreigners' wrath.

For the sake of the bigger picture, he couldn't touch those two principals—not yet!

"Bang!"

Duan Hai slammed a palm down, smashing the redwood tea table before him. Splinters flew everywhere.

"My son's life can't just be thrown away in the river!" Duan Hai jerked his head up. "I heard that on the deck, one of the Gu Family guards, a Late Force Refining Realm fighter, held my son's retreat fast. That was how A-Kuan got his chance, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Duan Hu nodded firmly. "That kid's called Lu Zhen, an Inner Sect disciple of the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall in the south of the city. If he hadn't stuck his nose in, then even if the Young Master had been outmatched, he could've escaped unscathed by using the water to flee!"

"Good. Very good!"

Duan Hai laughed in furious disbelief, the centipede-like knife scar on his face twisting as if it were alive. "I can't touch that old bastard Gu Wanshan for now, but I can't kill a dirt-legged martial arts hall brat?!"

He sprang to his feet.

"Take the most elite brothers from our hall. Go kill that kid for me! Be quick about it, and leave no trace."

Murderous intent surged in Duan Hu's eyes. He clasped his hands in a deep salute. "Leave it to me, Boss!"

Winter rain pattered against the bluestone slabs of Pig Cage Alley.

The howling wind couldn't pierce the cramped, ramshackle wooden shack deep in the alley.

Inside, the stove had gone cold.

Yet anyone who pushed open the door at that moment would be driven back three steps by the furnace-like heat filling the room.

Lu Zhen sat cross-legged on the hard wooden bed, his bare upper body slick with sweat.

[Lu Zhen (30 years old)]

[Physique: Copper Skin Iron Bone Lv.4 (2400/3000)]

[General Experience: 615 points]

For the past five days, he had trained day and night. On top of that, he'd eaten Red Scale Treasure Fish and Century-Old Mountain Ginseng at every meal. With the ruinous cost of it all compounded by the system's daily triple settlement, his Physique experience had finally reached 2,400 points.

And he had just over 600 points of General Experience saved up.

Just enough to fill that final gap!

Lu Zhen looked at the Panel, a fierce light flashing in his eyes. He didn't hesitate for a moment.

"Add points to Physique!"

"Voom—!"

Six hundred points of General Experience became a brilliant stream of light and instantly poured into the Physique entry. The progress bar for Lv.4 shot to its limit, then shattered with a crash!

[Physique Level Increased!]

[Physique: Blood-Qi Like a Furnace Lv.5 (0/10000)]

[Blood-Qi Like a Furnace: The blood-qi within you burns with vigor. You are unaffected by cold or heat and possess boundless energy!]

"Boom!"

An unprecedented wave of terrifying heat erupted from his dantian and swept wildly through his limbs and bones.

The Copper Skin Iron Bone that had once gleamed a blue-black hue now seemed to glow with a dark-red sheen beneath that appalling heat.

This was no longer merely tough skin and flesh. His blood-qi had become so vigorous that he was truly like a blazing furnace!

The damp chill of the rainy night evaporated into white mist the instant it came within three feet of his body, scorched away by his immense, blazing vitality.

At the same time, a wondrous transformation took place.

With his two Lv.4 martial skills, Lu Zhen had already tempered himself to the absolute limit of the Late Force Refining Realm. All that separated him from Bright Force was the elusive "inner strengthening of the organs."

Now, this Lv.5 Blood-Qi Like a Furnace Physique had given him an extraordinary martial talent that was one in a thousand, perhaps even one in ten thousand, in this world!

Under the furious, ceaseless torrent of blood-qi, the Bright Force threshold that had stopped countless martial artists—an impassable chasm—was as easy to break through as paper.

"Crack... boom!"

That immense blood-qi naturally broke through the confines of his muscles and bones, then surged into his internal organs like a knife through bamboo.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

His organs strengthened from within!

Nourished by his blood-qi, his internal organs rapidly transformed, growing as strong as steel.

His heart was like a steam pump cranked up to full power, forcing an unending stream of internal force into every inch of his blood vessels!

He'd broken through!

At the end of Force Refining, one step forward meant Bright Force!

He slowly got to his feet, feeling the body that had been remade from the ground up.

For an ordinary martial artist entering the early Bright Force Realm, the limit of a single arm was five thousand jin of force.

But Lu Zhen was different. His extraordinary Lv.5 Physique added a terrifying two thousand jin on top of that five-thousand-jin foundation!

"Seven thousand jin in one arm..."

Lu Zhen clenched his right fist and casually threw a punch into the empty space before him.

"Pop—boom!"

The air let out a groan under unbearable strain, then burst apart under his punch!

A visible wave of white air burst from his fist and became a fierce gust, instantly ripping through the paper window a zhang away.

Force released beyond the body, blood-qi as fierce as a blade!

Lu Zhen drew back his fist and looked down at his large, knobby hands. Without meaning to, he recalled A-Kuan, the Gu Family instructor, and that terrifying blow at Soul-Falling Gorge—the one that had descended like a divine weapon and smashed the Young Master of Water Bandits with a single punch.

That punch had once made him feel how small and powerless he was.

But the punch he had just thrown so casually surpassed that Gu Family instructor's in both raw power and the ferocity of his blood-qi!

Seven or eight blocks from Pig Cage Alley, inside a secluded Western-style mansion.

Cold rain fell without pause outside, while an expensive fireplace kept the room warm.

Second-in-command Duan Hu leaned back on a velvet sofa, coldly watching the three men in black standing before him.

All three were handpicked dead men from the Black Dragon Water Stronghold's hall. Each was at the Late Force Refining Realm, with blood on his hands and a thick aura of slaughter about him.

"Pig Cage Alley. The ramshackle wooden shack at the very end."

"The target's called Lu Zhen. He's only at the Late Force Refining Realm."

His gaze swept over the three men. "You're all among the best at your level, and brothers who've spent years living by the blade. The three of you working together can easily kill a martial arts hall brat who's just broken through."

"Don't worry, Second-in-command." The leader's voice was hoarse as he clasped his hands and accepted the order.

"Go. Leave no trace."

Duan Hu waved them off casually. He watched them open the door and disappear into the rainy night, then put the matter entirely out of his mind.

Three elite killers who'd butchered countless people were going after a martial artist at the same level. There was no chance they'd fail.

He stood, undid the buttons at his collar, and listened to the soft, licentious strains of a gramophone drifting from the upstairs bedroom. A lecherous smile curled his lips as he strode up the winding staircase.

A popular dancer was waiting there to help him vent his lust.