Exchange

Humiliation.

Unprecedented humiliation.

He, Chen Wanglong, the most dazzling genius in Yilin County in recent years, a prodigy who reached Bright Strength in half a year at Zhenlei Martial Arts Hall and attained Dark Strength by eighteen, a rising star whom the Zhao Family had gone to great lengths to recruit and pinned all their hopes upon.

To think that in full view of everyone, he had been blasted back three steps by a single punch from a bastard born in Loach Bay, forced to his knees in public!

And this happened right after he had just finished mocking him, fully confident of his own victory.

The gazes all around—shock, horror, disbelief, and even a hint of hidden satisfaction.

They were like red-hot steel needles, piercing into his spine one by one.

"A bastard... a lowly breed crawled out of a stinking ditch in Loach Bay!" Chen Wanglong hissed, "How... how are you qualified to stand here, how are you qualified to take my punch, how—do you dare make me kneel?!"

Chen Jianghe stood quietly.

His right hand hung naturally at his side, his breathing long and steady, as if that earth-shattering punch had been nothing more than brushing off a speck of dust.

He looked at his cousin, who appeared like a madman, his eyes devoid of triumph or mockery, holding only the stillness of a deep pool.

This stillness stung Chen Wanglong more than any ridicule.

"I'll kill you—!"

Chen Wanglong had completely lost his sanity.

The blood and qi throughout Chen Wanglong's body erupted, an unnatural flush rising beneath his skin as his veins bulged and writhed like small snakes.

He pushed the fierce, explosive power taught by Zhenlei Martial Arts Hall to its limit, throwing both fists out at once.

One punch aimed straight for Chen Jianghe's face, while the other remained hidden beneath his ribs, ready to shift into an attack on his heart at any moment.

This was the "Twin Thunder Break" of Zhenlei Martial Arts Hall, known for its fierce and violent nature, emphasizing an unstoppable momentum that used raw power to shatter finesse.

Chen Wanglong struck out in hatred, the wind of his fists tearing through the air, even faintly carrying the sound of wind and thunder!

Chen Jianghe's eyes narrowed.

He could see that Chen Wanglong had completely lost his mind; although this punch was heavy and powerful, it was utterly devoid of technique and riddled with openings.

But precisely because of that, it was even more dangerous.

A madman who disregarded his own life and only sought to drag his opponent down with him could often unleash lethality far beyond his usual capacity.

He could not take it head-on.

Chen Jianghe tapped his toes, his figure sliding sideways like a phantom.

With a light tap of his toes against the ground, his movement appeared slow but was in fact swift, sliding half a step to the left.

This step was executed with exquisite precision, just enough to let Chen Wanglong's rage-filled thunderous fist graze the lapel of his chest.

The sharp wind of the punch swept past, tearing the indigo fabric with a "rip" and revealing the lean, hard muscle lines beneath.

Chen Wanglong's punch missed, his body stumbling, his eyes turning even redder as he spun around and unleashed a sweeping kick, aiming straight for Chen Jianghe's waist and abdomen!

Chen Jianghe twisted his waist and hips, his body drifting back like a swimming fish along the path of the kick, while his right hand formed a blade with his fingers, stabbing like lightning toward the back of Chen Wanglong's supporting knee!

Before the fingers arrived, the Dark Strength struck first.

A soft, insidious force penetrated the air, and Chen Wanglong felt his right knee go numb; his entire leg instantly lost all strength, and the momentum of his sweep vanished.

"You—"

Chen Wanglong was both shocked and furious, raising his left fist again, but it was a chaotic, wild swing, completely devoid of form.

Chen Jianghe, however, grew increasingly steady.

Using the Phantom Shadow Steps, he shifted and moved within a tiny space, always avoiding Chen Wanglong's frantic attacks by a hair's breadth.

At the same time, his hands—sometimes fingers, sometimes palms, sometimes stabbing, sometimes slapping—were precise and ruthless with every strike, targeting Chen Wanglong's joints, meridians, and the nodes where his blood and qi circulated.

After only seven or eight moves, Chen Wanglong was already struggling to defend.

His right arm was crippled, his left fist was wild and formless, and the back of his right knee had been injured by the Dark Strength, making his steps unsteady.

What alarmed him even more was that Chen Jianghe's Dark Strength was incredibly venomous; with every contact, a soft, persistent force drilled into his body, clinging like bone-eating maggots and constantly eroding the circulation of his blood and qi.

"Bang!"

Chen Jianghe landed a Drilling Fist, driving it into the opening beneath Chen Wanglong's ribs.

The Dark Strength penetrated his body.

Chen Wanglong let out a muffled groan, his face turning deathly pale as he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

He staggered backward, looking down at his ribs.

The lapel was intact, showing only a shallow fist print, but inside... his ribs were broken, and his internal organs were damaged!

"No... impossible..." Chen Wanglong muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief, "I am a genius of Zhenlei Martial Arts Hall... an honored guest of the Zhao Family... how could I... lose to a bastard like you..."

"Get away from me!" Chen Wanglong shrieked, ignoring the turmoil of his blood and qi as he forcibly channeled his Dark Strength, his right leg sweeping across like a steel whip, aiming for Chen Jianghe's waist and abdomen in an attempt to force him back and regroup.

But Chen Jianghe did not retreat; he advanced!

He suddenly dropped his waist and hips, shrinking his frame to narrowly avoid the sweeping kick, while his right hand moved like a spirit snake emerging from its hole, his five fingers forming a claw to precisely lock onto Chen Wanglong's unretracted right ankle!

"Oh no!" Chen Wanglong was struck with terror, but Chen Jianghe exhaled sharply, driving force from his waist and back to hoist Chen Wanglong into the air and slam him violently into the ground!

"Boom!"

Blue bricks shattered, and dust billowed into the air.

Chen Wanglong was left dazed and disoriented, his internal organs shifted, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Before he could struggle to his feet, Chen Jianghe stepped onto his chest, releasing a sliver of Dark Strength that scattered his qi and blood, leaving him unable to muster even a shred of strength.

Chen Jianghe looked down, his eyes calm and rippleless, watching this cousin who had once been beyond his reach now lying in such a wretched state, like a dead dog.

He lifted his right foot and shifted it over Chen Wanglong's lower abdomen, above his dantian, his power held in check but his intent clear.

Crippling his cultivation would end the threat once and for all!

"Stop!"

"How dare you, junior!"

Two angry shouts—one sharp and piercing, the other aged and majestic—exploded almost simultaneously!

The first came from Zhao Mingyuan, who was close at hand. Seeing Chen Wanglong in mortal danger, he could no longer hold back; his long saber cleared its scabbard, transforming into a streak of cold light that slashed directly at the back of Chen Jianghe's neck!

The saber strike was ruthless and swift, showing no mercy!

The second voice came from outside the escort agency's walls. It was aged yet carried a heart-stopping majesty, like a rumble of thunder rolling across the horizon.

At the same time, a vast and overwhelming aura, heavy as a mountain, descended from afar and locked onto Chen Jianghe!

A Transforming Strength master!

Chen Jianghe's hair stood on end as a sense of lethal crisis instantly gripped his heart.

If he insisted on crippling Chen Wanglong, he would inevitably fail to dodge Zhao Mingyuan's sneak attack, and he would likely be obliterated by the impending thunderous strike of the Transforming Strength master!

In a flash of lightning, he made his decision.

The direction of his descending foot shifted abruptly, slamming heavily into Chen Wanglong's right elbow joint!

"Crack!"

The teeth-grinding sound of bone snapping rang out clearly.

"Ah—! My arm!!" Chen Wanglong let out a heart-wrenching scream; his tendons were severed and his bones shattered.

Borrowing the force of that stomp, Chen Jianghe's body spun like a top, narrowly evading the blade Zhao Mingyuan had aimed at his neck.

The wind of the blade swept past, tearing the fabric on his shoulder with a "shhh" and leaving a shallow bloody scratch.

Almost at the same moment he spun away—

A grey figure drifted in from over the courtyard wall like a ghost, silent and soundless, yet carrying a suffocating pressure.

It was an old man in grey robes with a gaunt face and cloudy eyes, leaning on an unassuming Ebony Cane.

While still in mid-air, he struck out with his right palm!

Before the palm wind even arrived, a terrifying pressure had already enveloped the entire scene!

Chen Jianghe's pupils constricted.

He wanted to retreat, only to find his entire body locked by the aura, as if trapped in a quagmire, unable to move!

This was the might of Transforming Strength! Striking from a distance and locking onto one's aura—it was not something a Dark Strength martial artist could contend with!

The grey-robed old man looked at Chen Jianghe with cloudy eyes and spoke in a hoarse, indifferent voice: "So young, yet so vicious and ruthless. Leaving you in this world would only be a scourge."

Just as Chen Jianghe was about to be killed on the spot by the palm of this Transforming Strength master—

"Tsk, so lively?"

A lazy voice rang out abruptly in the courtyard.

The voice was not loud, even a bit slurred, as if someone had just woken up with a nasal tone.

Yet, this lazy tone acted like a spring breeze melting snow, instantly dissipating the grey-robed old man's overwhelming Transforming Strength pressure into nothingness!

The grey-robed old man's expression changed drastically, and he whipped his head around!