Just Finished Warming Up (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

Lotus Lane, Chen Family.

Chen Dashan held a plane, shaving away at a piece of wood as curls of shavings fell and dust flew.

His technique was skilled, honed by decades of immersion in this trade.

Yet, whenever he shifted his stance to change angles, his brows would knit in agony; his body still ached.

Seeing this, Li's eyes filled with resentment: "That little beast is hardly human, to lay such a heavy hand on his own father!"

Chen Dashan shook his head with a sigh, muttering, "Don't provoke him to his face anymore. Try going through his aunt instead; we need to get some silver back one way or another."

Li continued to complain incessantly: "That Huang Juan is no good either. She calls it 'caring for her nephew,' but isn't she just greedy for the silver Chen Yuan can bring her?"

Bang!

A heavy kick landed against the door.

"Chen Dashan, get out here! If you aren't dead, open the door!"

The two hurriedly stopped what they were doing. Peering through the door crack, they saw Qian Bao's face and were terrified. They quickly pulled the bolt and squeezed out fawning smiles.

"Master Bao, what wind has blown you here? Haven't the protection fees and filial dues already been paid?"

Chen Dashan felt a chill in his heart. With Qian Bao looking so aggressive, it certainly wasn't for anything good!

Qian Bao sneered, "Chen Dashan, do I need to spell out the shameful things you've done? Bullying my Brother Chen? Daring to go to Hundred Herb Lane to cause trouble? Trying to break the rules of the neighborhood, are you?"

Chen Dashan broke into a cold sweat instantly.

It was obvious Qian Bao was using the neighborhood as an excuse; he never cared about such things normally.

It was highly likely that Chen Yuan was behind this!

That unfilial wretch...

He could only bow and scrape: "Master Bao, I would never dare disrupt the peace. It's just that our household expenses are tight, and I wanted to borrow some silver to tide us over. My son, Chen Kai, is training at the Kaishan Martial Hall, and it's a time when he needs money."

Qian Bao let out a mocking laugh: "Using that hack Chen Kai to pressure me? You lot are truly stupid enough to ignore a fine seedling like Brother Chen and waste money cultivating a piece of trash like Chen Kai..."

As he spoke, his expression turned vicious, and he waved a hand: "Beat him! Beat him until he doesn't dare cause trouble again!"

The lackeys, whose hands had been itching for a fight, immediately wore savage expressions as they swung their wooden clubs down hard.

Thud! Bam!

Fists and feet collided with fierce force, emitting dull, heavy sounds.

The Stone-Splitting Palm focused on one word: "Hard"—hard bridges and hard horses, hard strikes and hard openings.

After a few probing moves, Chen Kai stomped his left foot into the ground, sending dust flying. He lunged at Chen Yuan like a cannonball, his right palm whistling through the air as it slashed straight at Chen Yuan's face.

This palm was heavy and powerful, truly like a stone tablet crashing down from above.

Chen Yuan did not retreat.

In Six Harmonies Mind Boxing, stepping into the center gate to seize the advantage is something even an immortal would find hard to defend against.

He kicked off with his back foot, stepped into Chen Kai's center gate with his front, shifted his body slightly, and thrust his left arm out like a bear's shoulder, forcefully bracing against Chen Kai's wrist.

As their arms met, a dull sound of bone and flesh colliding echoed out.

Chen Kai felt as if he had slashed his palm against a boulder, the vibration numbing the web of his hand.

He felt a jolt of alarm but reacted with lightning speed. With his right palm blocked, his left palm shot out from his waist, fingers joined like a blade, stabbing straight for Chen Yuan's ribs.

This move was called "Stone-Shattering Cloud-Piercing," the killing blow he had practiced most thoroughly.

Chen Yuan slashed his right arm down from his chest, using a horizontal strike to break the vertical—the horizontal fist force of the Five Elements Boxing.

His fist edge intercepted the inside of Chen Kai's forearm. Chen Kai's entire left arm went numb instantly, his offensive momentum forcibly deflected, sliding past Chen Yuan's lapel without even grazing the fabric.

Chen Kai pivoted to use the momentum, both palms striking out in succession, one after another, like a giant axe splitting a mountain, continuous and unending.

The disciples watching from the sidelines saw his palm shadows flying and heard the whistling wind, and they couldn't help but cheer loudly.

Yet, Chen Yuan moved through the palm shadows with composure.

His footwork was small, his heels merely shifting inch by inch as if plowing the earth, each step landing exactly in the gap where Chen Kai's old force had exhausted itself and his new force had yet to be born.

Chen Kai's palm wind brushed his nose and swept past his chest, but it was always off by that single inch.

It was like a gale shaking a mountain, yet the mountain did not move.

Hong Tao watched from the side, his brows knitting slightly. The layman watches the spectacle, the expert watches the technique.

Although Chen Kai's offensive was fierce, he had already unleashed seven or eight moves, while Chen Yuan had only defended without attacking, not even his breathing disrupted.

This was not an evenly matched fight.

This was a mockery.

Chen Kai realized it too.

His breathing grew ragged, the veins on his forehead bulged, and his eyes had turned slightly red.

The cheers of his fellow disciples now tasted bitter in his ears, sounding entirely like mockery.

"Are you only capable of dodging!"

Chen Kai roared, suddenly changing his stance. His right hand curled into a claw, striking straight for Chen Yuan's throat!

Simultaneously, his left hand lunged downward, viciously clawing toward Chen Yuan's groin.

Locking the throat above, striking the groin below.

These were no longer moves for a friendly spar; these were lethal strikes meant to cripple.

The cheers from outside the ring cut off abruptly. Hong Tao's expression shifted, and he was just about to shout a command to stop—

Chen Yuan's eyes finally changed.

From a still, ancient well, they turned into a deep, frigid pool.

He lifted his left knee, blocking Chen Kai's low strike with the effortless grace of drawing water. As his knee met the palm, a brittle crack echoed from Chen Kai's finger bones.

At the same time, Chen Yuan's right fist erupted from the center—Xingyi Crushing Fist, short and sharp as a thunderclap.

Bang!

With a dull thud, Chen Kai's right hand, which had been reaching for his throat, was forcefully deflected. His fingers splayed in a spasm, and his entire arm went numb.

Chen Kai's center was left wide open.

He looked up in terror, meeting Chen Yuan's calm gaze.

That calmness was more unsettling than any ferocity.

Because within it, there was no anger, no killing intent, not even the acknowledgment of Chen Kai as an opponent.

It was as if he were looking at a piece of wood.

Chen Yuan stepped forward with his right foot, toes turned inward, knees and hips aligned. The force of his entire body, like a tightened steel cable, surged from the soles of his feet to his spine, then channeled into his right fist—the internal and external Six Harmonies of the Six Harmonies Mind Boxing, a burst of total power. One inch away, the force rose from the earth.

Crushing Fist.

A second Crushing Fist.

Chen Kai wanted to retreat, but Chen Yuan's intent had already locked his body in place.

This punch landed squarely, dead center on his left ribs.

Crack.

The crisp sound of bone fracturing was like snapping a piece of dry firewood.

Chen Kai's eyes bulged, his mouth hung wide open, but he couldn't even let out a scream.

His entire body was lifted two feet off the ground by the force of the blow, before crashing heavily onto the blue brick floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The arena fell into a deathly silence.

The disciples who had been clamoring to "beat him to death" were now mute.

Chen Yuan withdrew his fist and stood still, his face expressionless, his breathing as steady as before.

He looked down at Chen Kai, who was curled on the ground, face covered in snot and tears, spitting out a mouthful of blood before finally letting out a pig-like shriek, and said indifferently:

"I concede the victory."

Hong Tao took a long look at Chen Yuan and slowly announced:

"The outcome is decided. Chen Yuan wins."

He glanced at Chen Kai, who lay on the ground, his face full of resentment and unwillingness.

Several people had already stepped forward to check his injuries.

Hong Tao's heart felt heavy.

He had originally thought that even if Chen Yuan was confident in his challenge, he couldn't be that strong, given his foundation and the time he had spent practicing martial arts.

But the previous battle had completely changed his perspective; Chen Yuan's Six Harmonies Mind Boxing was not in the same league as Chen Kai's Stone-Splitting Fist.

The gap was too vast!

Even looking across the entire outer courtyard, the only ones who could reliably suppress Chen Yuan were those disciples with better foundations and longer training.

However, sending those disciples out to fight would inevitably be an unearned victory, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

After a moment of thought, he said:

"Brother Chen Yuan, you have a quarter of an hour to rest."

Chen Yuan shook his head slightly: "No need. I've just warmed up. Let's continue."

As these words fell, Chen Kai felt an infinite sense of humiliation. Overcome with rage, a surge of blood rushed to his throat, and he fainted on the spot.