The Challenge

"Kill him, and I'll consider the matter of getting engaged to you. Otherwise, don't even dream about it in this lifetime."

Nie Xiaoyue pointed at Jiang Feng as if she were sentencing a dog.

Everyone froze—kill Jiang Feng? Wasn't that openly offending the Qi Family?

Nie Xiaoyue did not dare do it herself, so she had Wei Shan do it. This move—vicious!

Nie Xiaoyue had indeed played this move well. If Wei Shan did not dare kill Jiang Feng, she could use that as an excuse to refuse the Wei Family's marriage proposal. If Wei Shan truly dared kill Jiang Feng, first, it would vent the hatred in her heart, and second, the Wei Family would definitely offend the Qi Family because of it.

As long as the Wei Family offended the Qi Family and lost the Qi Family as their backer, then the Wei Family would not even be worthy to carry shoes for her, Nie Xiaoyue! When that time came, whether she married or not would still be decided by a single word from her, wouldn't it?

Wei Shan was not stupid either. Of course he knew Nie Xiaoyue's wishful thinking.

Although Jiang Feng had his eyes closed, he heard every word Nie Xiaoyue said!

To Nie Xiaoyue and Wei Shan, Jiang Feng's life seemed not to belong to him at all!

"Xiaoyue," Wei Shan said ingratiatingly, "there's no need to get angry over a lowly little beggar. If he offended you, I'll have people keep watch on him every day and forbid anyone from giving him food or water. In less than three days, I guarantee he'll starve to death alive..."

Before Wei Shan could finish, Nie Xiaoyue rolled her eyes at him. "Useless thing. You don't even dare kill a beggar when I tell you to? Looks like you don't want this engagement anymore!"

Wei Shan frowned, calculating in his heart.

Jiang Feng was begging under orders. Though lowly, he could not be beaten or killed at will. However, that was only for ordinary people; his Wei Family was different. If he killed Jiang Feng, that Qi Family disciple might be displeased, but as long as his father went and flattered him properly, it would not be any great matter. After all, to that Qi Family disciple, ordering Jiang Feng to beg was nothing more than a bit of amusement. Perhaps that burst of amusement had long since passed, and he had already forgotten there was such a thing.

If he did not kill Jiang Feng, Nie Xiaoyue would definitely take the opportunity to push away the engagement. Watching the fat meat already in his hand fly away just like that—he would not agree to it.

Wei Shan glanced sideways at Nie Xiaoyue and thought, Hmph, I'll go along with your wishes for now. When you marry into my family, we'll see how I toy with you!

Wei Shan made up his mind. After all, he himself also hated Jiang Feng to the bone! He wished Jiang Feng would vanish from this world as soon as possible.

With his eyes closed, Jiang Feng frowned. These two truly did not take his life seriously; they said kill, and they meant to kill!

He, Jiang Feng, was sitting here begging, provoking no one and offending no one. Merely because of the contest between Nie Xiaoyue and Wei Shan, he had to pay the price with his life.

This world was just this cruel. Without strength, one could only be meat on another's chopping block.

The reason the Qi Family could stand high above others, able to decide another person's life, death, and fate with a single word, was because the Qi Family patriarch, Qi Xingyun, was a peak Heaven Martial Realm super expert, one of the people standing at the very pinnacle of Hengshan Prefecture.

Only with strength did one have dignity, and only then did one have the ability to control one's own fate.

Seeing Wei Shan's expression, the people around them all guessed his thoughts.

"Ai, Jiang Feng won't be keeping his little life today."

"That's right. Wei Shan has clearly been moved to kill."

"Poor child. No one can help him."

"If he had decisively kowtowed three times to the young lady of the Nie Family just now, not only would he have kept his life, he'd have gotten ten gold coins too..."

"He can only blame himself for being too blind to the times!"

Nie Xiaoyue looked at Wei Shan, and she could also tell Wei Shan was preparing to take Jiang Feng's life. She tilted her head slightly and looked toward Jiang Feng, thinking, Jiang Feng, you brought this on yourself. You refused the toast only to drink the punishment wine, so don't blame me.

Wei Shan slowly stepped forward, his eyes glaring at Jiang Feng as he said, "Jiang Feng, with you clinging to this worthless life of yours, you might as well die and be done with it. Today, I'll grant you that. Don't worry, I'll make it quick!"

Wei Shan could strike with three hundred jin of brute force in one punch. Among his peers, that counted as ordinary, but to beat Jiang Feng, who had not even the strength to truss a chicken, to death, it was naturally as easy as turning over his hand.

"Die!"

In broad daylight, under everyone's staring eyes, Wei Shan truly attacked Jiang Feng.

One punch, a simple punch, drove straight toward Jiang Feng's face. This punch had no technique whatsoever and relied purely on brute force. However, in everyone's eyes, to beat to death Jiang Feng, who had not even the strength to truss a chicken, it was absolutely more than enough.

"Bang..." The sound of a fist striking flesh.

Everyone froze—the scene they had imagined, blood splashing on the spot, did not appear.

They saw Wei Shan's fist stop half a foot from Jiang Feng's face.

Jiang Feng pinched Wei Shan's fist in one hand and slowly opened his eyes. His deep, ethereal gaze made the hearts and minds of the surrounding people tremble.

Everyone found it unbelievable—Jiang Feng, who had not even the strength to truss a chicken, had actually caught Wei Shan's punch steadily.

Wei Shan could strike with two hundred jin of brute force in one punch, but to stop his fist like this, one would need to possess at least four hundred jin of brute force. In other words, Jiang Feng's current brute force was at least above four hundred jin.

"He..." Nie Xiaoyue was also stunned. "Wasn't he a useless cripple with no strength to truss a chicken?"

The onlookers also came back to their senses and cried out in shock one after another.

"Jiang Feng begs every day. Where would he find the time to temper his body?"

"That's right. From what I've seen, Jiang Feng sits upright all day and has never trained his strength. How did he catch Wei Shan's punch?"

But the facts were right in front of them. Jiang Feng had not only caught Wei Shan's fatal punch, but also possessed at least four hundred jin of brute force!

At that moment, Jiang Feng had already stood up.

He looked around, and wherever his gaze fell, everyone avoided his eyes.

With the strength of his current soul, there were very, very few who could meet his gaze without being intimidated!

"Is this Jiang Feng still that useless beggar everyone talks about?"

Wei Shan looked at Jiang Feng with a face full of disbelief. What he feared was not merely the strength Jiang Feng had shown, but also that gaze. Facing Jiang Feng's eyes head-on, Wei Shan had the feeling that he had been dragged into boundless darkness.

In truth, it was not only Wei Shan. Anyone who looked Jiang Feng directly in the eye would have this feeling. This was the effect brought about by Jiang Feng's powerful soul. With the strength of his current soul, ordinary martial artists were like ants compared to him, let alone Wei Shan, this piece of trash who had not yet become a martial artist.

Jiang Feng had not meant to reveal his strength. He had intended to wait until he achieved the first level of the Golden Body of the Wisdom King, opened up his dantian sea of qi, and became a martial artist before showing himself to the outside world. Because he was worried that revealing his abilities too early would invite unnecessary trouble.

However, whether he wanted to reveal it or not, it had already been revealed. Fortunately, the first level of the Golden Body of the Wisdom King would be completed very soon.

With a light push, Wei Shan was shoved back four steps in a row. Two guards immediately stepped forward, one reaching out to support Wei Shan, the other blocking Jiang Feng's path, standing ready with stern vigilance. As long as Jiang Feng took one more step forward, he would draw his blade and cut him down!

Only then did Wei Shan come back to his senses—when had this Jiang Feng become so strong? Especially those eyes of his; they seemed as if they could pierce straight through the soul!

Jiang Feng ignored Wei Shan entirely and turned straight to Nie Xiaoyue. "Nie Xiaoyue, since you want me dead, then let's decide the victor at the Zhushan Arena Tournament three days from now! When the time comes, if I lose, I will kneel before you and leave myself entirely to your beating or killing."

Nie Xiaoyue froze, clearly not expecting Jiang Feng to take the initiative and challenge her to a wagered duel.

To tell the truth, although the strength Jiang Feng had just displayed made people look at him with new eyes and was beyond expectation, it was still not enough to terrify her. Even if Jiang Feng possessed brute strength exceeding four hundred jin, there was still no small gap between him and her.

Her talent was outstanding; she was the only youth in Zhushan Town in the past two years who had any hope of competing for an imperial stipend. For Jiang Feng to actually wager a duel with her—wasn't this seeking his own death?

"Good!" Almost without any hesitation, Nie Xiaoyue nodded and agreed. "Three days from now, I'll make you kneel willingly before me!"

"What if you lose?" Jiang Feng stared straight at Nie Xiaoyue, and that gaze actually made a chill creep into her heart.

"I'll lose?" Nie Xiaoyue straightened her neck and gave a cold snort. Seeing Jiang Feng still staring directly at her, only then did she reply, "If I lose, I'll likewise leave myself at your disposal."

"It's settled!" With that said, Jiang Feng turned and walked out through the crowd, paying no attention at all to everyone's shocked expressions.

In anyone's eyes, Jiang Feng wagering a duel with Nie Xiaoyue was somewhat impulsive.

Nie Xiaoyue was not trash like Wei Shan could compare to. Nie Xiaoyue was famously gifted, a proud daughter of heaven ranked in the top five of Zhushan Town's Youth Ranking. Jiang Feng might have some strength, but he could only be considered mediocre. How could he be mentioned in the same breath as a genius like Nie Xiaoyue?

Nie Xiaoyue watched Jiang Feng's departing back and frowned slightly. "Is he really that confident?"

Nie Xiaoyue did not understand Jiang Feng well. Even back when Jiang Yunhai was still around, Jiang Feng had rarely gone out and about. However, Nie Xiaoyue did not believe Jiang Feng was an impulsive person. Since Jiang Feng dared to challenge her like this, he must have something to rely on. She could not be careless.

"It looks like I must get that Flesh Pellet as soon as possible, to guard against any variables," Nie Xiaoyue thought.

In truth, the main reason Jiang Feng had left in such a hurry was that he was afraid Wei Shan would fly into a rage from shame and order the guards to kill him. With his current strength, he still could not contend against these guards. Because every single guard was a genuine martial artist.

As for making the agreement to duel Nie Xiaoyue three days later, there were two layers of meaning to it. First, he had to give Nie Xiaoyue a way out today, otherwise Nie Xiaoyue was very likely to personally attack and decide the outcome with him then and there. With his current strength, he was still not Nie Xiaoyue's match. But he was confident that he could complete the first level of the Golden Body of the Wisdom King within three days. At that time, let alone Nie Xiaoyue, even against a martial artist he would have the power to fight. Second, he was also using Nie Xiaoyue's attitude to suppress Wei Shan.

This way, even if Wei Shan flew into a rage from shame and wanted to order the guards to cut him, Jiang Feng, down, Nie Xiaoyue would step forward and temporarily preserve Jiang Feng's life because of this agreement. Because with Nie Xiaoyue's personality, she would much rather defeat Jiang Feng at the Zhushan Arena Tournament, make Jiang Feng kneel before her under countless watching eyes, and leave him at her disposal!