Useless Trash

The moment Chen Wang was knocked off the platform, Xu Qing had already rushed over.

Chen Wang lay on the ground, his face deathly pale, his lips utterly bloodless.

Clutching his chest, he gasped in great heaving breaths, his breathing rasping like a bellows. There was a streak of blood at the corner of his mouth—not much, but glaringly red.

Xu Qing crouched down, his outstretched hand stopping halfway. He did not know where to touch him, afraid of pressing on an injury, afraid of hurting Chen Wang.

Self-reproach flickered in his eyes. He regretted not stopping Chen Wang. When Chen Wang had tugged at his sleeve earlier, he should have simply said, "I'll go," instead of hesitating. In that single moment of hesitation, Chen Wang had stepped onto the platform and taken that punch.

Ning Yun came over as well.

He crouched on Chen Wang's other side, gently pressing his fingers against Chen Wang's chest before checking his pulse, his movements light.

He closed his eyes and felt for several breaths. When he opened them again, he let out a sigh of relief. Though the pulse was disordered, it had a firm root beneath it, deep and powerful. No bones were broken, and his internal organs should not have suffered any serious damage.

Ning Yun gave Xu Qing a slight nod. "The injury isn't serious. Don't worry."

Chen Wang coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged phlegm. He forced out a smile uglier than tears. "I... I'm fine. Junior Brother Xu, don't go up there. You can't beat him..."

Xu Qing said nothing. He merely helped him up.

He glanced at Xue Guang, the constable maintaining order. Xue Guang understood and turned to bring over a bench from the side room. The two of them helped Chen Wang sit down.

Xu Qing released him and straightened up. There was no expression on his face. Ignoring Chen Wang and Ning Yun's attempts to dissuade him, he simply turned around and walked toward the platform, one step at a time.

The jeers from upstairs and downstairs continued.

Those voices buzzed like flies, flooding in from every direction. Some were shrill, some low; some carried laughter, some barbs.

"Does the Zhao Family Martial Hall have anyone who can fight? Two have gone up, and each one was weaker than the last. The Zhao Family Martial Hall really has no one left!"

"Who's this? Never seen him before."

"Who cares who he is? If he can take one punch without going down, he'll be impressive. The Zhao Family Martial Hall probably won't be able to pick its face back up today."

At the main table on the second floor, Lu Chuan held a teacup, his gaze resting on Xu Qing. His eyes shifted slightly—not in surprise, but more as if he were... reassessing him.

County Magistrate Lin Hanshan noticed the change in Lu Chuan. He glanced at Xu Qing, found him unfamiliar, and frowned before turning toward Yu Tai, seated below him.

Yu Tai hurriedly leaned closer, lowering his voice as he spoke quickly. "My lord, his name is Xu Qing. He is Zhao Yan's newly accepted personal disciple."

He knew everything about his archenemy's affairs. Leaning closer still, he lowered his voice even further. "Zhao Yan claimed to the public that he had below-average bones, yet accepted him as a personal disciple. The truth is written as plain as day."

Curling his lip, he continued, "Zhao Yan struck it lucky and netted a promising seedling. This Xu Qing broke through to the Bright Force stage in twenty days."

Lin Hanshan's eyes widened slightly. Yu Tai hastily added, "Rest assured, my lord. Even if he is a promising seedling, he has trained in martial arts for only a short time."

"At most, just over two months. He is no more than at minor accomplishment in the Bright Force stage now." Yu Tai lowered his voice again, so low that only the county magistrate could hear. "He does have some talent, but if he cannot grow, he is nothing. I have already instructed my disciples—"

He did not finish, but Lin Hanshan already understood.

Lin Hanshan's brow relaxed. He raised his teacup and took a light sip, looking past the rim at Zhao Yan with an amused gleam in his eyes.

That look held a trace of gloating, a trace of lofty pity, and a trace of anticipation for a good show.

When Zhao Yan saw Xu Qing walking toward the platform, his eyes flew wide open. He opened his mouth to tell Xu Qing to stop, and that word, "stop," had already reached his throat.

But Xu Qing suddenly turned back.

Separated by dozens of yards, separated by the uproar and clamor filling the hall, their eyes met.

Zhao Yan saw Xu Qing's eyes. There was no bravado in them, no panic, none of that stubbornness that said, I know I can't win, but I'll force myself to endure.

What he saw was confidence. Certainty.

Zhao Yan swallowed his words.

He did not think Xu Qing would win. Minor accomplishment in the Bright Force stage against completion in the Bright Force stage—the gap was right there. Yet Xu Qing's gaze somehow set his mind at ease.

He chose to trust Xu Qing.

The young noblemen at the second-floor table began laughing again. "The Zhao Family Martial Hall has no one left, does it? This man is called Xu Qing, right? I heard he has below-average bones."

"What? They even sent up someone with below-average bones? Does the Zhao Family Martial Hall truly have no one left? Or have they simply smashed the pot and thrown away the pieces?"

"I have heard of this Xu Qing. His physique suits the Five Elements Fist, and he reached the Bright Force stage in twenty days. But—"

Another man burst out laughing and immediately picked up the thread. "But he has only trained in martial arts for a little over two months. Even if he really is a genius, he can only be at minor accomplishment in the Bright Force stage."

"Minor accomplishment in the Bright Force stage against completion in the Bright Force stage? I do admire his courage a little. His courage is commendable; I just wonder whether he can bear the consequences."

"Brother Li, Li Chong is from your Li Family's second branch, isn't he? Li Chong has won two matches in a row. He has certainly brought honor to your Li Family."

"Gentlemen, shall we make a wager? I bet Xu Qing can't take even one punch from Li Chong!"

"I bet he can't take one punch either! Brother Li, your cousin is about to win three matches in a row. Your Li Family is really basking in glory today!"

"Hahahaha—"

Another round of mockery rang out.

The people aligned with the Su Clan looked rather grim.

Su Mingkong frowned. Su Changhe downed a large gulp of tea. Shen Zhao sighed. Wu Mingyu shook his head...

Ning Yun's face turned slightly pale. Though Xu Qing had given him a look that said, Don't worry, he was still concerned. Chen Wang was anxious as well.

Wu Mingyuan, standing beside them, was the only one whose expression finally improved somewhat.

Ever since he had been knocked off the platform, his face had looked as though someone had trampled it, shifting between green and purple. He had been humiliated, then Chen Wang had been humiliated. Now, at last, it was Xu Qing's turn.

The corners of Wu Mingyuan's lips curled upward slightly, and he could not hide his smile.

Xu Qing stood on the platform, looked at Li Chong, and spoke calmly. "Zhao Family Martial Hall, Xu Qing. Please."

When Li Chong saw that Xu Qing was the one who had stepped onto the platform, he narrowed his eyes. He did not attack immediately, instead looking Xu Qing up and down.

He had long heard Xu Qing's name. During that recent matter of the yamen appointment, Xu Qing had injured Han Bao from their martial academy with one punch.

Han Bao had not only failed to obtain the appointment; he had also disgraced the Rushing Thunder Martial Academy.

This had enraged Yu Tai, who had taken the trouble to investigate Xu Qing's background.

A lowly fishing household from Blackwater Bay. He had broken through to the Bright Force stage in twenty days and been accepted by Zhao Yan as a personal disciple. The Zhao Family Martial Hall had publicly claimed that he had below-average bones, but Yu Tai had deduced that his bones were exceptional.

Li Chong calculated inwardly: if Xu Qing had trained for as long as he had, he truly would have been somewhat wary of him. But reality had no ifs! Li Chong had trained in martial arts for a full year and had reached completion in the Bright Force stage.

How long had Xu Qing trained? A little over two months. At most, minor accomplishment in the Bright Force stage.

Today, before everyone's eyes, he would shatter the Zhao Family Martial Hall's face. He would let everyone know that Zhao Yan's so-called personal disciple was no hidden genius, but useless trash.

The thought of crippling a genius before he could grow was thrilling.

Li Chong's lips curled upward, his gaze filled with contempt, smugness, and a trace of cruelty. "You're Xu Qing? I thought that old bastard would hide you away like a treasure. After all these years, he still hasn't learned his lesson!"

Xu Qing's gaze turned cold. Originally, he had only intended to teach Li Chong a lesson.

Now, he changed his mind.

"Today! I will let everyone see clearly—" Li Chong deliberately raised his voice so that everyone below the platform and upstairs could hear him, "the disciples of your Zhao Family Martial Hall are all trash!"

Before his words had faded, he moved. He stomped hard, and with a crack, the pine boards beneath his feet split apart, wood chips spraying everywhere. Like a ferocious tiger descending the mountain, he drove a Rushing Thunder Fist straight at Xu Qing's face.

He had used his full strength in this punch.

The fist wind howled, as though it would tear the air itself apart.

He was not trying to win. He wanted to cripple Xu Qing! Break his nose, shatter his cheekbones, leave him unable to crawl back up on the platform, and make the Zhao Family Martial Hall lose every shred of face before everyone.

Xu Qing did not move.

His gaze fell on Li Chong's fist, watching it grow larger and larger, nearer and nearer in his field of vision.

He could even see the veins on the fist, the calluses on the knuckles, the two words "Rushing Thunder" embroidered in silver thread on the cuff.

Then he moved.

Also with a punch.

The most ordinary collapsing punch, without flourish or variation, exactly the same as the first move he had learned at the martial hall.

Yet this punch concealed ten layers of force.

His fist moved later, yet arrived first.

The instant their fists collided, a muffled sound rang out. Not a sharp smack, but a crack, as though something had shattered.

Li Chong's fist felt as though it had struck an iron wall. First came a piercing pain from his finger bones, then his palm bones, wrist bones, ulna, radius... layer upon layer of force crashed into him like ten waves, grinding his entire arm from fingertips to shoulder to pieces, joint by joint.

Not broken.

Shattered.

His arm drooped limply like a snapped branch. His shoulder blade gave a sharp crack, and his entire body was hurled over by that tremendous force. He flipped once in midair, smashed heavily onto the platform, bounced once, slid three or four feet, and fell off the raised platform!

Li Chong lay sprawled on the ground, blood surging from his mouth, his right arm twisted at an impossible angle. His mouth hung open as he tried to scream, but no sound came out. Only a string of muddled, hoarse "heh-heh" noises escaped his throat.

A deathly silence fell over the martial arts ground!