Defeating Zhang Chi

"Hey, stop trying to talk me out of it, I really..."

Liu Changle thought one of his companions was about to try persuading him again. He turned around irritably.

Before he could say the word "annoying," though, he saw Wei Luo.

Liu Changle opened his mouth but didn't explain what had happened. Instead, he said,

"N-No, it's nothing. I ran into a Fierce Fish earlier, and that's how I got hurt...

You don't know, if it hadn't been for that Fierce Fish, I would've caught that Treasure Fish."

Liu Changle tried his best to make it seem like no big deal.

The main thing was that Zhang Chi was ruthless. Last time, he'd gotten three or four people killed.

Luo Sanhu had only survived because he was lucky. If Master Qin hadn't stopped him, Zhang Chi would've beaten him to death long ago.

Liu Changle might have been stubborn as a rock, but he knew Zhang Chi wasn't someone they could handle. He didn't want to drag Wei Luo into this.

Wei Luo had already heard most of it, so he naturally understood what had happened.

He directly exposed Liu Changle's lie.

"Did Zhang Chi do this?"

Liu Changle froze. Then he realized he couldn't hide it anymore and pretended not to care as he said,

"It's fine. Just some superficial injuries. I'll be fine in a couple of days."

Liu Changle's shirt hung open, and Wei Luo's gaze fell on the bruise along his side.

Every time Liu Changle breathed, his face twitched involuntarily.

Clearly, Zhang Chi hadn't held back with that punch. At the very least, he'd broken some ribs.

A flash of anger passed through Wei Luo's eyes as he asked,

"Where is Zhang Chi?"

Liu Changle clutched his stomach and rose again, trying to persuade him.

"Wei Luo, forget it..."

At that moment, someone standing nearby also spoke up.

"Wei Luo, there's no point in looking for Zhang Chi. The difference between First Refinement and Second Refinement is too great, and Zhang Chi was never a reasonable man to begin with."

This man was called Wang De. He was an old crewman and had entered the yard a year before Wei Luo and the others.

He had been among the group that had ridden Wei Luo's luck yesterday. Following Wei Luo's instructions, he'd even caught a Treasure Fish.

He said this because he felt a trace of gratitude and didn't want to see Wei Luo get hurt over this.

But Wei Luo wasn't willing to explain so much right now. He asked again before someone finally answered.

"He's at the fork on the only road to Stone Beach."

"Fine. I'll be back soon."

Watching Wei Luo's retreating figure stride away, Liu Changle grew anxious as well and hurriedly got up to chase after him.

The remaining people were helpless too. Soon, someone said,

"Wei Luo's being too reckless. Isn't he just going over there to get beaten up? We'd better not go. We might get dragged into trouble."

Wang De immediately frowned.

"You brat, you only caught a Treasure Fish yesterday because of him, and you've already forgotten? How can you be so thick-skinned?"

The man flushed from being scolded and hurriedly changed his tune.

"Then what should we do?"

Wang De sighed.

"Let's go. We'll head over and take a look. At least more people will make for a stronger show of force."

At the fork, Zhang Chi was leaning lazily against a tree. When he saw several crewmen approaching, he pointed at them.

"You lot, get over here."

"You should still have some bait left. Hand it all over."

Zhang Chi was clever. He never picked on Second Refinement crewmen, only demanding bait from First Refinement crewmen.

To put it bluntly, he bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Still, that wasn't anything unusual. If Treasure Fish weren't so precious that stealing one would inevitably forge a deadly grudge, he'd have simply robbed them of their Treasure Fish.

The crewmen couldn't necessarily use up all their bait every time, so having some left over was common.

Drop by drop, it filled the jar. Once Zhang Chi had gathered enough bait, he could take a boat out himself to catch Treasure Fish.

Though every one of those First Refinement crewmen was cursing their mothers inside, they could only obediently hand over their remaining bait due to Zhang Chi's vicious reputation.

After collecting the bait, Zhang Chi waved them off.

"All right, you can get lost now."

Someone wanted to curse at him, but a friend beside him stopped him and hurriedly dragged him away.

Instead, a sinister smile curled across Zhang Chi's lips.

"If you're unhappy, then don't leave. Come over and trade a few moves with me."

Provoked, the man's face turned red with anger, but he ultimately swallowed it and turned away.

Just then, a figure walked straight toward Zhang Chi.

"I'll trade a few moves with you."

Zhang Chi had just turned to see who had said that,

when he turned around,

a cloud of lime powder blasted straight into his face!

Caught off guard, Zhang Chi was startled. Though his reaction was extremely fast, some of the lime still got into his eyes.

Tears immediately streamed down his face, and everything before him blurred.

"You fucking..."

Before he could finish, Wei Luo threw a punch without holding anything back.

Though he'd only just broken through to Second Refinement, in terms of vitality and blood alone, he was no weaker than Zhang Chi.

Seeing a dark blur rush at him, Zhang Chi immediately raised an arm to block.

Crack!

After that punch, Zhang Chi's arm went numb and weak. Panic immediately rose in his heart.

His opponent was definitely at Second Refinement, and his fist was even stronger than Zhang Chi's.

Wei Luo gave him no chance to catch his breath. He struck with both fists, his punches pouring down like raindrops.

"Stop... stop hitting me! Who are you? Can't we talk this out properly if there's a problem?"

Zhang Chi felt utterly stifled. He wasn't particularly close with the other Second Refinement fighters in the yard, but he'd never provoked any of them.

Why was someone suddenly beating him up for no reason?

After taking several blows, his tears finally washed the lime out of his eyes.

When he saw it was Wei Luo, Zhang Chi's face filled with shock.

"How could it be you...

No, you've actually reached Second Refinement!"

Zhang Chi was already at a disadvantage. Wei Luo said nothing and pressed forward, intending to end the fight quickly.

Continuous Force surged on without end, quickly forcing Zhang Chi into a corner.

"Impossible! You just entered Second Refinement and you think you can defeat me? Dream on!"

Zhang Chi shouted fiercely, his vitality and blood surging throughout his body as he tried to use Surge Force to forcibly break through Wei Luo's assault.

Zhang Chi twisted aside to evade a punch, then immediately followed through with a punch of his own.

But the next instant, Zhang Chi felt an enormous force slam into his jaw.

His vision went black, and Zhang Chi was smashed to the ground with a single punch.

Bang!

The ground itself seemed to tremble.

With his jaw severely damaged, Zhang Chi felt the world spin around him. He couldn't even stand.

The crewmen in the distance were all stunned by the sight.

Liu Changle, Wang De, and the others had also arrived. Seeing the scene before them, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

"Fuck, how did we arrive just in time to see Wei Luo beating Zhang Chi senseless?"

"That can't be right, can it? Wei Luo's at Second Refinement too?!"

Wang De's expression became complicated. He had just been trying to persuade Wei Luo not to cause trouble, yet this was the result.

Liu Changle stared blankly at Zhang Chi on the ground, then at Wei Luo, so shocked that he forgot his own injuries.

After a while, Zhang Chi finally regained some awareness.

He turned his head and glanced at Liu Changle beside him, then understood the reason for all this. Weakly, he said,

"Wei... Wei Luo, I... I didn't mean to."

Even as Zhang Chi admitted defeat, Wei Luo's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Oh, but I did."

With that, Wei Luo raised his foot and viciously stomped on Zhang Chi's chest.

Crack, crack, crack.

In an instant, Zhang Chi's chest caved in, and who knew how many ribs had broken.

"Aaaah!!!"

Zhang Chi's agonized scream sent chills through everyone nearby.

Who could have imagined that a First Refinement crewman could break through in a single move and crush Zhang Chi so completely?

Ignoring Zhang Chi as he rolled around on the ground screaming, Wei Luo shifted his gaze to Zhang Chi's fish basket nearby.

There was a Treasure Fish inside. It looked like Zhang Chi had caught it today.

"Zhang Chi, I'll take this Treasure Fish as your apology. What do you think?"

Wei Luo held up the fish basket and gave it a shake before Zhang Chi. The latter immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

Zhang Chi's eyes were filled with regret. He hadn't expected that merely teaching Liu Changle a lesson would lead to such consequences.

Those who bully others will always be bullied in turn. He had received his retribution.

Wei Luo casually tossed the fish basket to Liu Changle and patted his shoulder.

"Take it. It's the apology they kindly offered."

At those words, the looks everyone gave Wei Luo became even stranger.

When your fist is big, you can say whatever you want. Zhang Chi didn't object anyway.