Heavenly Wolf's Savage Might (Thanks to reader Bu Guan Bu Gu Bu Li for the Alliance Leader reward)

After taking over Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy, Lin Jingqi did not change its name.

After all, Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy had already gained some renown in Linked Mountains City. Changing its name recklessly would affect the academy's business.

At this moment, around a hundred disciples were practicing martial arts in the central yard.

Beginners stood in horse stances, while some disciples who had trained for a long time had already begun practicing the Great Coiling Silk Hand.

Lin Jingqi held a teapot as he walked among the disciples, correcting their movements one by one.

He was thirty-five or thirty-six this year. His features were masculine and square, and the beard he wore made him appear rather mature.

Just then, Lin Jingqi suddenly frowned and handed the teapot to an academy disciple beside him.

"Is this how you practice the Great Coiling Silk Hand?"

Lin Jingqi snorted coldly. His left hand coiled around a wooden post like a nimble snake or giant python, then suddenly twisted with force. The post let out a sharp crack and was violently twisted in two!

"This is the secret Great Coiling Silk Hand of Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy—strength within softness, killing intent concealed beneath the surface.

"And what is that thing you lot are practicing? Every one of you is limp and weak, all show and no substance!

"If you don't train properly now, then don't call yourselves disciples of Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy once you step outside. I, Lin Jingqi, cannot afford that humiliation!"

At that moment, a round of applause suddenly sounded from the academy entrance.

"Academy Master Lin truly teaches with rigor and responsibility. Not bad, truly not bad."

Chen Yuan wore a Wild Goose Feather Saber at his waist and a wolf-patterned cloak over his shoulders as he entered the academy with more than ten tall, sturdy Heavenly Wolf Gang members wielding long sabers.

Strictly speaking, these gang members were not official members of the Heavenly Wolf Gang. They were merely probationary members training in the Merit Transmission Hall.

However, the Heavenly Wolf Gang cultivated desperadoes of the martial world who could fight, kill, and risk their lives.

Though these probationary members had not yet formally entered the various halls, their presence far surpassed that of the academy disciples present.

Lin Jingqi's expression changed slightly when he saw the newcomers.

He had never met Chen Yuan, but he could guess Chen Yuan's identity.

One of the Heavenly Wolf Gang's Three Heroes—the most low-key of the three before, yet the most high-profile one these past few days.

But why had Chen Yuan come to Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy? Lin Jingqi had no desire to deal with gang members.

Strictly speaking, martial arts academies stood somewhere between martial artists and ordinary people.

They only taught martial arts and did not participate in martial world conflicts. They only collected tuition fees and did not fight over territory.

The several martial arts academies of Linked Mountains City all kept their distance from gangs.

Lin Jingqi cupped his hands. "Could you be Young Master Chen Yuan, one of the Heavenly Wolf Gang's Three Heroes? May I ask why Young Master Chen has come to my Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy?"

"Simple. I came to your Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy mainly to demand an explanation."

Chen Yuan looked at Lin Jingqi with a smile. "A disciple of your Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy joined the Blackwater Gang, killed my Heavenly Wolf Gang brothers, and seized Heavenly Wolf Gang territory. Shouldn't Academy Master Lin give me an explanation for this?"

Lin Jingqi's expression abruptly changed. He hurriedly said, "Young Master Chen misunderstands. My Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy only teaches martial arts to its disciples. As for whether they choose to escort goods, roam the martial world, or join any gang afterward, those are not matters I can control!"

Chen Yuan looked at Lin Jingqi with a half-smile. "Academy Master Lin, that is not quite right. Why did the disciples you taught refuse to join my Heavenly Wolf Gang and insist on joining the Blackwater Gang instead?

"Could it be that you constantly speak ill of my Heavenly Wolf Gang within the academy? Or perhaps you have ties to the Blackwater Gang yourself and deliberately train gang members for them?

"Your Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy lies within the Heavenly Wolf Gang's sphere of influence, yet you incite your disciples to join the Blackwater Gang. That is the very definition of betrayal. You clearly do not take the Heavenly Wolf Gang seriously."

Lin Jingqi was already drenched in sweat from anxiety.

How had this conversation somehow turned into him colluding with the Blackwater Gang?

He did not want to provoke the Heavenly Wolf Gang, and he avoided the Blackwater Gang even more.

At that moment, a young married woman in her thirties emerged from the building and angrily said, "Lin Jingqi! What are you still explaining for? Can't you see that they came here looking for trouble?

"The rule of every martial arts academy in Linked Mountains City is to teach only martial arts and not ask about a disciple's future path.

"Once disciples leave the academy, none of their actions have anything to do with the academy, nor may the academy interfere in grievances between disciples.

"Chen Yuan has been knocking around Linked Mountains City for more than a day. How could he possibly not know these rules?"

Chen Yuan looked at the woman with interest.

She was voluptuous and pretty, quite attractive. She should be Zhang Qiuhe, the fiancée Lin Jingqi had seduced and who had drugged Duan Mubai.

But now that he saw her, this woman seemed quite forceful, with a temper even fiercer than Lin Jingqi's. She was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

"Shut your mouth!"

Lin Jingqi glared at her viciously.

Turning back, Lin Jingqi cupped his hands toward Chen Yuan, his attitude humble.

"My wife is ignorant. I hope Young Master Chen will not take offense. May I ask what the academy disciple who joined the Blackwater Gang is called? I will immediately strike him from the rolls publicly, then host a banquet to apologize to the Heavenly Wolf Gang."

The academy disciples present all looked at Lin Jingqi in disbelief.

Their academy master was usually imposing and dignified. Why was he acting so humbly and wretchedly before this young man today?

Lin Jingqi wanted to be tough, but he knew that a small academy like Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy was utterly incomparable to the Heavenly Wolf Gang.

Any hall master of the Heavenly Wolf Gang was a Meridian-Unblocking Realm martial artist, commanding hundreds of elite gang members tempered through martial world slaughter. Flattening Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy would be effortless.

The former academy master, Duan Zhenshan, had been in the Meridian-Unblocking Realm, and Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy had possessed some standing in those days.

But Lin Jingqi had never crossed the hurdle of Meridian Opening over all these years. Even now, he was only at the peak of the Body-Tempering Realm. What confidence did he have to stand against Chen Yuan, one of the Heavenly Wolf Gang's Three Heroes?

Chen Yuan casually said, "His name is Zhang San."

Lin Jingqi reflexively replied, "I'll get the roster and look up that Zhang San right away."

But then Lin Jingqi sensed that something was wrong.

Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy recruited over a hundred disciples every year. Though he could not remember every disciple's name, he was certain there could not possibly be anyone called Zhang San at Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy.

Since ancient times, the poor pursued scholarship while the rich practiced martial arts. Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy's annual tuition alone cost over a hundred taels. Without some family wealth, who would dare come to a martial arts academy to study martial arts?

Thus, even the poorest disciples of Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy came from relatively well-off families. How could anyone have such a casual name as Zhang San?

"Young Master Chen, are you sure that person is really named Zhang San?"

"Not sure, because I just made that name up."

Lin Jingqi's face instantly flushed crimson. "You..."

Zhang Qiuhe sneered. "Lin Jingqi, haven't you understood yet? They came here today specifically to make trouble for us. Even if you kneel before them, it will be useless!"

This time, Lin Jingqi did not rebuke his wife again. He merely glared fixedly at Chen Yuan with bloodshot eyes.

"Young Master Chen, my Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy has never provoked the Heavenly Wolf Gang, and I have never even met you. Even if you want to kill me, you should at least let me die knowing why, shouldn't you?"

Chen Yuan idly fiddled with the hilt of his Wild Goose Feather Saber. "When you plotted to cripple Duan Mubai, you did not give him any warning in advance either, did you?"

Lin Jingqi's expression immediately changed upon hearing Duan Mubai's name.

Zhang Qiuhe, however, suddenly drew two short blades from behind her back and slashed at Chen Yuan.

At the same time, she shouted at Lin Jingqi, "Kill Chen Yuan! Take his head and defect to the Blackwater Gang!

"He came because of Duan Mubai! If we do not kill him, we will both die!"

A smile appeared at the corner of Chen Yuan's mouth.

Zhang Qiuhe was more decisive and more clear-headed than Lin Jingqi.

The moment she learned that he had come over the matter of Duan Mubai, she immediately understood that neither side could coexist with the other.

Kneeling was useless, so they could only risk their lives.

If they survived, they could defect to the Blackwater Gang, the Heavenly Wolf Gang's mortal enemy. That was their only path to survival.

Unfortunately, though she had a clear mind, this woman's strength was merely ordinary.

Chen Yuan's Wild Goose Feather Saber instantly left its sheath, and a piercing saber cry rang throughout the entire academy.

This strike came later yet arrived first, its momentum like a starving wolf pouncing to kill.

With a deafening explosion, Zhang Qiuhe's twin blades were sent flying. Blood immediately streamed from the webbing between her thumbs and forefingers.

Chen Yuan spun and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying as blood gushed from her mouth.

They were both in the Body-Tempering Realm, but a Body-Tempering Realm martial artist who cultivated internal force was worlds apart in strength from an ordinary Body-Tempering Realm martial artist who only tempered their flesh.

Martial artists who only tempered their bodies might possess strength, but it was merely brute strength, force exerted solely through their muscles and sinews.

Only after cultivating internal force could one mobilize the power of the meridians and vital blood, unleashing even greater explosive force.

Lin Jingqi no longer hesitated timidly. With a flip of his hands, a pair of Refined Steel Chain Gauntlets was already fitted over them.

These Refined Steel Chain Gauntlets were forged from interlinked adamantine rings the size of rice grains, exquisite and meticulously crafted.

The Great Coiling Silk Hand was a grappling art for close combat. When facing blades and swords, one could use these adamantine chain gauntlets to parry sharp weapons barehanded.

However, these gauntlets were exquisitely made and extremely difficult to forge, more expensive than silver of the same weight. They had been left behind by Duan Zhenshan and were now in Lin Jingqi's possession.

Lin Jingqi moved with astonishing speed, pouncing at Chen Yuan like a leopard.

The Wild Goose Feather Saber stabbed diagonally, several saber shadows slashing down in succession as its momentum swept in all directions.

Heavenly Wolf Shadow Strike!

Lin Jingqi roared as his arms danced like butterflies among flowers, directly clashing against the saber blade with repeated metallic explosions.

Then, seizing an opening, his hands became like supple silken threads and suddenly coiled around the Wild Goose Feather Saber. They wound and spiraled around it, the adamantine chain gauntlets locking the blade in place.

Lin Jingqi was immediately delighted. Just as he was about to close in, an enormous force suddenly surged from the saber trapped in his hands!

Sparks erupted from between the Wild Goose Feather Saber and the adamantine chain gauntlets. The saber was forcibly yanked free, and in the next instant, a dazzling saber light filled Lin Jingqi's vision.

The saber light was brilliant, like a bright moon.

Heavenly Wolf Swallowing the Moon!

Lin Jingqi hastily crossed his hands before himself to block, but Chen Yuan's strike shattered most of the adamantine chain gauntlets on his hands and instantly crushed the bones in both hands.

The Heavenly Wolf Saber Art attacked without defending, strange and ruthless—an extreme saber art built for slaughter.

If Lin Jingqi had adopted a defensive stance and stalled for time, he could have exchanged a few more moves with the characteristics of his Great Coiling Silk Hand.

But he had wanted to meet attack with attack. That would only make him lose faster.

Looking at his bloody hands, Lin Jingqi's eyes were filled with despair.

With both hands crippled, he could no longer use the Great Coiling Silk Hand. He had already reached the end of the road.

Seeing Chen Yuan approach with saber in hand, Lin Jingqi pleaded desperately, "Don't kill me! Although I was the one who crippled Duan Mubai back then, I was not the mastermind!"

Lin Jingqi suddenly pointed at the heavily injured Zhang Qiuhe on the ground and gritted his teeth. "It was her! This woman was the one who incited me to act against Duan Mubai!

"Academy Master Duan treated me with immense kindness. I had never intended to compete with Duan Mubai for anything. It was all because she said Duan Mubai could not hold on to Zhenshan Martial Arts Academy and urged me to seize the academy.

"She was also the one who took the initiative to drug Duan Mubai and told me to finish him off. If you want revenge for Duan Mubai, you should kill her, not me!"

PS: Thanks to reader Bu Guan Bu Gu Bu Li for the reward. Congratulations on becoming this book's first Alliance Leader (•̀⌄•́)