Yu Yang's Change, Shanhai Martial Arts School

In the command room.

"What is it? Go ahead." Yang Xue glanced at Yu Yang, who was standing there, and spoke slowly.

"Instructor, I've made a lot of progress lately, and I killed a Level-One Demon Beast in yesterday's assessment. I think I can compete with Qin Chen one-on-one again for this General Star Selection spot." Yu Yang didn't hesitate and went straight to what was on his mind.

"You're very confident!" Yang Xue first voiced her approval, then said mildly, "Are you dissatisfied with my decision?"

Yu Yang's expression changed, and he hurriedly said, "I'm not dissatisfied!"

After that, he said nothing more.

In truth, he hadn't given Yang Xue and Luo Bin's decision any thought. All he wanted now was another match with Qin Chen, so that even if he lost, he would accept the loss wholeheartedly.

Yang Xue nodded. "Watch a video. Afterward, if you still insist, I'll let you compete with Qin Chen again."

With that, Yang Xue turned on the large screen on the wall.

Yu Yang looked at it in puzzlement.

"This assessment?" Seeing the scenes on the screen, he recognized them as the jungle on Ming Mountain.

Just then, Yang Xue brought up one segment and began playing it at a faster speed.

Soon, he was surprised to see Qin Chen on the screen.

Immediately afterward, his pupils contracted. A familiar face appeared opposite Qin Chen.

He really came! Yu Yang was deeply shaken.

Zhao Liang really had entered their assessment site to kill Qin Chen.

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and his expression changed.

Zhao Liang was a Three-Star Martial Artist, and Qin Chen had returned. That meant Zhao Liang had definitely left, or... died.

He glanced at Yang Xue. Could it have been Instructor Luo or Instructor Yang who went to save him?

As he was thinking,

Qin Chen and Zhao Liang suddenly exchanged two moves on the screen. Immediately afterward, he saw a scene that made him tremble all over, one he would never forget for the rest of his life.

On the screen, Qin Chen seemed to transform into a sun, completely engulfing the image. When the picture returned, Zhao Liang was lying motionless on the ground like a dead dog.

"This..."

Even after the footage ended, he continued staring blankly.

He knew Zhao Liang better than almost anyone. Their families often visited each other because of business and frequently ate together. The two of them were even both geniuses, and often discussed cultivation.

It was only this time that he had refused because Zhao Liang's request was too excessive, but that did nothing to change how powerful Zhao Liang was.

Is this his true strength? Yu Yang's mind was filled with that final image of Qin Chen, and his heart trembled.

"Do you still want to compete with him now?" Yang Xue asked, looking at him.

"I lost!" Yu Yang gradually came back to his senses and murmured.

After saying those words, he seemed to grow more at ease.

"It's good that you can let go of your obsession!"

Seeing that Yu Yang had not developed a heart demon over this, Yang Xue nodded in satisfaction.

He had refrained from telling Yu Yang before because he feared Yu Yang's conviction would collapse and give rise to a heart demon.

On the martial path, once a heart demon took root, the road ahead would either be severed entirely or lead down an evil path.

Yu Yang was a fine genius in his own right. If not for the monstrous talent that was Qin Chen, he would have been first, so Yang Xue did not want anything to happen to him.

"Instructor Yang, I'll be going!"

Yu Yang turned and walked out of the command room.

"Qin Chen, being of the same generation as you is both my good fortune and my misfortune. I look forward to the day I can see you standing at the peak!"

He took a deep breath and felt that even the air had become different.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, he saw a soldier in the distance hurrying toward him.

He was just about to speak when the soldier rushed straight past him and entered the command room.

"Qin Chen!"

Immediately afterward, he heard Yang Xue roar from inside the command room.

"What did he do this time?" Yu Yang's expression changed.

"Qinghe Garden, please!"

At the foot of the mountain, Qin Chen hailed a taxi.

With my current strength, I can blow apart an early-stage Three-Star opponent using Blazing Sun Fist, but I'm still no match for a mid-stage Three-Star!

Thinking back to what had just happened in the sparring room, he gained a clear understanding of his current strength.

The combat power threshold for a Three-Star Martial Artist was two thousand, while that for a Four-Star was ten thousand-a gap of a full eight thousand.

When he used Blazing Sun Fist, his explosive power was at the mid-stage Three-Star level. Blowing apart a mid-stage Three-Star mechanism puppet was impossible.

Even so, he had blown apart two mechanism puppets, and they were worth far more than the ten he had blown apart when he entered the training camp. So he had run off early; otherwise, Yang Xue would have flayed him alive.

"Qinghe Garden?"

After Qin Chen got in, the driver looked him over, then suddenly exclaimed, "Are you Qin Chen?"

Qin Chen touched his face. "Am I that famous?"

"Haha... It really is you! I actually picked up Rongcheng's number one genius!" Seeing that Qin Chen didn't deny it, the driver suddenly grew excited.

Before Qin Chen could speak, he continued, "Of course you're famous! After that city announcement, how many people in Rongcheng don't know you?"

"You're so young and heading to Qinghe Garden, and I heard this year's Genius Training Camp was on Ming Mountain, so I guessed you were Qin Chen. You'll have to give me your autograph later!"

The driver was so excited that he couldn't keep the steering wheel steady, making Qin Chen nervous.

The driver talked nonstop along the way, while Qin Chen replied occasionally, mainly because he couldn't get a word in.

After they entered the city, Qin Chen kept watching out the window. Qinghe Garden was the address he had just moved to, and he didn't know exactly which road led there.

Before long, Qin Chen felt the car slow down.

"Are we there?"

"No, Martial Arts School Street is up ahead. Things haven't been very peaceful there lately, so I'm driving slowly to avoid an accident!" the driver hurriedly explained.

"What happened?" Qin Chen asked curiously.

Martial Arts School Street was usually very peaceful. After all, the people there all cultivated and were all in business. Once a conflict broke out, it was often hard to settle.

"Someone came over from Yang City recently to open a martial arts school here. Opening a school would have been fine, but to build his reputation and attract business, he went around challenging the schools one after another. Now quite a few people gather to watch every day, and it seems he's injured someone in the past couple of days-badly, too!" the driver explained.

Qin Chen frowned. He was surprised that someone had come from Yang City.

The schools on Martial Arts School Street were all privately owned. They generally stayed in their own cities, and few people opened branches elsewhere.

After all, in an unfamiliar place where you knew no one, there was nothing you could do if the locals joined forces to bully you.

Yet this man had gone around challenging schools as soon as he arrived. Qin Chen didn't know whether he was a reckless fool or simply bold because of his great skill.

"No one here can match him?" Qin Chen asked, puzzled.

The driver shook his head. "The heads of private schools like these are usually One-Star Martial Artists, Two-Star at most. I heard the newcomer apparently broke through to Three-Star before this, then snatched the business of the private martial arts schools in Yang City. Now I reckon he wants to come and snatch Rongcheng's business too."

Qin Chen nodded. Fighting over business was perfectly normal.

"By the way, you just said someone from a martial arts school was injured. Do you know which school?"

Qin Chen was curious which unlucky person had been injured. Generally, when someone challenged a school, they only defeated their opponent. Injuries were rare.

"I think it was Shanhai Martial Arts School!"

"Hmm?" Qin Chen's expression changed.