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On the last day of the first lunar month, under the harsh chill of spring, there is still some lingering snow in shady areas, where freshly sprouted greenery starts to lightly peer out from the clusters of withered wild grass.
On a little country road more than a hundred miles from the National Master Manor, a scruffy young man is walking along, carrying a bloody bag on his back. His clothes are tattered, his feet shod in old black cloth shoes with his big toes poking out, and though he is not very tall and appears thin, he emanates an extraordinary vitality. His eyes are as bright and dazzling as stars in the night sky.
The young man takes out a hard bun from the pocket in his bag, bites off a chunk, and slowly chews. The stale bun is dry and hard, making swallowing quite a struggle, so he quickly takes a sip of water from his canteen to relieve the discomfort.
The young man eats quickly, swallowing the bun in a few bites. After wiping his mouth and securing his canteen, he halts his steps to scan his surroundings. Everywhere he looks, there's widespread desolation, with nothing but trees and grass to be seen - not a soul in sight.
The young man tightens his grip on his bag and the bundle he carries; he resumes his journey, set on reaching the National Master Manor by dusk the following day. If he doesn't make it in time, he'll miss an important event.
From somewhere in the distant horizon, a black point abruptly appears, stirring up a trail of dust as it charges towards the young man. From a hundred meters away, he notices the black dot—a man riding a horse, speeding down the road.
The young man steps into the cluster of wild grass by the side of the path, making way on the narrow, winding path for the oncoming horseman. Paying the man no mind, he continues his journey.
In the blink of an eye, the horseman races past him. The young man doesn't even lift his head to look at him, remaining focused on his journey. The horseman pulls his reins after galloping for another twenty or thirty meters, turning his horse around to charge back towards the young man.
"Ho." The horseman reins in his horse, stopping in front of the young man. "Hey, kid, that bag you're carrying is drenched in blood. What are you carrying, huh? Did you kill someone and steal their goods?"
The young man looks him in the eye and dismissively retorts, "None of your business."
"Well, aren't you feisty. Listen, if something happens, we all step in. I suggest you come clean, or I'll haul you in front of the authorities," the horseman responds.
The young man maintains his calm demeanor, not even bothering to reply this time.
Perhaps thinking that the young man is afraid of him, the horseman laughs, "In the name of kindness, I'll let you go if you pay me five taels of silver. We can pretend we never crossed paths, and I'll turn a blind eye to your murderous deeds. What do you say?"
The young man pulls out a silver ingot from his bag, weighing almost ten taels in total, and unperturbedly tosses it towards the horseman. "Take your silver and get out of my way."
The horseman happily catches the silver, weighs it in his hand, bites it to ensure its authenticity, and chuckles, "Impressive." He steers his horse aside to let the young man pass, "You're free to go now."
With a tighter grip on his bag, the young man walks past the horseman and resumes his journey.
Suddenly, the horseman's gaze sharpens. With swift fingers, he pulls out a yellow talisman from his inner pocket, tears it, and flicks it towards the young man who's engrossed in carrying on with his journey.
The talisman instantaneously turns into a fireball the size of a Fighting Cock wine bottle and barrels towards the young man. If hit, the fireball is powerful enough to reduce the young man to a human torch.
A smug grin begins to spread across the horseman's face. He tirelessly planned this trap to catch the young man off guard. The prospect of the reward promised by his insider had him grinning from ear to ear.
Just before the horseman's grin could fully spread across his face, his complacency shattered. Just as the young man was about to be struck by the fireball, it was as if his back had eyes. He leaps almost two to three meters into the air, flips, and dives towards the horseman like a wild beast gleaming with cold, predatory eyes.
The horseman hadn't expected the young man's reflexes to be so swift. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he reaches for the treasured sword hanging by the side of his horse. If he could just draw his prized sword, he would teach the young man a lesson about why Ma Wu of the Martial World isn't simply known for his sharp mind, but also his terrifying physical power at the peak of the Qi Cultivation First Level.
The horseman is quick, but the young man is quicker. Just as the horseman's hand grazes the hilt of his sword, the young man lands a powerful kick on the hand reaching for the sword, causing the horseman to cry out in pain—it felt as if his right hand was broken. Apart from the searing pain, he couldn't sense anything else.
With movements fluid like water, the young man continues his motion in the air, using the force from his kick on the horseman's hand to do another flip. He does a powerful side kick that lands with a whistling wind on the horseman's ear.
The horseman lets out a scream, losing control and falling off his horse.
As the young man lands, he seizes the hilt of the treasured sword. As the horse whinnies in agony and bolts away, the young man shoots like an arrow towards the horseman just as he hits the ground.
The knight rolled on the ground, trying to dodge the youth's blade.
Quickly altering his attack, the youth slant his treasured blade, the edge pointing outward, and, following the momentum, aimed for the knight.
With a flash of cold light, the blade cut through the knight's clothing. But as he tried to further his attack, it felt as if he were chopping onto heavy leather, unable to move any further.
The knight was terrified, using his strength to quickly retreat like a wind-tossed willow leaf, and stood up. He considerably increased the distance between him and the youth, looked down at the large slit cut open by the blade on his chest, and gave a hearty laugh. "Thank goodness I spent 3,000 taels to buy this Human Grade Low Grade Spirit Armour, otherwise, I would have been gutted by you today."
"Qi Cultivation First Level Peak and a body armour purchased with 3,000 taels. No matter how you look at it, you don't seem like a scoundrel who would covet ten taels of silver. Tell me, who are you really?" The youth asked solemnly. "Why did you try to ambush me with a Fire Talisman?"
The knight laughed heartily and said, "Didn't expect you to have such sharp eyes. But it's a pity, I like keeping people in the dark. If you want to know who I am, go ask Yama."
The youth coldly said, "That won't be up to you. Once I've cut off your nose and ears with this knife, I refuse to believe you won't talk."
"You are just a little fellow who has not been cultivating Qi for long. Do you really think that because you unexpectedly snatched my blade, you can definitely defeat me? Today, I will teach you how the peak of Qi Cultivation Level One crushes a cocky and ignorant brat like you." The knight said, as he lunged towards the youth.
The youth engaged with his blade, and the two immediately grappled with each other.
The youth's sword technique was excellent, often accurately targeting the knight's weak points. Nevertheless, each time, the knight skillfully used his Human Grade Low Grade Armour, blocking the youth's attacks with his body or arms, preventing the latter from landing a blow.
The youth knew that continuing like this was not the solution. His snatched blade was simply ordinary iron which, while sharp enough to cut iron like mud, was rather insignificant among cultivators. Just like now, a mere Low Grade Human Grade armor was enough to resist his common iron.
The youth initiated a series of attacks, forcing the knight on the defensive, making him retreat to regain distance from the youth.
Then, the knight witnessed a scene he couldn't believe – the youth used his strength to fiercely throw the treasured blade in his hand. The blade flew about twenty to thirty meters, disappearing into a bush.
"What are you trying to do? Realizing that you can't defeat me, are you planning to surrender?" The knight guessed.
The youth scoffed, "Using a blade is too cumbersome, I prefer using my fists."
Upon hearing this, the knight burst into laughter, "I, Ma Wu, have an extraordinary talent. While other people at the peak of Qi Cultivation Level One can only punch with a force of four hundred pounds, I can hit with a force equivalent to a tiger's, almost five hundred pounds. Of all things to compete with, you chose to challenge my fist. Today, watch how I beat you to death with my fists. Here comes my punch!"
The youth maintained a solemn face, bent his legs, and launched himself forward like a tiger that spotted its prey, fist first, body following, charging towards the knight.
The knight, brimming with confidence, sent a fist toward the youth as well.
Crack!
The large and small fists collided, immediately producing the sound of a bone fracture.
The knight burst into laughter, certain that it was the youth's bone that had been broken. After all, he had the strength of a tiger, enough to punch a hole in the wall, let alone the thin arms of the youth.
"Why are you laughing?" The youth's voice rang out coolly.
"I broke your arm, can't I even laugh about it?" The knight said mockingly.
The youth retracted his hand, lifted his arm, casually rotated it, and said, "Does my arm look broken to you?"
"How is that possible?" The knight was stunned, he had clearly heard the sound of a bone fracturing. It was at this moment that he felt a throbbing pain coming from his arm. Looking down, he was shocked to find serious deformity in his right forearm. He hadn't felt the pain before because the power of the youth's punch had temporarily numbed his arm.
"Ah, my arm!"