"Draw a line between us?"
Tai Tan shook his head and said:
"With your current strength, you are unworthy to draw such a line with me."
Boom!
A wild and violent pressure erupted from his body.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze, forcing the watching students to stumble back more than ten meters.
Yet Li Zhexian still stood at the very center of that oppressive force.
That pressure, twisting even the space around him, fell like a transparent waterfall from the heavens, crashing fully upon his body.
Creak——
His white robe swelled and flapped violently.
His bones groaned with cracking sounds under the unbearable weight.
Li Zhexian's spine bent under the force.
"Hmph!"
Tai Tan sneered.
To deal with such an arrogant genius, the very first step was to crush his proud bones and force him to bow his head.
However—
To his shock, Li Zhexian clenched his jaw, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
And yet, inch by inch, he straightened his bent back under that mountain-like pressure.
Rip——
A sharp sound, like tearing cloth, cut through the air.
Three streaks of fierce sword intent shot up from the base of Li Zhexian's neck, soaring into the sky. Three Qinglian Swords, each with a different attribute, buzzed as they hovered behind him.
Li Zhexian's Sword Bone had revealed its might for the first time in front of a crowd.
A chorus of gasps rang out. The incomparably sharp sword qi made their skin tingle even from more than ten meters away.
Tai Tan's tiger eyes narrowed.
"Spirit Bone?"
He had thought to break this "Sword Wine" by pressure alone.
But he hadn't expected—
That this youth's sword would be so sharp, so unyielding.
"Kid…"
Tai Tan's voice boomed like a great bell.
"You injured my grandson and damaged his right arm, which will take at least a few months to recover. Then, you indulged your companions as they endlessly humiliated him."
"My grandson is a disappointment, but even if it seems I am bullying the weak, this old man has to come and have a word with you."
Now that it had come to this, it was useless to argue over who was right or wrong between him and Tai Long. Li Zhexian wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "What do you want?"
"You once clashed fists with my grandson."
"Today, I will not use Martial Soul, nor Spirit Power. I will strike with pure flesh alone—and you may use whatever means you like."
"If you can withstand one punch from me, this matter ends here."
Tai Tan's tiger eyes shone with fierce light.
"If you cannot…"
"I will hold back and not take your life."
"But—you will join my Strength Clan."
"Old scoundrel, you shameless bastard!"
Before Li Zhexian could speak, Dugu Yan was already fuming with anger, her beautiful face filled with rage.
"It was your pathetic grandson who wouldn't stop pestering in the first place!"
"And now you barge in here, bullying the young without regard for right or wrong—your shamelessness knows no bounds!"
"Take a punch from you? You'll walk away unscathed! But if he can't take it, you'll force him to sell himself to your Strength Clan?"
"What a pathetic excuse for a life you've lived all these years!"
Ye Lingling gritted her pearly teeth. Her usually cool and delicate face was now full of indignation.
She had never loathed someone so much.
"The Strength Clan is famed for brute strength!"
"Bullying a junior to withstand your fist, how dare you say such shameless words?!"
Yu Tianheng and the other five all shouted their condemnation.
Like a rising tide, their scolding roared out.
Titan simply snorted coldly. A powerful aura swept out, knocking all the noisy students around him to the ground.
He didn't care about the curses of these juniors. How could the words of mere youngsters shake the name of the Vigorous God?
On the contrary.
If he could seize this opportunity—
—to bring such a monster into the Strength Clan, it would be a trade beyond measure.
And that—
—was the true purpose of his visit today.
A Clan Leader was no rash fool.
With the Strength Clan's intelligence network, he knew full well that when Sword Wine had once gone missing, the Royal Family, the Ye Family, and the Dugu Family nearly turned Heaven Dou City upside down searching.
To offend Sword Wine over a petty squabble between juniors would be folly.
Tai Tan's goal was not to make enemies—
—but to recruit this blade into the Strength Clan.
If he won today—
The young man would join.
Even if he still held a grudge, Titan could use the full force of the clan to nurture and appease him. For a young man, a little resentment would eventually disappear.
By then, what could the Royal Family, Ye Family, or Dugu Family do to him?
Besides, the Strength Clan was no soft persimmon to be kneaded at will.
Although they had broken ties with the Clear Sky Clan, as one of the four former affiliated clans, they still had a lingering friendship with the world-renowned Clear Sky Douluo
In fact—
Tai Tan himself had taught Clear Sky Douluo blacksmithing skills.
They were half-teacher, half-friend.
The three great houses of Heaven Dou would never dare act rashly against the Strength Clan.
This plan—
Every step, flawless.
A faint, unnoticeable pride crossed Tai Tan's stern, weathered face as he gazed intently at the silent youth in white.
"Sword Wine, what say you?"
Li Zhexian reached behind his back and took out his Clear Spring Wine Gourd.
He tilted it back, letting several mouthfuls of fiery wine rush down his throat, the burning heat surging through his limbs and bones.
"I'll take your punch. I agree to that."
"But to join your Strength Clan?"
The corner of his lips lifted in mocking disdain.
"Delusional."
Even Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's Sect Master Ning Fengzhi had invited him, and he refused.
What was the Strength Clan, compared to that?
Did Tai Tan take him for Tang San?
In the original story, the plot was similar.
But there—
Tai Tan had only tested Tang San with pressure.
Here, he proposed a bet of one punch.
And back then, Tang San's bet was that if he succeeded, the Strength Clan would submit to him.
But Li Zhexian?
He sought only freedom, no sect, no school.
He didn't even care for the Strength Clan, which was just a leftover from the Clear Sky Sect.
"My friends here are right," he said. "Since it's a bet, both sides must pay a price."
"Tai Tan—you brute. If I cannot withstand your punch, you need not hold back. Life or death, fate will decide."
"But if I do endure it…"
Li Zhexian's voice sharpened like a drawn blade, every word ringing with cold steel.
"Then you, Tai Tan—must kneel before me here and now, and beg forgiveness."
Tai Tan's expression changed.
He had considered many outcomes, but not this—
That Sword Wine would rather risk death against his fist—
Than ever join the Strength Clan.
This move—
Shattered his carefully laid plan.
And that demand, "kneel and apologize"—
It set Tai Tan ablaze with fury.
"Kid! Do you think with three families backing you, this old man won't cripple you?!"
Tai Tan's hair and beard bristled, his massive frame stepping forward.
BOOM——
The hard ground where he stepped cracked in a spiderweb pattern, and shattered stones flew everywhere.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling's faces turned pale. "Brother Zhexian! Li Zhexian... you can't!"
"This old man's body is more powerful than a regular Titled Douluo!"
"It's not that easy to take his punch!"
Yu Tianheng and the other five also urged him with anxious voices.
Li Zhexian flung his sleeve, and a strong gust of wind rose from the ground, pushing Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, who had run up to him, back
The surging power of the wine within him rushed to his right arm
The liquid fire spread to the Qinglian Sword in his hand.
The sword, once clear and pure as jade, turned inch by inch crimson like molten iron, ringing with piercing sword cries.
His Spirit Power flared wildly, boiling with the wine's heat.
Sword Wine Boils—Sword Song Resounds!
Looking at Tai Tan, who was approaching step by step like a mountain, a fierce light suddenly shot out from Li Zhexian's eyes.
The three Qinglian Swords hovering behind him unfolded into the three techniques of the Qinglian Sword Song.
In an instant—
Starlight shimmered, ice and fire clashed, gale winds howled!
Three streaksof sword light, each with different attributes, slashed down upon the Strength Clan Leader Tai Tan!