Jiang Chen's deceptively calm challenge sent a powerful tremor through the crowd in the square.
Every eye was wide, staring at him as if he had grown a second head. Shock and disbelief were etched onto every face.
"Holy shit, I must be hallucinating! Jiang Chen actually challenged Jiang Yunhong?!"
"Jiang Yunhong broke through to the Fifth Layer of Body Tempering three months ago! This waste, still stuck at the Second Layer, thinks he can challenge him?"
"This piece of trash is either suffering from a brain cramp or actively trying to get himself killed!"
"..."
"You... you actually want to fight me?" Jiang Yunhong stared at Jiang Chen's dismissive gesture. It took him a moment to recover from his astonishment.
He simply hadn't expected the Jiang family's famed failure to dare challenge him. Just last night, he'd beaten this idiot to a pulp. Who the hell gave him the courage to stand here and challenge him now?
"Jiang Yunhong, stop running your mouth and let's get this over with," Jiang Chen said, a cold smile playing on his lips. "My things are mine. No stray cat or dog is going to snatch them from me."
"You pathetic piece of trash, you dare be arrogant in front of me? Since you're so desperate to die, I'll gladly oblige!"
Humiliated by Jiang Chen's casual insult, Jiang Yunhong felt a bonfire of rage ignite in his chest. He roared, lunged forward, and slammed a punch straight at Jiang Chen's head.
The many Jiang disciples watching couldn't help but pity Jiang Chen. The gap between the Body Tempering Second Layer and the Fifth Layer was vast—not a difference of stars, but of entire galaxies. They could almost see the messy, miserable end Jiang Chen was about to meet.
Jiang Chen's expression remained utterly indifferent. He activated his Flowing Light Steps instantly. With a mere flash, he easily sidestepped Jiang Yunhong's incoming fist.
"I... I'll be damned! Did that waste actually dodge that?"
The sight stunned the assembled disciples. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Huh? Jiang Yunhong couldn't help but be startled when his punch missed air.
A coincidence! It must have been a coincidence!
"Your punch is sloppy, too flashy, and far too slow. At your level, it's no wonder the Lingyun Martial Academy rejected your sorry ass!"
But just as Jiang Yunhong settled on the 'coincidence' excuse, Jiang Chen's mocking, playful voice rang out right next to his ear.
"You absolute bastard!"
Jiang Yunhong's face twisted into an ugly, hideous mask of fury. With an angry scream, he channeled his entire body's strength and attacked Jiang Chen again, his fists flying with lightning-fast speed.
This time, Jiang Chen stood his ground. He didn't move his feet; he simply raised his palm and lightly waved it, intercepting and neutralizing Jiang Yunhong's furious punch.
"The speed on that punch was barely adequate, but the strength is still pathetically weak. You called me a waste, but you seem to be inferior to even me."
Looking into Jiang Yunhong's stunned, inches-away face, Jiang Chen gave a look of pure contempt.
"You're worse than the waste, Jiang Yunhong. What qualifications do you have to enter the Lingyun Martial Academy?"
"You... this... this is impossible!"
Jiang Yunhong stared at Jiang Chen in utter disbelief, shocked to the extreme. This known failure had blocked his punch—and blocked it so easily! If the first punch was due to carelessness, this second one was nearly everything he had.
But what truly made Jiang Yunhong want to vomit blood was the fact that this supposed 'trash' was critiquing his moves while casually catching his full-power strike. His martial arts talent was supposed to be the best of his generation! When had it become the turn of the family waste to lecture him?
"Huang-Grade Elementary Martial Art—Tiger Howl Fist!"
A furious, incoherent scream tore from Jiang Yunhong's throat. With a sudden surge of fierce energy radiating from his knuckles, he launched a third, brutal strike at Jiang Chen, roaring forward like a starving tiger rushing its prey.