"Huang-Grade Elementary Martial Art: Tiger Howl Fist! Jiang Yunhong is finally getting serious!"
"I heard his Tiger Howl Fist is already at the Minor Accomplishment stage. With his Body Tempering Fifth Layer strength, using that skill... Jiang Chen is probably done for."
"That waste thinks he's hot shit because he dodged a couple of punches, and now he's provoked Jiang Yunhong into using his killer move. He's asking for death, simple as that!"
As Jiang Yunhong charged, intending to blast Jiang Chen with his full power, voices filled with pity and open mockery rang out around the square.
"Die, you little bastard!" Jiang Yunhong snarled, his eyes flashing with a frenzied, desperate resolve. The Lingyun Academy slot was his only chance—a chance the family patriarch, Jiang Wuya, had sacrificed everything for. Anyone who stood in his way would regret it.
Jiang Chen's expression remained utterly calm. His fist instantly clenched, and a burst of explosive vigor, capable of driving back mountains and cracking stone, gathered and condensed within his knuckles.
"Huang-Grade Elementary Martial Art: Gravel Fist!"
With a low, sharp shout, Jiang Chen launched his fist forward, meeting Jiang Yunhong's Tiger Howl Fist head-on.
BOOM!
The two fists collided fiercely under the gaze of countless shocked eyes. Immediately, a figure shrieked and was violently flung backward, skidding across the ground several feet away.
"Well, now Jiang Chen will be lucky if he doesn't have a few broken bones," someone muttered, shaking their head.
A Body Tempering Second Layer failure challenging a Body Tempering Fifth Layer champion—it was a suicide mission, plain and simple.
However, when they finally focused on the figure lying prone and defeated on the ground, the entire crowd froze.
The figure sprawled on the ground, thoroughly beaten and humiliated, was not Jiang Chen!
"Hold... hold the fucking grass! Am I seeing things? The person blasted out was Jiang Yunhong!"
"You're not dizzy! Jiang Chen won! He knocked out Jiang Yunhong with a single, clean punch!"
"This... this is completely insane! Jiang Chen is our family's notorious failure, still supposedly at Body Tempering Second Layer! How the hell did he defeat the Body Tempering Fifth Layer Jiang Yunhong?!"
"Jiang Yunhong got greedy and completely lost everything. Our Young Master Chen is a dark horse—silent for years, but now a blockbuster overnight!"
The Jiang disciples in the square were utterly incapable of processing the shock. They had all been certain that Jiang Chen would be instantly pulverized. The result, however, was a stunning, decisive victory. Jiang Chen had not only won but had cleanly and brutally defeated Jiang Yunhong with one punch.
Was this truly the waste material they had known for fifteen years?
"How... how does this boy possess such strength? He was supposed to be stuck at the Body Tempering Second Layer..." Jiang Qianhe, the Grand Elder, stared at the scene, his heart reeling in disbelief.
He knew how much effort Jiang Wuya had expended on his son. Yet, Jiang Chen's cultivation had flatlined, stuck firmly at the second layer. Just last night, his own grandson, Jiang Yunhong, had easily wounded Jiang Chen and taken the token.
How, in a single night, had this boy transformed? He went from a Body Tempering Second Layer failure to a genius capable of defeating a Body Tempering Fifth Layer martial artist.
This is impossible!
As Jiang Qianhe struggled with his shock, Jiang Chen slowly walked toward the beaten Jiang Yunhong under the collective, stunned gaze of the entire clan.
He looked down at his cousin condescendingly, and his cold, clear voice resonated for everyone to hear:
"Jiang Yunhong, you lost. Hand over the Lingyun Martial Academy token."