Chapter 76 : Chapter 76
Chapter 76. Clash
At the border between Fu’an Street and Changning Street, there was a small buffer zone. Under normal circumstances, the patrol teams from both sides kept to their own waters and did not interfere with one another.
Xu Yuan brought only Liu Kun and four martial artists with him as they rode to the boundary. On the opposite side, Xu Tianlong had already arrived with seven or eight men and was waiting there.
Xu Tianlong looked to be around thirty-five or thirty-six years old. His complexion was slightly sallow, and his narrow eyes gleamed sharply whenever they opened and closed.
He was not especially tall or broad, but standing there, he gave off a steady, mountain-like presence. It was obvious that he was someone long tempered by slaughter, with extraordinarily deep and well-honed qi and blood.
“Street Guard Xu, what a rare guest.” Xu Tianlong cupped his hands with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“Street Guard Xu.” Xu Yuan reined in his horse and got straight to the point. “Why have the goods belonging to the merchants of my Changning Street been detained in Fu’an Street instead of being released?”
Xu Tianlong feigned surprise. “Something like that happened? The people below must have handled things carelessly. Perhaps there were some suspicious points about that batch of goods, so they needed to be inspected carefully.”
“Street Guard Xu, you also know that the current situation is tense. We have no choice but to be cautious. Don’t worry... once the inspection is complete, they will naturally be allowed through.”
“An inspection takes two days?”
Xu Yuan’s tone turned cold. “I wonder what exactly these suspicious points are. Could Street Guard Xu explain them clearly? If you cannot give a proper reason, then this is deliberate obstruction of trade routes and a violation of the rules.”
The fake smile on Xu Tianlong’s face slowly disappeared. His narrow eyes locked onto Xu Yuan, cold light flickering within them. “Street Guard Xu wants to talk rules with me?”
“When Qin Lie died at the hands of you and Hong Qianshan, why didn’t you talk about rules then?”
At last, the dagger was laid bare.
Xu Yuan’s expression did not change. “When two armies clash, life and death are left to fate. If Street Guard Xu wants to avenge Qin Lie, just say so.”
“Good!” Xu Tianlong barked, then swung himself down from his horse. “I’ve long wanted to see for myself just how capable this so-called genius of the Shangyang family, who’s recently risen to fame, really is!”
His qi and blood roared through his body, and the cultivation of a peak Fourth Meridian martial artist burst forth without reservation, his pressure bearing down on everyone around him.
The martial artists from both sides instinctively stepped back, leaving a large stretch of open ground.
Xu Yuan also dismounted and slowly stepped forward. Compared with Xu Tianlong’s vast and forceful aura, he appeared calm and restrained, yet the faint sharpness hidden within him made no one dare underestimate him.
“Please,” Xu Yuan said with a single word.
Xu Tianlong wasted no more words. He stomped off the ground, making the earth tremble slightly, and shot forward like an arrow released from the bowstring. His fist edge was like a blade, carrying a fierce force capable of splitting mountains and cracking stone as it slashed straight toward Xu Yuan’s face!
Before the fist even arrived, the wind from it already stung the skin.
Xu Yuan’s eyes sharpened. He neither dodged nor retreated. Qi and blood surged through his body as he threw a punch straight at the attack, meeting it head-on. The power of his Minor Mastery Benlei Fist condensed into a single point!
Boom!
A muffled explosion like rolling thunder rang out, and a wave of air billowed outward from the two of them, kicking up dust everywhere.
Xu Yuan’s body shook, and he staggered back three steps, each one leaving a clear footprint on the ground. His right arm felt slightly numb.
Xu Tianlong merely swayed at the shoulders and did not retreat even half a step, but a flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes. As expected of Minor Mastery force—despite the depth of his qi and blood, he could not suppress it so easily in a short time.
“What a Benlei Fist!” Xu Tianlong shouted lowly. The battle intent in his eyes burned even fiercer as his figure blurred, his fists scattering into layers of shadows that enveloped Xu Yuan from all sides.
Compared with Qin Lie’s, his Seven Wounds Fist was even more open and domineering, its power astonishing and its execution seasoned. Every move struck toward Xu Yuan’s vital points, forcing him into continuous dodging and blocking.
Xu Yuan pushed Youlong Step to its limit, weaving and shifting through the narrowest of spaces. Each time, he evaded the heavy blows by a hair’s breadth, while also seizing chances to counterattack with Benlei Fist.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dull impacts rang out continuously across the field as figures crossed again and again.
Xu Yuan was clearly at a disadvantage, defending far more than he attacked, yet his footwork never fell into disorder, and his gaze remained as calm as still water.
Liu Kun and the others watched with sweaty palms, while the martial artists of Changyuan Street showed expressions of satisfaction.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of exchanges had passed. Xu Tianlong had attacked for a long time without being able to break through, and irritation began to rise in his heart.
He believed his cultivation was significantly higher than Xu Yuan’s. Yet he still could not defeat a junior who had only just advanced to the Fourth Meridian. If word got out, where would his face go?
A vicious gleam flashed in his eyes. Seizing the instant Xu Yuan changed breath, he suddenly drew in a deep breath, his chest swelling high, and his right fist accelerated by another thirty percent as it smashed straight toward Xu Yuan’s chest!
Bang!
Xu Yuan’s left arm came up to block Xu Tianlong’s heavy palm, and a teeth-gritting sound of bones grinding against each other rang out. Xu Yuan’s face went pale, and his feet plowed backward across the ground for more than a zhang.
Boom!
The attacks collided once more. Xu Tianlong only felt a tricky, penetrating force pass through his skin, causing his entire left arm to become instantly sore, numb, swollen, and aching. Sweetness rose in his throat, but he forcibly swallowed it back down.
Xu Yuan also let out a muffled grunt. A sharp pain came from his left arm, but he steadied himself, slowly drew back his right fist, and continued to look at Xu Tianlong with calm eyes.
The field fell into dead silence.
All the martial artists on both sides held their breath. That exchange had happened in a flash, swift and ferocious, and it had actually formed a situation where both sides were injured!
Xu Tianlong’s face turned ashen. His right arm trembled slightly as he stared fixedly at Xu Yuan, his eyes filled with both shock and fury.
He had not expected the other party to be so fierce, much less that the force within that fist would be so sharp!
“Good. Very good.” Xu Tianlong forced the words out through gritted teeth. “Xu Yuan, I’ll remember you.”
He knew that if the fight continued, even if he won, it would only be a miserable victory. At this borderland, that was far from worth it.
“We’re leaving!” Xu Tianlong gave a savage wave of his hand and turned to go, the men from Fu’an Street hurriedly following behind him.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly turned back again, his gaze sinister. “That batch of goods will be released tomorrow. But Xu Yuan... we have a long road ahead of us.”
Xu Yuan slowly exhaled a turbid breath and said evenly, “I’ll be waiting at any time.”
Only after Xu Tianlong’s group had gone far away did Yang Yan and the others hurry over. Seeing Xu Yuan’s clearly unnatural left arm, they anxiously asked, “Street Guard, your injury...”
“It’s nothing. Just superficial wounds.” Xu Yuan shook his head. “A few days of rest will be enough.”
He looked once toward the direction Xu Tianlong had left in, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
Though he had been at a disadvantage in this battle, he had also weighed Xu Tianlong’s true level.
The other man’s qi and blood were indeed stronger than his, his force fierce, and his combat experience seasoned. He was a formidable opponent.
But Xu Yuan’s Minor Mastery force had definitely made the other side suffer even more.
If that penetrating force accumulated within the body, it would be enough to affect the circulation of qi and blood, and flaws would begin to appear in one’s movements.
If it became a fight to the death, the outcome was still impossible to say.
After returning to Changning Street,
Xu Yuan felt even greater urgency in his cultivation while tending to his injuries.
His battle with Xu Tianlong had allowed him to see his shortcomings more clearly.
Youlong Step had still not reached Entry level, and the boost it gave to his speed remained limited.
Right now, he was relying only on the advantage of his Minor Mastery force, but against people like Xu Tianlong, who possessed rich life-and-death combat experience, it still was not entirely safe.
Fortunately, as long as I have the skill panel, I can improve steadily.
Xu Yuan’s gaze drifted into the distance. Though urgency filled his heart, his actions remained orderly and methodical, using every favorable condition available to strengthen himself.
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