Era of Mist

Another ten or so people emerged from the darkness, bringing the total to around thirty. Each one held a bat, glaring menacingly. The scene was quite terrifying. And behind them all, Teng Chaoguo slowly emerged from the shadows. His gaze was sinister and his expression vicious, no different from usual.

The only difference was that beyond the sinister and vicious look, there was also a hysterical madness.

"That’s right, it’s me." Teng Chaoguo watched the surrounded group from afar, a slightly neurotic laugh escaping his lips. "Ever since that day, I’ve had people watching the school gates. I thought he’d come out last Sunday, but he didn’t. If he won’t come out, there’s nothing I can do. But fate was on my side. I never imagined I’d get the chance to catch you all today and wipe you out in one fell swoop."

"Teng Chaoguo, this doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of us!" one of the guys shouted nervously. "What’s the point of cornering us all?"

"You’re right, it has nothing to do with you. It really doesn’t. But I don’t give a damn whether you’re involved or not. Let’s see, how many of you am I gonna kill?" Teng Chaoguo raised a finger and pointed at them one by one. "One... two... three... Huh? How come the tall one’s missing? Oh, oh, still sitting down, are we? Too scared to even stand up? Where’s all that swagger now? That arrogance?"

"Don’t take it too far!" another guy yelled. "You dare bring a mob to jump the Four Celestial Kings? Is your career at Fengming First Middle School over?"

Teng Chaoguo’s counting finger paused as if he’d heard the funniest thing in the world. He suddenly burst into manic laughter. "The Four Celestial Kings? My career? My... ass! To hell with my ’career’! I wasn’t planning on staying at Fengming First Middle School anyway, but I have to go out with a bang before I leave. What fucking ’Four Celestial Kings’? It’s a joke!

"The Four Celestial Kings... daring to hold me to your rules? If my old man hadn’t forced me into Fengming First Middle School, I could summon thirty or forty guys with a single call! You little bastards dare to act like kings in front of me? Go eat shit!"

The guys wanted to say more, but Zhou Xiong held out a hand to stop them. He took a step forward and said in a low voice, "Junior Teng, since it’s come to this, just name your terms. What exactly do you want today?"

"Nothing much. I just want to beat you all to death." Teng Chaoguo’s tone was dead serious; he wasn’t joking in the slightest. "This is a good spot. Secluded. No one will see. No witnesses. Oh, and there’s the kebab vendor. We’ll kill him too, then there won’t be any witnesses left."

The kebab stall owner’s eyes flew open, then narrowed again. An unreadable, half-smiling expression appeared on his face. He didn’t look the least bit afraid.

"You... you’re insane!" one of the guys said in disbelief. "Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?"

"Afraid? Heh. There’s no point explaining it to lowlifes like you. You wouldn’t get it. Besides, I’m a minor. Ever heard of the laws protecting minors? It means I can’t be held responsible for my crimes!" Teng Chaoguo gestured, and someone beside him handed over a baseball bat. Teng Chaoguo gave the metal bat a test swing, then raised it like a commander’s saber and pointed. A savage, crazed grin split his face. "Get ’em! No knives. Just smash them to pie—"

BOOM.

A dull whoosh suddenly tore through the air. A heavy, sturdy bench flew out from behind Zhou Xiong’s group, streaking through the wall of thugs like a bolt of lightning. It tumbled end over end, moving too fast for anyone to react, before smashing squarely into Teng Chaoguo’s forehead.

CRACK! With a sickening crunch, Teng Chaoguo—so imperious just a moment ago—collapsed without finishing his sentence. It was impossible to tell if that horrifying sound had come from the bench or something else.

For a moment, everyone was simply dumbfounded.

"I saved your life today. Does that get me a free meal?" a deep, commanding voice asked. Everyone whipped their heads around to see Shi Tiexin slowly rising to his feet. The bench he had been sitting on was gone.

The kebab vendor slowly nodded. "For that move alone, it’s on the house."

"What if I do that a few more times? Will you treat me to a few more meals in the future?" Shi Tiexin said, rolling his wrists and ankles as if warming up.

The thirty-some guys on the other side weren’t idiots. Someone in the back shrieked, "Kill ’em!"

"RAAAAAAAH—!"

The thirty-plus tattooed thugs roared in unison and surged forward, swinging their bats. Zhou Xiong’s side fell into chaos, frantically grabbing the benches behind them to meet the charge. But before they could even lift the benches, a powerful, imposing figure shot past them, charging headlong into the tide of enemies.

’So fast!’

SSSSS... Shi Tiexin took a deep breath, and a hard, soybean-sized node suddenly bulged in his lower abdomen, at the site of his Dantian. This node wasn’t a tumor or a polyp, but a brand-new structure of essential qi, formed from the condensation of his primordial energy. In the study of Force Arts, it was known as a False Dan.

Whenever he unleashed his power, the False Dan would harden and protrude. It was nowhere near as hard as iron or steel—at least, not at this stage. But this False Dan served as the hub for all his essential qi, responsible for channeling his energy during combat.

Only after forming a False Dan could one be considered to have mastered the basics of Force Arts and truly stepped onto the path of a Cultivator. And only then could his ’Excellent’ grade basic fist technique finally show its true power.

’Faster!’

WHOOSH—in the blink of an eye, Shi Tiexin plunged into the crowd. His massive frame, moving with an agility that defied its bulk, launched into the air. Tucking his body and bracing his knee, he descended like a Divine Weapon and smashed into a heavy-set man in the front line with a Lingkong knee strike.

THUD!

The man took the knee dead center in the chest. His eyes bulged as he was sent flying backward like a cannonball, smashing a huge gap in the packed wall of thugs behind him. They were sent sprawling to the ground. As they shouted curses, Shi Tiexin had already crossed the opening like a gust of wind, circling around to the enemy’s rear rank.

There, Teng Chaoguo was dizzily trying to get up, his face streaming with blood. Five of his underlings had formed a protective circle around him.

"Stop him!" one of the thugs shrieked, swinging his bat with desperate abandon. But the massive figure dodged nimbly to the side, tricking him with a feint. The bat sliced through empty air, and an instant later, a fist the size of a clay pot smashed into his face.

’Essential qi flooded his arm. More power!’

POW! The moment the punch landed, the thug’s face seemed to cave in completely. His skin rippled in a grotesque wave of pain as his nose exploded in a spray of blood, the bone flattening with a series of sickening cracks. A single punch sent him flying ten feet. He passed out before he hit the ground, not even a whimper escaping his lips.

Shi Tiexin looked at his fist. ’Now *this* is more like it. This is the kind of power I should have! Beating these weaklings should feel as satisfying as bullying a little kid. Now that I’ve formed the False Dan, I’m finally starting to unleash my true strength!’

"HYAAH—!"

The thugs at the front immediately fell into disarray. Some wanted to continue their charge, while others wanted to fall back to protect Teng Chaoguo. The number of men rushing Zhou Xiong’s group immediately dropped to around ten, and their formation was a complete mess.

"Charge! I am the invincible Liu Chuanfeng!" Liu Shufeng, who at least had some guts, led the charge forward. But as soon as they engaged, his expression changed. ’These guys... they’re tough!’