The claw, despite being separated by twenty meters, seemed to have no distance between them whatsoever.

Du Yu’s hand spread out, forming a massive palm composed of golden light. It tore through the air, piercing the twenty-meter gap.

It was the same Zong He Qin Long Shou (Vertical Crane Seizing Dragon Hand), but wielded by Du Yu, its power was countless times greater than when Bai Di or Xing Wuyi used it. Even a steel plate a foot behind it would struggle to remain intact under such an impact.

Brother Zhan casually raised his left arm and extended his index finger, tapping gently against the golden palm strike...

There was no thunderous boom of colliding forces, nor was Brother Zhan blasted away by the peerlessly mighty palm. The finger he raised gave the impression of a mantis attempting to stop a chariot.

But that single finger, the moment it met the golden palm aura, vanished without a trace, like a crystal coffin disappearing. It was as if it had never existed.

Du Yu was stunned. Although he hadn't used his full strength—it was merely a probing strike—he never imagined that his opponent would simply raise a hand and point.

To break the Zong He Qin Long Shou with such nonchalance, Du Yu could only think of Du Hen possessing that capability.

This dark-skinned man before him exuded a youthful aura; Du Yu felt he couldn't be very old.

Du Yu could not accept that a young man could shatter the Zong He Qin Long Shou in the blink of an eye!

"You... what martial art are you using?"

"Da Zhi Wu Ding Zhi (Great Wisdom No Fixed Finger)."

Du Yu was shocked again by Brother Zhan’s indifferent attitude. Da Zhi Wu Ding Zhi! One of the ultimate secrets of the Sacred Martial Hall! How could he utter it so casually, as if he were talking about a mere Lohan Fist or Hong Quan?

Brother Zhan, still holding Du Zhanpeng, turned again and walked towards the exit of the mourning hall. His voice reached the ears of Du Yu, who was still contemplating action.

"You are no match for me. It won't matter even if you activate the biochemical beasts. If you cannot defeat Du Hen, you certainly cannot defeat me."

The words faded in Du Yu’s ears. Brother Zhan and the few men he brought had already vanished into the dark night outside the mourning hall.

Du Yu stared blankly at the pitch-black night sky. If he immediately mobilized the Du family forces, perhaps they could intercept them, or at least locate them.

However, doing so would expose the Du family's strength to outsiders. Capturing Brother Zhan and the others would likely consume considerable resources.

Du Yu sighed. How old was that man called Brother Zhan? Was he truly that young? To speak his father's name so casually—did they know each other? Or did he genuinely believe he possessed strength comparable to the Du family?

With another heavy sigh, Du Yu strode into the dark night. He needed to report what he had just encountered to his father.

Chapter Two: Meeting the Parents

The next day, the matter of the Du family’s lost corpse of Du Zhanpeng seemed as if it had never occurred.

Everything proceeded as usual.

Qin Fen remained in the military camp for three full days, locking himself away to consolidate his foundation after breaking through to the Meteor Level, lest any mishap cause him to slip back down, which would truly shatter his confidence in reaching the Meteor Level again.

Slowly opening his eyes, Qin Fen let out a long breath. The arrow-like exhalation caused the bedsheets to stir slightly.

He reached over and plucked his fully charged mobile phone from the power socket, then pressed the power button.

During the recent intensive training at Happy Paradise, he hadn't even had a decent hot shower, let alone charging facilities.

This antique-grade mobile phone of Qin Fen's had been out of power for nearly three weeks.

Beep... beep... beep... beep...

The moment the phone powered on, the incoming SMS notification sound immediately began ringing incessantly.

Listening to the barrage of messages, Qin Fen felt a pang of guilt. This nearly three-week unexplained disappearance—Song Jia must be worried sick, right? He wondered if the opening line of her messages would once again be that familiar, "I am very dissatisfied."

The SMS alert sounded over two hundred times before finally settling down.

Flipping to the message page, Qin Fen was slightly surprised by the origins of the texts. About half of them were from Lin Liqiang, with the other half coming from Song Jia.

Qin Fen didn't hesitate; he opened Lin Liqiang’s messages first. His good friend was definitely not the type to send forty or fifty texts without a pressing reason, and he had been sending them daily.

Unless... there was a genuine emergency.

"Dude, your girlfriend is about to be lost."

"Why aren't you turning your phone on? Song Jia is almost someone else's girlfriend."

"Turn it on, quick! Lao Yin said you went for training—what birdbrained place is that? Are you not even allowed a phone?"

"Reply to me the instant you see this. Miss Song Jia really can't handle this situation herself this time."

"Song Jia is crying. This is the first time I've ever seen her cry! Reply quick!"

Qin Fen didn't continue reading Lin Liqiang’s texts. He opened the messages sent by Song Jia.

"Qin Fen, my father wants to see you."

"Qin Fen, my father wants to see you."

"Qin Fen, where are you?"

"Qin Fen, can you show up quickly?"

"Qin Fen..."

There was no "I am very satisfied" or "I am not satisfied." Qin Fen could almost sense that Song Jia had been sending the later messages while anxiously crying.

The last two messages had even arrived yesterday.

The remaining hundred-plus messages were all from the communication company. This was the automatic voicemail function that activated when a phone was off, automatically recording the time and number of any caller, sending a reminder as a text message once the phone was switched on.

Lin Liqiang and Song Jia each accounted for half of these missed calls.

Qin Fen quickly dialed Lin Liqiang’s number. Before he could even speak, he heard an unprecedented tone of urgency from the other end: "Where are you? Do you need leave? I’ll draft the paperwork for you. Tell me your location, and I’ll find a way to borrow a plane to pick you up."

Being pushed to the extent of borrowing a plane to fetch someone made Qin Fen realize the seriousness of the situation even more acutely. He managed to reply in the briefest possible words: "Zhongzhou. Shengjing."

"What? Where are you?"

Lin Liqiang’s voice on the other end was filled with disbelief and questioning.

"Zhongzhou. Shengjing."

"Great! It seems you already know what happened from Song Jia. Then hurry up and get over here!"

"Know what?" Qin Fen walked quickly toward the military camp exit. "I just turned on my phone and called you first."

"Then why are you... ? Forget it! That’s not the key point." Lin Liqiang spoke hurriedly. "Report your exact location. I’m sending people to get you right now."

"Zhongzhou Shengjing. Iron Guard Military Camp, front gate."

"Perfect. Stay right there, don't move. I'll come get you personally right away." Qin Fen heard Lin Liqiang’s rapid footsteps on the other end, along with his instruction: "Oh, right, call Song Jia immediately. Tell her not to worry; you’re already in Zhongzhou Shengjing and heading to see her right away."

The call ended with a series of beeps from the receiver.

Qin Fen dialed Song Jia's number again.

Unlike the urgent situation on Lin Liqiang's end, Song Jia's line, once connected, was unnervingly silent. If it weren't for the fact that the ringtone had stopped, Qin Fen might have suspected his phone was broken, hearing only her breathing through the receiver.

"This is... Qin Fen..."

"..." The other end remained silent.

"I’m sorry, I should have turned my phone on three days ago..."

"..." Still silent.

"I’m in Zhongzhou Shengjing. Young Master Lin is rushing over to pick me up."

"..."

"Can you tell me... what happened?"

"Qin Fen..." Song Jia's voice finally broke through, tinged with a sob. "Where have you been? Where on earth have you been..."

Qin Fen felt a sharp ache in his heart. He knew exactly what a strong girl Song Jia was. To make such a girl’s voice tremble with tears—this was his fault.

"I’ll explain my business later. Can you tell me what happened first, okay?" Qin Fen replied softly, using the gentlest tone he could muster.

"My father... he somehow found out about you and me," Song Jia abandoned all pretense of composure. "He doesn't agree with us. I've argued with him several times about it, but nothing worked. Recently, Father made the decision to begin the selection process..."

"Selection?"

"The selection for my marriage partner," Song Jia said urgently. "Anyway, hurry up and come! A lot of people have arrived this time. I..."

At that moment, Qin Fen finally grasped the full scope of Song Jia's anxiety.

Song Wendong was known as the Martial God of Earth. His status in the Federation was higher than, if not equal to, the President. How could a family like that agree to let their granddaughter, their daughter, be with some boy who had no background?

The concept of a suitable match—men dang hu dui—existed universally, whether in feudal times, the era of the Global Village, or the current Interstellar Age.

The higher the status of a clan, the less this concept of a suitable match yielded to changing times. On the contrary, this concept bred a sense of superiority in them—a superiority that stood above the era and was distinct from ordinary people.

At that moment, Song Jia’s UFO-shaped super-magnetic sports car scraped the air, generating heat, and screeched to a halt in front of Qin Fen.

The cabin door opened, and Lin Liqiang waved him over decisively. "Hurry up."

As his voice fell, the sirens of police magnetic hovercars could be heard approaching from a distance, accompanied by shouts from a loudspeaker: "The super-sports car ahead, immediately descend to the ground! You are in violation of speeding regulations..."

"You were speeding?" Qin Fen slid into the cabin.

Lin Liqiang pointed towards the sky. "I was speeding at an altitude of three thousand meters, where there are no planes, no vehicles, and no pedestrians..."

The instant the door shut, Qin Fen felt an intense G-force pushing him back as the car shot up toward the three-thousand-meter altitude, leaving a long trail of disturbed air behind it as it sped into the distance.

"Damn it, big families are such trouble," Lin Liqiang started venting as soon as they were airborne. "I don't know if they are selecting a celebrity or a son-in-law. They even have preliminary, second, and final rounds. If you had kept your phone off for three more days, that girl Song Jia would truly be out of your league. Don't think she’s that tough; she only acts like a haughty princess to scare off the suitors coming to propose. Facing Song Wendong, she truly has no power to resist."

Qin Fen nodded in understanding. It would be strange if a man known as the Martial God of Earth didn't possess considerable authority.

"However..." Lin Liqiang slapped Qin Fen on the shoulder. "Buddy, to be honest, you’re probably going to suffer a bit next. Can’t be helped. Who told you to fall in love with that girl Song Jia? Big families always mean trouble."