The small coffee shop. Silence descended once more. The invitation from the Saint Martial Hall! Xue Tian had received one too!

Xing Wuyi stared intensely, "What about you? Did you get one?"

"No." Qin Fen reached up, patting Song Jia’s delicate hand resting on his temple. "It doesn't hurt as much now."

"Jiajia..." Lin Liqiang held his head with both hands. "My head is throbbing."

"Suffer for it~!" Song Jia, flushed crimson, scooted back onto the sofa. Her cute little nose jutted out toward Lin Liqiang. "Go find your friend!"

"Ah~~" Lin Liqiang sighed, leaning back. "No mercy from the opposite sex. After all, you and I grew up together. Childhood sweethearts..."

The tension before the great battle was dissolved into nothingness by Lin Liqiang’s relentless, nonsensical nagging.

"Alright. It’s time to go," Xing Wuyi stood up. "If the fighting continues, we might meet. Even if we don't meet each other, we will all encounter other strong rookies. Everyone prepare yourselves."

Xue Tian, lounging in the sand, gave a slight shudder and hopped over to Lin Liqiang’s side. "I heard a lot of female fans of Caesar and Yang Lie have shown up. I’ve decided—before I meet them on the battlefield, I'm going to snatch all their beautiful female fans. That'll deliver a crushing blow to their arrogance ahead of time. I wonder, Young Master Lin, if you’d be interested in lending this brother a hand in this endeavor?"

"If Young Master Xue suggests it, how could I, Lin Liqiang, shrink back?" Lin Liqiang stood up, thumping his chest until it boomed, adopting a look of heroic confidence. "Sticking up for a brother through thick and thin has always been my motto, Lin’s."

"Then let's make our move." Xue Tian clapped Lin Liqiang on the shoulder, and they walked toward the door. "I’ve already scouted the locations of several beauties. We must return victorious this time and make Yang Lie and Caesar so angry they die."

Qin Fen turned to watch Xue Tian’s retreating silhouette as he walked out the door. What is genius? Just look at Xue Tian and you’ll know. Others cultivate; he plays. Others practice punches; he charms others. Others seek enlightenment in the martial way; he asks around where the beauties are.

Lin Li quietly rose and quickly vanished from the coffee shop.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Thinking about Xue Tian." Qin Fen looked back at Song Jia’s mesmerizing dimples. "A person's innate talent... it truly makes any martial artist envious."

"That’s not called innate talent," Song Jia smiled sweetly, lifting her coffee cup. "My grandpa says that’s called 'Innate Aura' (Cai Qi). Xue Tian probably doesn't know what my grandfather once commented about him."

"Oh?" Qin Fen's eyes shone with curiosity. To warrant an evaluation from the world-renowned Martial God, Lin Song Wen Dong, was reason enough for immense pride.

"Grandpa said, this child..." Song Jia purposefully lowered her voice, struggling to imitate Song Wen Dong’s deep tone. "He is very promising. Very promising. The natural aptitude he possesses is the best I have ever seen among anyone."

Qin Fen lightly rested his chin on his hand, clicking his tongue. "If I have the chance, I must spar with Xue Tian."

Song Jia leaned forward, cupping Qin Fen’s cheeks with both hands. "You're tired. I see fatigue in your brow."

"Tired," Qin Fen nodded repeatedly. "Truly tired."

"Come rest at my place for a bit," Song Jia whispered, her face blushing. "My barracks are too easily disturbed."

"Good."

Qin Fen was utterly exhausted. That particle storm was not just a test of control, but also a severe trial for his calculation and focus. Even a mature, top-tier Ace Mobile Armored Warrior would be utterly worn out operating a particle storm without causing a single casualty.

He awoke to darkness.

Song Jia sat cross-legged on the floor, practicing her internal arts with her five limbs pointed to the sky. As the granddaughter of the world’s Martial God, cultivation was indispensable for her as a martial artist.

Qin Fen quietly slipped out of bed and slowly opened the door, exiting the room.

As a new recruit, if he spent every day resting outside the barracks, no matter how many championships he won, it would bring no glory to the East Asian Military Region. Instead, failing to observe military discipline would cause the East Asian Military Region to lose face in front of the other military districts.

The late-night streets were exceptionally quiet. Qin Fen settled into the stance of Tai Chi, slowly moving through the empty street in place of normal walking. He replayed the sensations from the daytime battle, letting the feeling seep back into his body, bit by bit. The hard and soft energies transformed within him. The twenty-four simplified forms of Tai Chi flowed from his hands, now fierce, now yielding.

He practiced all the way back to the gates of the military camp. Qin Fen retracted his stance, his mind replaying the feeling of the entire journey. Though the stance was gone, his body had not truly exited the Tai Chi form; every step, the muscle movements and zhenqi still followed the emission principles of the twenty-four forms.

If a skilled martial artist passed by this spot, they would be astonished to find that the young Qin Zhan carried the pure essence of Tai Chi energy in his stride.

Unknowingly, Qin Fen returned to his quarters.

His fingers flew across the electronic keypad lock. Qin Fen was delighted that even his fingertips were emitting the force-generation techniques of the twenty-four Tai Chi forms.

The simplest contains the most intricate. The most intricate is often birthed from the simplest.

Qin Fen joyfully absorbed the meaning in his master's words and walked to the edge of the bed inside the room. Suddenly, the hairs on his body shot straight up. His five fingers, dancing in the empty air, snapped into a sudden fist, grasping the air with a snap. The zhenqi within his body violently surged, transforming into a raging river pouring into his arm!

Eighteen streams of zhenqi surged into his supremely yielding right fist, twisting and weaving together, converging into the momentum of a charging dragon!

Bioluminescent Beast Activated!

The bionic meridians rapidly unfurled to every corner of Qin Fen’s body, like CPL releasing data. Zhenqi churned and expanded within them.

Killing intent! Murderous aura!

A dense killing aura saturated every corner of the room! Qin Fen had never felt such a heavy sense of murderous intent before—an aura thick with the stench of blood and death.

This killing intent was hidden masterfully; his pores and skin completely concealed the bloody aura within his body. The entire person resembled a lifeless stone. Only at the moment of attack did the killing intent erupt completely, like the Monkey King breaking free from his stone prison.

In a thousandth of a second, every corner of the room filled with bloody killing intent.

There was no time for detailed thought; his body reacted before his brain could! Qin Fen’s right foot slammed down, bringing his left foot level with it, shaking the ground. The bed beside him vibrated and suddenly sprang up, flying away from the floor. His right fist, where eighteen streams of zhenqi converged, delivered a tyrannical and fierce strike toward the bloody shadow lunging at him!

Eighteen Dragons Gather Wind and Thunder!

The vein-corded fist stirred up a sound like wind and thunder, and a muffled thunderclap could faintly be heard in the air.

Bang!

The instant the fists collided, the resulting airflow exploded like an overinflated tire. The powerful blast ripped the sheet off the nearby wooden bed, sending it flapping away.

Pfft...

A mouthful of blood erupted from Qin Fen’s mouth. His fierce punch felt as if it had smashed into the legendary Mount Buzhou. Qin Fen felt his opponent’s zhenqi roar like a gale, crushing his own force inward and slamming violently into his chest.

Crack...

A faint sound of cracking bones echoed from Qin Fen’s right arm. Even his tightly clenched hands could not remain steady as stone. His body felt as if a charging elephant had slammed into his sternum.

Clang...

Qin Fen was blasted backward, crashing through the aluminum alloy window and flying out of it. His vein-corded arm had already returned to its normal appearance. His green military uniform was instantly soaked with blood, reminiscent of his fight with Jizhen Xuanyi during the day.

Ten-star? Peak star level? Qin Fen felt that it wasn't just his arm that was fractured. That single punch felt like every bone in his body had shattered. The zhenqi inside and the external zhenqi collided and tangled, fighting relentlessly in every meridian, seemingly threatening to tear his body apart.

The black shadow struck Qin Fen away with a punch, paused slightly, and muttered instinctively, "You actually reached the sonic boom realm? It seems I underestimated you. But you must die!"

In the silent dark night, the shadow’s somewhat subdued mutter reached Qin Fen’s ears clearly. A powerful surge of zhenqi rose again in the room...

Is this... Planetary level? Eleventh level, twelfth level, or even higher? Qin Fen hadn't even landed yet when the zhenqi inside his body exploded violently. A rush of blood shot straight to his brain, and his consciousness immediately swam. He could barely make out the black shadow breaking through the window, its movement through the air generating the same wind and thunder sound as his own punch.

Bang!

Qin Fen crashed onto the floor. The internal injuries worsened with the fall, and he fainted just before the fist could press down on him.

Die! Excitement flashed in the eyes behind the assassin’s black mask. To kill a martial artist who had entered the sonic boom realm at such a young age was indeed something thrilling.

One finger!

A single finger silently appeared near Qin Fen’s body, blocking the punch that could kill even an elephant.

One finger, silently propping up an attack that felt like a tank.

The fierce punch, a strike of the Twelve-Star level, met this finger, yet it produced no sound at all.

There was no explosive crackle of air from the forceful impact, nor the sound of bone fracturing as the fragile finger was pulverized. The fist stopped quietly, halted by the finger blocking its path.

The black-clad assassin stared blankly at the tall man before him.

A slightly worn cloak covered the majority of the man’s face, making it impossible to discern his appearance.

"Ninth on the Blood List?"

The man beneath the cloak spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of gentle inquiry.

"Huh?"

The black-clad assassin was momentarily stunned, yet his neck nodded completely against his will, a hint of pride shining in his eyes.

The Blood List. An important roster in the world of assassins. Ninth place was an honor.

"Who are you?" The assassin tried to exert more pressure on his fist, yet he could not budge the finger of the man who didn't look particularly strong. Suddenly, a tyrannical force erupted from that single finger.

Bang!

Crack...

Just as Qin Fen had been injured moments before, the assassin's arm suffered a slight fracture. Blood began spraying from the pores of his arm non-stop. He opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of thick blood into the sky.

"You..."

The black-clad man smashed into the wall of the house, staring in disbelief at the man before him. With just one finger, he had wounded the Ninth Rank of the Blood List.

"Scram."