Free Web NovelChapter 149: Chapter 148: Fu Juemin vs. Li Tong
"What’s going on?"
Fu Juemin crushed his cigarette butt under his heel and turned to a member of the Qinglian Gang who was rubbing his shoulder and grimacing in pain.
The man glared resentfully at the thin man surrounded in the center and answered, "Young Master, we were here watching the car when that kid came up and tried to touch it.
We told him to leave, but he wouldn’t, and then he started hitting people..."
"You pushed the child first!"
From the moment Fu Juemin arrived, the man’s gaze had been fixed on him. Hearing the two speak, he immediately cut in coldly.
"He was touching my Young Master’s new car with his dirty hands. Was I not supposed to stop him?"
"Yeah, that’s right!"
The surrounding onlookers chimed in, but they were all one-sidedly supporting the Qinglian Gang members.
The man’s face turned ashen. He didn’t know how to respond and could only purse his lips, pulling the child behind him closer.
Fu Juemin glanced at the injuries of the men who had been on the ground—mostly just bruises and sprained joints, nothing serious.
He looked away and said nonchalantly, "Forget it. Let them go."
"Young Master!.."
One of the Qinglian Gang members was unwilling to let it go, but a single glance from Fu Juemin made him resentfully shut his mouth, lower his gun, and clear a path.
Seeing the matter resolved so easily, the man was actually taken aback for a moment.
Then, he gave Fu Juemin a deep look, cupped his fist in a salute, and pulled his child along as he quickly walked away through the crowd.
Seeing that the show was over, the crowd sighed in disappointment and quickly dispersed.
Once most of the people had left, Fu Juemin looked at Big Cat, who had returned to his side, and asked, "Tongxuan?"
"Yes. He practices the Northern Sect’s Iron Palm Skill. His mastery is quite profound..."
Big Cat paused, then continued, "He held back. Otherwise, they would have had more than just superficial injuries."
Fu Juemin nodded slowly.
Only a Martial Artist of the same Tongxuan Realm could have lasted several rounds against Big Cat without going down.
He could tell the man didn’t want to cause trouble, and he didn’t want to stir up any either, so he decided to let him off the hook.
"Oh, right."
A thought suddenly struck Fu Juemin. "Those onlookers just now, why did they all seem to have it in for him?"
Before Big Cat could answer, another man beside them couldn’t help but chime in, "It’d be a miracle if anyone liked him.
That guy has only been on Training Ground Street for five days, and he’s already challenged and defeated eighteen Martial Arts Halls. Everyone on this street, except for the people selling liniment, hates his guts and wishes he and his son would just drop dead..."
"No wonder..."
Fu Juemin chuckled in understanding and said no more, signaling for everyone to get in the car.
The ride back was silent. Upon returning to Ink Garden, a subordinate rushed over to report something. After hearing it, Fu Juemin’s eyes lit up. Without even bothering to change, he headed straight for the training hall.
When he arrived at the training hall, he immediately saw a slender figure standing with his hands behind his back under a waterfall of daylight pouring from the ceiling.
Fu Juemin smiled and called out, "Uncle Tong!"
The figure slowly turned around. It was Li Tong, whom he hadn’t seen in days.
Compared to Ye Zhenren, whom he had hastily accepted as a master today just to learn the orthodox Five Beasts Skill, Li Tong was far more deserving of the title "teacher" in Fu Juemin’s heart.
"Uncle Tong, what brings you here today... Huh?!"
Before Fu Juemin could finish, a faint smile flickered across Li Tong’s lips. Immediately after, his entire body vanished from the light like a phantom.
The next moment, he had closed the distance and was raising a palm, striking out at him with a deceptively light touch.
Instead of being alarmed, Fu Juemin was delighted. A sharp glint shot from his eyes as he met the attack with a palm strike of his own, without hesitation.
CRACK—CRACK—
As Fu Juemin raised his hand, the sleeve of his suit on his right arm instantly shredded. His right arm, suddenly swelling by a full size, was enveloped in a glazed halo as it tore through the air and collided with Li Tong’s palm in a straightforward clash.
BANG!
As their palms met, Li Tong’s body shot backward as if weightless, but a soft "Hm?" of slight surprise escaped his lips.
"I forgot to tell you, Uncle Tong. Both my Pharmacist Skill and Dragon Elephant Skill have advanced..."
Fu Juemin stared at Li Tong with blazing eyes, then suddenly brought his palms together with a wide grin. In the next instant, it was as if a dozen invisible pythons simultaneously burst free from his body!
RRRRIP—
His suit ripped apart inch by inch as his body abruptly swelled, his previously well-proportioned and slender frame now covered in knotted, exaggerated muscles. In the center of his chest, a ring of black, sinister-looking meridians spread out like a mysterious spiderweb.
"If you don’t transform, Uncle Tong, be careful... or I might just beat you to death!"
"Covering Sea!"
BOOM!
The words had barely left Fu Juemin’s lips, his voice now deep and husky, when the floor beneath him exploded.
His entire body shot forward like an oversized cannonball, his thick, exaggerated right palm forming a seal as it struck. In that instant, all the surrounding air seemed to be sucked in and compressed into that single palm!
Glazed Qi, Snake Poison Technique, Small Success Dragon Elephant, plus the power from his Talent, [Soft Bone]!
This palm seal from Fu Juemin could be considered the peak attack he could muster in his current normal state.
As the palm pushed forward, the air in its path was compressed, letting out a terrifying shriek!
RUMBLE!
Fu Juemin’s palm landed, and Li Tong retreated again. Though a faint hint of surprise showed in his eyes, his face remained as calm and unruffled as ever.
Fu Juemin’s Qi Blood was boiling. Right now, all he wanted was to violently rip away the eternal calm from Li Tong’s face.
In his mind, Li Tong had always been a benchmark, a beacon. Now, he wanted to see—to see clearly—just how much distance was left between himself and that beacon!
"Covering Sea!"
Fu Juemin performed the Seal Technique again. Under his Unrestrained Force, executing Covering Sea twice in a row gave him the faint premonition that he was about to completely master this technique.
BOOM!
A large palm and a small one clashed. The slender figure retreated rapidly, while the burly figure pursued him relentlessly, like a maggot gnawing at a bone, refusing to even give him a chance to breathe before striking with another palm!
"Bengshan!"
BOOM!
"Covering Sea!"
"Bengshan!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—
Fu Juemin alternated between the Covering Sea and Bengshan seals, his attacks fierce, tyrannical, and relentless.
For the first time in his life, Fu Juemin was overwhelming Li Tong, beating him back savagely.
The two of them fought from the spot where daylight streamed from the dome of the training hall all the way to a dimly lit corner, leaving a trail of shattered floor tiles in their wake.
Just as Fu Juemin was about to force Li Tong into a dead end against the wall, suddenly—
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—
A dense, tide-like sound of cracking joints and stretching flesh echoed out. Fu Juemin’s heart tightened. The next moment, he saw a large, bony hand emerge from the darkness, shooting out with a whistle and carrying a suffocating pressure.
BANG!
Fu Juemin only had time to form the Dragon Elephant Root Seal before his mind went blank. He felt as if he’d been struck in the chest by a giant siege hammer and was sent flying backward with a BOOM.
His heels dug into the ground, his feet tearing up layers of flooring and plowing two long, deep furrows into the training hall floor before he finally came to a complete stop.
HUUFF—CHH—
Fu Juemin was half-bent over as he exhaled a long, turbid breath. He released the Seal Technique in his hands, and the faint seal pattern that had been vaguely outlined on his taut skin quietly faded away.
With a [Defense] stat as high as 26, plus the Dragon Elephant Root Seal, Li Tong’s seemingly ferocious palm strike had only caused him a slight jarring pain. And under the powerful self-healing ability of the Great Success Pharmacist Skill, even that bit of pain was quickly smoothed away like ripples on water.
Lifting his head, Fu Juemin watched as Li Tong—now nearly two meters tall, powerfully built, and in his "complete form"—walked slowly out of the shadows of the training hall, one step at a time.
It was as if the light in the room was being devoured by Li Tong. Large, dense shadows spread out and rose from behind him, enveloping the surroundings.
When Li Tong’s indifferent, ice-cold eyes swept over him, Fu Juemin’s instincts screamed with intense warning signals.
His heart raced, and the veins on his temples throbbed violently.
Though alarm bells were ringing all over his body, Fu Juemin’s face showed no fear. Instead, a strange, brilliant light slowly began to shine in his eyes.
He rose slowly, looked at the Li Tong before him, and nodded with a smile. "Seeing you in this form, Uncle Tong, now I can feel relieved... and go all out."
After speaking, Fu Juemin formed the Fundamental Seal once more.
This time, however, what slowly appeared on Fu Juemin’s body was not the Dragon Elephant Root pattern, but patches of dark red markings that resembled hardened scabs or bronze rust, exuding a dense, ancient, and demonic aura.
Following that, beneath these markings, Fu Juemin’s already knotted and coiled muscles bulged and swelled once more....
Seeing this, a slight ripple of emotion actually appeared in the depths of the adult-looking Li Tong’s cold and indifferent pupils.
At that moment, a long-forgotten, indescribable sense of alarm and unease, like an undercurrent beneath a sheet of ice, silently began to spread through the depths of his heart.
