Chapter Six: Shadow Dance, Soul-Shattering Steps

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Feng was startled and spun around in alarm.

Sure enough, a languid figure emerged, his face forever wearing the look of someone who never quite wakes, half-opened eyes ringed by darkness and filled with a cold, wintry chill—it could only be Jiang Feng.

“Insolence! Where did this whelp come from?” Fang Tu's face turned ashen at having been shown up by a youth.

“Fang Tu, unless you wish to die, you’d better take back what you just said,” Jiang Xian said, his gaze sharpening as he turned suddenly, giving Fang Tu a fright.

Fang Tu was furious at first, but then paused, bursting out in laughter. “So this is your son, that fifteen-year-old good-for-nothing who can’t cultivate? A wastrel dares speak to his elders so rudely? You—”

But Fang Tu swallowed his next words.

“What about me? Or are you thinking of attacking someone younger? If you’re so shameless as to do that, I doubt my father would intervene. Or perhaps, this has always been your way?” Jiang Feng suddenly lifted his head, and the sleepiness in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold gleam as sharp as a winter’s night. His tone was mocking. When it came to verbal sparring, how could the haughty Fang Tu ever match Jiang Feng, with his second life’s wisdom?

Fang Tu was startled. That icy gaze just now—was it his imagination? Impossible. A fifteen-year-old who couldn’t even cultivate, who’d spent his days as the butt of every joke, could never possess such a look. It must have been a trick of the light.

“Feng—”

“Father, leave this to me,” Jiang Feng said, cutting off Jiang Xian with a wave of his hand, having already made up his mind before stepping out.

Jiang Xian’s eyes fixed on his son, and suddenly, he trembled. The first stage of the Nether Martial path—his son had reached the first stage!

Success!

Though there was a chasm between the first and fifth stages, Jiang Xian was nonetheless filled with a confidence he could not explain, and nodded.

“That wastrel, does he have a death wish?” Off in the distance, Jiang Lei, who was tending to Jiang Shan’s wounds, regarded Jiang Feng coldly.

“He has no idea how high the heavens are! Must my father even bother? A useless brat who’s never cultivated—I could crush him with a finger.” Fang Ming, who had just defeated Jiang Shan, pointed arrogantly at Jiang Feng.

“How about we make a bet? If you can’t defeat me with a single finger, then the year’s profits you just won will be forfeit, and you’ll hand over the Third-Stage Pearl you’re hiding in your robes.”

“How did you know I had—” Fang Ming clapped a hand over his mouth, realizing he’d been tricked.

“Damn, cunning brat,” Fang Tu’s face also darkened.

“Didn’t you just claim that my cousin, Jiang Shan, had stolen the Third-Stage Pearl? So, is the father a liar, or is it the son?” Jiang Feng sneered.

In fact, when he’d pushed his way out of the crowd, he’d noticed Fang Ming repeatedly reaching into his robe. Coupled with the rumors swirling around, it had been an easy guess and, on a whim, he’d baited Fang Ming—only to be proven right.

“But none of that matters now. The Jiang family has always been magnanimous. I’m just proposing a contest—unless you’re too afraid to accept?” Jiang Feng raised his head and fixed Fang Ming with an icy stare.

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“He’s just a wastrel—what’s he got to be arrogant about? Watch me knock him flat with a single move! Brother Fang Ming, step aside—this good-for-nothing doesn’t deserve your attention.” Unable to hold himself back any longer, Fang Lin stepped out.

Fang Tu and his companion exchanged a look and nodded.

“Fang Lin, since someone is courting death, oblige him.”

“Gladly! You, who can’t even cultivate, what makes you so bold?” Fang Lin clenched his fists, ready to strike.

“Wait.” Jiang Feng suddenly raised a hand, stopping Fang Lin.

“Ha! Lost your nerve? If you beg for mercy now, maybe I’ll let you live,” Fang Lin sneered, already picturing Jiang Feng kneeling at his feet.

“Hmph. I was going to say—I won’t even need my hands to defeat you,” Jiang Feng replied coldly.

The crowd fell silent, everyone staring at Jiang Feng in disbelief. Had the boy gone mad? Fang Lin was at the fifth stage of the Nether Martial path!

Jiang Lei could hardly believe it. He knew Jiang Feng’s abilities better than anyone—was the boy seeking a reason for suicide before being expelled from the clan?

“Haha, boasting before you die? Seems all wastrels share that hobby,” Fang Lin scoffed after a moment.

“If you don’t believe me, let’s make a wager. I won’t use my hands, and you can attack as you like. If you can so much as touch my clothes within ten moves, you win. How about it?”

Fang Lin looked at him as if he were a fool. Even a third-stage expert wouldn’t dare make such a claim. But according to their family’s spies, the Jiang family’s assessment five days ago had seen this trash fail to pass. Was he really seeking death?

“What’s this boy plotting?” Fang Tu muttered.

Fang Jin thought for a moment, then snorted. “So what if he has a scheme? Against absolute strength, all tricks are useless. Five days ago, he couldn’t even pass the test—could he have advanced five stages in five days? Absurd. Let Fang Lin handle this.”

“Agreed.”

With their approval, Fang Lin glared at Jiang Feng. “It’s your own words—I’m not forcing you. If I can’t touch you within ten moves, you get the year’s profits lost by your weakling brother, and the Third-Stage Pearl left behind by a third-stage Nether Martial warrior. But if you lose, you’ll have to take down the Jiang family pharmacy’s signboard and replace it with one reading ‘Wastrel Pharmacy.’ Agreed?”

Jiang Feng looked at him calmly. “Enough talk. Let’s begin.”

“No! Jiang Feng, what right do you have to wager our family’s interests? A wastrel like you has no right! If you want to die, don’t drag us down with you!” Jiang Lei bellowed.

Jiang Feng turned and snorted, “If you have the ability, get Jiang Shan to stand up and win. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut.”

“You! Jiang Xian, this is your son—how can you let him—”

“If you know he’s my son, you should know I’ll stand by him. Didn’t you hear him? Shut your mouth and watch,” Jiang Xian cut him off calmly.

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“Fine! I don’t believe this wastrel can win. If he loses, you two can bear the consequences!” Jiang Lei turned away, fuming.

“Let’s begin, boy,” Jiang Feng said, his sleepy eyes lazily sweeping over Fang Lin as he stifled a yawn.

“Courting death!” Fang Lin stamped his foot, launching himself straight at Jiang Feng.

The battle between Nether Martial practitioners was not filled with dazzling techniques, but with the raw collision of strength.

Fang Lin closed quickly on Jiang Feng, his right hand forming a claw that slashed viciously toward Jiang Feng’s chest.

“So this is the Fang family’s mid-level martial art, the Heart-Piercing Claw?”

Jiang Feng’s expression was grave. In his previous life, though he’d been unable to cultivate, he’d committed every martial art, every arcane skill, every strange tale he could find to memory. Especially those of the Fang and Wang families, who long had friction with his own clan in Nine Rock Town.

“Everything hinges on this moment,” Jiang Feng thought, the last vestige of sleep vanishing from his eyes as he squinted, watching that claw approach.

Just as the claw was about to brush his sleeve, Jiang Feng, instead of dodging, stepped forward—straight into the attack.

“Feng?” Jiang Xian’s heart leapt into his throat.

“Fool,” Fang Lin sneered.

A soft sound cut through the air, and suddenly the marketplace fell silent.

“What just happened?” All eyes were wide with disbelief.

Fang Lin, who should have pierced Jiang Feng’s heart with a single strike, stood there, his gaze blank. In that instant, Jiang Feng, who had been charging straight at him, vanished and reappeared at his right side.

He had never seen such an uncanny footwork before. Even the clan’s most advanced martial techniques could not achieve this effect.

Yet this drowsy-looking youth before him—wasn’t he the notorious wastrel who had failed the family’s test, unable to cultivate at fifteen?

How could someone like that possibly perform such a profound martial skill?