Chapter 6: Qin Xingchen vs. Carelessness

With a fierce glint in his eyes, Mahu kicked off the ground and leapt forward like a fleeting shadow, charging violently at Qin Xingchen with a punch.

“Take this move, Exploding Stone Fist!”

The Exploding Stone Fist is a mid-level superior martial fist technique. When executed, a single punch can shatter a two-hundred-pound boulder, its power not to be underestimated. Mahu had used this technique to defeat many experts of his rank; it was his proud signature move. He was confident that this punch would leave a lasting mark on Qin Xingchen’s face.

Qin Xingchen narrowed his eyes slightly. He hadn’t expected Mahu to immediately deploy a martial fist technique, yet his expression remained calm. As Mahu’s fist thundered toward him, Qin Xingchen gathered strength in his right fist and countered with an equally forceful punch.

Bang—

The two fists collided, sending a dull sonic boom through the air. As the sound faded, both figures staggered back. Mahu retreated five paces, while Qin Xingchen only stepped back once.

“Impossible!” Mahu and his brother Majie exclaimed in unison, disbelief etched across their faces. They hadn’t expected Qin Xingchen to withstand Mahu’s Exploding Stone Fist barehanded. More shockingly, Mahu found himself at a disadvantage after the clash.

Qin Xingchen was also inwardly surprised. He had thought that breaking through to the ninth sky of Body Tempering would put him on equal footing with a second-tier Blood Essence realm warrior. Yet, he had underestimated his strength. He muttered quietly, “In my past life, when I was at the ninth sky of Body Tempering, I wasn’t this strong. It seems the power of this Chaotic Overlord Body surpasses my expectations.”

Mahu stared at Qin Xingchen in astonishment. “You… you’re only at the ninth sky of Body Tempering?”

Majie caught wind of Qin Xingchen’s cultivation level too. He recalled that just two days ago, Qin Xingchen had only reached the eighth sky. How had he advanced a whole level in such a short time?

Yet even so, a ninth sky Body Tempering Qin Xingchen could put a second-tier Blood Essence warrior like Mahu on the defensive. How was that possible?

Mahu’s anger flared. “Qin Xingchen, don’t get cocky. That Exploding Stone Fist was only at fifty percent power. Next time, I’ll unleash it at full force and cripple you!”

With that, he charged again, throwing another punch. “Full power Exploding Stone Fist—die!”

Qin Xingchen narrowed his eyes. Mahu’s punch was indeed twice as powerful as before, but that was all.

“Then take this one too! Heavenly Flame Fist!” Qin Xingchen roared, striking out with a punch.

This was the Heavenly Flame Fist he had been practicing these past two days—a lower-tier supreme martial fist technique. The punch was fierce and domineering, radiating with a scorching spiritual energy.

Mahu sneered. “You’re just a ninth sky Body Tempering! You dare block this punch? You’re courting death! Watch me cripple your right hand!”

Bang—

Their fists collided again.

But the image Mahu had imagined—Qin Xingchen’s right hand being crippled—never came to pass.

Instead, Mahu’s face paled as he felt an overwhelming, terrifying force surge through Qin Xingchen’s right fist at the moment of contact.

Crack!

“Ah!”

A bone-shattering sound erupted from Mahu’s right arm, and he howled in agony, staring up at the sky in pain.

Qin Xingchen snorted coldly and doubled the force behind his right punch.

Unable to withstand the impact, Mahu’s right fist was battered, flesh torn and bleeding. Then his entire right arm twisted grotesquely.

Boom!

He was blasted flying backward, slamming hard onto the ground. The searing pain in his right hand made him writhe and scream uncontrollably.

Majie stood there dumbfounded. His elder brother wasn’t even a match for Qin Xingchen. How infuriating!

“I refuse to accept this!” Mahu rose, grimacing as he endured the pain in his right arm, glaring fiercely at Qin Xingchen. “Since my fists can’t beat you, then let’s see who’s tougher in a headbutt!”

To train his iron head skill, Mahu had daily immersed his head in hot sand and repeatedly rammed it against walls and trees, bleeding and bruised but never stopping. After years of such training, he had completely lost his hair but believed he had grown stronger. Confident, he promised to make Qin Xingchen’s head split open in a head-on clash.

“Qin Xingchen, take my iron head strike!”

Mahu charged wildly, ramming his bald head toward Qin Xingchen.

At that moment, Qin Xingchen slapped Mahu sharply on the side of his head.

Smack!

A crisp slap echoed.

Mahu stopped abruptly, a bright red handprint blossoming on his scalp. Angrily, he glared at Qin Xingchen. “I said headbutt, why slap me? You not playing fair?”

Qin Xingchen looked at Mahu as if he were a fool. “You like headbutting people? Fine, then you try mine.”

With that, Qin Xingchen rammed his head into Mahu.

“Diamond Iron Headbutt!”

“I’ll headbutt your lungs!”

Before Mahu could react, Qin Xingchen’s head crashed into his chest. This was Qin Xingchen’s own head technique, the Diamond Iron Headbutt, which sent Mahu flying.

In an instant, Mahu was hurled right in front of Majie, coughing up a mouthful of old blood. He lifted his head and glared furiously at Qin Xingchen. “What… what kind of head is that?”

Qin Xingchen replied, “It’s a ‘headbutt your lungs’ head.”

“Y-you… Argh!”

Mahu spat another mouthful of blood, furious and unwilling, before passing out.

Qin Xingchen then turned to Majie, who collapsed to the ground, pale with fear. After being slapped by Qin Xingchen a few days ago, the pain still lingered on his face, and he dared not make a move against him.

Qin Xingchen said coldly, “Leave the spatial ring, or I’ll make you crawl back.”

Majie gritted his teeth. “Qin Xingchen, don’t go too far. You already took my spatial ring. What can I give you now?”

Qin Xingchen looked down at Mahu lying on the ground, his gaze fixed on the spatial ring in Mahu’s hand.

Realizing Qin Xingchen’s meaning, Majie reluctantly walked over, bent down, and took the spatial ring from Mahu, then tossed it to Qin Xingchen. “Here’s the spatial ring! Can we go now?”

“Stop!” Qin Xingchen took the ring and frowned. “Tell your master Luo Shan this: He’s sent people to trouble me repeatedly, and I’ve taken note. As for his life, I’ll take it sooner or later. He better wait for me.”

Majie was stunned. “You… how do you know we were sent by Brother Luo?”

Qin Xingchen glared coldly. “Why do you care how I know? You should be thankful this is my sect. Otherwise, you’d both be corpses right now.”

Qin Xingchen’s words sent a chill through Majie’s body. He knew this was no joke because in Qin Xingchen’s eyes, he saw an unmistakable killing intent—like a monarch’s disdainful gaze, suffocating him.

“Qin Xingchen, you’re ruthless today! Just wait, Brother Luo won’t let you off!”

Majie hastily lifted Mahu’s body and fled in panic.

Only then did Qin Xingchen examine the spatial ring Mahu had carried.

Inside, besides a clutter of miscellaneous items, he found over a hundred low-grade spirit stones and more than sixty mid-grade spirit stones.

“Mahu is worthy of being one of the top five disciples of the inner sect—he has this many spirit stones!”

A pleased expression crossed Qin Xingchen’s face. “With these spirit stones, I can break through to the tenth sky of Body Tempering.”

At that moment, Yu Yumeng hurried out from the mountain gate.

Qin Xingchen was slightly surprised. “Why are you out?”

Yu Yumeng gazed at Qin Xingchen. “Xingchen, I didn’t expect you to become so strong!”

In truth, she had been secretly watching everything from inside the gate. She knew Qin Xingchen had grown stronger but not to this extent—strong enough to utterly crush a genius like Mahu from the inner sect. She was more and more amazed.

Qin Xingchen smiled faintly. “A mysterious expert taught me some techniques, so I grew stronger. Yumeng, don’t worry—I’m strong now. I won’t let anyone bully you, no one.”

Yu Yumeng trembled slightly, stunned. Because of her deformity, she had lived almost every day of her life surrounded by disdain and abuse. She had never been cared for like this before. Qin Xingchen’s words touched her deeply, warming her whole being. Her dry eyes involuntarily welled with tears.

Tears streamed down her face as she whispered, “Xingchen, thank you.”

Seeing this, Qin Xingchen could not miss the fragility hidden beneath her façade. He embraced her gently, soothing her softly, “I’ll always be here for you.”

“Mm…”