Romance of Dragons and Snakes

“I did not think that I would come across another practitioner with a deep knowledge of internal martial arts here. Youngster, it seems that your explanation of posture training is concise enough for even an ordinary person to understand. That means your comprehension of it is indeed profound. But calling yourself a master, that is not something that one should wildly call himself. If this was the society of the past, then this would be a ruinous matter. I’m afraid that you would find yourself with many men wishing to compete against you for that.”

“Youngster, do not fill yourself with so much Qi. Be more quiet, and be more modest.”

When Wang Chao heard those words, his eyebrows narrowed together before vanishing his presence to move forward.

This man was between his middle-aged to elderly years in age. He wore black clothing and on his legs were the old-fashioned traveling style of scissor clothed shoes.

His face was round, and his skin was sleek and glossy like the way a Lingzhi mushroom was. There was not liver spots to his face, and his eyes seemed to be like Venus itself with them glowing with a bright intensity. His entire hair was white, and his beard was three to four inches in length and was combed intensively.

This elderly figure stood at about 1.7 meters tall. A not high, but not short stature. He was skinny, but not threatening either. From the looks of things, he resembled a Confucian scholar of the past, and there was a hint of a Daoist scholar to him as well.

“He is without question an expert!”

When Wang Chao saw his eyes, he immediately felt that there was a strong resemblance between him and the photographs of the masters of Guoshu in the time period of the Republic of China. Whether it was Shang Yunxiang, Sun Lu-tang, or Li Shuwen, there was a huge similarity.

“I felt the wind blow against the grass earlier, meaning someone was watching me teach. It was no wonder, there was such an expert here. Beijing is truly a place where experts hide if I come across an expert like you in the Summer Palace. Instead of crossing the river to fight the dragon, have I met the snake of the earth instead?”

When Wang Chao was teaching Cao Jingjing about posture training, he felt something was slightly off ten minutes later. It was as if someone was watching him, but he was not certain. After a more observant watch, he had finally been sure someone was spying on him, so he had exposed him then and there.

Wang Chao’s martial art had reached the Transforming Jin stage. His power could circulate his entire body and be felt in every inch of his pores with an uncontested level of sensitivity. Even in his sleep, if someone were to peep on him, he would be able to instantly snap himself back into awareness and kill the person before 10 steps could be taken.

A cheetah pounces at the antelope at a speed of at least 30 meters per second. The world record holder for the hundred meter dash was only capable of an instant burst of 10 meters a second.

“It seems that you know the rules of the Wulin. If a master of the past were to teach, if anyone is found spying from the side, then they would be chased to even the ends of the earth and be killed or crippled. You were found, but you stepped out so easily, is that a challenge?”

Wang Chao watched this elderly man. Although he knew that he was facing an absolute expert, there was no hint of weakness to him. Hi voice had grown icy, and his body had grown still. Even Cao Jingjing could sense that Wang Chao was practically ready to strike and kill the man, as his killing intent was very clear to see.

Wang Chao had spoken correctly. In the pat, if an expert was teaching, it was an extreme taboo to have someone spy in on the training to learn. The first reason was in fear that they would learn the expert’s traditional techniques, the second reason was that if no discipline was done, then that master’s reputation would take a serious blow.

The Wulin of the past had a rule. If you were caught spying on me teaching my student, then there were three roads ahead of you. The first road is for me to cripple you. The second is for you to beg to become my student, like how Yang Luchan had stolen from Cheng village before becoming a student there. The third path was for you to defeat me in combat.

An old master had once made a witty comparison. Learning and teaching was like a woman taking a bath.

If caught watching, then the voyeur would have to be killed, get married, or have the voyeur rape the bather.

If one was not caught spying and word got out, then that woman could only hang herself.

After being caught spying, the elderly man had spoken another few words of the past.

Admittedly, the man had spoken in a counseling tone. His words weren’t wrong either, and held no malice. There was only a patient and guiding tone to him.

Like remembering the thrill of the hunt after seeing others go hunting, he was only just a master of the previous generation wishing to giving advice a youth.

He hadn’t spoken incorrectly either. Wang Chao calling himself a master would have people break down his doors to get to him in the old society, an unfavorable position. A young man, even if he is strong in martial arts, after enough competitions, there is bound to be a loss. That loss would be enough to kick him from grace and into complete defeat.

But the elder’s targeted words had been wrong. Wang Chao was a youth, yes, but he was no ordinary youngster. He was the head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts, a master that could father his own style of martial arts, and someone who could stand on the same footing as the abbot of Shaolin.

How could a grandmaster of their own school of martial arts be taught by anyone so casually? Even if it was done in good faith, it was not acceptable.

The uphold a name was to have the might of being the upholder.

So the hostility Wang Chao had towards this elder was normal. Perhaps this elder was a very well known figure, but that meant nothing know.

If Wang Chao were to grow modest and back down, then not too long after, word would break out in the Beijing world of martial arts: That youngster head of the Laoshan School of Martial Arts. He was defeated in Beijing, but the master had not moved a muscle. Instead, it was his presence that subdued him and forced him to learn.

If a rumor like this were to be told by a master, then it would become unbearable to suffer the results.

Wang Chao would never become undefeatable under the heavens this way.

If Wang Chao was just a regular youngster, then he could perhaps forego this elder’s attempts to probe for his martial arts. But since he was a grandmaster of his own school, to come across this situation meant that he could not be modest.

If you were modest, it would be uncertain what type of rumors would fly afterwards.

Although the other side had only just coincidentally seen a youngster with decent skill and a benevolent intention instead of one of malice, in this situation, all that was left to do was to fight.

This was the shackle of being well known. This could be said to be the duty of being known!

“Eh? An impulsive youth. I only saw that your martial arts was not that bad. There is a presence to you. Give up your arrogance and give it some few days, you will become great in the future.”

There was still a smile on the man’s face as he walked one step at a time towards them. Stopping just four or five meters away, there was still no sense of hostility to be felt from this man. Instead, he stared at Wang Chao with a look of interest as if looking at the junior generation of practitioners. He was giving off the presence of a senior generational practitioner, with still no hostility.

“Who are you?” Wang Chao’s eyes narrowed together darkly, his words had never relented or shown any bit of politeness.

“Your explanation of the posture training was quite decent. I am sure you practice Xingyiquan then. That was the posture of the Drilling Snake, a perfect one at that. Who is your master?”

The elder had not answered Wang Chao, but there was still a faint smile on his face. Without moving, he spoke, “I am a practitioner as well. When I came by this place, I saw two people practicing the posture training, I just had to take a look. But although I was only meaning to take a look, you found me. That must mean you are quite skilled. Seeing your appearances, you must be an university student from nearby.”

The elder was very calm and collected. Waving his hand, he asked, “What school of Xingyiquan are you from? Say it, I might just know your master.”

“You’ve presumably not heard of me, Wang Chao. You’ve taken me to be of the junior generation of students waiting to be taught instead.”

Coldly, Wang Chao’s teeth clacked against each other as he replied. “Head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts. Although not the same as Shaolin or Wudang, I am a master capable of founding my own school. Just what man are you, to watch as I teach, and to give guidance without opening your eyes first? No matter how strong your skill is, you should know the discipline of the Wulin still.”

“Today, I have ridden on the back of the tiger. I presume you understand that as well. This person I am, I cannot throw away. Just what more will you leave behind today for me, I cannot say that I can hand over a suitable response.”

“Three paths. Admit your wrongs, take me as your master, or beat me into submission. Other than that, there lies no other path for you to walk.”

Wang Chao had grown calm again by now. Taking in a deep breath, his entire body drummed up with a rumbling sound, but instead of the normal crackling sound from his joints popping, it was the rumbling sound of his internal organs rumbling with the booming sounds of thunder.

“What? You are the challenger two days ago? The same head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts that fought one against eight? I did not think you yo be that young or to be so strong in martial arts.”

As soon as he heard Wang Chao speak and felt the aura coming off of him, the elder’s smile froze on his face and stared at Wang Chao with a newfound serious expression.

“My eyes have grown old and blind. From my eyes, I only see a youngster who has practiced well. I see the hunt of another, and I remember my own hunts. But I did not think this nostalgia would cause such trouble for me. I never would have expected that you would be a master capable of founding his own school of martial arts. Truly, I was too impudent.”

There was a look of embarrassment on the man’s face before calming down with a light intake of air. “Student of the Sun style Taichi, Zhou Binglin. I have heard that you have fought your way across Beijing and became a well known figure despite your age. You have killed the number one expert of the Shaolin Temple, and is the strongest of the three million strong army. What I see before me today is indeed not any regular run of the mill practitioner. Even my old eyes can see that much.”

“You have three conditions. I cannot respond, nor do I dare to. Since things have gotten to this point, come then! Allow this old man to see the might of the head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts!”

The three conditions Wang Chao had laid out, Zhou Binglin would naturally not respond. With things the way they were, words were useless now. All that was left to use was their fists.

Although Wang Chao was young and Zhou Binglin was old, reputation was not distinguished by age.

It hadn’t been 10 minutes since each other had met, but a fight was absolutely necessary. Furthermore, a battle of life or death would take place here for sure.

“Good!” Wang Chao took two steps forward. “Jingjing, step back a bit.”

“What are you two doing? You just met, and yet you’re fighting?” Cao Jingjing didn’t understand. What she saw was that the elder in front of her had been very kind. And although he was caught spying, he had spoken without arrogance and now a fight had to take place.

She felt that Wang Chao didn’t really respect his elders, but she didn’t understand the unwritten rule between experts in regards to the responsibility of dignity and name.

For a master capable of founding his own school of martial arts, it was completely unacceptable for them to be given guidance by another, and even more unacceptable to have this leak out.

“Little miss, you should step farther away. There is some matters here that you don’t understand.” Zhou Bingling spoke to Cao Jingjing with a wave of his hand.

“Allow me to see the wealth of experience you have gained over the years! Do not say I am bullying the old, or that your body is declining with age! The matters that had happened today is because of you.”

“Master Wang, come then! Ignore my age of 50, I am unlike those Yiquan practitioners you fought against! The Zhou Binglin of today has maintained my strength from when I was at my best, if you defeat me here, then I have nothing to say to that!”

When Wang Chao first saw Zhou Binglin, he already knew that this old man hadn’t the sign of his body wearing down due to age at all.

His everyday life must have been very calm, peaceful, content, and with rhythm. A case most similar to the scholar officials of the ancient past.

A Daoist cultivates and maintains his health, and so does a Confucian. A Confucian’s way of health was strict by dieting to appreciate food, studying to cultivate Qi, and maintained a relentless control over the aspects of their basics needs in a rhythmic pattern everyday.

For those Confucians who could maintain this philosophy, they could live a long life despite not being able to fight.

In the olden times, there was even an elder over the age of a hundred who still participated in the imperial examinations.

This Zhou Binglin had the presence of a scholar official of that same past, meaning that he too abide scrupulously to the ideals of Confucianism. Every day to his dozens of years of life, he spent it maintaining his health. Because of that, his physical strength was still at its peak despite nearing an age of 60.

But in opposition, his fighting style now would be far more efficient and ruthless than the past, and far more hard to deal with.

Those practitioners of Yiquan Wang Chao had fought were all mighty in martial arts, but because of their titles, they could not avoid social interaction which broke them away from their life of cultivation. Thus, their bodies began to decline with age.

The Sun Style Taichi embodied the ideology of Confucianism.

When a practitioner studying the way of the Sun School reached the apex, it was similar to what was written in the Doctrine of the Mean, “With the Way of sincerity, it is possible to gain foreknowledge.”

The study of martial arts had four aspects: Cultivate, Practice, Fight, Perform. Cultivate was at the very first spot.

By not cultivating the health, having any type of skill in martial art was as realistic as a pavilion in the sky.

Wang Chao had never heard of the name Zhou Binglin. But judging from his appearance now, he was certainly someone famous in his youth.

He had never heard of Zhou Binglin’s name before, yet they still met anyways at the interior of the Summer Palace. In Wang Chao’s heart, he knew not to drop his guard. Instead in his heart, it was far more serious than it had ever been.

The elder he had met now was far more powerful in martial arts than any of his previous opponents.

“Perhaps, only a person who had flourished at his peak like elder Li would be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with this person.”

Clearly, this Zhou Binglin had already attained the Transforming Jin, and his understanding of martial arts was extremely deep.

Originally, Wang Chao had thought that there had been no real expert in Beijing. But what he didn’t expect was to come across a person like him in the Summer Palace. Like planting a flower in the garden, the roots unintentionally encroach onto the shade of the willow tree.

“Accept my move!”

Hu! Suddenly, Wang Chao’s foot pressed onto the ground with a drumming sound, causing a tornado of wind to blow around his body and sweep the grass and leaves. With a step and a push, he was already right in front of Zhou Binglin. Using the Smashing Jin, he delivered a punch trained under the oceans towards Zhou Binglin’s abdomen.

This Seafloor Smash traveled a short distance with an abundant level of ferocity and silentness. There wasn’t even the screeching sound of air as it traveled. But its speed was undeniably fast. In a moment, it had already made an impression onto Zhou Binglin’s black clothing.

Wang Chao’s Jin had entered transformation. The pores on his entire body could open and close at will as if he was breathing, so when he struck, his pores opened and allowed him to breath while also removing the wind generated by his muscles. It saved him energy, and saved him sweat. This was the skill of turning the sound of the fist into absolute silence.

For a person whose martial art that did not reach the peak or transformation, it was impossible to strike so silently.

“To practice from having sound to not having sound, that too is another world.” A master of martial arts had once said in this regard.

Zhou Binglin’s eyes suddenly grew even brighter than before as his iris registered the sight of Wang Chao’s body and immediately backed off.

Wang Chao’s fist was made of pure strength without leaving any margins to escape. Zhou Binglin had lacked the desire to meet fist to spear, so he had decided to retreat.

After all, Zhou Binglin had followed the reasoning of Confucianism to dictate his way of life. Unknowingly, he had carried on that Confucian air to him that brought etiquette and open-mindedness. These two factors had then influenced his ability to understand the tactics of his opponents.

Zhou Binglin took ten steps back, his entire body flashing through the trees. Wang Chao was like his shadow and chased relentlessly without taking a single stop to breathe.

Bang! Zhou Binglin stepped against a tree, causing him to suddenly turn around and whip his arms out. The entire ground shook as a “Seven Star Pound” met the “Seafloor Smash” that had transformed into the “Under Elbow Punch”.

When the Pound met Hammer, Zhou Binglin had moved back again to let the tree behind him support his weight.

The three began to shake and countless of leaves began to sprinkle towards the ground.

Zhou Binglin’s clothes near his abdomen suddenly had the hole in the shape of a fist on it.

Originally, he had been able to dodge Wang Chao’s “Seafloor Smashing Fist”, but Hidden Jin had already made its way towards his clothes and made an impression.

This fist had immediately shown the absolute skill Wang Chao had gained after his step into the Transforming Jin. Splitting a stone in two with a fist was nothing. Many experts, Karateka and Taekwondo practitioners most especially, were capable of such a feat. But leaving a hole in one’s soft clothing was an inconceivable feat.

In the middle of Wang Chao’s “Seafloor Smash”, he had transitioned it into the “Under Elbow Punch” which had collided with the “Seven Star Pound” which had sent Zhou Binglin closer towards a tree.

Crack! Both the tree bark and the back of Wang Chao’s clothes had begun to shred and rip.

Wang Chao had remained unmoved, like a bear scratching a tree. With a disharmonious collision, the clothes on his back had torn away and revealed the dark green tempered iron like muscles on his doughty body. He was like the valiant general Li Xuanba of the past. Despite his small body, his might was intimidating to all and could force any single other general to bow their heads to him.

Raising a foot, Wang Chao stomped against a tree behind him and borrowed that recoil to send him forward.

His feet flitted across the ground like a swallow cutting across water. In a blink of an eye like a bullet shot from a gun, he had arrived at Zhou Binglin’s side once more. Left and right, his fists were like the an alligator floating in the river. Pulsating with power, they suddenly stretched outwards to capture the shoulders of Zhou Binglin.

This style was concisely the crocodile stance in Xingyiquan, known as the “Turtle Floats in Water”. A move meant to capture, both hands would twist the opponent’s shoulders before the next move of “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile”. Using the Jin of the entire body, one would come in, shake, twist, pull, tear, and push.

When the crocodile bites into its prey, it would shake its body before rolling over with its teeth, causing the prey to be torn into pieces.

When a rooster pecks a centipede, its entire body would ruffle at moment of contact. Because of that influx of power, the centipede would be torn apart.

The crocodile stance was a generic name for the crocodile and turtle type of animals. The crocodile fist embodied the tortoise floating in the water and the alligator preying on the wounds of its enemy.

When Li Xuanba fought, aside from his sledgehammers, he would also grab onto his opponents and tear them limb to limb.

In the soul of Chinese boxing, the Longfist for example, the Pound and Hammer were considered the most fiercest of them all. But in close combat capturing, the most prominent was dividing the muscles and misplacing the bone.

Dividing the muscles and misplacing the bone, if not perfect, one would only be able to injure the two and strain the flesh.

But for one who learnt it to its limits like Li Xuanba, he could tear a person apart!

This was the most cruel, vicious and filled with the most self-preservation type of moves. A master would not use such a method unless faced with a genuine threat.

For Wang Chao to do so here was to say that Zhou Binglin’s martial arts was already more than enough for him to go all out at once.

There was no chance for mercy!

Guan Yu did not open his eyes, to open his eyes meant he was ready to kill!

After the Transforming Jin, Wang Chao’s Xingyiquan and the 12 stances had progressed unbelievably far to the realm of the masters. He had stepped into perfection, and to the point where the grandmasters stood.

When Zhou Binglin saw Wang Chao rushed towards him with a fiercely dauntless wind, he really did feel as if he was up against a crocodile in the Yangtze river. At the charge, his nose could just slightly smell the foul stench of blood.

At the same time, his heart knew that there was no time to turn around or to escape. Both hands raised upwards as his feet ploughed the ground. His vertebrae lifted and then brought both fists apart.

With a burst of Jin like pulling a bow, both arms rushed outwards like to grab onto Wang Chao’s arms.

This form had a name, “Draw the Bow to Shoot at the Twin Paws of the Tiger”. A combination of the “Draw the Bow to Shoot the Tiger” and the “Chain Pound” from Taichi. At the burst of power, it gathered shot, whip, smash, explode, and rumble into one and was considered one of the most powerful of moves in Chinese boxing.

If one did not learn to couple strength and gentleness together into their vertebrae, they would not be able to use this move. If done forcibly, they would damage their vertebrae and become a cripple.

Zhou Binglin’s usage of this move meant that he was truly the strongest foe Wang Chao had ever met in his history.

In his over 50 years of life, the man’s body had never lost strength due to age!

Bang! Wang Chao’s “Turtle Floating in Water” meant for capturing met with the “Draw the Bow to Shoot at the Twin Paws of the Tiger”. Four fists met one another with the usage of Hidden Jin in hopes of deposing of one another.

When he was pushed after making contact, Wang Chao had felt his joints, ligaments, muscles and pores all feel the powerful rebound. His blood vessels began to feel the giant shake, his heart rate began to leap, his blood began to boil, and his internal organs felt as if it was about to jump out from their original positions.

His two hands seemed to have been shocked by a hundred thousand volt strike, paralyzing his arms to the point of numbness.

Zhou Binglin had taken heavy damages as well. Both hands had been pushed away while his body was threatening to spin away. It was then that he had realized that Wang Chao had used the four ounces repel a thousand pounds principle from Taichi. It had gotten to the point where a redirection was done in smooth transition as if the person himself had altered his own attack.

At the same time when his body was rotating away, just as he was about to steady himself, his opponent’s Jin had altered once more to move to his fingers. With an iron-like grip, Wang Chao stabbed into Zhou Binglin’s fist with a tremendous stabbing sound.

While his twin fists had indeed injured Wang Chao’s muscles and bones, Wang Chao had dug deep into his fists as well.

Wang Chao’s gripping strength was his most terrifying aspect after learning to use the mercury ball to train himself. Circulating his Jin around his body, even a steel plate could be gripped.

It was with this contact that Zhou Binglin knew that the capturing method Wang Chao had used was of the Eagle Claw. There was such a strength to it that far exceeded anything else he had seen before in his life. It was no wonder that he had swept Beijing of its experts, defeated the number one secular disciple of Shaolin, opened his own school, and was known to be the number one amongst the army.

Meng! The sound of a bull could be heard from Wang Chao’s chest. His internal organs were beginning to shake and the fishy smell of blood could be smelt from his throat. He knew that he was injured from the intensity of his opponent’s hard Jin of Taichi. It was far stronger than Chen Tianlei’s.

A little bit of power that could destroy the entire body.

With his internal organs injured, he wouldn’t be able to fight for long. Wang Chao’s entire body unexpectedly began to release power, his eyes straining from his actions and all of his pores standing straight up like a needle. A sight like this was similar to the idiom, “hair standing up from anger”.

With a loud and mighty shout, Wang Chao’s entire body began to darken in color and fiercer in appearance as if he was the second reincarnation of Li Xuanba, or a war machine. With both hands restraining the fists of Zhou Binglin, he brought his Jin throughout his body once more before transmitting it from his feet past his vertebrae and up to his head.

Instantly, his entire body borrowed onto the strength of his Jin to divide, split, pull, advance, and strike. Charging in close, Wang Chao’s entire body trembled violently with a thunderclap like sound.

Zhou Binglin knew that it was an extremely dire situation with this sudden progressment. Both arms shaking tremendously, Zhou Binglin stamped down onto the ground so that he had left an impression onto the earth.

Dropping 500 kilograms worth of power downwards from his waist, vertebrae, and legs, his arms had been powered up to become like spears. In this tremble, he was prepared to send Wang Chao’s entire body flying away.

Wang Chao’s usage of dividing the muscles and misplacing the joints had already brought him up close to Zhou Binglin. Zhou Binglin hadn’t expected to see Wang Chao become like a wargod right in front of him and charge with the might of a million soldiers across the great river. A strike that covered thousands of meters, a strike that left no time to dodge at all. Only with the most fundamental pole techniques and the most steady of Taichi would Zhou Binglin be able to send Wang Chao sent flying away.

Zhou Binglin’s shaking Jin was very mellow and rich. He had once demonstrated in the past with four men at each of his arms. With a single shake and tremble, he had sent all eight men three meters away.

But Wang Chao wasn’t any ordinary person. At the moment, he was the valiant individual Li Xuanba. With the technique of “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile”, he was fighting with all his might now.

He was like a bulldozer knocking away all that he advanced towards while both sides of him divided, ripped, tore, and struck away. Realizing that his attempt was useless, he hastily turned around with a single foot as his axis. This transitioning of his body momentum had led him to strike against Wang Chao at a very close proximity between the two.

Bang! Both fighters struck against each other before being sent flying high into the sky.

As Zhou Binglin was in midair, he saw that Wang Chao’s hand had seemingly tore something from his own body. Falling back to the ground, he suddenly felt his right arm and shoulder sting in pain before blood gushed from that side of his body!

Glancing downwards, Zhou Binglin saw that his right arm had been torn away from him with Wang Chao’s “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile”. Flesh, blood, bone, and muscle, all had been revealed and torn away.

The object in Wang Chao’s hand was the right arm of Zhou Binglin!

Guan Yu did not open his eyes, to open his eyes meant he was ready to kill!

In a competition between experts, it was the exact same process of the ferocious beasts fighting their prey in the wild! The hand that divides the bone and misplaces the joints! It was the most cruel of methods amongst Chin Na, and one of the most cruelest of methods in Chinese boxing. Unless it was absolutely needed as a last resort, it could not be used.

Pft! Wang Chao struck the ground with a mouthful of blood spraying out. Seeing the arm that he had ripped away, Wang Chao had unexpectedly felt a deep sensation of sorrow and helplessness in his heart.

This type of sorrow and helplessness was the same feeling he had felt in his competition with Zhang Wei.

Brushing himself off, Zhou Binglin’s face had gone entirely white. His feet stepped forward before swaggering to the east and then breathing back towards the west two steps. With a bang, he fell back to the ground where his blood began to dye the grass red.

Any expert wouldn’t be able to continue fighting after having their arm torn apart in such a manner.

For the sake of their name, two experts had been led to such a state like this after a happenstance meeting. From this state, the cruelty of such a match could be seen, and how life or death could be decided within the blink of the eyes.

Wang Chao couldn’t hold back. If he lost, then his name, life and business would become a wasted effort.

After becoming known, not only did one’s name become his own shackles, it became his own responsibility to uphold.

It was at this moment that Cao Jingjing who was watching this scene with wide open eyes from nearby woke up from her dreamlike state. Seeing the scene in front of her, her mouth had dropped open as if wanting to yell. But the exclamation had died within her throat, unable to escape from it completely.

She was a person who had seen the aspects of society. After reawakening, her head had begun to consider just what step to take after this.

This battle was far more absurd than any other fight Wang Chao had ever been in, but it was absolutely necessary for him to fight in it.

The name of a grandmaster or master would be carried on their backs forever. A practitioner would always have to fight for the sake of their name.