Lin Jingqi did not change the name after seizing Zhenshan Martial Hall.
After all, Zhenshan Martial Hall already had a certain reputation in Lianshan City. Changing the name at random would affect the martial hall’s business.
At this moment, roughly a hundred disciples were practicing martial arts in the center of the hall’s training ground.
The beginners were standing post and holding horse stance, while some disciples who had studied for a long time had already begun cultivating the Great Silk-Entwining Hand.
Lin Jingqi held a teapot in his hand and walked among the many disciples, correcting their movements one by one.
He was thirty-five or thirty-six this year, with a masculine, square-featured face. His beard made him look rather mature.
Just then, Lin Jingqi suddenly frowned and handed the teapot to a martial hall disciple beside him.
“This is how you practice the Great Silk-Entwining Hand?”
Lin Jingqi gave a cold snort. His left hand coiled around a wooden stake like a nimble serpent or a giant python. With a sudden exertion of force, he wrenched it tight, and the wooden stake let out an explosive crack—it was actually twisted clean in two by sheer force!
“This is the Great Silk-Entwining Hand, the secret legacy of my Zhenshan Martial Hall: hardness within softness, killing intent restrained within.
“And what are you practicing? Limp and powerless, every one of you, all form and no substance!
“If you don’t cultivate properly now, then when you go outside in the future, don’t claim to be disciples of my Zhenshan Martial Hall. I, Lin Jingqi, cannot afford to lose that face!”
Just then, a burst of clapping suddenly came from the entrance of the martial hall.
“Hall Master Lin truly is rigorous and responsible in his teaching. Not bad. Truly not bad.”
Chen Yuan wore a yanling saber at his waist, a wolf-patterned greatcloak draped over his shoulders, and led more than a dozen tall, sturdy Tianlang Gang members armed with long sabers into the martial hall.
Strictly speaking, these gang members were not official members of the Tianlang Gang, but reserve members training in the Transmission Hall.
However, those the Tianlang Gang cultivated were all desperate men of the jianghu who could fight, could kill, and dared to risk their lives.
Although this batch of reserve members had yet to officially enter the various halls, their aura was already far stronger than that of the martial hall disciples present.
Seeing the newcomers, Lin Jingqi’s expression changed slightly.
He had never met Chen Yuan, but he could guess Chen Yuan’s identity.
One of the Three Elites of the Tianlang Gang—the one who had been the most low-key before, yet had become the most high-profile in the past few days.
But what had Chen Yuan come to Zhenshan Martial Hall for? Lin Jingqi had no desire to deal with people from these gangs.
Strictly speaking, martial halls stood somewhere between jianghu people and ordinary folk.
Martial halls only taught martial arts and did not participate in jianghu struggles. They only collected tuition and did not fight over territory.
Toward these gang members, the several martial halls of Lianshan City all kept a respectful distance.
Lin Jingqi cupped his hands. “Might this be Young Master Chen Yuan, one of the Three Elites of the Tianlang Gang? May I ask what brings Young Master Chen to my Zhenshan Martial Hall?”
“Nothing complicated. I’ve come to your Zhenshan Martial Hall mainly to demand an explanation.”
Chen Yuan looked at Lin Jingqi with a smile. “A disciple of your Zhenshan Martial Hall joined the Blackwater Gang, killed my Tianlang Gang brothers, and seized my Tianlang Gang’s territory. Shouldn’t Hall Master Lin give me an account for this matter?”
Lin Jingqi’s expression changed abruptly, and he hurriedly said, “Young Master Chen, you misunderstand. My Zhenshan Martial Hall only teaches disciples martial arts. As for whether they go on to escort goods, wander the jianghu, or join some gang in the future, those are not things I can control!”
Chen Yuan looked at Lin Jingqi with a half-smile. “Hall Master Lin, what you say isn’t right. Then why is it that the disciples you teach don’t join my Tianlang Gang, but insist on joining the Blackwater Gang?
“Could it be because you’re always speaking ill of my Tianlang Gang inside the martial hall, or because you yourself are in collusion with the Blackwater Gang and are deliberately training gang members for them?
“Your Zhenshan Martial Hall is within my Tianlang Gang’s sphere of influence, yet you incite your disciples to join the Blackwater Gang. This is a standard case of eating from our bowl while helping outsiders. You truly don’t take my Tianlang Gang seriously.”
Lin Jingqi was so anxious that sweat had already covered his forehead.
How had the conversation turned, just like that, into him colluding with the Blackwater Gang?
He didn’t want to provoke the Tianlang Gang at all, and he kept even farther away from the Blackwater Gang.
Just then, a young woman in her thirties walked out from inside and said angrily, “Lin Jingqi! Why are you still explaining? Can’t you see he’s here to make trouble?
“The rules of every martial hall in Lianshan City are to teach martial arts only and not ask about a disciple’s future path.
“Once a disciple leaves the martial hall, any actions they take have nothing to do with the martial hall, and the martial hall is not allowed to interfere in grudges between disciples.
“This isn’t Chen Yuan’s first day roaming around Lianshan City. How could he possibly not know these rules?”
Chen Yuan looked at the woman with interest.
She had a full figure and attractive features, and could be considered rather beautiful. She should be Zhang Qiuhe, the fiancée whom Lin Jingqi had seduced and who had drugged Duan Mubai.
But looking at her now, this woman’s personality seemed extremely forceful, and her temper was even more fiery than Lin Jingqi’s, somewhat different from what he had imagined.
“Shut your mouth!”
Lin Jingqi glared at her viciously.
Then, turning back, Lin Jingqi cupped his hands to Chen Yuan, his posture humble.
“My wife is ignorant. I hope Young Master Chen will not take offense. May I ask the name of that martial hall disciple who joined the Blackwater Gang? I will immediately have him publicly expelled, then hold a banquet and apologize to the Tianlang Gang.”
The martial hall disciples present all looked at Lin Jingqi in disbelief.
Their hall master was awe-inspiring and imposing on ordinary days. Why was he being so unbearably humble before this young man today?
Lin Jingqi did want to be tough, but he knew that his tiny Zhenshan Martial Hall was not at all comparable to the Tianlang Gang.
Any hall master the Tianlang Gang casually brought out was a martial artist of the Meridian Opening realm, with hundreds of elite gang members under him who had survived jianghu slaughter. Flattening their Zhenshan Martial Hall would be effortless.
The old hall master, Duan Zhenshan, had indeed been in the Meridian Opening realm, and the Zhenshan Martial Hall of those days still had some face.
But after so many years, Lin Jingqi had never managed to cross the threshold into Meridian Opening. To this day he remained at the peak of Body Tempering. How could he have the confidence to act tough toward Chen Yuan, one of the Three Elites of the Tianlang Gang?
Chen Yuan said casually, “His name is Zhang San.”
Lin Jingqi said subconsciously, “I’ll go fetch the roster and look up that Zhang San right away.”
But immediately afterward, Lin Jingqi felt something was not right.
Zhenshan Martial Hall recruited hundreds of disciples every year. Although it was impossible for him to remember every disciple’s name, he was certain that Zhenshan Martial Hall absolutely did not have anyone named Zhang San.
Since ancient times, it had always been the poor who studied literature and the rich who practiced martial arts. Zhenshan Martial Hall’s tuition alone cost over a hundred taels a year. Without some family wealth, who would dare come to a martial hall to learn martial arts?
Thus, even the lowest-born disciples of Zhenshan Martial Hall came from well-off families. How could anyone have a casual name like Zhang San?
“Young Master Chen, are you certain that person is really named Zhang San?”
“No, because I just made up that name.”
Lin Jingqi’s face instantly flushed crimson. “You…”
Zhang Qiuhe sneered. “Lin Jingqi, still haven’t understood? He came today precisely to make trouble for us. Even if you kneel to him, it will be useless!”
This time, Lin Jingqi did not scold his wife again. He simply stared fixedly at Chen Yuan with bloodshot eyes.
“Young Master Chen, my Zhenshan Martial Hall has never provoked your Tianlang Gang, and I have never even met you before. Even if you want to kill me, at least let me die knowing why.”
Chen Yuan toyed with the hilt of the yanling saber in his hand and said carelessly, “When you schemed to cripple Duan Mubai back then, you didn’t give him any warning in advance either, did you?”
Hearing the name Duan Mubai, Lin Jingqi’s expression changed at once.
Zhang Qiuhe, however, suddenly drew two short blades from behind her and slashed toward Chen Yuan.
At the same time, she shouted at Lin Jingqi, “Kill Chen Yuan! Take his head and go join the Blackwater Gang!
“He came because of the matter with Duan Mubai. If we don’t kill him, we’ll both die!”
A smile appeared at the corner of Chen Yuan’s mouth.
This woman Zhang Qiuhe was actually more decisive than Lin Jingqi, and also more clear-headed.
The moment she learned he had come because of Duan Mubai, she immediately understood that the two sides were already in a fight to the death.
Kneeling was useless. Then they could only stake their lives.
After staking their lives, they would seek refuge with the Tianlang Gang’s mortal enemy, the Blackwater Gang. That could be considered their only path to survival.
Unfortunately, although her mind was clear, this woman’s strength was only average.
The yanling saber in Chen Yuan’s hand left its sheath in an instant, and the piercing ring of the blade resounded throughout the entire martial hall.
This strike came later but arrived first, its saber force like a starving wolf pouncing for the kill.
With an explosive clang, the twin blades in Zhang Qiuhe’s hands were sent flying outright, and blood immediately streamed from the webbing between her thumbs and forefingers.
Chen Yuan turned and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying straight back as she spat blood on the spot.
They were both in the Body Tempering realm, but between a Body Tempering martial artist who had cultivated inner force and an ordinary Body Tempering martial artist who only tempered the flesh, the difference in strength was simply heaven and earth.
Although a martial artist who only tempered the flesh had strength, it was dead strength, and could only be exerted through muscle and sinew.
Only after cultivating inner force could one mobilize the power of the meridians and blood qi, making one’s explosive force far stronger.
At this moment, Lin Jingqi no longer hesitated timidly. With a flip of both hands, a pair of refined-steel chain gloves had already been fitted over them.
These refined-steel chain gloves were made from diamond-hard interlocking rings the size of grains of rice, exquisitely and delicately crafted.
The Great Silk-Entwining Hand was a grappling art for close-quarters combat. When facing blades and swords, one could use these diamond-hard chain gloves to confront sharp weapons barehanded.
However, this item was exquisitely made and extremely difficult to craft, even more expensive than an equal weight of silver. It had been left behind by Duan Zhenshan in the past, and was now in Lin Jingqi’s possession.
Lin Jingqi’s movement technique was extremely fast. Like a hunting leopard, he pounced straight at Chen Yuan.
The yanling saber stabbed diagonally toward him, and amid the sweeping saber force, several saber shadows fell in succession.
Tianlang Strikes the Shadow!
Lin Jingqi gave a thunderous shout, his arms moving like butterflies weaving through flowers, directly clashing against the saber and producing ringing explosions of metal.
Then he seized an opening. His hands became like fine, flexible threads, suddenly coiling around the yanling saber, winding and circling it as the diamond-hard chain gloves locked the blade firmly in place.
Joy immediately rose in Lin Jingqi’s heart, and he was just about to follow the momentum and close in. But in the next moment, a tremendous force suddenly came from the long saber locked in his hands!
A burst of sparks abruptly erupted between the yanling saber and the diamond-hard chain gloves. The yanling saber was forcibly drawn out, and in the next instant, a dazzlingly brilliant saber light had already appeared before Lin Jingqi’s eyes.
The saber light was resplendent, like a bright moon.
Tianlang Swallows the Moon!
In his haste, Lin Jingqi crossed both hands before him to block, but Chen Yuan’s saber shattered more than half the diamond-hard chain gloves on his hands, and the bones in both hands broke instantly.
The Tianlang Saber Art only attacked and never defended. Strange, ruthless, and vicious, it was an extreme saber art focused on slaughter.
If Lin Jingqi had taken a defensive stance and dragged things out, then with the special characteristics of his Great Silk-Entwining Hand, he could still have exchanged a few moves.
But he had wanted to meet offense with offense. That would only make him lose even faster.
Looking at his blood-drenched hands, Lin Jingqi’s eyes were filled with despair.
With both hands crippled, he could no longer use the Great Silk-Entwining Hand. At this moment, he was already in a dead end.
Seeing Chen Yuan approach with saber in hand, Lin Jingqi begged bitterly, “Don’t kill me! Although I was the one who crippled Duan Mubai back then, I wasn’t the mastermind!”
Lin Jingqi suddenly pointed at Zhang Qiuhe, who lay on the ground gravely wounded, and said through gritted teeth, “It was her! It was this woman who bewitched me into attacking Duan Mubai!
“Hall Master Duan showed me kindness as heavy as a mountain. I originally never thought of fighting Duan Mubai for anything. It was all because she said Duan Mubai couldn’t protect Zhenshan Martial Hall and told me to seize it.
“She was also the one who took the initiative to drug Duan Mubai and have me strike him down. If you want to avenge Duan Mubai, you should kill her, not me!”
P.S. Thank you to book friend Buguan Bugubuli for the reward, and congratulations on becoming this book’s first Alliance Master.
Thank you to Changqing for the reward of 5,000.
Thank you to Tianbanxian for the reward of 1,200.
Thank you to Mr. Yao… for the reward of 500.
Thank you to the Corner Flagpole of Stamford Bridge for the reward of 500.
Thank you to Wudao Zhishuai for the reward of 500.
Thank you to Shehui Ni Hong Ge for the reward of 100.
Thank you to Cao Yuedao for the reward of 100.