Stop grinding, I'm really just a free spirit.

Chapter 26 Showdown

Wei Bo led Chen Bai out of the west gate of the market and walked more than a mile west, entering a crooked shantytown.

The alley was narrow, with mud-brick houses crammed together on both sides, their walls peeling and in disrepair.

Wei Bo stopped at a corner, pointed ahead, and whispered:

"Brother Bai, this is it. The one squatting by the door is Xue Pan."

Chen Bai leaned against the corner of the wall and peeked out. About ten steps away, there was an adobe house with its doors and windows tightly closed. A burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist was squatting at the door, dressed in a coarse brown robe with bulging muscles on his arms.

A short stick, reaching his eyebrows, lay at his feet. Its surface was shiny with oil, and he was idly breaking apart a dry biscuit and stuffing it into his mouth.

Chen Bai's mind stirred slightly, and the innate spiritual light between his brows twitched slightly.

The next moment, two extremely faint rune phantoms appeared deep within the pupils—the Illumination Rune.

His vision suddenly shifted, and he could see everything from the dust floating in the air and the fine cracks on the walls to the throbbing veins under the skin of Xue Pan's thick arms.

This is the "Ge Xianweng's Illumination Technique".

Although he failed to cultivate spiritual consciousness during his three-month seclusion, his innate spiritual light and physical strength far exceeded that of ordinary people. He was so strong that bricks flew, and he barely managed to master this spell, which should only be learned during the embryonic breathing stage.

However, this technique is extremely mentally taxing, and with his current accumulation of spiritual energy, he cannot sustain it for long.

"There's also Xue Shan guarding the back window behind the house. I'll go distract him," Wei Bo said, then circled around to the back of the house from the other side of the alley.

Chen Bai straightened the cuffs of his Taoist robe and walked straight out.

Xue Pan was chewing on a dry biscuit when he heard footsteps. He looked up, squinted, and grinned: "Hey, isn't this that guy surnamed Chen—"

He suddenly realized something was wrong halfway through his sentence.

The boy in front of me looks completely different from how he was three months ago.

Three months ago, this kid walked with unsteady steps, his shoulders and back were slightly hunched, and his eyes were darting around; now, however, he stands tall and walks steadily, his eyes are as calm as a deep pool of still water, and there is not a trace of fear in his eyes.

Xue Pan's smile froze slightly.

But then he thought again, no matter how things change, this kid is still just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy.

With skinny arms and legs, what kind of progress can you make in three months?

Xue Pan had been in Xiaojianshan Market for over ten years, doing a lot of bullying and harassing with Xue Zhen, and had never suffered a loss at the hands of anyone.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

He threw the remaining half of the dry biscuit on the ground, picked up the short stick at his feet, and stood up.

He was a full half a head taller than Chen Bai, standing like a wall in front of the mud-brick house, looking down at Chen Bai from his superior position.

"I'm taking the Qi family mother and daughter with me." Chen Bai continued walking.

Xue Pan was stunned for a moment, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, and laughed twice: "Hahahaha!"

With your skinny arms and legs?

He slammed the short stick on the ground, creating a small dent, then his smile vanished, his eyes turning cold. "If you know what's good for you, get lost."

The eldest brother said, "These two are very important; no one is allowed to get close."

Chen Bai didn't reply and continued walking forward.

Xue Pan's eyes twitched slightly, and he stopped talking nonsense.

He took a step forward, and his short stick whistled as it came down.

This strike is powerful and heavy, a technique of a trained practitioner. The stick moves horizontally, and the force penetrates straight to the tip.

If it hits hard, an ordinary person's shoulder blade would shatter on the spot.

But in Chen Bai's eyes, this strike was full of flaws.

With the blessing of the talisman, Xue Pan's every movement was slowed down.

It wasn't that he had actually slowed down; rather, Chen Bai's eyesight had been enhanced to its limit.

As Xue Pan swung his stick, every detail—the angle of his waist and hip twist, the trajectory of his shifting center of gravity—rushed into his mind in the same instant.

He can even predict where the stick will land.

Chen Bai turned his head to the side, letting the stick tip pass.

The short stick grazed the shoulder of his Taoist robe and hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and making Xue Pan's hand go numb slightly.

Xue Pan missed his first move, but reacted quickly, flicking his wrist and sweeping the short stick horizontally towards Chen Bai's waist.

The change of moves was smooth and the force was not diminished, clearly indicating that the person had practiced martial arts for several years.

Chen Bai took a step back, narrowly avoiding the tip of the stick. The short stick swept past his waist with a whoosh, causing his clothes to flutter slightly in the wind.

Xue Pan missed twice with his stick, and a sense of unease crept into his heart.

How did this kid dodge so well?

He gritted his teeth, took a step forward, and swung the short stick for the third time.

This time it was a diagonal slash, from the upper right to the lower left, with even greater force.

Chen Bai did not retreat.

The faint image of the talisman in his pupils flickered slightly. The trajectory of Xue Pan's swing of the staff transformed into a clear arc in his eyes—the landing point, speed, and weakness were all readily apparent.

Although the blow was powerful, Xue Pan shifted his center of gravity too high in pursuit of force, leaving only his toes touching the ground.

Right now.

Instead of retreating, Chen Bai advanced, taking a sudden step forward with his left foot.

This step landed between Xue Pan's feet, precisely where his center of gravity was most unstable.

At the same time, his right hand shot out like lightning, his five fingers like hooks, and he grabbed the middle of the stick from the side.

The timing of this grab was so precise that it sent chills down Xue Pan's spine. Chen Bai grabbed the short stick at its strongest point, in the middle.

This is like grabbing the rivet of scissors; no matter how sharp the two blades are, you can't exert any force.

Xue Pan's pupils contracted sharply, and he tried to pull the stick out, but Chen Bai's five fingers exerted force, firmly locking the stick in place.

The hand was a whole size smaller than his, but its strength was astonishing, as if it were being held in a pair of iron clamps, and he couldn't move an inch.

The next moment, Chen Bai flipped his wrist.

The short stick spun violently in Xue Pan's palm, causing a sharp pain in his hand, and his fingers involuntarily loosened.

Chen Bai seized the short stick without hesitation, and with the end of the stick reversed, he slammed it into Xue Pan's chest at the Tanzhong acupoint.

The Tanzhong acupoint is one of the thirty-six major acupoints on the human body. When it is struck hard, the Qi and blood flow backward.

Xue Pan was struck dumb, his whole body stiffened, and before he could even utter a sound, he fell backward, his back hitting the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

He stared wide-eyed at the sky, his lips trembling, but no sound came out.

Chen Bai slammed the short stick he had snatched onto the ground.

Just then, heavy footsteps came from the other end of the alley.

A burly man, equally imposing, emerged from behind the house.

The visitor was Xue Shan.

He held a gleaming short knife in his hand; the blade was broad and its edge flashed with a cold light.

He had obviously come over after hearing the commotion of fighting ahead, and his expression changed immediately when he saw Xue Pan lying motionless on his back in the dust.

"Second Brother!"

Xue Shan raised his head, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Chen Bai.

He was even more reckless than Xue Pan; without asking any questions, he rushed forward with his short knife in hand.

The blade strike relied entirely on brute force, a straight, sweeping slash aimed directly at the head. It lacked any particular technique, yet possessed astonishing power, the blade cutting through the air with a sharp whistling sound.