Chen Zhezhe felt as though his entire body had been thrown into a massive blast furnace, his head throbbing with a fierce pain. The sensation was remarkably similar to how he had felt the previous night after swallowing the True Essence of the Taotie.
Subconsciously, he followed the method Qin Xin had taught him the day before, guiding his breath back to its source and visualizing this surge of heat as his own True Essence. He focused first on his hands. Under the guidance of his mind's visualization, once the heat left his hands, he found that the dry heat brought on by the baijiu eased considerably.
Was this actually working?
Overjoyed, he followed the same principle and gathered all the heat within his body into his dantian, circulating his breath for a few cycles. He felt refreshed and clear-headed; not only had the symptoms from drinking vanished completely, but his spirit was also much brighter.
It felt as though he was holding something in his hand. He gave it an unconscious squeeze, and the person beside him let out a soft groan.
The scenario felt entirely familiar.
Startled, Chen Zhezhe sat straight up!
Jiang Chen had been feeling deeply uncomfortable, and fury flared within her heart. At the same time, her body writhed involuntarily, though she didn't want Chen Zhezhe to pull away, pressing herself close to him on her own accord. The friction of their bodies brought her a wave of intense pleasure while leaving her resentment burning just as fiercely.
As a fierce battle raged within her conscience, Chen Zhezhe got up and stepped away, rubbing his eyes. "I fell asleep? How long was I out?"
Shen Rongrong smiled. "I was just about to help you up, and you woke right up. Not long at all!"
Gritting her teeth until they ground together, Jiang Chen cursed inwardly, *You lewd bastard, taking advantage of me again! I originally planned to let you make a fool of yourself today and call it quits, but this time I'm going to make sure you get alcohol poisoning and end up in the hospital. The worst that happens is I'll pay your medical bills myself.*
"Since you're fine, shall we have another round?" Jiang Chen forced a smile while gnashing her teeth in secret.
Yet Chen Zhezhe's gaze was sharp; he clearly caught the trace of malicious intent in Jiang Chen's eyes. After drinking two glasses earlier, he hadn't felt the slightest effect. Could the method Qin Xin taught him really be this effective?
"Fine! Another round it is!"
This time, Chen Zhezhe proactively filled two glasses to the brim. "I didn't expect a girl like you to be so straightforward. I think you're a great person, so let's consider ourselves friends from now on! I'll finish this glass first!"
With a bold gulp, Chen Zhezhe tossed back a glass of liquor. The moment he did, he immediately mobilized his True Essence, directing the alcoholic fumes down to his dantian, and all physical reactions vanished without a trace.
Jiang Chen grew secretly anxious. The kid hadn't looked like he was faking it at first, so why was he getting more and more energetic the more he drank?
Still, it was no big deal. For Jiang Chen's alcohol tolerance, this didn't even account for a tenth of her limit.
And so the two of them went back and forth, drinking two bottles of strong baijiu as if it were plain water until not a single drop remained.
Liu Yi had originally known that Chen Zhezhe couldn't hold his liquor and wanted to stop him at the start, only to find that Chen Zhezhe showed zero effects and his mental state seemed even better than before. Finding this strange, he didn't dwell on it further and turned back to exchanging tender glances with Xu Shanshan, leaving Chen Zhezhe to his own devices.
After calling for another bottle of high-proof liquor and polishing it off, Jiang Chen realized that Chen Zhezhe's alcohol tolerance was genuinely extraordinary.
If things kept going like this, the two of them would have to put their true drinking capacities on the line.
Steeling her heart, she asked, "How about we switch to beer?"
"Forget it. If you're a girl and end up getting too drunk, who's going to take care of you? Pleasant Goat?" Chen Zhezhe joked.
A surge of even greater anger rose in Jiang Chen's heart. This fellow was still trying to flirt with her? He truly had no idea how he was going to die!
"I'll put my words right here today: if I can't outdrink you, you can take Pleasant Goat's place and take care of me..." Jiang Chen's words carried a double meaning. Already five parts intoxicated by this point, the rolling depths of her gaze possessed a feminine charm far beyond her usual self, making her speech all the more alluring.
"Jiang Chen, why don't we call it a night for today!" Seeing that the vibe between the two was off and resembling two needles pointed right at each other, Shen Rongrong tried to intervene.
But Jiang Chen wouldn't hear of it. In her view, aside from her old man, she had never feared anyone when it came to holding her liquor. Could Chen Zhezhe possibly be more formidable than her father?
She pushed Shen Rongrong's hand aside. "Waiter? Bring two cases of beer!"
Seeing that Jiang Chen could not be stopped, Shen Rongrong could only cast pointed warning glances at Chen Zhezhe, but Chen Zhezhe also wanted to teach Jiang Chen a lesson. The two of them were digging in their heels, and neither could be persuaded.
They didn't even bother with glasses, practically blowing straight into the bottles.
After a case of beer went down, Jiang Chen really started to struggle a bit.
At the beginning, she had assumed Chen Zhezhe's flushed face wasn't faked and figured he would collapse by the next bottle. Yet after finishing one bottle and then another, Chen Zhezhe remained exactly as he had been at the start—his face alternating between pale and flushed, but absolutely not the look of someone who was drunk.
At that point, doubts began to beat like drums in Jiang Chen's heart.
With his sharp senses, Chen Zhezhe noticed that Jiang Chen seemed ready to back down. "I'll empty my glass first as a toast?"
Feeling like she had fallen for this fellow's trap, Jiang Chen had no choice but to accompany a gentleman to the death. "Bottoms up! Who's afraid of whom?"
By the end, two entire cases of beer had been consumed. Everyone in the room was secretly peeking in their direction, and Liu Yi and Xu Shanshan watched the two of them with their hearts in their throats. Not only was Chen Zhezhe not drunk, but he didn't even feel bloated.
"I can't take it anymore, I need to pee!" Jiang Chen declared, her eyes laced with red threads, before turning and bolting.
She was probably using the excuse of a restroom trip to go throw up!
With an apologetic look, Shen Rongrong said, "I'll go check on her!"
She turned and hurried after her. Finding it amusing that this method could grant immunity to a thousand cups of drink—and since Jiang Chen was paying anyway—Chen Zhezhe ordered another two cases of beer.
He extended a finger, popped a bottle cap off with a *pop*, and tipped the bottle back to pour it down his throat.
By this time, Liu Yi had started to grow a bit worried. "Hey Chen Zhezhe, are you alright? Normally you can't even get up after a single bottle of beer. What's gotten into you today?"
Wiping his mouth, Chen Zhezhe smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm fine!"
After eating a few bites of food, Chen Zhezhe patted his stomach in satisfaction. He had drunk so much alcohol in just an hour without his stomach even swelling up—where had all that booze actually gone?
"Well, well? Isn't this my ex-girlfriend?"
A dozen people walked in, and a young man drew out his words in a taunting tone. "What? Found a new boyfriend?"
The man strode right up to the table, his eyes locked fixedly on Xu Shanshan, who turned pale, clutched her handbag tightly, and remained utterly silent.
"We're old acquaintances, after all. Why give me the cold shoulder like this? Did you forget all about me just because you have a new boyfriend?" The young man let out an arrogant laugh.
At that moment, Shen Rongrong hurried back in. Seeing the standoff and assuming they were all friends, she offered a simple apology to Chen Zhezhe: "She threw up, I'm just going to grab some water for her to rinse her mouth!"
With that, she picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table and turned to leave.
Shen Rongrong was an absolute stunner. Her presence alone made it difficult for Xu Shanshan to draw any attention. The young man's gaze instantly snapped over to Shen Rongrong, losing all interest in Xu Shanshan. "What's a pretty classmate like you called? My name's Liu Jiang. How about grabbing dinner together tonight? See that vehicle outside?"
He pointed a finger toward a Hummer parked outside the window. "That's my ride. It's got plenty of muscle."
Shen Rongrong hurriedly stepped aside and murmured, "I have things to do, excuse me!"
The men standing around him let out leering, malicious laughs.
"Playing hard to get? No problem, there are plenty of ways to handle that." The young man smiled shamelessly.
Chen Zhezhe glanced sideways at him. The young man was dressed in athletic wear and wore a duckbill cap, making it impossible to tell his background. The thugs following behind him all wore fierce, menacing expressions; several of them wore tank tops that revealed diagonal Green Dragon tattoos, marking them instantly as bad news at a single glance.
He looked over at Liu Yi, who was clenching his fists so hard his entire body was trembling, yet he still managed to hold himself back from striking.
Xu Shanshan stood up as well. "Liu Jiang, I told you, we are completely through! Get lost right now!"
With that, she viciously hurled her LV handbag away—it was the one Liu Jiang had originally given her. Chen Zhezhe let out an inward sigh; Xu Shanshan was still a gold-digger at heart, a habit she probably couldn't break, which made it a pity for his friend.
"A breakup is a breakup, then. I've got my eye on a new girl now. What do you say, beauty? Won't you grace me with your presence?" Liu Jiang didn't even look at Xu Shanshan, keeping his eyes glued entirely to Shen Rongrong.
Shen Rongrong was also a one-in-a-million girl; her temperament and looks were enough to set hearts racing even in plain clothes. No wonder Liu Jiang had been instantly dazzled at first sight!
Liu Yi couldn't take it anymore—Liu Jiang was bullying people way too far. He stood up. "Get lost, all of you!"
As he spoke, he reached out and gave Liu Jiang a shove.
A figure flashed. A burly, massive brute stepped out from behind Liu Jiang and, without a word of warning, threw a double-fisted strike. After executing a very strange stance with his hands, he stepped forward. The force behind the move didn't look particularly great, yet Liu Yi was sent flying backward with a whoosh, crashing down so hard he couldn't even manage to crawl back up.
Seeing the other party resort to violence, Chen Zhezhe immediately rushed forward as well.
The man saw Chen Zhezhe approaching and struck like lightning, instantly grabbing Chen Zhezhe's left wrist and giving it a light shake. Chen Zhezhe heard a sharp click come from his arm, and then the man's movements abruptly accelerated with a sudden burst of strength. Chen Zhezhe felt as though he had suddenly been launched into mid-air.
What kind of technique was this?
Chen Zhezhe felt like nothing more than a puppet, casually tossed through the air. However, because of his successful cultivation, the moment he was struck by external force, the established True Essence pathways within his body automatically activated. The jolt caused his body to instinctively adjust itself, naturally maintaining its balance mid-air so that he landed squarely on his feet.
The burly brute had only intended to throw Chen Zhezhe away and pulled back his stance upon seeing him flying.
Seeing Chen Zhezhe land steadily on his feet, the man let out an involuntary, casual "Oh?"
When Chen Zhezhe didn't answer, the man darted forward like lightning. Chen Zhezhe subconsciously pushed forward with both hands, only to feel his elbow heavily shoved by the opponent, followed by a push to his back. It was just a light touch, but his body abruptly accelerated, violently hurtling toward the ground.
Seeing that Chen Zhezhe was about to crash down from his throw, the man gave a slight shake of his head—he had thought the kid was some sort of young expert, but it turned out he just had decent physical fitness.
In a fraction of a second, Chen Zhezhe remembered the method Qin Xin had taught him. Pouring his strength into his palms, he summoned back the True Essence he had stored in his dantian just moments before. Right as he was about to smash into the floor, he twisted his waist, spun around, leaped back up in a single motion, and threw a punch.
The man was taken aback and threw a punch in return. Fortunately, Chen Zhezhe remembered Qin Xin's warning and didn't use his left hand.
Fist met fist.
The faces of Liu Jiang's gang were all plastered with schadenfreude. Daring to meet Jiangcheng City's famous heavy punch with a fist-on-fist collision? Did he not want his hand anymore?
Chen Zhezhe felt a violent shock run through his arm, making it impossible to maintain his balance. His body flew backward before landing steadily on his feet once more.
Though he managed to stay on his feet, an unbearable, excruciating pain erupted from his fist.
The moment he tried to lightly clench his fist, a violent shudder wracked his body from the pain. Lowering his head to look, he saw his hand had already swollen up massively, resembling a steamed bun.
The man's eyes bulged wide as he stared straight at Chen Zhezhe. "Nothing special after all. I thought it was some family's..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the man stiffened and toppled straight backward.
Chen Zhezhe was startled. *What the hell!*
*Did I just knock him down?*
The men around them cried out in shock, "He knocked down Brother Huang?!"
Liu Jiang looked at Chen Zhezhe as if he had just seen a ghost. Zhang Huang was a renowned expert in the city and had never suffered a loss under anyone's hands. In Liu Jiang's mind, wherever Zhang Huang stepped in, success was guaranteed. He never imagined Zhang Huang would be knocked flat by a single punch from Chen Zhezhe.