"When the people come up later, I'll have to trouble the two of you."
Shen Qi slumped onto the sofa, his face thick with fierce hostility.
Since morning, he had been receiving reports from his subordinates below. A martial artist in a long robe had started smashing places right from the Qibao Association's smallest venue, demanding by name to see Shen Qi, the head of the Qibao Association.
At first, Shen Qi hadn't taken it seriously. After all, martial artists were nothing rare to him; the Qibao Association retained quite a few martial artists, including experts at the Grade Seven level. Martial artists above Rank 5 could be counted on one hand in Modu, and he knew the exact whereabouts of every single one of them. As for the sudden appearance of Chen Che, he simply figured him for some reckless punk trying to make a name for himself by going up against the Qibao Association.
Some of the venues below had martial artists stationed in them. As Chen Che smashed his way through, sooner or later he would hit a hard wall.
Yet as time went on, the phone calls from his subordinates came with increasing frequency. It wasn't until even a venue guarded by a Rank 4 martial artist fell that Shen Qi realized the gravity of the situation.
Shen Qi decided he could no longer let Chen Che run amok. Since the man wanted to find him, he would let him come. Plenty of people had attempted to assassinate him, but without exception, not a single one had survived three moves from the two men at his side.
"Lord Qi, rest assured. He's just a brash kid with some paltry skills."
The speaker was the younger of the two men, Lv Quan. He was a Grade Seven martial artist retained by the Qibao Association and also its top combat asset.
"With the two of us here, Lord Qi can have him die however you please in a moment."
The old man was named Kong Gui. His back was hunched, and he leaned on a nanmu walking stick.
Shen Qi shouted with fury, "Ever since I founded the Qibao Association, I've never suffered such humiliation! A mere punk actually fights his way all the way here while my men put up zero resistance—I truly have raised a bunch of useless trash!"
After realizing something was wrong, Shen Qi had sent men to investigate the origin of the matter. Not investigating would have been one thing, but looking into it only made him angrier! Ever since Shen Qi became the king of the Modu underworld, it had been a very long time indeed since anyone dared to defy or provoke the Qibao Association!
Refusing to pay money was already an affront to the dignity of the Qibao Association, and now the fellow even had the gall to threaten to wipe them out!
"It seems everyone outside thinks I, Shen Qi, have gone soft from eating vegetarian food for too long and can no longer wield a blade."
Shen Qi let out a cold snort, his eyes radiating a sinister and ruthless malice. "This time, I'm going to skin and debone this brat who dares to provoke me, just to send a clear message to those disobedient folks and make them remember firmly that in Modu, I, Shen Qi, am the law!"
Bang!
The words had barely left his mouth when one of Shen Qi's subordinates burst through the private room door like a cannonball, flying straight in.
The three of them looked closely and saw that the subordinate who had flown in was none other than the Grade Seven martial artist guarding the door outside.
At that moment, Chen Che appeared at the entrance and strolled leisurely inside.
"Which one is Shen Qi?"
Chen Che's gaze swept across the three men in the room.
Shen Qi sat on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other, facing Chen Che, and said, "Not bad, kid. You're the first person in twenty years to make it from the first floor to the thirtieth floor completely unscathed."
Chen Che looked at Shen Qi and said, "So you're Shen Qi."
"I'm here to notify you and tell you straight up: I'm wiping out the Qibao Association. If you don't want to die, get out of Modu."
Chen Che said earnestly.
"Hah!"
Shen Qi exchanged a glance with the other two men and burst out laughing, as if he had just heard some monstrous joke.
"Kid, do you know what you're saying? You're going to wipe out the Qibao Association? And tell me to leave Modu?"
Shen Qi's expression turned vicious. "Do you even know what kind of end awaits those who offend my majesty?"
Chen Che sighed and said, "Forget it, let's just get started. A person like you won't learn sense until you take a few big slaps across the face."
"The two guys next to you must be your retained experts. Send them up. I'll finish them off early so you can wake up to reality sooner."
Chen Che said.
Lv Quan and Kong Gui found Chen Che's words utterly ridiculous.
"Such unbridled arrogance, finishing us off? I think something is seriously wrong with your brain!"
Lv Quan stood up, true qi slowly venting from his body. He carefully scrutinized Chen Che, using his true qi to sense the true qi within Chen Che's body.
He couldn't detect even the slightest fluctuation of true qi!
Lv Quan asked suspiciously, "You aren't a martial artist?!"
Hearing this, both Shen Qi and Kong Gui were startled.
If Chen Che wasn't a martial artist, how could he possibly have fought his way all the way here? And how could he have defeated the Qibao Association's Grade Five martial artists?
If a person had no true qi fluctuations in their body, there were only two possibilities. Either he was an ordinary person, or his cultivation was at the Eighth Grade.
Only realms like Eighth Grade true masters, grandmasters, and Grandmasters could completely conceal their own true qi. Since Chen Che was able to defeat a Grade Five martial artist, he obviously wasn't an ordinary person, which left only one possibility!
At this thought, both Lv Quan and Kong Gui broke out in a cold sweat. Never mind the Eighth Grade realm; even a single expert at the Grade Seven level could only be found three times over in all of Modu! Besides, Chen Che looked so young—how could he possibly possess such a high cultivation level?
Refusing to believe it, Kong Gui also released his true qi to test him quietly, and the result was identical to Lv Quan's judgment. There were no true qi fluctuations on Chen Che at all!
"This is impossible! You cannot possibly be at the Eighth Grade!"
Lv Quan roared in disbelief, yet he could find no better explanation.
Chen Che dug into his ear: "You're so loud!"
"Slap!"
The words barely finished when Chen Che appeared before Lv Quan in the blink of an eye. Before any of the three men could react, Chen Che had already delivered a single slap.
Before Lv Quan's expression even had time to change, his head was already separated from his body.
His head flew away from his neck, rolling into the corner of the room, while blood sprayed all the way up to the ceiling.
Silence fell over the entire room!
Kong Gui's hand trembling on his walking stick shook violently. Killing a Grade Seven martial artist with a single slap was not something that could be accomplished merely by a gap of one or two realms.
He was now certain that Chen Che was indeed at the Eighth Grade!
Shen Qi looked at Lv Quan's headless corpse as it crashed heavily to the ground, his expression filled with terror. Only now did he realize that it wasn't Chen Che who had provoked him, but rather the Qibao Association that had provoked Chen Che.
An Eighth Grade martial artist—let alone in Modu, even if placed in the provincial capital, would be the kind of existence fought over fiercely by various clans!
Shen Qi trembled all over and looked toward Kong Gui beside him. Kong Gui was a Qimen Dunjia Master; though sharing the same roots as martial artists, they walked a different path. Right now, he had no choice but to pin all his hopes on Kong Gui. Of course, he didn't dare hope to kill Chen Che; he only hoped Kong Gui could stall Chen Che for a few minutes to buy him a sliver of time to escape.
Chen Che glanced down at the blood on himself, annoyed that he had hit too hard—now his clothes were truly ruined.
Kong Gui slowly stood up, faced Chen Che, and cupped his fists: "I never expected a young friend of such tender years to achieve such accomplishments in the martial path. This old man is filled with admiration."
"To be frank with you, this old man is not a martial artist, but a Qimen Dunjia Master. Both Qimen Dunjia and the martial path cultivate true qi; the only difference lies in the method of application."
"Though lacking in talent, it took this old man forty years of cultivation just to reach the Eighth Grade. Forgive my bluntness, but since martial arts and Qimen Dunjia employ different methods of execution, the strength represented by our realms cannot simply be equated. Even if my young friend's martial realm has already surpassed the Eighth Grade, should this old man unleash his full strength to set up a formation, it might not be impossible to inflict heavy injuries upon you."
Chen Che was getting annoyed: "What on earth are you trying to say?"
"This old man wishes to say that today's affairs should end here. Lord Shen Qi will pursue this no further, and I ask that my young friend likewise press no further. If both sides give a little ground, perhaps we can even become friends in the future."
Kong Gui planted his nanmu walking stick squarely between his feet and spoke slowly.
Shen Qi also chimed in with a guarantee at that moment: "That's right. Old Kong's words are my thoughts as well. If Your Excellency is willing to let this end here, I, Shen Qi, guarantee that from this day forward, I will surely treat Your Excellency as an honored guest of my Qibao Association!"
"An honored guest won't be necessary. You can be my dog, and then I might consider it."
Chen Che didn't give him an ounce of face, stepping right over Lv Quan's corpse and walking toward Shen Qi.
At that moment, Kong Gui suddenly thrust his walking stick hard into the ground, pulling back his hoarse throat to let out a fierce roar: "Blood-Binding Formation!"
The next second, a circular formation appeared beneath Chen Che's feet, and true qi tentacles extending from the formation tightly bound Chen Che's body.