At this thought, Old Ape no longer hesitates, exhaling a third breath instantly while the purple Qi surrounding him grows even more intense!
At the same time, Wang Jing's resolve wavers, and the Mountain-Shaking Fist intent he had just accumulated slowly dissipates. His past commercial mindset begins to stir up trouble: "Your opponent is a Fortune 500 company, and you're just a startup—why are you trying to fight them head-on?!"
"You're making a few hundred bucks a month, what are you risking your life for?!"
"Do you really think you're somebody? Fighting fiercely out of brotherhood and pride?! Are you even worthy of being a boss?!"
With inner demons breeding within his body, Wang Jing suddenly crouches down in agony.
The voice of the inner demon continues relentlessly: "A man in his mid-thirties, and even in death there is no peace..."
"Flowers may bloom again, but a man is never young twice. When flowers can be plucked, pluck them straight away, do not wait for empty branches with no flowers... Come on, live it up?!"
As a transmigrator who forcibly integrated into this world, his thoughts are also suppressed and backlashed by the Heavenly Dao!
Watching the boy in agony, the Mountain-Moving Ape feels it has finally turned the tables and laughs heartily: "I thought you brat were some kind of genius, didn't expect you to suffer a backlash from your inner demons so early! What? Is your Dao heart shattered?! Serves you right! For trying to be a hero! As the old saying goes, within three feet of your fate, never beg for a zhang!"
Frowning deeply at the changes on the field, Song Changjing sighs heavily: "What a pity... Do you know why one of my refined hobbies is killing geniuses instead of widely recruiting talents and craving capable people?!"
Song Jixin shakes his head. "Your way of thinking is different from the principles in books."
Squatting down and lying atop the treetop in a comfortable position—in his view, this battle is already over—Song Changjing says casually: "Because geniuses and good-for-nothings often lie in a single thought. Whether on the path of a martial artist or in the cultivation of a Qi Refiner, there has never been any shortage of geniuses favored by the Great Dao. But the path of cultivation is long and arduous; a moment of carelessness can send you tumbling into a sea of fire, or even smash you to smithereens! Yet in the long river of time, winners take all is the minority; those who outlast the rest are the true victors!"
Song Jixin nods, seeming to understand. This is the most sensible and valuable thing he has ever heard from this uncle since he got to know him. Then he asks, "So, according to you, is Wang Jing completely done for?!"
With his eyes closed tightly as if bathing in the warm spring sun, Song Changjing says comfortably: "Definitely done for! Not to mention that Old Ape will continue to strike, even if they were to let Wang Jing off, the inner demons breeding inside his body are like maggots in the bone, and they will completely erode the boy until not even a sliver of his bones is left!"
A faint, imperceptible, and eerie smile appears at the corner of Song Jixin's mouth, but Song Changjing seems to sense it. "What? Do you have a bone to pick with that boy?!"
Song Jixin replies, "More than that, I have a bone to pick with both Chen Ping'an and Wang Jing!"
On the hillside, Liu Baqiao lets out a succession of sighs before regaining his composure. In truth, his own heart is full of contradictions; he admires Wang Jing's growth, but he also does not want him coming to cause trouble for him, given that he is inextricably linked to the affair involving Liu Xianyang.
Chen Dui says coldly, "Let's go, it's over."
Chen Songfeng agrees and prepares to turn away.
"Wait!" Liu Baqiao blurts out in sudden astonishment.
Wang Jing is seen slowly standing up while clutching his head. He forcefully steadies his mind, brings his arm to his mouth, and bites down viciously!
Blood instantly flows freely!
Watching the scene before him, the Mountain-Moving Ape lets out a series of chuckles: "Little bastard, what?! Starting to self-mutilate now?!"
Wang Jing shakes his head, releases his arm from between his teeth, and his gaze shifts from turbid back to limpid clarity. Articulating clearly, he says: "I have experienced failure in business several times, gotten divorced, lived under bridges, and even faced tide after tide of relentless debt collectors. I was mocked, ridiculed, and beaten until I had zero dignity left, living worse than a dog. For a time I suffered from severe depression and even thought of jumping off a building to end my own life."
Hearing these bizarre words that he doesn't quite understand, the Mountain-Moving Ape becomes even more smug. "You're truly out of your mind now, spouting nonsense prophecies the whole time. Do you even know what you're saying?!"
Licking the blood from the corner of his mouth, Wang Jing says with a sense of relief: "But I pulled through it all in the end. The motto I believe in most in this life is: whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger!"
The Blazing Fire No. 1 system begins spinning wildly: "Ding! Well said! You have finally comprehended the true essence of the Mountain-Shaking Fist! Practice martial arts with your mouth first—this is the true stubborn-ass fist!"
Paying no heed whatsoever, Wang Jing continues: "I have stood atop mountain peaks in brocades and silks, and I have hit rock bottom with not enough food for three meals. Yet the time I miss most and can never return to is when I had nothing to lose because I was barefooted—seemingly lacking everything, but filled with a blood vigor... fierce and bold! Now, I have found it, and I am back. Everything is still just as familiar as before!"
"Ding! Well said, but remember you need to attack your opponent and spew trash talk, not keep giving yourself pep talks!"
Wang Jing snaps angrily, "Shut the hell up!"
The system is dumbfounded! The Mountain-Moving Ape is equally dumbfounded!
The Mountain-Moving Ape clearly senses that Wang Jing's words were not spoken to it, but glancing around and seeing no one, it immediately concludes: "Since you've truly gone mad, then this old man will send you on your way! But constrained by this world, I will beat you just like Liu Xianyang instead of beating you to death, because I still have unfinished business, otherwise I really would fulfill your wish!"
The Mountain-Moving Ape's unfinished business is the promise it made to Tao Zi: to move the Cloud-Clad Mountain of this realm away to serve as a little flower garden for Tao Zi!
The Mountain-Moving Ape throws a heavy punch, with a hundred times more force than the one used against Liu Xianyang, after all, Wang Jing is a Fifth Realm Martial Artist!
Closing its eyes to sense the changes on the field, Song Changjing murmurs, "Time to kill a genius!"
"Bang!" The white barrier trembles! The small town violently shakes along with it, just like an earthquake turning the earth upside down.
Liu Baqiao's voice trembles with disbelief: "He... he... Wang Jing actually knocked Old Ape flying!"
Song Changjing leaps to his feet, re-examining the battlefield. The look of astonishment on his face grows heavier and heavier: "This is impossible... impossible... unbelievable!"
Old Ape's body is seen crashing heavily to the ground in a parabolic arc, while the boy named Wang Jing maintains his fist-clenched posture with a resolute expression. Wrapped in blue Qi, the silhouette of a zhang-tall Dharma Idol is gradually giving birth to flesh and blood!
As a veteran pure martial artist of the Ninth Realm, this completely transcends Song Changjing's understanding of the martial artist tier.
On the summit west of the small town, a tall, slovenly fellow with a tattered bamboo hat slung across his back wears a smiling expression: "This older brother of Chen Ping'an's really has some tricks up his sleeve. He couldn't grasp the golden carp opportunity I handed him, but this older brother is truly a massive stroke of fortune! The strongest in the Fifth Realm? Somewhat interesting!"
This fellow is none other than Li Er, the eldest disciple of Old Man Yang from the Yang Family Pharmacy, hailed as the strongest pure martial artist of the Ninth Realm in the present day! He has a junior martial brother, Zheng Dafeng, the town gatekeeper, who has been stuck at the Eighth Realm for many years.
As the saying goes, a great master produces brilliant disciples, and Old Man Yang of the Yang family is actually a supreme overlord in his true identity: Qingtong Heavenly Monarch.
Now that Wang Jing has overcome his inner demons and attained the pinnacle of the Fifth Realm Martial Artist, it seems to be predestined by some invisible decree of fate. The half-leaf of locust wood on Wang Jing's shoulder faintly shimmers with a golden glow, revealing the half-character "Yao" in flickering outline!