"Ha!"
The man in gray, seeing Yang Ge seizing him and apparently intending to engage in a scrappy fight like a shameless ruffian, had a smile creep across his face that grew increasingly fierce. The look he gave Yang Ge was one of undisguised mockery.
Yang Ge was also smiling.
Smiling, he raised his right hand slowly into a fist, shook it at the man in gray, and then hammered a punch into his abdomen.
The man in gray, suppressing the urge to burst into loud laughter, swept his left hand down in a palming motion, seemingly catching Yang Ge’s fist with effortless ease.
But...
"Bang."
Yang Ge’s fist, together with the man in gray’s palm, simultaneously struck his abdomen.
A terrifying brute force, weighing over a thousand jin, caused the man in gray’s eyes to bulge out violently. He felt his intestines twisting into knots, and his body suddenly went limp, unable to muster any strength at all.
Compared to Inner Strength, which could be hard or soft, far-reaching or close-up,
Pure brute force seemed rather lowbrow.
Indeed, it was.
The threshold for Inner Qi was high, but its potential was even higher. Inner Strength could transform into Inner Qi, Inner Qi could transform into True Qi, and True Qi could even manifest True Yuan... The limit to Inner Strength was never about the upper bound of power, but the lifetime of the martial artist.
On the other hand, pure brute force had a low entry threshold and an even lower ceiling—after all, the human body has its limits; strength cannot grow endlessly without cessation. Even those renowned experts of external martial arts famed throughout the rivers and lakes dare not claim they can wield weapons weighing hundreds of jin continuously in battle.
But if there truly was someone capable of exerting thousands of jin of force with their bare hands and had the physical qualities to match,
Then, even if he knew no martial arts, he would still be a terrifying humanoid beast!
For instance, Yang Ge, who could casually wield a ramming rod made of bluestone weighing about two hundred jin.
Therefore, the man in gray believed that once Yang Ge’s Inner Qi was exhausted, it would be his time to shine.
But in reality, it was only once Yang Ge’s Inner Qi was depleted that his true advantage began...
"Aren’t you pretty arrogant?"
Yang Ge, grasping the man in gray’s collar with one hand as if he were lifting a chick, hoisted him high above his head and said with a chuckling shake, "Didn’t you want to defeat me within ten moves?"
The extremely shocked and angered man in gray mustered his remaining strength and kicked toward Yang Ge’s temple.
Yang Ge, without even blinking, raised his other hand casually and swatted it away.
"Crack."
The crisp sound of bone breaking echoed, and the man in gray struggled to widen his eyes, still unable to suppress the pain on his face.
"Enough!"
Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.
Just then, a hoarse yet icy voice came from behind.
Yang Ge frowned, grabbed the man in gray, and suddenly slammed him onto the ground.
"Puh!"
The man in gray immediately tensed up and spit out a large mouthful of fresh blood.
Then, his entire body went completely limp...
Yang Ge looked up, gazing towards the inn’s entrance where a muscular man stood, formidable as a lion with curly beard. After poking his pinky into his ear, he leaned his ear forward and said, "Ah?"
The muscular, curly-bearded man glanced at the man in gray lying motionless by Yang Ge’s feet like a lump of mud, and said with an increasingly biting tone, "Had your fun yet?"
Yang Ge nodded, "I’ve had enough, but I don’t know if you guys have."
The curly-bearded man replied, "I would like to play, but I’m afraid you folks can’t stand up to my kind of play."
Yang Ge clapped his hands, "Doesn’t matter to me. When you’re out in the world, you’ve got to pay your dues someday. Who can be on top forever?"
The curly-bearded man narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "Are you threatening me?"
Yang Ge: "That I didn’t expect, but I know that you two brothers didn’t come here with the intention of leaving alive. Still, just because you’re not afraid of dying doesn’t mean you really can’t die, right?"
Just then, a large group of Government Officials and soldiers arrived on command. Fang Ke waved his hand the moment he saw them, and the crowd surged forward like a tide, once again blocking the inn’s entrance, leaving no room for passage.
The bearded strongman didn’t even blink as he turned his head and swept a glance around the crowd, nodding as he said, "You make sense."
Yang Ge remained unmoved: "I’ve made my move, and you took it. Now it’s your turn. Propose a move. Whether I can take it or not, I will certainly respond!"
The bearded strongman, facing countless bows and crossbows aimed at him, slowly walked down the steps: "How about you join me for a couple of moves then?"
Yang Ge forcefully pushed aside Fang Ke, who was blocking his way, and stepped out through the crowd: "Agreed!"
The bearded strongman silently stared at Yang Ge for a good while before he finally let out a light sigh, "You really look like him!"
Yang Ge was about to question the strongman’s remark in confusion when suddenly his vision blurred, and he instinctively threw a punch.
But the punch hit nothing.
The next second, he felt the world spin around him...
"Bang."
Yang Ge crashed heavily onto the ground, facing up towards the sky.
Just as he had previously slammed the man in grey onto the ground.
He didn’t feel pain, only a tightness in his chest, as though a weight of thousands of pounds was pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
He struggled to breathe, but all he could feel was something flowing out of his throat, warm, salty, with a hint of iron.
All he could do was lift his head, only to see the bearded strongman’s dark, stern face expressionlessly looking down at him.
Fang Ke, who was behind, was frightened and shocked. He drew his sword and held it to the neck of the man in grey, roaring with a fierce demeanor but inner timidity, "Release our leader..."
But the bearded strongman acted as if he didn’t even see the gleaming blade. He calmly collected his hands and with a subtle smile, he softly asked, "Is it worth it?"
Having barely caught his breath, Yang Ge slowly nodded his head.
The smile on the bearded strongman’s lips faded slowly, "Are principles really more important than life and death?"
By now, Yang Ge had recovered somewhat, and pain was radiating from all his limbs.
But when he heard the strongman’s question, he just felt like laughing, an overwhelming urge to laugh.
So, he tried to smile with his eyes, slowly nodding again.
The bearded strongman saw him nod, and let out a long breath.
It sounded a bit like a sigh...
He reached into his clothing and slowly pulled out several thread-bound books. After flipping through them, he bent down and put one on Yang Ge’s chest, "The next time you see him, tell him on behalf of me, let him know I understand, tell him I’ll be waiting at home, tell him to rest well and to come back alive..."
Yang Ge knew who he was talking about, thought for a moment, and then nodded again.
"Thank you!"
The bearded strongman gently patted Yang Ge’s shoulder, then stood up and walked step by step toward the man in grey.
Fang Ke, startled by the strongman’s footsteps, took a step back but quickly regained his composure and shouted with a stiff neck, "Stop. Take one more step forward, and I will kill him on the spot!"
However, the bearded strongman still didn’t even glance his way.
"Let them go!"
Yang Ge finally spat out the blood in his mouth and managed to squeeze out a sentence from his throat.
Fang Ke looked at Yang Ge, then back at the expressionless bearded strongman and, ultimately, did not dare to truly behead the man in grey.
He stepped back, and only when the bearded strongman bent down to attend to the man in grey did he, along with his men, hurry over to Yang Ge to help him up, "Leader, how are you?"
Yang Ge wanted to laugh again.
This guy’s hands were shaking like he had Parkinson’s...