"No! I didn't lose! How could I possibly lose to trash like you, Jiang Chen!"
Jiang Yunhong coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his face sickly pale. His eyes were wide and frantic; he clearly couldn't accept the reality of his defeat. With a furious snarl, he scrambled to his feet, waving his fist as he desperately rushed at Jiang Chen again.
"Toasted and rejected fine wine, you bastard!"
A cold glint flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes, his fist involuntarily clenching in preparation to finish the job.
Before he could strike, a phantom-like figure descended, positioning itself directly between the two cousins.
Seeing the Grand Elder, Jiang Qianhe, now standing in front of him, Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed. He sneered, "What's this? Is the dignified Grand Elder of the Jiang family going to renege on our agreement?"
"Jiang Chen, you genuinely surprised me."
Jiang Qianhe gave Jiang Chen a long, scrutinizing look, then turned to his grandson. "Give him the Lingyun Martial Academy token."
While the Grand Elder had desperately wanted his grandson to take the slot, he knew better than to escalate now. If Jiang Chen had still been the Body Tempering Second Layer failure, he would have easily crushed him. But Jiang Chen had just revealed potential that far surpassed Jiang Yunhong. If he were to openly suppress Jiang Chen now, he knew too many people within the family would jump out in opposition.
"No! Grandpa, I haven't lost! I can definitely beat him!" Jiang Yunhong's face was beet-red with shame and fury. He was supposed to be the family genius; he couldn't possibly lose to this piece of trash!
"Enough!" Jiang Qianhe's face darkened, and he shouted sharply, "A loss is a loss. Stop embarrassing me here! Hand him the Lingyun Martial Academy token—did you not hear what I said?"
Seeing his grandfather's absolute fury, Jiang Yunhong had no choice. His face twisted with bitter unwillingness, he slowly retrieved the token.
Jiang Chen snatched the token from his hand and, under the full, stunned gaze of the assembled disciples, turned and walked straight for the main gates of the Jiang residence.
The token was now secure. Jiang Chen had no intention of lingering. After publicly humiliating the Grand Elder and snatching the opportunity back, he didn't trust Jiang Qianhe or Jiang Yunhong not to retaliate in secret.
Safety lay in action: he would report directly to the Lingyun Martial Academy.
The Profound Leap
The Lingyun Martial Academy was located in Lingyun City, the administrative center of Lingyun Prefecture, which was only a short distance from Cangshan City.
Jiang Chen walked on foot for a long time, steadily closing the distance to the academy.
"Ding! Your Huang-Grade Advanced Movement Technique, Flowing Cloud Steps, has reached perfection, and you have successfully advanced to the Profound-Grade Primary Movement Technique: Streamer Phantom Steps!"
"Finally, a Profound-Grade!"
Hearing the long-awaited chime, Jiang Chen was instantly flooded with elation.
All the way from the Jiang family, he had continuously gained experience for his movement skill. Thanks to the Hundredfold Cultivation System, his Huang-Grade Intermediate Meteor Steps had quickly been promoted to the Huang-Grade Advanced Flowing Cloud Steps. Now, Flowing Cloud Steps had finally reached perfection, successfully advancing to the Profound-Grade Primary technique, Streamer Phantom Steps!
He had literally walked his way into a Profound-Grade martial art!
Profound-Grade martial arts were immensely powerful, notoriously scarce, and incredibly difficult to cultivate. In the Body Tempering Realm, successfully mastering even one Profound-Grade art marked one as a genius—even among the talented students of the Lingyun Martial Academy.
Now, with his Body Tempering Sixth Layer strength and the Streamer Phantom Steps at his command, Jiang Chen's speed was comparable to that of an ordinary martial artist at the Body Tempering Eighth or even Ninth Layer! Such was the overwhelming power of Profound-Grade techniques.
"Oh, well, well. Isn't this Jiang Chen, the great waste of the Jiang family? Looks like your trash status really did rely on your father to buy you a spot in the Lingyun Martial Academy!"
Just as Jiang Chen was basking in the joy of his advanced skill, a sneering voice suddenly cut into his elation, announcing his arrival at the Academy gates.