The pressure coming off Zhang Feng was physical. It shoved the rain back, leaving a dry, terrifying space around him. Disciples at the edges stumbled. Their chatter died replaced by the heavy rain in the background
The system's voice wasn't lazy anymore.It was sharp.
Li Yun's grip on Lu Chen's sleeve turned painful. "Brother Lu, don't," she breathed, voice shaking. "He's an Enforcer. Body Tempering Stage 9. He's not like them."
Lu Chen heard her. But his blood was boiling. This wasn't fear. It was the thrill of dancing on the knife's edge.
Zhang Feng's eyes—black like stone—swept over his brother in the mud. His gaze landed on Lu Chen. The air got colder.
"You," he said. The word was final. "You did this."
He didn't wait. He stepped forward. Each footprint was a deep crater. "You dare touch my blood? Humiliate my men?" His voice was a low growl. "Luck doesn't erase trash. I'll break what the beast didn't finish."
Lu Chen tightened his grip on the sword. The excitement in his gut was sharp, clear. He met Zhang Feng's stare and gave that same tired, disrespectful smile.
"Your pea-sized brain should've taught your brother," Lu Chen said, his voice cutting the silence, "to pick on someone his own size."
The crowd sucked in a breath.
Zhang Feng snapped.
His aura ERUPTED. A wave of force blasted out, throwing mud and water back. The playful stuff was over. This was predation.
"COURTING DEATH!"
He moved. Not clumsy. Fast. Terrifying. One moment he was ten feet away. The next, his fist was halfway to Lu Chen's face, knuckles glowing with brutal qi.
Li Yun cried out. The crowd winced, waiting for the crunch.
Lu Chen's body—humming with Body Tempering 6 and Rock Body 7—reacted. He slid inside the blow's path, turning his shoulder.
THWUMP!
The fist hammered his upper arm. The sound was sick. Pain, white and deep, lanced through him. A whole new kind of hurt.
[Rock Body EXP +15!]
He skidded back,arm numb. Okay. So that's Stage 9.
Zhang Feng didn't stop. A kick whistled toward Lu Chen's knee—a crippler. Lu Chen threw himself sideways. The kick grazed his thigh. Fire spread along the muscle.
[Dodge Reflex EXP +5!]
"Fast for trash," Zhang Feng snarled, pressing in. A flurry of jabs, each one rock-shattering. Lu Chen became a shadow, weaving, ducking, taking what he couldn't avoid.
THUD! CRACK! (A rib groaned).
[Rock Body EXP +12!]
[Rock Body: L7 → L8!]
WHIFF! (A fist near his temple).
[Dodge Reflex EXP +4!]
A brutal, one-sided dance. Lu Chen wasn't fighting to win. He was surviving. Absorbing. Every blow was agony and progress. His world shrank to the next hit, the next dodge, the next Ding.
The crowd watched, horrified.
"He's…still standing?"
"Zhang Feng's toying with him!"
"No,look! Zhang Feng's getting mad!"
They were right. Annoyance flickered on Zhang Feng's face. This should be over. This trash should be broken. Yet he kept moving. Kept getting up. Eyes still defiant.
"Enough!" Zhang Feng roared. He planted his feet. Energy coiled around his fists. The air crackled. "Mountain-Shattering Fist!"
A basic technique. In his hands, it was lethal. His fist became a blur—a straight line aimed at Lu Chen's chest. A heart-pulverizer.
Time slowed. Lu Chen saw it coming. He couldn't dodge.
Lu Chen had no qi to channel. Just instinct. He twisted, offered his toughened left side, crossed his arms.
BOOOOM!
The impact was a runaway cart. Something cracked in his forearm. The force lifted him off his feet. He flew back, hit the ground, skidded to a stop at Li Yun's feet.
Agony. Everywhere.
[Rock Body EXP +25!!]
[Critical Hit! Integrity: 45%!]
[Rock Body: L8 → L9!]
[Dodge Reflex: Level Up!]
But he was alive. Under the pain, a wave of new toughness. He pushed up on trembling arms. Coughed. Blood and rain on his lips.
Zhang Feng stood across the yard, chest heaving. He stared. Arrogance became disbelief, then fury. "How… how are you still conscious?!"
Lu Chen spat red-tinged mud. He looked up, a ragged, bloody grin on his face. His voice was hoarse but carried.
"Is… that all?" he coughed. "Your brother's insults… hit harder."
Silence. Total silence.
Then, chaos.
"HE DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!"
"HE'S DEAD!HE'S SO DEAD!"
"EVEN THE HEAVENS CAN'T SAVE HIM NOW!"
Zhang Feng's face changed. Rage burned everything away. His eyes bulged. Veins throbbed. This wasn't punishment anymore. This was erasure.
"YOU… YOU…" He was beyond words. A shaking hand clawed at his belt. He ripped free a small red jade vial. Bit the stopper off. Swallowed the black pill inside.
The older disciples gasped in horror.
"A Rage Pill!He's crazy!"
"That'll burn his meridians for a month!"
"He doesn't care—he just wants Lu Chen dead!"
It worked instantly. Zhang Feng's body swelled. Steam rose from his skin. His qi exploded—wild, unstable. His eyes glowed faint red. The air around him turned hot and violent.
"Or?" Lu Chen gritted out, forcing himself up.
The berserk Zhang Feng roared—a sound not quite human—and blurred into motion.
The enhanced fist came faster than sight. It wasn't meant to hurt. It was meant to delete.
Lu Chen had one desperate, crazy thought, fed by two lifetimes of getting kicked and the system's cold logic: If poison makes me stro
ng… what about a Rage Pill's backlash?
He raised his broken guard as the world became fury and light.
[TO BE CONTINUED…]