For more than two months, Old Jack had been tirelessly trying to persuade Jiang Chen to join the Spirit Hall to cultivate, but Jiang Chen had stubbornly refused.
In the end, Old Jack had no choice but to shamelessly go to several neighboring villages to beg for a work-study student quota.
Jiang Chen still wanted to follow his original plan: team up with Tang San, and after ten or so years, obtain the opportunity to become a god.
More importantly, he had to consider his own life.
If he really went and joined the Spirit Hall, would Tang Hao, that big shot, let him go?
Jiang Chen thought about it and felt it was impossible. If he truly joined Spirit Hall, even if Tang Hao didn't kill him, he would probably immediately capture him and lock him up in some dark little room.
So, in his opinion, joining Spirit Hall was impossible… unless there was no "unless."
…
Another three days passed. Now there was only one day left before heading to Notting City.
This morning, Jiang Chen estimated that Tang San's cultivation on the mountaintop was almost finished, so he headed up the mountain.
Tomorrow they would leave for Notting City. Before that, Jiang Chen wanted to openly and honorably beat Tang San up once, to avenge the frustration from last time.
For the few days after crossing the tribulation, he hadn't gone to Tang San's house again. He had spent almost the entire time immersed in bitterly practicing that strange fist technique and movement skill.
After three days, he could basically control that strange fist force and almost no longer fell flat on the ground randomly…
As for the Three Thousand Thunder Movement skill, it was indeed extremely difficult to learn. Those unbelievable turns and direction changes had nearly caused him to tear muscles and break bones. Still, after three days of practice, he had made some progress.
By slightly reducing his speed, he could already achieve direction changes at most angles.
In his opinion, this was already enough. The Three Thousand Thunder Movement had no fixed footwork pattern; once you grasped the key, you could change direction as you pleased.
It should be more than sufficient to deal with Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
He moved extremely fast and reached the mountaintop in just a few minutes, arriving just in time to see Tang San finishing his cultivation.
Tang San's greatest fear was having his cultivation method seen by others; even his father didn't know his secrets. Seeing Jiang Chen suddenly appear made him immediately displeased.
The Purple Demon Eye and Mysterious Heaven Skill were his biggest secrets. If they were exposed, he wouldn't mind killing to silence the witness.
However, realizing that Jiang Chen had only come up after he finished, and probably hadn't seen anything, Tang San's displeasure eased slightly.
"What are you doing up here so early in the morning? You're not planning to ruin this place again, are you?" Tang San asked warily.
He couldn't help but think this way; last time Jiang Chen had sneaked up the mountain early in the morning and had nearly caused the entire mountaintop to wither. Tang San remembered it clearly.
Jiang Chen showed two rows of clean white teeth and went straight to the point:
"I lost to you last time. I want to fight you again."
"Oh? You sure?" Tang San looked Jiang Chen up and down, giving a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile, the naked contempt making Jiang Chen's teeth itch.
"Hehe, this time I'm going to beat you until you're crying and calling for mommy."
Tang San frowned. He felt that Jiang Chen seemed different today. There was a powerful aura emanating from him, the kind of aura that could only be formed by absolute confidence in oneself.
He also showed a smile. "Alright then, let me see how much you've improved these past few days. Don't end up lying on the ground admitting defeat again."
"You'll be satisfied!" Before the words even finished, Jiang Chen had already shot forward, reaching Tang San in the blink of an eye.
Tang San shook his head and unfolded Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. "You can't touch me. No matter how fast your speed is, if you don't know how to adapt, in my eyes it's just tra—"
Bang!
Before Tang San could finish speaking, he felt a huge force hit his butt, and his whole body was sent flying forward.
"'Just' what?" Jiang Chen tilted his head, standing there with a mocking smile.
While still in the air, Tang San used his waist to stabilize himself, but after landing, he was still carried back several steps by the immense force before stopping.
"How could you possibly catch up to me?" He blurted out in disbelief.
He clutched his butt; the spot that had been kicked hard was still burning with pain.
"Nothing's impossible. Want another kick?" Jiang Chen teased, closing in on Tang San again.
How could Tang San be willing to accept this? He only thought Jiang Chen had gotten lucky earlier. After all, he had lived two lifetimes, over thirty years in total. If he still couldn't beat a little six-year-old kid like Jiang Chen, then all his years of training would have been for nothing.
Watching Jiang Chen's rapidly approaching figure, Tang San gave a confident smile and once again unfolded Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. His exquisite footwork dazzled the eye, leaving a series of afterimages on the mountaintop.
Yet to his horror, he discovered that Jiang Chen was following right behind him like a shadow, and even looked completely at ease.
"Your footwork is all show and no substance, flashy but impractical," Jiang Chen sighed from behind, then suddenly flew up and kicked Tang San squarely in the butt again.
Tang San's heart jumped, his chrysanthemum tightened, and once again his whole body was sent flying. But before he could even land, Jiang Chen was already waiting there.
Watching Tang San fall toward him, excitement flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes as he threw a punch.
"Controlling Crane Catching Dragon!" Tang San shouted, redirecting Jiang Chen's fist to the side.
Jiang Chen was slightly surprised and immediately moved his feet to dodge away.
Tang San landed steadily and looked at Jiang Chen standing not far away. It was now impossible for him to remain calm inside.
In terms of pure linear speed, he admitted Jiang Chen was slightly faster than him. But he had Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!
This was a movement technique that the Tang Sect had continuously improved over hundreds of years; it could even dodge a sky full of hidden weapons. Yet now it couldn't evade the pursuit of a six-year-old child!
During the earlier chase, he had carefully observed: Jiang Chen didn't seem to be using any particular movement technique at all. He was just making simple, crude direction changes. No matter how exquisite Tang San's steps were, Jiang Chen could always roughly change direction and pursue him using the shortest possible path.
To Tang San, this was simply inconceivable. How could a human make such exaggerated angle changes while moving at high speed? Wouldn't they fall? Wouldn't their waist snap?
Yet Jiang Chen did it.
He didn't know that Jiang Chen had already suffered greatly to practice this movement skill, and had only achieved some initial success.
"How did you do that?" Tang San finally couldn't help asking.
"It's a movement skill I created myself," Jiang Chen laughed heartily, not blushing at all. Seeing Tang San suffer made him secretly feel quite pleased.
Being laughed at by Jiang Chen like that, Tang San's anger flared up.
"Hmph, then let me see if you can dodge me."
With that, he took the initiative and charged toward Jiang Chen…
Half a moment later, Tang San stopped in despair.
Jiang Chen was simply too strange. His freely changing directions left Tang San eating dust the whole time, yet he couldn't even touch the corner of Jiang Chen's clothes.
"Now, let's compare fists and kicks. You can't escape," Jiang Chen grinned wickedly.
Ten minutes later, Tang San lay on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, eyes vacant, wearing an expression of doubting his entire life.
He, the greatest genius disciple of the Tang Sect in a hundred years, had actually lost to a six-year-old child!
And most importantly… with how he looked right now, how was he supposed to go home?!