Chapter 6: What I Won’t Give, You Can’t Snatch

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: What I Won’t Give, You Can’t Snatch

The young Sect Leader was also a Grandmaster!

WHOOSH~~

On the White Jade Plaza, a frantic tempest of True Qi and Power raged. The gale it kicked up swept out for over a hundred feet, causing the roof tiles on the various halls of the Dao Yi Sect to rattle and shake loose dust.

And there, at the center of the storm, stood the young Sect Leader, one hand raised to the heavens. His body was as immovable as a mountain, bearing the full force of Li Jianzhou’s powerful strike without his feet shifting in the slightest.

"Sect Leader!"

Song Yu and the others exclaimed in shock:

"When did he reach the Grandmaster Level?"

It was common knowledge that the martial artists of this world were divided into twelve ranks.

The martial artists of the Lower Nine Streams, from the ninth to the first stream, all focused on external skills of skin and flesh. Even at its most profound, it was merely about the versatile application of muscular Power, or perhaps striking a tree with force that had both overt and hidden aspects.

At these nine ranks, even if one’s Power reached the level of a first-rate master in the Jianghu, it was nothing special.

This was because no matter how strong one’s physical Power was, one was still just a brute who tempered their body through hardship.

Only by taking another step beyond the first stream, transforming the physical essence of the Lower Nine Streams into "Momentum," could one cultivate a breath of True Qi within the body...

Training muscles and bones externally was inferior to training a single breath internally.

The birth of a Grandmaster required one to first develop a great Momentum within their heart—one that was uniquely their own.

By transforming this great Momentum into True Qi, the strength of one’s Momentum directly determined the abundance of their True Qi!

In this generation, even the most talented, Li Jianzhou, had to descend the mountain and temper his Heart Nature for several years before he could cultivate the natural, prideful Momentum of a Grandmaster.

Yet Chen Sha, who had almost never left the mountain since the previous Sect Leader brought him back, had also managed to cultivate a Grandmaster Level Momentum and generate powerful True Qi within his body.

"How can this be? You secretly became a Grandmaster! To hide your strength so deeply!"

Li Jianzhou’s palm met Chen Sha’s. Feeling the surging True Qi flowing from his opponent, like a dragon swimming in the sea and stirring up colossal waves, he demanded:

"Where did this ’Dragon Palm Intent’ in your Dao Yi Seal come from? That is not one of our Dao Yi Sect’s Martial Arts!"

"Self-realization!"

Chen Sha’s calm reply shocked everyone. At the same time, he stomped his foot. After receiving Li Jianzhou’s strike, he took the initiative and struck out with his own palm, unleashing a torrent of Power that was the epitome of Yang and firmness.

Within that single palm strike were the variations of Hong Qigong’s Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.

Inside the Cosmic Light Fragments, he had witnessed Hong Qigong teaching Guo Jing Martial Arts time and time again. He had even sparred with the great Grandmaster Hong Qigong thousands of times, observing every single move and stance of his complete Palm Technique.

It could be said that Chen Sha was intimately familiar with every variation and essence of the Beggar Gang’s ultimate Yang Palm Technique.

Thus, he had not only secretly learned every True Qi variation of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, but he had also simplified it, using the "Dao Yi Seal" to command the entire Palm Technique. He could unleash a single palm strike containing the terrifying power of all eighteen variations.

Therefore, as this palm descended, Palm Seals suddenly filled the sky.

"Self-realization?"

Li Jianzhou laughed loudly. He was surprised by Chen Sha’s Grandmaster Skill, but he felt no fear.

But then he saw the sky-blotting palm shadows howling toward him, instantly blanketing most of his body and targeting his vital points: his heart, neck, knees, the crown of his head, his Dantian, and more.

He subconsciously counterattacked, striking and dispersing more than ten palm shadows, only to realize with a shock that while the sky was full of Palm Seals, they were in fact all part of a single, incredibly potent "Dao Yi Seal" strike.

In a flash, the true palm, with the force of a toppling mountain and an overturning sea, was already pressing down on him.

BOOM!

The moment Li Jianzhou met the blow, his chest rumbled, and a sweet taste filled his throat, as if he had been crushed by the weight of Mount Tai.

’Such a fierce and powerful Palm Technique. Did he really figure this out himself?’

"Im! Pos! Si! Ble!"

His eyes became bloodshot. Forcibly mustering his Power, he stomped his foot. Instead of retreating, he billowed his sleeves, gathering the rampant, howling True Qi into his palm, intending to overpower his opponent.

It was either the east wind prevailing over the west wind, or the west wind over the east. One of them had to fall.

Li Jianzhou refused to believe that Chen Sha’s Power could be deeper than his own!

’His Palm Technique is just unusually fierce; who knows where he learned it,’ he thought. ’According to martial principles, anything too rigid is easily broken. His Palm Wind is the epitome of Yang, which means that right after he strikes is when he should be at his weakest...’

Li Jianzhou had roamed the world for over a decade, sparring with countless masters. He had a profound understanding of the Martial Arts of various sects, and even the fundamental Boxing Principles of martial studies.

Otherwise, he could never have reached the Grandmaster Level.

However, as he struck back, he didn’t feel Chen Sha’s palm weakening at all. Instead, its momentum grew even stronger, like a Divine Dragon soaring in the nine heavens. Just when it should have exhausted its strength and fallen from the clouds, it displayed the grand aura of a dragon returning to the sea—an endless, inexhaustible supply of power...

The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms had been passed down through many leaders of the Beggar Gang.

It was one particular leader who simplified the original twenty-eight palms into eighteen. These eighteen palms were then further refined in their essence by his sworn brother, the Lingjiu Palace Master.

This ultimate Yang Palm Technique wasn’t just about raw power; it also embodied the principles of the I Ching.

The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms had no moment of weakness from being "too rigid." Instead, its core principle was the constant transformation of a dragon!

From the dragon in the heavens, to The Arrogant Dragon Has Regrets...

BANG!

One of Li Jianzhou’s sleeves was instantly blasted apart by Chen Sha’s palm, the shredded cloth scattering like confetti.

"Cough, cough..."

He spat out a mouthful of blood toward the sky, staggering back seven steps.

"Master!"

The young boy and girl at the hall’s entrance cried out in alarm. They were Chengg Lin and Zhao Yunkong, the two apprentices Li Jianzhou had brought back to the mountain.

The girl, Chengg Lin, was especially distraught, her eyes welling with tears. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

’Master, didn’t you say that no one in the sect could match your Martial Arts?’

How could it be that her master was the one beaten until he coughed up blood by this "young Sect Leader"?

On the White Jade Plaza, Li Jianzhou, who had been sent staggering back seven steps by a single palm, roared:

"My sword!"

From the moment he had challenged Chen Sha’s right to be Sect Leader, he had been prepared to succeed or die trying. For someone as proud as him, serving a lifetime as a so-called "Elder" under Chen Sha—a man he’d considered far his inferior—was a fate worse than death.

If he hadn’t returned to the mountain with the goal of leading the Dao Yi Sect, why would he have risked being branded as gravely unfilial just to contend for the position before his master’s memorial tablet...?

Therefore, he would not stop, would not admit defeat, until he had exhausted every last option!

VMMMM~~

At his shout, Li Jianzhou’s back trembled, and a long Treasure Sword flew from its sheath into his hand. Its blade glinted with cold light, shimmering like water.

At this point, the Elders of the Dao Yi Sect were stunned into silence.

They could never have imagined that Chen Sha had not only broken through to the Grandmaster realm long ago, but could also soundly defeat Li Jianzhou in a contest of fists and palms.

"This..."

Some of the Elders who had secretly supported Li Jianzhou were dumbfounded.

"Jianzhou was actually beaten until he coughed up blood!"

Within the Dao Yi Sect, the Elders had informally split into two factions.

Now, the Elders in Li Jianzhou’s faction were inexplicably shocked.

Wei Dashan was also stunned.

Other Elders were already guessing in their hearts:

’Could it be that Chen Sha has been the true number one disciple of his generation all along? Was he just hiding his abilities because he was the Sect Leader’s son...’

There was no other way to explain the scene before them.

Li Jianzhou, on whom both the outside world and the sect had placed such high hopes, had rushed back a thousand li for the funeral only to be defeated by the young Sect Leader.

Now, they watched as he drew his sword.

Xue Xiuxin thought to herself, ’What a pity. His edge has already been blunted by Chen Sha’s domineering power. Even if his Swordsmanship was originally superior to his palm skills, he won’t be able to use even seventy percent of its strength now.’

A usurper who had been brimming with confidence, intending to end the fight in a single move, had instead been beaten until he spat blood.

The sudden blow to his ego was extremely severe.

Xue Xiuxin looked at Chen Sha again, a glint in her eyes. ’As expected of Chen Canxuan’s son. It seems my trip here for that matter won’t be a waste after all.’

But when she saw how Chen Sha responded to Li Jianzhou drawing his sword, she was shocked...

’What, a mourning stick? That’s just a willow stick...’

Suddenly, an uproar broke out at the entrance to the main hall.

With a casual pull, Chen Sha used his True Qi to draw one of the many mourning sticks that had been prepared for the day and placed by the hall’s entrance.

"You?" Seeing Chen Sha simply summon a stick, Li Jianzhou suppressed the deep anger in his eyes. With a whistle, he slashed out, Sword Qi erupting from the tip of his blade like a living Flood Dragon.

Chen Sha’s eyes were indifferent. He walked forward step by step, wielding the Willow Stick. A wooden stick against a Treasure Sword, he tapped left and right, then swept it across...

"That’s..."

"How can a mere wooden stick be used with such exquisite moves?"

"That’s not one of the Dao Yi Sect’s Martial Arts either!"

Watching Chen Sha so effortlessly and gracefully use the Willow Stick against Li Jianzhou’s Treasure Sword, the Elders all felt a sense of awe and inadequacy.

’We were wrong. We were all wrong.’

They looked back at Li Jianzhou. He was using his Grandmaster Level Sword Technique against a wooden stick, yet he couldn’t even scratch Chen Sha. The light in his eyes grew dimmer and dimmer, and a bitter smile slowly formed on his face.

His palm skills had already been crushed, his spirit blunted. Now, facing a wooden stick, he was still unable to break through.

His Heart Qi suddenly plummeted.

The flow of his True Qi faltered for an instant. Before he could recover from the shock, he felt a sharp pain as if his fingers were being chopped off. Chen Sha’s wooden stick struck his hand, and his Treasure Sword fell.

CLANG~

Li Jianzhou looked up in alarm.

WHOOSH~~

The wooden stick, imbued with immense Qi Power, struck his body, knocking him to the ground. He was forced into a half-kneeling position, unable to straighten his back.

"How... how could this happen!"

Li Jianzhou’s emotions were in turmoil, like Overturning Rivers and Seas.

He had rushed back a thousand li for the funeral precisely to teach his worthless junior brother a lesson, then openly reclaim the Sect Leader position that was rightfully his with his superior Martial Arts.

But, who would have thought...

...that he was the worthless one!

What did his years of pride in his Martial Arts and talent amount to?

Was he just a clown on a stage?

"Hss... ah..."

Li Jianzhou tried to get up, but he discovered that the True Qi behind that strike had locked his qi and blood, leaving him paralyzed in a half-kneeling position. He was facing Chen Canxuan’s memorial hall, like an unfilial son being forced to kneel in repentance.

"Heh... haha..."

Li Jianzhou’s face flushed red, then turned deathly pale. Having suffered such a massive blow, his mind teetered on the edge of madness.

He suddenly burst out laughing, a loud, crazed sound, his gaze fixed on the coffin, filled with infinite despair.

"What a masterfully unpredictable Staff Technique."

He looked at Chen Sha and said, "What is the name of this Staff Technique?"

Chen Sha tossed the Willow Stick aside and said coolly, "Dog-Beating Stick."

"Dog... Beating Stick."

Li Jianzhou gritted his teeth, his face turning from ashen to livid, and laughed at the sky.

"Is this the Martial Art Master secretly taught you to deal with me?"

It was the only conclusion he could draw.

The many Elders present, and even senior brothers like Song Yu, thought the same.

Even Zhou Santong muttered under his breath, "I know all of Senior Brother’s Martial Arts. He never taught me these two."

Chen Sha said, "You’re mistaken. My father didn’t leave me anything to deal with you."

To comprehend another’s Martial Arts through more than a thousand battles, each lasting over half an hour... what appeared to be half a month of sitting in meditation was, in reality, several years of fighting day and night. The monotony and the gains from it were beyond anyone else’s understanding.

His words stunned the entire crowd.

"Those two Martial Arts weren’t privately taught to his only son by Chen Canxuan?"

"Impossible!" Li Jianzhou said. "I don’t believe it!"

"What does it matter whether you believe it or not?"

Chen Sha said calmly.

"Since my father passed the Sect Leader position to me and not you, you should not have coveted it."

He walked toward the main hall, his back to Li Jianzhou, and said coldly:

"This position... I won’t give it to you. You can’t take it."