Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

"Ruan Yuqing, are you underestimating me, or are you overestimating the Court!?

"The late emperor was a muddle-headed fool.

"Just because I taught myself martial arts, he wanted to have me beaten to death.

"In that battle back then, I fought my way out of the Imperial City. Ah, how many people did I kill...

"How many experts from the Great Within fell victim to my palm?

"And in the decades since, as I’ve roamed the martial world, the Court has turned a blind eye.

"Do you think it’s because they don’t want to act, or because they don’t dare?"

"You’re too arrogant."

Ruan Yuqing slowly closed her eyes. The aura around her condensed, and a humming Sword Qi began to swirl faintly about her.

Wu Zhong watched her silently:

"So, you’re determined not to tell me where the Jiaowei is?"

"The Jiaowei..."

Ruan Yuqing smiled faintly:

"I’m not telling you for your own good...

"The one who holds the Jiaowei now... even ten of you would be no match for them.

"Why throw your life away for a mere worldly possession?"

"Enough, enough."

Wu Zhong smiled faintly:

’It seems asking like this will get me nowhere.

’In that case...’

As he spoke, he raised a single palm, and a gale of energy suddenly stirred.

WHOOSH! The two men in black behind him were instantly buffeted by the wind, their robes flapping violently and their hair flying wildly.

The gale of energy intensified, and everyone around was caught in its grip, their bodies swaying uncontrollably.

They were even pulled faintly toward Wu Zhong, feeling a powerful, entangling force, as if a thousand hands were grabbing at them.

At the same time, Wu Zhong moved. The gale pulled these people off the ground and scattered them through the air.

Without even a glance at the people swept up by the gale, he shot out a hand, aiming straight for Ruan Yuqing.

Ruan Yuqing’s eyes narrowed, a chilling glint flowing from them. The Soft Sword in her hand began to rattle—SHING SHING SHING—like rushing water and crashing waves, Sword Qi layering within it as she prepared to strike.

Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulder. A hand was resting there.

Stunned, she turned her head to see that someone had appeared beside her, though she had no idea when.

"You..."

Ruan Yuqing’s eyes widened.

Before she could speak, with a low HUM, a dharma manifestation shot up into the sky.

Without a word, he threw a punch.

The manifestation moved with him, its fist clenched, unleashing a devastating blow.

Great Brahman Vajra Fist!

This scene didn’t just surprise Ruan Yuqing; every single person present was utterly dumbfounded.

’This person... When did he get here?’

But the most shocked of all was none other than Wu Zhong.

He had been the first to attack. A moment ago, he saw a blur, and suddenly there was someone next to Ruan Yuqing, who he’d had completely at his mercy.

In his moment of shock, the dharma manifestation had already appeared and thrown its punch. He felt as if all the air in the world was being controlled by that single fist.

By this point, it was too late to pull back.

His grab collided fiercely with the punch.

There was a deafening, muffled BOOM!

Two gales of energy exploded outwards. The disciples of the Sanhe Gang, along with the two men in black behind Wu Zhong, were all sent flying by the blast.

On the Sanhe Gang’s side, even the few Hall Masters were no different from the common members.

Only the Gang Leader, Fang Yinuo, though shaken by the gale, was merely lifted by the wind and thrown a good thirty or forty feet before landing. He then took several more steps back to steady himself.

Meanwhile, Fang Li and Chang Sheng were also staring in a daze.

’How did the ’Duan Feng’ who was climbing the wall with us just a moment ago suddenly end up in the middle of the courtyard, showing off his power?’

They were still reeling from the shock of Ruan Yuqing killing over a hundred people with that Soft Sword.

And shocked that the Jiaowei had emerged in the world.

They had never imagined that this person beside them, who seemed so ruthless, would possess such incredible martial skill!

Li Tianxin and Luo Qingyi, however, were unfazed, having seen this sort of thing before.

Luo Qingyi’s expression was calm, while Li Tianxin simply shook his head slightly:

"...He’s at it again. Why does this never end?"

Hearing this, Fang Li couldn’t help but glance at him, not understanding what he meant.

But he didn’t have time to ask. The outcome of the fight in the courtyard was far more captivating.

Wu Zhong’s face was a mixture of red and white, the flesh on his cheeks rippling like waves under the force of the gale.

He let out a furious roar and surged his Inner Strength again, already giving it his all.

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed slightly:

’Good Inner Energy.’

With those three words, he tapped his foot, and the inner strength from the *Fortune and Upright Mind Sutra* surged forth like the mighty Yangtze River.

PFFT!!

Wu Zhong, who had just been able to contend with Jiang Ran, suddenly spat out a huge mouthful of blood.

His entire body shot backward like a cannonball.

Without even a chance to struggle in mid-air, he was slammed against the courtyard wall of the Sanhe Gang’s headquarters.

With a THUD, he slid from the wall and fell to the ground.

He hurriedly tried to use his arms to push himself up, but they gave way, and he collapsed flat on his face with a pathetic THUMP.

He coughed up several mouthfuls of blood before he could barely raise his head to look at Jiang Ran:

"Who... Who are you?"

’Everything was going fine, what on earth just happened?

’With my martial arts, taking down the Sanhe Gang or capturing Ruan Yuqing should have been easy...

’So why did someone like this suddenly pop out of nowhere?

’He looks completely unfamiliar, but the martial art he uses seems a bit like the Great Brahman Vajra Skill.

’But the problem is, when someone from the Great Brahman Zen Temple uses that skill, their dharma manifestation looks like a guardian Vajra... what in the world was the one this person used?

’When did such a figure emerge in the martial world?’

Ruan Yuqing, meanwhile, was puzzled:

"What are you doing here?"

Jiang Ran smiled:

"Just a coincidence... I felt something was off, so I followed along.

"Miss Ruan... This man is asking you where the Jiaowei is. You should just tell him.

"Why be so stubborn about keeping it a secret?"

Hearing this, Wu Zhong was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up. Ignoring his internal injuries, he hastily asked:

"You know where the Jiaowei is?"

"Of course I do."

Jiang Ran nodded.

"Tell me!"

Wu Zhong said immediately:

"I’ll give you anything you want, as long as you tell me where the Jiaowei is!"

Jiang Ran grinned, pointing a thumb over his shoulder:

"The Jiaowei? Isn’t it right here?

"You want it? Come and get it."

...

...

PS: Thanks to the big boss ’Hángqíng Bù Yǔ’ for the Alliance Leader award, which was given on the 9th. I just saw it...

It’s because there have been so many notifications from the character birthday event for my old book that I missed it. My sincerest apologies!