40: Chapter 40 The Assassin from the Tang Family

"Chen Feiyu has left. Where are we going?" Shen Xingchen sighed.

Sure enough, promises made to women must be handled with caution.

He had originally planned to relax a bit today, but now he was being dragged away by Jiang Qingyao again to practice martial arts...

Life is truly too difficult!

"The Zhongnanjie arcade, of course!" Jiang Qingyao said matter-of-factly.

"So you chased Chen Feiyu away and righteously talked about how it would affect cultivation, just so you could go play video games at the arcade with me?"

Jiang Qingyao tilted her head and smiled. "What, is that not allowed?"

Shen Xingchen asked uncertainly, "You... can you even play?"

Jiang Qingyao unhappily rolled her eyes at Shen Xingchen. "Your big sister here is Qiunan's number one jungler!"

"..." Shen Xingchen fell silent.

Jiang Qingyao raised her eyebrows in feigned anger. "You don't believe me!"

Shen Xingchen shook his head. "I didn't..."

Jiang Qingyao narrowed her eyes. "Then why? I saw weak and wavering trust on your face!"

Shen Xingchen: "Really, I don't!"

Jiang Qingyao snorted coldly. "You definitely do!"

Shen Xingchen counterattacked, "Clearly you're the one who doesn't believe that I believe in you!"

When faced with cross-examination from the opposite sex, one must not fall into the trap of self-proof; instead, one must be good at tossing the problem back to the other person.

Jiang Qingyao was stunned. What he said made so much sense!

Just as Shen Xingchen was feeling pleased with himself, two figures wearing black windbreakers passed by.

The moment they brushed past each other, a ferocious look appeared on one of their faces.

"Watch out!"

Shen Xingchen reacted instantly and hurriedly pushed Jiang Qingyao away from his side.

The blade of the person in black scraped past Jiang Qingyao's waist, leaving a thumb-sized scratch on her white dress.

Jiang Qingyao nearly slipped and fell. When she regained her senses, she saw two men in black charging straight at Shen Xingchen together.

Shen Xingchen's heart turned cold.

They're coming for me!?

In just an instant, Shen Xingchen's tier-2 level-6 aura erupted fully.

Ancestral Dragon Scripture.

Talent Divine Ability, Tiancang Azure Dragon.

Earth-tier martial art, Eight Desolations Dragon-Nurturing Fist!

Boom——

Shen Xingchen's fist collided with one of the men in black, kicking up a storm.

Feeling the power transmitted from his fist,

Shen Xingchen understood the opponent's strength in an instant.

Tier 3!

Shock also appeared on the face of the man in black opposite him.

Steward Li had said that although this high school student possessed peerless talent, his realm was only at tier-2 level-5.

Yet his explosive power was clearly tier-2 level-6.

Furthermore, regarding his combat power, even he, a tier-3 level-1, felt pressure.

What the hell kind of monster is this?

Seeing that the strike failed, the man in black immediately gave a look around.

On both sides of the street, three figures wearing identical black windbreakers appeared, making a total of six people.

The figure at the very front was a middle-aged man with slightly white hair and a square face—none other than Steward Li.

"Who sent you here?" Shen Xingchen asked in a cold voice.

He already had a guess in his heart; nine times out of ten it was that punk Tang Chen.

"Dead people don't need to know so much!" How could Steward Li give Shen Xingchen a chance to stall for time?

With a flash of his body, he arrived right in front of Shen Xingchen.

Hum——

A vicious punch struck directly at Shen Xingchen's face.

To onlookers, this was a tier-3 martial artist's full-strength blow. If this hit connected, Shen Xingchen would surely die a violent death on the spot.

A look of despair surfaced in Jiang Qingyao's eyes.

Bang——

A pure white spiritual energy barrier blocked the space between the two of them.

In Shen Xingchen's hand, the lingxi pendant hummed—this was the defense provided by the lingxi pendant.

The barrier was bowl-shaped, inverted over the ground, protecting Shen Xingchen and Jiang Qingyao inside.

He calmly observed the assassins. It was obvious that Steward Li and the two men in black from earlier were tier 3, while all the other men in black were at tier-2 peak.

Such a lineup was definitely more than enough to surround and kill an ordinary tier-2 student.

But!

Shen Xingchen did not feel that he was necessarily at a disadvantage.

Bang bang bang——

In just a few breaths,

Steward Li's numerous attacks struck the lingxi pendant's barrier, but it was obvious that the barrier of the lingxi pendant was not shaken in the slightest.

Shen Xingchen sneered, "With your mere tier-3 strength, even if I gave you a whole night, you still wouldn't be able to shatter this barrier."

Steward Li's face turned ashen.

Earlier, refusing to believe it, he had tested it out—it really was a grade-4 spiritual item.

Why would such a treasure be in the hands of this poor punk?

Before coming, he had investigated Shen Xingchen. His family was practically struggling to put food on the table; how could he afford a spiritual item worth tens of millions?

If he kept hiding inside, wouldn't this mission end in failure?

Steward Li sneered, "An S-rank proud son of heaven, and yet you only dare to shrink inside this tortoise shell?"

Shen Xingchen smiled. "It seems my actions have left you with quite a few misunderstandings. In my eyes, you lot are nothing more than slightly older good-for-nothings."

"However, I am willing to give you a chance." Shen Xingchen handed the lingxi pendant into Jiang Qingyao's hands, then stepped out of the defensive barrier in a single stride.

He stood calmly outside the barrier just like that, looking at all the assassins with a gaze full of disdain.

Everyone present was dumbfounded.

With a perfectly good spiritual item in hand, all he needed to do was wait for rescue, yet he had proactively walked out of the safe zone.

What difference did this make from seeking death?

Steward Li was stunned at first, then burst out laughing. "So you're an idiot! You actually fell for such a simple provocation!"

He would never give Shen Xingchen any more chances to stay alive!

Jiang Qingyao held the lingxi pendant in a daze.

She somewhat didn't understand Shen Xingchen's actions, yet she felt that he must have his reasons for doing this.

Shen Xingchen's vital energy surged throughout his body, adjusting himself to his optimal state.

His eyes were burning hot, and his imposing aura was soaring.

Dazzling dragon might poured outward, and Shen Xingchen made several successive charges.

His figure became as fast as a dazzling streak of light, crazily intertwining with Steward Li and the two tier-3 men in black.

Boom——

Boom——

The fist winds collided with one another.

Every single collision was in a state of evenly matched strength.

The five tier-2 peak men in black around them wore horrified expressions. When they came, it was said the target was only tier-2 level-5.

They had even mocked Steward Li in their hearts for being overly cautious.

Yet throughout this battle, from start to finish, they had not been able to see that person's movements clearly at all.

It wasn't that they were slacking off; rather, they felt that if they were to face that high school student themselves, they would probably shatter at the slightest touch...

On the other side, Shen Xingchen gradually began to discover that his combat rhythm was developing a certain melody, much like a grandmaster-level zither player.

He thought of the combat awareness that teachers often mentioned—this kind of thing, no matter how high one's talent, required personally experiencing battles to truly grasp.

The people Shen Xingchen had encountered in the past were simply too weak; they would collapse at just a single move.

Therefore, ever since he transmigrated, he had never experienced such... uninhibited combat!

His essence, Qi, and spirit continued to rise.

Every single move and style came to him effortlessly, handled with complete mastery.

Even though Shen Xingchen's hair was messy right now and his clothes had numerous tears, he did not look disheveled in the least.

His state had reached an unprecedented peak!

Steward Li's pupils constricted in shock.

That high school student opposite him hadn't been frightened by the tier-3 strength of him and the others; instead, his fighting intent was growing stronger and stronger.

He could clearly sense that Shen Xingchen's aura was growing. From being initially evenly matched, to now, they were actually faintly falling into a disadvantage.

Could this be the gap between them and the proud sons of heaven?

What kind of freak of nature is this anyway?

Steward Li even felt that the high school student opposite him was thoroughly enjoying this battle...

Jiang Qingyao's small mouth was wide open. She knew Shen Xingchen was strong, but she hadn't expected that he could already fight two tier-3s to a standstill.

Is this really something a high school student of their age could achieve?

In just a split second.

Charging halfway through, Shen Xingchen's speed suddenly increased by fifty percent, much like a missile completing its second-stage propulsion.

Divine Mobility Step!

The charging speed from before was a misconception Shen Xingchen had deliberately left them with.

These assassins had long grown accustomed to Shen Xingchen's speed and power. With such a rapid tempo change, their brains all lagged for a moment.

Rumble——

With a single punch slammed out, one of the tier-3 men in black failed to react in time, his body flying out like a cannonball and embedding itself inverted into the wall.

"This!"

Everyone's breathing hitched.

A tier-2 level-6 fighting a tier-3 in a single duel, and he actually managed to pull off a counter-kill?