"How is this even possible!" The young heir felt like he was about to lose his mind—driven crazy by a man who stood three zhang away, didn't make a move, and hadn't said a word. He kept darting around, tossing hidden weapons, while the crowd booed and hissed, but none of that really bothered him anymore—he just couldn't focus on it. Suddenly, he remembered his father, Li San, who always told him there was always someone better out there. He'd said that if you ever met a real master, even if that guy had his hands tied, his eyes closed, and was hopping on one foot, he'd still wipe the floor with you in a second.
Back then, he just scoffed and brushed it off with some smart remarks. But today, he finally understood what his dad meant. The man in front of him—just standing there, staring—had eyes so deep they felt like they were burning him. Not a single move, but defeat was already certain.
The subtlety of the situation was lost on most bystanders. To them, the Flying Swallow Gang's young master looked super cool, his acrobatic moves almost like some wire-fu stunt—if this was the modern world, he'd have fans screaming nonstop. But Fiona Fang and Rachel Luo noticed something else: his eyes were changing, from ruthless to scared, then to pure panic. They've seen that look before—etched in memory—dozens of people stared at the Golden Blade King like that, and all those people ended up as dust.
"Haa!" Just then, things changed again. The young master suddenly switched from long-range hidden weapons to close-range combat, ready to throw hands. The crowd wasn't sharp enough to get why he gave up such a big advantage, but truth is, he'd been pushed to the edge and had no choice but to gamble up close.
Honestly, the young master's fists and kicks were pretty impressive—clearly trained by top-notch teachers. His punches were light and fast, and with the Swallow Flash Technique footwork, it all meshed together beautifully. His whole strategy was simple: forget winning big, just don't lose in one hit. Quick, nimble punches to keep the fight going—no way he'd get KO'd in a single move, right?
But the crowd was soon blown away—even the newbies couldn't help but gasp. Rachel Luo and Fiona Fang had their jaws hanging open, totally entranced by the scene. Up close, Jack Young finally showed off just how scary his footwork really was. In the middle of a flurry of punches, Jack didn't even bother to fight back—he just walked around, simple as that. One casual sidestep, and he'd end up right behind his opponent.
The young master's face went pale as he scrambled to dodge and weave. Even the laymen could tell: sure, the kid had great lightness skills and crazy speed, but when it came to tight footwork and grabbing position, he was way outclassed—Jack could've left him in the dust a dozen times over.
"Amazing, truly amazing! Who would've thought there was such a mind-blowing lightness skill out there? Absolutely legendary!" The chief manager couldn't help but clap and cheer. Really, it's all about the difference in worldviews. In the wuxia world, speed can vary wildly between fighters, so 'lightness skill' is mostly about raw speed, even though it includes footwork. But in the world of internal martial arts, everyone's about the same speed, so 'lightness skill' is more about clever, mysterious footwork that flips offense and defense.
Both mindsets have their own vibe, shaped by different backgrounds. But right now, Jack Young was scaring the pants off his opponent with footwork alone, and the crowd couldn't stop gasping. The two female disciples were glued to the action, afraid to miss a second. Especially Fiona Fang—she grew up on wuxia stories, always thought speed beat skill, and that idea was burned into her brain.
But today, she felt like she'd glimpsed a whole new world—a much bigger world than she'd ever imagined.
Before she knew it, even her own internal energy was leveling up.
"Aaaah—!" The young heir was on the verge of a meltdown when he finally caught a break, let out a wild yell, and threw two punches and two kicks with all his might. He packed twenty years of training into those moves—the punches whistled through the air, making quite a scene.
But the only reason he got that chance was because Jack Young had already figured out all his moves and was just done playing around.
So, Jack Young raised his hand.
To move the Earth, you need a good fulcrum and the right lever. For internal martial arts, matching energy is both the best fulcrum and the perfect lever. Blood energy is a physical force, so physical attacks can hit blood energy. In the world of Death Comes, the Reaper's weird aura is some kind of unknown energy, so Jack can only fight it indirectly—he can't break it head-on.
Internal energy is a magical force, somewhere between physics and fantasy—part physical, part supernatural. So when fighting Lady Simone, Jack had to rely on Princess Embroidered Jade's innate internal energy. But now, Jack's got his own internal power, and he's on a whole new level when it comes to reading and handling energy.
In Jack's eyes, the kid's internal energy was like a thread flowing from his dantian, passing through every acupuncture point, showing exactly where it was headed and what it was doing. So all Jack had to do was raise his hand, channel the Bright Jade Technique, and give it a gentle nudge at just the right spot—
Bang bang bang! In a wild blur, the young heir punched himself in the left cheek, then the right, and kicked himself with both legs—each move was full power, like he was trying to knock himself out for good.
"Pff—" He spat out a mouthful of old blood, mixed with a few broken teeth, and then just collapsed onto the ground with a thud, kicking up a ring of dust.
Everyone froze for a second, then chaos erupted. One move—just one move—and it wasn't even an attack, but some mysterious technique no one could understand. And that was all it took for the Flying Swallow Gang's young master to go down!
"What the—" Even the chief manager shot up from his seat, eyes wide as saucers. He was the most skilled person in the room, but even he had no clue what had just happened.
Less than ten years of skill, and he beat someone with twenty years under their belt—in just one move! It actually happened, right before their eyes!
"What's that move called?" The boss blurted out the question everyone was dying to ask. If the footwork was already impressive, this technique had just blown everyone's minds.
Even Fiona Fang and Rachel Luo had never seen this move before.
"This one..." Well, if you're gonna get famous, might as well start now: "Flower Swap Jade Touch."
The boss gave a big thumbs-up, using the inn's signature compliment: "That's a real power move!"
Jack Young grabbed the young master and Wang Wei, striding out the door with them. A few others followed. The crowd left behind exploded into heated discussion, buzzing with excitement over what they'd just witnessed. The chief manager calmed himself and went back to wiping the counter, knowing that a brand-new martial arts technique called Flower Swap Jade Touch was about to take the world by storm.
"Every age has its legends, each leading the wave for a hundred years. Now there's one more master in the ranks of the truly unbeatable."
When the young master woke up, he found himself back at the temporary base, lying in bed. Everything hurt—especially his pride, crushed by that overwhelming defeat. But wait, forget about feelings for now. First, check on the important stuff—money!
He clutched his face, groaning as he got up and looked around. The place was a mess, and most of his men had bailed—only a few loyal childhood attendants stuck around.
"Where is everyone? Where did they all go? Tell me—what the heck happened here!" The furious young master grabbed one of his attendants, who spilled the whole story. Turns out, that pesky Zhang Wei took all the banknotes but left behind the small change and scraps. Nobody knew what to do next—then Wang Wei suddenly bolted with the cash, kicking off a wild stampede. Folks scrambled to grab what they could, like that scene from Journey to the West: 'Monkey, Master’s been eaten by a demon—let’s split the loot and head back to Gao Village!' It was the definition of a ragtag mob.
"Those bastards, those absolute bastards—!" The young master was so mad he could barely breathe. "All my money, every last coin, gone! Those damn thieves, those scumbags!"
"Young master, don't get too worked up. We managed to snatch a bit of loose silver in the chaos. Let's hurry to Eight Directions City and find the old man—no matter what, we gotta find him first."
"Yeah, yeah, first find the old man." The young master's eyes were practically shooting flames. "If I don't get revenge for this, I'm not even human!"
Meanwhile, outside the Grand Inn, Jack Young, his two companions, and the three tough girls were getting ready to hit the road.
"Here, these are for you." Jack Young pulled out a stack of banknotes—about three or four thousand taels by the looks of it. He'd grabbed over seven thousand from the young master, so he decided to split half with the three tough girls as a consolation prize.
"Why?" The tough girl still had no idea what was going on.
"Because the person they were looking for was actually me, but they found you instead." Jack Young flipped through the register and pointed at the names—Big Jack and Zhang Wei. The three girls' eyes went wide, and Fiona Fang burst out laughing.
"Wait, your name's Big Jack?" The tough girl looked totally lost. "So is your last name Big, or is it Jack?"
Rachel Luo couldn't help but laugh too—this tough girl was kinda adorably clueless.
"I’m not Big or Jack—it’s just a fake name. What about you, are you really Zhang Wei?"
"I’m not Zhang Wei either, I just..." The tough girl trailed off, but Jack Young could guess what she meant—probably the usual, something about having a secret identity or how it’s tough for a woman traveling the martial world. Still, it was pretty funny: two top rooms at the Grand Inn, both booked under Zhang Wei, and neither one was real. Who knows who the Flying Swallow Gang’s young master is gonna find when he comes looking, all fired up.
"So, here you go—this is your cut of the loot."
Just then, one of the girls piped up: "You’re so strong, and you were here the whole time—why didn’t you just stop him? You knew he was looking for you, so why drag our young... um, master into this?"