"And who the hell are you to speak up?" Leo Liang's face darkened as he glared at the chubby chef, his tone hostile.
The chubby chef reached into his coat and pulled out two kitchen knives, his face fierce: "If you don't hand over the divine medicine, I'll chop you up and braise you myself!"
"Big talk!"
Leo moved to step forward, but Jason Jun reached out and blocked him.
Lena Chu frowned slightly, her gaze lingering on Evan Lin for a moment before shifting to Damon Wang. Her lips parted as she spoke calmly: "My friend, both the divine medicine and the blood jade were acquired by Medicine King Valley at the auction. You should know, anything our Valley sets its sights on will never be given up lightly."
"Are you really planning to make an enemy of Medicine King Valley?"
Lena's tone was calm, her expression cold as she looked at Damon Wang, deliberately stressing the words 'Medicine King Valley.'
"That won't work on me. No matter how powerful Medicine King Valley is, at worst I'll snatch your goods and disappear. Honestly, your Valley only has real clout around Beihai. Besides, I'm only after the divine medicine to extend my life. If Miss Lena is willing to hand it over, I promise you'll be handsomely rewarded." Damon Wang shook his head, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
"So there's really nothing to discuss? Since you know about Medicine King Valley, you must also know our master and the five elders—and their tempers aren't exactly gentle." Jason Jun looked at Damon Wang, his smile gentle but his words carrying a warning.
"Of course I know. Just a few months ago, I brought people to your Valley to ask your master for help, but he refused—said I wasn't counted among the 'people under heaven.'" Damon Wang sighed.
Jason Jun’s face suddenly changed. “You’re the lunatic who brought ten tons of explosives into Medicine King Valley to demand medicine! And before you left, you even ate several of our mature ginseng roots!”
“That’s me. Too bad I didn’t get to blow the place up in the end—what a pity.”
Damon Wang’s face still showed lingering regret and wistfulness.
Evan Lin heard this and couldn’t help giving Damon a weird look.
Bringing ten tons of explosives to Medicine King Valley and threatening to blow the whole place up if they refused to help—that’s not something any normal person would do.
“Kid, prepare to die!” Jason Jun had lost all his calm, and Leo Liang, who’d been holding back, suddenly roared and charged straight at Damon Wang.
“Tonight, Fatty’s making braised lion’s head!” the chubby chef shouted.
The chef charged forward, kitchen knives whirling, blades flashing coldly as he met Leo head-on.
“The people from Medicine King Valley have soaked in medicinal herbs since childhood, so they’re way stronger than normal folks. Plus, the Valley has its own secret cultivation methods. Anyone allowed out of the Valley is at least early-stage inner strength. Can Fatty really handle it?” Warren Wu watched as the chef flew forward and quickly engaged Leo, unable to hide his concern.
Warren Wu hadn’t wanted to come to tonight’s highway ambush, but in front of Damon Wang, he didn’t dare refuse.
If this works, it’ll be perfect—no one will ever know.
But if things go south and the other side escapes, Warren Wu figured it’d be time for him to run too.
“No worries. He’s eaten a lot of good stuff from me. He might not have grasped inner strength yet, but his skills are top-notch. He’s got his own tricks.” Damon Wang smiled, not looking worried at all.
Then he turned to Evan Lin and said slowly, “Little friend, do you know how the realms of martial arts are divided these days?”
“Realm divisions? Isn’t it just external strength first, then internal strength?” Evan Lin looked at Damon Wang, clearly interested.
Up till now, he’d only really heard about external and internal strength. Anything higher than that was kind of a mystery to him.
“Pretty much. Most people only get that far, but there’s a lot more beyond it.” Damon Wang glanced at the fight and continued, “External strength is just training skin, bone, and muscle—tempering the body. After that comes internal strength, which cultivates the five viscera and six organs. When you reach the peak of internal strength, you get copper liver, iron lungs, silver spleen, steel kidneys, and a golden heart—that’s called great perfection.”
“Beyond internal strength is the Little Vajra realm. In Daoist texts, Little Vajra refers to accomplished adepts, but in martial arts, it means someone who’s turned inner strength into qi. Not only is their body insanely tough, but their endurance is off the charts. A Little Vajra is basically a human tank—ordinary blades can’t pierce them. More importantly, they can release inner strength outside their body, which opens up a ton of possibilities.”
“But the Little Vajra realm is ridiculously hard to reach. Most people who hit internal strength great perfection end up going astray and become pseudo-Vajras instead.”
At this, Damon Wang paused, his gaze sweeping across the crowd and finally landing on Sean Shao. He smiled slightly. “That guy over there is a pseudo-Vajra among pseudo-Vajras. His combat power’s only about mid-stage internal strength, but he’s taken half a step into the Vajra realm, so he’s got some real tricks. Just for a single divine medicine, Medicine King Valley sent someone like him. That means this herb really must be something extraordinary.”
Hearing Damon Wang’s words, Jason Jun, Lena Chu, and the others all turned pale, their composure shaken.
Lena Chu glanced back at Sean Shao, wanting to say something but hesitating.
Sean Shao stepped forward. “Senior Sister, Senior Brother, before leaving the Valley, I bathed in the Heaven Elixir Pool.”
Heaven Elixir Pool!
“Anyone who bathes in the Heaven Elixir Pool can instantly ignite their potential and step into the Vajra realm, able to release inner strength outward. But their foundation is unstable, so I call them pseudo-Vajras among pseudo-Vajras. At the same time, their lifespan is drastically shortened—maybe by thirty to fifty years, maybe they won’t live past six months. Little friend, will you fight him?” Damon Wang explained.
Damon Wang smiled as the chubby chef’s knives danced, creating a dazzling wall of blades that forced Leo Liang into a messy retreat.
Evan Lin didn’t say a word. He stepped forward, eyeing Sean Shao with interest.
Sean Shao’s expression was calm as he looked at Evan Lin and said, “I saw your fight with Drake Huang. Before that, I’d already injured him.”
“I’m not the same as him. You will die.”