Han stood facing off against Yang Xing.
Han’s strange behavior made Yang Xing wary.
Although Yang Xing had been struck by Han’s spear, he was wearing inner armor, and given his strength, Yang Xing knew that Han was far from being out of the fight.
As for King Er, whether he was alive or dead was still uncertain, but King Da was clearly more concerned about his brother’s fate.
Suddenly, King Da picked up King Er’s body, shot Han a hateful glare, said nothing, and turned to run toward Black Cloud Town.
Saving King Er’s life took priority over continuing to fight Han.
With the brothers leaving, Yang Xing’s face darkened. His eyes fixed on Han, and a murderous gleam flashed in his gaze.
"Damn it, can’t I even take down an injured man?"
"My blade is damaged, but I can still take something from this to make up for my loss!"
Yang Xing muttered under his breath, his resolve firm as he charged at Han again.
Now that he was only facing one opponent, Han was completely unafraid.
Though Han’s battle experience wasn’t as vast, he fought with everything he had, holding nothing back!
His weapon gave him an advantage, and Yang Xing didn’t dare directly clash with the spear shaft.
In terms of defense, Han had his inner armor, while Yang Xing didn’t have such protection.
Han was free to unleash his full power. Meanwhile, Yang Xing, who was two realms above Han, found himself restricted and deeply frustrated.
Han was willing to risk his life to take another strike, but Yang Xing wouldn’t dare take a single hit from Han’s spear.
A desperate man is the most dangerous!
After a fierce struggle, Han noticed Yang Xing’s attacks slowing down—he was reaching his limit.
Han’s internal energy was nearly depleted, and now, he was relying solely on his physical strength.
Just as Yang Xing missed a strike, Han seized the moment, unleashing his long-hidden mental energy to strike at Yang Xing’s mind.
The prolonged battle had worn Yang Xing down, and he briefly lost focus. Though he quickly regained his composure, he was shocked to see the spear hurtling toward him, already inches from his face!
Yang Xing twisted his body in an attempt to evade, but it was too late. The spear crashed into his right shoulder with a resounding "thud."
He screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground.
Seizing the advantage, Han didn’t hesitate—he swung the spear again. Yang Xing scrambled to roll and dodge, but without a glance back at Han, he fled, clutching his injured arm.
Han didn’t pursue him. Instead, he turned and made his way toward Taibai Martial School.
Chasing after Yang Xing? Only a fool would think that’s a good idea.
Yang Xing had mastered the Flesh Stage and had far more internal energy than Han, so Han knew it was pointless to chase him.
Plus, with King Da and King Er leaving early, who knew if they’d come back with reinforcements?
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Sometimes, retreating is the best strategy.
Han quickly returned to Taibai Martial School, and luckily, he wasn’t stopped by anyone from Tenglong Martial School along the way.
As soon as Han burst through the door, drenched in blood, Bai Ruoyue, sitting at the registration desk, saw him and gasped in shock.
"What happened to you?!" she exclaimed, rushing toward him.
"I found a spirit plant in Yunjiang, but ran into people from Tenglong Martial School. They tried to take it from me..." Han explained quickly.
Bai Ruoyue was furious. Her face reddened with anger.
"They robbed you of your spirit plant and did this to you? Are they thinking Taibai Martial School has no one to defend itself?!"
"The spirit plant wasn’t taken. I managed to protect it," Han reassured her.
He pulled out the spirit plant and the black snake’s remains from inside his clothes and handed them to Bai Ruoyue.
She didn’t take them but instead helped Han to the back courtyard.
"Even if the spirit plant is safe, this can’t just be forgotten. They went so far as to harm you. This isn’t over!" she said firmly.
By the time they reached the courtyard, the other disciples had been alerted. Upon hearing Han’s story, they were filled with both shock and anger, cursing Tenglong Martial School for their actions.
"Tenglong Martial School? How dare they lay hands on Junior Brother, someone who has only been training for four days!" Zhang Yuntao’s expression was icy.
"We must repay this grudge!" he added.
While cursing Tenglong Martial School, Bai Ruoyue and the others didn’t forget about Han. They immediately began applying healing ointments, both internal and external, to help him recover.
Han’s blood-stained clothes were peeled away, revealing his Hundred Forged Inner Armor underneath.
Han had equipped some of the items he’d found in Yunjiang by merging them with his body, making them invisible to others, like the Hundred Forged gloves. Even after fighting Yang Xing, the gloves went unnoticed.
But the inner armor was harder to hide. After taking Yang Xing’s strike, the armor couldn’t remain concealed anymore, so now it was better to reveal it openly.
Among the items Han had obtained, the weapons were the most conspicuous—these couldn’t be merged into his body and hidden.
For example, his spear, the Eagle Claw Staff, couldn’t be equipped inside his body, so it had to be left exposed.
The reveal of the Hundred Forged Inner Armor also surprised Bai Ruoyue and the others.
"I got these from Yunjiang too, along with that spear," Han explained, weaving a story.
"I went down into Yunjiang, found a body at the riverbed, and the spirit plant and weapons were near the corpse."
"When I was taking them, a black snake attacked me. I used the spear to kill it, and fearing more beasts, I put on the armor before returning to the surface."
"As soon as I got out of the water, I ran into people from Tenglong Martial School."
Bai Ruoyue and the others exchanged glances. Han’s tale felt… rather legendary.
"Junior Brother seems to have stumbled upon a great opportunity," Zhang Yuntao laughed.
"Yunjiang really is a treasure trove. More than one person has found treasures there in the past, though it’s a place that’s hard to fully explore."
Hearing this, Han felt relieved. If others had found treasures in Yunjiang before, then his experience seemed perfectly normal.
"Opportunity or not, I still had bad luck. What are the chances that, in such a big Black Cloud Town, I’d run into Tenglong’s martial artists?" Han mused, feeling his luck was both good and bad.
"That’s where you’re wrong," Zhang Yuntao interjected. "Martial artists go into Black Mountain every day, and some come out. It’s completely normal for you to encounter them."
"But weren’t you supposed to be going to repair the door? Why did you end up in Yunjiang?" Bai Ruoyue asked suspiciously.
Han shrugged, speaking with a smile.
"I think I have a special ability."
"I seem to be able to move freely in the water for short periods of time, so I decided to test it out."
With the power of his bloodline awakening…
And the dream visualization technique now in play…
Now, he even had a special ability! What’s the problem?
Of course, there was no problem.
Han played it cool, completely unbothered.
"You want to know where it came from? Sorry, but I can’t really explain it."
"Though I’m sure my Master will give a reasonable explanation. I trust him completely."
Bai Ruoyue and the others were taken aback. A special ability? How did it come about?
After applying the medicine, Bai Ruoyue helped Han sit down in a chair.
His injuries were serious.
Unless he found some rare spirit herb, Han would need some time to recover.
"Good thing you had the inner armor, or I don’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened to you," Bai Ruoyue said, still shaken.
"Junior Brother is one of our martial school’s hopes for the future. We can’t afford for anything to happen to you."
"Hmph, Second Junior Brother, let’s go to Tenglong Martial School and demand an explanation!" Bai Ruoyue couldn’t swallow her anger.
"Yes, we must demand justice for Junior Brother!"
The others agreed with her, showing strong unity.
What Bai Ruoyue didn’t know was that, as she and the others were preparing to confront Tenglong Martial School, the people from Tenglong were already on their way to Taibai Martial School.
They… were also coming for an explanation.
How could Taibai Martial School have beaten up their people like this? Enough was enough!