She wanted to embarrass that fellow. Hadn't he claimed to be remarkably gifted? If he were defeated too quickly and easily, he wouldn't be able to save face.
"Nonsense. If your father and Gang Leader Xu find out, you'll be in for another scolding," Ren Qingying said.
"It's not nonsense. How can a normal sparring match be considered nonsense?" Xu Yuxiang said dismissively.
The two strolled through Xinghua Garden, enjoying the scenery and gossiping.
Among the young masters of the prominent clans, small gatherings were held frequently.
Some would hire an opera troupe for entertainment, while others would gather with friends to play small games, drink, and feast.
When Lin Zheyu arrived at Funing Garden, not many people were present—just Xu Qinyi and his circle, along with Xu Yuxiang and Ren Qingying.
After several rounds of wine, Xu Qinyi proposed, "Brother Lin, we've known each other for so long, yet I've never seen your strength. How about we have a spar?"
"All right!"
Lin Zheyu nodded.
He knew they wanted to test his strength to see how his cultivation had progressed, and whether he was truly as gifted as they had judged him to be.
*It's finally starting!*
Standing to the side, Xu Yuxiang felt thrilled; she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Before Xu Qinyi and the others could speak further, she piped up, "Everyone says Young Master Lin possesses extraordinary talent and formidable strength. I have long wished to see it for myself.
"I have a younger cousin who just turned fifteen after the New Year, two years younger than Young Master Lin. However, his cultivation has already reached the middle stage of the Bone Tempering Realm, and his practical combat skills are exceptional.
"I wonder if Young Master Lin dares to spar with him?"
Xu Yuxiang spoke with a smile, her demeanor polite and measured, the very picture of a well-bred young lady from an esteemed family.
Ever since they had met today, she had behaved just like Ren Qingying, smiling the entire time without giving Lin Zheyu any trouble, which had somewhat surprised him.
*So this is the trap she prepared,* Lin Zheyu thought.
"Do you intend to have Chen Mu fight?"
Xu Qinyi asked. Seeing Xu Yuxiang nod with a smile, he could not help but snap, "Nonsense!"
"It's just a friendly spar. Young Master Lin is two years older than my cousin Chen. What's wrong with letting him fight? Could it be that this Young Master Lin is all show and no substance—a spearhead of pewter that only looks like silver?"
Xu Yuxiang countered with a smile, her words dripping with mockery as she tried to provoke Lin Zheyu into agreeing.
"You called Cousin Chen Mu here too?!" Chen Xihong exclaimed in surprise.
Chen Mu was a member of the Chen clan, and Xu Yuxiang's mother was his paternal aunt. Among the three prominent clans of the Feihong Gang, intermarriage had long ceased to be surprising.
In terms of martial talent, Chen Mu was a notch below Chen Xihong.
Yet the mad fervor with which he practiced martial arts gave Chen Xihong the chills—he was an absolute maniac.
Not only that, Chen Mu was a battle-crazed lunatic. At the age of twelve, he had used his family's connections to join the City Guard, fighting and slaughtering mountain bandits outside the city alongside the army, possessing an extreme thirst for battle and bloodshed.
At such a young age, he had cultivated a terrifying murderous aura that even Chen Xihong shrank from facing.
The elders of the clan regarded Chen Mu very highly, believing that if he did not meet an untimely death, he might well have a chance of reaching the Marrow Tempering Realm in the future.
"Who is this Chen Mu?" Lin Zheyu asked Ren Qingfeng in a low voice.
Seeing their reactions, he grew somewhat curious; this fellow seemed far from ordinary.
"A battle lunatic of the Chen clan—the kind who fights as if he doesn't value his own life," Ren Qingfeng said. "If you fight him, you must prepare to be severely injured. Among the younger generation, no one is willing to spar with him."
He had witnessed Chen Mu fighting others many times. The exhilarating impact of flesh striking flesh, along with that savage, reckless style of combat, always made his blood boil.
Yet that was all. If he were actually asked to fight Chen Mu, it was absolutely out of the question.
That guy was practically a humanoid beast. Although he was only in the middle stage of the Bone Tempering Realm, many martial artists newly advanced to the early stage of the Viscera Tempering Realm were no match for him either.
"Is Young Master Lin afraid?"
"It's understandable to be afraid. After all, not just anyone has the guts to fight my cousin. I suppose Young Master Lin is worried about losing too disgracefully!"
Xu Yuxiang let out a delicate laugh, feeling intensely smug.
Lately, whenever she thought about having to marry a poor lad without any clan background in the future, she felt terribly displeased.
Yet no one dared to defy the arrangements made by Uncle Xu.
The last time she had thrown a petty tantrum, Uncle Xu and her parents had punished her upon her return.
"Nonsense!"
"Brother Lin comes from a scholar's background and has practiced martial arts for only a few months. Even if his talent is extraordinary, that only means his martial progress is faster. He has very little real combat experience—how could he compare to Chen Mu, who has practiced for years and fought for three years in the army!" Xu Qinyi scolded.
A martial spar was supposed to end the moment a touch was scored. But Chen Mu cared least for such decorum; every fight he engaged in was a battle of life and death.
His strikes were ruthless in the extreme, every move aiming to take a life, completely devoid of any notion of holding back.
"The martial path demands contest. While literature has no undisputed first, martial arts allows no second. To think Young Master Lin would not even dare accept a challenge, proving to be such a coward. How truly disappointing."
A resonant, vigorous voice rang out as a young man slowly stepped out from the corridor.
He was solidly built, and on the skin left exposed, there were over a dozen scars, both large and small.
The young man's presence was exceedingly sharp, carrying the keen edge of an unsheathed blade that laid bare its full lethal sharpness.
"I heard Gang Leader Xu found a fine prospect for the martial path, and I was somewhat curious. Seeing you today leaves me quite disappointed.
"The martial path is about forging ahead with fierce determination, comprehending through life-and-death slaughter, and testing one's martial way through bloody combat to carve out a path.
"If Brother Lin does not even dare spar with me, then upon taking the battlefield and facing true mortal combat, you would surely piss your pants in fright.
"I fear you won't achieve much in the future either,"
Chen Mu remarked indifferently.
He made no attempt to conceal his aura. His presence surged outward, sharp and prominent, exerting a tremendous pressure just by standing there.
He had come this time specifically to stand up for Xu Yuxiang.
Xu Yuxiang's mother was the younger sister of Chen Mu's father.
Their household held a lower-middle status among the branch families of the Chen clan.
Had it not been for the beauty of Xu Yuxiang's mother, which allowed her to marry into the Xu clan through an alliance, their household's standing would have been even lower.
Only later, as Chen Mu gradually rose to prominence, did their family's status improve.
Chen Mu despised political marriages. His own mother had been married into the clan from the Ren family, and Xu Yuxiang's mother had been married off to the Xu clan; neither of them had led happy lives.
Now, his cousin had told him that she, too, was to become a sacrifice for an alliance by marrying a poor lad, and asked him to teach him a lesson. Thus, Chen Mu had rushed over.
Internal competition within prominent clans was fierce as well. Given the situation of Chen Mu's branch back then, the resources they received were scarce.
Many of the cultivation resources Chen Mu used when he first started training had come from the relief provided by his aunt—Xu Yuxiang's mother.
This favor was one Chen Mu was duty-bound to return.
"Do not be rude! This is a guest invited by Brother Xu. You must not behave so discourteously!" Chen Xihong hurriedly reprimanded upon seeing things take a bad turn.
"Heh!"
Chen Mu cast him a cold glance, paying him no heed.
In his eyes, most of the pampered young masters in Songyi City were trash. Lacking the prowess forged through bloody slaughter, they were all show and no substance.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Lin Zheyu's eyes faintly lit up.
Momentum!
He sensed the existence of 'momentum' from this young man.
This momentum bore some resemblance to the concept of his own fist momentum, but it was far bloodier, steeped in the murderous intent honed through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
In all his time in Songyi City, this was the first martial artist Lin Zheyu had encountered who had nurtured momentum, and he was so young at that.
"Young Master Chen Mu's words do hold some truth. Since you wish to fight, I shall exchange a few moves with you," Lin Zheyu spoke up.
The momentum on his opponent made him eager to engage and experience it firsthand.
The fist momentum of his Wild Bull Fist had reached a bottleneck and had not improved at all recently; it always felt as though something was missing.
The momentum Chen Mu possessed shared some similarities with the momentum of the Wild Bull Fist. Sparring with him might provide some inspiration.
Momentum was of paramount importance to a martial artist.
Momentum was the embryonic form of 'intent,' and intent was the foundation for advancing to Transforming Jin.
Intent had to be comprehended on one's own.
Even if a cultivation manual incorporated the concept of intent, one could not grasp it without sufficient comprehension, and might not even be able to master the art at all.
A great many martial artists at the Marrow Tempering Realm were stuck at a bottleneck, unable to break through to Transforming Jin simply because they could not comprehend intent.
"Brother Lin, you must not!"
Xu Qinyi called out, "Chen Mu does not know how to pull his punches. Anyone who fights him ends up either injured or crippled. You have only taken up martial arts recently and lack combat experience; it is best you do not fight him."
"A bunch of cowardly trash!" Chen Mu sneered coldly.
"It's fine. I excel in lightness skills. If I cannot win, escaping won't be a problem," Lin Zheyu said.
He took off his outer coat, stepped into the open area, and looked at Chen Mu.
"Young Master Chen Mu, make your move. I would also like to ask for your guidance!"
Fighting spirit surged within Lin Zheyu's heart as he addressed Chen Mu.
"Sigh..."
Xu Qinyi and the others let out a collective sigh, unable to help worrying for Lin Zheyu.
Going up against this ferocious fiend, Lin Zheyu would likely come out on the worse end—at the very least, he would end up with several broken bones.
Seeing that Lin Zheyu had actually accepted the challenge, Xu Yuxiang was thrilled, ready to witness him being thoroughly beaten by her cousin.
She knew very well how formidable her cousin was.
Among the clan youths, even several young masters newly advanced to the Viscera Tempering Realm had been pinned to the ground and battered by him.
"Gutsy!"
Chen Mu chuckled.
He stripped off his outer coat, revealing muscles as dense and hard as rock.
Lin Zheyu was someone valued by Xu Jingwu and a member of the Feihong Gang, so he counted as one of their own.
Though Chen Mu did not know how to hold back, he would still exercise some restraint; he would not cripple the man, at most breaking a few bones to make him suffer.
"Brother Lin, be careful! What Chen Mu cultivates is our Chen clan's Mad Battle Art. It nurtures momentum through combat, causing his aura to rise steadily throughout the fight.
"When his aura peaks, it stimulates the murderous impulse in his mind, making him unable to control the urge to slaughter.
"When fighting Chen Mu, you must end it as quickly as possible. If things look bad, do not let it turn into a protracted fight—step back and surrender immediately to end the match!"
Chen Xihong warned aloud.
The Mad Battle Art was one of the Chen clan's ancestral arts. It demanded exceptionally high comprehension, and very few in the Chen clan could master it.
For several successive generations, no disciple in the Chen clan had managed to cultivate it successfully—until the emergence of Chen Mu, this battle lunatic and humanoid beast.
"Thank you for the warning, Young Master Chen. I will be careful," Lin Zheyu replied.
Hearing Chen Xihong's warning, he understood why Chen Mu's murderous aura was so thick.
The Mad Battle Art was a technique born from the battlefield. To advance rapidly, joining the army and fighting in constant slaughter was the best method.
This Chen Mu had entered the army at an early age. Given his bellicose nature, he had experienced hundreds of life-and-death battles over the past few years, forging a formidable aura of slaughter.
"Let's begin. I will grant you three moves," Chen Mu said flatly.
His tone was laden with invincible confidence—a confidence forged through battle.
"No need. My strength isn't as weak as you think. Go all out; I am very interested in your 'momentum,'" Lin Zheyu said.
"Oh?"
"In that case, I won't hold back!"
Chen Mu moved, charging toward Lin Zheyu as a terrifying aura surged from him.
This aura was saturated with chilling slaughter and bloodiness, carrying the immense confidence and invincible conviction carved out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
This invincible conviction bore some resemblance to the fist momentum Lin Zheyu had comprehended from the Wild Bull Fist.
Yet at its root, it was different.
*So strong! To think Chen Mu has comprehended the 'momentum' of the Mad Battle Art to such a degree. Truly remarkable!* Chen Xihong thought, slightly shocked by the aura erupting from Chen Mu.
Chen Mu's skeletal aptitude and natural comprehension were not actually that exceptional, yet the madness and ruthlessness running through his very bones aligned perfectly with the Mad Battle Art, allowing him to progress at a rapid pace.
"Brother Lin might be in trouble," Ren Qingfeng muttered, his brow furrowing slightly.
"I'll go fetch Fourteenth Uncle. Otherwise, once Cousin Chen Mu loses control, no one will be able to stop him."
Seeing that her cousin had unleashed such terrifying momentum right from the start and seemed intent on going all out, Xu Yuxiang grew anxious, afraid that an accident might truly happen.
Chen Mu was notoriously vicious, and his strikes were savage and ruthless.
Although she had instigated the matter, she had only wanted to teach Lin Zheyu a lesson to vent her frustration.
In truth, there was no deep enmity between her and Lin Zheyu. Everything stemmed from her helplessness as a daughter of a prominent clan; she could not truly blame Lin Zheyu for it.
Chapter 66