May 27, 1018, 18:13.
Tiannan Province, Dayu.
Chihe Residence, Yunmeng City.
A thirty-three-story apartment building.
Yaoguang stood quietly inside the elevator, listening to the hum of its machinery.
Sharing the elevator with him were a young couple in their twenties and a schoolgirl wearing the uniform of the neighboring No. 15 Middle School.
*Thud.*
With a dull jolt, the elevator ground to a halt at the twelfth floor, plunging into total darkness.
"Another blackout? Does the power company do any damn work at all? Five or six outages in just two months!?" the young man in the couple complained bitterly.
"Outages have definitely become more frequent over the past year or two," the woman said. "Sometimes more than ten times a month. I read online that the sun is in its most active phase right now, and repeated solar flares keep disrupting the power grid and causing magnetic anomalies worldwide."
"I don't give a damn how active the sun is," the man retorted, irritably kicking the elevator door. "I only care when the power comes back on!"
"Solar storms usually don't last long, but if the electrical equipment got damaged, who knows how long it'll take. On average, it usually takes half an hour to an hour to come back."
"Fuck, so we're trapped here for at least half an hour!?" The man cursed and kicked the elevator door hard again.
The outburst sent the middle school girl scurrying into the corner in fright.
"Sir..." Yaoguang said in a polite tone, "could you please stop kicking the door? If you accidentally damage the elevator..."
"Is this your elevator? I kick it if I want to kick it. Did I get in your way?" the man cut in aggressively before Yaoguang could finish.
With that, he kicked the door even harder, producing a loud *bang*.
Yaoguang glanced at him through the dim light.
Specifically, his gaze fell upon the man's neck.
When entering, Yaoguang had already noticed that the man stood roughly one meter eighty-five and looked quite sturdy, likely from regular gym workouts. In terms of martial artist ranks...
Well, he wasn't a martial artist—an apprentice at best.
Possessing martial arts was like carrying a weapon.
*When carrying a blade, does murderous intent naturally arise?*
In a society governed by law, it wouldn't go as far as murderous intent, merely breeding arrogant and unruly behavior.
Still...
They were so close.
A single punch would snap that cervical vertebra.
Yaoguang glanced at the nervous schoolgirl beside him...
*Forget it.*
*A student is present.*
With that, Yaoguang held his tongue.
Seeing this, the man sneered and delivered another demonstrative kick to the door.
*Bang!*
"Alright, we know you're amazing for just passing your martial arts grading, okay? You have to pay if you break public property," the woman said, tugging at him.
"If it breaks, it breaks. The power's out and there's no surveillance, so who's going to know?" The man let out a disdainful scoff, though he refrained from causing further damage.
Time trickled by in this tedious fashion.
Fortunately, after only three minutes, the building's backup power seemed to kick in, and the elevator resumed its descent.
When the elevator reached the first floor and the doors slid open, the young couple swaggered out.
Next was the frightened middle school girl, who nonetheless hurried toward school as fast as her legs could carry her.
Finally came Yaoguang, moving at an unhurried pace.
Stepping out of the complex, he scanned a shared bicycle and pedaled toward the old quarter of the city.
To be precise, it was an old district slated for redevelopment, where all residents had already relocated.
Glancing at a mental map and estimating the position of a red dot, Yaoguang chose a long-shuttered shop and sat down on its concrete steps. Holding a bottle of mineral water, he took occasional sips.
A gentle breeze swept up a promotional flier stamped with the word "Demolition," carrying it deeper into the alley.
From around the corner of the alley walked a man in his fifties, hands clasped behind his back and wearing a dress shirt, accompanied by a woman in her twenties.
Faintly, his deep, resonant voice could be heard: "Did a problem come up with that Luo household?"
"Yes. Even though it's just a widow and her son, they have ties to a martial artist named He Feng. He happened to spot the forced demolition, and during the clash, Old Six was kicked to death," the woman replied.
Though in her twenties, she wore a tailored business suit with the poise of an elite white-collar professional, exuding an air of maturity and composure.
"However, that He Feng has already been imprisoned for murder, and securing a death sentence won't be difficult. As for the surviving widow and orphan, someone will deal with them tomorrow night."
"Mm. This redevelopment project involves over three billion. We took a ten percent stake through our 'expertise,' and I don't want any mishaps."
"Godfather, Qing'er understands," the woman answered crisply.
At that moment, the man seemed to sense something, his gaze abruptly landing on Yaoguang, who sat on the steps looking like a college student.
Yaoguang set down the mineral water bottle he had just sipped from, stood up, and looked at him calmly. "General Manager of Longquan Real Estate, Xia Li?"
"Who are you...?" The man frowned, studying Yaoguang.
The young man before him...
gave him a sense of danger.
In Yunmeng City, his own prowess was considered top-tier, and even nationwide he held an illustrious reputation. Aside from his own kind, he rarely met a match. Over the past decade, he had personally snuffed out double-digit lives.
That was precisely why those investors had no choice but to partner with him for this district's redevelopment.
Yet this man who looked barely in his early twenties actually triggered his instincts of peril—an utter absurdity.
The next instant, Yaoguang moved.
A pounce like a flood dragon breaching the sea, carrying a cruel, ferocious malice that crashed over his foe.
The split second their eyes met, Xia Li's mind shuddered.
Killing intent!
A killing intent accumulated only by someone stained with far more than a single life.
Daring not divide his focus for a moment, Xia Li dropped into a half-crouch. His legs drove into the ground, and he lunged forward, striking boldly to meet the incoming Yaoguang.
A direct clash!
The instant they made contact, Xia Li twisted aside, slipping past Yaoguang's direct punch. His right hand snapped out like lightning, seizing Yaoguang's shoulder and instantly ripping the white shirt to shreds.
Yet before his fingers could exert force to crush the shoulder bone, Yaoguang's shoulder gave a sharp jerk and slide, slithering free from the grasp like slick nougat.
Yaoguang's body immediately tilted, pivoting right against Xia Li's punching arm, and slammed violently into Xia Li's chest.
Iron Mountain Lean.
Xia Li's pupils contracted violently. Just as Yaoguang was about to crash into his chest, Xia Li caved his chest inward with pinpoint precision, causing the explosive force of the impact to land on nothing. Yaoguang's own balance wavered slightly as a result.
"Die!" Xia Li's chest swelled with air.
Immense power seemed to surge forth on that shout.
Yet before he could make his next move, Yaoguang, leaning forward, drove his left foot into the ground with explosive power!
*Crack!*
The paving cracked apart!
Propelled by that stomp, Yaoguang vaulted into the air!
Bending his right leg, he drove his knee upward, carrying violent momentum to smash savagely into Xia Li's chest.
*Not good!*
Horrified, Xia Li pressed both palms downward as fast as possible to block the incoming knee strike.
Yet...
He was too late!
*Bang!*
A dull, heavy thud echoed from the impact.
Xia Li's face flushed crimson, his eyes bloodshot with agony, but his formidable willpower suppressed the pain of fracturing ribs.
Shifting his right foot sideways, he sank his internal force, stamping a visible footprint into the solid flagstone.
In a single stride, he forcibly stabilized himself, holding his chest firmly against Yaoguang's knee while sweeping both arms in a circular lock, pinning Yaoguang's torso, left arm, right leg, and waist in a vise grip.
A strangling lock!
His physique had already surpassed human limits, and the clamping strength of his arms was enough to snap a person's ribs and spine in an instant.
"Rise!"
Clamping down on Yaoguang, Xia Li let out a thunderous roar. His power flared, biceps twitching wildly, and an upward surge of force hoisted the locked-up Yaoguang clean into the air.
Then, snapping his waist, he arched backward in an iron bridge, slamming Yaoguang down toward the ground in a suplex, the point of impact aimed directly at his head.
If this landed, Yaoguang's skull would inevitably shatter, killing him on the spot.
Just as Xia Li hoisted Yaoguang overhead and was about to slam him down, power surged through Yaoguang's frame. His right hand shot forth like a dragon emerging from the depths, shattering the hold with dispersing force to break free from the locked arms. Clenching his fist like a giant axe cleaving a mountain, he hammered down toward Xia Li's face.
If Xia Li persisted with the arching throw, he could surely smash Yaoguang's head into pieces against the ground, but in doing so, his own forehead would take Yaoguang's punch dead-on. The outcome...
Mutual destruction!
Yaoguang would die!
And so...
would he!
As a paramount figure in Yunmeng City's underworld, worth hundreds of millions and basking in wealth and glory while shouldering vital duties, how could Xia Li ever perish alongside a nameless youth of worthless life!?
"Hah!"
At the critical juncture, Xia Li roared, twisting his waist. Using the raw strength of his arms, he hurled the eighty-kilogram Yaoguang like a sandbag, flinging him violently toward a solid wall.
Midair, Yaoguang seemed oblivious to the wall rapidly rushing toward him, his body contorting at high speed to regain his balance and center of gravity.
"No matter who you are, only one end awaits you today!"
Xia Li strode forward with sweeping steps, advancing aggressively with an aura as terrifying as an avalanche or tidal wave.
Unstoppable!
Over the years, dozens of people had been beaten to death by his bare hands. The murderous ferocity accumulated from repeated bloody slaughter erupted fully in this moment, enough to shatter the nerve of ordinary men.
"Die!"
Just then, a mere meter from the wall, Yaoguang shifted horizontally, planting himself on the wall in defiance of physical laws.
Yes!
Standing on the wall!
As if space had folded ninety degrees, turning the wall into the floor, he stood horizontally against the vertical surface!
As he stood upon the wall, his feet and lumbar spine bent slightly against the momentum of the throw.
Like a compressed spring!
The next second...
The spring snapped straight!
*Boom!*
The wall fractured!
As though struck by a demolition wrecking ball, the building's wall instantly spread a spiderweb of cracks two meters across!
Debris flew in all directions.
The window glass nearby shattered completely, showering down on every side.
Harnessing that explosive recoil, Yaoguang lunged savagely forward. Power rising from beneath his feet traveled upward, wrung dry through his spine and channeled into his right fist, before crashing down like Mount Tai collapsing.
Formless: Six Harmonies.
A terrifying blast of wind pressed inward, freezing the air within a several-meter radius. Along the periphery of that stagnant air, one could even hear the rumble of wind and thunder born from the violent friction of shifting currents.
Xia Li's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
*Not good!*
*Roar!*
A sound like the roar of tigers and leopards rumbled inside Xia Li, his bones crackling across his entire frame.
Poised between life and death, he pushed his valor to the absolute extreme. His vital energy burned and his strength flared, like a fierce tiger roaring through the mountains. Every ounce of force seemed to condense into substance as he met Yaoguang's thunderous blow head-on.
Tiger Roars Across the World!
"Die!"
*Boom!*
The muffled roar and the sonic boom sounded at the exact same moment.
A visible shockwave swept up dust and sand, expanding outward in a flash.
Under the horrified gaze of the woman named Qing'er dozens of meters away, Xia Li's entire right arm twisted into an irregular mess, broken into who knew how many fragments, with his humerus tearing through flesh and bone protruding outward.
And that strike, having pulverized Xia Li's arm, carried suffocating, terrifying power as its remaining momentum crashed mercilessly against Xia Li's chest—right over his heart!
*Boom!*
Where the punch landed, Xia Li's shirt—worth tens of thousands—disintegrated into dust. As though struck by an artillery shell, his chest caved in around a fist imprint, shattering an untold number of ribs.
The force pierced through his entire body.
Even the fabric across his back blew apart, reduced to countless scraps of cloth.
This king of Yunmeng City's underworld was sent hurtling eight meters through the air, crashing heavily against a utility pole. The reinforced-concrete pole snapped on the spot amid flying stone chips, and as the power lines severed, sparks flew and electric arcs danced through the air...
"Who... are you...?" Xia Li glared fixedly at Yaoguang.
*Not transforming?* Yaoguang mused inwardly.
Standing eight meters away, he regarded Xia Li expressionlessly, but what came out of his mouth was, "Ninth-generation successor of Dragon Form Fist?"
With a thud, Xia Li's body slumped onto the ground, kicking up dust. His chest heaved faintly for a few moments, then gradually fell still.
"Nothing special after all," Yaoguang said.
Even as the words left his lips, he erupted into motion, lunging toward Xia Li's body like a streak of lightning. Mid-stride, an invisible blade materialized in his hand, stabbing down viciously toward Xia Li's skull.
Xia Li, who had seemingly ceased breathing, suddenly tried to scramble up, but he was a beat too slow!
*Squelch!*
Blood sprayed in all directions!
The blade pierced clean through Xia Li's skull, pinning him to the earth.
Instantly, Xia Li's struggling frame froze.
The rapidly growing claws on his hands, which had been on the verge of transforming into something demonic, gradually receded, returning to the normal hands of a man in his fifties.