Chapter 19: Do You Know the Power of My Fist

The auction ended, and Zhao Huai and Li Yanqing walked out of the venue side by side.

Zhao Huai's gaze swept around, waiting for the crisis to happen.

Under the blessing of the [Stable Taoist Mind] destiny, his mind was extremely sensitive to everything around him.

He could perceive even the slightest movement.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of any movement.

Zhao Huai tossed the copper coins again, and the result was consistent with the previous one – act calmly but firmly, and he could pass the crisis with ease.

"Senior, are you waiting for someone?"

Li Yanqing saw Zhao Huai looking around and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"No, I'm just worried that the people you competed with earlier might ambush you."

Zhao Huai shook his head.

Li Yanqing's face was full of optimism, pointing to the servants around him, "Don't worry, my father found me some bodyguards. Although they are not as good as you, they are still in the third or fourth stages of qi refining. Isn't that enough for self-protection?"

The next second, Zhao Huai's big hand patted Li Yanqing's shoulder, making him stunned.

Zhao Huai's expression was serious: "Remember, never underestimate anyone. This is the first lesson I teach you."

"Disciple will follow your teachings."

Li Yanqing nodded earnestly.

"Let's go, the governor's mansion is on my way."

Zhao Huai saw that there was no danger for the time being, walked ahead, and said leisurely.

Li Yanqing followed with his servants quickly.

"Why do you want to practice qi refining?"

As they were walking, Zhao Huai suddenly asked.

Li Yanqing sighed: "My father said that if I didn't practice qi refining, he wouldn't let me inherit his business. But I've changed many teachers and still failed."

"Your father must be very kind to you then."

Li Yanqing immediately shook his head: "No, he is too fierce, and he is always busy, so I rarely see him."

"Everyone envies me, but I don't like it this way."

Zhao Huai smiled slightly and instructed.

"You are actually in the midst of fortune..."

Suddenly, at that moment.

A chilling sense of crisis emerged from Zhao Huai's spine, extremely cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

[Stable Taoist Mind] vaguely acted, sending a refreshing breath into his body. His body seemed to have a nerve reflex, moving backward.

Several sharp cold lights cut through the sky, falling from the heavens.

Thin-as-wings flying knives passed extremely quickly before his eyes.

In Zhao Huai's eyes, time seemed to slow down.

The flickering cold light in front of him, each one emitting a terrifying chill.

In an instant, time returned to normal.

Zhao Huai's center of gravity fell backward, and his right hand pulled Li Yanqing beside him. Soon, he regained his footing.

They were about four or five meters away from their original position.

"Puff!"

The three servants surrounding Li Yanqing were directly pierced by the flying knives that fell from the sky.

Their bodies collapsed heavily to the ground, blood splattering on the spot!

"There's an assassin! Protect the young master!"

A servant shouted loudly.

The remaining servants wrapped Li Yanqing in the middle, their faces tense and as if facing a formidable enemy.

Only Zhao Huai's face was calm, his gaze sweeping around, activating his spiritual power to look for traces of the assassin.

No wonder he couldn't find the enemy just now, as they were actually hiding in a high place.

Zhao Huai's sharp eyes swept over the empty alley in front of him, fixing on two figures on the eaves not far away.

The opponents were also in the Qi-Refining Realm.

"Scholar, your sleeping flying knives failed. What's the situation?"

On the eaves, a burly butcher questioned with a deep voice.

"This person seems to be somewhat skilled and not that simple. We cannot be careless."

A touch of solemnity appeared on Life-taking Scholar's thin face.

This person could dodge his flying knives, definitely a cultivator as well.

"Damn it, we've never failed when we work together!""If a sneak attack won't work, then let's do it the hard way!"

The butcher spat and leaped into the air, twenty meters above the ground. He landed heavily, shattering the green tiles beneath him and sending up a cloud of dust.

The Life-taking Scholar tapped his toes and jumped down gracefully.

Zhao Huai faced the two of them without fear, rubbing his hands together, eager to test the power of his destiny.

Both of them wore black bamboo hats that obscured their faces. Zhao could only make out their silhouettes: one fat and one thin.

Li Yanqing watched nervously from afar, held back by his attendants.

These two men seemed quite formidable. He hoped his senior could defeat them.

Zhao Huai had thought that when the enemy revealed themselves and leapt down, they would have some words to say, like threatening remarks or something.

But the next moment, the Life-taking Scholar violently flicked the fan in his hand.

Six flying daggers shot out from the fan.

Like a cheetah, the butcher dashed towards Zhao Huai with incredible speed, quickly closing the distance between them despite his bulky size.

The two didn't say a word and just began their attack.

They had a clear strategy: one focused on long-range attacks to draw attention, while the other closed in for a rapid takedown.

The butcher's speed was incredible, and in the blink of an eye, he was already at Zhao Huai's side.

Ever since they realized that Zhao Huai's strength was not ordinary, they had planned to use lethal force. Every move they made was aimed at killing him.

Despite facing their combined assault, Zhao Huai remained calm, disregarding the flying daggers and focusing solely on the butcher in front of him.

However, a shocking scene soon unfolded. As the butcher threw a punch imbued with powerful qi and true Qi surging through his meridians, his veins swelled, as if a single blow could reduce a bull into a pile of mince.

Yet, his punch was effortlessly caught by an invisible hand, like hitting cotton, soft and powerless.

Zhao Huai's right palm caught the butcher's technique without losing any energy.

With his left hand clenched into a fist, he threw a plain punch that caused the surrounding air to whistle and screech.

"Whoosh!"

The butcher's reaction was extremely fast, but by the time his eyes regained focus, the fist was already on his left cheek.

He was unable to resist.

"Bang!"

With a loud explosion, a wave of energy radiated from the center of Zhao Huai, spreading violently.

A shadow flew out at high speed, snapping a willow tree in half at its waist. Yet it didn't stop there, as the shadow continued to crash into a solid mud wall, causing debris to scatter before finally stopping.

"Ting!"

"Ting!"

The flying daggers finally reached Zhao Huai, aiming for his heart, forehead, and neck. Their metallic clinks sounded incredibly unnatural.

The six flying daggers fell to the ground ineffectively.

Seeing this, the Life-taking Scholar's pupils shrank, and his icy face was filled with amazement, as a sense of foreboding overtook him.

Li Yanqing and the surrounding attendants exchanged shocked glances.

Did he... take them down that quickly?

With a smile on his face, Zhao Huai rubbed his wrist, his narrowed eyes brimming with sympathy as he chuckled.

"Coming to die? Do you know the power of my punch?"

The Life-taking Scholar looked back at the battered butcher, his eyes conveying a hint of terror and uncertainty as he asked:

"Who are you?"

They came to assassinate someone, not to be assassinated themselves.

"That's the question I should be asking you."

Zhao Huai couldn't help but laugh.

The Life-taking Scholar fell silent immediately.

The next second, six sharp sword tips emerged from the layers of his feather fan, which made a "swish" sound. Empowered by his True Qi, the six-fan swords levitated.

It seemed the enemy still wanted to fight.

"Extreme Intention, activate!"

Zhao Huai muttered internally.

Showing no mercy, he went all out and directly activated his peak mode.

All the True Qi within his body was mobilized, and his ninth stage of refining qi cultivation had doubled.

The commotion generated by the True Qi was enormous.

The wind rustled the leaves of the distant willows, and the signs of the surrounding shops trembled under the force of the turbulent Qi.

As dusk approached and Jinzhou City gradually grew dimmer, an unknown force continued to stir up whirlwinds in the hidden alleyways.

...