“Are you ready?”

“Do you even need to ask this?”

“Did you master the latest Top Grade technique?”

“Stop it! Even the one who has his honor on the line is not worried. Then what are you bothering me for?”

Feng Yan snapped at Xin Ruo. He was fed up with her constant nagging.

As his strongest fighter, Ikasa had provided the old man with the manual of Wind the Way as soon as he got it. He had also supplied him with the book for Chop then.

With his techniques, he was confident that the Old man would definitely impress the reserved City Lord.

Once they had decided to walk on this path, they had let Xin Ruo know. As soon as she learned how crucial of a role Feng Yan would play, she made sure her father had everything to perform at his best.

And her ‘care’ had led to the situation at hand.

“Hmph! I was worried about you for nothing. I hope the City Lord beats some sense into you.”

Xin Ruo huffed with anger and left while avoiding the eyes of the smiling Ikasa.

Tongue-tied, Feng Yan watched his daughter go after cursing him. Though he knew this was just a farce, he had this primal urge to bash in the smiling face of the rascal beside him.

“What are you smiling for, you bastard? Are you happy now that you have turned my daughter against me?”

“Don’t blame me for your own doing, Old Man! Who was it who sent her to me? How can you blame me if she can’t resist the charm of this handsome and perfect face?”

Feng Yan let out a guttural growl.

“Come, let’s fight a round before we go to City Lord.”

Feng Yan called Ikasa with a vicious smile.

“I am afraid you won’t be in the condition to face anyone after I am done with you.”

Ikasa replied with gusto.

Unable to suppress his urge, Feng Yan made his move and threw a simple punch at Ikasa’s face. His opponent sidestepped it with ease using the movement technique.

“Oh, look! The sun is high up in the sky. We should get going to meet the Lord of Birch City.”

Ikasa exclaimed as he dodged another furious kick. Feng Yan also stopped, knowing this was not the time to play around.

The two men boarded the carriage waiting for them and set off to prove their strength.

—

In the grounds of the City Lord’s Manor, an unrobed muscular figure punched an imaginary enemy. His every punch displaced the air with a swoosh sound.

He stopped after he saw his butler lead two men into the grounds.

He called his aide, who promptly handed him a towel and a glass of hot water. Wiping the sweat dripping from his face, he took a sip of the water.

By the time he finished his water, Ikasa and Feng Yan had arrived before this muscular man.

“City Lord Zhen!”

The two of them greeted him with cupped fists. Accepting their greetings, City Lord scanned Feng Yan from head to toe. He saw a man past his prime with greying hair and a strong lean body.

“Is he the reason for your confidence?”

Zhen Wu asked Ikasa, pointing to Feng Yan with his thumb.

​ “He is the best Sense Realm Expert I have seen in action.”

Ikasa replied in a neutral tone.

‘I am not even lying. Feng Yan is the only Sense Realm Expert I have seen in action.’

He justified the misleading statement.

However, his words had a different impact on Feng Yan and City Lord. Feng Yan’s chest swelled with pride hearing the praise while the City Lord looked at the older man with vigilance.

“Shall we?”

The City Lord invited Feng Yan to a spar. Feng Yan obliged by shedding his robes and jumping into the ring.

The two men silently circled around the ring, their eyes judging each other’s every movement. In anticipation of what was to come, their muscles tensed.

Feeling he had an advantage, the City Lord made the first move. He threw a straight punch to probe Feng Yan’s reaction.

Feng Yan quickly sidestepped the half-hearted punch. Taking advantage of the opening, he aimed for the floating ribs. The City Lord blocked it with his arm.

The two now had an idea of how the opponent fought.

Feng Yan had developed a sneaky fighting style where he would exploit every opening possible against a stronger opponent. On the other hand, the City Lord preferred to steamroll his adversaries with his superior strength.

The City Lord snorted when he felt the force behind Feng Yan’s punch. He provoked him with a ‘Come here gesture’ and said with a savage grin, “Shall we begin for real?”

Feng Yan, not the one to be left behind, responded with an equally vicious smirk.

“Bring it on!”

The two men moved at the same time, throwing punches with their right arm and blocking the attacks with another. As one punch after another connected, the spectators could hear the solid thumps.

‘I won’t last long if I block these powerful punches head-on!’

Feng Yan understood the situation and switched to redirecting the force behind the attacks. It improved his longevity in this battle of attrition immensely.

When another powerful punch came his way, he gently pushed at the incoming wrist, causing the fist to miss his face by a wide margin.

The City Lord gazed appreciatively at this little maneuver, but he did not relent in his attacks. The speed of his punches only went upwards.

Feng Yan did his best to endure without using his movement technique, but the City Lord was too much for him to deal with. His initial realm reflexes could not keep up with the City Lord’s advanced realm reflexes.

He finally gave in and started to move according to Wind the Way’s footwork.

Suddenly, the punches he could not dodge became much easier to evade. It was as if the wind displaced by the attack pushed his body away.

Feng Yan enjoyed the sensation, and his joy doubled when he saw the City Lord look at him with confoundment.

Zhen Wu couldn’t believe what had happened just now. He looked at his clenched fist and his opponent with confusion.

‘How? How did he dodge it so smoothly?’

City Lord put away his thoughts and started to use his Battle Techniques.

“Your movement skill might be good, but let’s see you dodge my Hidden Dragon Fist!”

City Lord’s punches became faster and faster until one could see after images.

The Butler of the City Lord gasped. He turned to Ikasa.

“The City Lord used this mid-grade art to dominate last year’s Tribute Tournament! To force him to use this art, your expert must be top class.”

Ikasa smiled graciously at the compliment, but he was disdainful of the skill City Lord used.

‘This fist art is all about the show, but there is no real substance.’

The after shadows were only good for misleading the enemies but couldn’t do any real damage. The actual threat lay in the single punch that was hidden in the afterimages.

‘Once that attack is dodged, Father-in-law will have no problem defeating the City Lord.’

And just as he had guessed, Feng Yan detected the genuine damage dealer from the numerous misleading punches. It was only thanks to Wind the Way that he was able to avoid getting hit.

Creating those numerous Fist shadows expended a lot of energy. The panting City Lord retreated, trying to catch his breath.

‘He is weak. Now is my chance!’

Noticing his opponent’s lethargy, Feng Yan charged up his fist while rapidly closing the distance. With a solid thwack, his Gazelle Punch landed on the bearded jaw of the exhausted Zhen Wu.

The dignified man collapsed to the ground, and Feng Yan bent down with his arm ready to Chop at his head.

“Do you yield?”

He asked in a somber voice. The sun shining behind Feng Yan cast his shadow on the fallen man.

“Impossible!”

Before City Lord could answer, his butler stood up, dumbfounded at the outcome. He couldn’t believe his Master lost to some unknown warrior in the Initial Stage of the Sense Realm.

Believe it or not, City Lord had lost. And the man himself accepted this fact. He nodded to Feng Yan’s question.

Not intending to humiliate the Lord of this City, Feng Yan offered him a hand to pick himself up. Zhen Wu gladly took it and stood up.

The two men grinned at each other.

“City Lord, your Hidden Dragon Fist is truly a marvelous technique! If not for my movement technique, I would have been done in by that punch.”

“I do not deserve such high praise from you, Sense Trainer Feng. Your skilled movements were like watching a work of art!”

Feng Yan accepted the compliment with a smile while constantly looking at Ikasa. His eyes were screaming for help.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

“What a good fight! City Lord, I am in awe of your physique’s strength.”

Ikasa interrupted their budding bromance to end Feng Yan’s suffering.

“Your fighter is not half bad, Trader Ikasa. I didn’t expect my signature move would be seen through.”

Ikasa narrowed his eyes at the words, ‘not half bad. They were not the words of someone who had accepted his defeat.

‘Does that mean he didn’t fight with his full strength?’

Ikasa dismissed these thoughts. Feng Yan had won fair and square. That means City Lord was politicking again in preparation for their upcoming talks.

With a smile, Ikasa mocked the City Lord for his hypocrisy.

“Since you find him ‘not half-bad’, does that mean you are willing to accept my deal?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep