Chapter 83 Martial Life Ends Here

That night, Wu Dong and Tu Manjiang fled all the way back to the Qu family estate. Along the way, Tu Manjiang relied on his own cultivation to forcibly seal the blood vessels in his injured arm, thus avoiding excessive blood loss.

Looking at the gaping wounds on his arm, the flesh torn open and the white bone exposed beneath, Tu Manjiang still felt lingering fear. Remarkable! Truly extraordinary! That boy named Lin Le possessed strength far beyond his imagination.

With his own mastery of internal energy and the reinforcement of his tempered physique, he had always been invincible—yet he was utterly defeated by Lin Le. What level of martial attainment must Lin Le have reached? Could it be that he had already stepped into the realm of Transcendence?

A youth of seventeen or eighteen, achieving Transcendence and becoming a grandmaster—was such a thing possible? Tu Manjiang could scarcely believe it.

“Master, what should we do about that boy next? Shall I send our men, bring some weapons, and finish him off?” Wu Dong, his face twisted with malice, spoke from the side.

He and his master Tu Manjiang had suffered a bitter setback tonight, both losing to a mere brat and nearly forfeiting their lives. Wu Dong could not possibly swallow this humiliation.

“Finish him off? Do what? Are you tired of living?!” Tu Manjiang’s angry rebuke cut him off.

“Master, but—” Wu Dong could hardly believe such words came from his master, the famed Vajra Butcher of Haizhou. In his eyes, Tu Manjiang was always a war god, proud and domineering, never one to admit defeat.

“Remember my words—from this day forward, you are never to provoke Lin Le again!” Tu Manjiang barked harshly.

After tonight’s encounter, Tu Manjiang understood Lin Le’s strength all too well. The youth’s power was unfathomable, utterly beyond what they could contend with. In truth, escaping with his life tonight was more fortune than he dared hope.

“But Master, are we just to let this go?” Wu Dong was unwilling to accept it. Young and hot-blooded, he refused to swallow the indignity.

“What else? You think a few guns are enough to kill him? Too naive! Years ago, my enemies came with more than a dozen guns, but I wiped them all out regardless!” Tu Manjiang chided.

This made Wu Dong realize the truth. For someone standing atop the martial world, what did gunfire amount to? Years ago, not even a dozen guns could stop Tu Manjiang—let alone defeat Lin Le, who felled his master with a single blow.

Now Wu Dong truly grasped the terror of their opponent. The image of Lin Le’s punch splitting a great tree flashed through his mind. What if that fist had struck his own body? Wu Dong shivered, unwilling to contemplate further.

“For someone whose martial cultivation has reached such heights, the force he can unleash is beyond our comprehension. Of all the people I know, only Xiang Tianyuan of the Xiang family in Songzhou, or Hua Xifeng in the capital, might be able to suppress him!” Tu Manjiang spoke in a low, heavy voice.

“What? Xiang Tianyuan? Hua Xifeng?” Wu Dong exclaimed. Either name was legendary in the martial world of China—demigods among men! Especially Hua Xifeng, who was like a celestial dragon.

Wu Dong could scarcely believe that in his master’s view, the youth they fought tonight was already a match for such figures.

“But those two are both grandmasters, having stepped into Transcendence!” Wu Dong gasped.

“Hmph…” Tu Manjiang grunted. “How do you know Lin Le isn’t one as well?”

“What?!” Wu Dong was struck as if by lightning, utterly stunned.

“A seventeen or eighteen-year-old grandmaster? Master, how is that possible?!” This was beyond anything Wu Dong could fathom.

“The facts are plain to see. There’s no such thing as impossible…” Tu Manjiang’s heart was tinged with sorrow.

He, Tu Manjiang, was already past fifty, yet had never broken through to Transcendence, never become a true grandmaster. In comparison, it was cause for lament.

Once, he had entered the martial path through hardening his body, and by his thirties had achieved mastery of internal energy—a prodigy by any standard. He believed he would step into Transcendence before forty, becoming a legend like Hua Xifeng. Yet fate mocked him; he waited twenty bitter years at the threshold, never progressing an inch.

Now, past fifty and his body showing signs of decline—tonight, with his arm ruined by Lin Le—the dream of Transcendence was shattered forever.

“My life in martial arts is likely at its end…” Tu Manjiang sighed deeply, his tone full of pain.

“Master…” Wu Dong, seeing Tu Manjiang in such a state, could not help but feel a surge of sympathy.

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside, and a voice called in, “I heard Uncle Tu is back. So, has Lin Le met his end yet?”

Before the words had faded, Qu Junchu entered beaming, full of expectation.

In his mind, with Tu Manjiang and Wu Dong taking action, killing Lin Le would be a trivial matter. But the moment he saw Tu Manjiang’s blood-soaked, mangled arm, Qu Junchu froze in shock.

“Uncle Tu, what… what happened here?” Qu Junchu asked in disbelief. He could not imagine anyone in all of Haizhou capable of injuring the Vajra Butcher so badly.

“It was Lin Le,” Tu Manjiang replied blandly.

“What?!” Qu Junchu’s eyes widened in shock.

“Young Master, we lost…” Wu Dong muttered, barely audibly.

“Lost? Lost to Lin Le? How… how is that possible?” If not for the ruined arm before his eyes, Qu Junchu would have thought it a joke.

“There is nothing impossible. Lin Le’s strength is far beyond our imagination—he is no ordinary man,” Tu Manjiang said gravely.

“Nonsense!” Qu Junchu snapped. “Uncle Tu, perhaps you’re getting old and feeble if you can’t even handle Lin Le!”

“Young Master, how can you speak of my master like that!” Wu Dong retorted furiously.

“And you still remember I’m your Young Master? How dare you talk to me that way! Are you tired of living in the Qu household?” Qu Junchu had been spoiled since childhood, arrogant and dismissive of his inferiors.

“You—” Wu Dong, hot-blooded as ever, was about to argue, but Tu Manjiang silenced him.

“The Young Master is right. Perhaps I truly am past my prime, and now, with my arm destroyed, I have no face to remain in the Qu family. When Old Master Qu returns from the capital, I shall formally resign,” Tu Manjiang said calmly.

“Whether you stay or go is your own affair. I have other matters to attend to,” Qu Junchu said, turning and leaving without waiting for a reply.

He had hoped that tonight, with Lin Le dead, his greatest rival in love would be gone and he could win the heart of Tang Nianchen. But seeing Tu Manjiang’s failure, all hope was dashed, and he could not be bothered to show the slightest courtesy.

“Bah! What a wretch!” Wu Dong cursed as soon as Qu Junchu left.

“Enough. In the future, never talk back to him. He is, after all, the second son of the Qu family. If you want to live, you must learn to control your temper!” Tu Manjiang cautioned.

Yet even Tu Manjiang himself found it difficult to restrain his emotions. This was a flaw of the hardening martial path: a powerful body, but a stunted mind.

Tu Manjiang recalled Lin Le’s earlier words: martial techniques kill, but the martial path cultivates the self—one must not neglect either.

Thinking back now, he found it to be profoundly true.