The cracked saber came down in a wild, desperate arc.
Han Yuze’s form was gone.
The clean, aggressive technique that had made him the pride of Cloudmist City had dissolved into pure rage, and the broken blade wobbled in the air like a drunk man’s walking stick.
Lu Chen saw the opening before the strike was halfway through its descent.
[Opponent form: Collapsed.
Center of gravity: shifted forward 12 degrees.
Recovery time: 1.2 breaths.]
[Optimal counter: Mountain-Breaking Fist, full extension, target blade fracture point.]
Lu Chen stepped forward.
He did not dodge.
He did not retreat.
He walked directly into the path of the descending saber and raised his right fist.
The Mountain-Breaking Fist connected with the fracture line.
This time, he did not pull the strike.
He could not afford to.
The cracked blade was descending with enough force to split his skull, and the only way to stop it was to shatter it completely.
Lu Chen channeled his full Body Tempering Stage 6 qi into his knuckles all of it, every compressed coil of energy he had been hiding for three years and drove his fist through the fracture point with the force of a falling boulder.
The saber exploded.
Steel fragments erupted outward in a spray of crimson-tinged shrapnel, spinning through the air and embedding themselves in the arena floor.
The spirit-forged array detonated with a sharp pop, releasing a burst of heat that singed Lu Chen’s sleeve and left a shallow burn across his forearm.
[Damage taken: Minor laceration, left forearm.
Superficial burn, right wrist.]
[Concealment status: Compromised for 0.8 seconds during full-power strike.
Pendant re-suppressing.]
Lu Chen’s fist continued through the space where the blade had been and struck Han Yuze squarely in the chest.
The impact lifted the Han heir off his feet.
Han Yuze flew backward three meters and hit the arena floor hard, his back cracking against the packed earth, his eyes rolling white.
The shattered remains of his saber rained down around him like metallic confetti.
He tried to rise.
His arms shook.
His qi flickered and guttered like a candle in a gale.
He collapsed face-first into the dust.
The arena was silent.
Six thousand people stood frozen in the market square, their mouths open, their eyes fixed on the broken body of the Han Family heir and the unremarkable young man standing over him with a bleeding forearm and a calm expression.
Han Yuze was unconscious.
His saber was destroyed.
And Lu Chen was still standing.
[Combat result: Victory.]
[Face-slap registered: Han Yuze (Body Tempering Stage 6) defeated by host.]
[Family Luck Points: +15.]
[Current total: 130/100 base.]
[Task reward distributed: Hundred-Beast Body Tempering technique added to System vault.]
Lu Chen lowered his fist and looked at the blood dripping from his forearm.
The cut was shallow but real, and the burn on his wrist stung with genuine heat.
He had taken damage.
The System did not protect him from pain.
It never would.
He turned and walked toward the Lu Family platform.
The crowd parted for him in absolute silence, six thousand people stepping back as if the crippled young master had suddenly become something dangerous and unfamiliar.
On the Han Family platform, chaos erupted.
Two Han elders leaped from their seats, their Foundation Establishment auras flaring with barely contained fury.
Han Qingshan, the family’s most aggressive elder at Foundation Establishment Stage 7, gripped the platform railing so hard the wood splintered beneath his fingers.
His eyes burned with killing intent as he stared at Lu Chen’s retreating back.
On the Lu Family platform, Lu Qinghe was screaming.
He was screaming and laughing at the same time, his bruised face split into a grin so wide it looked painful, his fists pumping the air as if he had been the one fighting.
Elder Lu Wei was weeping openly, his thin shoulders shaking beneath his patched robes.
And Lu Yuan stood at the back of the platform, one hand resting on the wooden railing, his dark eyes fixed on his son.
His expression was unreadable.
But his fingers were trembling.
Lu Chen climbed the platform steps and sat down on the back bench as if nothing had happened.
He folded his hands in his lap.
He breathed.
The Cloudmist Jade Pendant pulsed steadily against his chest, reasserting the suppression, flattening his aura back to the Stage 3 facade that the city expected.
The burn on his wrist throbbed.
The cut on his forearm dripped blood onto his patched robe.
His knuckles ached.
But the Hundred-Beast Body Tempering technique was waiting in his System vault, and the Family Luck counter had climbed to 130, and somewhere beneath the compound floor the ancient underground passage hummed with a patience that matched his own.
Across the arena, on the Han Family platform, the Han Patriarch leaned toward his aide.
His voice was barely a whisper, but the killing intent behind it was cold enough to freeze water.
Find out how he broke through.
And do it tonight.
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