Chapter Fifteen: Yang Yan's Martial Path

Being thrown out in front of everyone by Yang Yan as if he were nothing but trash, Xu Shaoguang was utterly stunned. He lay on the ground for a long while, unable to process what had happened. Only after some time, when he noticed the crowd’s myriad gazes—some pointing, some whispering about him—did a deafening roar erupt in his mind, as if a volcano of fury had erupted from his chest and rushed straight to his head, devouring all reason in an instant!

The murmurs of the crowd twisted in his ears, seeming to transform into sneers of scorn and mocking laughter! At this moment, he had but a single thought: to kill Yang Yan!

Never had Xu Shaoguang imagined that, in his own moment of carelessness, he would be publicly humiliated by the very one recognized as the “useless young master” of Jinhuan City. For him, this was a disgrace beyond bearing!

As the second young master of the Xu family, he had grown up accustomed to flattery and respect. Although he was not particularly diligent in his cultivation, his talent was undeniable; at a young age, he had already reached the second layer of Spirit Perception, ranking among the top of the Xu family’s younger generation.

Because of this, Xu Shaoguang nurtured a pride—perhaps even arrogance—at his core from childhood. So, when Yang Yan hurled him to the ground, the experience felt unreal. Only when pain began to throb through his body did he realize this humiliation was no dream.

The fire of rage and shame in his chest was far more intense than the physical pain he felt!

Yet Yang Yan ignored the fallen Xu Shaoguang entirely. Taking Ziling by the hand, he left the Treasure Pavilion under the gaze of the onlookers, heading straight in the direction from which he had come.

Yang Yan’s complete disregard acted as yet another powerful catalyst, sending Xu Shaoguang’s fury surging to its peak in an instant!

“Die!”

With a roar that bordered on madness, Xu Shaoguang’s face turned crimson with anger, his features twisted in a mask of rage. He sprang up from the ground like a human cannonball, shooting straight for Yang Yan’s back!

At this moment, Xu Shaoguang’s speed had reached a terrifying level, more than twice as fast as when he’d first clashed with Yang Yan!

It was clear to the observant that both his fists and feet were shrouded in a faint, gauzy red light: Fire-attributed spiritual energy!

Among the Five Elements, the various spiritual energies could be roughly distinguished by color: fire was red, wood was green, water was translucent, earth was ochre, and metal was gold.

Infusing one’s body with spiritual energy for an attack did not match the destructive force of unleashing a martial technique, but it far surpassed the pure physical power of someone at the Body Tempering stage.

Of course, this was not Xu Shaoguang holding back. His cultivation had only just stepped into the second layer of Spirit Perception; his spiritual reserves were not yet sufficient to support even a single martial technique. Thus, he resorted to channeling all his fire spiritual energy from his spiritual core into his feet and hands, boosting his speed and the power of his strikes!

He knew clearly that an attack of this caliber was absolutely unstoppable for anyone at Body Tempering.

As soon as Yang Yan heard the furious roar, he sensed something amiss. Turning his head, he found Xu Shaoguang’s twisted, rage-distorted face looming ever closer, his flabby features bunching together into something hideous.

Never had he expected Xu Shaoguang to risk a complete falling out between the Xu and Zhang families by making a deadly attack on him in full view of the public!

Had he still been stuck at Body Tempering, one punch from Xu Shaoguang would have left him gravely injured, if not dead, even if luck was on his side.

“Since you show no mercy, don’t blame me for being ruthless in return!”

Yang Yan could ignore Xu Shaoguang’s repeated provocations, but the moment he insulted Ziling, he had crossed a line that Yang Yan could not tolerate. Now, with Xu Shaoguang striking to kill, Yang Yan’s patience had reached its limit!

Yang Yan was no one’s punching bag, even when his cultivation had stagnated at Body Tempering. But all of that depended on no one crossing his bottom line! And now that he had stepped into the Spirit Perception stage, he would never be cowed by a petty villain like Xu Shaoguang!

A fierce fighting spirit flared up within Yang Yan. He reached out and gently pushed Ziling aside, lest she be caught in the crossfire, then gathered all the spiritual power from his Qi Sea, channeling it into his right fist.

“Even if you’re a savage tiger, you’ll have to break a few teeth if you want to devour me!”

At this thought, Yang Yan felt his spirit soar. Facing Xu Shaoguang, who charged at him like a tiger descending the mountain, seeing that red-glowing fist growing ever larger in his sight, a strange longing rose in his heart—a yearning for battle, and a pursuit of the martial path’s very summit!

The road of cultivation was strewn with obstacles, a struggle against fate itself. For countless millennia, this land had seen the rise of countless prodigies, geniuses in their youth, but how many had truly stood at the pinnacle, gazing down upon all beneath the heavens? Precious few. The root cause was always the same: they lacked that fearless, all-consuming resolve to walk the path of martial arts.

If, when faced with a stronger foe, one felt only fear and retreated without a fight, how could one endure the ordeals to come? How could one survive the life-and-death tests of breaking through bottlenecks? How could one ever cut a path through thorns on the road to immortality, striving for the ultimate summit?

No one could know that in this split second, Yang Yan, a youth only just embarking on the path of cultivation, grasped a truth that even cultivators who had trained for decades or centuries might never comprehend! From this day forth, he would hold this as his guiding faith in martial arts, and in the many dangers he would face in the future—some many times more perilous than this day—he would never waver or give in!

A scorching wind, driven by Xu Shaoguang’s fist, swept over Yang Yan before the attack had even reached him. His robe and hair whipped and danced in the heat. Yet, faced with such a fierce assault, his slender body did not flinch; his expression remained calm, though there seemed to be flames burning in his eyes.

As spiritual power surged into his right hand, it felt as if a savage beast was coiling in the meridians of his palm, eager to burst forth and rend everything before him.

A tingling heat welled up in Yang Yan’s throat, and as the spiritual energy swelled, he nearly let out a wild roar!

Just as Xu Shaoguang’s fist was about to strike and Yang Yan’s spiritual energy had reached its peak, ready to unleash a counterblow, a tall, lean figure suddenly appeared before him. With an effortless gesture, a single hand reached out and stopped Xu Shaoguang’s fearsome punch dead in its tracks, rendering it powerless to advance any further.

Stunned for a moment, Yang Yan looked up at the newcomer and exclaimed with delight, “Father!”