"You want to duel me? How long has it been since you got released from the infirmary? Is the pain from the last beating even entirely gone?"

Jiang Chen couldn't believe the audacity of this lowlife standing proud in front of him. Did he think Jiang Chen was a pushover who could be manipulated however he wanted?

He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to fight and end up trapping himself in Han Xuhan's insidious schemes. But...

Martial phase breakthrough medicine...

His eyes flickered towards the pouch on the ground, its view partially blocked by Han Xuhan's feet. Within that pouch was more than enough medicine for a dozen attempts at breakthroughs.

If he successfully delivered the pouch to Senior Brother Chen Yan's hands, perhaps he could request a small share from it. Surely. Senior Brother would understand his plight and reward him.

Hahaha! Han Xuhan probably hadn't even realized how good his relationship was with Senior Brother Yan. Jiang Chen didn't need to steal from that pouch. Yes, Chen Yan wouldn't mind sharing some with him!

So, he could not let this thing spiral out of his grasp. He needed that medicine as much as Chen Yan did.

"Come on, Brother Jiang Chen," Han Xuhan spoke again in a provocative tone. "You don't have to go far. Just punch me aside and take what you rightfully deserve..."

Jiang Chen let out a cold snort, secretly flexing the tendons in his arms and waist. Then, at the maximum speed of a second-phase martial artist, he closed the distance between himself and Han Xuhan, swinging his fist with powerful momentum.

He noticed a smile flickering across Han Xuhan's face, but Jiang Chen had expected this to be a trap from the beginning. He turned his punch into a feint by reducing its force to less than one-third of the original, preparing himself to defend against sneak attacks.

Jiang Chen's punch, straightforward as it was, became even simpler in essence. And Han Xuhan merely had to put his arms up in a basic blocking method to protect his ribcage.

The power behind the punch didn't even push him back. Jiang Chen vaguely felt that something was off. But his mind became occupied by something far more concerning to analyze this feeling.

The sneak attacks, traps, outside assistance... None of the insidious moves he was on guard against came.

Their first exchange became a ridiculously simple powerless punch and lazy block.

Fast as a snake's tail, Jiang Chen retracted his hands halfway to strike slightly higher, aiming at Han Xuhan's throat. This time it looked like a casual probe, but the strike contained almost two-thirds of his strength.

At the same time, Jiang Chen's right leg moved silently to kick Han Xuhan left knee, trying to upset his balance.

The whole time, he still reserved a part of his focus on keeping track of any unusual movements made by his opponent. One of his hands remained close to his body, and one of his legs maintained a stable stance that could withstand sudden attacks.

But Han Xuhan didn't make any abnormal moves. The speed of his hands wasn't enough to match Jiang Chen, but it was enough to defend himself against the ordinary martial strikes. He used one of his elbows to strike under Jiang Chen's oncoming fist, swerving it away from its trajectory.

At the same time, his other hand, formed into a claw, flew like a whip towards Jiang Chen's face.

Idiot!

Not only did you forget to defend your lower body, but you also tried to attack me despite seeing one of my hands reserved for protection against such an attack, knowing fully well that my strength trumps yours by a huge margin!

Jiang Chen couldn't help but laugh internally as he moved in for the conclusive move.

With his idle hand, he grabbed Han Xuhan's claw, which ensured that Han Xuhan wouldn't be able to move out of his range even if he tried to. This made Jiang Chen's kick land perfectly on target.

A muffled thump sounded as it struck Han Xuhan's left knee. But the scene that Jiang Chen had imagined, where the knee would shatter like that day, or at least ruin Han Xuhan's combat stance... Didn't happen.

Instead, Jiang Chen felt a throbbing pain in the blade of his foot which had led the collision. The pain wasn't enough to distract him from making a bold guess.

Han Xuhan... was no longer in the first phase of martial cultivation, unlike their first encounter. He had to have entered the second phase recently.

The guess left Jiang Chen shaken. He even released Han Xuhan's hand from his grip and leaped a couple of meters away, scanning him from head to toe doubtfully.

Han Xuhan's face was twisted in a grimace as he massed his knee. But that was the only reaction he showed to Jiang Chen's strike. Even though the kick hadn't contained his full strength, it was enough to show that the disparity between their physical attributes wasn't big.

Jiang Chen's face turned grim. He couldn't take this duel lightly anymore. If brute strength couldn't do the job, he'd have to rely on martial skill alone to teach this lowlife a lesson.

Then, he'd snatch the pouch full of phase breakthrough medicine, ask some from Senior Brother Yan, and cross over to the third phase of martial cultivation, widening the gap between him and Han Xuhan again by a huge margin.

Would this scum dare to challenge him again after that point? Heh!

With a sharp gleam in his eyes. Jiang Chen seriously prepared himself for a proper martial duel. His eyes analyzed Han Xuhan's stable stance, hand position, torso angle, and breathing pattern simultaneously.

Stance... Practiced and polished.

Breathing pattern discordant, probably affected by the pain in his knee. So... Not an experienced fighter.

The angle between the torso and the lower body was nearly a perfect 180°. Rather than focusing on offense or defense, he was maintaining neutrality.

And lastly, the movement of his hands... Wait, what was he doing?

Jiang Chen was taken aback as he watched Han Xuhan put a hand inside his robe and bring out a wooden mask from a pocket. Putting it on his face, he shrugged.

"Just making sure you don't accidentally ruin my handsome face, since it looks like we're evenly matched. And if you can't win, you can forget about taking the breakthrough medicine to Chen Yan."

Jiang Chen sneered. Evenly matched? Does this guy even understand the gap between the entrance and the peak of a martial phase?

However, he didn't want to reveal anything beforehand. Instead, he tried to put pressure on his opponent in hopes of cutting the problem in the bud.

"Even if I don't win, I can still concede defeat and go back to my mountain. Then I'll just inform Brother Yan about this matter, and he'll come here to straighten out your crooked methods. Don't blame me when he breaks that mask into pieces with a slap."

"I know, I know," Han Xuhan said without a hint of fear. "You can also use the other threat. You can always publicize my insidious scheme of making the entire outer court buy my manual."

Jiang Chen was about to nod in agreement. But then he heard Han Xuhan add, "Either way, this pouch of breakthrough medicine wouldn't fall into your hands. If you don't take it to Brother Yan, there is no way you'd get to take a couple of pinches from it, with or without his permission."

Jiang Chen's sneer stiffened. Indeed, if Brother Yan came to know that Jiang Chen had failed in doing something so simple, why would he reward him with a share of the breakthrough medicine?

If Chen Yan had to come here himself, or send the other three disciples of their little group, it'd mean Jiang Chen would have to wait for a long time, perhaps more than a month or two, to save up enough spirit stones by himself to buy the medicine. The living expenses in the sect were not cheap!

No... He had to beat this hateful scum into submission and snatch the pouch. Otherwise, who knows when he'd cross Jiang Chen's martial cultivation with his lavish methods?

Someone who could go from an uninitiated rookie to a second-phase martial artist in less than two weeks.... How long could it take for them to reach the third phase? Martial cultivation was all about investing money and practicing. Talent wouldn't save anybody!

Jiang Chen shuddered as he imagined being beaten every day by Han Xuhan in martial duels. This seemed to be his only opportunity, the pivotal moment that would determine his fate in the near future.

It was as if his world was getting dark. Jiang Chen became so focused that only Han Xuhan's form existed in his eyes. He had to beat him anyhow!

A Burst of wind rose in the yard as Jiang Chen leaped with all of his strength, appearing right in front of Han Xuhan without any warning. Han Xuhan quickly put his arms in front of him to defend himself.

But instead of his usual style of opening the exchange with a punch, Jiang Chen shifted his momentum downwards, leaning sideways and kicking Han Xuhan in the waist.

This was a martial move he had never practiced publicly before. Han Xuhan would never see it coming!

Vital energy took birth in the blood vessels of his entire leg and formed a perfect cycle in a fraction of a second. Jiang Chen pushed his body and balance to the limit as that leg crashed into Han Xuhan's waist, and vital energy burst forth like a tide...

And then it seemed to be snuffed out.

Without the vital energy, a very ordinary kick was executed to perfection. It didn't even seem to phase Han Xuhan, who looked down at Jiang Chen's horrified face with smiling eyes.