Chapter Forty-Eight: A Bloodcurdling Scream Echoed Out...

The Chen family’s private courtyard, training ground…

Waves of fist energy reverberated from the training ground in bursts. Inside, two women clad in palace robes faced each other, fist to fist. The pair resembled one another by seven or eight parts, as if they were true sisters, their intent flowing freely, so that with each punch, it seemed even the heavens might be struck through and left with a gaping hole.

Thud, thud, thud…

Fist after fist, each met the other’s small knuckles head-on. Martial artists sparring did not rely solely on their fists—kicks, short bursts of power, and palm thrusts interwove seamlessly throughout. Every kick caused their elegant, understated palace robes to flare, though the skirts were too long for such moments to last—each flickered and vanished in an instant.

Even so, their sparring was imbued with a unique feminine grace, hard as steel yet beautiful, making watching their practice a delight.

“Hah!”

The younger, more delicate girl gave a spirited shout, her small fists clenched, and struck toward her mother’s chest with the force of a tiger and a dragon.

Her mother simply tilted her head to the side, looking somewhat adorably absent-minded, casually deflecting her daughter’s punch with the back of her fair hand, then, with her other hand, aimed a fist at the girl’s forehead.

Just as the fist was about to touch her daughter’s brow, both paused, the girl closing her eyes.

“Ouch… it hurts…”

The woman, though youthful in appearance, was already a mother. She flicked her daughter’s forehead gently, sighed softly, and drew a handkerchief from her bosom to wipe the sweat from her daughter’s brow. “Xiao Jia, tell your mother, what is the essence of the Divine Shattering Fist?”

The girl, pure and lovely, though quite flat-chested, her legs stretching endlessly below her neck, lowered her lashes in disappointment and replied quietly, “Even when facing ancient gods, the heart must be in the fist, shattering gods until the end.”

Her mother smiled gently, smoothing out the slight tangles in her daughter’s long hair. “Was your heart just now truly in your fist, Xiao Jia?”

“No…” Chen Jia turned her head and answered in a small voice.

“Then who was it on? Was it that Jiang Lin?”

Hearing her mother’s words, the girl’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Chen’s mother took her daughter’s hand.

“Xiao Jia, I don’t object to you meeting Jiang Lin. Although that boy once stole girls’ undergarments, sometimes plays the victim, and has recently become the new generation’s flower thief in Wutong Prefecture, your mother knows that, at heart, he is… well… not entirely bad.”

“Then why won’t you…”

“Why won’t I let you help him?”

Seeing her daughter pout, Chen’s mother smiled, embraced her, and gently tapped her pert nose. “Xiao Jia, Jiang Lin is a man, after all. If a girl is too forward, she’ll be taken advantage of. Besides, even if I let you go, what could you do? Fight for him? Where would his pride go then?”

“He wouldn’t care about pride at all.”

Nestled in her mother’s arms, the girl murmured, her mood much calmer now.

“All right, all right, don’t be upset. Their contest is over now. You can go see Jiang Lin. I’m sure he’s basking in his own glory.”

“It’s all over. What’s the point? That fool doesn’t even remember me.”

“You won’t go? But I hear Jiang Lin wagered all on himself and won quite a sum. Tonight, he’s heading to Spring Breeze Pavilion to step onto the path of adulthood.”

“The path of adulthood?”

In her mother’s embrace, the girl blinked her wide, innocent eyes, staring at her mother in confusion.

“The path of adulthood, yes.”

Chen’s mother whispered in her daughter’s ear. As she spoke, the girl’s fair, collagen-rich cheeks gradually turned red, the blush spreading to the roots behind her ears.

“Mother, Xiao Jia… Xiao Jia will go back to her room and sleep…”

She quickly disentangled herself, loosened her skirt, and rushed out of the training ground.

“Sigh… Wife, you spoil Xiao Jia too much. That Jiang Lin is clearly not a good person. How can you let her interact with him? I don’t care—if he wants to marry our daughter, he’ll have to answer to my fists first.”

After Chen Jia ran off, a middle-aged man slowly approached.

“Yes, Jiang Lin truly isn’t a good person.”

Chen’s mother, ageless and beautiful, turned around with a smile. At some point, she was holding a peony-patterned undergarment.

“Well then, husband, can you explain this peony undergarment?”

…

“Don’t worry, wife, it’s all fine.”

In a tavern in Sun-Moon Sect’s town, the founder of Dragon Gate Sect was chatting with his wife through Mirror of Flowers and Moonlit Water.

“Under my guidance, Jiang Lin conquered every challenge, one after another. Those old men were anxious—the young couldn’t beat him, so they wanted to send in the elders. But guess what? I stood there, radiating kingly dominance! They all chickened out. Don’t worry, wife, tomorrow’s Wutong Prefecture Daily will tell you everything. Make sure Qingwan doesn’t worry.”

“When are you coming back? Well… that’s tricky. Jiang Lin insisted I stay for a few more days and eat with him, so it’s hard to refuse…”

“What are you saying, wife? I’m definitely not learning a foreign language, absolutely not! I promise! See, I’m in the tavern, waiting for Jiang Lin. Don’t worry a bit. You’re so beautiful—how could I learn a foreign language outside? My heart is always…”

Tap, tap, tap…

Before the Dragon Gate Sect elder could finish, a knock came from outside. Then a delicate, honeyed voice rang out, as if saturated with water and able to be wrung out at will:

“Dear guest, your Sun-Moon Sect Dialect Special Package has arrived. Hurry and open the door…”

…

“Who goes there!”

Outside the Sun-Moon Sect’s protective array, two guards blocked a woman whose figure was graceful and alluring beneath a bamboo hat.

“To visit your sect is surely an intrusion, but I heard that six western sects of Wutong Prefecture are here to challenge Jiang Lin. May I ask when it begins?”

The guards glanced at the woman, exchanged looks, and instantly understood—Jiang Lin had stirred up romantic trouble outside.

“Oh… Don’t worry, miss, Brother Jiang is quite well. He’s busy at Shuangzhu Peak right now. But tonight, he’s hosting a victory banquet. If you don’t mind…”

The other guard elbowed him sharply. “What banquet? That kid drinks too much. Don’t mind him, miss.”

“As long as he’s safe, that’s all that matters. Thank you both.” The veiled woman tossed each of them a mid-grade spirit stone. “Please don’t tell him I was here…”

With that, she mounted her sword and departed.

“For Jiang Lin, you forced yourself past my restraints. Why not see him now?” the sword spirit asked softly as the girl flew away.

“As long as he’s safe, it’s enough.” Beneath the veil, the girl, still not fully healed, smiled gently.

“Ah, you…”

The sword spirit sighed…

On the other side, watching the slender and somewhat lonely silhouette as she sped away, one guard couldn’t help but shake his head. “Why did you elbow me? I was just inviting her for Brother Jiang.”

“Invite her? Are you mad?” The other slapped his head. “Do you want Brother Jiang to face a cleaver tonight?”

“…Seems you have a point… But what is Brother Jiang up to now?”

“Who knows? Something big, I think… Maybe tending his wounds.”

…

Meanwhile, atop Shuangzhu Peak, a pig-like scream echoed forth…