"The president of the Imperial Academy is fighting someone?"

"The president of the Imperial Academy got beaten by a student's parent?"

"The president of the Imperial Academy had an affair with a student's mother and was sought out for revenge by the student's father?"

Rumors stop with the wise, but they can't stop with fools. What's faster than the spread of news is always the entertaining gossip.

People on the eastern streets of Yanjing, who were kept awake by the commotion, rushed to see the excitement. As they moved towards the 'azure barrier' rising in the distance, they heatedly discussed which noblewoman the president of the Imperial Academy was involved with. Some said it was the Chief Minister's new concubine, others said it was the wife of the Marquis of Boliang. Although they tried to overestimate the identity of the other party, they still guessed wrong.

Suddenly, the sound of pleasant wind chimes drifted along with the breeze, and as people turned to look, they only caught a glimpse of a silver light flashing across the rooftops, moving so fast that they couldn't even capture the figure's shadow!

"It's the 'Stilling Combat' Martial Pillar, Silver Bell Lord Crane Tears!" a slightly knowledgeable martial artist exclaimed immediately.

Although Yanjing's Martial Pillars numbered more than anywhere else, and even the entire outer eight districts hardly had five Martial Pillars in total, averaging not even one per city, while Yanjing had a two-digit number, the Martial Pillars were either overwhelmed with chores or obsessed with pursuing the limits of heaven and earth. To ordinary people, Martial Pillars were legendary beings, and seeing one in person was naturally thrilling.

For martial artists, knowing the information about Yanjing's Martial Pillars was a basic skill, and almost everyone could recite their histories by heart, since they were the role models that martial artists aspired to become!

Among the dozen Martial Pillars, Silver Bell Lord Crane Tears was a renowned and powerful martial artist. He was also the only present old-guard martial artist who had reached the peak of perfection in the Lingxu Battle Technique without using firearms to enhance combat power, earning the nickname 'Heaven's Lingxu,' meaning his mastery of the Lingxu Battle Technique surpassed everyone in the world.

Crane Tears was so fast that he could instantaneously suppress martial artists in conflict, preventing any deaths from happening. Due to his seniority, he was often invited to mediate feuds and disputes, which over time garnered him the nickname of 'Stilling Combat.'

This Martial Pillar's distinctive features were his uncatchable steps and the melodious sound of wind chimes.

When the azure barrier forged by moonlight shattered with a crash, the fleeting figure finally came to a stop.

It was a tall white-haired old man in a black trench coat, each strand of his hair meticulously groomed, his goatee smooth and clean, even his wrinkles seemed perfectly placed as if showcasing the aesthetics of 'aging.'

He wore tall boots and had peculiar steel chain gloves on his hands, each glove adorned with four chains linked to bells, looking practically useless as decoration or only causing a downside—the enemy could hear the bells and discern where your attack was coming from.

While they might not be entirely useless, if there were another purpose, these gloves should be worn by a beautiful young lady, not a white-haired old man.

He looked around, confirming he was the first to arrive, sighed, and then walked away on the light.

The courtyard, once a serene bridge-over-stream garden, was now mostly in ruins. The trench-coated elder arrived at the center of the battlefield, ignoring the severed limbs and blood on the ground, and looked at the only living old man in a red robe.

"Principal Cha, it's been a while."

Cha Huan sat on a broken pillar, suddenly stomping down, crushing a small Celestial Mandate cockroach that had miraculously survived the catastrophe with his tasseled flying boots.

"Crane Tears, this isn't like you. Don't you usually like to kill people first and then explain things slowly? Stilling Combat, after all, means killing first naturally stops things."

Crane Tears crossed his hands behind his back: "Principal Cha, you misunderstand. I was resting at my manor in the suburbs. As soon as I heard something happened in Yanjing, I rushed over, not expecting it was you who were attacked..."

"Crane Tears."

Cha Huan turned his head to look over, no longer maintaining his usual dignified elegance. His face was stained with blood and there was even a blood mark on his head.

"You see me in this half-dead state, so you dare to spout nonsense in front of me? Yes, you are the fastest in the world; I can't catch up to you. But do you dare never to sleep, eat, shit, or stop again?"

"If you want to make a move, do it now. Otherwise, when I heal, just based on the crap you said earlier, if I don't shove your head into a latrine and let you drink freely within ten days, I'll take your surname. I dared to make you eat shit when I was in the fourth grade, and I dare to do the same now."

Crane Tears' face immediately changed.

He hadn't dealt with Cha Huan in a long time, or rather, since Cha Huan graduated, he had tried his best not to meet him. Coincidentally, Cha Huan wasn't fond of banquets, and with Crane Tears' deliberate avoidance, they hadn't seen each other much in decades.

He thought that as Cha Huan aged, his temperament would change; he thought that with Cha Huan injured, his demeanor would shift; he thought... However, nothing had changed. The same arrogant and wild 'Shame of the Imperial Academy' Cha Huan from back in the day was still just as defiant!

"Cha Huan," Crane Tears said coldly, "I'm not here to kill you, so be polite with me."

Cha Huan's lips curled upward: "I won't waste words with you. Either leave Yanjing soon or brush your teeth and wait to eat shit in a few days."

"This is too much!"

The sound of wind chimes stirred up ripples, the nearby fragments of stone ground to dust, and the sound waves, which were capable of shattering viscera and boiling blood, spread imperceptibly!

However, Crane Tears had already arrived behind Cha Huan, his right hand transformed into a Palm Blade, the edge of his hand twinkling like stars, descending both slow and fast, like a collapsing mountain suppressing a raging torrent!

In an instant, Crane Tears unleashed his ultimate skill!

Lingxu Battle Technique: In Proximity!

Ten Thousand Tribulations Combat Technique: Mountain Collapse!

Integration and Mastery: Resonance!

This was the essence of Crane Tears' years of combat technique experience: Silver Bell Stilling Combat Combo!

Three techniques, all at the peak of perfection! Lingxu Steps fast as a blink, unmatched; the killing sound of integrating combat techniques, invisible and unstoppable; the relentless momentum of the Mountain Collapse from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Combat Technique ensured no escape!

He saw a faint light emanating from Cha Huan's body and couldn't help but have a murderous intent: he hadn't expected Cha Huan to even fail to evade, resorting only to condensing Light Armor to block! Yet Light Armor had significance in the integration and mastery realm, but in the peak of perfection realm's full-force attack, unless one was miraculous like an eighteen Light Armors-layered gold bell god, it couldn't even delay death!

Originally, Crane Tears was just testing, but Cha Huan's exposed weakness made him unleash his strike without holding back. If this strike landed solidly, it wouldn't kill but would at least blast half of Cha Huan apart!

Boom!

The granite pillar was instantly pulverized into dust. At this moment, Crane Tears felt a chill running down his spine—how did his hand just 'slip' away?

He couldn't even believe his eyes!

The most fierce and sharp 'Mountain Collapse' from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Combat Technique slipped like grease off Cha Huan's shoulder, hitting the stone pillar beside him!

No combat technique had such an effect!

How could there be such a technique rendering close-range attacks completely ineffective!

"Looks like I don't have the fortune of inheriting the surname 'Crane.'"😂

Suddenly Crane Tears felt a hand grasping his nape, and the distance to the ground of crushed stones grew nearer. He desperately summoned all his strength, yet the hand gripping his nape was as though it held his fate; the light explosion from the palm crushed all his counterattacks!

"Eat shit you will!"

With a slap, Crane Tears, the Stilling Combat Martial Pillar Silver Bell Lord, was ruthlessly pressed into the soil and crushed stones by Cha Huan. That solemn and tidy old face had a close intimate contact with the earth, his entire head being buried into the ground!

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