Chapter 30: Display

Su Huaiyue was slightly taken aback.

A grandmaster? Who is he referring to?

It took a moment for her gaze to fall on Yaoguang.

Impossible!

Compared to Su Yaoyu, she had a far better understanding of the weight carried by the title of grandmaster. She also knew exactly what a grandmaster represented.

Being a grandmaster meant that, within Tiannan, everyone would behave properly and reason with you. No one would dare use underhanded tricks against any force associated with one, and every member of a prestigious family with a grandmaster's support could enjoy absolute security and sleep soundly at night. It also meant that, across all of Tiannan, one would have the confidence to overturn the table at any time.

But Yaoguang?! He can't possibly be one. He has been practicing martial arts recently, but hasn't it been only a year or two?

She did not know the exact duration, as she had never paid much attention, but it was definitely something recent.

He can't be a grandmaster, which leaves only one possibility: He has become a grandmaster’s disciple! Has he come on behalf of a grandmaster to negotiate cooperation with the Su family?

Su Huaiyue's mind was racing.

"Go and report this to him," Yaoguang said to Secretary Lin. "See whether the Su family wishes to proceed with this cooperation. If not, I can always find someone else."

Secretary Lin didn't dare to underestimate that statement. "Young Master Yaoguang, please wait a moment. I will immediately report this to the chairman."

She hurried off as soon as she finished speaking.

"Yaoguang, what did you mean by what you said just now?" Su Huaiyue’s tone carried a trace of caution.

Yaoguang did not explain. He merely extended his Perception to sweep over the entire Buzhou Group building.

There were no red points inside Buzhou Group, which made sense.

While daemons were not few in number, they were not common enough to appear everywhere. Typically, only a city with a population in the millions would have one or two hidden somewhere.

That was precisely why, when he had sensed three daemons at Yulong International, he had immediately labeled it a fiendish lair.

"Yaoguang..." Seeing that Yaoguang would not speak, Su Huaiyue did not grow angry. Instead, she tried again, attempting to ask something.

Suddenly, Secretary Lin, who had just left, hurried back. "Young Master Yaoguang, the chairman would like to see you."

Yaoguang nodded slightly, then followed her toward the exit of the lounge.

Su Yaoyu, standing nearby, instinctively wanted to follow, but Secretary Lin gently blocked her. "Ms. Yaoyu, the chairman wishes to speak with Young Master Yaoguang alone."

"Oh..." Su Yaoyu paused, a little worried.

But Su Huaiyue, standing beside her, leaned in quietly to ask in a low voice, "Yaoyu, did Yaoguang acknowledge a grandmaster as his master? Who is it? Xie Yusheng? Feng Dong? Or Xia Wuyuan?"

"Xiaowei only said his martial arts had progressed. As for whether he formally took a master, I don't know."

As Su Yaoyu spoke, she had already realized that Su Huaiyue’s attitude was somewhat off. It seemed the weight of a grandmaster was far heavier than she had imagined.

The Ten Tigers of Tiannan were often referred to as masters or grandmasters of the Martial Dao. Yet even the one ranked first among them, Long Daoqi, relied on fighting in brutal matches and on the promotional push of the company behind him to rake in a hundred million a year.

And those ranked near the bottom only earned a few tens of millions a year.

They were impressive compared to ordinary people, but they could not compare to the members of the Su family's second generation, who earned several hundred million each.

Looks like the situation isn't as simple as I had thought. Is it because Yaoguang is young and has more potential?

Su Yaoyu wondered.

For that reason, she did not give Su Huaiyue a definite answer.

Su Huaiyue heard this and sighed inwardly. If Su Yaoguang had truly come on behalf of a grandmaster seeking cooperation, her chance of succeeding Su Huaifeng as a director of the group would grow slim.

Perhaps not necessarily so. A single grandmaster’s power equals that of an entire great clan. Father will also need to consider the risk of inviting danger into the group. If the other party’s demands are too high, Father will certainly refuse. Everything depends on how the negotiation unfolds. No wonder he only returned now. He has found a backer, and that has given him confidence...

***

Secretary Lin led Yaoguang into the chairman’s office, a spacious room of over eighty square meters, decorated with an air of grandeur and luxury.

Su Chiming did not rise but remained seated on the sofa, looking straight at Yaoguang as he entered. There was also a middle-aged man in his late thirties or early forties standing at his side. His gaze also fell upon Yaoguang.

Su Chiming waved his hand toward Secretary Lin, who immediately withdrew and closed the door behind her. The excellent soundproofing shut out all noise from the outside.

"Yaoguang." Su Chiming recited the name. "Your name follows the seniority of our Su family."

He looked Yaoguang up and down. "This is probably the first time we have met since you were born. The resentment between parents should never have involved the next generation," the family head said with a heavy sigh.

Yaoguang glanced at Su Chiming. He could see that the old master of the Su family possessed a Martial Dao foundation. But at over seventy years of age, after decades of living in comfort, his martial roots had long decayed. At best, they allowed him to be slightly more spirited and in better health than other elderly men.

This was not surprising. Forty or fifty years earlier, martial arts had been far more prosperous than they currently were. It was only in recent decades that the rapid technological development and the presence of planes and cannons invaded the living space of martial artists. With peace, stability, and improved living standards, fewer people were willing to endure hardship to train. The influence of the martial circle had naturally declined.

If this had been several decades earlier, during the period when the Snowdragon Empire and the Crimson Star Empire fought a full-scale war and the world fell into turmoil, almost every head of a major force would've been a renowned Martial Dao grandmaster.

Su Chiming had long passed his prime, but the middle-aged man beside him possessed powerful qi and blood. With the insight granted by the Martial Paragon branch, Yaoguang judged at a glance that this man was a top-tier martial master at the mastery stage of tendon and bone strengthening, barely weaker than the Ten Tigers of Tiannan.

"That makes things simple," Yaoguang spoke and extended his hand toward the middle-aged man. "We can link forearms, and you can test my strength."[1]

A flicker of surprise flashed through the man’s eyes, his expression puzzled. Su Chiming also did not understand.

A moment later, he said directly, "Which grandmaster are you representing in this negotiation? Xie Yusheng? Feng Dong? Xia Wuyuan? Or Zhang Tianji? Perhaps Yue Xingzhou?"

Yaoguang knew the first three names, but not the last two.

Still, after a moment of thought, he found it unsurprising. Although Ye Yuhe came from the martial world, not every grandmaster decided to build a reputation within the martial world. Some operated in circles where fame inside the Martial Dao sphere was no longer necessary.

"I am not representing anyone," Yaoguang answered. "I represent only myself."

"Yourself?" Su Chiming froze for a moment. When he suddenly realized the true meaning behind those words, he frowned.

The middle-aged man beside him looked startled as well. "You don't mean to say..."

"No amount of words can compare to exchanging blows in person. Why don't you just try me?" Yaoguang extended his hand in a gesture of invitation.

The middle-aged man looked toward Su Chiming with surprise, as if asking for his decision.

Su Chiming was taken aback as well. Even more than surprise, he was simply unwilling to believe it.

Yet, Yaoguang’s confidence remained unshaken before their eyes. After a brief moment of thought, he reached a decision. Just as Yaoguang had said, nothing was more convincing than actual combat.

"Hold back a little. Don't injure the boy." Su Chiming reminded him.

"I understand." The middle-aged man looked at Yaoguang and smiled. "My name is Leng Jun. I am your third uncle-in-law. I began cultivating the Martial Dao at eight and am now thirty-nine. I have achieved some success. I am proficient in the Tongtai Fist and the Thirty-Six Heavenly-Spirit Hands. Among the ten levels of the Martial Dao certification, I hold a level 7 grandmaster certification. If I wished to attempt the exam for the next level, I could pass. After all, Feng Dong would not personally administer my test, and aside from him, I fear no one else in the Martial Dao Association."

"I am Yaoguang. My cultivation method is Signless Infinity. As for Martial Dao certification, I have never taken the exam, but the grandmasters I have killed..." Yaoguang paused.

Many martial masters possessed the ability to unleash grandmaster-tier strength after becoming daemon-infested. Figures like You Long had reached the mastery stage of organ strengthening. Yet in the eyes of the world, they were still considered martial masters rather than grandmasters. Therefore...

"I have slain several martial masters in life-and-death fights." He changed his phrasing.

Even though he had already softened it and kept it understated, Leng Jun still found himself speechless.

Slain martial masters? Several? How many martial masters are there in all of Tiannan? I don't even know if the number of martial masters has reached three digits. Where would so many martial masters come from for him to kill? Does he mean those top fighters who pulled strings to obtain a level 4 martial master certificate? Or the sort who trained for a few years, never earned any certification, yet called themselves martial masters?

Still, he did not expose Yaoguang. He understood that young people tended to aim high. As long as he possessed the strength of an ordinary martial master, he was worth a heavy investment from the Su family. Just like him. The reason Old Master Su allowed a commoner like him to marry the Su family’s third young lady was that he had already displayed martial-master-tier strength at only twenty years of age.

"You go first," Leng Jun said calmly.

"It's just linking forearms." Yaoguang shook his head, lifted his arm, and directly reached out to seize his hand.

Leng Jun had originally planned to stay still and let him grab it, but the moment Yaoguang moved, he realized that it was not a matter of choosing whether to dodge. He could not dodge at all.

The instant he saw Yaoguang’s hand reaching forward, his own right hand had already been caught between Yaoguang’s five fingers.

This sudden shift made Leng Jun immediately understand something.

This junior from Su Huaifeng’s bloodline possesses real skill!

His thoughts moved quickly, and his reaction was just as fast. His whole body trembled, tendons and bones resonating together. A surge of jin rushed from his core to his arm, and with a twist of his arm, he attempted to shake open the five fingers locking onto him.

However, almost at the exact moment his jin burst forth, Yaoguang’s right hand pressed down slightly. Jin flowed in, penetrating directly into his tendons and bones.

Leng Jun felt his entire arm go numb as the jin he had gathered shattered instantly. Worse still, that penetrating jin seemed to originate from Yaoguang’s very organs. After dispersing his strength, it resonated through his body, making his internal organs rumble violently.

His qi and blood were jolted into chaos, his mind buzzing as if massive bronze bells were ringing inside his skull. It felt like standing up too quickly after squatting for too long. A sudden rush of dizziness swept over him, and darkness briefly swept over his eyes.

It is over!

Leng Jun instantly understood that if this had been a real life-and-death fight, his fate would already be sealed.

It took him two or three seconds before the dizziness finally faded. When he regained clarity, he found Yaoguang still holding onto him, not restraining but supporting him. Realizing how badly he had lost control moments ago, Leng Jun’s face flushed red.

What a humiliation!

Seeing him recover, Yaoguang released his hand.

"What was that?" Su Chiming had not fully grasped what happened. From his perspective, Yaoguang had simply grabbed Leng Jun’s arm; Leng Jun had jolted like he had been shocked, nearly collapsed, and was then caught and steadied by Yaoguang. At a glance, it had almost looked like the two were playing around.

"It is over," Yaoguang said.

"Yes... It is over." Leng Jun managed a bitter smile.

But a heartbeat later, the truth struck him.

That jin earlier had not only shattered his own jin, but also shaken his organs and precisely disrupted his qi and blood, plunging him into vertigo.

It was the organs resonating, allowing jin to pierce through them! This is the technique of a grandmaster!

Leng Jun suddenly realized the situation, and his eyes widened.

Only then did he finally understand what Yaoguang meant when he had said, "I represent only myself."

Shock flooded Leng Jun's face as he stared at the young man before him, struggling to believe it. "You...you're actually the grandmaster you were talking about!?"

1. When martial artists sparred, they would, by convention, make contact with one another using their forearms. This was called linking forearms. ☜