Chapter 148: Able to Stoop and Stand Tall

Chapter 148: Able to Bend and Stretch

"Come on in and try it!"

The moment He Zangjia’s arrogant words left his mouth, a sudden gust of wind blew past, forcing him to narrow his eyes.

In his abruptly darkened vision, a palm descended like a black cloud pressing down.

A violent palpitation caused this Pai Gow Tiger Head’s heart to skip half a beat, and his body instinctively took several quick steps back.

At the same time, a sound like tearing silk rang out from within his body.

Listening closely, there were also faint, crackling sounds, like seeds germinating. His entire figure swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if being inflated.

"This is... the Agricultural School?"

A long-lost familiarity rose in Li Jun’s heart. He sensed an extraordinarily vigorous vitality emanating from He Zangjia, a feeling strikingly similar to the "Vernal Equinox" from the Agricultural School’s Twenty-Four Solar Terms that he had once been injected with.

"First time fighting a follower of the Agricultural School sequence. I should take a good look at what tricks they have up their sleeves; makes killing them easier later on."

How to kill efficiently? Four words: practice makes perfect.

With that thought, Li Jun’s already slow movements became even slower, giving He Zangjia ample time to react.

"Want to sneak attack this young master? You're not worthy!"

Having caught his breath, He Zangjia cursed angrily. Beneath his burst clothing, his skin had turned a dark yellow, its texture rough and hard, as if clad in a suit of flesh-and-blood armor.

A delicate, handsome face sat atop a burly, robust frame, creating a visually bizarre contrast.

Li Jun frowned slightly, sizing up this peculiar "Muscular Barbie" before him. He mused inwardly: "No signs of hypnotic illusion, no sound of a Mechanized Heart operating. Do Agricultural School followers not rely on external force when they fight?"

"Your gaze is annoying!"

Li Jun’s look gave He Zangjia the feeling of a "butcher eyeing a pig, looking for where to sink the knife," instantly triggering shame-induced rage.

With a furious roar, he raised his thick right arm, veins knotted, and slammed a fist the size of a sand pot toward the palm clamping down on his face.

The fist wind howled piercingly, actually carrying a hint of the imposing manner of a Sequence Eight Martial Artist striking with a boxing technique.

*Bang!*

Fist met palm. The savage expression on He Zangjia’s face froze instantly, his heart giving a violent start.

He felt as though he had punched a tidal wave. His all-out strike failed to stir even a single spray of foam; instead, he was doused to the bone with ice water.

One side wore a stiff expression; the other fell into thought.

"Decent strength, comparable to a mid-stage Martial Eight, but the method of force application is too simple and crude. Purely an old farmer swinging a hoe."

Li Jun instantly lost interest. His palm, sticking to He Zangjia’s fist peak, curled its five fingers down, swallowing the entire fist like a vicious flood dragon.

*Crack!*

With a twist and shake of his wrist, a spiraling force crawled up He Zangjia’s arm.

Where it passed, the skin rippled like water. Every tendon, bone, and joint—fingers, wrist, elbow—was knocked out of alignment. The arm dangled like a dead snake.

Bone-deep agony invaded him, yet He Zangjia seemed oblivious. His terrified eyes merely stared blankly as his right arm, as if punctured, shrank rapidly at an alarming speed.

"What technique is this? It actually forced already activated gene fragments back into dormancy?!"

He Zangjia was horrified. He had roamed the Chongqing Prefecture for years, and his vision was naturally sharp, having risen to the position of Card-Type Tiger Head of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Association.

Yet this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

"Using genes as seeds, flesh and bone as fields, essence and blood as springs; sow the hundred grains, practice agriculture and sericulture."

This was the consistent sequence philosophy of the Agricultural School.

Put simply, it was achieving self-evolution through the continuous cultivation and optimization of genes.

In combat, the most direct manifestation was activating and strengthening genes suited to the current environment to boost combat power.

Enhance senses when chasing, enhance physique in close quarters, simulate turtle-breathing feigned death when fleeing.

Among the Three Teachings and Nine Streams, he knew some sequences that "Revere the Divine Mind" could suppress the Agricultural School’s "Gene Enlightenment."

The most brutal methods belonged to the Buddhist and Daoist schools.

Once an Agricultural School follower fell into an opponent’s Grotto-Heaven or Buddha-Land, their consciousness eroded, the activated gene fragments would naturally fall back into slumber.

But he clearly hadn't sensed a shred of hypnotic influence from the man before him, yet his genes had just inexplicably fallen asleep.

In a flash, a bolt of lightning struck He Zangjia’s heart, plunging him into an ice cellar.

"Could it be... Martial Arts Perfection?"

Li Jun took a step forward, his body moving like a mountain range pressing horizontally toward He Zangjia. He raised his elbow like a crosswise spear, driving it toward the opponent's chest.

*Whoosh!*

The elbow strike hit empty air, tearing out a sharp, piercing whistle.

Missed?

Li Jun’s heart tightened, but a sudden, utterly sincere voice rang out from below.

"I am a pig."

"What the hell?"

Li Jun’s gaze dropped. He saw He Zangjia hugging his head, squatting on the ground, his delicate features upturned in a harmless, brilliant, obedient smile.

"Big Bro, I was wrong. Give me a chance. I want to turn over a new leaf."

The rage-dragon in his heart-lake, just preparing to stir up waves, instantly froze on the water's surface. The corner of Li Jun’s mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"You've always been this good at bending and stretching?"

He Zangjia smiled obsequiously: "Of course. Otherwise I'd have been beaten to death long ago."

This was the first time Li Jun had encountered such a character, and for a moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He shook his head, walked over to the recliner, and sat down, turning his head to look at the bloodied, wretched boy.

"You're the landlord. You handle it."

Hearing this, the dazed Zhou You finally snapped back to his senses.

"Ah!"

The boy let out a supremely stifled roar from his throat, snatched up a sharpened wooden stick from the ground, and viciously stabbed it at the big man's throat.

*Pu-chi!*

The stick laboriously pierced the skin of the big man's neck, only to be shattered by the metal armor plate embedded beneath his larynx.

"Killing Soldier Way: even beheading carries the risk of a counter-kill. The surest method is stabbing the heart."

Li Jun’s tone was icy, carrying a bone-chilling chill.

"Go through the gaps in the mechanized bones. Otherwise, a blade of average material won't penetrate at all."

The boy obeyed, reaching for the long saber fallen on the ground. One hand gripped the hilt, the other pressed the spine, aiming at the big man's heart, his hands not trembling in the slightest.

*Pu-chi!*

The long saber plunged down violently, burying itself to the hilt.

*Rip!!*

The blade scraped against bone as it was dragged free, viscous synthetic blood congealing along the spine to the tip before dripping with a wet *pat* onto the tavern floor.

Zhou You stood before He Cangjia, knife in hand, his body trembling violently, as if straining with every fiber to clamp down on the murderous intent and rage boiling in his chest.

*Crack!*

A flash of cold light lashed out across He Cangjia’s cheek, raising a hideous, raw red welt.

The "Tiger Head" of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Convention crouched on the ground, tilting his head back to flash the boy a bloody, grateful grin.

The blood-slicked longsword slipped from Zhou You’s grasp, clattering against the floor. He staggered back two steps, as though every ounce of strength had been drained from him, and collapsed onto the ground.

"Why didn't you kill him? Are you afraid?"