Chapter Seven: So This Is Your Trump Card?

"I held back eighty percent of my strength. Stop pretending and get up," Jiang Yu said calmly, frowning as he looked at the Head Wolf sprawled in the doorway of the private room.

The Head Wolf struggled to his feet, the first thing he did was glance down at his chest. Just now, he had felt as if something had pierced straight through his heart.

Yet his chest was unscathed, not the bloody hole he had expected.

His proud, supposedly indestructible Vajra Body Technique had been broken by a single finger from a youth not yet twenty.

For the first time in over forty years, the Head Wolf felt fear.

He leaned weakly against the wall, blood gushing from his mouth in great gulps. The impact had been like being hit by a speeding car—his internal organs seemed to have shifted out of place.

The excruciating pain nearly suffocated him.

"Who... who are you, really?" the Head Wolf asked, eyes wide with terror, emotions frayed.

Jiang Yu took a sip of red wine, pondered seriously, and replied, "Jiang Yu, of the Jiang family in Cloud City."

The Head Wolf spat blood, his suit stained with crimson, his eyes dull and lifeless.

Jiang Yu chuckled. "Don't overthink it. You don't know me—I'm just a nobody."

Hearing Jiang Yu describe himself that way, Yuan Tiangang nearly fainted. A master of the External Force who could project his energy, calling himself a nobody?

When did it become fashionable for External Force masters to hide their arrogance and make light of themselves for fun?

An External Force master under twenty...

Yuan Tiangang drew a sharp breath, as if a comet had crashed into his heart and stirred up a storm.

Was this Jiang Yu's trump card?

Even the most gifted genius, if they began training in the womb, would need fifty or sixty years to reach this level.

What Jiang Yu had just done, spitting out a stream of white energy, was clearly a mark of an External Force master.

The Head Wolf managed a cold laugh. "I admit, you are formidable. So young and already at the External Force stage. But don't forget, this is not ancient times—this is the era of hot weapons. However powerful you are, unless you've reached the Unity Realm, you can't survive bullets and artillery."

"Whatever trump cards you have, they won't get you out of Azure Sea Cloud Palace tonight."

"Is that so?" Jiang Yu asked, still smiling.

Pain twisted the Head Wolf's features; he was still gritting his teeth to endure. "You had the chance to leave but stayed, boasting and waiting for Hao to arrive. Heh. What are you relying on?"

Yuan Tiangang was dying to know the answer as well.

Ignoring the Head Wolf, Jiang Yu turned to Yuan Tiangang curiously. "So there's already a clear system for measuring strength in the mundane world?"

Yuan Tiangang nodded. "Martial arts start with cultivating internal energy. When training reaches a certain level, you sense your own qi and, through technique, condense it into force. This is considered the entry level, called Condensed Force, which has four stages: Minor, Intermediate, Major, and Perfection."

"Above Condensed Force is Transforming Force, where you can use your energy at will. At that stage, one can open a school and accept disciples—such a person is no longer ordinary. Facing a hundred opponents at once isn't an exaggeration."

"Beyond Transforming Force is External Force, recognized as a true master, able to project energy and take a head from a hundred meters away."

Jiang Yu asked, intrigued, "And above External Force?"

Yuan Tiangang continued, "Above External Force is the Unity Realm, where one can condense energy into armor to withstand bullets. Back during the border conflict, a Unity Realm general once charged into enemy lines alone, slaughtered the enemy, and drove back three reinforced regiments by himself."

Jiang Yu nodded. Although he'd lived for five thousand years, every era had its ancient cultivators and their own ways of naming and measuring strength.

Besides, he'd spent nearly a century in seclusion preparing for ascension and only recently started moving among the modern world.

Yuan Tiangang looked at Jiang Yu in confusion—a master of External Force who didn't understand the common standards of strength? That was almost unbelievable.

In summary, the modern ranking system was: Condensed Force Expert, Transforming Force Master, External Force Grandmaster, Unity Realm Earth Immortal.

Beyond that, even Yuan Tiangang couldn't say.

"By worldly standards, I'd be considered an External Force at Minor Completion. Still, even if I faced an External Force at Full Completion, I could easily kill them. And if I use my trump card, I could even fight an Earth Immortal."

Jiang Yu smiled faintly and waited quietly.

During their conversation, the Head Wolf answered a phone call, then sneered, "Brother Hao is almost here. Soon you'll see—whatever you think your trump card is, it's useless in the face of our organization."

"When the time comes, the Jiang family will be destroyed."

His face twisted with pain. What should have been a minor incident had escalated to involve a Condensed Force expert and an External Force master.

He was still frustrated. Things had now reached an irreconcilable level.

At this moment, the Head Wolf glared at the troublemaker—the fat man who had started it all—with eyes that longed to devour him alive.

If he hadn’t let his lust get the better of him and grabbed that little girl, none of this would have happened.

Tonight, the Head Wolf had nearly died.

In this era, it's rare for a Condensed Force expert to be killed; at that level, their life span could reach a century and their power far exceeded normal people.

As long as they didn't break the law, draw attention from above, or feud with peers, nothing much would happen to them.

Condensed Force experts were in high demand everywhere.

In fact, while not every rich man was a Condensed Force expert, every Condensed Force expert was rich.

When had Cloud City ever seen such a young External Force master?

The Head Wolf was filled with regret.

If he hadn’t relied on his powerful backers, he'd have swallowed his pride in the face of such a master.

...

Jiang family estate.

It was midnight, and the main hall was packed.

Jiang Shaoqi, Zheng Xuan, and Jiang Ziyue were there, along with the elders.

Eyes red and voice shrill, Jiang Ziyue pleaded, "Grandfather, please, save Jiang Yu. He stayed in that room to save me. And Jiang Yu is your grandson—only you can help him now."

The incident had already spiraled out of everyone’s control.

Old Master Jiang sighed heavily. "Now that the Head Wolf is involved, the next step is Li Hao. The Jiang family is nothing before Li Hao. Even if I go myself, I can't save Jiang Yu. All we can do is hope the Head Wolf doesn't hold a grudge against the younger generation—maybe give him a beating and let him go."

Jiang Ziyue clenched her fists. "People like that live by the blade and kill as easily as eating. Grandfather, please! If anything happens to Jiang Yu, how will you face his parents?"

Her second uncle sneered, "Jiang Yu is finished. He should have known better than to provoke those people. Even the mayor has to show Li Hao respect."

Her eldest uncle’s face was grave. "Li Hao is terrifying—his connections reach everywhere. Ziyue, it’s not that we won’t help; there’s just nothing we can do. If you and Shaoqi could make something of yourselves and lead the Jiang family to new heights, we might be able to intervene in situations like this. For now, we don’t even qualify to show our faces."

He took a deep breath, helpless. "If you and Shaoqi had more drive, maybe one day you’d help the family rise. Now, we can only abandon Jiang Yu for our own safety."

Tears of anger welled up in Jiang Ziyue's eyes. "I admired Li Hao so much. How could he do this?"

Her uncle gave a bitter laugh. "It's not about admiration. Shaoqi said Jiang Yu insulted the Head Wolf and cursed Li Hao in public. Anyone would be furious—those people don’t tolerate insults to their dignity."

"Isn’t Yuan Tiangang there as well? He’s our only hope now."

Jiang Ziyue seemed drained, her delicate body swaying unsteadily.

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu.

It was midnight. The Head Wolf looked much less pained.

Moments later, hurried footsteps approached from outside.

The Head Wolf’s eyes lit up. "Brother Hao is here."

He sighed with relief. With Li Hao here, everything could be resolved.

Eight armed men entered first, guns raised in unison and aimed at Jiang Yu on the sofa.

A middle-aged man in a suit, hair slicked back, strode in. He had a square face, sharp eyes, and a powerful presence.

The underground emperor of Cloud City, Li Hao, had arrived!

"Who hurt my brother?" Li Hao’s voice was measured but full of authority.

Standing nearly six feet tall, he cut an imposing figure.

The Head Wolf got up. "Jiang Yu, what other trump cards do you have?"

Yuan Tiangang urged anxiously, "Jiang Yu, now’s your chance—kill Li Hao!"

But Jiang Yu ignored everyone.

He walked up to Li Hao. Compared to Li Hao’s burly frame, Jiang Yu, a youth of eighteen or nineteen, seemed almost delicate, like a girl.

In the midst of everyone’s confusion, Jiang Yu looked at Li Hao calmly. "Xiao Hao, can you tell who I am?"

Xiao Hao?

The Head Wolf’s eyes widened.

Such intimate address was used only by elders for juniors.

What was surprising was that Li Hao actually studied Jiang Yu carefully.

Jiang Yu smiled faintly, fully aware of Li Hao’s confusion—he was now in a new body and looked entirely different to the naked eye.

Suddenly, Jiang Yu's eyes snapped open and he intoned, "Look into my eyes."

In that instant, Li Hao, gazing into Jiang Yu’s pitch-black pupils, seemed to glimpse a towering figure standing upon the clouds.

Li Hao’s spirit trembled, and his demeanor changed abruptly.

"Teacher?"

"You didn’t perish?"

The formidable Li Hao, six feet tall and a storm-bringer in Cloud City, now knelt, eyes red, tears streaming down his face.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

The Head Wolf’s mouth hung open, his body limp as he stared at Jiang Yu.