The rain had stopped. Chen Chuan dragged Tan Wang by the leg from the lakeside and tossed him beside a sedan.

The drivers of the two cars had already fled.

They were just ordinary people; he had no intention of harming them. In fact, this was perfect—it let the two of them carry the news back.

He first checked the cars, inside and out, as well as the immediate vicinity. Then he walked over to a phone booth at the edge of the park, inserted a coin, and dialed a number. Afterward, he returned and leaned against the car to wait.

About ten minutes later, a silver-gray sedan pulled up. Its headlights cut sharply through the darkness. The car stopped a short distance away. A door opened, and Gao Ming stepped out.

He walked forward, a flashlight in his hand. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that Chen Chuan was unharmed. Then his eyes fell on Tan Wang lying by Chen Chuan’s feet. His expression didn’t so much as flicker at the man’s wretched state. "Cousin," he asked, "is this...?"

Chen Chuan said, "Tan Wang. A teacher from Central City. He taught a certain Recommended Student."

Gao Ming’s eyes suddenly lit up, and for a moment, it seemed even his glasses couldn’t contain their glint. "This man is crucial," he said.

Chen Chuan grunted in agreement. This was a key part of the third step: to capture someone with enough influence. He would find a way to get some answers out of this man.

Tan Wang was clearly a man of status. For someone like that to attack him personally meant there was a lot to uncover. With this bargaining chip in hand, he had options. He now held the initiative.

The Mutual Aid Association would likely have one of two reactions. The first would be to send someone to make contact, try to placate him, and then look for another opportunity elsewhere. But there was a second possibility—and it was the far more likely one.

As it happened, that was also the way he hoped to resolve things.

Gao Ming said, "They should be sending people soon. All we have to do is wait."

"Let’s head back for now," Chen Chuan said.

"Get in my car." Gao Ming shone his flashlight on Tan Wang. "Shouldn’t we treat his wounds? He’s injured pretty badly. It’d be a shame if he died on the way."

"Just toss him in the trunk. His Life Force is incredibly resilient. He won’t die that easily."

"What about the other one? Wasn’t there another guy over there?"

"He’s not important."

Chen Chuan hoisted Tan Wang up. Once Gao Ming opened the trunk, he stuffed the man inside, slammed it shut, and got into the front passenger seat, tossing a bag onto the back seat as he did.

It was Tan Wang’s bag. The light was too poor to examine it properly, so he’d wait until he got back.

The car started and drove out of the park.

"Where to?" Gao Ming asked, his hands on the steering wheel.

"Back to the training hall. The Patrol Bureau has patrols there, so we won’t have to worry about trouble. Once we’re back, I need to make a few calls."

In the Wei Family villa, Wei Jun sat at his desk with his arms crossed, staring out the window. He was waiting for word from Tan Wang. He couldn’t feel at ease until he had a definitive report.

According to his schedule, he was due to take the test for the Unlimited Defense Certificate in two days. He had to get this matter settled before then to prevent any reversals concerning the slot for next semester.

Just then, footsteps sounded in the hallway, and the butler walked in.

Wei Jun perked up, immediately standing and turning around. "Well? Is there news?"

The butler hesitated.

Wei Jun frowned. "Just say what you have to say. Did Teacher Tan change his mind again?"

Tan Wang was known for being whimsical, so it was entirely possible he’d suddenly detoured somewhere else. Fortunately, his reputation was solid; he always followed through on his promises. More importantly, the man was short on cash, so Wei Jun wasn’t worried about him backing out.

The butler said, "The two drivers for Mr. Tan have returned."

Wei Jun froze. "What do you mean?" A feeling of dread washed over him. He stared hard at the butler. "Spit it out."

"The two drivers said... it seems Mr. Tan was taken down." The butler paused before adding, "The report is unconfirmed, however. They couldn’t see clearly because of the rain."

A long silence suddenly fell over the study.

After a long moment, Wei Jun finally reacted, exploding with rage. "Are you fucking kidding me? In a place like Yangzhi, who the fuck could take down Tan Wang? Who? Who was it?"

The butler met his gaze and spoke a single name: "Chen Chuan."

Wei Jun froze, staring at the butler in stunned disbelief. After a long moment, he finally spoke, his voice low. "Say that again. Who was it?"

"Chen Chuan," the butler replied unequivocally. "At least, that is what the two drivers claimed. I am currently investigating the details."

Wei Jun rubbed his temples forcefully. The news shattered his entire worldview, throwing everything he thought he knew into disarray. He didn’t even know where to begin to process it.

After a moment, he slammed his fist down on the desk with a vengeance. CRACK! The thick, solid wood collapsed, sending splinters flying everywhere.

The butler quickly took a few steps back.

Wei Jun turned and looked out the window. After a long while, his breathing gradually calmed, and he seemed to return to his usual self. His voice was cold as he spoke:

"Bring those two drivers in here. Question them thoroughly. I want every single word they said verified. And send men to the scene to assess the situation."

"Yes, Young Master."

The butler nodded and walked out.

Before long, he returned with the two drivers. Of course, Wei Jun didn’t question them personally; he called in specialists for that. After some "persuasive" interrogation, it was confirmed that the two men were telling the truth.

They both insisted, however, that they hadn’t seen the actual fight between Tan Wang and Chen Chuan. They had only heard a continuous series of booming impacts. It was only at the very end, when they saw Chen Chuan beat Tan Wang to the ground with punch after punch until he stopped moving, that they had panicked and fled.

Meanwhile, the men sent to the scene had returned. The two of them had been dumbfounded upon arrival. The ground was torn apart by deep gouges, and the entire lakeshore was pockmarked with craters. It didn’t look like the site of a battle between Fighters at all; it looked more like it had been shelled by artillery.

They also found Jing Lin there, heavily injured and unconscious, and brought him back. An examination revealed that Power had penetrated his brain. He could be kept alive, but it seemed highly unlikely he would ever wake up.

Jing Lin’s condition, combined with the state of the scene, served as damning evidence: the story the drivers brought back was true.

Chen Chuan had, in fact, defeated Tan Wang in a head-on duel.

After hearing this news, Wei Jun sat with his elbows on his knees, his head lowered, lost in thought.

After a long while, the butler broke the silence. "Young Master, if that’s the case, then this man either has the backing of some powerful faction, or his own strength has reached the same level as Mr. Tan. Either way, he can’t be handled by ordinary means."

"Impossible!"

Wei Jun’s eyes turned bloodshot. He absolutely refused to believe it. Chen Chuan was just a first-year student! How could he possibly defeat Tan Wang? ’Something must have gone fucking wrong somewhere!’

He gritted his teeth. "It must have been some kind of Implant and drugs."

The butler considered this. "That’s possible," he said. "But that would also mean he has backing. He couldn’t have done all this on his own."

A dark shadow fell over Wei Jun’s face. "Go," he said. "Make the calls. Get Jiang Wei and Shao Xiaobie over here. Tell them to come right now. Immediately!"

The butler nodded and left at once.

Half an hour later, Shao Xiaobie and Jiang Wei arrived at Wei Jun’s villa. After the butler explained the situation, both men, shocked as they were, realized their plan could no longer continue.

They understood perfectly what the Third Limit entailed: a crushing advantage over anyone below it. The fact that Chen Chuan had defeated Tan Wang—regardless of the method—clearly meant he now possessed the strength to contend with that level of power. The plan to eliminate him quietly with brute force was obviously no longer viable.

Shao Xiaobie muttered, "This is wrong, this shouldn’t have happened..." Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Since those two drivers got away, that means we have two witnesses! We can press charges!"

"Useless."

Jiang Wei immediately shot the idea down.

"Given Mr. Tan’s status, forget about trying to prove what happened. Even if you could press charges, Chen Chuan could simply claim he wasn’t there. Besides, we don’t even know if Mr. Tan is alive or dead. There’s no way this gets rid of him. At most, it’s a minor inconvenience, which is pointless.

And there’s something else we need to worry about. If Mr. Tan is dead, that simplifies things. But if he’s alive, Chen Chuan and his backers will undoubtedly use Mr. Tan’s status to turn this back on us.

Once this whole affair is out in the open, all sorts of factions can get involved—especially certain people at Wuyi Academy. They won’t just stand by and watch this time. If that happens, we’ll truly be unable to keep him down."

Shao Xiaobie said anxiously, "Then what do we do?"

Jiang Wei smiled. "That leaves only one option."

"What option?"

Jiang Wei said slowly, "The same method we used on Shen Zheng. We’ll deal with him the same way we dealt with Shen Zheng. I imagine that shouldn’t be too difficult."

Hearing this, Shao Xiaobie quickly looked at Wei Jun. "That’s right, Brother Wei! Let’s use that method! If it worked on Shen Zheng, it’s sure to work on him too."

Wei Jun leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "That’s not our decision to make."

The only reason they were able to use such a method before was because the threat Shen Zheng posed had forced their backing families and corporations to act in concert. The person who had orchestrated that operation was now in Central City. While it wasn’t impossible to employ that method again, the decision was no longer theirs to make.

Jiang Wei looked at Wei Jun. "It’s the only way, and we have to use it. Only by doing this can we properly warn those who still harbor foolish ambitions. Only then will no one else dare try to cross that line."

Wei Jun thought for a long time. Finally, he reached for the phone on his desk and dialed a number. After a long wait, the call connected, and a rich, deep male voice came through. "Jun, what is it?"

Wei Jun quickly said, "Brother Zhao, I’ve run into a bit of a problem here."

The voice on the other end of the line was unhurried. "Don’t rush. Speak slowly. I have time now."

「Inside the Xiuyi Street training hall.」

After Chen Chuan and Gao Ming returned, they also began discussing what to do next.

Gao Ming said, "Cousin, they won’t give up. As long as you keep trying to cross that line, they’ll spare no effort to crush you.

Now that we have Tan Wang, they’re temporarily out of options and are probably even afraid we’ll use him against them. Sticking to what they know, they’ll most likely fall back on the same method they used against Shen Zheng to deal with you. This is their last resort, but it’s also your opportunity, cousin."

"I know," Chen Chuan said.

He had studied Shen Zheng’s case as a cautionary tale. After reviewing Shen Zheng’s injury report, he had already drawn his own conclusions.

Just then, the phone in the living room began to ring.

Chen Chuan walked over and picked up the receiver.

"Xiaochuan?" Cheng Zitong’s voice came from the other end.

"Teacher, it’s me."

"Are you at the training hall?"

"Yes."

Cheng Zitong seemed to sigh in relief, then urgently warned, "Someone gave me a tip. Tan Wang is back, and he’s probably coming for you! You need to hide, quickly! This man is a Third Limit master..."

Chen Chuan cut in, "Teacher, I’ve already seen Tan Wang."

"You have? Where?" Cheng Zitong’s tone instantly became tense.

Chen Chuan glanced at a large crate in the corner of the room. "He’s in a very safe place now. Mmm, safe for him, and safe for everyone else."

...

...