Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

The alchemical texts state: When yin and yang are blended together, and hardness and softness are completely transformed, this is called the ripening of the elixir.

Chen Zhan's dantian had long since condensed into a perfectly round elixir, with the elixir energy flowing throughout his body, combining strength and gentleness, reaching the state of elixir maturity.

When people talk about the balance of strength and gentleness, they often understand it as the mutual support between strength and gentleness, with gentleness within strength and strength within gentleness.

This is a common misconception on the path of martial arts, and a bottleneck that the vast majority of martial artists cannot overcome in their entire lives.

True balance of strength and gentleness is never a mixture of the two.

When you are being forceful, you must be forceful to the extreme, fierce and unparalleled, so fierce that it's utterly incomparable, like thunder blasting a mountain, unstoppable.

When you are gentle, you must be gentle to the extreme, as gentle as fine sand in your arms, soft and boneless, like a gentle breeze brushing against a willow, penetrating everywhere.

Chen Zhan's Half-Step Crushing Fist technique combines the strength of all the fist techniques in the world, bringing out the ultimate power of Dan Jin.

The Half-Step Crushing Fist was Guo Yunshen's trump card, a move that had allowed him to dominate the martial arts world for decades without ever being defeated.

If Guo Yunshen were still alive today, and were to witness Chen Zhan's punch, he would likely stroke his beard and sigh, personally exclaiming, "A divine skill!"

Chen Zhan deliberately spoke first, giving Yin Fu time to catch his breath and prepare.

As Yin Fu listened to Chen Zhan's words, his eyelids twitched violently, his muscles tensed, and cold sweat mixed with rainwater slid down his cheeks.

Although Chen Zhan had not yet thrown a punch, the domineering and murderous intent in his words was overwhelming, as if mountains of corpses and seas of blood were right in front of him, and the strong smell of blood made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He was oblivious to the cold rain hitting his face, his eyes fixed only on Chen Zhan's figure.

He had never seen or heard of such murderous intent before.

He had served in the palace for many years and had seen countless generals who had fought their way through the battlefield. Although their killing intent was also fierce, it was far less than that of Chen Zhan.

Just as Yin Fu was stunned, two bullets came flying through the air with a sharp whistling sound, heading straight for Chen Zhan's back.

Chen Zhan slightly shifted his body to the side, moved his feet lightly, and leisurely dodged the bullets.

This dodge gave Yin Fu a moment to react.

This time, Yin Fu finally snapped out of his extreme fear, and his instinct for survival overcame everything.

He suddenly raised his hands, arms outstretched to the sky, palms turned into fists, and both fists struck out simultaneously.

This is a defensive move from Baguazhang.

It is called the "Raising Fire to Burn the Sky" style.

He struggled to defend himself while retreating rapidly, his eyes fixed on the building not far behind him.

There were also many police officers and musketeers lying in ambush inside that building. As long as he could retreat inside, Chen Zhan would not dare to follow him easily. With so many people lying in ambush inside, he would surely be able to escape alive.

He was only seven steps away from stepping into the building.

These seven steps, however, seem like an insurmountable distance, forever beyond our reach.

Chen Zhan's half-step collapsing fist had already been unleashed.

The fist's force was like a thunderbolt, carrying the fierce power of Dan Jin, tearing through the rain curtain and emitting a piercing whistle.

Just as the force of the punch reached Yin Fu, a thunderclap boomed in the night sky.
"Crack—!"

The deafening roar of thunder drowned out the thunderous clash between Chen Zhan and Yin Fu's fists and palms.

However, the rain curtain beneath the thunder could not stop Yin Fufei's body from flying out.

The seven-step distance was instantly traversed by the impact of the Beng Quan (a type of fist strike).

Yin Fu's body was slammed against the building's main entrance like a kite with a broken string. With a loud "bang," the wooden door shattered, and his body was forced into the building like a rag doll.

Inside the building, the police officers who were lying in ambush were on high alert when they suddenly saw a figure burst through the door and rush in. They instinctively raised their guns and aimed, but the next second, everyone froze on the spot, their faces filled with terror.

Yin Fu's body was torn to pieces upon landing, a bloody mess, with the sound of bones shattering clearly audible. Blood mixed with rainwater instantly stained the ground red.

He was blasted to pieces with a single punch, leaving not even a complete corpse.

"Holy shit."

A terrified whisper escaped from one of the officers, followed by more gasps and cries of fear.

Charles, who watched the entire duel, was even more incredulous. The umbrella in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud," and the rain instantly soaked his clothes.

After the initial shock came overwhelming rage.

Charles snapped back to his senses and roared at the police officers and musketeers around him, "Open fire! Kill him!"

Previously, out of concern for Yin Fu's safety, he had not dared to pour out gunpowder recklessly, for fear of accidentally injuring Yin Fu.

Now that Yin Fu is dead, he has no more scruples and only wants to shoot Chen Zhan to death.

A barrage of gunfire erupted instantly, bullets raining down on Chen Zhan.

Just as Yin Fu's body was sent flying, Chen Zhan flashed into the alley on the left like a ghost, his figure disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

After he entered the alley, he vanished without a trace, as if he had evaporated into thin air.

Bullets rained down into the alley, hitting the walls and trash cans, scattering gravel and wood chips, but there was no response, no screams, no sound, as if no one had ever been in the alley.

"Where is he? Where did he go?"

Charles stood in the darkness a hundred meters away, staring intently at the alleyway, and roared hysterically.

A foreign police officer quickly stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Chief Constable, the rain outside is too heavy and visibility is too poor. Could you request permission to fire flares? That way we can see the situation in the alley more clearly."

"fart!"

Charles whirled around and roared at the foreign police officer, "What kind of place is this? This is the heart of the concession! Are you trying to lure all the people here by firing flares?"

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Go in and search! Go in and look for him! Those gunpowder must have hit him. Maybe he's already dead in the alley, we just haven't seen it yet!"

Deep down, Charles still refused to believe that anyone could survive such intense gunfire.

In his view, no matter how skilled Chen Zhan was, he was still just a flesh-and-blood man and couldn't withstand the power of bullets.

He kept urging them on, and the police officers, steeling themselves, picked up their flashlights and cautiously entered the alley.

The alley was narrow, with three- or four-story buildings on both sides. The walls were smooth, and there was nowhere to hide. Moreover, it was a dead end with no exit at the end. Logically speaking, Chen Zhan had no way to escape.

The police searched the alley thoroughly, leaving no corner unchecked, but apart from the trash cans on the ground, scattered rubble and shell casings, there was nothing else—no blood, no body.

They quickly retreated from the alley and reported to Charles, "Chief Constable, there's no one in the alley, nothing at all, not even a trace of blood."

"Could they have climbed over the wall and escaped?"

Another constable hesitated before speaking: "A height of three or four stories shouldn't be a problem for those top martial arts masters."

"Fuck!"

Charles was trembling with rage. He kicked a nearby trash can away and roared, "He got away! Damn it, we deployed so many people, and he still got away! Useless, all of them useless!"

His roar echoed through the rain.

The servant who had been holding the umbrella was too frightened to approach and threw the umbrella to the ground.

Just then, a cold and indifferent voice suddenly rang out from the rain, descending from the sky and clearly reaching everyone's ears:

"Are you looking for me?"

Everyone looked up sharply and saw a figure, like a god descending to earth, leaping down from the rooftop next to them and landing steadily in front of Charles.

Charles was originally surrounded by about a dozen guards, all of whom were the best fighters in the police station, but they didn't have time to react at all, and they didn't even have time to raise their guns before Chen Zhan casually brushed them aside.

"Crack! Crack!"

The crisp sound of bones shattering rang out one after another. The muskets in the guards' hands were crushed into a ball by Chen Zhan, as if he were not molding iron muskets, but a lump of soft clay. He could mold iron into mud.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Zhan stepped out with the Bagua Step, his movements as agile as a ghost, his hands flying, and the wind from his palms whistling.

“Bang bang bang bang—!”

After a few muffled thuds, a dozen or so police officers were all sent flying by Chen Zhan's palm strike, crashing heavily out of the alley.

Chen Zhan stopped, gently smoothed the mud stains off his clothes, and calmly met Charles's gaze: "What do you want from me?"

Charles was so frightened that he trembled all over, his lips quivering, and he couldn't say a word.

He looked at Chen Zhan as if he were looking at a demon; the fear in his heart had overwhelmed all his anger.

This man is terrifying.

He could never hit a shot, could never catch a person, and his skills were unfathomable; he could crush iron like mud and kill people like cutting grass.

He's not human, he's a devil!

"According to your Western way of telling time."

"Let's do the math, you have five seconds left to live."

"You...you..." Charles's face turned pale, cold sweat poured down his back, his throat tightened, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"Three seconds." Chen Zhan said without pausing, his tone completely flat.

"Are you a human or a ghost? What do you want?"

Charles finally managed to squeeze out a complete sentence.

Chen Zhan didn't hold back, speaking calmly: "He is a person. What he wants to do is somewhat complicated. You can't hear me anymore, because your time has come."

Before he finished speaking, Chen Zhan jumped up, assumed a starting stance, and kicked out with a powerful kick.

This kick is the "skyward kick" in kicking techniques. It was originally a ground technique that uses force from below to attack the opponent's lower body.

However, Chen Zhan's martial arts skills had long since transcended any particular move, becoming ever-changing and readily available.

With this kick, he used the reverse of the upward kick technique, exerting force from top to bottom, with immense power and unstoppable momentum.

Before Charles could even scream, he was kicked away like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the other police officers and musketeers who rushed in.

Everyone instinctively reached out to catch it, but the force from Charles was too great, and they were all knocked to the ground.

Someone reached out with trembling hands, checked Charles's breath, and touched his chest. Their face instantly turned deathly pale.
A large section of his chest had collapsed, and his bones were shattered.

It's long gone.

Charles, the chief constable who held absolute power in the Tianjin Concession, was kicked to death by Chen Zhan before he could even leave a complete last word.

When everyone looked up again, Chen Zhan had already disappeared.

Li Bo stood by the window of his bungalow, watching the activity on the street.

At first, he could vaguely see Chen Zhan and Yin Fu fighting, but as the rain intensified, his vision became increasingly blurred.

After that, all that could be heard were bursts of gunfire and the sound of thunder.

Later, the gunshots became more and more frequent, echoing through the sky in succession. Li Bo was so frightened that he involuntarily shrank back into the house, closed the windows, covered his ears, and his heart was pounding wildly.

His heart sank; he wondered if Chen Zhan would survive.

No matter how skilled Chen Zhan was, he couldn't withstand so much gunfire; he might die.
On second thought, whether Chen Zhan was dead or alive, he should be safe.

If Chen Zhan is captured, his act of luring Chen Zhan out will be considered meritorious, since it is the key to solving the "Flying Thief" case.

Just as he was feeling uneasy, he heard hurried footsteps outside, "tap tap tap".

They're getting closer and closer, and there are quite a few of them.

Li Bo's heart tightened, and he quickly lay down on the bed, pretending to be asleep, trying to get away with it.

But just as he closed his eyes, the door was violently smashed open with a loud crash, sending splinters flying.

A group of police officers rushed in, each with a grim expression.

Leading the group was Jason, the deputy chief constable of the concession police station.

His face was ashen, and he demanded in a deep voice, "What did that person say to you? Tell me everything truthfully, without hiding a single word!"

Li Bo was still a little dazed. He thought it would be Charles who came, but he didn't expect it to be Jason.

Moreover, instead of immediately pursuing Chen Zhan, they interrogated him first, which filled him with doubt.

But he quickly calmed down and knew that this matter could not be hidden, so he told Chen Zhan what he had said at his home without missing a single word.

He had no reason to hide it.

After listening, Jason frowned, remained silent for a moment, and said, "Get dressed and come with me to the police station."

Li Bo dared not resist, so he quickly put on his clothes and followed Jason and the police officers toward the police station.

He was filled with anxiety the whole way, not knowing what had happened in the police station or what his fate would be.

The moment he stepped into the police station, he froze, his face filled with shock, his pupils shrinking.

The police station's lobby was littered with corpses—police officers, musketeers—blood stained the ground, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

One of the bodies was Charles.

He lay on the ground, a large section of his chest collapsed, his face was deathly pale, his eyes wide open, unable to close them in death.

"What...what's going on?"

Li Bo's shock was genuine; his voice trembled. "How could Chief Constable Charles..."

"Dead, all dead."

Jason's face was grim, his voice filled with exhaustion and fear. "That 'Flying Thief' really can fly. He's unpredictable and we can't catch him at all."

"That person is terrifying; he's not a normal human being at all."

"The muskets seem to have no effect on him. He moves like a ghost, invincible. We are no match for him at all."

One of the surviving police officers, who witnessed Chen Zhan's killing, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and muttered to himself,
"He shouldn't be human, that's right, he's definitely not human."

"He looks like a human, but he moves so fast, he's not like a normal person at all. He could kill someone with one punch, it's terrifying."

The other police officers also expressed their shock, and all those who had witnessed Chen Zhan kill someone were filled with fear and disbelief.

Not long after, high-ranking officials from the concession area rushed to the police station.

They stared at the corpses scattered across the hall and Charles's body, their faces turning grim. They remained silent for a long time, no one uttering a word.

After a long silence, a white-haired high-ranking official from the foreign concession slowly spoke: "Send a telegram to the capital immediately, requesting support. What we need is not musketeers, but top-notch martial arts masters. Only masters can deal with that 'Flying Thief'."

"Yes!" The person next to him quickly responded and turned to send a telegram.

The concession area and the Qing government had always been closely connected. As long as one was willing to pay some money, it would not be difficult for the Qing government to recruit top experts to Tianjin.

Meanwhile, Chen Zhan had already returned to the Black and White Pawnshop alone.

He pushed open the door, went into the backyard, and took off his raincoat and clothes, which were covered with rainwater and gunpowder residue, and had a faint smell of blood.

He threw the clothes into the fire pit, and the flames crackled and quickly burned the clothes to ashes.

After doing all this, she looked at Qin Ming. (End of Chapter)