I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

In the blink of an eye, Xiahou Shen also saw the appearance of the person behind him.

To his surprise, it was not the young man or even the middle-aged man he had imagined, but a boy with a youthful face who was clearly not yet an adult.

'Another genius? They're here for the U19 competition, right...? The quality of this U19 team is just too high. It's only a knockout tournament in one city, and besides those few, there's this monster...'

'To have developed such strength at such a young age, one is probably the type who focused all their energy on building a solid foundation in the early stages before engaging in actual combat later on…'

'Nothing to fear.'

Xiahou Shen's thoughts raced, but his hands didn't slow down at all. He unleashed a punch bursting with internal energy, slamming it hard into the boy's neck.

"Oh!"

After a loud bang, like a giant iron hammer striking a steel plate, Xiahou Shen's pupils contracted to their maximum size.

"How can it be!?"

This punch, powerful enough to shatter metal, landed on the boy's seemingly fragile neck, yet—it didn't budge an inch.

It was as if he had not hit a person at all, but a towering pine tree that had stood for thousands of years without ever wavering in the face of wind and rain.

His anticipated follow-up moves were halted by this completely unexpected outcome.

Before Xiahou Shen could recover from the shock, a hand grabbed his neck with incredible speed, lifting him into the air.

A powerful and dense force surged from his palm into his neck, locking several key points on his body where he could exert force. Because his neck was being choked and his trachea was blocked, he was unable to mobilize his strength through breathing, rendering Xiahou Shen completely unable to resist. He was lifted into the air and frozen in place.

"Good idea, decisive response, and fast speed."

"It's just that the force was a little lacking."

Xue Jing looked at the man she was holding in her palm and spoke in a calm tone.

The dense dragon scale marks on his neck slowly faded away.

"Ho..."

Xiahou Shen stared at Xue Jing, his neck being gripped, only able to utter hoarse, meaningless sounds, unable to speak.

He had many questions in his mind.

The scale-like things on the boy's neck must be some kind of defensive, deadly move. How did he manage to use them in such a short time?

Also, just now, at the moment when he was about to land a backhand punch, he seemed to see a layer of black, leather-like stuff suddenly appear on the other person's neck...

Is it an illusion?

It took a long time to talk, but from the moment they started talking to the end of their fight, it was only a few seconds.

At the hotel entrance, two figures rushed out. One of them was a middle-aged man. He saw Xiahou Shen being held in the air by Xue Jing with his throat in a grip, and his expression immediately changed. He said anxiously:

"Friend, let's talk this out! Don't be impulsive!"

Xue Jing turned his head and was surprised to find that the middle-aged man who was speaking was the short boy he had seen in the waiting hall of the port.

I recalled the news I saw on my sister's phone before, his name seemed to be... Du Mingluan?

"It's you!"

Du Mingluan stared at Xue Jing in shock.

A few hours ago, this damned bastard knocked him and Kou Chengjian unconscious, and then, with a twisted sense of humor, arranged them in a position where they were lying together in a hugging pose.

Fuck!

Du Mingluan immediately turned red-hot and wanted to go up and fight Xue Jing.

"Mingluan, what are you doing?!" The middle-aged man noticed something was wrong with him and immediately reached out to stop him.

Du Mingluan gritted his teeth and said, "Uncle Li, this is the person from just now..."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Li understood why Du Mingluan was acting this way. He shook his head and said solemnly:

"No, Xiahou is in his hands now, we can't act rashly..."

At that moment, another person walked out of the hotel.

That was a woman who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, wearing a black martial arts uniform, with wheat-colored skin and bulging muscles that stretched her loose clothes taut...?

Xue Jing looked at her with some curiosity.

Although not obvious, there are indeed some bulges on his chest that do not resemble pectoral muscles. Although his face has strong muscular lines, his overall features are more feminine, and he has long hair that reaches his waist.

When the muscular woman came out, she also saw Xiahou Shen's current state and showed surprise on her face.

“Friend, let’s talk this out. What conflict did you have with Xiahou? It shouldn’t have resulted in a death, right? Let’s have a proper talk…” The middle-aged man, Uncle Li, spoke cautiously, afraid of upsetting Xue Jing.

The taxi driver was crouching in the driver's seat, peering inside with a mixture of curiosity and fear as he looked at these 'supermen'.

Xue Jing smiled and said, "It's not a big deal... This guy hit someone else's car and tried to flee the scene without even discussing compensation or liability. I just gave him a little advice, but I didn't expect things to turn out like this."

Upon hearing this, the muscular woman looked embarrassed and raised her hand, saying:

"This... I should also bear some responsibility."

Contrary to her appearance, her voice was surprisingly sweet and charming, like that of a young girl.

The contrast surprised Xue Jing for a moment.

He nodded to the woman and smiled, "In that case, why don't you come over and discuss it with the driver too... Miss, what's your name?"

younger sister?

The woman looked puzzled. This was the first time someone had called her "sister" after seeing her without knowing her...

However, because Xue Jing's attitude towards her was novel and he was good-looking, she couldn't help but develop some affection for him, even though she had no interest in matters between men and women.

"Yin Mu Hu"

The woman spoke.

Xue Jing nodded and smiled, "Good name, my name is Xue Jing."

Uncle Li, who was standing nearby, seized the opportunity to say, "Mr. Xue, Miss Yin, the fault lies entirely with Xiahou. We will take responsibility and fully compensate the driver... We martial artists are known for their ability to become friends through fighting, and we don't have any deep-seated hatred. I think Xiahou has already learned his lesson. How about we leave it at that?"

His attitude was quite sincere, and Xue Jing didn't really care. Since he was willing to compensate the talkative driver for his losses, then let's leave it at that.

"See, when you're out in the game, it's much better to be honest and reasonable. Why resort to violence?"

Xue Jing shook his head.

Xiahou Shen: "..."

The iron grip loosened, and Xiahou Shen, who had been being lifted like a chick, fell to the ground.

He braced himself with one hand on the ground and covered his throat with the other, coughing incessantly, blood gushing from his shoulder.

Less than two seconds later, after regaining his breathing, his strength returned to normal, and the wound on his shoulder gradually tightened and stopped bleeding.

"By the way, Sister Yin, what did this guy do to offend you?"

Xue Jing turned to Yin Muhu and asked.

Although he didn't know the specific details, based on his preconceived notions, he was already convinced that it was definitely this Xiahou who had started the trouble.

"Sister Yin..."

Upon hearing this title, Yin Muhu's lips twitched, somewhat speechless. He wrapped his two enormous arms, each the size of a cow's thigh, around his waist, making him appear even larger.

She said calmly:

"He tried to take liberties with me, but I kicked him away."

"That's it."

Xue Jing rubbed his chin and looked at Xiahou Shen: "As expected, the responsibility is entirely yours."

Seeing that the atmosphere had calmed down, Uncle Li breathed a sigh of relief, walked over to the damaged car, and began to discuss compensation with the driver.

At first, the driver shook his head in fear, saying he didn't need it. But after some arguing and a few words from Xue Jing, he happily accepted the money, which was far more than the repair cost.

After expressing his deepest gratitude to Xue Jing, the driver called a tow truck to take the car to the repair shop, and then got into the tow truck and drove away.

After the matter was resolved, Uncle Li smiled at Xue Jing and said:

"Mr. Xue, may I ask which prestigious school you studied under? How could they have nurtured such a talent as yourself?"

Xue Jing glanced at him and said, "Qingcheng, Canglong Dojo."

"Hidden Dragon?" Uncle Li pondered for a moment.

Then he exclaimed in realization, "So that's how it is! He's the disciple of that 'Dragon King'? Truly, a great teacher produces a great student..."

Xue Jing waved his hand: "Alright, enough with the nonsense. I have an appointment, so let's part ways here."

Uncle Li wanted to chat with this young genius a little longer, but seeing that the other party really didn't want to say anything more, he had no choice but to give up.

Xue Jing turned to look at Yin Muhu and asked curiously, "Sister Yin, are you also here to participate in the U19 competition?"

Yin Muhu nodded first, then couldn't help but ask, "Why do you call me 'sister'?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know, it's just a strange intuition, but I feel you should be younger than me."

Although they've only known each other for a short time, some people feel they can be friends with the other person the moment they meet.

Xue Jing felt quite compatible with this older sister who looked very reassuring.

"I was born in October of 250," Yin Muhu said, arms crossed, in a surprisingly sweet, girlish voice.

Xue Jing said, "I was born in June of the same year... See, I am indeed older than you."

Yin Muhu seemed somewhat displeased: "Even if she's a bit younger than you, she doesn't necessarily have to be called 'little sister,' does she?"

Xue Jing shook his head and smiled, "It's just a form of address. If you don't like it, you can change it."

"It's not that I'm unwilling, it just feels weird..."

The two walked into the Yunlu Hotel while talking.

Uncle Li, Xiahou Shen, and Du Mingluan watched their retreating figures in silence.

After a long silence, Uncle Li spoke:

"This Xue Jing... is extraordinary."

He glanced at Du Mingluan, knowing there were some things he couldn't say to his face.