Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted.

but……

"It's okay, I'll respond, I'll respond to everything!!"

His body erupted with blood energy, which exploded outwards, sending the incoming soup bowl flying. He slammed his fist down on the table in mid-air, the sound of shattering wood echoing as Yuan Chen clenched his right arm.

"Even if there are two, I'll respond the same way!"

With a single punch, he thwarted Han Zhuli's attack, and then Iori Kazuka, wielding a baton, came into view.

In terms of strength, Iori Kazuka is not as strong as Han Zhuli, but it is obvious that for this bastard policeman who has been fighting on the streets for many years, the skillful use of various tools has become an instinct.

Even a seemingly ordinary baton, when wielded by Iori Kazuka, still produces a howling wind with the help of centrifugal force. The heavy force that hits a person can easily break even a pork bone covered in flesh and fat, let alone leave bruises!

But Yuan Chen was not afraid. His blood energy burst forth, and almost the instant he knocked Han Zhuli away, he turned around and delivered a powerful elbow strike to Iori Ichika's chest before the force of the baton reached its maximum.

Although she had already noticed Yuan Chen's actions, Iori Ichika made no attempt to dodge. In fact, a cold smile involuntarily appeared on her lips the moment Yuan Chen approached.

The moment they made contact, Yuan Chen understood, through that peculiar touch, why Iori Ichika could remain calm in the face of such a heavy blow—the touch was wrong, and a hard armor plate blocked Iori Ichika's chest.

It wasn't a fighting ring, or even a martial arts practitioner; for Iori Kazuka, the most important thing was clearly being able to defeat criminals more easily than those inexplicable rules.

Unfortunately, Iori Kazuka clearly underestimated Yuan Chen's strength. Even though she couldn't unleash her full power after knocking Han Zhuli away, the moment they made contact, Iori Kazuka felt an unbearable, intense pain in the center of her chest, accompanied by a burning sensation as she breathed.

Having fought on the streets for many years, Iori Kazuka knew that this was a vagus nerve reflex. In battle, it would often cause the heart rate to slow down instantly, blood pressure to drop sharply, and at the same time trigger diaphragmatic spasms, resulting in a feeling of heaviness in the chest as if a huge rock was pressing down, weakness in the legs, and blurred vision.

Iori Kazuka knew, but couldn't understand—you see, although it wasn't obvious while wearing a T-shirt, when she started adjusting her clothes before the fight, she had stuffed small carbon fiber cushioning plates into her bra and other vital areas out of habit for street brawls.

And now... although she knew that it had indeed blocked Yuan Chen's attack, Iori Ichika still instinctively doubted whether she had placed it in the wrong place, accompanied by the intense pain that almost made her faint.

Despite feeling dizzy, Iori Kazuka gritted his teeth and, driven by instinct in a street brawl, swung the baton that was still suspended in mid-air with all his might.

Unfortunately, before the steel baton could even hit Yuan Chen, or even before it could gain speed and centrifugal force, Yuan Chen grabbed it and snatched it away, then delivered a vicious blow to Iori Ichika's stomach.

With a loud "Pfft!", Iori Kazuka was sent flying, lying on the ground struggling for a while. Not only did she fail to get up, but she also vomited a bunch of bile as soon as she raised her head.

It doesn't feel right; I guess there's something padding around its stomach area too.

Before Yuan Chen could think it through, on the other side—"I'll kill you!"

Han Zhuli quickly regained her balance, her killing intent surging through her body. Almost without pausing, her physical state changed at an astonishing speed as her intent grew.

It might not be immediately apparent from her physical appearance, but with the transformation of her will and the restoration of most of her physical strength through life therapy, she returned to her prime. Her energy, which Yuan Chen had previously perceived as somewhat weak, became exceptionally sharp.

With a smooth and athletic figure, she rushed towards Yuan Chen in a blur, no longer displaying the same extreme single-shot attack as before—her heart was now filled with pure killing intent. Instead, Han Zhuli showed astonishing calmness.

A continuous, dense, and uninterrupted barrage of kicks came one after another, the pale energy swirling around his feet to form sharp blades of air.

Unfortunately, this still didn't help much.

Yuan Chen lunges forward with his right foot, turning to the side; then sweeps horizontally with his left foot, causing Yuan Chen to lean back.

"Not enough!" Yuan Chen's voice reached Han Zhuli's ears. Then, in Han Zhuli's line of sight, Yuan Chen's figure nimbly bypassed her—no, in Han Zhuli's line of sight, that burly figure was like a ghost, passing directly through the trajectory of her kick and rudely crashing between her legs.

With a swing of his right fist, a simple hook punch was launched like a cannonball, striking the soft and unsuspecting abdomen in an instant. Han Zhuli's face went from madness to astonishment, and then she couldn't help but open her mouth, along with a pile of undigested food residue, which was blasted far away.

At the same time, before Yuan Chen could get up and give chase, a gust of wind swept in from the side. Without dodging, Yuan Chen raised his head and charged head-on. With the sound of shattering glass, the white liquor splashed from the bottle. Before Yuan Chen could even react, Iori Ichika, who had already gotten up in the distance, threw out an open windproof lighter.

With a deafening boom, the pure white wine instantly transformed into flames, engulfing Yuan Chen. Seeing that her plan had succeeded, Iori Ichika did not hesitate to grab a wooden chair and charge towards Yuan Chen, bringing with her a gust of wind as she smashed it towards Yuan Chen's head.

But just as she got closer, glancing at the figure enveloped in flames, Iori Kazuka keenly sensed that something was amiss—

Animals' fear of fire is a danger alarm etched into their genes. As a former member of the Violence Countermeasures Section, Iori Kazuka is well aware that even thugs who are not afraid of gun barrels will instinctively feel intense fear and shrink back when faced with flames that suddenly engulf their entire bodies, thus losing the ability to resist.

However, in that blurry figure enveloped in flames, Iori Kazuka did not sense any fear, panic, or cowardice. Instead, she felt a strange joy, as if she had discovered something new and interesting.

Even Iori Kazuka could clearly see that within the flames, the burly figure instinctively opened his mouth, but instead of letting out a panicked shout, he revealed a radiant smile, his white teeth standing out starkly in the shadows enveloped by the flames.

"Not bad!"

With a low growl, Yuan Chen tore the cloth covering his body, and his life energy surged, flowing into his limbs and bones with the pumping of his heart, bursting through the skin to reveal a layer of visible blood-red steam.

The steam was like a thin film covering the body, which, upon bursting open, blasted away the burning liquor adhering to the skin.

Having broken free from the flames, Yuan Chen turned his gaze to Iori Ichika, who was standing close by.

Considering Han Zhuli's strength, Iori Ichika had been concentrating on her work from the very beginning. Even so, witnessing this scene firsthand and feeling Yuan Chen's intense gaze upon her, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes—was this guy really human?!

Yuan Chen remained silent, only slightly adjusting his body angle. He used his shoulder to take the blow while simultaneously smashing the wooden stool in Iori Ichika's hand. Then, he reached out and grabbed at Iori Ichika's neck.

Noticing Yuan Chen's actions, Iori Kazuka quickly tilted her head back, but even so, Yuan Chen still grabbed her collar and forcibly pulled her in front of him.

But Iori Ichika did not stop there. Instead, she grabbed Yuan Chen's shoulder and opened her mouth full of sharp teeth to bite at his throat.

Unfortunately, just as its sharp teeth were about to touch Yuan Chen, a gust of wind flashed by, and Yuan Chen's headbutt struck him squarely on the side of his head.

The immense force pierced through, and the intense impact caused her soft brain to vibrate violently within her skull. A strong sense of dizziness assaulted Iori Ichika's nerves, her eyes glazed over, and the next moment, Yuan Chen grabbed her by the collar, lifted her high, and then slammed her down heavily.

The force was so great that the table at the point of impact shattered instantly, sending wood chips flying. Iori Kazuka, who was already dizzy from the brain hemorrhage, gasped in shock.

Meanwhile, seeing Yuan Chen raise his foot as if to kick Iori Ichika's head, Han Zhuli also struggled to her feet, like a trapped beast in a desperate situation, constantly stimulating her inner potential, completely disregarding whether her body could withstand more force. With a surge of blood energy, she arrived in front of Yuan Chen like a sharp knife.

In the instant before she was about to strike, Han Zhuli leaped into the air, her long legs leaving a purple afterimage as they swept through the air, a powerful strike mixed with pale energy.

Yuan Chen raised his hand and took the blow head-on, but Han Zhuli's movements did not stop. Instead, as Yuan Chen's center of gravity shifted the moment he was hit, she touched the ground with one foot, flipped in mid-air, and the fighting spirit on her white soles exploded, transforming into a pale slash with a hint of dark purple that came straight toward Yuan Chen's body—Killing Realm Wind Breaking Slash!

Almost the instant the slash appeared, a bloody gash appeared on Yuan Chen's chest and arm.

The energy containing killing intent and hatred did not weaken at all after leaving the body. Instead, it continued to assault Yuan Chen's flesh and nerves with a twisted will.

But the next moment, accompanied by a cracking sound from the bones in his arms and chest, Yuan Chen, who should have been unable to generate new power due to the impact, suddenly burst out with fighting spirit. Under Han Zhuli's bloodshot gaze, he forcefully turned to the side and swung his hand to throw the slash that was almost embedded in his body out of his body!

Whether it's precise defense, qi neutralization, or qi defense, the essence is all about anticipating the enemy's moves and using the body to prepare in advance to precisely counter and deflect the force when needed.

When attacked, the fighting spirit within the body is impacted, and the only way to defend oneself is through physical techniques to neutralize the attack.

However, Yuan Chen is unaffected by such effects.

Ignoring the severe wear and tear that continuous bursts would cause to flesh and meridians, the body regains its balance through continuous bursts, and then the impact is neutralized by subtle manipulation of muscles, torso, and bones—

With a loud bang, the Killing Wind Slash, which had been flung out of the body, left a nearly two-meter-long slash mark on the floor tiles.

When her first attack failed, Han Zhuli's eyes revealed intense resentment. But then she let out a low roar, braced herself on one foot, and immediately sprang up to attack Yuan Chen.

The old wound in her left eye began to reopen and flow again, but instead of tears, pale red blood seeped from her eye socket and trickled down her cheek. Han Zhuli didn't care, though, because she could feel a burning heat within her body—the heat she had ingested.

But now, these heats are no longer a gentle warmth, but a burning sensation—the anger of being deceived, the humiliation of being manipulated, and the despair of having nothing left after everything has been taken away.

Beside him, Iori Kazuka struggled to her feet, then picked up a piece of water pipe that appeared out of nowhere and shook her head, her veins bulging with excitement.

As Han Zhuli's feet once again transformed into afterimages as she kicked towards Yuan Chen, launching a new round of fierce offense and defense, through Yuan Chen's blind spot, Iori Ichika, who had been concealing her aura and even her figure from beginning to end, suddenly swung the water pipe in her hand into an iron-colored afterimage the instant Yuan Chen's tiger knee struck Han Zhuli.

"Say goodbye to your OO!!"

With its powerful and heavy force, Iori Kazuka was not hesitant to use violence against delinquent teenagers, so it goes without saying that it would be even more effective against Yuan Chen, a dangerous criminal who was suspected of coming from the Shadow Sect.

Even though Yuan Chen was prepared and forcibly held his breath, he was still lifted nearly an inch off the ground by the powerful, upward, and explosive blow from the delinquent cop, which resembled a baseball home run.

In an instant, Yuan Chen's face wasn't even completely black; his entire body vanished into the darkness.

Noticing this brief opening, Han Zhuli, whose mind and body had reached their limits, no longer suppressed her emotions. Instead, she erupted, or rather, squeezed out all the remaining strength from her already depleted body, and with a roar, she leaped up like a spinning blade.

Heavenly Piercing Wheel—"Die!!!"

I thought the battle would end in that instant... no, it did end in that instant.

In the instant of leaping up, in the process of spinning, it was just like the battle between himself and Yuan Chen before Iori Kazuka arrived here, and this time was no different.

Even after such an attack, even after the blow that made him seem to sink into the shadows and his veins bulge, Yuan Chen's eyes still maintained an astonishing calmness and indifference.

Coldly watching Han Zhuli hurtling into the air, feeling Yuan Chen's gaze, Han Zhuli felt an intuition called near-death time lag, making time seem incredibly long in that instant.

But... what can we do?

Han Zhuli quickly regained her senses. Yuan Chen was also under attack, his feet off the ground, his body's energy disrupted by Iori Ichika's ultimate attack, not to mention the fatal blow aimed at his vital points.

Even though the guy named Yuan Chen in front of me didn't faint from the excruciating pain, the bulging blood vessels all over his body proved that he had lost precise control over his body.

But just as Han Zhuli was still thinking, the life energy was activated, and Yuan Chen's lower body exploded with a loud bang. The fabric ripped apart, the energy burst, and the violent impact shattered the old water pipe that had been replaced.

The old water pipe adapter fell to the ground and then ricocheted like a bullet, hitting Iori Kazuka squarely between the eyebrows. Along with the splattering blood, Iori Kazuka, who was already suffering from a head injury, felt a sharp pain in her brain and fainted on the spot.

While suspended in mid-air, watching Han Zhuli hurtling towards him like a wheel of blades, Yuan Chen's muscles bulged. With a burst of energy, puffs of blood mist erupted from his body. He forcibly regained control of his center of gravity, and his strong willpower and domineering spirit erupted simultaneously, suppressing the excruciating pain originating from his vital points. He then changed his posture from being knocked away to actively leaping up.

As Yuan Chen spread his arms, Han Zhuli, who had intended to end the battle with the Heavenly Piercing Wheel, was astonished to find that her movements, following Yuan Chen's actions, had changed to her actively jumping towards him.

Before Han Zhuli could continue thinking, Yuan Chen waved his hand in mid-air, directly disrupting her balance. As she lost her balance and floated in the air headfirst, he grabbed her waist with both hands, his thighs clamping down on her head to secure it. Then, he hunched over, using his strong arms to further lock her head between her thighs, preventing her from closing her legs and exerting force.

In that instant, Han Zhuli felt like a rag doll being held in someone's hand, and then being smashed to the ground like a bomb!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

There should be another chapter of 2-3k words tonight.

Volume 1: Chapter 90 Chun-Li: Destroy it...

BOOM!!!

As Yuan Chen crashed down from the sky with a deafening shattering sound, a massive crack nearly six meters in diameter instantly shattered the restaurant's floor tiles, centered on the point of impact.

As the spiderweb-like shattering erupted, Han Zhuli felt her entire body, from muscles to bones, from soul to nerves, trembling violently in the roar.

The nerves were impacted, the muscles lost their strength, and the dantian was shattered. Not to mention continuing to fight, one could not even feel the meridians.

After landing on the ground, Yuan Chen pushed Han Zhuli, whom he was holding, away. He then stood up and looked at the results of his battle, a look of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"Yuan Chen! WIN!!"

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, only a hint of hatred appeared in Han Zhuli's eyes.

She didn't know why Yuan Chen hadn't killed her—just now, Yuan Chen only needed to slightly increase his strength to smash Han Zhuli's head in the instant he landed.

Even if it doesn't increase strength, but only reduces some muscle activity, it can still turn Han Zhuli's brain into a mess from the inside through violent shock.

But this guy in front of me didn't do that...

Actually, it wasn't just that they didn't do it that way. According to Zangief's method, Han Zhuli, who was being slammed, should have been facing outwards, causing her cervical spine to bear a huge impact. However, to ensure better control of the force, Yuan Chen specifically made Han Zhuli face inwards during the 69-style slam, which not only reduced the pressure on the spine but also dissipated a large amount of impact through muscle control, allowing Yuan Chen to steadily bear the brunt.

But Han Zhuli was clearly not paying attention to these details at the moment.

In her intense despair, Han Zhuli instinctively tried to clench her teeth, but no matter how hard she tried to feel her body, accompanied by violent tremors, all she could do was move her fingers with difficulty.

Amidst Han Zhuli's despairing gaze, Yuan Chen leisurely approached her, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

"What a remarkable will, Han Zhuli... I probably won't be able to forget you for a long time to come."

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, intense hatred flashed in Han Zhuli's eyes.

Unfortunately, no matter how strong Han Zhuli's will was, she couldn't squeeze out a single breath from her body. In fact, her body was already unable to move for at least the next ten minutes due to the shock to her nerves.

After that, Yuan Chen grabbed one of Han Zhuli's legs, and then grabbed one of Iori Ichika's legs, placing the other woman side by side with her.

He first channeled some life energy into them to prevent their organ injuries from worsening. Then, Yuan Chen did not immediately begin treatment. Instead, he picked up a beer and sat on the only remaining intact chair, chugging it down.

The chilled beer went down his throat, instantly relieving the fatigue and thirst after the fierce battle. He drank it all in one gulp and let out a satisfying burp. Judging from his expression, he was in a very comfortable state.

Is it to humiliate him before he dies? Or are there other demands, such as being captured alive?

Thinking this, it seemed as if she could see her own end. Tears began to flow silently from the corners of Han Zhuli's eyes. Anger, hatred, paranoia, and extremism all turned into a deep despair at this moment.

Yuan Chen did not disturb them, but simply drank his wine quietly.

For anyone, the tempering of will is something that can only be encountered by chance. There is great terror between life and death, and this great terror is precisely the best way to temper one's will.

Although the feelings, awakenings, understandings and practices of martial artists differ at different ages, many martial artists only see through the confusion of their youth in middle age or even old age, thus achieving great things late in life and making rapid progress to become grandmasters.

But as I said before... you need to gain some understanding in your youth so that you can have something to see through in middle age.

Although it may sound a bit dishonest, if one doesn't have the perception and understanding of intention in their youth, then they will likely end up like Hiyori Takeshi in middle age...

Of course, Hibiki Yoshimi is definitely not weak. Putting aside everything else, among the enemies Yuan Chen has encountered, he is at least stronger than that "Death Scythe" Ivan Kalayev, but may be slightly inferior to Niou Komada.

Don't be fooled by how easily Yuan Chen fought; in terms of stats, Renwang Komada is the kind of guy who could crack a cement wall with a single punch.

Unfortunately, the opponent that Hinoki was facing was Sagat.

While Yuan Chen was still pondering, Iori Ichika's injuries stabilized, and she groggily opened her eyes. Noticing Yuan Chen sitting beside her, she instinctively tried to get up. However, the moment she moved, Yuan Chen stepped on her chest.

An inexplicable force pressed against her heart through her chest. Although Yuan Chen did not speak, Iori Ichika was certain that if Yuan Chen were to unleash his power, she, who was already dizzy and unable to control her body due to a concussion, would definitely die on the spot under such close-range impact.

Meanwhile, Han Zhuli noticed that Iori Kazuka had woken up, and a slight emotion appeared in her eyes—before meeting Yuan Chen, Iori Kazuka could be said to be her only 'friend' in the old city.

Realizing that her only friend was facing the threat of death because of her existence, Han Zhuli instinctively gritted her teeth, and then a surge of unwillingness welled up in her already exhausted body.

Unfortunately, this spirit was far too weak, and was crushed to death by Yuan Chen's foot on his chest in the next moment.

Feeling the softness coming from the soles of his feet, Yuan Chen slowly opened another bottle of beer and said, "Don't even think about resisting. You don't have any more chances. Let me rest a bit, so your experience will be better later."