It was just that Cao Shu had never before mentioned the legacy of this Spear Technique.
Now that he had finally, and of his own accord, brought it up, it turned out that only the Chief Disciple could learn it.
At this thought, greed flared within each of them.
Immediately, a quick-thinking young man in a purple robe stepped forward to block Li Chang’an. "Junior Brother," he said, "since you have no interest in the title of Chief Disciple, you might as well give it to me!"
Hearing this, Li Chang’an shrugged. "Fine. You can have it. From now on, you’re the Senior Brother."
The purple-robed young man froze, momentarily unable to figure out Li Chang’an’s game.
’He’s really just handing it over?’
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind, and he paused.
But before he could ask Cao Shu whether voluntarily giving up the title even counted...
...Sun Zhaorui let out a cold snort and strode forward. "Master told us to fight and determine who is superior. It’s not something you can just hand over whenever you feel like it, and certainly not to whomever you please!"
He blocked Li Chang’an’s path once more, his expression impassive. "You should wait a moment, Junior Brother. This matter isn’t over yet!"
Cao Shu, with his thick, bushy beard, may have looked like a crude, unrefined man.
But in reality, he was quite adept at these little mind games.
He knew Li Chang’an’s abilities, and he knew the abilities of his other disciples as well. But he said nothing, wanting them to settle things with their fists.
—Never use words to solve a problem that can be solved with fists.
This was Cao Shu’s Martial Dao!
Seeing them surround him, Li Chang’an sighed in exasperation. "Haven’t I made myself clear? I don’t want the so-called title of Chief Disciple. You can fight over it yourselves. Why insist on blocking my way..."
He paused, his voice suddenly turning cold. "Or perhaps," he said ominously, "you feel you’ve lived long enough?"
Before the words had even left his lips, Li Chang’an vanished on the spot.
"THUD! THUD! THUD!"
A series of muffled thuds echoed through the courtyard. By the time the others came to their senses, they found that they had been sent flying several meters away.
Li Chang’an hadn’t dealt a killing blow; he was merely putting them in their place.
After all, given his true stature, getting serious with this group of teenagers wouldn’t even qualify as bullying. It would be like an elephant trying to fight an ant.
He had not been ruthless.
But Sun Zhaorui, the former Chief Disciple, actually had some skill. He managed to forcibly twist his body around in mid-air and lunge back toward Li Chang’an.
"I don’t care who you are! The position of Chief Disciple can only be mine today!"
A vicious gleam shone in Sun Zhaorui’s eyes.
Upon reaching Li Chang’an, he curled his palm into a fist. Channeling the full power of his Bone Refining Realm Cultivation, he threw a heavy, powerful punch straight at Li Chang’an’s chest, obviously holding nothing back.
Apparently, Sun Zhaorui believed the only reason Cao Shu would risk offending him and the Sun Family behind him to give the title of Chief Disciple to Li Chang’an was that Li Chang’an’s family background was even more powerful than his own.
This was one of the reasons for Sun Zhaorui’s humiliated rage.
’So what if his family is powerful?’
’He’s just a little bastard who hasn’t even grown all his hair yet.’
’Outsiders might not know it, but he knew his Mountain City Sun Family had the backing of the Demon Sect.’
’Even if he really struck a killing blow and finished this little bastard off right here, the worst that could happen would be having to go home and lay low for a while. Who could possibly touch him?’
’That Cao Shu, a lapdog abandoned by the corrupt Imperial Court, is truly shameless!’
All this flashed through Sun Zhaorui’s mind in an instant.
At the sight of this, Li Chang’an’s eyes grew colder.
He moved second but struck first, catching Sun Zhaorui’s fist in his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"CRUNCH..."
The sound of shattering bone filled the air. Sun Zhaorui, who had been certain his attack would succeed, let out a bloodcurdling scream like a pig being slaughtered.
Li Chang’an had grabbed his fist and applied just a little bit of force, yet Sun Zhaorui’s bones—tempered through years of arduous training—shattered like fine porcelain.
The other three disciples, who had just been sent flying, had been about to jump back into the fray.
But upon seeing this sudden turn of events, they all froze in their tracks. Their gazes fell upon Li Chang’an as if they were looking at a monster baring its fangs.
Sun Zhaorui’s face was also a mask of sheer terror.
As he screamed in agony, he stammered in disbelief, "You... Who are you? How... how did you do that? My bones... Th-this is impossible!"
Sun Zhaorui was eighteen years old.
There were four initial stages on the Martial Dao. He had already completed three of them: Blood Refining, Muscle Training, and Bone Tempering.
Only his skin had yet to be trained to the point of invulnerability.
And yet, the very bones he believed he had tempered to the point of invulnerability were as fragile as paper before this five- or six-year-old boy. It was no wonder Sun Zhaorui was overcome with a mixture of disbelief and terror.
Li Chang’an couldn’t be bothered to respond. After breaking one of his hands, he lifted his foot and kicked, shattering the other’s leg. The bones in his leg were almost all comminuted fractures.
In this world, if a Martial Artist suffered an incurable injury like a comminuted fracture before they could cultivate Inner Qi, it was nearly impossible for them to fully recover.
If they couldn’t recover, they could never temper their physique to Perfection.
And being unable to temper their physique to Perfection meant they could never generate Inner Qi.
Without the ability to generate Inner Qi, one couldn’t heal their own wounds. This meant Sun Zhaorui was now, for all intents and purposes, crippled.
Dusting off his hands, Li Chang’an was suddenly in no hurry to leave. He turned to look at the remaining three. "Do you have anything else to say? If so, you can say it now. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance!"