“Punk, looks like you are tired of living and wish to die. Well then—die!” As he spoke, one of the men pulled out a dagger and made a stabbing movement toward Chen Hao’s chest.
Bang! The dagger stopped on the surface of Chen Hao’s chest but did not sink into his flesh.
“What?” The man was dumbfounded.
“It’s your fault. All of you were asking for it!” Infuriated, Chen Hao swung his palm at the man’s head. Pop! The man’s head was distorted and blood came out of his eyes. The impact sent the man flying dozens of meters away from Chen Hao. Finally, the man dropped on to the ground as a lifeless pile of flesh.
“He’s a practitioner of the martial arts!” The bald man was also surprised. Then, he waved his hand and commanded, “All of us take on him together! Kill him!”
The remaining six men charged at Chen Hao together. However, they were no match for Chen Hao, who was very quick and slick in his moves. Each and every strike he made was fatal. Within seconds, the six men laid dead on the ground; their corpses were brutally mutilated.
“Eh?” The bald man was the last survivor in the combat. He broke out in a cold sweat as he stood staring at the devilish Chen Hao, completely stupefied by Chen Hao’s actions. He was so petrified that he could not move his legs when he saw the bestial Chen Hao marching menacingly toward him with his red demonic eyes.
“I told you guys to work things out with me nicely and peacefully, didn’t I? Why do you have to force me to do this?” Chen Hao demanded as he stood in front of the bald man.
“Y-Yes… I’m sorry… I dare not… force you again… Misunderstandings… All these are misunderstandings!”
“I told you to stop before this, but still, you commanded your men to attack. You really went too far!” Chen Hao carefully brushed some dirt off the bald man’s shoulder.
“Thank you. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I didn’t know—ah!”
The bald man was shaking like a leaf. He thought Chen Hao would let him go, but the next moment, his limbs were torn apart, leaving a piercing loud shriek of pain echoing through the air above the moat.
Chen Hao then directed his gaze behind a tree. “I know you’re hiding there. Come out!” Chen Hao barked.
The bushes rustled as a white-haired elderly man came out slowly. It was Meng Kang; his face was pale.
“It’s unbelievable that you, Mister, have mastered such a great and powerful technique at such a young age. My name is Meng Kang. Forgive me, Mister, for I’ve looked down upon you. But Mister, I’m not with those men.”
Meng Kang had been following Chen Hao all these times. Therefore, he witnessed several great techniques performed by Chen Hao, including how the latter shattered the metal tablet with his bare hands and destroyed the rock by simply throwing his dagger. He was amazed by Chen Hao’s cultivation base. No wonder he can incapacitate my Inner Energy easily. His cultivation base is so powerful!
The reasons Meng Kang followed Chen Hao was to help Lu Zhongxuan get the metal tablet and to figure out Chen Hao’s actual strength. But after Meng Kang saw Chen Hao’s techniques, he hid behind a tree quietly and dared not leave nor move, because he was intimidated by Chen Hao’s strength; not to mention that Chen Hao already knew he was there!
“You came for the metal tablet too?” Chen Hao asked flatly.
“Mister, I dare not lie. In fact, yes, I am. I’ve come for the metal tablet. But after having witnessed what you’re capable of, I dare not have any thoughts of taking the metal tablet from you again!” It was unbelievable that an elderly man in his nineties like Meng Kang would treat Chen Hao with such respect. The fact was that Meng Kang had just attained Inner Energy and become an Inner Energy practitioner recently. His strength now was about the same level as that of Chen Hao when the latter first trained in Inner Energy cultivation six months ago. Chen Hao, on the other hand, knew Meng Kang’s strength.
Meng Kang was relieved to see Chen Hao’s red demonic eyes had finally returned to normal and the murderous aura surrounding him had subsided.
“It must have been difficult for you to finally be able to cultivate Inner Energy after so many years of training. I do not wish to kill you. Just leave and warn the others to stop pursuing me and the metal tablet,” Chen Hao advised after he regained his composure.
“Of course, Mister, I’ll follow your advice. Thank you for sparing my life. There’s something I don’t understand…” Meng Kang’s eyes filled with excitement and hope.
“What do you want to know?” Chen Hao wondered.
“I’ve dedicated my entire life to the research and practice of martial arts. I’d only become an Inner Energy practitioner seven years ago. I’m hoping one day I will be able to enter the Celestial Rankings of China and to spread the teachings of the School of Ancient Fighting Styles around the world. But, it’s rather difficult to get into the ranking. Excuse me, Mister, may ask you, what is your rank?”
“The Celestial Rankings of China? I’m not sure what that is.” Chen Hao said calmly after returning to his normal self.
“Every Inner Energy practitioner will be rated on the Celestial Rankings of China according to their strength. It’s a ranking list controlled by the four largest Hidden Tribes of China. Why Mister, based on your cultivation base, I thought you are aware of the ranking. It’s hard to believe that you don’t know anything about it! Perhaps you are not from the four Hidden Tribes?” Meng Kang asked in surprise.
“The four Hidden Tribes?”
“Yes. They consist of four families, namely the Yuwen Family, the Nangong Family, the Mo Family and the Fang Family. I thought you are an expert from one of the four Hidden Tribes!”
“I only heard of the Mo Family.” Chen Hao raised his eyebrow.
The Hidden Tribes were extremely mysterious and they seldom contacted people from the outer world. Besides, they took pride in themselves for possessing a sacred lineage which ordinary people did not possess. Therefore, most of them looked down on people from the outer world. Although these people were not in the public eye, members of their families were widely distributed around the world and were involved in various industries. Moreover, most of the families had legacies and histories extending over 1, 000 years. Chen Hao had the opportunity to witness their power and influence when the Mo Family appeared a year ago.
“People on the ranking are all elite practitioners. About 80% of them are members of the four Hidden Tribes. We, the Meng Family of the School of Ancient Fighting Styles—since my great-grandparents passed away—had never managed to produce any Inner Energy practitioner until my generation! I’d say it’s rather disappointing!” Meng Kang said with a bitter smile on his face.
“So, exactly how strong is the most powerful martial arts expert from the four families?” Chen Hao asked again.
“Nobody knows. But rumor has it that each of the four families has a martial arts grandmaster who enters the ranking. Even members of the four Hidden Tribes can never be certain of the truth of the rumor. So, it remains just as a rumor. Oh yes, Mister, how may I address you? Based on your strength, I’d say you must be one of the top 50 in the ranking,” Meng Kang said politely.
As he said that, Meng Kang carefully took out an old scroll from his pocket; the scroll recorded the names of top 100 strongest elite practitioners in the ranking.
“How is it possible that my name will be recorded in the scroll when I don’t even know about the rankings?” Chen Hao glanced at the scroll and said half-heartedly.
“Wait!” Chen Hao pointed at the empty ‘No. 1’ spot on the scroll. “Why is the ‘No. 1’ spot being left empty? It seems like the name was removed on purpose.”
“Oh Mister, you don’t know about it. That’s because the man who ranked first in the listing is extremely mysterious. I heard about him from my father. The man had become invincible at a young age. Later on, he challenged various experts from the four Hidden Tribes one by one, all on his own. All the experts were no match for the man. However, the man’s track is hard to trace. A lot of people want to find out about his background, but to no avail. Well, like my father said before, no man in the world will dare to claim the ‘No. 1’ spot as long as he is still alive. Since then, it has become a custom to leave the ‘No. 1’ spot in the ranking empty!” Meng Kang explained to Chen Hao. Obviously, he was very obsessed with the Celestial Rankings.
“I see.” Chen Hao nodded.
“Mister, being able to meet you today is indeed a great honor for me and the Meng Family. It’s almost noon now, Mister. Would you be kind enough to accept my invitation for lunch?” Meng Kang wished to befriend Chen Hao.
“Sure! I’ll come over as soon as I tell my friend about it.” Chen Hao nodded. He thought Meng Kang would be able to tell him more about information he wanted to know, as the latter seemed to be knowledgeable. So, Chen Hao agreed to have lunch with Meng Kang.