The last attacker fell, but Chen Fan remained composed.
Among them were bodyguards brought by Xu Donglai, whose skills were not bad.
Yet, they couldn't stop Chen Fan's staff.
Chen Fan looked ahead.
Xu Donglai, clad in a training uniform and holding a Japanese sword, stood ten meters away.
"Chen Fan, your skills are even more formidable than I imagined!" Xu Donglai sheathed his sword, tossed it aside, and said with a cold expression, "But you won't be leaving here today."
"Is that so?"
Chen Fan walked forward slowly, speaking nonchalantly, "With just you?"
"Chen Fan, you're too arrogant. I'll send you on your way!"
Xu Donglai took a deep breath, gripped his sword with both hands, lunged forward, and slashed down.
The Xu family ancestors founded their fortune through scholarly pursuits, but the family had always kept guards. Later, in turbulent times, they gradually realized that might made right.
Thus, the Xu family began to retain some martial arts legacies.
By Xu Donglai's generation, martial arts practitioners were few, but direct descendants like Xu Donglai, future heirs to the family head, were still required to train from a young age to temper their bodies.
This slash was sharp and fierce, the glint of the blade swift as lightning.
But Chen Fan didn't even move. With a casual swing of his staff, he struck the side of the sword.
With a clang, the Japanese sword was deflected.
Chen Fan's staff suddenly extended like lightning, smashing onto Xu Donglai's forehead.
Xu Donglai grunted, stumbling backward, his head bleeding profusely.
He looked at Chen Fan with disbelief.
Chen Fan stepped forward with agility, walking towards Xu Donglai.
The muscles in Xu Donglai's face twitched, and his eyes revealed deep humiliation and hatred.
He had intended to use Chen Fan to display his own might.
But the result was even more pathetic than yesterday; he was sent away with a bloody head in a single exchange.
He didn't even understand how he was hit.
A surge of furious anger rose within him, and unwilling, he charged forward again with his sword.
He didn't know that Chen Fan had no intention of killing him, or that a single blow would have been enough to shatter his skull.
The sword light traced an arc, its movements elusive and erratic, seeming to split into five or six afterimages, all aimed at Chen Fan's chest and neck.
Chen Fan neither dodged nor blocked. With a flick of his staff, he struck out.
With a soft thud, his staff, striking later but arriving first, pierced through the sword light and landed on Xu Donglai's brow.
Xu Donglai stiffened. The intense pain in his brow made his head feel like it would explode. He collapsed to the ground, his vision darkening.
His sword also fell to the ground.
Just then, a figure flashed, darting towards Chen Fan like a phantom.
A pair of palms struck directly at Chen Fan's forehead.
Rumbling sounds, like wind and thunder, erupted, and a fierce aura rushed towards him.
Chen Fan, unfazed, swept his staff.
*Crack.*
The staff broke apart.
The attacker's momentum was halted. He paused for a moment before Chen Fan could clearly see that it was the old man from before.
His face was contorted with hatred.
"You dare harm my young master, you must die!"
His palms glowed with a jade-green hue as the old man advanced towards Chen Fan. With each step, his aura surged, making the air itself seem to still.
This aura was truly terrifying.
Seeing Xi Bo make his move, Xu Donglai, clutching his head, felt a wave of relief.
Xi Bo's full name was Xu Xicheng. His ancestors had been imperial guards.
His lineage had served the Xu family as loyal retainers for generations, leading them to adopt the surname Xu to signify their unbroken connection with the main Xu family.
Xu Xicheng had trained for fifty years, his martial arts extremely profound. He had already achieved mastery of internal energy, his every move capable of generating wind and thunder, making him a formidable fighter.
Xu Donglai had personally witnessed Xu Xicheng break a tree as thick as a man's embrace with consecutive palm strikes.
The Xu family was determined to obtain the Dragon-Patterned Compass, and therefore had dispatched Xu Xicheng to protect him and follow his orders.
It was precisely because Xu Xicheng was by his side that Xu Donglai felt so confident. Despite knowing Chen Fan's combat prowess, he still insisted on confronting him personally to reclaim his honor.
"Xi Bo is making a move!"
The Xu family bodyguards, lying on the ground, also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Xi Bo is a master of internal energy. That Chen fellow is dead for sure."
"We couldn't defeat Chen, but with Xi Bo here, this guy can't escape!"
"..."
Xu Xicheng walked step by step towards Chen Fan under everyone's gaze. The oppressive aura caused the air to become rigid.
Chen Fan's expression remained calm. He discarded the remaining piece of his staff and coldly watched Xu Xicheng build his momentum.
When Xu Xicheng's martial aura reached its peak, his strike would carry an earth-shattering force.
However, in Chen Fan's eyes, he was still far from the top experts of the underworld.
"Die!"
Finally, Xu Xicheng leaped into the air and slammed his palm down towards Chen Fan.
His jade-green palm, veins bulging, looked like cast iron, his muscles taut and coiled.
The palm strike descended like a dark cloud, engulfing all space within a meter of Chen Fan, leaving him nowhere to escape.
A violent, ferocious killing intent consumed Chen Fan.
The Xu family bodyguards and the young men from the Shao family watched in awe.
Such power, such martial prowess, was beyond their imagination, shattering their understanding.
So, a human's combat ability could reach such heights!
This was true martial arts, not like the so-called Sanda or Taekwondo they practiced!
As the palm was about to strike Chen Fan's forehead, a hint of disdain flickered across Chen Fan's lips.
He stamped his foot.
*Boom!*
The entire training hall trembled.
Like a sudden storm, an explosive aura surged upwards, piercing the heavens.
Xu Xicheng's formidable aura, in the face of this terrifying energy, was like paper, instantly swallowed whole.
Chen Fan lightly extended his hand and caught Xu Xicheng's palm strike.
As the violent palm force was transferred, Xu Xicheng felt as if he were attacking a mountain, his efforts as futile as a moth attacking a flame, unable to budge it even an inch.
His pupils contracted, his expression one of horror.
His eyes were filled with disbelief and unacceptance.
How could he be so strong?
Had he trained for forty years, only to be like an infant facing a giant compared to this young man?
He hadn't even seen the man's true strength?
His thoughts ended there, for as Chen Fan gripped his wrist with his left hand, his right hand had already struck out like lightning, hitting Xu Xicheng's chest.
*Crack!*
Xu Xicheng heard the sound of his own ribs snapping.
A terrifying force surged into his body, ravaging him from the inside, making his internal organs feel as if they were about to shatter.
Chen Fan simultaneously released his left hand.
Xu Xicheng's body, like a broken doll, was sent flying more than ten meters, landing beside Xu Donglai.
With a thud, Xu Xicheng, lying on the ground, coughed up a mouthful of blood. His eyes still held disbelief and fear as he lost consciousness.
Xu Donglai, clutching his head, stood up in terror, his body trembling uncontrollably.
One move!
With a single move, his trump card, Xu Xicheng, was completely disabled!
The entire martial arts hall fell silent.
Both the Xu family bodyguards and the Shao family disciples were speechless.
How could someone be so formidable?
They had thought Xu Xicheng was already beyond human levels, yet he couldn't even withstand a single blow from Chen Fan?
As everyone stood in stunned silence, Chen Fan, radiating a murderous aura like a demon from hell, strode towards Xu Donglai.
Xu Donglai trembled, involuntarily backing away.
Chen Fan walked at an unhurried pace until Xu Donglai's back hit the wall, with nowhere left to retreat.
His face turned ashen, all color drained away.
Chen Fan stopped a few steps in front of him, his cold gaze fixed on him.
He couldn't control the trembling of his body, and large beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.
"If you get medical attention now, you might still survive."
Chen Fan spoke indifferently, his tone emotionless, "If there's a next time, you will surely die!"
After these words, Chen Fan turned and walked out of the martial arts hall, disappearing into the distance.
Xu Donglai collapsed to the ground, as if he had been pulled out of water, utterly spent.