The two continued on their way, and suddenly, Qin Feng asked, “Hei Tan Tou*, I’ve always had a question. Is the relationship between your Liu family and the Tang family really that bad?”

Hei Tan Tou, Xing Sheng, twitched his face. “It’s not good indeed. The Tang family controls significant power in the Ministry of War, but they can’t control the Divine Marquis Army. They’ve always regarded our Liu family as a thorn in their side. In the court, the factions led by the Tang and Liu families often clash. This is well-known in Heavenly City.”

“I see. So, actions like Tang Xuan’s yesterday, were they not uncommon?”

“Well…” Xing Sheng pondered for a moment and then shook his head. “Not really. Although the Tang family and our Liu family have always been at odds, it doesn’t escalate to the level of violence. I’m also puzzled. I don’t understand why the son of the Ministry of War’s Supervisor would stage such a spectacle in Jinyang City yesterday.”

Qin Feng lowered his head in thought. He felt he was overlooking something.

He initially thought Tang Xuan was a playboy who came all the way to Jinyang City just to publicly humiliate Miss Liu as part of a marriage proposal.

But upon analysis, it was evident that Tang Xuan was calculative and not as simple as he appeared. Each of his actions was designed to anger the Liu family and stir up trouble.

However, Qin Feng had a strange feeling that Tang Xuan harbored some unexplained hostility toward him. Why? It was their first meeting.

Could it be that Tang Xuan knew he couldn’t harm Liu Jianli, so he shifted his focus to him?

And what about the ghost cultivator who attempted to assassinate him earlier? Could they be related to the Tang family?

Qin Feng couldn’t make sense of it all. He shook his head with a sigh. The current clues were too few; it was difficult to connect these pieces together.

Just then, a loud rumble came from not far ahead.

Qin Feng and the others turned toward the noise. They saw Qin An in the courtyard, holding a narrow-blade sword, his face filled with excitement.

He had clearly noticed them too and ran over, exclaiming, “Big brother, I did it! I can finally shatter rocks from thirty feet away!”

“Really? Show me.” Qin Feng’s face lit up. It had only been ten days; his little brother was indeed talented.

The group arrived in the courtyard. Qin Feng and Xing Sheng couldn’t help but gasp in amazement. The ground was covered in knife marks. Glancing around, shattered rocks were scattered everywhere, indicating that Qin An had been practicing here for a while.

Qin An picked up a palm-sized rock, placed it thirty feet away, took a deep breath, circulated his internal energy, raised his hand, and slashed! The blade gleamed white, a blade light shot out without deviation, hitting the rock thirty feet away and instantly shattering it!

“Is this the Sword Qi?” Xing Sheng was surprised. He looked at Qin An in admiration. “I didn’t expect you, at such a young age, to reach the second realm of the Heavy As Mountain in martial arts. That’s truly remarkable.”

Qin An shook his head. “I’m still some distance away from the second realm of the Heavy As Mountain. The reason I can create Sword Qi is thanks to the sword technique Big Brother taught me—Heavenly Astral Essence Slash.”

“Sword technique?” Xing Sheng turned his head to look at Qin Feng, curious. “Young Master, aren’t you practicing the Literature Saint Dao Lineage of cultivation? How can you teach others the martial arts of the Divine Martial?”

“Reading a book a hundred times and understanding its meaning leads to self-enlightenment. As long as one comprehends the contents of the book, even if they can’t perform it themselves, they can guide others,” Qin Feng replied. Of course, it was primarily because he had a pair of X-Ray eyes.

Xing Sheng heard this and was a little surprised. His respect for Qin Feng deepened even further.

At this moment, Qin Feng suddenly came up with an idea and suggested, “Second brother, although you have been at the seventh level of the Divine Martial Realm for a long time, you have never had a real battle with anyone. To continuously improve in the Divine Martial tradition, practical combat is essential. In the past, no one could spar with you, but now Hei Tan Tou is here. You two can have a friendly match.”

“Hei Tan Tou?” Qin An glanced at Xing Sheng, his expression strange. It seemed like he was saying, “Is there really someone in this world with such a name?”

Xing Sheng’s face twitched. Helplessly, he said, “Young Master, you can just call me Xing Sheng. But can you please not call me Hei Tan Tou?”

“Sure, Hei Tan Tou.”

Xing Sheng sighed. He gave up; it was just a title. Young Master could call him whatever he wanted.

He lifted his long halberd and faced Qin An, saying, “Young Master Qin, please enlighten me.”

Qin An gripped his narrow-bladed sword, assuming a combat stance, his face filled with excitement. After practicing for so long, this was his first real fight.

The two adjusted their postures. Xing Sheng made the first move, stepping forward with his right foot and fiercely thrusting his long halberd forward, creating a sharp whistling sound.

Seeing this, Qin An swiftly moved to the right, avoiding the halberd. At the same time, he lifted his long sword and directly slashed towards Xing Sheng’s abdomen. Xing Sheng immediately changed his attack, raising his long halberd to block the narrow-bladed sword. He then pushed forward with both arms, and the two separated with a single touch.

It was their first exchange, a probing move. The real battle was yet to come.

They intensified their attacks, constantly switching between offense and defense. In the courtyard, the sound of clashing metal echoed incessantly.

Qin Feng, who was watching on the side, was somewhat surprised. He thought his second brother, without any real combat experience, would be defeated by Xing Sheng, the forward commander.

However, he didn’t expect that after their actual fight, the two were evenly matched. It was evident that Qin An possessed a natural talent for combat.

Xing Sheng also sensed this during the fight and couldn’t help but admire him. But as time passed, Qin An started to struggle. His earlier proactive attacks turned into pure defense.

Qin Feng activated his special vision and observed the battlefield. It was clear that Qin An’s internal energy was running low, while Xing Sheng remained at ease.

This was the gap in combat experience; Xing Sheng knew how to efficiently use his internal energy.

However, after observing for a while, Qin Feng furrowed his brow. He noticed a problem.

Xing Sheng was currently using the widely practiced military technique called Martial Qi Control Art, which focused on offense and was primarily used by soldiers of The Great Qian Dynasty, honed through continuous battles and improvements.

However, every time Xing Sheng swung his halberd forward for an attack, there was always a moment when his internal energy seemed to stagnate. If someone attentive seized this opportunity and attacked that specific spot, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The prestigious Greta Qian Martial Qi Control Art unexpectedly had such an obvious flaw. Has no one noticed it before?

Qin Feng fell into deep thought.

In the courtyard, the fight between the two was nearing its end.

Xing Sheng smirked. “Young Master Qin, it’s over.”

As he spoke, he used his long halberd to force Qin An’s narrow-bladed sword away and then swiftly thrust forward with his right foot.

Qin An stumbled backward.

But just in time, Qin Feng shouted, “Second brother, attack Hei Tan Tou’s right rib, two inches above the left side!”

Qin An unquestioningly trusted his elder brother’s words and immediately followed his instructions.

Upon hearing this, Xing Sheng’s eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what he just heard!

Hei Tan Tou: Black Charcoal Head “黑炭头”