Jiang Chen's palm descended like a falling star. Jiang Qianhe—already grievously wounded—had no time to brace himself. The strike sent him flying across the platform.
Bang!
Jiang Qianhe's body crashed into the stone floor, skidding several meters before coming to a halt.
Jiang Chen's expression remained ice‑cold. In the blink of an eye, he was back at Jiang Qianhe's side, bringing his heel down onto the elder's chest.
Crack!
A muffled scream echoed as ribs fractured and blood splattered. Jiang Qianhe's eyes bulged in shock.
"Old dog," Jiang Chen's voice cut through the stunned silence."I will be the Patriarch of the Jiang family. Do you accept it… or not?"
Under Jiang Chen's heel, Jiang Qianhe could only gasp out:
"O‑okay… I serve!"
A deathly quiet descended over the courtyard. Every guest stared up at Jiang Chen as if seeing a deity.
The so‑called "waste" young master of the Jiang clan had just crushed the seventh‑layer Qi Refining powerhouse, Jiang Qianhe, beneath his foot—effortlessly.
Jiang Kui, pale and wide‑eyed, could hardly believe it:
"Master Chen… since when did you become this strong?"
Before returning to Cangshan City, he had thought Jiang Chen's challenge hopeless. Yet now the impossible had happened:
From a Body Quenching dual‑layer waste, Jiang Chen had risen to a figure capable of slaughtering the Jiang family's top elder.
On the high platform, Meng Qingxue's beautiful eyes glittered with disbelief and admiration.
She recalled his uncanny insights into her fatal Taiyin Breakthrough Body, his staggering achievement in alchemy that awed even Sixth‑Rank Master Yan Qingxuan, and now his martial might that surpassed every expectation.
"Jiang Chen… how many secrets hide within you?" she silently wondered.
With Jiang Qianhe's power utterly broken, Jiang Chen turned to the assembled crowd:
"From this moment on, Jiang Kui will serve as the new family elder—and my spokesperson within the Jiang clan."
A roar of stunned approval rose.
By sunrise, news of Jiang Chen's meteoric rise swept across Cangshan City. Whispers turned to exclamations:
"The waste of the Jiang family… became its strongest pillar overnight!"
"He's surpassed Lin Yu, our city's top genius. He's now the unrivaled champion of our generation!"
Thus, the once‑mocked Jiang Chen stood at the pinnacle of Cangshan City's martial world—his legend only just beginning.