Jiang Nian had pretty much figured it out by now. Huang Lei didn’t understand a thing, yet he believed he understood everything, and insisted on using his own interpretation to make trouble for him.
To put it nicely, this was called being full of “dad energy.”
To put it bluntly—
“Idiot.”
While drinking tea, Jiang Nian used the cup to block the camera. His lips moved slightly as he mouthed the word silently. Then he set down the empty teacup and stood up. Like someone who had learned Sichuan opera face-changing, he looked at Song Dandan and the others with a slight smile, his tone warm as he said, “Sorry, everyone. I was a bit harsh. You all keep chatting. I have something to do, so I’ll take my leave first.”
This wasn’t him backing down. Rather, he felt that wasting time on Huang Lei was pointless when he could use that time to practice martial arts instead.
Yang Mi didn’t know what he was planning. Seeing Jiang Nian get up, she thought he was angry and quickly said, “Want me to come with you?”
“No need. I’m just going to stretch my muscles a bit. I haven’t trained today, and I’ve been feeling a little off.” Jiang Nian replied.
Yang Mi understood. “Alright then. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”
“OK.”
After dropping that one word, Jiang Nian left the Mushroom House directly and headed toward the nearby mountain.
Watching him leave, everyone turned to look at Huang Lei. They saw his chest heaving, his face so dark it looked like water could be wrung out of it.
Clearly, he was furious.
Because Jiang Nian’s comeback had been way too brutal. He hadn’t given Huang Lei any face at all, leaving him momentarily unsure how to respond.
Normally, even when someone didn’t accept him, they’d compete in secret. But there was no one like this—someone with zero social awareness who would just flip the table outright.
Especially that word—”amateur.”
It nearly made Huang Lei explode with rage!
Because the persona he had always promoted for himself was that of an all-rounder who understood everything.
Now that Jiang Nian had said this, it basically overturned the image Huang Lei had painstakingly built up!
“How dare he? How dare he?!”
Huang Lei gritted his teeth inwardly.
Seeing him enraged, Yang Mi said nothing and sipped her tea with a calm, unhurried air.
He Jiong and Song Dandan exchanged glances, unsure what to do.
Because the situation had developed far beyond their expectations—one could even say beyond their comprehension.
After all, when they’d appeared on variety shows before, even if conflicts arose, people would hold back for various reasons and not express them.
Who could have imagined that Jiang Nian wouldn’t care at all? One poke and he exploded. He wouldn’t take even the slightest grievance.
This…
The scene fell into silence.
In the end, the production team couldn’t stand it anymore and signaled for them to say something. Only then did He Jiong speak up: “So, Mimi, you and Jiang Nian seem to get along pretty well.”
“It’s alright.” Yang Mi replied perfunctorily.
“Hey, from what I see, it’s more than just ‘alright.’ You’re about to call him for meals, and so naturally too. This isn’t the first or second time, is it?” Song Dandan picked up the thread, teasing.
Hearing their teasing, Yang Mi wasn’t flustered at all. She took a tactical sip of tea, then said slowly, “Ah, it’s because Jiang Nian practices martial arts. He often loses track of time while training, and by the time he’s done, the company’s meal time has already passed. As his boss, I have to consider his health, so I often call him when it’s time to eat.”
“I see…”
Song Dandan nodded in understanding.
He Jiong, however, caught a key piece of information in Yang Mi’s words and asked curiously, “Martial arts? Jiang Nian still practices martial arts?”
“Yeah.” Yang Mi answered, then inconspicuously glanced at Huang Lei beside her. An idea suddenly came to her, and she said, “And he’s really good. I heard him say that currently, there are no more than ten people in the country who could beat him!”
“Really?”
Sure enough, hearing Yang Mi boast about Jiang Nian and praise him so highly, Huang Lei—who didn’t get along with Jiang Nian and prided himself on being an all-rounder—immediately looked over and threw out a challenge.
Someone like Jiang Nian, with that kind of combat ability?
“Really.” Yang Mi nodded.
Huang Lei frowned. “He’s bragging, isn’t he?”
Then he looked at everyone. “To be honest, I’ve also practiced martial arts. I’ve never heard of this in the circle.”
This was, of course, a lie he made up on the spot.
After all, his persona was that of an all-rounder.
If he didn’t know martial arts…
Then wouldn’t that make him, just as Jiang Nian said, an amateur who knew nothing?
He didn’t want Jiang Nian to get his wish and make his persona collapse.
Yang Mi naturally saw through this but didn’t call it out.
She simply looked at Huang Lei, a flicker of cunning flashing in her eyes, and threw out the bait: “I wouldn’t know about that. Anyway, that’s what Jiang Nian told me. How about we go take a look now?”
Huang Lei, suspecting nothing, took the bait directly: “Let’s go take a look then.”
Yang Mi smiled slightly. “Then let’s go. Maybe by the time we get there, Jiang Nian will just be starting to practice. Teacher He, Teacher Song, what about you two?”
Hearing this, He Jiong and Song Dandan exchanged a glance, both looking bewildered.
This involved them too?
They hesitated for a moment:
“Then… let’s go take a look.”
Yang Mi didn’t have any grudge against Huang Lei.
She hadn’t even had much interaction with him.
But the reason she set a trap for Huang Lei was simple—Huang Lei didn’t get along with Jiang Nian.
This happened to land right on Yang Mi’s firing line.
As a protective boss,
if her employees made mistakes, she could scold them. She could criticize them.
But if an outsider came to point fingers—sorry, that wasn’t allowed!
Their internal affairs—what business was it of yours?
Not to mention that besides being her employee, Jiang Nian was also her partner.
Yang Mi couldn’t possibly just stand by and do nothing.
This was also why, earlier, when the tension between Jiang Nian and Huang Lei was so thick, Yang Mi had just watched from the sidelines without trying to mediate.
Mediate what?
They were already being bullied to their faces—was she supposed to just endure it?
It was only because of her current status that she couldn’t openly fall out with him.
Otherwise, she would have already joined Jiang Nian in tearing into him—a true husband-and-wife duo!
“But just this alone isn’t enough.”
“He calls you ‘teacher’ and you really start acting the part.”
“Making trouble for us for no reason—if I don’t do something, everyone will think Yang Mi is a pushover, easy to bully.”
“I need to make him lose face.”
Walking on the way to find Jiang Nian, Yang Mi looked at Huang Lei, a belly full of mischief brewing in her heart.
One had to admit, humans were quite absurd creatures.
Normally they seemed not very bright. Ask them what unit a light-year is, and they might not even answer correctly.
But when it came to scheming and playing dirty tricks—
They were like an old sow wearing a bra—one set after another.
In just two seconds, Yang Mi had come up with a suitable plan.
So she looked at Huang Lei with a smile: “Teacher Huang, you said earlier that you’ve also practiced martial arts for a while. May I ask how far you’ve gotten?”
Perhaps because he’d been scared off by Jiang Nian’s earlier retort, when faced with this delivered-to-his-doorstep opportunity to show off, Huang Lei didn’t dare boast too much. He only said:
“Nothing too profound. Just casual practice for fitness. But I know quite a few masters of traditional Chinese martial arts and have exchanges with them. I understand quite a bit in this area.”
“Wow, Teacher Huang is so impressive.” He Jiong beside him cooperatively praised.
Huang Lei beamed but still waved his hand modestly: “It’s alright, just average. By the way, Mimi, how far has that Jiang Nian gotten? Want me to teach him a thing or two?”
Hearing this, Yang Mi’s mouth twitched.
She looked at the fat piled under Huang Lei’s chin, then at his bloated beer belly.
Her mind involuntarily conjured up Jiang Nian’s physique.
Mm…
Sure enough, the old saying was right—without comparison, there’s no harm.
Someone like you who only knows how to talk theory on paper still wants to teach Jiang Nian?
“I’d have to ask Jiang Nian’s opinion.”
Yang Mi didn’t want to say more. She brushed it off and continued walking forward.
Seeing this, Huang Lei didn’t mind.
Because at this moment, all he could think about was how to regain the face he’d lost in front of Jiang Nian.
And seeing that neither he nor Yang Mi said much, He Jiong and Song Dandan naturally didn’t say much either.
After all, with this kind of thing, the more you say, the more you get wrong.
They didn’t want to get involved in the matter between Huang Lei and Jiang Nian. They just wanted to stand on the sidelines and enjoy the show.
The three walked on. After about twenty minutes, guided by the villagers and the production team, they found Jiang Nian.
Mainly because Jiang Nian hadn’t gone far.
He was on a mountain outside the village. Seeing no one around, he’d stopped there.
Otherwise, with his foot speed and pace, if he really wanted to leave, these people might not have been able to find him.
And with his keen senses…
Jiang Nian naturally sensed that Yang Mi and the others had followed. But he didn’t pay it any mind.
On one hand, he could now convert his internal energy into hidden force, with full control over releasing and retracting it.
When practicing martial arts, he no longer caused the huge commotion he used to.
On the other hand, he felt there was no need to care.
They’d already come—would they leave?
It was just…
“What are they running all the way here for when they have nothing better to do?”
“I don’t get it.”
Jiang Nian muttered, then focused his mind and put his attention back on practicing martial arts.
A month ago, after breaking through to “Mastery” with the “Evil-Resisting Sword Technique,” Jiang Nian was only one realm away from completely mastering it.
This was also the hardest realm.
Because it required a full fifteen hundred proficiency points.
That number looked despairing.
After all, Jiang Nian currently only gained one proficiency point each time he practiced.
But after practicing for a month,
its progress had risen quite a bit.
Evil-Resisting Sword Technique “Mastery” (531/1500)
Already a third of the way done.
If today he could raise his proficiency to 540, then at a rate of twenty practices a day earning twenty points, it would only take forty-eight days to complete.
“Soon, soon!”
Thinking that in as little as forty-eight days he could lift the restriction and no longer need to abstain,
Jiang Nian gripped the branch he’d casually picked up on the way, and his martial arts movements became even sharper.
Seeing this from not far away,
a flicker of disdain flashed through Huang Lei’s eyes. He said directly: “No need to watch anymore. We can go. He doesn’t know martial arts at all.”
“Huh?”
At these words, everyone was stunned.
Yang Mi’s expression was strange. “Why?”
Huang Lei spoke eloquently:
“Because what he’s practicing is wrong. Look at his overall form—though there’s some momentum, it’s slow and soft, weak and powerless.”
“Martial arts isn’t like this. It’s about being fast, accurate, and ruthless. He’s practicing so slowly, just like those old men and women doing sword dances in the park. What’s the use?”
“And besides that, the martial arts he’s practicing has no aesthetic value at all. Many of the movements are twisted, inhuman.”
“Do you think practicing like this will produce anything?”
Huang Lei brought out his lecturing demeanor, analyzing with great authority.
From momentum to movements, he negated Jiang Nian on every point.
As if he were a master in this field.
He Jiong and Song Dandan, having no experience in this area, were completely bluffed by Huang Lei’s words.
Yang Mi, on the other hand, was struggling to hold back her laughter.
Because when she’d lived with Jiang Nian before, she’d asked this same question.
And she’d been rewarded with Jiang Nian’s “are you an idiot” expression and a single sentence: “Why don’t you take a guess as to why there are countless martial arts performances online, yet almost no one can actually learn from them?”
Martial arts has an outer and inner aspect.
For performances, of course you make it as pretty as possible.
But if you practice that way yourself, you’re a complete idiot.
Because the core purpose of practicing martial arts is to strengthen the body and build strength.
How do you build strength?
By gathering and storing.
If you’re like a performer, throwing all your force outward randomly, practicing randomly, how the hell are you supposed to build strength? If you don’t tire yourself to death or wear yourself out completely, you can count yourself lucky!
Because of this, Yang Mi understood that Huang Lei was completely clueless—he was purely relying on his seniority to spout nonsense here!
“He’s really regressed with age.”
Yang Mi commented inwardly.
And at this moment, as time passed,
Jiang Nian’s practice was also drawing to a close.
He knew he was being filmed by the cameras, so he held back a bit, not wanting to cause too big a scene.
But even so, as he swung the branch in his hand, gusts of wind followed.
Until finally, Jiang Nian flung it sharply.
“Swish!”
The branch landed on a nearby rock.
In an instant, it exploded with unprecedented terrifying power, as if it weren’t a branch but a sword, directly carving an incredibly smooth cut into the stone.
“!!!”
Seeing Jiang Nian suddenly erupt with such terrifying power,
He Jiong and Song Dandan were both scared witless.
They quickly rubbed their eyes, repeatedly confirming they hadn’t seen wrong, and their faces all showed expressions of terror!
“Holy crap, what’s going on? What happened?”
Very rarely, He Jiong cursed on camera.
But at this moment, no one cared.
Because everyone’s attention had been drawn away by Jiang Nian.
Song Dandan was dumbstruck. Her mind couldn’t help but recall what Huang Lei had just said, and she couldn’t resist asking: “Teacher Huang… is this what you meant by Jiang Nian not knowing martial arts?”
Hearing this, the normally eloquent Huang Lei was actually speechless.
Because he’d never seen anything like this either.
So he quickly stepped forward to take a look.
Seeing this, Yang Mi’s pupils contracted. She quickly said: “Don’t! Teacher Huang, don’t go up there! Jiang Nian doesn’t know you’re here. If you suddenly go up, he’ll attack you!”
As someone who had lived with Jiang Nian for several months, she knew all too well what Jiang Nian was like when practicing.
Completely focused, utterly absorbed.
This meant that if someone rashly approached before Jiang Nian had finished his closing form, Jiang Nian—not yet returned to his senses from practice—would definitely counterattack instinctively.
Sure enough.
The moment Huang Lei approached Jiang Nian, Jiang Nian moved.
Holding the branch in his hand, he turned around, aimed at Huang Lei, and thrust forward fiercely.
“Whoosh—”
A fierce gust of wind was stirred up, hitting him in the face.
The force of the wind was so great that it directly lifted Huang Lei’s hair, which was plastered to his forehead like a pot lid.
Feeling that terrifying momentum and sharp attack,
Huang Lei’s heart trembled, and a flicker of panic flashed through his eyes.
Fortunately, just as the branch was about to stab into Huang Lei’s head—
“Crash—”
The branch could no longer withstand it.
It carbonized directly, drifting away with the wind.
Only then did it fail to pierce into his head.
Huang Lei was scared stiff, not daring to move at all.
Seeing this, a trace of mockery flashed through Jiang Nian’s eyes.
Yang Mi was right. When he practiced martial arts, he was indeed completely focused. If anyone suddenly approached, he would counterattack.
But that was all old news.
As Jiang Nian’s strength increased, his reaction speed had also improved.
So even if someone suddenly approached, he could react immediately. Not to mention, Jiang Nian had already known about Huang Lei and the others’ arrival.
One could say that what he was doing now was entirely intentional—and of course, also calculated.
As a swordsman, he knew very well where the limits of his weapon lay.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a rash move.
After all, he was only here to film a variety show. Although there was conflict between him and Huang Lei, it wasn’t to the point of actually killing him. Just scaring him and teaching him a lesson was enough.
From the looks of it, the effect was quite successful.
