Outside, Mary Martinez watched James Brown emerge, her face twisted with smug satisfaction. Hmph! You think you can defy me? I have ways to torment you both. Even if no matchmaking occurs, I won't let you be at peace.She clutched a set of keys - duplicates she had secretly made of Jason's room. Locks would avail them nothing."Hmph, dare threaten me? Dream on if you think you can lay a hand on my daughter..."On the other side, Grace Diaz sighed heavily. She had witnessed everything, but it was not her place to interfere in the couple's affairs. Mary Martinez's tactics were truly lacking in virtue.She could not fathom why Mary Martinez insisted on opposing Jason, on suppressing him at every turn.In her eyes, Jason surpassed that Fred Price by countless times, at least in character and demeanor - qualities difficult to find. To have such a son-in-law would be a dream come true."Alas, blind to the blessings before you, so foolish..."The next day, after a night of disturbances, Mary
Her tirade escalated, "Insolent wretch! Shall I dismiss you from these premises at once? What are you gawking at? Hurry and fetch me medicine...ah, the agonizing pain..."Grace Diaz remained silent, unwilling to provoke further wrath, obediently retrieving the medicine, acutely aware of this woman's mercurial temperament. Her sole concern was to avoid causing Jason any distress.Unbeknownst to her, the debt she had labored to repay had been owed to Jason himself, who harbored no intention of demanding recompense.Witnessing this scene, James Brown could only shake his head in resignation, recognizing the utter unreasonableness of her outburst. When had Grace Diaz mocked her? He had observed the entire exchange, her sincere offer to fetch medicine met with unwarranted derision.This woman's volatility seemed to escalate with each passing day, yet he dared not intervene, fearing the consequences of provoking her ire.As Grace Diaz returned with the medicine and ice, she realized her ove
Her depravity, however, remained unaltered. As night fell, the restless Mary prowled about, a veritable beacon in the darkness. Unsurprisingly, her antics culminated in swollen cheeks and feverish affliction the next day, her inflamed visage impervious even to ice packs.Jason shook his head, unwilling to dwell on her plight. For the day had arrived - the long-awaited clash between him and Albert, the illustrious Northern Faction Martial Arts Master, a battle that had set the martial arts world abuzz.Serene amidst the swirling maelstrom, Jason's sole intent was to validate his prowess. Albert would prove a formidable adversary, and the impending contest beckoned.The clash had sent shockwaves through Emerald City, aristocratic families and financial titans converging in droves. An unforeseen boon, the city's GDP soaring higher than any celebrity could propel it.Yet opinions on the outcome were near-unanimous: the Martial Saint's impetuous disciple, overestimating his abilities, had
On Emerald Mountain's slopes, impatient spectators traded barbs over Jason's tardiness, deriding this so-called Martial Saint disciple's lack of courage. Among them, Benjamin Howard and Old Stewart fretted, the former's idle boast having snowballed into this spectacle.High above, Albert stood vigil, his eyes flashing open as if detecting a disturbance. A solitary figure ascended the dais, their arrival erupting in a fervent roar that shook the mountain. "Jason Gray?" Susan and Emily gasped in disbelieving unison, scarcely recognizing the imposing warrior before them as their unassuming friend. This day's battle would redefine their understanding of the man they thought they knew.The two women gasped in disbelief, eyes widening incredulously. Was this some waking dream? How could it be Jason? Could it be that the fabled disciple of the Martial Saint was indeed Jason himself?"This...this cannot be possible?" They racked their brains, unable to fathom the enigma before them.Especial
"So swift!" Jason's pupils contracted as two hurtling fists rapidly expanded in his vision. The fist techniques were hauntingly familiar - the very Arm Fist Boxing style Jeremy had mastered to such deadly effect.The same art that had set the dominoes toppling toward this very fateful clash, when Jason had been forced to extinguish that malignant life.Ah, so that explained Albert's zeal to represent the Arm Fist lineage in avenging its scion. For one of his Three Supreme Techniques was itself the Arm Fist Boxing style. Having assimilated their ultimate skills, he doubtless considered himself a member of that sect, honor-bound to retaliate.Yet Albert's mastery of Arm Fist Boxing eclipsed Jeremy's by a hundredfold in speed and ferocity. He truly lived up to his genius renown."Boom! Boom!" "Swish...swish...swish..."The audience cried out as the two combatants instantly erupted into a whirlwind of blurring strikes, an electrifying conflagration of close-quarters carnage. So this was
Another jeered, "If he somehow wins, I'll kneel and call him grandfather myself. Mark my words, he's spent - one more blow and it's over..."But the modest man only shook his head with a soft chuckle. "One cannot judge solely by appearances. Though he seems defenseless, he is in truth marshaling his strength, awaiting the opportune moment to launch a decisive counterattack."He nodded sagely. "Watch - that moment draws near.""Yeah right, pull the other one!" the others scoffed in mordant chorus.The bizarre exchange carried to many others, even reaching old Stewart's party - all of whom frowned and shook their heads in baffled dismissal. Such an outcome was patently impossible.To their discerning eyes, Jason's loss seemed a foregone conclusion - the blatant reality any clear-sighted observer could perceive. He had absorbed such a brutal battering, they should have moved heaven and earth to prevent him entering this hopeless duel.Matt Turner and Henry Murphy watched with feverish in
Among the Northern Faction's partisans, Christian Cox and his ilk had turned deathly pale, cold tendrils of dread gripping their cores."Sweet heavens...can this be real?"Benjamin Howard could only gape in stupefied awe. This whelp's ferocity knew no bounds! He had already witnessed Jason's prowess firsthand, yet never could he have fathomed such transcendent might. His power rivaled even his formidable brother Arthur!On the other side, old Stewart and Julia Stewart's expressions shone with ill-concealed elation as they scanned the crowds, seeking the unassuming stranger who had presaged this very outcome.Yet the prescient seer had long since vanished into the dispersing masses."Hack...cough...cough..."Albert choked out a thick gout of blood, his every ragged exhalation a tortuous strain. Agony lanced through his battered form, his bones all but shattered, his musculature turned to enervated gelatin.That single strike had nearly ended his life outright - he had been overwhelmed
"Swish...swish!"In a blurring whirlwind, Albert channeled the last dregs of his energy into an explosive charge, his legs turned to whip-crack springs propelling a blinding onslaught."This is...""The Fourth Killing Art - Whirlwind Taekwondo!""He speaks true!" the witnesses cried out in awe, for this was indeed the signature art of one of the Northern Faction's elite overlords, ranked among the hallowed Ten Supreme Masters. As the preeminent progenitor of the Taekwondo factions, his influence had extended even to Emerald City through now-exterminated offshoots.The culprit behind that massacre still remained an unsolved mystery.Jason too recognized the technique's formidable aura - yet Albert's crippling injuries rendered such a gambit pointless against his transcendent dominion."Futile fool!"Though Albert's velocity seemed blinding, Jason's explosive acceleration far outpaced his foe. With an arcing whipcord of sheer annihilating force, a single sweeping kick detonated against