"Hello, may I shake your hand?"

Bai Shu extended his hand to Jiang Chen, a bizarre smile on his face.

He waited for Jiang Chen to extend his hand. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

But inwardly, he was thinking, ’I’ll use this handshake to teach Jiang Chen a harsh lesson.’

Jiang Chen looked at Bai Shu with an amused expression.

The disdain in Bai Shu’s eyes was completely undisguised, especially with the way he deliberately flashed his Alchemist emblem. It was simply laughable.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Chen also slowly extended his hand and shook Bai Shu’s.

Having seen through Bai Shu’s scheme, Jiang Chen was completely fearless.

Bai Shu, on the other hand, was ecstatic. The moment Jiang Chen’s hand came forward, he proactively and quickly grabbed it.

A wicked smile touched the corner of his lips.

It was as if his scheme had already succeeded.

They looked like old friends who knew each other well.

In reality, both knew in their hearts that the other was not an old friend, but an enemy.

’Courting death, daring to shake my hand.’

’You’re dead meat, kid.’

The instant he gripped Jiang Chen’s hand, a cold glint flashed in Bai Shu’s eyes.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he suddenly squeezed with great force.

He used at least half his strength.

In that moment, he could almost picture Jiang Chen’s miserable, grimacing face, and the thought alone made him happy.

"Hm?"

The next moment, Bai Shu was rather astonished.

He discovered a considerable force coming from Jiang Chen’s hand as well.

It was quite shocking.

He looked up at Jiang Chen and saw that he seemed to have already noticed what was happening.

He sneered inwardly once more.

’I only used fifty percent of my strength. Don’t get cocky too soon, kid.’

Immediately, he squeezed again, this time using a full eighty percent of his strength.

He believed Jiang Chen had already reached his limit, and that eighty percent of his strength would be enough to shatter his hand bones.

If not shatter them, at least cause some internal injuries.

Meanwhile, after feeling Bai Shu’s initial burst of strength, Jiang Chen was secretly gloating.

He was well-prepared for this kind of sneak attack.

Using only forty percent of his strength, he had easily neutralized his opponent’s force.

Then, just as he expected, he felt Bai Shu squeeze again.

Jiang Chen had Bai Shu completely figured out, knowing he had increased his strength to eighty percent.

But he remained unhurried, using only sixty percent of his strength.

’Trying to ambush me? Not a chance.’

’I’ll let you be smug for a little while longer.’

Jiang Chen’s face still wore a calm and composed smile, as if nothing were happening at all.

To the side, Jiang Han and Bai Xiong had seen this coming. Their sons had already begun to secretly clash, but neither father had any intention of stopping it, each focused on his own son.

Jiang Han noticed that his son, Jiang Chen, was steady and unmoving, showing no reaction at all.

He thought to himself, ’This kid... looks like he’s very confident.’

He glanced at Bai Shu again and saw that his expression had changed slightly, but not by much.

Apparently, he could still compete with his son.

However, since his son Jiang Chen remained completely unfazed, it was clear that he had this in the bag. Victory was certain.

He was inwardly filled with delight.

Bai Xiong, on the other hand, had been watching the contest between his son Bai Shu and Jiang Chen from the start.

After all, he was the one who had instigated it.

’Something’s wrong.’

Suddenly, an ominous feeling flashed through Bai Xiong’s mind.

He stared at his son and Jiang Chen, noticing that his own son seemed to be breathing heavily.

Jiang Chen, however, remained as calm as ever.

From this, he deduced that his son was seemingly no match for Jiang Chen in this contest.

This came as a great shock to Bai Xiong.

As their secret struggle continued, fluctuations of Cultivation slowly began to emanate from both of them.

When Bai Xiong saw this, he was even more horrified.

’How is this possible? How could this ignorant good-for-nothing have the Cultivation of a Warrior Third Heaven?’

Warrior Third Heaven—his son, Bai Shu, was also a Warrior Third Heaven.

After all, his son Bai Shu had only reached his current Cultivation of Warrior Third Heaven through diligent and arduous training.

In contrast, Jiang Chen usually spent his days carousing and living a life of pleasure.

He should have long since neglected his Cultivation.

Yet despite this, his Cultivation was actually the same as his son’s. The realization made him want to vomit blood.

It was too unfair.

’Damn it!’

After using eighty percent of his strength, Bai Shu found he still couldn’t suppress Jiang Chen.

In a fit of anger, he simply unleashed one hundred percent of his strength.

The power in his hand reached its Peak in an instant.

This full-force squeeze made Jiang Chen’s hand dip for a moment, but it stabilized immediately after.

’Still can’t suppress him?’

When Bai Shu realized he couldn’t suppress Jiang Chen even after using one hundred percent of his strength, his expression changed drastically.

He glared at Jiang Chen, only to find him returning an arrogant gaze.

In that moment, Bai Shu understood. Jiang Chen’s Cultivation was the same as his, but his strength was far greater.

Unwilling to accept this, a ruthless look appeared in Bai Shu’s eyes once more.

’Courting death. You must be going all out now, right?’

’My real trump card is still to come.’

’Our Bai Family’s Demon-Catching Hand can increase my strength by a full twenty percent. Let’s see you block that!’

That’s right, the Bai Family possessed a powerful Cultivation Technique, the Demon-Catching Hand, which could instantly increase a Bai Clan Member’s strength by twenty percent.

One must understand that for any Martial Cultivator, a twenty percent increase was a terrifying boost.

Between two evenly matched opponents, if one suddenly received a twenty percent power boost, the other would almost certainly face a crushing defeat.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he acted. Bai Shu immediately activated the Demon-Catching Hand, channeling all his power into his hand for one final, desperate move.

He knew he could not lose to Jiang Chen. Not ever.

Of course, he had no idea that Jiang Chen was still using less than eighty percent of his strength.

Jiang Chen could already feel that his strength was far superior to Bai Shu’s.

Less than eighty percent of his strength was more than enough to completely suppress Bai Shu.

If he went all out, he could easily crush Bai Shu’s hand.

’Are there more tricks to come?’

The corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth tilted up slightly.

It was as if he had seen right through Bai Shu.

Sure enough, in the next instant, Bai Shu’s strength suddenly surged by at least twenty percent.

Jiang Chen knew at once that Bai Shu had used the Demon-Catching Hand.

Unfortunately, his Demon-Catching Hand was useless; it posed no threat to Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen directly increased his own strength to one hundred percent.

And this was without even using the Nine Heavens Spirit-Seizing Technique. If he were to unleash it, the sheer force of its pull on the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi would be enough to drain Bai Shu dry.

But he didn’t do that.

To do so in the auction hall of the Treasure Elephant Pavilion would be reckless.

In truth, his full strength was more than enough to deal with a Bai Shu who had resorted to a Secret Technique.

’Disperse!’

He muttered a single word in his mind.

BOOM!

Bai Shu felt his own power—all 120 percent of it, boosted by the Demon-Catching Hand—completely dissipate when it was struck by the force from Jiang Chen’s hand.

Worse still, this force slammed directly into his body, causing him to tremble violently.

His mind reeled.

At the same time, an intense, heart-ripping pain shot through his hand, as if his bones were about to be crushed.

Cold sweat began to pour down his forehead.