Who Says Tongbei Fist Can't Kill a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?

There was a water carrier in the handyman's quarters of Qingfeng Sect named Chen Tong.

He had been on the job for three years, after spending the previous seven doing odd jobs at a martial arts school down the mountain.

Everyone in the quarters called him Chen the Fool. When an outer disciple kicked him down in the street, he got up, brushed off the dirt, and apologized with a smile. When his monthly allowance was withheld, he bowed and scraped, never talking back.

Only he knew that the left page of his battered ledger listed firewood, rice, oil, and salt, while the right page recorded one blood debt after another.

For ten years, he had practiced Tongbei Fist, every punch striking nothing but air.

Then, one night, the ancient jade left by his late father was stained with blood, and clarity filled his fist. Suddenly, he saw the truth of the cultivation world: the spiritual energy threads wrapped around the immortals who flew on swords were not invulnerable.

And wherever his Tongbei Fist's force trembled, it could pierce straight through those shields!

Three punches could break a Qi Refining cultivator's protective aura. Ten could shatter a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual light.

But Chen Tong closed his ledger and made a decision that went against his ancestors: he would hold off on fighting for now.

Killing a Qi Refining cultivator would bring the stewards down on him. Killing a Foundation Establishment cultivator would bring a Golden Core elder.

Until he could punch a Divine Transformation cultivator's brains into mush with one blow, it was best to keep hauling water, sweeping floors, and smiling apologetically.

And so the cultivation world gained a ghost:

An outer sect steward vanished without a trace, the culprit unknown. Chen Tong had been tending the fire in the alchemy room at the time.

A demonic cultivator at Foundation Establishment had their dantian shattered by a single punch and died a gruesome death. Chen Tong was selling candied hawthorns at the market down the mountain.

Everyone said a fearsome martial artist had appeared in the cultivation world, coming and going without a trace. Only Chen Tong knew he was just a bookkeeper.

"Who says Tongbei Fist can't kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

"It can. But there's no need."

"Unless... you force me to throw a punch."