[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength":3,"chapter-i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-23":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Subdue the Immortals with Strength",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2295325,4490,"Chapter 23: Secret Tunnel","i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-23",23,"\u003Cp>Xia Daoming saw the masked elder was both cooperative and confident—so much so that he even shut the door for him—and a faint smile curled at his lips as he spoke to Liu Qiaolian, who stood on the left veranda of the courtyard, eyes sharply fixed on the masked man: “Lian’er, don’t be tense. Go bring me a chair.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Master!” Liu Qiaolian, seeing Xia Daoming’s calm ease, instantly relaxed her taut nerves, bowed respectfully, and went to the hall to fetch a chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming sat down leisurely, then pointed to his own shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Qiaolian stepped forward and gently kneaded his shoulders with her delicate hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A mere fourth-rank martial master dares to be so arrogant? How delightfully intriguing.” The masked elder’s eyes burned with fury as he spoke coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nothing’s more intriguing than you, old man. Why are you lurking outside my gate at this hour instead of resting at home? Speak—who are you, and what do you want here?” Xia Daoming said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I take you down, you’ll find out!” The masked elder sneered, suddenly unleashing hidden power from his legs—his body shot upward like a hawk, hands clawing as he lunged at Xia Daoming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the elder unleashed his hidden power, five meridians emitted five distinct qi signatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fifth-rank great martial master!” Liu Qiaolian’s face paled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder, seeing her reaction, revealed a smug, cruel grin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So what?” At that moment, a scornful voice rang out. Xia Daoming rose abruptly, fists raised, meeting the elder’s claws head-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fifth-rank!” The elder’s grin froze instantly. A deep unease surged in his chest—he wanted to retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the momentum of his fully charged strike could not be halted mid-motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boom! Boom!” Two muffled thunderclaps echoed through the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two torrents of hidden power collided—crushing the elder’s own force, then surging like a breached dam, swallowing his unleashed qi and roaring into his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder’s arms swelled violently, his body flying backward like a kite with severed strings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In midair, his sleeves exploded into tattered rags, scattering everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His swollen arms cracked open, skin splitting—“Pop! Pop! Pop!”—the sounds of tendons and vessels snapping rang through the night, blood spraying out, mingling with the shredded cloth as it rained down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thud!” The elder hit the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body slid another meter along the earth, leaving a bloody trail behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder stared at Xia Daoming with utter terror, as if gazing upon a demon risen from hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The courtyard fell utterly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Qiaolian stood gaping, her full chest heaving, eyes wide with shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew her master was powerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, in the ruined temple, he’d killed a fourth-rank martial master with effortless precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this masked elder was a fifth-rank great martial master!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To cripple a fifth-rank great martial master with a single blow—what kind of terrifying power was that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming himself was stunned by the horrifying spectacle of his own full-power strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew his strength had surged—but he hadn’t expected it to reach this level. One punch had crippled a fifth-rank great martial master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But soon, Xia Daoming snapped back to reality and stepped forward toward the masked elder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder’s eyes blazed with terror. He struggled to rise and flee, but his reckless frontal clash had sent devastating hidden power tearing through his body—multiple meridians had shattered, his qi now a runaway stallion crashing wildly within. He couldn’t even move, let alone stand or run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who are you?” The elder abandoned his delusions, his voice filled with despair and disbelief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though aged, his qi and physique had declined, he was still a fifth-rank great martial master. In direct, strength-based combat, even a sixth-rank great martial master could not have wounded him so severely—much less a seventh-rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between fifth and eighth rank, all were great martial masters; the gap between each level was relatively small, unlike the leap between fourth and fifth, or eighth and ninth, where the nature of qi changed and power surged dramatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The masked elder had once fought a seventh-rank great martial master—but even then, the opponent’s strength hadn’t matched this man’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet this man was only fifth-rank!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Old man, that’s ironic—you didn’t even know who I was, yet you hid outside my gate to ambush me?” Xia Daoming blinked in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s not what I meant—I mean your true identity!” the masked elder said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My true identity? I’m a disciple of Liang Jingtang, the master of Qianjiao Martial Hall.” Xia Daoming said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, he suddenly spread his fingers into Dragon Claws and seized the elder’s throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lian’er, tell Xia He and the others it’s over—and tell them nothing happened tonight,” Xia Daoming said, dragging the elder by the neck like a dead dog toward the back courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Master,” Liu Qiaolian replied respectfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the back courtyard, Xia Daoming tossed the elder onto the ground and yanked off his mask—only to find a face he didn’t recognize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now speak—who are you? Why ambush me?” Xia Daoming asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jing Xuying, chief steward of Wu Family Fortress. As for why I ambushed you—you already know,” the elder replied bluntly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wu Family Fortress?” Xia Daoming’s eyes widened in shock, then narrowed. “So Wu Changlu really was more than he seemed. After all this time, you’re still chasing this matter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you suspected when you killed Wu Changlu. Correct—he wasn’t the son of clan elder Wu Yueming. He was Wu Yueli’s illegitimate son,” Jing Xuying said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wu Yueli not only cuckolded Wu Yueming—he gave him a bastard son! Did Wu Yueming know? Could he tolerate it?” Xia Daoming’s eyes lit up with curiosity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So what if he knew? What could he do? Wu Yueli is not only clan chief—he’s a sixth-rank great martial master. He holds absolute life-and-death power over Wu Family Fortress,” Jing Xuying replied, face twisted with bitterness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait—you didn’t get cuckolded too, did you?” Xia Daoming stared, startled by Jing Xuying’s expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wu Yueli is a scoundrel who loves stealing other men’s women!” Jing Xuying snarled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy shit—I actually guessed right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming’s gaze toward Jing Xuying grew strangely sympathetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Poor, pitiful man—cuckolded, yet still serving his master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know I’m doomed. But before you kill me, I ask one favor,” Jing Xuying said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You came to kill me, and now you want me to grant you a favor? Isn’t that ridiculous?” Xia Daoming sneered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What if I told you I know a secret tunnel leading straight from outside Wu Family Fortress to the clan chief’s training chamber—and that Wu Yueli’s private treasure vault lies inside that chamber, with the key never leaving his person? Would you still think my request ridiculous as I face death?” Jing Xuying said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming’s expression shifted. He fell into deep thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was desperately short on gold. Jing Xuying’s words were deeply tempting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Moreover, you’re only fifth-rank, yet so young—with combat power rivaling a seventh-rank great martial master. If this news leaks, the top forces in the city will soon grow wary—or even target you for elimination.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve been lying low here, pretending to be just an ordinary disciple of Liang Jingtang—clearly because you feared this exact outcome. But I was sent on a secret order from Wu Yueli to kill you. If I die here, Wu Yueli will know you’re far more than you appear.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wu Yueli is a cunning, ruthless man. He’ll spread rumors to make every faction in Li City notice you. By then, you’ll be a genius who never gets to grow—cut down before you even rise!” Jing Xuying added as Xia Daoming pondered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming’s expression changed again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he lacked gold, he could always swallow his pride and live off Ji Wenyue’s wealth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the top forces noticed him too soon—he’d be in grave danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You came to kill me—was Wu Yueli the only one who knew?” Xia Daoming asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry. Wu Changlu’s been dead half a year. Who else would care except his own father? And Liang Jingtang’s strength is extraordinary—Wu Yueli dared not risk exposure by acting himself. That’s why he sent me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So if you enter the training chamber via the secret tunnel and assassinate Wu Yueli, you’ll eliminate the threat—and claim his private treasure. My request is simple: I only want to watch him die.” Jing Xuying replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, his eyes glowed with a hatred that cut to the bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You hate him deeply?” Xia Daoming said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course I hate him. He not only cuckolded me—he killed my favorite concubine! Afterwards, he thought Jade Swallow was just my concubine, unworthy of notice. But he didn’t know—she was already carrying my child.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I chose to live rather than die—killing him was too risky. I never had the courage to avenge them. Now that I’m doomed anyway, I have nothing left to lose.” Jing Xuying replied, his face contorting with rage as he spoke of his concubine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Jing Xuying spoke, Xia Daoming’s gaze remained fixed on him like a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Starting tomorrow, Qidian will give me a recommendation, which means this 70s uncle must officially go head-to-head with a bunch of young writers. If the recommendation performs well, more readers will collect and follow, and the site will give me more exposure; if I lose, the recommendation will disappear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I beg my readers: please help promote and support me. The PK starts at midnight tomorrow, so I’ll move Sunday’s first chapter to midnight. Later, I may revert to one chapter in the morning and one in the afternoon—this will better help me compete for the New Book Rankings. Please understand. Once the novel goes VIP, I’ll return to continuous updates—or even large chapters—to make reading easier.\u003C\u002Fp>",1615,"2026-06-20T05:15:29.288Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","4b1cfba6381f64c61dc5064f76c11b25cfac9b19743e19c1793b2cc849560949","i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-24","i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-22",484,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-cover.jpg"]