On the fighting stage, swords were drawn and bows bent!
The air itself seemed to have frozen, permeated by an invisible, oppressive smell of gunpowder.
Below the stage, thousands of gazes focused like searchlights on the two youths standing opposite each other. One was the former genius, pale-faced and venom-eyed, forcing himself to endure his injuries to wash away his past humiliation; the other was the mysterious youth who had just undergone a tremendous reversal from "monster" to "waste," his expression still somewhat "dazed" and "dejected."
This duel was filled with far too much suspense and drama!
Could this "dark horse" with poor potential turn the tables once more and defeat the higher-realm but injured "genius"?
Could Lin Bao successfully avenge himself, defend his dignity, and thoroughly trample beneath his feet the waste who had brought him endless humiliation?
Everyone's hearts rose to their throats as they held their breath and waited!
"Waste! Die!"
This time, Lin Bao did not waste any more words! He knew that delays bred changes, and he was desperate to wash away his shame with a resounding victory!
With an enraged roar brimming with boundless hatred and killing intent, he forcibly suppressed the surging blood and qi in his chest and unleashed every last strand of true qi he could muster!
The aura of the Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer Late-stage was somewhat unsteady due to his injuries, yet it remained formidable! Like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, he charged at Lin Chen once more with a grim, do-or-die momentum!
"Frenzied Leopard Claw! Tear the Firmament!"
It was still the vicious claw technique that had made his name! But this time, he seemed to have learned from his earlier lesson. No longer did he launch wild, aimless attacks; instead, he condensed his power tightly into both claws! His ten fingers became even blacker and sharper, like refined steel, tearing through the air with shriller, more piercing screeches! The claw shadows no longer pursued sheer density, but became more insidious and more vicious! Every claw struck directly at Lin Chen's throat, heart, dantian, and other vital points!
Clearly, he did not merely want to win—he wanted to cripple Lin Chen! Perhaps even take his life outright!
Faced with Lin Bao's clearly lethal assault, a flash of icy, bone-piercing coldness passed through Lin Chen's eyes!
Very good! Just what I wanted!
Since you wanted to cripple me, I would cripple you first!
Yet his face still wore that expression of "panic and helplessness," as though he had yet to recover from the blow of the potential test.
"Ah! Y-you're serious?!" he cried out, once more using the seemingly clumsy Willow Catkin Movement Technique beneath his feet. His body swayed like a fallen leaf in the wind as he began to evade!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Lin Bao's sharp claws pursued him again like maggots clinging to bone! The fierce claw wind continuously tore Lin Chen's clothes, even leaving shallow bloody marks on his arms, shoulders, and other places!
"Dodge? Let's see how long you can keep dodging!" Seeing this, Lin Bao steadied somewhat and grinned savagely again and again!
Although this waste's movement technique was still strange and slippery, this time he could clearly sense that the other party's reactions were half a beat slower! His mind also seemed unable to focus! Several times, Lin Bao had nearly caught him squarely!
It seemed the result of the potential test had truly dealt him a tremendous blow!
With his mind thrown into disarray, his strength would inevitably be greatly reduced as well!
Lin Bao's confidence surged, and his attacks became fiercer and more frenzied! He wanted to tear this eyesore of a waste apart completely as quickly as possible!
The crowd below the stage began discussing the sight in a flurry.
"Look! Lin Chen really can't hold on anymore! This time, Brother Leopard has him completely pinned down!" "Yeah! His mind is wandering, and even his movement technique has slowed! His poor potential must have dealt him too great a blow!" "I told you! A waste is still a waste! His earlier victory had to have been luck!" "Sigh, what a pity. I thought we would get to see a battle of dragons and tigers."
On the elevated platform, a cruel smile finally appeared at the corner of Lin Zhenhong's mouth. Waste! Keep being arrogant, then! Just wait for death!
Lin Xiaotian, however, frowned tightly, his eyes full of disappointment and helplessness. It seemed potential... was ultimately still a fatal flaw. With such an unstable temperament, how could he ever accomplish anything great?
Only the Third Elder, Lin Zhenyue, continued to frown. His sharp gaze followed Lin Chen's every movement on the stage, and he always felt that... something was wrong. The boy's movement technique looked miserable, yet every dodge was perfectly timed. Moreover, the blood flowing from those seemingly severe wounds seemed a little too scant? They looked more like superficial injuries.
Just as everyone had different thoughts and nearly all of them had concluded that Lin Chen was certain to lose...
"Enough! Lin Bao! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?!"
Lin Chen, who had been "passively taking hits" and "mentally dazed," suddenly raised his head and let out a furious roar filled with "grief" and "despair"!
His eyes were bloodshot—of course, he had forced it out with true qi—and his face was filled with the madness of someone driven into a corner! Like a rabbit thoroughly enraged, he appeared ready to risk everything in one final fight!
"Even a cornered rabbit bites! Today, I'll show you! Even if I'm a waste, I'm not someone you can bully as you please!"
Before his words had even faded!
Lin Chen stopped dodging!
He stomped hard, and his entire body shot forward like a cannonball! Rather than retreating, he advanced, charging headlong into Lin Bao's sky-filling claw shadows!
"Mountain Splitting Palm!"
He shouted, forming a palm seal with his right hand as the true qi within him, disguised as that of the Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer Early Stage, erupted without reserve!
A heavy, fierce palm intent, as though capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, instantly spread through the air!
The true qi was so highly condensed that a faint earthen-yellow glow even covered his palm!
He still did not use all his strength in this strike, only around sixty percent. But combined with the basic palm technique Mountain Splitting Palm, as well as the refinement of his true qi that far surpassed others of the same realm, its power was still far from insignificant!
More importantly, he had struck at precisely the instant when Lin Bao's old strength had been exhausted, his new strength had yet to emerge, and he had exposed an opening due to his contempt!
"What?! You still dare to fight back?!" Lin Bao was first stunned, then an even stronger look of disdain flashed through his eyes!
Mountain Splitting Palm? He dared to display such a commonplace, rotten basic martial skill here?!
With a savage grin, he neither dodged nor retreated. The black light on the sharp claws of his right hand intensified as he clawed directly at Lin Chen's incoming palm with the momentum to tear everything apart!
He intended to use absolute strength to crush the palm of this ignorant ant, along with Lin Chen's confidence!
However...
At the instant their palms were about to collide!
A flash of icy, bone-piercing coldness suddenly gleamed in Lin Chen's eyes! Along with a trace of the crafty delight of a scheme succeeding!
The trajectory of the palm he sent toward Lin Bao's chest remained unchanged!
But at the same time!
His left hand! The left hand that had seemed to hang casually by his side all along! Like a venomous snake hidden in the shadows, it suddenly shot out!
Its speed was extreme! Its angle was extreme!
Its target was not Lin Bao's vital points!
It was the wrist of that right hand of his, the one reaching for Lin Chen with its black sharp claws...!
This move was too fast! Too sudden! Too unexpected!
All of Lin Bao's attention had been focused on Lin Chen's seemingly powerful right palm! He had never expected Lin Chen to have concealed such a sinister follow-up!
By the time he sensed something was wrong and wanted to change his move to defend, it was already too late!
"Not good!" Alarm bells rang wildly in Lin Bao's heart!
But his old strength was spent and his new strength had yet to arise. With his chest completely exposed as well, he simply could not deal with attacks from two directions at once!
He could only watch helplessly...
Lin Chen's right palm, carrying heavy force, slammed viciously into his chest!
Bang!!!
Another muffled boom rang out!
Lin Bao felt as though an invisible warhammer had struck him fiercely in the chest! His blood and qi churned! Agonizing pain erupted! His body staggered backward uncontrollably!
But this was not the end!
At the instant his chest was struck and his body became unsteady!
Lin Chen's snake-like left hand had already clamped with flawless precision around his right wrist!
Then...
Cold light burst from Lin Chen's eyes! The terrifying power of the Body Tempering Realm Sixth Layer Early-stage Peak within him erupted without restraint through his left hand!
At the same time, an extremely faint yet incomparably tyrannical thread of refining power from the Myriad Dao Furnace silently seeped through his fingertips into the meridians in Lin Bao's wrist!
Crack!!!!!
A tooth-achingly crisp sound of shattering bones clearly echoed across the entire arena!
It was accompanied by Lin Bao's shrill, pig-slaughter-like scream, filled with boundless agony and terror!!!
"Ahhh!!! My hand!!! My wrist!!!"
Lin Bao's right wrist twisted and deformed completely at an extraordinarily grotesque angle! Pale bone fragments even pierced through his skin, exposed to the air! Blood spurted forth like a spring!
What filled him with even greater horror was this!
He felt a scorching, tyrannical force wildly rushing through the meridians of his broken wrist! Wherever it passed, his meridians seemed to be scorched by blazing fire and corroded by sulfuric acid, breaking inch by inch and shriveling away!
The trace of frigid claw force he had condensed through cultivating Frenzied Leopard Claw melted instantly before this tyrannical power, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun!
It was ruined!
His right hand! The right hand he relied upon to use Frenzied Leopard Claw, and also his strongest means of attack!
It was completely ruined!!!
It was not merely a fracture of the bones! Even the meridians had been utterly destroyed! Even if the bones could be set, this hand would never be able to cultivate again! It would never be able to use true qi again!
This... this was crueler than killing him! More painful than killing him!
"No!!!"
Lin Bao let out a heart-rending howl of despair! His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Lin Chen, his gaze filled with endless resentment and deep terror!
This guy! This waste!
How could he be so strong?! How could he dare to strike so viciously?!
Wasn't his potential poor?! Shouldn't his mind have been thrown into disarray?!
Why... why had this happened?!
The entire venue fell into deathly silence once more!
Everyone was utterly stunned by the bloody, brutal scene before them!
No one had expected this duel, which had seemed so uneven in strength, to end in such a tragic fashion!
Even fewer had expected that Lin Chen, who had appeared "lost and dejected" and "unable to withstand a single blow," would suddenly unleash such terrifying strength! Such ruthless methods!
Crippling Lin Bao's right hand! And utterly destroying even its meridians! This was simply killing the man while stabbing his heart!
"You brat!!! How dare you!!!"
On the elevated platform, the Great Elder Lin Zhenhong could finally no longer remain calm! He shot to his feet, his beard and hair standing on end. A terrifying pressure belonging to a Foundation Establishment Realm expert crashed down upon Lin Chen on the fighting stage like a mountain collapse and a tsunami!
He wanted to kill this brazen little beast with his own hands!
However, at the instant his pressure descended...
"Hmph!"
An equally cold snort carrying powerful pressure came from the Lin Family head, Lin Xiaotian! An even deeper and more tyrannical aura instantly cancelled out Lin Zhenhong's pressure!
"Great Elder!" Lin Xiaotian slowly rose to his feet. Though his expression was also somewhat unsightly, he looked at Lin Zhenhong with exceptionally firm eyes and said in a deep voice, "In a spar, fists and feet have no eyes! Lin Bao's lack of skill is no one's fault but his own! Besides, he repeatedly provoked Lin Chen earlier and even intended to strike a killing blow. Meeting such an end now is simply reaping what he sowed! If you use your seniority to bully the young and interfere in a contest between juniors, do not blame me for showing no mercy!"
The family head was actually defending Lin Chen publicly?! He was even willing to tear all decorum apart with the Great Elder?!
Lin Xiaotian's words stirred another enormous uproar throughout the crowd! They left the already stunned onlookers even more unable to make heads or tails of the situation!
Lin Zhenhong's face turned ashen. He glared fixedly at Lin Xiaotian, then looked at Lin Chen on the stage, who still wore an expression of "shock" and "innocence." His chest rose and fell violently, and he was nearly maddened with rage!
But he knew Lin Xiaotian was right! If he forced his hand now, not only would he have no justification, he would also thoroughly enrage Lin Xiaotian and provoke internal strife within the Lineage!
"Good! Good! Good!" Lin Zhenhong said "good" three times in succession, his voice ice-cold and brimming with boundless killing intent. "Lin Xiaotian! Lin Chen! Just you wait!"
After throwing down those harsh words, he flung his sleeve and turned away directly, leaving the training grounds with several elders loyal to him without even looking back! He did not even spare a thought for his severely injured, unconscious grandson—this time, he had truly fainted from pain!
Clearly, he was enraged beyond measure! He had also realized the gravity of the matter! He needed to return immediately and rearrange his plans against Lin Chen!
Watching the Great Elder leave in fury, determination flashed through Lin Xiaotian's eyes. He knew that from this moment onward, the conflict between himself and the Great Elder's faction would be completely laid bare! There would be no room left for reconciliation!
But he did not regret it!
For Lin Chen, this qilin child of limitless potential—though the Potential Stone's test result was strange, he trusted his own judgment more! For the Lin Family's hope for the future! All of this was worth it!
He turned his head and looked toward Lin Chen on the stage. His gaze softened considerably, even carrying a trace of appreciation.
Meanwhile, Lin Chen still looked as though he had "caused a huge disaster" and was "at a complete loss," even wearing a trace of "fear" and "grievance."
He said "fearfully" toward the platform, "Family Head... Elders... I... I really didn't do it on purpose... Brother Leopard, he... he forced me..."
His words left everyone speechless once again.
Not on purpose? He forced you?
Only a ghost would believe that!
That entire string of movements just now had flowed like moving clouds and running water, sinister and vicious! How did that look like he had been forced?! It was clearly premeditated!
But at this moment, no one dared step forward to accuse him again.
Even the Great Elder had returned defeated, and the family head was clearly protecting him. Who would dare court such misfortune?
The deacon serving as referee was drenched in sweat as well. He hurried forward to inspect Lin Bao's injuries and, after confirming that only his right hand had been crippled and his life was not in danger, tremblingly announced:
"Th-the thirty-second match... Lin... Lin Chen wins!"
With the announcement of this result, Lin Chen's name was once again branded deeply into the hearts of every Lin Family disciple!
This time, it was no longer merely simple shock and awe.
It was fear!
A monster with strange strength, a ruthless heart, and the ability to feign weakness to deceive the strong!
Such a person absolutely could not be offended!
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Lin Chen once more gave a "frightened" salute, then walked down from the fighting stage "lost and dejected," returning to that secluded corner.
The practical combat ranking matches continued.
But no matter how exciting the matches that followed were, they all seemed dull and flavorless.
Everyone's thoughts remained immersed in that breathtaking duel just now, with its unending reversals.
The name Lin Chen was destined to leave a bold and vivid mark upon the Lin Family today!
As for Lin Chen himself, he lowered his head, the corner of his mouth curving into a cold smile that only he could understand.
Crippling one of Lin Bao's arms, collecting a little interest, intimidating petty foes, gaining the family head's protection...
Everything was proceeding according to plan! It was even more perfect than he had anticipated!
Next, he only needed to wait for the right moment and carry out that final "hunt"!
Crimson Sun Grass! I'm coming!
Oh, no, I had already arrived.
That mysterious Beast Hide Book, and the Nine-Orifice Black Stone that had caused the furnace's strange reaction.
Lin Chen's heart grew fiery once more.
Before you continue