Chapter 8

"Young Master Zhang, you have to stand up for us!"

"It was Lin Xuan. He suddenly attacked us from behind. If not for the sect rules, he probably would have killed us already."

Ma San and Liu Qi wore miserable expressions as they spoke shamelessly.

From the bottom of their hearts, they looked down on Lin Xuan's Useless Body of Ten Thousand Years, utterly unaware of the enormous gap between themselves and him.

"Hmph..."

"Lin Xuan has laid hands on my people again and again. He even attacked me on the day he entered the sect."

"I originally only intended to break one of his arms and one of his legs. Now I've changed my mind. I'm going to break all four of his limbs."

"Having entered the immortal sect, does he really think he can still swagger around before me?"

"The Body Forging Realm is not something a mortal like him can even imagine. You two just wait. You won't suffer this loss for nothing."

"Thank you, Young Master Zhang!"

"Thank you, Young Master Zhang!"

Hearing Zhang Tao's words, the two were instantly overjoyed, while venomous hatred burst from both their eyes.

"Lin Xuan is here!"

Just then, a voice rang out from nearby.

At that moment, every gaze turned in that direction.

Lin Xuan approached at an unhurried pace, neither fast nor slow.

His Pig Slaughtering Blade had already been sheathed in the leather scabbard at his waist.

"I didn't expect him to really dare come. Is there truly someone in this world so unafraid of death?"

"Heh, perhaps he's relying on that peerless aptitude behind him, thinking Senior Brother Zhang wouldn't dare do anything to him?"

"Once he steps onto the Life and Death Arena, it means he has tacitly signed a life-and-death pact. Even if he dies, that peerless aptitude cannot interfere."

"That's right. The holy land might even protect Senior Brother Zhang. After all, sect rules cannot be broken. Not even a peerless aptitude can make an exception."

"How pitiful!"

The surrounding discussions spread through the air. No one thought highly of Lin Xuan.

No one noticed that Elder Xu Qin of the outer sect had quietly arrived at one side of the Life and Death Arena.

His gaze had been utterly calm, but the instant his eyes fell upon Lin Xuan, that calmness vanished, replaced by towering waves and a raging sea.

"He's reached the Body Forging Realm? How is that possible?"

Xu Qin could not help rubbing his eyes, nearly believing he had seen wrong.

"Could it be... that he had already tempered his physique to its absolute limit while still a mortal, then by some fortunate coincidence comprehended the Body Forging Art and broke through after taking a Body Strengthening Pill?"

Other than that, Xu Qin could think of no other possibility.

After all, he was a True Origin Realm powerhouse. Calling him broadly experienced would not be an exaggeration.

Yet what shocked him was that even among disciples with third- or fourth-grade aptitude, such a thing rarely happened.

How had Lin Xuan, a mere Useless Body of Ten Thousand Years—one that appeared only once in ten thousand years—managed it?

Xu Qin truly could not figure it out.

"Not bad. I'll give you credit for having guts."

By then, Lin Xuan had already arrived beneath the Life and Death Arena, and Zhang Tao suddenly fixed his eyes on him.

"Just killing a dog. It's a matter of convenience. Are you already this impatient?"

Lin Xuan leaped onto the Life and Death Arena in a single step, his indifferent words carrying across it.

"Heh..."

Instead of becoming angry, Zhang Tao laughed. "Lin Xuan, do you really think that after practicing a few mortal martial arts, you can swagger around before immortal cultivators?"

"If you have not entered the immortal path, how can you know its overwhelming might? With your Useless Body of Ten Thousand Years, you will spend your entire life unable to lift your head beneath my feet. Do you understand?"

"Three days ago, perhaps I truly was no match for you. But now, in my eyes, you do not even count as an ant."

"Draw your Pig Slaughtering Blade. Otherwise, you won't even get the chance to strike later."

"You are not worthy of making me draw my blade." Lin Xuan looked at Zhang Tao with contempt.

The moment those words came out, the entire crowd was stunned. Then earth-shaking discussion erupted.

"Damn, that's way too arrogant."

"Facing someone in the Body Forging Realm, he still dares spout such wild words."

"Setting aside his trash aptitude, he's a complete idiot too. Stay far away from him in the future, or you might get infected."

Yet no one expected Lin Xuan to become even more arrogant.

"I'll give you the chance to attack first. Otherwise, you truly will have no chance."

"Enjoy the immortal path you think places you so high above everyone else."

"You're courting death!" Zhang Tao's face darkened.

"Young Master Zhang, beat him to death!"

Ma San and Liu Qi shouted in unison as well.

Even they could no longer stand Lin Xuan's arrogance.

"Fine. I'll let you see clearly the chasm between mortals and immortal cultivators, a gap as vast as heaven and earth."

Zhang Tao no longer wished to waste words. He also wanted to test the overwhelming power of the Body Forging Realm.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Tao stamped his foot, and his figure shot toward Lin Xuan like lightning.

At that moment, his speed was peerless. After forging his body, he was more than ten times stronger than before.

Almost instantly, he had rushed in front of Lin Xuan.

There were no flashy techniques. He simply gathered all his strength and threw a punch at Lin Xuan.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of tearing air rang out, showing just how terrifyingly powerful that punch was.

The servants who had yet to step through the gates of the immortal path stared in horror.

Because at that moment, they could not even see Zhang Tao's movements clearly.

"Lin Xuan is dead for sure!"

At that moment, this thought rose in everyone's heart.

Has he already failed to react? Hmph... trash is still trash.

Zhang Tao was smugly thinking this to himself as well.

But suddenly, his pupils shrank.

Within his sight, Lin Xuan abruptly moved.

Lin Xuan took a slight half-step back, then clenched his fist and met the attack head-on.

In that instant, Lin Xuan was like a fierce tiger, murderous light flashing wildly in his eyes.

"What? Tiger's Roar Fist... He received a martial skill? And cultivated it to no low level?"

At the side of the Life and Death Arena, Xu Qin's eyes widened.

At that moment, even with the mental cultivation of a True Origin Realm expert, stormy waves surged through the depths of his heart.

Yet before anyone could think further, Lin Xuan's fist collided with Zhang Tao's fist.

Bang!

A muffled impact rang out, and Zhang Tao suddenly felt an indescribable, monstrous force spread from his fist.

Crack, crack...

Clear sounds of bones breaking came from his arm, and excruciating pain flooded his mind.

Boom!

Under Zhang Tao's utterly horrified gaze, his body was sent flying several meters away. He then crashed to the ground like a torn sack and rolled several times in miserable disarray.

One of his hands was completely deformed. Sharp bones had even pierced through the skin, blood flowing everywhere.

"What? What is going on?"

"Heavens, what did I just see?"

Around the Life and Death Arena, everyone cried out in terror, staring dumbfoundedly at the scene on the arena.

"Ah..."

At last, Zhang Tao's pig-slaughtering scream rang out, echoing through the area and leaving everyone mentally dazed.

"The difference between immortals and mortals is nothing more than this!"

Suddenly, Lin Xuan's icy voice carried through the air. At some unknown point, he had already walked to Zhang Tao's side.

"Y-you, what are you doing? Y-you, don't come over..."

Zhang Tao's face was filled with terror. He shifted his body, trying to retreat, but the piercing agony in his arm nearly made him faint, leaving him as slow as a turtle.

"Heh..."

Lin Xuan grinned, too lazy to answer him, and directly stomped down toward Zhang Tao's chest...