"What did you say?!"
Zhao Hu flew into a rage. He had run rampant through the County Office for years—when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
"Kid, you're courting death!"
His fleshy face flushed the color of pig liver. His fists cracked as he clenched them, and the imposing aura of Fourth Level Body Tempering, Bone Refining, erupted without restraint, blanketing his surroundings in overwhelming pressure.
The surrounding constables hurriedly backed away, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
"Lin Feng is too arrogant! He actually dared claim he could deal with Zhao Hu in one move?"
"It's over, it's over. Young people are too hot-blooded; he's going to suffer badly this time. Zhao Hu's iron fists can split steles and shatter stones!"
In the distance, a cruel curve had already risen at the corner of Li Gang's mouth.
This was exactly the effect he wanted!
Enrage Zhao Hu and make him strike to kill in his fury. Even if he did not beat Lin Feng to death, crippling him for life would be enough to explain things to the county magistrate. After all, this was a martial spar—fists and feet had no eyes.
Yet Lin Feng turned a blind eye to Zhao Hu's imposing aura. He did not even draw his saber, merely extending a finger and crooking it at him.
"Stop barking like a mad dog. If you want to fight, hurry up. I need to get home for dinner."
That contemptuous attitude completely ignited Zhao Hu's fury.
"Ahhh! I'll tear you apart today!"
Zhao Hu roared wildly and kicked off the ground. Even the hard bluestone slabs were stamped with two shallow pits. His hulking body charged at Lin Feng like a maddened bull, carrying the force of ten thousand jun.
He used no technique at all—only the purest, most savage crushing force!
A plain, unadorned straight punch howled through the air, aimed directly at Lin Feng's face!
In his eyes, before such absolute power, every technique was futile. He would turn this brat who did not know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth into a puddle of pulp with one punch!
Faced with that earth-shattering punch, Lin Feng not only did not dodge, but his smile deepened.
Just as Zhao Hu's fist was about to strike him, he moved.
His movement was not fast; it even seemed somewhat lazy. He merely raised his right hand.
Not a fist, but a palm.
His palm was fair and slender, utterly harmless-looking, like the hand of a frail scholar.
"A mantis trying to stop a cart!"
Zhao Hu sneered inwardly.
Yet the next second, the smile on his face froze completely.
With a bizarre rhythm that looked slow but was in truth swift to the extreme, Lin Feng's palm moved after yet arrived before, lightly pressing against Zhao Hu's casserole-sized fist.
There was no imagined, earth-shaking collision.
"Slap."
A soft sound, as though someone had merely clapped once.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
Zhao Hu's violent fist force, enough to split steles and shatter stones, vanished without a trace the instant it touched Lin Feng's palm, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.
Then, a gentle yet irresistible colossal force surged back from Lin Feng's palm.
"Crack! Crack, crack, crack!"
A dense series of bones shattering like popping beans began at Zhao Hu's fist and spread up his arm all the way to his shoulder!
"Aah—!!!"
A scream so shrill it scarcely sounded human burst from Zhao Hu's mouth.
The iron arm he had always been so proud of twisted grotesquely like a fried dough twist. White bone fragments even pierced through his skin, exposed to the air amid dripping blood!
And this was not over.
Lin Feng gave a light push with his palm.
"Bang!"
Zhao Hu's hulking body of over two hundred jin was struck head-on as if by a battering ram. His feet left the ground, and he flew backward seven or eight meters before crashing heavily into the weapon racks of the training ground. He smashed a row of sabers, spears, swords, and halberds into pieces before falling to the ground. Blood gushed from his mouth; after twitching twice, he passed out cold.
One move!
He had truly used only one move!
He had not even drawn his saber. With just one casual palm strike, he had beaten Zhao Hu, at Fourth Level Body Tempering and Bone Refining, like a dead dog!
The entire training ground fell deathly silent.
Everyone looked as though they had been hit by a freezing spell. Their mouths hung wide open, their eyes nearly popping out—wide enough to fit a duck egg.
Th-that was Zhao Hu!
He was the publicly acknowledged number one expert among the younger generation of the County Office!
And just like that... he was done for?
What cultivation did Lin Feng actually possess?
Fifth Level Body Tempering?
Or the sixth?
The smile on Li Gang's face in the distance had long since stiffened, replaced by endless shock and a thread of fear that arose from the depths of his soul.
He finally understood what sort of monster he had provoked!
This was no rookie relying on luck. This was a true dragon crossing the river!
Under everyone's horrified gazes, Lin Feng acted as though he had done something utterly insignificant. He walked over to the unconscious Zhao Hu and expressionlessly began searching his robes.
Before long, he found a porcelain bottle and a yellowed booklet.
He opened the bottle and sniffed it. It contained several of the most worthless healing pills. Then he flipped through the booklet, whose cover bore three words—Flowing Wind Steps.
"I'll take the wager."
Lin Feng tucked the items into his robes, then raised his head. His gaze crossed the stunned crowd and landed directly on the pale-faced Li Gang. A meaningful smile curled at the corner of his lips.
"Constable Li, your nephew isn't very tough, is he?"
"System, open the panel."
Inside the room.
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A translucent screen visible only to Lin Feng instantly appeared before him.
[Host: Lin Feng] [Realm: Third Level of Body Tempering Realm] [Cultivation Technique: Qi Guiding Art (Proficient)] [Martial Skill: Basic Constable Saber Technique (Perfect)] [Movement Technique: None] [Critical Strike Multiplier: 3x] [Crit Points: 200]
No matter how strong his saber technique was, it was useless if he could not hit anyone.
Movement techniques were key to survival and defeating enemies.
He quickly committed the contents of the Flowing Wind Steps manual to memory, then gave the system an order without the slightest hesitation.
[Ding! 100 Crit Points consumed. Flowing Wind Steps critical strike successful!]
The instant the words fell, an enormous flood of insights surged into Lin Feng's mind.
It was as if some peerless master, light as a swallow, were repeatedly demonstrating the essence of Flowing Wind Steps within his mind.
How to borrow the wind's force, how to land without a sound, how to twist and shift through the air, how to become an afterimage...
Every technique, trick, and insight fused together in an instant, engraving itself deep into his soul!
His body underwent an equally strange transformation. The muscles and tendons in his legs trembled faintly, seemingly adjusting themselves according to some profound law, becoming lighter and more explosive.
With a thought, Lin Feng casually took a step within the cramped room.
His figure instantly vanished from where he stood. The next moment, he had appeared at the other end of the room like a ghost.
The entire process flowed like drifting clouds and running water, utterly soundless. It was as if he had not moved there, but had simply "floated" there.
Flowing Wind Steps, perfect!
"What speed!"
Excitement gleamed in Lin Feng's eyes. "With this movement technique, combined with my perfected saber technique, I'm afraid no one within the Body Tempering Realm can dodge a single slash from me!"
Suppressing his excitement, Lin Feng turned his gaze toward the remaining 100 Crit Points.
He now had both movement and offensive methods. Next came improving his hard strength—his realm!
"System, use all remaining 100 Crit Points to cultivate the Qi Guiding Art!"
[Ding! 100 Crit Points consumed. Qi Guiding Art critical strike successful!]
This time, the commotion was more terrifying than ever before!
If the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had previously merely "poured" into his body when he cultivated through the system, then this time, under the boost of the threefold critical strike multiplier, the spiritual energy went mad. It formed a visible vortex of spiritual energy centered on his room, crazily pouring back into it.
The tables, chairs, and stools in the room began to tremble faintly, as though they could not withstand that immense pressure.
"Ungh!"
Lin Feng groaned. He felt as though he had been placed inside a volcano on the verge of eruption!
An endless, scorching torrent of spiritual energy washed through his limbs and bones!
The first to bear the brunt were his bones!
"Crackle, crackle!"
The bones throughout his body burst out with explosive sounds as though they could no longer bear the strain. Yet this was not shattering, but a rebirth under the tempering of immense spiritual energy!
Every impurity in his bones was expelled. Their density increased at a frantic rate, while their surface took on a warm, jade-like sheen.
As hard as steel!
Fourth Level Body Tempering, Bone Refining Completion!
Yet this was merely the beginning!
The torrent of spiritual energy broke through the barriers of his bones and rushed into his blood vessels!
Nourished by that pure spiritual energy, his blood began to boil! His once bright-red blood became thicker and more vibrant, and the life energy contained within it increased by several times over!
The sound of blood rushing through him boomed like mighty rivers and great seas!
Blood like mercury!
Fifth Level Body Tempering, Blood Refining Completion!
Immediately afterward, the spiritual energy advanced with unstoppable force, continuing toward deeper levels as it seeped into his bone marrow!
Bone marrow was the source of blood production, the foundation of life.
As spiritual energy flooded in, Lin Feng's marrow gradually transformed from its original red color into a liquid tinged with faint gold. An exuberant vitality erupted from the deepest reaches of his body!
At this moment, his recovery ability, endurance, and bodily potential all received explosive improvements!
Cleansing the marrow and severing the hair!
When the final strand of spiritual energy merged into his body, the spiritual energy vortex in the room dispersed as well, and everything returned to calm.
The entire process, from beginning to end, took no more than a short hour.
"Whew..."
Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam, solid enough to seem tangible, shot from them and left a shallow mark on the wall.
He lowered his head to examine his body. A layer of greasy black impurities had seeped from his skin, giving off waves of foul stench. These were all the filth expelled from within him.
Beneath that filth were muscles as crystalline as precious jade, containing explosive power.
He lightly clenched his fist.
"Pop!"
The air exploded beneath his grip with a crisp sound.
An unprecedented feeling of strength filled his heart.
"Sixth Level of Body Tempering Realm..."
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