Battle God

Within the Golden Bell Shield, Yun Long stood tall and jade-like, his cold gaze sweeping toward the sources of those two ripples of aura.

"To be honest, you've disappointed me too much."

"Too weak."

"Just how did you cultivate yourselves to the Mid Qi Refining Stage?"

Yun Long's voice was clear and resounding. He was not merely speaking to the two within the Golden Bell Shield; more than that, his words pierced through the night sky and carried far into the distance, to Lu Xingyun, who was fleeing in miserable disarray.

Within the golden bell, two figures were revealed, a man and a woman.

The man was called Li Yuan, and the woman Li Jiao. Both were Mid Qi Refining Stage cultivators sent by the Li Family.

At this moment, both their faces were pale, their eyes filled with terror.

The overwhelming might of Yun Long's punch, which had sent Sixth Level of Qi Refining Lu Xingyun flying, weighed upon their hearts like a massive boulder, making even breathing difficult.

The moment they exchanged blows, one knew whether the other had the goods.

Li Yuan knew full well that Yun Long's Qi Refining foundation was far more robust than he had estimated. It was at least Mid-Grade Qi Refining of over six inches; otherwise, he could never have possessed such terrifying power.

That golden Arhat phantom gave him an even more suffocating feeling of being utterly impossible to defeat.

"Yun Family Head! A misunderstanding! This is absolutely a colossal misunderstanding!"

Suppressing the fear in his heart, Li Yuan hurriedly shouted.

"We have other matters we wish to discuss with the Yun Family Head. We mean no harm!"

As he spoke, the thirty strands of Nether Lake Yin Cold Qi within him circulated rapidly, gathering around his right fist as a layer of ghastly white frost spread over his arm.

An incomparably frigid aura permeated the air.

"Netherworld Fist!"

Li Yuan let out a furious roar and put all his strength into a punch, smashing it viciously against the golden bell's barrier before him.

Clang—!

A deafening bell chime suddenly rang out, like the morning bell of an ancient temple struck by a colossal hammer.

Violent soundwaves swept in all directions, making Li Yuan and Li Jiao's eardrums buzz and their blood and Qi churn.

Yet the Golden Bell Shield merely swayed slightly. The dark golden radiance flowing across it dissolved Li Yuan's full-force strike without a trace.

The golden bell's defense was far beyond their imagination. This blow had been utterly futile.

Yet, following that bell chime that seemed to pierce the clouds and split stone—

Inside the ancestral hall, Yun Ji had been kneeling before the ancestral tablets, motionless as a stone statue.

Within his mind, it was as though an earthshaking roar had also erupted.

His eyes, which had been shut for so long, suddenly flew open.

Yun Long's attention remained locked upon Li Yuan and Li Jiao within the Golden Bell Shield.

He did not notice his father awakening.

"You are too weak."

Yun Long's voice was icy and devoid of emotion, as though he were stating the simplest fact in the world.

"You are not qualified to cooperate with my Yun Clan."

At his words, a flush of humiliation colored Li Yuan and Li Jiao's pale faces.

They were Mid Qi Refining Stage cultivators carefully nurtured by the Li Family. Even in Wanfang Lake, they were considered among the outstanding.

When had they ever suffered such contempt?

"Yun Long! Don't you dare be so arrogant!"

Li Jiao shrieked, her voice distorted somewhat by fear.

She exchanged a glance with Li Yuan, and both saw a trace of crazed resolve in the other's eyes.

At this point, only a fight to the death remained.

"Fight him!"

Li Yuan roared. The thirty strands of one-inch low-grade Nether Lake Yin Cold Qi within him erupted without reservation.

Bone-piercing cold Qi instantly spread through the air, as though fine ice crystals had condensed within it.

The two rapidly formed hand seals, their lips moving in incantation.

"Ghostly Soul Bone Erosion!"

Amid piercing howls, two dense streams of black Qi surged from their bodies, intertwining in midair and transforming into several ghastly souls with ferocious faces.

Those ghostly souls let out soundless roars and pounced at Yun Long with bared fangs and clawed hands. Wherever they passed, even the dark golden radiance flowing across the Golden Bell Shield's barrier seemed to dim for an instant.

Yet Yun Long merely snorted coldly.

The Arhat phantom behind him abruptly opened its furious eyes.

"How could the glow of a grain of rice dare shine?"

The golden light around Yun Long surged once more. He was like a golden battle god walking the mortal world, majestic and tyrannical, impervious to all Myriad Laws.

The ghostly souls formed from low-grade Nether Lake Yin Cold Qi melted the instant they touched Yun Long's protective golden light, like ice and snow meeting a blazing sun. They let out shrill screeches as they rapidly dissolved, leaving behind not even the faintest trace.

"So that's all you're capable of."

There was a trace of disappointment in Yun Long's voice.

Before his words had faded, he moved.

The space within the Golden Bell Shield was limited to begin with.

Yun Long took a step forward, closing in on Li Yuan like a phantom.

The Arhat phantom several zhang tall moved with him, its might surging to the heavens.

"Not good!"

Li Yuan's soul nearly left his body. He felt an irresistible force press down upon him head-on, stopping even his breath.

He wanted to retreat, only to discover that his body seemed shackled by invisible chains, unable to move.

Yun Long's face remained expressionless. He clenched his right fist and threw a simple, direct punch.

Great Arhat Fist!

First punch!

Before the fist arrived, its unrivaled, fierce wind had already pressed against Li Yuan until his chest felt stifled and his bones creaked.

Bang!

The golden fist smashed solidly into Li Yuan's arms, which he had hurriedly crossed before his chest.

The sound of cracking bones was clearly audible.

Li Yuan screamed. His arms dangled limply as blood gushed from his mouth.

Second punch!

Yun Long did not pause in the slightest. His second punch followed immediately, aimed straight at Li Yuan's chest.

"No! Spare..."

Li Yuan's plea for mercy came to an abrupt halt.

Crack!

The sound of his breastbone caving in made one's scalp tingle.

Li Yuan's body arched violently backward as though struck head-on by a battering ram. His eyes bulged wide, filled with incredulous terror.

Third punch!

Yun Long's gaze did not waver in the slightest. His third punch landed cleanly and decisively upon Li Yuan's heart.

Pfft!

Li Yuan collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud, his life instantly extinguished. Extreme terror and unwillingness still lingered upon his face.

All of this happened in the space between a spark and a flash.

Li Jiao, standing to one side, had not even had time to react. Her companion, Li Yuan, the outstanding talent of the Li Family's younger generation, had already become a cold corpse.

Utmost terror engulfed Li Jiao in an instant, like an icy tide.

Her entire body trembled. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, producing a clacking sound.

"N-No... don't kill me... I... our Li Family..."

Her voice was filled with pleading and despair.

Yun Long slowly turned around, his golden eyes watching her with indifference.

Three punches.

Still three punches.

Fast to the utmost, and ruthless to the utmost.

Li Jiao's wails and pleas turned into piercing screams the moment the first punch landed.

With the second punch, the screams grew faint.

With the third punch, the world fell completely silent.

Yun Long slowly withdrew his fist and stood tall.

Only after he had broken through to the Mid Qi Refining Stage, and the Vajra Primordial Qi condensed within him had exceeded nine strands, could the Great Arhat Fist display its true power.

Seven-inch high-grade Vajra Primordial Qi possessed an almost crushing absolute suppression and devastating destructive force against cultivators who had cultivated merely one-inch low-grade Qi Refining.

The Golden Bell Shield slowly dissipated.

A faint scent of blood permeated the ancestral hall courtyard.

In the distance, Lu Xingyun, fleeing in miserable disarray, instinctively turned back as though sensing something.

What he saw was the horrifying sight of Yun Long casually swatting Li Yuan to death with three punches, as though swatting a fly.

At that moment, Lu Xingyun felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head, frightening him until his liver and gallbladder nearly burst.

Since when had Qi Refining Stage cultivators become so fragile?!

He no longer dared to linger even a moment, nor did he dare look back again. He pushed the Wood Release Technique to its limit, his figure turning into a blurry green shadow as he fled for his life into the deep night.