The Innate Realm Roadblock

Zi Jing stared blankly at Shen Lin, who had brought Cheng Yi back from the prison in the blink of an eye. She felt a sense of absurdity.

She had been prepared to fight her way into the prison and then painstakingly bring Cheng Yi out.

But reality?

Feeling ashamed because she had triggered the alarm bell, she was only slightly stunned. Just as she was about to rush into the prison, she discovered Shen Lin had already finished everything.

"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and go!"

Shen Lin frowned and lowered his voice.

This guy, why does he seem so dumbfounded?

Shaking his head speechlessly, Shen Lin leaped towards another rooftop.

But before his body even landed, a wild laugh came from the side.

"Hahaha, I knew waiting here like a hunter would yield results. Thief, die!!!"

Cheng Shanhe, wielding a massive wolf-tooth club, charged over from the side, his momentum astonishing, like a cannonball.

However, Shen Lin showed no surprise at this sudden attack.

I was wondering where this guy went since he wasn't in the prison. So he was waiting outside for me to deliver myself to him.

At this moment, Shen Lin was in mid-air, with no room to dodge or maneuver.

And tonight, to avoid suspicion, he hadn't brought any weapons, so he could only take the brunt of the attack with his bare body.

However...

The wolf-tooth club in Cheng Shanhe's hand was clearly forged from fine steel. Its sharp spikes were larger than ordinary iron nails.

Even a demonic creature couldn't withstand the impact of this thing on flesh and blood.

After all, martial artists in the Meridian Opening Realm were still mortal.

The situation was unsolvable!

Cheng Shanhe's face was filled with a triumphant smile, and he secretly congratulated himself on choosing the perfect moment to strike.

But in the next moment, Shen Lin, still in mid-air, twisted his waist and threw a punch.

He can still move?

Cheng Shanhe was stunned at first, but then he saw that the other party was just using his bare body to throw a punch, and he couldn't help but want to laugh.

How strong do you think your fist is, to dare to...

BOOM!

In the next moment, a powerful force erupted.

All of Shen Lin's vital energy surged into his right fist. The dense vital energy condensed into a fist-shaped phantom in front of his fist, as if it had substance.

At this moment, Cheng Shanhe's eyes glazed over. He felt as if a mountain peak had appeared before him at some point, pressing down on him heavily.

The wolf-tooth club flew out of his hand, and the fist phantom landed on Cheng Shanhe.

His clothes instantly ripped apart. Every inch of skin on his body was squeezed, oozing blood, instantly turning him into a bloody mess.

Not only that, but continuous cracking sounds indicated that the bones within his body were being crushed.

"Qi Manifestation..."

Cheng Shanhe murmured dazedly, his body falling powerlessly from the rooftop.

"Go!"

Shen Lin shouted to Zi Jing, who was still stunned behind him, and rushed into the distance with Cheng Yi.

Behind them, Hu Dongxing and Wang Yuantong, who had just jumped onto the rooftop to catch up, leaped down again and found the heavily injured Cheng Shanhe.

As soon as Cheng Shanhe was helped up, he spat out a mouthful of blood. His finger trembled as he raised it and muttered, "Fist Qi... manifested, he's Innate!!!"

This sentence immediately stirred up a storm in Hu Dongxing's heart.

The reason why the Innate Realm was different from the Meridian Opening Realm and was not afraid of weapons was that they could rely on their powerful Protective Qi to resist external attacks.

And within the Innate Realm, some with exceptional talent and abundant spiritual energy could perform the technique of Qi Manifestation.

Powerful Qi Manifestation had astonishing destructive power; ordinary iron weapons could not withstand its might.

That person just now was actually in the Innate Realm...

For some reason, upon hearing such terrifying news, Hu Dongxing felt a sense of relief.

Now, the County Magistrate shouldn't be able to trouble him.

After all, that was an Innate Realm expert...

"When did you reach the Innate Realm???"

Zi Jing ran out with Shen Lin for a while. Seeing that no one was chasing them from behind, she immediately asked.

Shen Lin turned his head with some speechlessness. Just as he was about to remind them that they weren't safe yet, he suddenly widened his eyes and looked at the sky.

A small black dot was continuously growing larger in Shen Lin's eyes.

Swish!

In less than the time it takes to draw a breath, the black dot had already swooped down from high above.

It was a Bird Demon, covered head to toe in black feathers, with a pair of wings on its back, a bird's head, and a human body. Its lower legs ended in a pair of sharp talons.

At this moment, using the momentum of its dive, the demon swiped its talons fiercely.

Shen Lin didn't have time to think. He tossed Cheng Yi aside, planted his feet firmly on the ground, and unleashed another Mountain-Toppling Fist.

Boom!

The fist's phantom image collided with the demon.

But the Mountain-Toppling Fist, which had just severely injured Cheng Shanhe, couldn't replicate its success.

A black light flashed across the Bird Demon's body, instantly covering it in a thin, black barrier.

The fist's phantom image dissipated, and the demon was completely unharmed.

After sensing it carefully, the Bird Demon frowned and murmured softly:

"Not Innate Realm, yet this clearly uses the methods of Qi Manifestation..."

Shen Lin felt a prickling sensation on his scalp, secretly thinking he was in serious trouble now.

This was a Bird Demon in the Innate Realm!

The barrier on its body just now was clearly the Protective True Qi of the Innate Realm.

With this layer of defense, all methods used by Meridian Opening Realm martial artists were incapable of breaking through its defenses.

Even his strongest attack, the Mountain-Toppling Fist, was no exception.

After all, vital energy and the spiritual energy of the Innate Realm were qualitatively different.

"Kid! What was that punch you just threw called?"

After pondering for a while and failing to figure out the reason, the Bird Demon decided to directly ask.

"Mountain-Opening Fist!"

Shen Lin replied in a deep voice, not mentioning that he had created it himself, but instead stating the original technique's name.

"Mountain-Opening Fist... never heard of it."

The Bird Demon shook its head. Just as it was about to ask more, it suddenly seemed to sense something. It narrowed its eyes, looking into the distance, and sighed, "Never mind. Taking you back to interrogate you slowly is the same thing."

Hearing this, Shen Lin's heart sank.

Even though he had broken through ten meridians, he was no match for someone in the Innate Realm.

There was no other way.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Lin gritted his teeth and glared ferociously at the Bird Demon.

He decided to use the system's deduction to break through to the Innate Realm directly.

The current situation didn't allow him to break through after opening all his meridians.

But just as the system panel was gradually unfolding in his consciousness, he suddenly froze and dismissed the thought.

A young man in black suddenly appeared in front of him.

"You can't capture him today!"

He held a sword in his right hand, arms crossed over his chest, and looked at the Bird Demon with a calm expression.

The moment the young man in black appeared, the Bird Demon involuntarily rose about ten feet into the air.

It seemed to recognize the young man in black's origin and was extremely wary.

This reaction caused the young man in black's expression to change for the first time.

He thoughtfully said, "You seem... to know me?"

The Bird Demon didn't respond. It simply flapped its wings forcefully and flew high into the sky.

Seeing this, the young man in black scratched his chin in confusion. He ignored Shen Lin and vanished from the spot.

"Who was that just now?"

Seeing that the crisis had been averted, Zi Jing couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and looked at Shen Lin with confusion.

How could this guy know an Innate Realm martial artist?

Shen Lin didn't reply and said softly, "Let's leave quickly. The people from the County Yamen won't give up just like that."