Insight

"Dan Jin!"

"Another Dan Jin!?"

When Li Pin and Wang Daoyi clashed, the Black Market Guardian, Qi Dongyuan, and the others were already shaken to the core.

That young man...

Had actually cultivated Dan Jin!

Wang Daoyi's luck was truly terrible. In choosing someone to kill a chicken and scare the monkeys, he had picked a Dan Jin expert!?

But on second thought, it was only reasonable.

For the other man to dare follow alone to watch the fight, he was either...

A greenhorn who had just entered the world, a fool with his head in the clouds.

Or he had absolute confidence in his own strength.

Before they could laugh at Wang Daoyi's misfortune for encountering the latter, the head-on collision between him and that young Dan Jin expert jolted everyone's spirits once more.

In an instant, three Dan Jin collisions flashed like lightning and struck like flint, vividly displaying the peril of a life-and-death battle between martial artists.

A rabbit sprang, a falcon fell!

One mistake, and that young Dan Jin expert had already seized the opening, landing a killing blow and ending the battle!

Neither side had paused or hesitated in the entire exchange.

Every move and every stance erupted with the greatest force they could presently unleash, striking with their utmost power, pushing the might of Dan Jin and Embrace Dan to its limits.

This was not merely a contest of physique and vitality. It was also a clash of spirit and will!

Had it been anyone else, if their heart held even the slightest hesitation, fear, or retreat...

They would have died even faster than Wang Daoyi.

Unfortunately...

Wang Daoyi was strong, but that young Dan Jin expert was stronger!

The instant Wang Daoyi's body slammed heavily into the ground, the impact was like a massive hammer smashing fiercely against the hearts of the dozen or so people present, making each of them tremble inwardly.

"So strong! This Dan Jin..."

Qi Dongyuan, himself a Dan Jin practitioner, had his pupils constrict sharply.

He had the feeling that if he had faced this young man...

His outcome would not have differed from Wang Daoyi's in the slightest.

Not only him—even the Black Market Guardian who had Embraced Qi into Dan had his eyelids twitch violently.

He was also an Embrace Dan martial artist who had seen countless battles, yet if he had faced the injured but still combat-capable Wang Daoyi at that moment, he was not confident he could have done better than this young Dan Jin expert.

"When did Canglong City produce such a formidable person!? And from the sound of his voice... he's still very young!"

Moreover, he was puzzled. "His physique is slightly inferior to Wang Daoyi's. Engaging in fierce frontal collisions to aggravate Wang Daoyi's internal injuries was indeed the correct approach! But... he clearly hasn't Embraced Dan, so why could he unleash three bursts of Dan Jin in one breath!? Can his body withstand that kind of eruption!?"

Looking at the man standing where he was, confusion also filled his heart.

"Embrace Dan."

Li Pin stood where he was, quietly sensing the collision of Dan Jin against Dan Jin during his fight with Wang Daoyi.

As well as the stimulation and pain brought by Dan Jin penetrating the skin and pressing upon the bones amid the violent shockwaves of their clashing Dan Jin.

That feeling...

Was as though his entire body had come alive.

Most of the time, people's senses were limited to the larger parts of their bodies—the torso, limbs, head, and so on.

But after Dan Jin penetrated his body, he not only sensed the existence of his muscles, tendons, and bones, but could even clearly feel the sharp pain radiating from within his bones. It was the feedback caused by damage to the periosteum, bone tissue, and marrow.

That sense of feedback...

Let him perceive the existence of those parts with incomparable clarity, and they greeted him with boundless enthusiasm.

It made him unable to stop himself from giving a heartfelt response.

"Pain."

It was precisely because of that pain that he knew he was not merely the operator of a machine called a "body."

He and his body were a whole, inseparable from one another.

"How wonderful."

Li Pin murmured.

It was like getting a massage.

Though the process hurt a little, it truly felt wonderful afterward.

After quite a while, Li Pin slightly moved his swollen, reddened arm. Only after feeling a burning, searing heat did he finally return to his senses from the sensations of Dan Jin and his body shaking, colliding, and tearing against one another, thoroughly satisfied.

He did not bother maintaining any master's bearing.

He simply searched Wang Daoyi's corpse.

Before long, he found two small booklets, a data drive, and several large-denomination Gold Yuan notes.

Without ceremony, he put the items away, then shifted his gaze to the Five Elements Sect, the Black Market Guardian, and the eight martial artists.

As his gaze swept across them, the eight martial artists—including three burly men among them—were all struck with alarm.

They did not dare linger, swiftly leaving with their seven companions.

On the black market's side, the Embrace Dan martial artist smiled faintly. "Would you like us to deal with these corpses?"

"No need to trouble Mr. Yi. They are all members of our Five Elements Sect. We need to take them back."

Qi Dongyuan said, forcibly enduring his injuries.

The Embrace Dan martial artist called Mr. Yi nodded. He cupped his fists toward Li Pin to indicate that he bore no ill intent, then left with the other two.

"Thirty million?"

Li Pin said.

"Of course."

Qi Dongyuan's heart tightened.

Having witnessed Li Pin's ferocity, they did not dare renege on the debt. He hurriedly said, "Please give us a contact method or account number, sir."

Li Pin gave him an account number.

After hearing it, Qi Dongyuan said solemnly, "Please rest assured, sir. We will send it over soon."

"I trust the Five Elements Sect's reputation."

Li Pin said, then turned and left.

After Li Pin departed, several Trained Strength Martial Artists who had scattered and fled earlier finally hurried over.

Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, every one of them wore grief-stricken expressions.

"Take them back to the sect first."

Qi Dongyuan sighed.

At dawn.

The Five Elements Sect was shrouded in an atmosphere of gloom and misery.

By then, not only had the Five Elements Sect's other experts arrived, even Cao Tianyou and Zhao Yuan, who were far away in the capital, had rushed to Canglong City.

"Beast! What an absolute beast!"

At that moment, Zhao Yuan was full of fury as he vented his rage upon Wang Daoyi's corpse.

Meanwhile, Cao Tianyou, the aged Gang Refining Grandmaster, sat beside Cao Zuoqiu's corpse. Unrestrained grief filled his eyes. Already sixty-six years old, he now looked even more aged.

Cao Zuoqiu was Cao Tianyou's son. Though not his only son, he was the only one who had inherited his mantle and cultivated to the Embrace Dan realm.

With his death...

It was undoubtedly like breaking the spine of Cao Tianyou, this grandmaster.

"Sect Master..."

Qi Dongyuan, who had recovered somewhat after tending to his injuries, looked at Cao Tianyou, whose vigor had visibly collapsed, and urged, "The dead cannot return to life. Please restrain your grief..."

"I never thought that one day, I, Cao Tianyou, would see white hair send off black hair..."

Cao Tianyou spoke desolately, but ultimately drew his gaze away from Cao Zuoqiu. "Place him in the coffin."

At once, disciples quickly began making arrangements.

Some of his other children also supported Cao Tianyou into another room.

"Have you found out?"

"We have people at the bank. We checked—it is a genuine account under his real name."

Qi Dongyuan handed over a document.

Cao Tianyou glanced through it, lingering especially over "Changfeng Martial Hall," his place of origin, and the age of "twenty-two."

"Truly... the younger generation is to be feared."

Only after a long while did he say, "Transfer the money to him as soon as possible."

After saying that, he let out a long breath. "The Five Elements Sect cannot withstand any more upheaval."