Chapter 23

Ouyang Rui turned to look at Lin Jie. "You dodged that punch of mine just now? It seems you're more than just brute strength."

But this time, Lin Jie didn't speak. He simply picked up the Wolf Fang Club in his hand.

"Planning to fight me to the end?" Ouyang Rui said arrogantly. "But with my current power, you don't even have a chance to hurt me."

"Oh? You're too confident," Lin Jie said.

"My defense right now is top-tier even among S-Class. I admit you're a powerful A-Class, but to me, you can't even harm a single hair on my head," Ouyang Rui said.

"How do you know I can't hurt you without trying?" Lin Jie said, swinging the Wolf Fang Club at Ouyang Rui in a baseball-like stance.

Ouyang Rui indeed didn't dodge or evade, watching him with a smile. A powerful golden aura gathered around Ouyang Rui's body.

"Let me show you—" Before Ouyang Rui could finish, he was sent flying.

The moment Lin Jie's Wolf Fang Club touched the protective aura, it scattered it as easily as hitting tofu, then struck Ouyang Rui with undiminished force.

Ouyang Rui's expression twisted instantly as he spat blood midair, flying dozens of meters before crashing into a peach tree.

"Are you okay?" Lin Jie walked over and looked at Dong Xue'er before him.

"..." Dong Xue'er didn't speak, her eyes fixed on him. After a long moment, she finally said, "You had this much power all along. Why didn't you use it sooner?"

"I told you before, I could've just gone straight and taken him out," Lin Jie said. "But you kept disagreeing, didn't you?"

"..." Dong Xue'er was speechless again at his reply. "Who knew your power was this strong?"

As they spoke, Ouyang Rui stood up while coughing blood.

"I never expected your power to far exceed A-Class, even ranking high among S-Class. I don't understand why someone like you would settle for being an E-Class hero. With your strength, you should at least be A-Class," Ouyang Rui said.

"Can you not talk while spitting blood? That spray of blood droplets is disgusting," Lin Jie said.

"Heh, though your power is immense, it's completely useless against me now," Ouyang Rui said.

"Tch, weren't you just saying I couldn't even touch a hair on your head? Look at all that blood you're coughing up," Lin Jie said.

"Do you know why Dong Xue'er had to seal my movement?" Ouyang Rui said. "Because I've trained in a set of Ancient Martial Steps."

"So what?" Lin Jie said.

"Before, I only reached the eighth level, and no one in A-Class could touch me. Now, with the help of the T-3 evolution fluid, I've reached the tenth level," Ouyang Rui said. "That means, if I want to, you can't even graze my clothes."

"Tch, another show-off move," Lin Jie said, lifting his Wolf Fang Club. "Here I come." With that, Lin Jie charged at Ouyang Rui at a speed invisible to the naked eye. The next moment, he appeared beside Ouyang Rui, swinging the club down, shattering Ouyang Rui's body.

But the next instant, Lin Jie knew he had only hit an afterimage.

"Now this is interesting," Lin Jie said.

Then, Ouyang Rui's form materialized beside Lin Jie, throwing a punch with immense force that struck Lin Jie—but it, too, hit only an afterimage.

"What?!" Ouyang Rui was shocked. His dynamic vision could easily track bullets—what kind of speed left an afterimage in his eyes?!

"How is this possible?!" Before Ouyang Rui could finish his shock, a powerful force struck him, sending him flying once again.

"You!! You're S-Class!" Ouyang Rui exclaimed in astonishment. "How did you evade the Hero Association's Energy Level Detection?!"

"Energy Level Detection? What's that?" Lin Jie looked at Ouyang Rui in confusion.

"Damn it!" Ouyang Rui charged at Lin Jie furiously. "Even if you're S-Class, I'll take you down today!"

Ouyang Rui used a peculiar footwork to push his speed to an extraordinary level, while throwing a barrage of punches.

Lin Jie easily dodged Ouyang Rui's relentless attacks, occasionally swinging his club to disrupt the punch wind Ouyang Rui generated. He didn't want such a beautiful peach grove to be ruined by Ouyang Rui.

"Boring. I thought you'd use some ancient martial arts fist techniques, but all you've got is a footwork," Lin Jie said with a yawn, casually grabbing Ouyang Rui's fist. "It's getting late. Let's wrap this up."

With that, Lin Jie hurled Ouyang Rui away, then appeared in his flight path, smashing him back in the opposite direction with his club. He vanished again, reappeared in Ouyang Rui's trajectory, and knocked him back the other way. After a dozen repetitions, even Ouyang Rui's resilience gave out, and he lost consciousness.

Lin Jie looked at Ouyang Rui, who lay on the ground, nearly beaten beyond recognition. The latter's wounds were slowly healing, clearly set to recover soon. But one thing was certain: he was unconscious, and by the time he woke up, the evolution fluid's effects would likely have worn off.

"Alright, this guy's handled," Lin Jie said, turning to Dong Xue'er, who was staring at him dazedly.

"Falling for me? Captivated by my cool takedown of Ouyang Rui?" Lin Jie struck a pose he thought was handsome.

"I'm thinking all my previous arrangements made me look like an idiot," Dong Xue'er said, deflating like a punctured balloon. "I didn't expect your strength to reach this level. You're definitely S-Class, right?"

"I don't really know my exact rank. No one's ever given me a proper test," Lin Jie said.

Just then, Lin Jie felt a strong gust of wind rushing at him.

"Hidden weapons!" He swung his club back, striking the "weapons" lunging at him from behind. To his surprise, the hidden weapons turned out to be two living people—White Gold and Black Gold.

Lin Jie quickly pulled his strength, but even so, they were sent flying, landing on two trees. Fortunately, they had already lost consciousness before flying toward Lin Jie, so at least they couldn't feel the pain.

"I'm trying to flirt here! What's your problem?!" Lin Jie said to a man who had appeared before him.

That man was Kaito of the Evolution Company.

"Everyone who disrupts the company's plans must be punished," Kaito said in a low voice.

With that, he extended a hand toward Lin Jie, and a powerful force field formed in Lin Jie's direction. The next moment, Lin Jie vanished with Dong Xue'er in his arms.

"Wait here a bit. I'll go deal with that small fry," Lin Jie said, walking toward Kaito.

He swung his Wolf Fang Club, striking hard at the man before him.

"Within my force field, no physical attack can harm me." The man spoke as a powerful repulsive force erupted from him. Within this field, the direction of all forces seemed to reverse.

The moment Lin Jie's Wolf Fang Club touched this repulsion, it paused briefly, then continued swinging toward Kaito as if unaffected.

"What?!" Kaito was shocked. For the first time in his life, he had encountered a physical attack that his power couldn't influence. But it was too late. With one swing of Lin Jie's club, Kaito collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

"Alright, small fry taken care of." Lin Jie turned to look at Dong Xue'er, who was staring at him in terror. "Let's continue our chat."

"I told you, everyone who disrupts the company's plans must be punished." With that, Kaito stood up again.

This time, a syringe appeared in his hand, and he stabbed it fiercely into his neck.

"Damn, this stuff again. Is popping pills the new trend when you can't win?" Lin Jie said helplessly, watching the guy.

But Kaito gave him no time to think. As red markings appeared on Kaito's body, the space around him began to collapse, and the ground sank continuously. Not only that, the area of collapse kept expanding.

Like a demon from legends that could destroy the world, Kaito floated proudly in midair.

"Accept your punishment." Kaito's voice was deep and ominous. He raised a hand and fired a powerful shockwave at Lin Jie, who stood not far away. The space where the shockwave passed twisted.

The powerful force shot toward Lin Jie, but it was useless.

Lin Jie made a swinging motion with his club, dispersing the shockwave Kaito had fired at him, then charged straight into Kaito's domain and struck him with the club. Kaito's world-ending aura came to an abrupt halt.

"Letting you act cool! Letting you look better than me! Letting you fire shockwaves! Letting you destroy public property! Letting you pop pills! Letting you dye your hair! Letting you live recklessly..." With every word Lin Jie said, he stomped hard on Kaito, who was on the ground.

After about five minutes of beating.

"Stop hitting! I surrender! Spare me!" Kaito begged from under Lin Jie's foot.

"Oh, so you can talk normally? Not that deep voice?" Lin Jie stomped again. "Then why were you putting on that fake tone earlier, acting like some demon king?"

"I was wrong, okay? I've surrendered already, stop hitting! I'll never use that tone again, alright?" Kaito said weakly from under Lin Jie's foot.

"That's more like it! You know what? I hate guys who look better than me." Lin Jie said.

"Big brother! You're the best-looking in the world, okay? How could anyone be better-looking than you?" Kaito quickly replied.

"What? You used a question mark!" Lin Jie stomped on Kaito again.

"You're the best-looking in the world! There's no one better-looking than you!" Kaito quickly corrected himself.

Under Lin Jie's overwhelming strength and **, Kaito instantly threw all his dignity to the winds.

Dong Xue'er stood to the side, staring blankly at the two of them. When her gaze swept over Lin Jie, it was indescribably complicated.

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