Suppressing Yu Tianheng with One Hand—If I'm Trash, Then What Are You?

"Gu Linyuan. I never expected you to be able to cultivate again."

"Since that's the case, I'll get serious..."

Before he finished speaking, he charged at Gu Linyuan once more.

He did not summon his Martial Soul or reveal any Soul Rings.

Soul Masters were strictly forbidden from fighting within Heaven Dou City. This was an ironclad law of the empire, and even Yu Tianheng, heir to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, did not dare violate it openly.

However, if they merely tested each other with fists and feet without summoning Martial Souls or releasing Soul Power, the city guards would turn a blind eye.

Yu Tianheng began throwing punches.

His boxing was no empty display.

As one of the Upper Three Sects, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was famed throughout the world for its offensive power, and close-quarters combat was one of its specialties.

Even without summoning his Martial Soul, every punch he threw carried the force of countless hours of training. His angles were tricky, and his blows were heavy and fierce.

The first punch went straight for Gu Linyuan's face.

Gu Linyuan tilted his head slightly. The fist brushed past his ear, stirring up a gust of wind.

The second punch followed immediately, smashing toward his chest.

Gu Linyuan neither dodged nor retreated. He raised his right arm to block. Fist and forearm collided with a dull thud.

Bang.

Yu Tianheng's fist struck Gu Linyuan's forearm as though it had hit an iron plate.

"Hiss. How is that possible?"

"What a strange body."

His brows furrowed slightly. He had used seventy percent of his strength in that punch. Even an opponent of the same rank should have been forced back half a step after taking it head-on.

Yet Gu Linyuan had not moved an inch.

Third punch. Fourth punch. Fifth punch.

Yu Tianheng's fists grew faster and heavier.

His fists poured down like a torrential rain, each one whistling through the air as it struck Gu Linyuan's arms, shoulders, and palms.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The dull impacts rang out in a continuous stream, like a blacksmith hammering iron.

Pedestrians on the street stopped one after another, gathering into a loose circle as they pointed and discussed the fight.

"Isn't that Yu Tianheng from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect?"

"Who's that black-clothed youth opposite him? He can actually take Yu Tianheng's punches?"

"I don't know him. He looks unfamiliar."

"Anyone who can fight Yu Tianheng like this definitely isn't a nobody."

Dugu Yan folded her arms across her chest. Her purple eyes narrowed into slits as she stared intently at Gu Linyuan's every movement.

She noticed a detail.

Yu Tianheng had thrown so many punches, yet Gu Linyuan's feet had not moved even once. He stood there like an ancient tree rooted in the earth, unmoved no matter how fiercely the wind and rain battered him.

Gu Linyuan's feet seemed nailed to the bluestone pavement. It was not that he could not move, but that he could not be bothered to.

"Gu Linyuan seems to be stronger than Tianheng. How did he manage that?"

"But his previous state didn't seem like an act. How did he grow so much in such a short time?"

The contrast was too great. Dugu Yan found it unbelievable.

Anyone could see it. If Yu Tianheng did not use the power of his Martial Soul, he was no match for Gu Linyuan at all.

"Let's end this here. Your strength is far inferior to Tang San's."

Gu Linyuan murmured.

Among the geniuses of his generation whom he had encountered, Tang San was the most threatening. Tang San's hidden weapons were dangerous. Moreover, as long as Tang San had the money to buy more precious materials, he could make even more terrifying hidden weapons.

He had thought Yu Tianheng might qualify as one of his opponents, but he was disappointed.

Was this level of strength already Yu Tianheng's limit?

"The sixth punch."

Yu Tianheng's left fist shot toward Gu Linyuan's waist from a tricky angle.

He used his full strength in this punch. The force of it howled through the air, compressing the atmosphere until it emitted a piercing shriek.

Gu Linyuan extended his right hand, spread his five fingers, and firmly caught Yu Tianheng's fist.

His entire arm, fist included, was tightly clamped in Gu Linyuan's palm as though caught in iron pincers, unable to move at all.

Bang.

The force of Yu Tianheng's punch exploded in Gu Linyuan's palm with a muffled sound.

But Gu Linyuan's hand did not budge.

Yu Tianheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

From his fist to his wrist, forearm, elbow, and shoulder, a wave of numbness spread through him.

It was as though countless fine needles had pierced his bones, or as though he had been electrocuted. His entire arm went numb.

He tried to pull his fist back.

He could not.

Gu Linyuan's five fingers were like an iron hoop, firmly locking down his fist.

He tried to attack again with his left fist.

The instant he raised it, Gu Linyuan's other hand had already struck out. One palm hit his left fist and knocked it away.

Bang.

Another dull impact rang out.

Yu Tianheng's left arm went numb as well.

At that moment, Gu Linyuan's five fingers slowly tightened.

Each finger was like an independent python, coiling around Yu Tianheng's fist from a different direction before constricting at the same time.

Yu Tianheng's eyes widened sharply.

The veins on Yu Tianheng's forehead bulged.

He did not cry out.

It was not that it did not hurt. He simply could not cry out.

He was a direct disciple of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, the captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team, and a genius personally trained by Yu Yuanzhen.

He could lose. He could be defeated. He could be left unable to lift his head before Gu Linyuan. But he could not cry out in front of an entire street full of people.

That would be even more humiliating than losing.

Gu Linyuan looked at him.

There was no emotional fluctuation in those pitch-black eyes, only calmness.

"Yu Tianheng."

Gu Linyuan spoke. His voice was not loud, but every word reached Yu Tianheng's ears clearly.

"You just said that trash should have the self-awareness of trash."

His fingers tightened another fraction.

"So now, who is trembling?"

"Wouldn't certain people be inferior even to trash?"

Crack.

Yu Tianheng doubled over from the pain.

He could not understand why Gu Linyuan's grip was so strong.

It made him feel as if he were facing a Soul Emperor, or even a Soul Saint.

Could Gu Linyuan have been born with divine strength?

"You were given six more years to cultivate, yet you're still nothing special. This is the so-called genius?"

Seeing that Yu Tianheng seemed about to use his Martial Soul, Gu Linyuan sneered and released his hand.

His body was protected by two Divine Power Origins. His physical constitution had long surpassed his cultivation level and reached the level of a Soul Saint. If others learned of it in this world, their jaws would surely drop.

However, Gu Linyuan did not think much of it.

He knew Tang San's physical strength also surpassed his cultivation level, likely reaching around the level of a Soul Ancestor. However, this world had no instruments to measure such data, and Gu Linyuan did not know much about Tang San's exact capabilities.

Still, Gu Linyuan had a standard for comparison.

In the story of Peerless Tang Sect, when Huo Yuhao was a four-ring Soul Ancestor, his physical strength could rival that of a late-stage Soul Emperor.

Gu Linyuan was far more formidable than Huo Yuhao. Possessing the physical strength of a Soul Saint while only at the cultivation level of a Soul Elder was perfectly normal.

Without using his Martial Soul, a contest between Soul Masters was basically a contest of physical strength. In that regard, Yu Tianheng fell far too short.

"Gu Linyuan, you can cultivate again."

"From now on, in my eyes, you are nothing more than a slightly larger ant."

Gu Linyuan took a step back and looked down at him from above.

Then he turned and left.

"Gu Linyuan. Were you born with divine strength?"

Yu Tianheng shouted at Gu Linyuan's retreating back.

He did not believe he was inferior to Gu Linyuan. If he used his Martial Soul, he would definitely be able to crush him.

It was only because the laws of Heaven Dou City were strict that, even as a disciple of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, he could not cause trouble at will.

"Born with divine strength? I suppose so..."

Gu Linyuan gave a mocking laugh.

He was the son of a God King. Was he not born with divine strength?

Though this divine strength was not that divine strength.

"So he really was born with divine strength. Hah..." Watching Gu Linyuan walk farther and farther away, Yu Tianheng suddenly let out a deep breath. It was not that he was inferior to Gu Linyuan. Gu Linyuan's body was simply strange—he had been born with divine strength, that was all.

But this was the world of cultivation. What mattered was Soul Power. Though being born with divine strength was extraordinary, it ultimately proved nothing.