A moment later.
Dugu Yan let out a long breath, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed completely.
She snapped her eyes open. A brilliant purple glint flashed across her pupils, and a deep yellow Soul Ring at her feet pulsed in a steady rhythm.
"Grandpa! I did it!"
Dugu Yan sprang to her feet, her face alight with the joy of having survived a brush with death.
Not only had she successfully absorbed a top-grade poison Soul Ring that was six hundred years old, but the energy had also refined the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison within her, making it purer.
The entire clearing fell silent once more.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes bulged. He stood rooted to the spot, looking as though his soul had been drained from his body.
Once could be luck. But what about twice?
Two six-year-old children had, one after the other, shattered the 423-year rule he'd regarded as gospel right before his eyes.
The self-esteem Yu Xiaogang had built up over the years was crushed to pieces in that instant.
He whipped around, unleashing all his fury on Lin Yuan, the one who had brought all this about.
"You lying little con artist!"
Yu Xiaogang pointed at Lin Yuan's nose and cursed him out.
"What does a six-year-old brat like you know about the truths of Martial Souls? You're just spouting nonsense!"
"You dare show off this crooked method that burns through people's life force?"
Yu Xiaogang's insults grew nastier by the second as he hurled the most vicious personal attacks at Lin Yuan without thinking.
"You're a twisted little monster. One look at you and anyone can tell you're a bastard with no one to raise you! No discipline at all!"
"Today, I'll teach you an ignorant little bastard like you a lesson on behalf of your elders!"
Before the last word had even left his mouth, Yu Xiaogang roared and charged straight at Lin Yuan, his legs pumping like a rabid dog's.
In his narrow-minded view, this boy's theories might have been strange, but he was still just a six-year-old brat who had only just awakened his Martial Soul.
Yu Xiaogang was a level-29 Soul Grandmaster, after all. Taking care of a little kid should have been a piece of cake—something he could handle with one hand.
As Yu Xiaogang rushed toward him, Lin Yuan didn't even lift an eyelid.
He simply stood there, hands still in his pockets, not moving an inch.
Just as Yu Xiaogang's thin fist was about to smash into Lin Yuan's face,
Lin Yuan slid his right foot half a step back. A deep aura of darkness gathered around his right fist.
The bloodline power of the Nine Nether Beast erupted like a long-dormant volcano.
With innate level-20 Soul Power and the terrifying physique of an ancient Ferocious Beast, the difference between them was absolute.
Lin Yuan calmly threw a punch, his fist wreathed in dense darkness. It struck first and landed squarely on Yu Xiaogang's chest.
"Crack—"
The grating sound of breaking bones rang out abruptly through the silent forest.
Yu Xiaogang's chest caved inward.
He didn't even have time to scream before he went flying, his feet leaving the ground as if he'd been hit by an Iron-Armored Rhinoceros charging at full speed.
He hit the ground with a muffled thud.
Yu Xiaogang slammed into a thick tree trunk more than ten meters away, shaking leaves loose in a rustling shower.
He crashed into the mud. His chest churned violently, and he opened his mouth and vomited a huge mouthful of blood mixed with bits of his internal organs.
Lin Yuan didn't stop.
He set off at an unhurried pace toward Yu Xiaogang, who lay sprawled on the ground.
His boots crunched over dead branches and fallen leaves. To Yu Xiaogang, the sound was like a death knell.
When Lin Yuan reached him, he looked down at Yu Xiaogang, who lay there like a dead dog.
He raised his right foot and planted it on Yu Xiaogang's right hand as he tried to push himself up, then ground down hard with his ankle.
"Teach me a lesson?"
Lin Yuan's voice was as calm as still water, yet it carried a chill that made one's scalp prickle.
"What makes you think a piece of trash like you deserves to?"
As Lin Yuan increased the pressure beneath his foot,
the sharp cracks of Yu Xiaogang's wrist and finger bones rang out. His entire right arm bent at a bizarre angle.
The agony of all ten fingers being crushed overwhelmed Yu Xiaogang's nerves. He convulsed all over, letting out a string of shrill, pig-slaughtering screams.
It had happened too fast, and the sight was too shocking.
Behind them, Dugu Yan clapped both hands over her mouth. Her eyes were wide as saucers. Lin Yuan's ruthless decisiveness had clearly stunned her, but for some reason, she couldn't help feeling a thrill of satisfaction.
Hu Liena's eyes shone. She clenched her little hands into fists, looking at Lin Yuan with unconcealed, fervent admiration.
The way their boss handled things was impossibly cool.
Dugu Bo stood to one side with his arms crossed, making no move to stop him.
On the contrary, his gaze held a hint of undisguised appreciation for Lin Yuan.
In this Soul Master world, where the strong preyed on the weak, talent certainly mattered. But a decisive and ruthless temperament like this was the true trump card of someone destined to reach the peak.
Dugu Bo turned and glanced coldly at Yu Xiaogang writhing on the ground, then cursed him outright.
"What a useless piece of trash! A level-29 loser can't even take one punch from a six-year-old, yet he had the nerve to attack first! The old man's seen it all now."
Hearing the groans beneath his feet, Lin Yuan found it a little boring.
He slowly lifted his foot. Before Yu Xiaogang could catch his breath, Lin Yuan whipped his foot around.
Another kick struck Yu Xiaogang in the stomach, sending him rolling several meters like a tumbleweed.
Lin Yuan slipped his hands back into his pockets and looked down at Yu Xiaogang, covered in mud and blood. He gave his final verdict.
"Your theories are complete garbage."
"And your strength is even worse."
Yu Xiaogang clutched his stomach, cold sweat pouring from him as pain wracked his body.
He dug his hands into the dirt and summoned every last bit of strength he had to slowly, laboriously get to his feet.
His whole body trembled uncontrollably. Pain and humiliation had turned his face a liverish purple.
Yu Xiaogang struggled to lift his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with venom.
"Just you wait... I'll make you regret this!"
"I, Yu Xiaogang, swear that I'll raise a truly peerless powerhouse! I'll use his achievements to prove to the whole world that my theories are absolutely correct!"
"When that day comes, I'll make every one of you kneel before me like dogs and beg for forgiveness!"
Faced with this delusional barking, Lin Yuan's expression didn't change in the slightest.
He simply took a casual half-step forward, lowered his shoulder slightly, and feinted as though he were about to punch again.
That tiny movement was all it took.
Yu Xiaogang, who had been loudly boasting a moment before, let out a strange yelp as his legs gave way completely beneath him.
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