Undercurrents Surge, the Crane School's Hostility

The spacious waiting room for contestants at the Martial Arts Temple was filled with a clamor that carried a taut, high-strung tension.

The contestants who had passed the preliminaries occupied various corners, some closing their eyes to conserve energy, others stretching their limbs. The air was thick with "ki" of varying strengths, probing and colliding with one another.

Lin Fan sat alone on a bench by the window. While he appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, the techniques of the Great Dao Source Scripture were slowly circulating within him. His mid-stage Qi Refining true energy flowed like a gentle stream, washing away the mental fatigue from his earlier exertion, while his spiritual sense spread out like liquid mercury, silently perceiving everything around him.

He could clearly "hear" the subtle tightening of muscle fibers, the sound of sweat dripping, and even the way "ki" flowed within certain contestants.

Most were rugged and external, pursuing instantaneous bursts of power, which was vastly different from the condensed, internalized, and ceaseless circulation of the path he cultivated.

At the other end of the waiting room, the atmosphere was somewhat stagnant.

Tien Shinhan stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His third eye remained closed, yet his brows were slightly furrowed.

Chiaotzu floated beside him, a rare look of confusion on his small face.

"Tien Shinhan,"

Chiaotzu asked quietly via telepathy, "That person named Lin Fan... he was so strange just now."

Tien Shinhan gave a soft grunt, his sharp gaze cutting through the crowd to land on the quiet figure by the window.

His perception was far keener than Chiaotzu's.

"His 'ki' is extremely weak."

Tien Shinhan's voice was low and calm, tinged with bewilderment. "Weak to the point of being almost negligible. Logically, it should be impossible for him to have destroyed the test slab so easily."

"But the slab did break,"

Chiaotzu tilted his head. "He didn't break it with a lot of force; it was... pop, it just shattered on its own. Like it was broken from the inside."

"That is the problem."

Although Tien Shinhan's third eye was closed, the muscles on his forehead twitched slightly, showing he was straining to perceive and analyze. "It wasn't pure brute force, nor was it a high-speed impact... it was more like... precise destruction. At the moment of contact, he sent some kind of power inside, disintegrating the structure from within."

He paused, his tone growing more solemn. "But such a technique requires extremely refined control over 'ki,' perhaps even... surpassing the methods of 'ki' usage I know. Yet his 'ki' is clearly so weak... it's a contradiction."

Chiaotzu blinked. "Does the Crane School not have such techniques?"

Tien Shinhan shook his head slowly, his gaze still locked on Lin Fan. "No. His way of exerting force... is very strange. It doesn't seem to rely on the total volume of 'ki,' but rather... something else."

Something that made his combat instincts, honed by the rigorous Crane School, feel a hint of unease.

Meanwhile, in a VIP box above the waiting room.

Master Shen leaned on his cane, his sinister gaze sweeping over the various figures in the waiting area through the one-way glass before finally settling on Lin Fan, his lips curling in a sneer.

"Hmph, how did such a strange brat end up in that old fool Turtle Hermit's team?"

His tone was full of disdain, yet his eyes held a trace of imperceptible scrutiny. "His aura is pitifully weak, like an ordinary person who has never cultivated, yet he managed to make it into the top eight? What kind of blind luck did he have in the preliminaries?"

In the shadows behind him, a figure as cold as a blade stood ramrod straight.

The man wore a pristine white martial arts uniform, his long hair tied back. His face was stern and his eyes indifferent, as if nothing in the world caught his interest, and his entire body exuded a chilling aura of slaughter.

It was the world's number one assassin, Mercenary Tao.

"Senior Brother,"

Mercenary Tao's voice was devoid of any inflection, like metal grinding against metal. "Is that the brat? The 'oddity' you specifically called me here to see?"

He didn't even look directly at Lin Fan below, as if the boy wasn't worth the effort of his gaze.

"Mm,"

Master Shen tapped the glass with his cane. "During the preliminaries, he shattered the slab in a very strange way. Both Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu felt something was off. His aura is pathetic, but his technique... it's a bit sinister. I suspect that old turtle might have taught him some obscure, unorthodox tricks we don't know about."

"Techniques?"

Mercenary Tao scoffed, finally deigning to cast a glance, though the contempt in his eyes was overflowing.

"In the face of absolute power, any technique is futile. His aura is so weak he isn't even qualified for me to make a move. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu are too focused on trivial details; they are losing face for the Crane School."

He withdrew his gaze, his tone icy. "My targets are Son Goku and that boy named Krillin, especially Son Goku—his 'ki' is growing abnormally. As for the other small fry..."

He paused, making no effort to hide his murderous intent. "If I run into them, I'll just clean them up along the way. The dignity of the Crane School brooks no provocation."

Master Shen was not surprised by Mercenary Tao's arrogance; he himself looked down on the weak just the same.

However, he was suspicious by nature and always maintained a sense of vigilance toward things he could not understand.

"Regardless, keep an eye on that brat."

Master Shen tapped his palm with his cane. "If there really is something strange, or if the Turtle Hermit is hiding some secret weapon...

Find an opportunity to test his bottom line.

If he's just putting on a show, make him a laughingstock on the stage; but if he really has some trick up his sleeve..." A cold, sinister light flashed in his eyes, "...then he cannot be left alive."

Mercenary Tao did not respond, merely closing his eyes to rest, as if the noisy arena below had nothing to do with him.

In his heart, aside from those few opponents with decent 'ki,' everyone else was nothing more than grass.

That boy with the weak aura was merely dust among the grass, easily blown away with a breath, and not worth a fraction of Master Mercenary Tao's attention.

In the waiting room, Lin Fan seemed to sense something. He lifted his eyes to glance faintly in a certain direction above, then lowered his lids again as if nothing had happened.

In the box, Master Shen was slightly startled. "Hm? Was that my imagination?" He felt as if he had been swept by something just a moment ago.

Mercenary Tao remained with his eyes closed, showing no reaction.

Downstairs, Son Goku was mindlessly gnawing on a giant chicken leg he had scavenged from somewhere, saying indistinctly to Krillin, "Tien Shinhan seems to have been watching Lin Fan the whole time! Do you think he finds him impressive?"

Krillin rubbed his hands together nervously. "I don't know... I just get the feeling that Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu's gazes are so intense... Will Lin Fan be alright?"

Bulma, however, was full of confidence. "Relax, relax! Lin Fan definitely has his own way of doing things! Didn't you see how relaxed he was just a moment ago?"

Listening to his companions' discussion, the corners of Lin Fan's mouth curled up in an almost imperceptible arc.

Crane School... Mercenary Tao...

The undercurrents were already surging.

He slowly clenched his palm, the true qi within his body accelerating its flow, carrying the steady composure of a newborn calf that does not fear the tiger.

This pool of water was the perfect place to test his blade.