The spacious competitors' lounge at the Martial Arts Temple was filled with chatter, underpinned by a taut note of tension.
The contestants who had passed the preliminaries each claimed a corner. Some rested with their eyes closed, while others limbered up. The air was filled with "ki" of varying strengths, testing and clashing with one another.
Lin Fan sat alone on a bench by the window. He seemed to have his eyes closed, but in truth, the techniques of the Great Dao Source Scripture were slowly circulating within him. His True Qi, at the middle stage of Qi Refining, flowed like a gentle stream, washing away the slight strain on his mind from earlier. At the same time, his spiritual sense quietly spread out like liquid mercury, taking in everything around him.
He could clearly "hear" the faint sound of muscle fibers tensing, the patter of falling sweat, and even the way the "ki" flowed through certain contestants' bodies.
Most of it was rough and outwardly expressed, chasing a moment's explosive power—utterly unlike the condensed, internal, ceaselessly circulating path he cultivated.
At the other end of the lounge, however, the atmosphere was somewhat tense.
Tien Shinhan stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. His third eye was closed, but his brow was faintly furrowed.
Chiaotzu floated beside him, a rare trace of confusion on his little face.
"Tian Shinhan,"
Chiaotzu asked quietly through telepathy, "that guy called Lin Fan was... really strange just now."
Tien gave a quiet hum. His sharp gaze pierced through the crowd and settled on the calm figure by the window.
His senses were far sharper than Chiaotzu's.
"His 'ki' is very weak."
Tien's voice was low and composed, tinged with confusion. "So weak it's almost negligible. In theory, there's no way he could have shattered the testing slab so easily."
"But the slab broke,"
Chiaotzu said, tilting his head. "He didn't break it by hitting it really hard. It just... popped, and broke on its own. Like something inside it had gone bad."
"That's the problem."
Though Tien's third eye was shut, the muscles in his forehead twitched faintly, showing how hard he was concentrating on sensing and analyzing. "It wasn't brute force, and it wasn't a high-speed impact... It was more like... precise destruction. At the moment of contact, he sent some kind of force inside and dismantled the structure from within."
He paused, his tone growing more grave. "But that kind of technique requires extremely precise control over 'ki,' perhaps even... going beyond what I know about using 'ki.' Yet his 'ki' is clearly so weak... It doesn't make sense."
Chiaotzu blinked. "Does the Crane School not have a technique like that either?"
Tien slowly shook his head, his gaze still fixed on Lin Fan. "No. The way he exerts force... is strange. It doesn't seem to depend on the amount of 'ki' he has, but on... something else."
It was something that made the battle instincts honed by his rigorous Crane School training feel a little uneasy.
Meanwhile, in a VIP box above the lounge,
Master Shen leaned on his cane and looked down through the one-way glass, his sinister gaze sweeping over the scene below before settling on Lin Fan. His lips curled in disdain.
"Hmph. That old Turtle is an idiot. How did such a strange kid end up on his team?"
His tone was full of contempt, but his eyes held a hint of scrutiny. "His ki is pitifully weak, like an ordinary person who's never trained, yet he made it into the top eight? What kind of dumb luck did he have in the preliminaries?"
In the shadows behind him stood a figure as cold as a blade, perfectly straight.
The man wore an immaculate white martial arts uniform. His long hair was tied back, his features stern, and his gaze indifferent, as though nothing in the world could catch his eye. An unsettling aura of bloodlust radiated from him.
He was none other than the world's greatest assassin, Mercenary Tao.
"Master,"
Mercenary Tao said, his voice as flat as metal scraping against metal. "Is that the kid you specially called me over to see? The 'strange' one?"
He didn't even look directly at Lin Fan below, as though the boy wasn't worth his attention.
"Mm."
Master Shen tapped the glass with his cane. "During the preliminaries, he broke a slab in a very strange way. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu both thought something was off. His ki is pitifully weak, but his method... is a bit eerie. I wonder whether that old Turtle taught him some unorthodox trick we don't know about."
"A trick?"
Mercenary Tao gave a derisive snort and finally granted Lin Fan a glance, though the contempt in his eyes practically spilled over.
"Against absolute strength, any trick is useless. His ki is so weak he doesn't even deserve to make me lift a finger. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu are too fixated on trivial details. They've disgraced the Crane School."
He turned his gaze away, his voice cold. "My targets are Son Goku and that kid called Krillin, especially Son Goku. His ki is growing abnormally fast. As for the other nobodies..."
He paused, making no effort to hide his murderous intent. "If I run into them, I'll clear them out while I'm at it. The Crane School's dignity must not be challenged."
Master Shen wasn't surprised by Mercenary Tao's arrogance. He looked down on the weak just as much himself.
But he was naturally suspicious, and always wary of things he couldn't understand.
"Anyway, keep an eye on that kid."
Master Shen tapped his cane against his palm. "If there's really something strange about him, or if that old Turtle's hiding some secret technique..."
"Find a chance to test him.
"If he's just putting on a show, make him embarrass himself in the ring. If he really has something up his sleeve..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes. "Then he can't be allowed to live."
Mercenary Tao didn't answer. He simply closed his eyes to rest, as if the noisy arena downstairs had nothing to do with him.
In his mind, aside from the few opponents with decent ki, everyone else was nothing but grass.
That kid with his weak ki was dust among the grass, ready to scatter with a puff of breath—not worth even a moment of Lord Mercenary Tao's attention.
In the lounge, Lin Fan seemed to sense something. He raised his eyes and glanced casually toward a spot above, then lowered them again as if nothing had happened.
In the VIP box, Master Shen paused. "Hm? Was that my imagination?" For a moment, he'd felt as though something had swept over him.
Mercenary Tao remained with his eyes closed, completely unresponsive.
Downstairs, Son Goku was happily chomping on a huge chicken leg he'd gotten from who knew where. He mumbled to Krillin through a mouthful, "Tien Shinhan keeps looking at Lin Fan! Do you think he thinks Lin Fan's really strong?"
Krillin nervously rubbed his hands together. "I don't know... Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu seem so serious when they look at him... Do you think Lin Fan will be okay?"
Bulma, on the other hand, was full of confidence. "Relax, relax! Lin Fan definitely has a plan! Didn't you see how easily he handled it just now?"
Listening to his friends talk, Lin Fan's lips curved almost imperceptibly.
The Crane School... Mercenary Tao...
The undercurrents were already stirring.
He slowly clenched his palm. True Qi flowed faster through his body, carrying the steady confidence of a young calf unafraid of the tiger.
This was just the pool of water he needed to test his sword.
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