Young Friend, Do You Wish to Become a Talisman Master?

Outside the Curio Pavilion.

Lin Yan stopped after finding an open space.

He looked at the few men and the woman closely following behind him and spoke softly.

"Right here will do."

"You lot can come at me together."

Hearing this, the men furrowed their brows, their irritation growing at Lin Yan's display of arrogance.

Onlookers gradually gathered around, but upon seeing the woman, they quickly recognized her identity.

"Isn't that Liu Qingxu of the Liu Clan? What's going on? Did she get into a conflict with someone?"

"Those men don't look like Liu Clan members, though. I seem to remember them being among her many followers... wait, that's it! The one in front looks like the eldest young master of the Yun Clan! The others must be his lackeys."

"That makes sense. Another attempt to win a beauty's smile. It's just a pity for these two young brothers; they've provoked such a spoiled brat, and they certainly won't have a good ending."

The crowd whispered incessantly.

Liu Qingxu seemed unable to watch any longer, stepping forward to speak to Lin Dong.

"Since you are unwilling to sell, then forget it."

"You should be aware yourself that I was merely asking earlier."

"It is just that your attitude was even worse than mine."

She then turned to the Yun Clan's eldest young master and said, "Today's matter has nothing to do with you. My affairs do not require your interference, so please, leave."

With that, Liu Qingxu looked toward both sides, intending to let the matter drop.

However, the Yun Clan's eldest young master was clearly unwilling.

He had intervened inside the Curio Pavilion solely to win the beauty's favor.

He hadn't expected to stumble so badly; not only did he fail to please her, but he had instead drawn her dissatisfaction.

This left the Yun Clan's eldest young master quite annoyed.

Furthermore, with so many people watching, he could not possibly back down now, or he would have no standing left in Flame City in the future.

"Qingxu, this matter no longer concerns you."

"It is between them and me."

Thinking this, the Yun Clan's eldest young master spoke directly to Liu Qingxu.

He then waved his hand, signaling the other men to attack with him.

"Truly courting death."

Seeing this, Lin Yan shook his head faintly.

He let the men charge toward him before swiftly meeting them head-on.

He quickly gauged their strength: the subordinates were all at the early stage of the Earth Origin Realm, while the so-called Yun Clan eldest young master was at the late stage of the Earth Origin Realm.

However, such small fry posed no threat to the current Lin Yan.

After all, even Lei Ying, at the early stage of the Heaven Origin Realm, had been suppressed by Lin Yan, let alone these mere Earth Origin Realm cultivators.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

As the Yun Clan subordinates rushed at him, Lin Yan easily dodged their attacks.

He then struck each of them with a single punch, slamming them hard into their lower abdomens.

Struck by Lin Yan's fist, the Yun Clan subordinates felt unbearable agony as a wave of intense pain roiled in their guts.

Ugh.

They let out cries of pain, and unable to withstand the torment, they clutched their stomachs and collapsed to the ground.

"Damn it!"

The Yun Clan's eldest young master's eyelids twitched at the sight.

He couldn't understand how, despite both being at the late stage of the Earth Origin Realm, Lin Yan's combat power was so astonishing.

But he was already in too deep; even though he felt a sense of dread toward Lin Yan, he had no choice but to attack.

Lin Yan easily dodged an attack from the Yun Clan's eldest young master.

He then threw a punch with astonishing force, aiming directly for the man's face.

The Yun Clan's eldest young master felt his heart leap into his throat. Even just by looking, he could tell the power behind that punch; if it landed, he would likely be disfigured.

The thought terrified him. After all, one's appearance was important, and no normal person would want to be disfigured.

"Hey."

"You should leave."

"We have no grudges, and I don't want to be too ruthless."

"Let's just call it a day, how about that?"

However, Lin Yan's fist ultimately stopped right in front of the young master of the Yun Clan, never landing.

Just as the latter's fear reached its peak, to the point where he even began to regret his previous actions, Lin Yan withdrew his fist.

He then looked at the young master of the Yun Clan and said with a smile.

"Good, good, good!"

"Many thanks, brother, for showing mercy!"

"We're leaving right now!"

The young master of the Yun Clan was naturally overjoyed.

The contrast of finding a way out of a desperate situation filled his eyes with gratitude as he looked at Lin Yan.

He quickly pulled his few lackeys up from the ground and fled as if escaping for his life.

"This young man is truly quite formidable!"

The surrounding crowd felt a sense of emotion as they watched this scene.

They were not only marveling at Lin Yan's powerful strength but also at his seasoned way of handling affairs.

In that fight just now, if he hadn't struck, a spoiled brat like the young master of the Yun Clan wouldn't have given up so easily. But if he had fought to the end, it would inevitably have invited some trouble.

Yet, Lin Yan possessed an excellent sense of proportion; he first let the young master of the Yun Clan realize the gap in their strength, and just when the man was nearly in despair, he let him off the hook.

Handling it this way not only beat the opponent into submission but even left the young master of the Yun Clan feeling tearfully grateful.

Because of this, everyone felt a sense of admiration as they looked at Lin Yan.

They truly hadn't expected that there would be such a talented young man in Flame City.

The only thing they couldn't quite understand was why such a talented youth had remained completely unknown until today.

"My name is Liu Qingxu. May I ask, brother, what is your name?"

After witnessing the entire sequence of events, Liu Qingxu was clearly quite surprised.

There were countless talented youths in Flame City, and she knew basically all of them.

But this was the first time she had encountered someone like Lin Yan, and she felt a sense of admiration for the methods he had just used. Liu Qingxu took the initiative to step forward and ask Lin Yan.

"Lin Yan."

Lin Yan answered with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingxu nodded, secretly committing the name to memory.

As for Lin Dong, he said to Lin Yan, "Brother Lin Yan, is this what you were talking about when we went fishing last time?"

"The Art of War?"

He suddenly recalled some things Lin Yan had said when he was fishing with Qing Tan and Lin Yan, and it seemed to tie in perfectly with his actions just now.

"Haha, I didn't expect you to remember, little brother Lin Dong."

Hearing this, Lin Yan smiled at Lin Dong.

He then proceeded to help him review the concepts once more.

"As the saying goes: do not obstruct an army retreating home, leave a gap for a surrounded army, and do not press a desperate foe too hard."

"It means: when the enemy is retreating back to their own country, you shouldn't block them, otherwise, if you cut off their path of retreat, they will fight you to the death."

"When surrounding an enemy, you must always leave a gap so they know there is a way out, causing them to lose the will to resist to the death; otherwise, even a rabbit will bite when cornered."

"Finally, when dealing with an enemy who has no way out, do not push them too far. Otherwise, it will cause the enemy in a desperate situation to lash out in a panic."

"In short, always leave a margin for others, so that you may meet again in the future."

"When doing things out in the world, if you push for total annihilation at every turn, the one who will eventually suffer the backlash can only be yourself."

Lin Yan instructed Lin Dong quite earnestly.

"I've remembered it, Brother Lin Yan."

After listening to Lin Yan's guidance, Lin Dong nodded seriously.

He had always taken Lin Yan's teachings to heart, and since Lin Dong had always been quite perceptive, he was able to understand the profound meaning and logic behind these words after hearing them.

This person is formidable. In terms of strategy, I don't know how many of those so-called geniuses of Flame City he has left in the dust.

Compared to him, those geniuses in our Flame City are practically pig-brained.

Liu Qingxu was secretly shocked; after hearing Lin Yan's remarks, she held him in even higher regard in her heart.

Lin Yan, Lin Dong, and Liu Qingxu returned to the Curio Pavilion, originally intending to continue browsing.

Unexpectedly, just as they entered the door, an old man walked straight toward them, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Lin Yan.

"Hahaha! Little friend, that discourse of yours just now truly opened this old man's eyes!"

"I am impressed, truly impressed!"

"How about this, little friend? I see that you have extraordinary talent; I wonder, do you have any interest in becoming a Symbol Master?"

The old man did not hold back his praise for Lin Yan.

As for Liu Qingxu, who stood to the side, a look of astonishment could not help but appear on her pretty face upon seeing the old man.

"You are..."

"Master Yan?"