The aroma of wine in the main hall was thinned somewhat by the force of the punch.
"Good, good, good."
Naobito Zenin steadied himself and said "good" three times in a row.
His shriveled chest heaved violently, not from exhaustion, but from a long-suppressed excitement.
It was not merely because of the astonishing progress of the young man before him.
More importantly, in that earth-shattering blow, he saw the future of the rotten, feudal Zenin Clan.
At the instant their fists collided, Naobito had not actually had time to gather enough cursed energy to reinforce himself.
However, he had never intended to strike with full force from the beginning.
He was merely testing the younger generation. There was no need to damage someone else's pride, and the Projection Sorcery he had prepared beforehand had only been meant as a light touch.
That was why, just before their fists met, he had changed his fist into a palm and used Projection Sorcery's ability to freeze whatever it touched, forcibly locking Lu Ping in place for one second.
Taking advantage of that brief opening, the old clan head deflected most of the punch's force, avoiding injury on the spot.
His well-intentioned test, combined with his seasoned reaction, had instead become the key to sparing himself an injury.
But that was not the important part.
The important part was that, at the final moment, Lu Ping had clearly dispelled a cursed energy effect similar to some kind of strike enhancement and forcibly held back his strength.
It had not looked like an advanced application of the Ten Shadows Technique. It looked more like high-level cursed energy manipulation improvised on the spot.
Even so, the remaining explosive force had still driven back a Beyond Grade 1 Sorcerer!
Within the Zenin Clan, where cursed techniques