Three Punches

On the morning of the fourth day, just as dawn broke.

The gates of Blazing Peak were wide open.

Qin Yuan, clad in a grey robe, walked out slowly. Following behind him were Zhou De, Zhao Tiezhu, Lin Qing'er, and others.

"Senior Brother Qin!" Zhou Ming exclaimed excitedly.

"Brother Qin Yuan!" Lin Qing'er's eyes reddened again.

Qin Yuan glanced at them, his gaze lingering on the wounds on their bodies before growing colder.

"Let's go."

He led the group, heading straight for Heavenly Wolf Peak, where Duan Tianlang resided.

News spread like wildfire.

"Qin Yuan is out of seclusion!"

"He's heading to Heavenly Wolf Peak!"

"It's finally going to kick off!"

The True Disciple area instantly erupted, and countless figures surged towards Heavenly Wolf Peak.

Inside the mountain-top palace on Heavenly Wolf Peak.

Duan Tianlang was drinking and reveling with two female cultivators when he suddenly heard the commotion outside, his brow furrowing.

"What's all the noise?!"

A follower scrambled in, "Senior Brother Duan! Qin Yuan... Qin Yuan is here!"

Duan Tianlang froze, then burst into laughter, "Finally decided to stop being a turtle? Good! I've been waiting three days for him!"

He pushed the female cultivators aside and strode out of the palace.

At the mountain gate, Qin Yuan was already standing there.

Their eyes met.

"Qin Yuan, you dare to come?" Duan Tianlang grinned, "I thought you'd hide forever."

Qin Yuan remained silent, merely looking at him.

His gaze was terrifyingly calm, like a deep pool, like ice.

Duan Tianlang felt an inexplicable tremor in his heart, but it was quickly replaced by rage—he was actually intimidated by the look of a junior?

"Since you're here, don't even think about leaving," he sneered. "Today, I'll cripple you and show you what a true late-stage Golden Core expert is!"

As his words fell, Duan Tianlang's killing aura surged!

He cultivated the Blood Wolf Battle Art, an extremely overbearing body-refining technique. At this moment, he unleashed it at full power, blood-colored wolf markings appearing on his body, his muscles swelling, and his aura instantly reaching the peak of late-stage Golden Core!

"Die!"

He took a step forward, his figure like a blood-colored lightning bolt, and punched Qin Yuan directly in the face!

This punch carried a monstrous killing aura. Where the fist wind passed, the air let out a piercing shriek! The disciples watching turned pale and retreated repeatedly—the power of this punch was several times more terrifying than Lei Ba's Heavenly Thunder Incantation!

Facing this world-destroying punch, Qin Yuan still didn't move.

He simply raised his right hand, clenched his fist, and then—

They clashed!

"Boom—!!!"

The moment their fists collided, the entire Heavenly Wolf Peak trembled violently!

Terrifying shockwaves erupted from the two of them as the center, overturning the mountain gate, collapsing the surrounding walls, and sending several followers nearby flying, spitting blood as they fell.

Amidst the billowing dust, a figure shot backward!

It was Duan Tianlang!

His entire right arm was twisted and deformed, his fist bones shattered, bleeding profusely! Even more terrifying was that Qin Yuan's punch had penetrated his body, shaking his internal organs out of place and shattering his meridians!

"You..." Duan Tianlang crashed through half a palace before stopping. He struggled to get up, his eyes filled with horror, "How could you..."

Qin Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak.

He took his second step and threw his second punch.

This punch was faster and heavier than the first!

Duan Tianlang roared, desperately circulating the Blood Wolf Battle Art, the wolf markings on his body igniting into blood-colored flames—this was a desperate move that burned his vital essence!

But it was useless.

As the fist descended, the blood-colored flames were instantly extinguished. Duan Tianlang's chest bones were completely shattered, and he was sent flying backward like a tattered sack, spitting a large mouthful of blood mixed with internal organ fragments in mid-air.

The third punch.

Qin Yuan appeared where Duan Tianlang was about to hit the ground. Just as he was about to touch the ground, Qin Yuan threw his third punch.

"Bang—!!!"

Duan Tianlang crashed into the ground like a cannonball, creating a three-zhang deep crater. At the bottom, he was covered in blood, his breath shallow, his Golden Core shattered, and his cultivation completely ruined.

Three punches.

From start to finish, Duan Tianlang had only thrown one punch, while Qin Yuan had thrown three.

The first punch shattered his arm, the second his chest, and the third his core.

It was swift and decisive, without any wasted movement.

The entire area fell silent.

All the True Disciples watching stared blankly at Duan Tianlang, who resembled a dead dog at the bottom of the crater, then at Qin Yuan, who stood by the edge of the pit, his aura as steady as ever. A tidal wave of shock surged through their hearts.

Wen Ruofeng's folding fan clattered to the ground.

Jian Wuhen's sword-holding hand trembled slightly for the first time.

Lin Qing'er and the others' mouths hung open, forgotten.

Qin Yuan turned and looked at the True Disciple stone tablet.

The name "Duan Tianlang," ranked seventh, slowly dimmed and disappeared.

A new name emerged:

[Seventh Place: Qin Yuan, Fifth Peak True Disciple, Golden Core High Rank.]

From seventeenth to seventh, from early Golden Core to high Golden Core, he had only taken four days.

Four days, breaking through three ranks.

Qin Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked in the direction of Wen Ruofeng and Jian Wuhen.

The two felt a jolt of apprehension.

That evening, two guests arrived at Blazing Peak.

Wen Ruofeng and Jian Wuhen.

They arrived alone, without any attendants, adopting a humble posture.

Inside the main hall, Qin Yuan sat in the main seat, looking at the two bowing figures below.

"Senior Brother Qin," Wen Ruofeng said with a wry smile, "Regarding today's events, we... we've come to apologize."

Jian Wuhen silently took out two storage bags and placed them on the ground.

"Within these are some of the resources we've accumulated over the years," Wen Ruofeng said. "A total of eight thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, twelve bottles of Core Condensing Pills, three Mysterious Grade Low Rank magical treasures, and some rare materials."

He paused and added, "The matter with Duan Tianlang was indeed instigated by Elder Li. Although we two did not participate, we also did not intervene, making us negligent. These gifts are to express our apologies. We hope Senior Brother Qin will be lenient."

Qin Yuan looked at the two, remaining silent.

The atmosphere in the hall was oppressive.

After a long moment, Qin Yuan finally spoke slowly, "Leave the items, and you may go."

Wen Ruofeng and Jian Wuhen breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed, "Thank you, Senior Brother Qin."

After the two retreated, Qin Yuan picked up the two storage bags and scanned them with his Spiritual Sense, confirming their contents.

"Feed."

[Feeding successful. Upgrade progress +800]

[Feeding successful. Upgrade progress +600]

[Feeding successful...]

After a series of prompts, the System panel finally changed:

[Energy sufficient! System upgrading...]

[Upgrade successful!]

[System of Gaining Twenty Years of Cultivation Per Day → System of Gaining Forty Years of Cultivation Per Day]

[Current Level: 3 (0/10000)]

[New function unlocked: Cultivation can be accumulated and stored, maximum storage time: five days]

Forty years a day!

And the ability to store it for five days meant he could extract up to two hundred years of cultivation at once!

A glint flashed in Qin Yuan's eyes.

The accumulation needed to go from high Golden Core to peak, and then to condensing a Nascent Soul, would be an astronomical figure. But with this new system, nothing was impossible.

He looked out of the hall at the True Disciple peaks under the night sky, like dormant behemoths.

The top five, Golden Core peak, touching the threshold of Nascent Soul...

"Soon," Qin Yuan murmured to himself.

There were still three months until the Hundred Sects Competition.

Three months was enough for him to reach the top five, or even... higher.