Reaching the summit

At this moment, Lin Qing had arrived in front of the last gatekeeper. His gaze passed over the man and could see the temple on the mountaintop behind him, as well as Wang Ling and the others standing in front of the temple.

This position was very close to the summit. He glanced back and could see the fighting taking place on the two adjacent mountain paths.

On the left is Tan Shaochong, and on the right is a Deputy Constable Chief; both of them are struggling halfway up the mountain.

Lin Qing withdrew his gaze. These two people posed no threat to him. His real competitor was Ao Ziyi, who should be directly opposite the Little Mountain.

As they were pondering, a strangely-looking man who had been sitting on the steps ahead stood up. His arms reached past his knees, and he was covered in thick body hair, with black hair on all four limbs. At first glance, he looked like a black ape.

"You're quite the young man! Tsk tsk, my name is Hou Liang, and I'm the last one on this path. If you defeat me, you can reach the summit, enter the Divine Temple, and become the new Constable Chief. I didn't expect you to arrive before me so quickly. It hasn't even been half an incense stick's time. That means you swept aside those eight Pill Embrace Martial Artist ahead of you. Impressive!" Hou Liang gave a thumbs up and couldn't help but praise him.

"Hou Liang? So it's Lord Hou from the Night Patrol Team!" Lin Qing bowed.

He had heard of Hou Liang; he was Constable Chief Night Patrol Office and was very skilled in Lightness Skill.

1

"Young man, you'd better watch out, I won't hold back!" Hou Liang stretched his limbs, and a series of cracking sounds came from his body.

"Excuse me!"

Without further hesitation, Lin Qing suddenly lunged forward, reaching out with a palm strike aimed straight at Hou Liang's chest.

Hou Liang laughed loudly, "You want to fight head-on? Young man, it seems your fighting IQ is quite average. I am a True Gang Realm Martial Artist, with the support of Astral Force, how do you expect to defeat me?"

He smiled, flashed forward, and struck out with his own palm. A blue aura swirled around his palm, condensing into a ball of energy in the center, which collided violently with Lin Qing's palm.

In that instant, Lin Qing felt as if he had been struck in a ball of cotton, followed by a sharp pain. The air current suddenly formed a Whirlpool, like a blade, frantically cutting into his palm.

Lin Qing immediately activated the Tathagata Force to protect his body. The force exploded, turning his arms into a pale gold color, as if they were cast from refined gold, indestructible, and he withstood the impact of the Astral Force.

The next instant, Lin Qing unleashed a tremendous force of 200,000 jin in his right arm, slamming it hard into Hou Liang's palm.

Hou Liang's expression changed drastically. The Astral Force attached to his palm dissipated directly, and an immense force poured into his arm, causing it to twist and deform instantly. He was also shaken back nine steps, each step shattering a step behind him.

"What kind of monster are you?" Hou Liang, clutching his throbbing right arm, looked at Lin Qing with shock and fear, no longer showing any contempt.

The power of that palm strike was terrifying. If it weren't for the Astral Force attached to his palm that neutralized most of the force, his arm wouldn't just have had its bones broken; it might have been completely shattered, leaving him crippled.

This was Lin Qing's first time fighting Astral Force Martial Artist. He had only heard that Astral Force was a level higher than Pill Embrace Force, so he dared not be careless and threw a punch with all his might. He did not expect to almost cripple Hou Liang.

With this, he had a better understanding of the situation. Astral Force was indeed stronger than Pill Embrace Force, but it also had its limits.

Hou Liang's Arm Strength about 50,000 jin, while Lin Qing's is four times that. The difference is too great. Even with the help of his Astral Force, Hou Liang would find it difficult to resist.

Lin Qing thus decided that he could defeat even Astral Force Martial Artist, all thanks to the super-strong physique brought by more than fifty kinds of low-level internal energy.

"Lord Hou, the battle is over, I shall take my leave now!"

As Lin Qing spoke, he strode straight towards the mountaintop. Hou Liang gritted his teeth and suddenly shouted, "Wait! It's just a broken arm, the battle isn't over yet! Don't run! You're incredibly strong, and if we went head-to-head, I certainly wouldn't be your match. But don't forget, my greatest strength is my Lightness Skill, and hit-and-run tactics are my favorite fighting style. I was careless just now, but the real battle has just begun. I can beat you even with one arm!"

Hou Liang mumbled a lot of things, but his hands kept moving. He walked with strange steps, suddenly becoming erratic, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, following an S-shaped path straight towards Lin Qing.

In this situation, it is extremely difficult for the opponent to pinpoint his location, and their punches often miss. Hou Liang, will seize the opportunity when the opponent retracts their punch to launch a surprise attack, which often hits the opponent and gives him the upper hand.

However, Lin Qing remained calm upon seeing this. Suddenly, he had a thought and directly added five Lightness Skills to his Equipment Slot: Flying Over Grass- Lost-Trace Steps, Swimming Dragon Steps, Thousand-Mile Divine Step, and Fire Bat Swaying Dance Steps.

These five Lightness Skills are the result of Lin Qing's more than two months of collecting corpses. Although each skill is not of high grade, they are all at the Perfect Mastery.

With the combined effects of the five Lightness Skills, plus the already mastered Minor Mastery Passing Glimpse, Lin Qing's Lightness Skill level was instantly pushed to an extremely astonishing level.

In that instant, Lin Qing felt as if his body was floating, as if he could take hundreds of steps with a casual sway, and leap directly into the sky.

Hou Liang, who had previously swayed back and forth and appeared graceful and agile, suddenly seemed as slow as a tortoise in his eyes.

When the two closed the distance to twenty steps, Lin Qing suddenly moved, his body swaying and leaving afterimages, faster and more graceful than Hou Liang.

Hou Liang was startled. He couldn't pinpoint Lin Qing's location; Lin Qing vanished from his sight in an instant.

"Not good!"

He tried to back away, but it was too late. Lin Qing's palm had already struck his chest. He tried to block, but he was a beat too slow.

Bang!

A tremendous force erupted from his palm once more, instantly shattering the energy around him and sending him flying, crashing into the bushes not far away.

"Thank you for the concession!"

Lin Qing left a sentence behind, then flashed straight to the mountaintop, standing in front of Zhu Mingtong and the others under the astonished gazes of countless people.

"Good, very good," Qiu Changming laughed, turned around and slapped a Bronze Hanging Bell with his palm. Instantly, the melodious and deep sound of the bell echoed between heaven and earth.

Following the tolling of the bell came Qiu Changming's loud shouts.

"Lin Qing! The selection process is over!"

In an instant, the entire venue erupted in cheers, and the crowd below the mountain began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Lin Qing won? He's not even twenty years old, and he's already Constable Chief in the Soul-Calming Office. We're all so envious."

"Lin Qing is too strong. None of the nine Martial Artists could withstand three moves from him, not even Lord Hou Liang."

"I'm convinced, completely convinced."

In the crowd, Ma Ziye jumped up excitedly.

"Haha, I knew it! Lin Qing would definitely win!"

"Brother Lin is truly a man of great talent; I was mistaken." Li Ping's expression was complex, with a hint of envy in his eyes.

"Brother Lin Qing is so amazing," Lin Shurou said with a smile.

Halfway up the mountain, upon hearing Qiu Changming's voice, Tan Shaochong and the other two stopped fighting, as continuing the battle was pointless.

Tan Shaochong's expression was complicated; he hadn't expected that the final winner would be Lin Qing, not Ao Ziyi.

"Lin Qing must have entered the True Gang Realm. True Gang Realm at the age of twenty! His Talent is terrifying," Tan Shaochong himself.

Ao Ziyi, however, went mad. The cooked duck had flown away. He suddenly abandoned the Martial Artist blocking his way and rushed towards the mountaintop at top speed.

He was unconvinced and insisted on testing Lin Qing's strength himself. If Lin Qing hadn't been hiding his abilities, then there must be something fishy going on.

He didn't believe that Lin Qing could suppress him at the mere Pill Embrace stage; someone must have deliberately let him win.