Chapter 145: I Grant You Death

Lin Yi shrugged and said, "I am no monster; it's simply that your skills are too poor. I merely wanted to conduct my business in peace, but you wouldn't allow it."

As his words fell, his previously faint aura suddenly surged like a flame splashed with gasoline.

Xie Xiaosheng felt as though a massive mountain were pressing down on his shoulders, making it difficult for him even to stand steadily.

"What... what do you want?" Xie Xiaosheng asked in sheer terror.

"That question should be directed at you lot, shouldn't it?"

With that, Lin Yi pulled his fist back like a fully drawn bow and unleashed it in an instant.

Cannon Punch!

Boom.

In his panic, Xie Xiaosheng hurriedly gathered his true qi in front of his chest.

However, Lin Yi's fist shattered his protective true qi outright, sending him flying dozens of meters away to crash and roll repeatedly across the ground.

The onlookers were struck dumb with astonishment.

One had to bear in mind that Xie Xiaosheng was a grandmaster, yet he had been blasted away by mere fists.

"You—how dare you!"

The burly man glared with wide eyes, finding it hard to believe that Lin Yi would actually resort to violence.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Lin Yi loosened his arm and countered with a question. Were others permitted to trouble him, while he was denied even the right to resist?

"Ah, and you as well."

Lin Yi said expressionlessly, his pupils as dark as ink, inspiring awe.

"No, don't come closer."

The burly man retreated step by step, looking as helpless as a bullied young girl.

Lin Yi took a single step forward, and his figure materialized right in front of the burly man.

He delivered a punch straight to the burly man's stomach.

Thud. The burly man's eyes bulged as he clutched his belly and collapsed limply to the ground.

"Well? Would the two of you care to test my fists as well?"

Lin Yi's gaze shifted toward the remaining two women from the Joyous Valley.

"No, no..."

The two of them shook their heads frantically. Are you kidding? Xie Xiaosheng had been sent flying with a single punch, and Senior Sister Lu was still sprawled on the ground, unable to get up.

If they were to take a punch, they would likely be crippled instantly.

Suddenly...

Boom. A fierce aura shot forth from not far away.

"Damn you, you deserve to die!"

Xie Xiaosheng climbed back to his feet, his eyes bloodshot.

"Oh? You still have the breath to speak?" Lin Yi glanced at him a few extra times.

Though he hadn't exerted much force, an ordinary grandmaster should have been incapacitated by now.

It seemed that when dealing with cultivators of esoteric arts, it was better to lay on a heavier hand.

How truly troublesome.

Xie Xiaosheng retrieved a long sword from his storage pouch, deep purple true qi clinging to the blade and flickering with lightning-like radiance.

As he gently waved the sword in his hand, the surrounding air produced a cascade of electrical sparks accompanied by a continuous crackling sound.

The two women from the Joyous Valley wore expressions of delight; Xie Xiaosheng was clearly about to unleash his true strength.

"Go to hell! Flaming Thunder Swordsmanship!" Xie Xiaosheng roared furiously.

A semi-circular sword Qi slashed toward Lin Yi.

The onlookers scrambled out of the way in haste, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.

Lin Yi glanced briefly and drew a treasured sword of his own.

Come to think of it, apart from the time he used sword techniques in the primeval forest, he had not touched a sword in over a century.

"Heart Sword!"

Lin Yi's gaze sharpened, his aura instantly contracting until his entire presence became as unremarkable as a plain stone.

Yet in the very next instant, a streak of white sword light flashed.

Xie Xiaosheng's Flaming Thunder sword Qi was cleaved directly in two by this sword light and dissipated into thin air.

Moreover, the remaining momentum of the sword light persisted.

Xie Xiaosheng hastily crossed his sword horizontally before his chest.

With a crisp *clang*, the treasured sword in his hand was also chopped in half.

"Bad!"

Xie Xiaosheng was a grandmaster after all, and at the critical moment, he activated all of his defensive magical artifacts.

As the adopted son of Xie Shufen, the defensive treasures in his possession belonged without exception to the absolute top tier.

Multiple layers of radiance enveloped Xie Xiaosheng.

Yet it proved entirely futile.

The sword light pressed relentlessly forward, piercing straight through the protective barrier and striking Xie Xiaosheng's chest, leaving a wound twenty centimeters long with bone visible in the depths.

With a pale complexion, Xie Xiaosheng hurriedly scooped a handful of healing pills from his storage pouch and swallowed them, causing the gruesome wound to begin healing rapidly.

Lin Yi strode toward Xie Xiaosheng step by step, clutching his treasured sword.

"What... what do you want?" Xie Xiaosheng was genuinely terrified now.

The young-looking man before him possessed terrifying, monstrous strength.

With a single move, he had been utterly crippled; moreover, he could sense that the man had not even used his full power.

"Weren't you trying to kill me just now?" Lin Yi interrogated.

"Not at all!" Xie Xiaosheng shook his head frantically. If he admitted to it now, and it drove this man to desperation to finish him off with a single sword strike, there would be nowhere left for him to cry.

Die Nishang also hurried forward and anxiously advised, "Mr. Lin, he is Xie Xiaosheng, the adopted son of Exalted Immortal Xie, and he is backed by the Red Skull organization."

After all, this matter had been sparked because of her, and she did not wish to see Lin Yi provoke the Red Skull for no reason.

Powerful though Lin Yi was—capable of slaying Exalted Immortals—the Red Skull organization was one of the five major factions of Yanxia, boasting multiple Exalted Immortals among its ranks.

Furthermore, should the Red Skull implicate Butterfly Valley and dispatch even a single Exalted Immortal at random, Butterfly Valley could be relegated to history.

"Xie Shufen?"

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow. He recalled that previously, two Exalted Immortals from the Red Skull had come, and one of them seemed to be named Xie Shufen.

However, he had chased them away directly back then, and they had not returned since.

Had Die Nishang not offered a reminder, he would have forgotten about such a person entirely.

Seeing Lin Yi remain silent, Xie Xiaosheng assumed he was afraid, and his confidence swelled once more.

He hurriedly spoke up, "Little brother, let's call it a day on this matter. There's no need for us to fight to the death over these two women."

Despite his words, a flash of malice crossed Xie Xiaosheng's eyes.

How could he possibly let this rest?

He intended to return to the Red Skull immediately, muster his forces, and capture Lin Yi along with everyone behind him.

"Since you are Xie Shufen's adopted son, I can spare your life." Lin Yi said indifferently.

A wave of joy washed over Xie Xiaosheng; he had known this person wouldn't dare to kill him.

In this Yanxia, there were very few who dared to openly challenge the five major factions.

Yet Lin Yi's next words sent a chill down his spine.

"Capital punishment is averted, but living offenses cannot be pardoned."

With that, Lin Yi flicked a stream of sword Qi from his finger, directly shattering Xie Xiaosheng's dantian.

The eyes of the onlookers went wide.

How dared he cripple Xie Xiaosheng? Was this not intentionally seeking a clash with the Red Skull?

The young man looked composed enough, but in his actions, he acted with utter disregard for the consequences.

Die Nishang felt a headache coming on. Crippling a martial artist's dantian was worse than simply killing them.

"You—you actually crippled my dantian!" Xie Xiaosheng stared with bloodshot eyes.

Paying no heed to his words, Lin Yi leisurely returned to his stall and sat down.

"Mr. Lin, we should leave quickly." Die Nishang said with anxiety.

"No need to rush. Let me finish selling these pills first." Lin Yi replied calmly.

The crowd was left speechless, genuinely uncertain whether to call Lin Yi immensely talented and daring, or simply a fool.

Having crippled Xie Xiaosheng outright, he still dared to run his stall here as if nothing had happened. He truly had no idea how to spell the word "death."

"Mr. Lin, if we don't leave now, the enforcement team will be here to arrest us." Die Nishang urged.

The enforcement team were personnel specifically tasked with maintaining safety at the martial arts bazaar.

They consisted of eleven members in total; the chief enforcement elder was an Exalted Immortal, while the remaining individuals were all half-step Exalted Immortals.

"This was legitimate self-defense. What can the enforcement team possibly say upon arrival?" Lin Yi said dismissively.

Die Nishang sighed. What Lin Yi said was true, but this world operated on the law of the jungle.

The martial arts bazaar was jointly established by the five major factions, so naturally, they would lean toward Xie Xiaosheng's side. At worst, it would just be a formality; even if arrested, he would be released within three days.

Mr. Lin possessed formidable strength, yet his grasp of the broader picture remained somewhat lacking.

Just as they were speaking, a majestic pressure suddenly bore down upon the crowd.

Everyone felt a heavy tightness in their chest, as if a massive boulder were resting upon them.

Inarts or grandmasters alike, they found it difficult to stand and felt an urge to drop flat onto the ground.

Die Nishang's complexion turned slightly pale as she looked up into the sky to see an elder of around sixty years of age stepping through the air.

Strapped to his back was a massive black sword that, even from a distance, emitted a heavy, weighty aura.

It was as if he were carrying not a giant sword, but an entire mountain.

"Mr. Lin, that person is the enforcement elder." Die Nishang said with a grave expression.

"Oh." Lin Yi acknowledged simply.

This enforcement elder possessed commendable strength at the second layer of the Exalted Immortal realm, and coupled with the giant sword on his back, he could probably contend even with someone at the fourth layer.

Yet that was the extent of it.

Following the appearance of the enforcement elder, ten more figures rapidly closed in.

These individuals—men and women alike—were around forty years of age and wore identical white garments.

Observing them, Lin Yi noticed that their breathing was entirely uniform and synchronized, perfectly attuned as if they were a single entity.

"Synchronized breathing technique. Rather interesting." Lin Yi displayed a trace of interest.

The synchronized breathing technique could harmonize the respiration, heart rate, and vital breath of several individuals until they functioned as one.

The greatest advantage of such a breathing technique was that it allowed the practitioners to sense one another and execute joint combat formations, which not only vastly increased their might but also accelerated their path to mastery.

Even challenging opponents across a major realm of cultivation became entirely possible.

Yet this breathing technique also possessed a flaw: it prohibited the practice of individual, independent techniques.

Should someone manage to breach their combined formation, these individuals would find themselves plunged into a passive state.

Overall, different breathing techniques suited different people.

"Who dares to cause trouble at the bazaar?"

Hovering five meters in the air, the enforcement elder cast a condescending glance down at the crowd below.

Anyone caught in the enforcement elder's gaze felt as though they had been swept by two blades of sword Qi and hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Grandpa Li."

Xie Xiaosheng called out.

"Oh, so it is nephew Xie." Li Xin成 flashed a smile.

Xie Shufen's strength ranked high even among Exalted Immortals; though he was also an Exalted Immortal, a frontal clash with Xie Shufen would likely see him unable to last ten moves.

"Grandpa Li, hurry and kill him for me! My dantian has been crippled by him." Xie Xiaosheng pointed at Lin Yi, speaking with a face full of bitter hatred.

"What?"

Li Xin cheng's expression darkened. With a flash of motion, he arrived by Xie Xiaosheng's side.

Placing his fingers on Xie Xiaosheng's pulse, he probed using the power of heaven and earth, immediately discovering that Xie Xiaosheng's dantian had been pulverized.

"Such ruthless cruelty! What is the meaning of this?" Li Xin cheng demanded in a deep voice.

"Grandpa Li, you must seek justice for me! This person stole pills from our Red Skull, and when I approached him to reason it out, he ambushed me, severely injuring me and destroying my dantian."

Xie Xiaosheng sounded deeply aggrieved, painting himself entirely as the victim.

Li Xin cheng was no fool; how could he fail to discern Xie Xiaosheng's falsehoods?

The Red Skull was, after all, one of the five major factions. If their pills were truly so easily stolen, the Red Skull would likely have disintegrated within half a month.

Nevertheless, he offered no refutation and instead aligned himself firmly with Xie Xiaosheng.

Standing up, Li Xin cheng fixed a frigid gaze upon Lin Yi. "You have quite the audacity! Not only did you steal pills, but you dared to commit violence within the martial arts bazaar. I sentence you to death right here and now."