Chapter Ninety: One Punch to Smash It Apart

Dragon Tiger Cliff.

Lin Yi gazed expressionlessly at the hulking Snake King across from him. He could see a small knot of vital energy gathering within the man’s body.

“Kid, if you hand over every spirit stone you’re carrying right now and kneel down to kowtow to me a few times, I might consider letting you off. How about it?”

The Snake King grinned. He did not truly mean to show mercy to Lin Yi; he only wanted to humiliate him thoroughly.

Besides, Lin Yi had a great many spirit stones on him. If he meant to hide them, they would be hard to find. Better to make Lin Yi hand them over willingly.

Lin Yi ignored him completely and said coolly, “Come.”

“Bold of you. To tell you the truth, I’ve already broken through to the grandmaster realm.”

As the Snake King finished speaking, a faint ring of white vital energy coiled about his body.

Those of lesser strength were pressed pale by the force of it, forced back more than ten steps before they could breathe easily again.

“So powerful. Is this what a grandmaster is like? Even from so far away, it makes one’s heart tremble,” someone exclaimed.

But more than awe, there was reverence. Without reaching the grandmaster realm—even at the threshold of it—one was nothing but a lamb waiting for the butcher’s knife.

How many martial artists spent their whole lives dreaming of breaking into that realm and being looked up to by others?

For the Snake King to reach grandmaster in his forties was proof enough of his terrifying potential.

Lin Yi’s expression remained calm. There was not the slightest trace of fear just because the Snake King had broken through.

That attitude enraged the Snake King.

He remembered that at the Martial Arts Association, Lin Yi had worn that same expression. Now that he himself had become a grandmaster, Lin Yi still looked the same.

This was clearly looking down on him.

The Snake King had always had a fiery temper, and this completely set him off.

“Tiger Demon Fist!”

With a thunderous roar, vital energy clung to his fist and actually transformed into a ferocious tiger’s head.

Lin Yi also threw out a light, almost careless punch, looking as though he had no strength in him at all.

And yet.

When the Snake King’s Tiger Demon Fist struck Lin Yi’s fist, it felt as though he had slammed into a mountain. One of his own fists went aching from the impact.

Still, the Snake King showed no fear. Instead, his blood surged hot.

“Good! Good! Again!”

He praised repeatedly, his fists flying like the wind, instantly enveloping Lin Yi.

To the onlookers, Lin Yi had already fallen completely onto the defensive, toyed with in the Snake King’s grasp.

But Lin Yi remained unhurried, catching every one of the Snake King’s fists with perfect precision.

“Tiger Demon Cannon!”

The Snake King’s eyes turned cold. All the phantoms of his fists gathered in an instant, preparing for this single devastating cannon punch.

Boom.

As the punch landed, the entire Dragon Tiger Cliff rang with a deafening explosion.

At once, everyone’s ears buzzed. Some martial artists who had only just advanced even began bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, a ghastly sight to behold.

And Xia Mo and Zhao Huan, who had just come up the path, only felt a violent shock in their ears, as though thunder had crashed to the ground beside them.

“Ah!”

The two women hurriedly clapped their hands over their ears.

This cannon punch of the Snake King’s was terrifying beyond measure, making everyone’s hearts quiver.

One blow from that fist—Lin Yi might well vanish on the spot.

“Die!”

With bloodshot eyes, the Snake King hurled the cannon punch at Lin Yi with all his might.

And yet, when his fist was still an inch from Lin Yi’s head, it was stopped by a faint layer of golden light.

The Snake King’s expression froze.

Lin Yi said calmly, “Who said you were the only grandmaster?”

“Impossible. How could you possibly be a grandmaster?”

The Snake King said in disbelief and fury. To break through to grandmaster, he had crossed a great desert, fought forest bears, and killed crocodiles in the lake.

After countless hardships, after squeezing every last ounce of potential from himself, he had finally achieved it.

And now this brat of a youth, this wastrel, had also become a grandmaster. How could he possibly accept that?

“There’s nothing impossible about it,” Lin Yi said with a faint smile.

“Damn you, Serpent Fist!”

Eyes red with rage, the Snake King’s hands turned into two venomous snakes, striking rapidly against the layer of vital energy around Lin Yi’s body.

But no matter how desperately he attacked, that nearly transparent barrier remained immovably solid.

By now, the crowd’s minds were a little stunned. They could hardly believe that Lin Yi, too, was a grandmaster.

The Snake King had only broken through in his forties, and Lin Yi looked to be little more than twenty.

At that age, they themselves had probably still been struggling below the innate level.

“Had enough?” Lin Yi asked evenly.

“Why don’t you just die? Why do you have to be alive?” the Snake King cried, on the verge of collapse.

He had thought that once he broke through, he would be able to trample Lin Yi beneath his feet. But instead, he discovered that the other man was still as tyrannical as ever.

Lin Yi clenched his fist and gave a soft shout.

“Cannon Punch!”

It was exactly the same as the Snake King’s cannon punch before, but its power was greater by far.

Boom!

A tremendous blast shook the air itself apart, and a wave of force instantly spread in all directions.

Every martial artist there felt as though they had fallen into a vast ocean, their bodies involuntarily driven backward.

The Snake King’s pupils contracted. Fear seized him. He had just turned to flee when Lin Yi’s cannon punch had already arrived before him.

Bang.

The Snake King was sent flying, and in midair he burst apart into a cloud of blood mist.

Silence.

The entire Dragon Tiger Cliff fell silent. No one had imagined the final outcome would be like this.

A grandmaster, obliterated so completely that not even bones remained.

Everyone looked up at the unwavering figure standing atop the mountain, then bowed their heads one by one, not daring to meet his gaze.

Xia Mo and Zhao Huan exchanged a look, both of them filled with deep fear.

They only felt nausea churning in their stomachs, as though they might retch, yet they did not dare to.

Without another word, they hurried back down the path.

Only when they reached the foot of the mountain did they finally vomit. To see a living man struck so completely apart by one punch without collapsing on the spot was already fortunate.

“Zhao Huan, did we just see wrong? Lin Yi killed someone with one punch,” Xia Mo said, terror in her eyes.

“No, we didn’t see wrong,” Zhao Huan replied with a bitter smile.

Only now did she understand why that older man had spoken of a fight to the death. She had thought it was merely a slogan, but it had been real.

No wonder those men in suits had driven them away. In a life-and-death duel between martial artists, ordinary people simply could not bear it.

“Do you think Lin Yi will take revenge on us?” Xia Mo asked fearfully, her whole body trembling.

“Probably not. If he wanted to deal with us, he would have done it already.”

Zhao Huan shook her head and tried to steady herself. “Now I understand why the Wang family addressed him as Mister Lin.”

Lin Yi was too terrifying. How could any normal person possibly punch a man apart like that?

“I understand now too,” Xia Mo said with a bitter laugh.

It was fortunate she had never actually rushed into anything foolish. Otherwise, whether she could still be alive would be another question entirely.

...

Lin Yi did not know about Zhao Huan and Xia Mo’s thoughts, and even if he had, he would not have cared.

In his eyes, those two were merely passersby, incapable of affecting his life in the slightest.

After a brief silence, someone shouted first, “Grandmaster Lin!”

The others quickly joined in, all calling him Grandmaster Lin.

Lin Yi glanced sidelong at the crowd, then gave a faint inward sigh. He should have changed his appearance ahead of time.

At the number of martial artists gathered here today, word would likely spread throughout Jiang Province in less than an hour.

For now, he did not wish to shatter the peace of his current life.

Lin Yi said in a deep voice, “Everyone, I hope you will keep what happened today confidential for the time being.”

With that, he walked down the mountain.

Wherever he passed, the crowd parted at once to make a path for him.

Back in Orchid City, as Lin Yi passed a place called Blue Wave Fisherman’s Lodge, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.

Chen Sen.

His face was flushed red as he crouched on the ground, retching again and again.

Lin Yi bought a bottle of mineral water from a nearby shop and handed it to him.

Chen Sen took the water by reflex and said, “Thanks.”

Then he paused, looked up quickly, and said in surprise, “L-Lin Yi? What are you doing here?”

“I was just walking around and ended up here. Why did you drink so much?” Lin Yi asked.

A trace of helplessness flashed in Chen Sen’s eyes, but he still laughed it off. “A coworker was treating us. As a little manager, of course I had to drink a bit more.”

Lin Yi knew Chen Sen was lying, but he did not expose him.

Everyone had their own life. Unless necessary, he did not want to interfere too much.

“Want to go in and have a drink?” Chen Sen asked politely.

“You know I don’t like drinking,” Lin Yi said, shaking his head.

“You’re still the same as before,” Chen Sen said with a laugh after taking a sip of mineral water.

At that moment, a sexy woman at the entrance of the lodge called in disgust, “Chen Sen, are you done vomiting yet? What a useless fool.”

As soon as Chen Sen heard her, his face darkened slightly. He forced a flattering smile and said, “Secretary Li, I’m coming.”

“Then hurry up. If you’re late, how are we supposed to keep the game going?” Secretary Li said with disdain, then swayed her slim waist and walked inside.

Chen Sen clenched his fists and took several hard swigs of mineral water.

Lin Yi asked, “If something’s bothering you, you can tell me about it.”

Chen Sen lit a cigarette in silence. His voice hoarse, he said, “Lin Yi, I’m sorry. I lied to you.”

Lin Yi said nothing, simply listening.

Chen Sen went on, “I’m not any kind of manager. I just drink with bosses for a living.”

“But I can’t hold my liquor. Once, one of the bosses called me a useless piece of trash. I couldn’t help snapping back, and he had someone slap me more than a dozen times. He said if I dared dodge even once, he’d make sure I couldn’t survive anywhere in Jiang Province.”

“I didn’t dare dodge. That time they beat me so badly I ended up in the hospital. I wanted to find another job, but I’m just a high school graduate. It isn’t easy to find a way to make a living here.”

“Lin Yi, there are some things I really don’t want to tell you. I was afraid you’d look down on me.”

When Chen Sen finished, he tossed the cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it hard under his heel, as though he wanted to trample all this unfairness flat.

“I would never look down on anyone,” Lin Yi said with a smile.

Chen Sen lightly punched him on the arm. “To hell with you. Is that how you comfort a brother?”