The Lin family's mine lay beyond the city of Qing County, nestled in the stony ridges of Azure Cliff Mountain.
At this moment, several bodies of Lin family disciples lay sprawled beside the mine, their wounds ghastly and torn.
A dozen more sat slumped or leaning against the rock wall, each of them bloodied and bruised, eyes burning with fury.
"That Blood Spirit Grass was clearly found in our own mine's crevice! The Chen family bastards are pushing us too far!"
The speaker, a young man named Lin Chuan, son of the Lin family's Fourth Elder, clenched his fists, trembling with rage.
"The Chen family thinks they can do whatever they want just because they've got a Bone Forging cultivator on their side—disgraceful!"
"Yeah! They not only stole our Blood Spirit Grass, but they even killed our men! Those dogs deserve to die!"
Angry voices rose one after another, echoing through the rocky gorge.
Even Steward Zhang, the overseer of the mine, was seething, his chest heaving with suppressed rage.
"I've already sent word to the family," he said darkly. "The Patriarch will dispatch our experts soon. The Chen family won't get away with this!"
Lin Chuan's eyes were bloodshot as he ground his teeth. "That's right! They can't!"
The gathered disciples burned with anger and humiliation, waiting eagerly for the Lin family's reinforcements to arrive and avenge them.
A short while later, two figures appeared along the mountain path leading to the mine—one man and one woman.
The man's robe was as white as freshly fallen snow, and the woman's green dress swayed gracefully in the wind.
But when the disciples recognized the man's face, their expressions turned odd.
The eldest young master, Lin Yi.
What was he doing here?
Lin Chuan's face twisted in disgust. "Why aren't you hiding back at home where you belong? What are you doing here, getting in the way?"
Lin Yi's tone was flat. "The Lin and Chen families have clashed here. Naturally, I came to settle it."
That statement drew an instant chorus of laughter.
Lin Chuan threw his head back, sneering as though he'd just heard the funniest joke of his life.
"Settle it?"
"With what? That crippled body of yours? Your dantian's shattered, your meridians destroyed! Don't make me laugh!"
Steward Zhang tried to smooth things over, though his tone carried the same hidden contempt. "Young Master, this isn't a place for you. Please, return to the estate before you make trouble for yourself."
His words were polite enough, but the disdain in his eyes was impossible to miss—he looked at Lin Yi as though he were a performing clown.
Lin Yi's face didn't change. Without a word, he continued walking until he stood right beside Lin Chuan.
"Looks like you haven't suffered enough yet."
Before Lin Chuan could react, a boot filled his vision—
Boom!
A thunderous impact exploded through the air as Lin Yi's heel smashed into his face, driving him headfirst into the rocky ground.
Stone shards scattered. Dust billowed.
Lin Chuan's world went black. Pain surged through his skull like molten fire, his mind blanking out as he lay there dazed.
He was injured, true, and could barely muster a fraction of his strength—but even at half power, a fifth-stage Body Tempering cultivator shouldn't have been helpless!
How—how could this be happening?!
The surrounding disciples stood frozen, wide-eyed in disbelief.
Even wounded, Lin Chuan shouldn't have been this easily crushed—not by the so-called "useless" eldest young master!
What in the world was happening here?
Blood trickled from Lin Chuan's nose and mouth as he stammered, trembling, "Y-you… your cultivation—did you recover it?"
Lin Yi didn't answer. He simply crouched down, his handsome face unreadable, and pressed a finger to Lin Chuan's forehead.
Crack!
Another brutal impact. Lin Chuan's head slammed into the rock again, leaving a deep crater in the ground.
And still Lin Yi didn't stop.
His arm drew back, his fist arcing down once more.
Boom!Boom!Boom!
The dull, heavy thuds echoed again and again, shaking the earth with every strike.
By the time Lin Yi finally straightened, Lin Chuan's head was half-buried in the dirt, his body limp like a broken doll.
[You have committed violence against Lin Chuan. +100 Violence Points]
Lin Yi rose to his feet, gazing coldly at the beaten figure on the ground.
"If I hear another word from your mouth, I won't mind adding another corpse to this mine."
Silence fell over the mountain like a shroud.
Every Lin family disciple stood stiff as statues, their faces pale with shock.
This… this was too savage.
Was this youth before them truly the ruined eldest young master they all thought was spent?
Lin Chuan's head lay in a bloody ruin. He could not lift himself from the earth; the contempt and scorn that had once burned in his eyes had been swept away, replaced by a raw, animal fear. He could not make sense of it—how could a man declared broken become something so terrifying, so merciless?
Nearby, Steward Zhang's face had gone the color of old iron. He said in a low, harsh voice, "Young Master, Lin Chuan was gravely hurt defending our mine. Shouldn't we be demanding justice from the Chen family? To beat our own kin so surely, this is excessive!"
He was the highest cultivator at the mine, a ninth-stage Body Tempering—that was why he'd stepped forward. But before the last syllable left his mouth, Lin Yi stood at his side.
Smack—!
A crisp slap cracked through the air, and Steward Zhang felt a crushing force across his cheek. He flew back dozens of meters and slammed against the cliff face with a thunderous impact.
The stone took an imprint of his body.
Zhang hung against the rock, blood spewing from his mouth. His face was a ruin—bones shattered and rearranged into something monstrous.
[You have committed violence against Steward Zhang. +20 Violence Points][Violence Points: 780]
Lin Yi folded his hand away slowly and looked at the man crumpled against the wall with an impatient calm.
"When your fists aren't harder than mine, don't come lecturing me about any goddamn principles."
Silence fell like snow. Steward Zhang's pupils contracted until they were pinpricks. He stared at the youth—astonished, terrified, unable to reconcile what he'd just seen.
He'd never thought that, even if Lin Yi had regained some cultivation, he could ever be Zhang's match. After all, Zhang was a ninth-stage Body Tempering—one breath away from Bone Forging. Yet a single slap had sent him flying.
Everyone in the mine watched Lin Yi with faces gone pale, their hearts knocking against their ribs. Lin Chuan lay half-buried in the dirt, mouth foaming, dumbfounded that even Zhang had been trampled by this supposed wreck.
Lin Yi ignored their shocked expressions. He fixed his gaze on a Lin disciple and said flatly, "Take me to the Chen family's people."
The young disciple's body trembled; he still hadn't recovered from the earlier horror. He whispered, "Young Master, are you going to face the Chen family alone?"
Lin Yi nodded once.
To him, the Chen family and their men were no more than insects.
"But… but—" the disciple faltered, troubled. "They have a third-stage Bone Forging powerhouse stationed with them. If you go alone—"
He'd seen Lin Yi's methods and knew the young master was no longer the same man. Still, a third-stage Bone Forging cultivator in Qing County was an apex force; the disciple's heart could not help but quake.
"Just lead the way," Lin Yi said, waving him off with a flick of impatience.
The disciple dared not protest. He bowed quickly. "Yes, Young Master. I will show the way."
So, with a stiff resolve, he led Lin Yi and Gu Xi toward the Chen family's mine.
From the crater in the dirt, Lin Chuan managed to hoist his head and watch the young master's retreating figure. The sight knotted something in his chest—this youth was going to confront the Chen family alone. Whether he truly could take on their Bone Forging powerhouse, Lin Chuan could not tell; all he knew was he felt small and foolish next to him.
Steward Zhang hauled himself from the cliff with a groan. He watched Lin Yi's back and sighed, low and long. "Young Master's going to take a terrible loss," he muttered.
Even if Lin Yi could match the Chen family's Bone Forging man, Zhang thought, the Chen family would surely have summoned reinforcements to meet any Lin retaliation. How could Lin Yi possibly handle so many?
…
At the Chen family mine, in a shabby wooden hut, a middle-aged man in purple robes sat at a table, a single Blood Spirit Grass displayed before him.
"What a stroke of luck today," he said with relish. "Just wandering the mine, and we stumble on treasure—thanks to that Lin brat."
This man was Chen Qi, the Chen family's second master and the third-stage Bone Forging powerhouse who'd been stationed at their mine the day before.
A worried steward at his side asked, "Second Master, if the Lin family sends fighters to avenge themselves, what shall we do?"
Chen Qi laughed it off with easy confidence. "They'll send people; I already sent word to my family. Chen's experts will be here soon."
He smiled, pleased and untroubled. "I want to see whether the Lin family will tear the Chen family apart over something so small."