At that, Chen Qi and the others laughed outright.
Chen Yan covered her mouth in a silk-clad hand and cooed with a teasing lilt, "Oh? You've come to take the Blood Spirit Grass?"
"You must be joking."
Who in their right mind would see a cripple with no cultivation swagger up and demand a treasure? The idea alone was ludicrous.
Lin Yi smiled, calm and unimpressed. "No sickness," he said. "I just figured my fists are hard enough, so I came."
A booming laugh from Chen Mang rolled out like a boulder. Chen Qi too shook his head, amusement clear as he looked at Lin Yi the way one looks at a fool entertaining himself.
"This boy's lost his mind. No need for words — toss him out of the mine," Chen Qi said.
Then his eyes cut to Gu Xi, cold as winter. "Little girl, if I'm not mistaken, you're Chen Shan's promised—yet here you are tangled with another man. You've forgotten the Chen family's name." The threat in his voice was hungry.
Gu Xi's face went deathly pale. The Chen family would not let her family slide.
Lin Yi's reply was icy and casual: "You won't get the chance."
Chen Qi sneered; the boy sounded crazier by the second. And then—before anyone could even register motion—something dark and swift flickered across his vision.
A fist, like a press of storm-clouds and shattered rock, smashed toward his face.
Death rode that blow. In an instant, Chen Qi smelled his own end.
Panic flared. He scrambled to react, surging internal qi, throwing up a palm shield of bronze-hued defense.
Boom.
Fist met palm in a thunderous detonation. And then, to everyone's horror, Chen Qi's body erupted like a firework struck at point-blank range—flesh and bone tearing apart in a spray of red. The sky seemed to rain blood.
[You have slain Chen Qi. Violence Points +400]
The hut fell silent as if the air itself had been struck dumb. Chen Yan, Chen Mang, and the other family heads stood frozen, color drained from their faces, their bodies trembling as if struck by lightning.
One punch. One single, impossible punch. The Chen family's second master—a third-stage Bone Forging strong—was gone, annihilated with nothing left.
And the hand that did it belonged to Lin Yi, the ruined young master the county once pitied.
The Lin disciple who'd guided Lin Yi here stood aghast, his mind emptied of reason. He had feared whether the young master could match Chen Qi, never that he'd be dispatched in a heartbeat.
Gu Xi's chest heaved. Even having seen Lin Yi fall Shen Yuheng before, revisiting the scene left her trembling. The thing was monstrous, terrifying.
Lin Yi turned to look at Chen Yan and the others. His voice held the faintest chill. "I said my fists are hard enough—believe me now?"
They nodded without thinking, faces drained of color. Even the boisterous, hulking Chen Mang had gone still, stripped of swagger.
Lin Yi asked, "Where is the Blood Spirit Grass?"
Chen Yan hurried forward, cooing, "It's in this hut—I'll fetch it for Master Lin now."
Her words had barely fallen when Lin Yi's fist slammed into her chest.
Thud.
A devastating force erupted. A massive, gaping wound tore through her body; blood gushed like a broken dam. She staggered, life draining fast. Her last, shallow words were frosty and faint: "I'll take it myself—you needn't trouble."
[You have slain Chen Yan. Violence Points +400]
The remaining Chen elders' faces slickened with cold sweat. "Run!" Chen Mang roared. "Get out of here—anyone who can run, run!"
But before he could move, a fist appeared above his head, descended like a thunderbolt, and the impact made the mountain itself tremble.
Boom.
Chen Mang's skull exploded; red and white matter sprayed outward. The great man collapsed in an explosive hush.
[You have slain Chen Mang. Violence Points +400]
A white streak cut the air. Two dull, relentless impacts followed.
Thud.Thud.
The other two Chen heads shattered like struck fireworks, their bodies cleanly wiped away in a spray of gore.
[You have slain a Bone Forging cultivator. Violence Points +400][You have slain a Bone Forging cultivator. Violence Points +400]
[Violence Points: 2780]
Everyone—Chen family disciples, Gu Xi, and the Lin guide—drew breath as if chilled by a knife. Four of Qing County's most renowned Bone Forging masters had been obliterated in a span of heartbeats, each felled by the same youth as if he tore them out of a painting. It felt unreal, as though they were caught inside a nightmare.
Lin Yi strode into the hut, took the Blood Spirit Grass, and slipped it into a small wooden box he'd prepared. He returned to Gu Xi and said, without flourish, "Let's go."
Gu Xi blinked, shaken back to herself, and hurried a nod. "Thank you," she whispered.
Lin Yi paused, faintly puzzled. "Thank me for what?"
She pressed her lips together and said, soft and urgent, "Chen Qi said he'd go to my family… You killed him. I should be the one to thank you."
Lin Yi resumed walking. "I would have killed them even if you hadn't said that."
Gu Xi chased after him in quick, nervous steps. "That's not the same—"
"Whatever you say." Lin Yi didn't bother to argue.
…
Back at the Lin mine, Lin Chuan lay limp in the dirt and looked at Steward Zhang weakly. "Zhang—do you think the waste… the eldest young master can take the Blood Spirit Grass back for us and avenge us?"
Zhang gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Not likely."
"Before the eldest young master was ruined, his cultivation at most reached Bone Forging—second rank. Though he's miraculously recovered some strength, it's hard to imagine he's beyond that now."
"And the Chen family has a third-rank Bone Forging strong," Lin Chuan acknowledged.
Zhang went on, voice heavy with analysis: "Besides, the Chen family is not fools. We'd call reinforcements, and so would they. Both sides would pull in their experts…"
He let the thought hang—the implication was clear.
Lin Chuan sighed. "Looks like our eldest young master is finished."
Despite what Lin Yi had done to him earlier, he still hoped Lin Yi might prevail—he was, after all, of the same house. But the chance seemed thin.
Just then, three figures approached slowly from the Chen mine.
Lin Chuan and Steward Zhang looked up. It was Lin Yi and his two companions. Lin Yi's expression was calm, and he showed no sign of injury. Lin Chuan blinked, puzzled. "They just… let him go?"
Zhang was silent for a moment, then said, "He is the Lin family master's son; the Chen family might have feared pushing things too far because of his identity."
Lin Chuan nodded, thoughtful. The reasoning made sense.
Then Butler Zhang struggled to his feet, respectfully approaching Lin Yi.
"Young Master, thank goodness you're unharmed. The Chen family didn't give you any trouble, did they?"
"No," Lin Yi replied with a light nod before turning toward Gu Xi. "We should head back."
Gu Xi agreed softly, and the two left the mine together.
Once they were out of sight, Butler Zhang immediately called over the Lin clan disciple who had accompanied Lin Yi earlier. His face was full of curiosity.
"What on earth happened in the Chen family's mine? Tell me everything!"
The disciple swallowed hard, then recounted the entire story in vivid detail.
When Zhang and Lin Chuan heard how Lin Yi had torn through the Chen family's territory as if it were empty ground—killing five Bone-Refining experts with a single punch each—they both froze in stunned silence.
Then came the chill of realization.
Thankfully, Lin Yi had shown mercy earlier. Had he truly wanted them dead, they wouldn't have even known how they died.
Too terrifying.
——
On the way back, Gu Xi furrowed her brows, worry clouding her voice.
"Lin Yi, you've completely offended both the Shen family and the Chen family. They won't let this go so easily."
She hesitated, lowering her voice even further.
"And the Shen patriarch was close with the county magistrate of Qingshan. I'm afraid even the magistrate might get involved. What will you do then?"
Jiang Yunzhou—the magistrate of Qingshan County—was a man of unfathomable strength, far surpassing anyone else in the region. He was the undisputed number one of Qingshan.
If he chose to act, how could Lin Yi possibly resist?
But Lin Yi merely stretched lazily and replied, almost absentmindedly, "I plan to get some sleep first. I'm a little tired."
Gu Xi was speechless.
This man was practically declaring war on the entire county—and he was thinking about taking a nap?
His heart was way too big.
"You shouldn't be so careless all the time," she said helplessly. "You should at least be cautious."
Lin Yi chuckled softly. "They just don't seem worth worrying about."
Gu Xi glanced at him, doubt flickering in her eyes.
Could his strength really surpass even Jiang Yunzhou's?
Impossible. Even if he had never been crippled, there was no way he could reach that level.
Still, she bit her lip and said quietly, "Just… don't let your guard down."
With that, she fell silent.
Before long, the two parted ways.
Lin Yi returned to the Lin family's small courtyard.
Hearing that Lin Yi had come back, the third master, Lin Zhou, hurried over, his face anxious.
"Young Master, about the situation at the mine—"
"It's been handled," Lin Yi said flatly.
He placed the wooden box containing the Blood Spirit Grass on the stone table.
Lin Zhou let out a deep sigh of relief. As a family elder, he had been extremely worried about the matter.
"As long as you're safe, Young Master. In that case, I'll leave you to rest—"
"Wait," Lin Yi interrupted. "Take this Blood Spirit Grass and deliver it to Lin Yao."
Lin Yao was Lin Zhou's only daughter.
"Young Master, I can't possibly accept this—it's far too precious!" Lin Zhou said hastily, waving his hands.
Lin Yi gave him a side glance. "It's not for you, so what are you refusing for?"
Then, with a wave of his hand, he added, "I'm tired. You can go now."
Lin Zhou could only bow and obey, carefully taking the box before leaving the courtyard.
Once alone, Lin Yi opened his system interface.
[Violence Points: 2780]
He spent 1500 points to raise his cultivation to Meridian Clearing Realm, Second Layer.
The remaining points he didn't bother to spend—second-tier techniques were beneath him now.
Closing the interface, he lay back on the recliner and closed his eyes.
——
That night.
News of Lin Yi slaughtering the Shen patriarch and his wife, and later five Bone-Refining experts of the Chen family atop the Qingya Mine, spread across Qingshan County like wildfire.
Even his previous massacre of the Lin clan—something long whispered but never confirmed—was now laid bare for all to hear.
The entire county was in uproar.
Everyone was shocked beyond belief.
Not long ago, the young master of the Lin family was said to have been crippled, ruined beyond recovery.
Now, not only had he regained his strength, but he had become a terrifying force of nature.
It was absurd. Unbelievable.
——
Inside the Shen family's main hall, the air was thick with dread.
Several of the family's core members sat around the table, their expressions grim.
The eldest master of the Shen family finally spoke, voice low and heavy:
"Never thought that useless Lin brat would become something this dangerous… even the patriarch fell by his hand."