"Master, there's no need for you to act against this brat. Let your disciple handle him."
Lin Zhuang said.
"You are not his match."
Su Lingchen replied.
As soon as those words fell, the crowd erupted in shock.
Su Lingchen actually said Lin Zhuang wasn't Yang Cheng's opponent?
This was unbelievable.
Everyone knew Lin Zhuang had once defeated Qin Wuya, a third layer Martial Sovereign.
But Yang Cheng was only eleven years old.
If anyone else had said such a thing, people would have laughed it off as a joke.
Yet the one speaking was Lin Zhuang's own master, the peak Martial Sovereign Su Lingchen.
Lin Zhuang suddenly sobered.
He recalled the earlier spiritual attack. His body shuddered, and his face paled.
He realized his anger had clouded his head.
With spiritual power that terrifying, Yang Cheng really might not be someone he could withstand.
"Yang Cheng, you killed my disciple Chu Chen, yet I still gave you a chance. You should be grateful to me. Why do you hate me so deeply?"
Su Lingchen asked.
"You shouldn't have laid your hand on an innocent girl."
Yang Cheng answered.
"Just for a maid?"
Su Lingchen frowned. "Those who achieve greatness don't fuss over trifles. A mere maid— even if she dies, countless more can be found at any time."
"If you cling to such things, then I can only say you're far too young and ruled by emotion."
"Is that so?"
Yang Cheng's face was calm.
Boom!
The next instant, he struck.
He threw a fist straight at Lin Zhuang.
Yang Cheng himself wasn't sure how strong he had become.
Before his last seclusion, without even a golden dantian, he could easily crush Mo Qingxuan, a second-layer Martial Sovereign.
Now, he possessed a ten-star Golden Dantian, and his cultivation had risen from the first layer of Martial Saint to the seventh.
How strong was he truly?
He would find out today.
This punch didn't even use a martial technique. It was pure true qi.
In an instant, his qi-formed palm loomed like a mountain, crashing down toward Lin Zhuang.
"Not good!"
Lin Zhuang's face turned ashen. He felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
"Qingming Nine Seals!"
He tried to block the strike.
But in just a moment, his Qingming Nine Seals shattered.
Under countless watching eyes, Lin Zhuang was slammed into the ground by Yang Cheng's palm.
That palm gouged out a massive crater in the earth.
What shocked people even more was this—
Lin Zhuang lay there, barely alive.
His bones and organs were shattered.
His face was twisted with terror, regret, and unwillingness.
If he had the chance to do it over, he would never have provoked Yang Cheng. He would never have leapt down from the mountain.
Up on the mountain, even if Yang Cheng wanted to kill him, it wouldn't have been easy.
But he had jumped down himself, landing less than five zhang from Yang Cheng, practically handing him the chance to strike.
Lin Zhuang's bamboo hat was also smashed apart, revealing his face.
"That face… doesn't it look like Zhuang Yi?"
"More like Zhuang Yi's father, the second master of the Zhuang clan, Zhuang Mo."
"Wait, I heard Zhuang Yi had a twin brother named 'Zhuang Lin' who vanished seventeen years ago. And that was exactly when Su Lingchen left the Wasteland Realm."
"Could Lin Zhuang actually be Zhuang Lin?"
The crowd was in an uproar.
If that were true, then Lin Zhuang deserved to be cursed by all of Great Zhou.
Born of Great Zhou, yet aiding the Great Zhao Empire against his own people— he was nothing less than a traitor.
And the clamor of the crowd only agitated Lin Zhuang further.
"Puh."
Lin Zhuang spat blood on the spot, then his breath ceased completely.
"He's dead."
"At this point, who he really was doesn't even matter."
"Unbelievable. He couldn't even withstand one palm from Yang Cheng."
When they felt Lin Zhuang's aura vanish, everyone was shaken to the core.
This was a Martial Sovereign!
And yet such an existence had been killed instantly by Yang Cheng's single palm?
Even the Martial Sovereigns present felt a suffocating sense of absurdity.
It could be said—
This scene had completely shattered people's understanding and overturned common sense.
When did a Martial Sovereign become this weak?
Boom!
From Old Yin Mountain Hall, a terrifying aura erupted like a volcano.
It was Su Lingchen!
He had been utterly enraged.
"Already angry?"
Yang Cheng said indifferently, "You were the one who said it. Those who achieve greatness don't fuss over trifles. A mere disciple, even if he dies, countless more can be found at any time. I advise you not to be ruled by emotion."
The crowd held their breath.
That retort had struck back like a boomerang.
The exact words Su Lingchen had thrown at Yang Cheng earlier were now being returned to him word for word.
And from Su Lingchen's reaction, it was clear he didn't carry them off as lightly as he claimed.
It showed plainly— Su Lingchen was a hypocrite, speaking double standards.
"Very good."
Su Lingchen wasn't ordinary.
In just an instant, he suppressed his fury, though his aura turned icy cold.
"Yang Cheng, if your purpose was to provoke me, then you've succeeded."
"The price is that today, no one will stop me from killing you."
As his last word fell, all of Old Yin Mountain trembled.
The ground around the mountain quaked as if in an earthquake.
"Indeed, very good."
Yang Cheng locked eyes with Su Lingchen. "Today, either you kill me, or I kill you."
Boom!
The ground beneath Yang Cheng's feet exploded.
Earth and stone several zhang deep shattered into rubble.
His body then shot upward like a cannonball.
He directly charged toward the mountain.
A violent storm spread out from his body in every direction.
Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, within only a few breaths, Yang Cheng had already reached the summit of Old Yin Mountain.
Boom!
Yang Cheng's body slammed into the spot where Su Lingchen had been sitting.
That section of the cliff collapsed instantly from the impact.
But Su Lingchen was no longer there.
At some point, he had appeared atop a large tree nearby.
"Hahaha, I thought this trip to the Wasteland Realm would be dull. Who would've thought you'd bring me such a surprise, Yang Cheng?"
Su Lingchen's voice boomed like a great bell, shaking the clouds above until they quivered.
He stood on the treetop as though on solid ground, his body perfectly steady. Threads of lightning arced faintly across his frame.
Yang Cheng stared at him. "Su Lingchen, I hope you don't disappoint me."
The crowd collectively sucked in cold breaths.
Yang Cheng had actually told Su Lingchen, a peak Martial Sovereign, not to disappoint him?
Even with Su Lingchen's composure, those words stirred his anger.
"Interesting. It seems I've been underestimated."
Su Lingchen inhaled deeply.
Rumble!
The air currents in every direction rushed wildly as if drawn into his lungs.
Then he exhaled at Yang Cheng.
That breath instantly transformed into a sharp sword of air that shot straight at him.
The crowd at the base of the mountain watched in horror.
With that single exhale, over ten trees in front of Su Lingchen were pierced through.
In the blink of an eye, that air-sword slashed directly toward Yang Cheng.