**[PRESENT]**
"BOOM!"
An earth-shaking sound erupted from the Lin family, rippling through the entire city and attracting everyone's attention.
In Lin Feng's rundown courtyard, he was about to do some basic body-tempering exercises when an extremely loud sound of explosion rang out, disrupting him.
"What the hell is happening out there?"
He muttered out loud, having an uneasy feeling about what was happening.
Then, a terrifying aura of a grandmaster enveloped the entire Lin clan.
"LIN FAMILY, GET OUT FOR THIS LORD!!!"
Following the aura, an arrogant voice sounded throughout the Lin estate.
"Damn it, who is it?"
"Who is so arrogant to come to our Lin family and make demands?"
"Yes, even if our clan is no longer the strongest force in the city, it is not a place any Tom, Dick, or Harry can act wild."
"But I feel that aura is very terrifying. It is likely a grandmaster."
"So what about a grandmaster? Don't our Lin family have grandmasters too? He is just one person, and we still have two."
"That is right. If we don't show him some color, everyone would think the Lin members are easy to bully."
The Lin family members said coldly as they picked their weapons and walked out one after another.
Hearing the arrogant voice, Lin Feng had a sinking feeling.
*'Could it be because of the earlier lightning, system?'*
[YES HOST]
*'What? But you said you concealed it.'*
[THE SYSTEM DID CONCEAL IT]
[THERE IS A PERSON AMONG THE INTRUDERS PROFICIENT IN LIGHTNING TECHNIQUES]
[ALTHOUGH HE CANNOT TRACK IT TO YOU, HE CAN SENSE THE PLACE WITH THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF LIGHTNING AND TRACKED IT HERE]
*'So that's it. This is bad.'*
[WARNING! WARNING! HOST IS NO MATCH FOR THE ENEMY. THE SYSTEM ADVISES NOT TO ENGAGE]
Lin Feng took a deep breath and nodded, then headed out to the scene.
When he arrived, he saw a lot of people, most of which were spectators standing outside the main gate, not daring to come closer. There were a few inside, seemingly of different factions, as some wore robes with symbols of the Alchemist Guild on them.
The other group in the main gate were six people, five of whom were standing behind a chubby middle-aged man.
In front of the chubby man were two people who usually guarded the gate of the clan, but were now lying dead on the floor.
There were also members of the Lin family who came out earlier. More than half of them were scattered across all corners of the place, nursing varying degrees of injury and groaning miserably. Some had broken arms, others had their legs broken, and a few even had their throats slashed, thrashing all over, evident that they would soon be joining the dead guards in Yellow Springs.
Lin Feng took in the miserable sight before him and clenched his fists in fury, wishing he could rush up to the fat man and fight him to the death.
But he immediately calmed down, knowing the other person was a grandmaster, and even if he rushed over and used all his strength, he would be killed in one palm without scratching his defense.
*'How dare that man harm them? Isn't he afraid of the Lin family retribution?'*
He stared at the other person with resentment because although the members of the Lin family were profiteers who became cold when the old him was crippled, the old him did not feel any hatred towards any clan member and, in fact, still had some good memories. After all, blood is thicker than water.
He then turned over to the spectators, hoping to get some information about the opponent, and just like he hoped, there were people who just arrived and wanted to know what was going on.
"Hello, Senior Daoist. I just got here. Can you tell me what is going on? Who is blocking the Lin family gate?" one resident cupped his hands and bowed slightly to another in greeting.
Others who just arrived also perked up their ears to listen.
"See that chubby guy? He's a grandmaster powerhouse and the Zhao family third elder, Zhao Lee," seemingly pleased by being called senior, the man explained the situation.
"WHAT?! Zhao family grandmaster!"
Everyone was shocked, including Lin Feng. It was clear he did not recognize the Zhao elder, but how could he? It is common sense to everyone in Qinghe City that grandmasters were the peak-level fighters in the town, and each of them were ancestor-level figures in their respective powers, summoning wind and rain with a turn of their palm. How can they be met by just anyone?
*'Zhao clan, Zhao clan again. Are you really forming an endless feud with me?'*
He said in his mind, grinding his teeth because of that hateful clan.
"Well, when he arrived, he first killed the guards and broke the gate without even speaking. Then, when the Lin household arrived, or at least most of them, he started demanding they hand over the treasure that attracted the lightning," the man narrating continued.
"Hiss... there is such a treasure that can cause that kind of world-ending thunder?" others mumbled among themselves.
Hearing that, Lin Feng's heart was unbalanced.
*'Sure enough, they found it.'*
"HEHE, so shameless. The Zhao family is too shameless. They actually used such a despicable means to frame the Lin house. A treasure that can cause that lightning? Let alone a grandmaster, even a king cannot get it. Although I haven't seen a king-level being, I feel that lightning will kill it too. I'm disappointed with the Zhao clan," the man who asked shook his head in disapproval.
Hearing him, the people around him paled, their bodies trembling.
"Shhh! Are you tired of living? He will hear you, and your life would be finished, not just you but your entire lineage!" they said hurriedly, distancing themselves from him in fear of being implicated.
The man realized what he had just said and shook in fear, praying to the heavens for a fluke.
But unfortunately, when one reaches the Martial Warrior realm, one can easily hear even a mosquito's wingbeat from a distance of 100 meters, let alone a Martial Grandmaster.
Hearing the man's voice, Zhao Lee turned his attention to him and glanced at him like looking at a dead man.
"Are the affairs of my Zhao family something ants can discuss?"
Zhao snorted coldly and released his pressure.
The snort sounded like thunder in the ears and even caused those with weaker cultivation to bleed from their ears. Plus, the released pressure left everyone spectating sprawled on the floor.
The man, not minding the pain, hurriedly stood up from the floor and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Senior, please forgive me. It was a momentary slip of the tongue."
He knocked his head on the ground even while bleeding from head injuries. He didn't stop kowtowing.
Zhao Lee didn't even spare him a glance. He waved his hand, and a terrifying fire-attributed Qi enveloped the air, making the atmosphere temperature shoot up significantly.
It condensed into a giant palm and slapped towards the kowtowing man.
"NOOO!"
"ZHAO LEE, YOU HEARTLESS BEAST! YOU WILL DIE AN EVEN WORSE DEATH THAN MINE! I'M WAITING FOR YOU UNDE—"
Seeing it was no use begging, the man began to curse the Zhao elder, but midway through the curse, he was slapped into a bloody meat paste on the ground.
"HISSS!!"
Everyone collectively drew in a cold breath at the cruelty. They were once again in awe of the grandmaster's power.
Watching the man be killed like trash, Lin Feng's face turned sickly pale. He felt his guts rising up to his mouth.
After all, a few hours ago he was just an ordinary youth from Earth whose only time seeing blood was when he accidentally cut himself. Now, to see a bloody corpse deformed beyond recognition was still hard for him.
He was once again reminded of the cruelty of the world he was reborn in.
*'I must get stronger quickly so as not to end up that way by accidentally offending a powerhouse.'*
He steeled his resolve to get stronger faster.
After killing the man, Zhao Lee just turned back to the rest of the Lin family like he had done something ordinary. As for the man's threat, he didn't take it seriously.
"Now I will ask again. Hand over the treasure, and I will spare your lives."
"Yeah, you Lin clan should know what's good for you."
"Yes, how can a small family hold such a treasure? The treasure should belong to Mr. Zhao Lee."
"Mr. Zhao is invincible!"
The leader of the Zhao search party, Zhao Lei, and the others berated them while flattering their third elder.
"We don't have any treasure!"
"We don't know what you are talking about!"
"Zhao Lee, don't go too far! When the grand elder and third elder arrive, let's see how you can be arrogant!"
The Lin family members argued back despite the embarrassment. They were still a grandmaster clan.
"I will give you five breaths to decide."
Five breaths quickly passed.
No treasure.
Zhao Lee's face quickly turned sinister.
"Since no one wants to speak up, don't blame me for being ruthless."
He unleashed his aura fully, pressing everyone into the ground, attempting to crush them all with just his aura, just like before.
Lin Feng felt as though a mountain was crushing him, but he refused to kneel.
*'System, can you remove this pressure?'*
[A MERE GRANDMASTER. OF COURSE THE SYSTEM CAN]
*'Then do it. Do it quickly. Remove it!!'*
He yelled at the system.
[HOST COMMAND RECEIVED]
Lin Feng felt the pressure was gone, and he returned to normal, but pretended to still be affected so as not to draw too much attention to himself.
Zhao Lee condensed a giant flame hand covering everyone.
Lin Feng couldn't do nothing any longer. He was about to rush up and try to resist when—
"BANG!!!"
---