Chapter 212 – A Grandmaster’s Stature in Vain

Sun Zhengli’s gaze moved from Liu Daoyuan to another person nearby.

“Lu Yuan!”

A quick, stifled exclamation sounded beside him.

Sun Zhengli glanced sideways, seeing Sun Zhihua hastily covering his own mouth, his face betraying a sense of guilt.

At this moment, they saw the handsome young man leisurely stride into the center of the yard, positioning himself in front of Liu Daoyuan and the heart refining sect members.

He chatted and grinned with the heart refining sect members.

As Sun Zhengli listened, his expression gradually turned peculiar.

He turned to Sun Zhihua and said, “We don’t need to stop you from befriending this Crane Style kid anymore.

How much strength does he think he has? Daring to challenge the heart refining sect here?

Tonight, even if he doesn’t die, he’ll be utterly incapacitated…”

Although Sun Zhihua was equally shocked by the handsome young man’s audacity, a hint of hesitation crept onto his face.

“From what I know about Lu Yuan, he wouldn’t do something reckless…”

Sun Zhihua muttered to himself, glancing up to see Sun Zhengli’s expression darken further.

Remembering the previous scolding, he quickly shut his mouth, shrinking into a docile stance.

Sun Zhengli, furious, jabbed a finger at his forehead and scolded, “Your brain must be fried as well…”

Before he could finish, the sound of urgent physical combat erupted from the yard.

Instinctively, they both looked in that direction.

When they saw the scene clearly, Sun Zhihua stood dumbfounded, his mouth agape in shock.

As for Sun Zhengli…

He was like someone whose throat had been viciously slashed, making guttural “ho ho ho” sounds.

For a long moment, he couldn’t utter a single word.

…

“Liu Daoyuan, how dare you come back? Wasn’t the beating this afternoon enough? Are you here to court death?!”

In the vast yard of a villa, an old man, appearing to be in his fifties but radiantly healthy and vigorous, stared intently at Liu Daoyuan, his voice cold and harsh.

Standing beside the old man was a thirty-something young man, with cropped hair and a robust build. He crossed his arms over his chest, exuding a powerful aura of confidence and poise. He said very little, merely casting a disdainful and indifferent glance at Liu Daoyuan and Lu Yuan, his chin slightly lifted.

“Still planning to let your disciple fight? My disciple, Xue Guangyao, grasped True Intent at thirty and has the potential of a Grandmaster. Do you think your crane style True Disciple can measure up?”

The heart refining sect leader sneered, his taunting words relentless.

However, neither Liu Daoyuan nor Lu Yuan responded to his provocations. They continued conversing among themselves.

“Shall I make a move?”

“Go ahead. That old man talks too much. I should have shut him up years ago,” Liu Daoyuan replied coldly.

“Alright.”

Lu Yuan nodded, moving toward the chattering old man and the composed young man with an air of nonchalance.

“He’s really going to make a move? Ha!”

The heart refining sect leader laughed derisively, turning to the young man beside him. “Cripple him. Show him how the gap between people can sometimes be even wider than the gap between humans and pigs.”

He then stepped back, watching with a cold smirk.

The young man didn’t say a word, merely acknowledging with a brief “Mm” before focusing his gaze on Lu Yuan. Arms still crossed, he watched with interest as Lu Yuan approached.

Lu Yuan’s face remained serene, his steps steady but gradually quickening. As he drew closer, he whispered softly.

“Ethereal Penglai…”

With the utterance of the last two words, he leaped into the air, executing a simple, unpretentious kick forward.

Seeing the incoming attack, the young man’s lips twisted into a mocking smile. He lazily extended a hand to catch Lu Yuan’s flying leg.

However…

What seemed to be a slow whip-like kick suddenly expanded in size and was enveloped in a golden glow just before impact.

The entire demeanor of the attack shifted dramatically. The original ethereal and elusive intent of the leg techniques vanished, replaced by an overwhelming force akin to a collapsing pillar or an unstoppable mountain.

“Boom—”

The kick even tore through the air with a thunderous sound accompanied by visible streaks of white energy waves.

In less than a millisecond, the attack’s power had transformed dramatically!

The young man’s expression changed instantly.

Originally, he intended to counter with one hand, but he now used both hands, emitting a blinding white glow of inner strength from his entire body.

Following this, an intangible, air-distorting True Intent coalesced.

“Mind Monkey Technique!”

He shouted, thrusting both hands forward.

The monkey-shaped True Intent above his head mirrored the push, aiming straight for the terrifying, mighty leg.

Then…

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Two explosive sounds echoed.

The white inner strength around the young man’s hands and body and the intangible True Intent above his head shattered sequentially.

His palms and arms emitted a series of bone-cracking noises.

His broken arms were forced against his chest, which then caved in with a loud “crack.”

Finally, his entire body…

With a massive “boom,” it was as if he were hit head-on by a truck going 180 mph, launching him backward like a cannonball.

He crashed somewhere in the distance, producing a series of resounding thuds.

“Whoosh—”

Lu Yuan retracted his leg and landed lightly on the ground, as if he had just completed a warm-up exercise, looking relaxed and at ease.

Dead silence.

The previously smirking heart refining sect leader was frozen in place, his expression rigid, mouth agape. He looked as if he had been struck hard on the head, standing motionless with his mind buzzing.

The other heart refining sect disciples, who had been eagerly watching for a show, wore faces as if they had seen a ghost.

Lu Yuan turned his gaze to Liu Daoyuan and said, “Teacher, how was that for my true skill?”

Liu Daoyuan sat in his wheelchair, yet he seemed like he was floating with joy. Every pore of his body radiated an immense sense of satisfaction and exhilaration.

He burst into hearty laughter, clapping the armrests of the wheelchair with his mechanical limbs, causing loud banging sounds and even bending the rods.

“Not even close… You haven’t grasped even a tenth of the essence of the crane style true skill.”

“Is that so…”

Lu Yuan murmured softly, then swiftly reached out to grab the heart refining sect leader standing just within reach.

His fingers spread wide, golden energy swirling between them. The air was ripped apart layer by layer as his terrifying palm power and finger force bore down like an overwhelming mountain on the sect leader.

The latter snapped back to reality, his old face instantly filled with horror.

With a low roar, his entire body erupted in a flash of white light, channeling True Intent similar to that of the previous young man.

Then…

“Bam!”

Lu Yuan’s hand crushed his chest in an instant, exploding into a spray of blood. The sect leader was sent flying, crashing into the villa’s exterior wall with a resounding “boom.”

“And how about this move, Mistaken Plucking of Immortal Orchid?”

Lu Yuan withdrew his hand, casually shaking off the remaining blood from his fingers, and turned to ask Liu Daoyuan.

Liu Daoyuan’s face was almost split with laughter, yet he protested loudly, “Terrible, terrible! Awful! You haven’t learned a single bit of my skills…”

“No need to rush, teacher.”

Lu Yuan spread his arms, his gaze naturally sweeping over the remaining heart refining sect disciples.

“I still have other moves to show…”

In the next instant, his form vanished from where he stood, darting swiftly into the crowd.

…

“Uh…”

Sun Zhengli and Sun Zhihua stood frozen, their mouths agape, having maintained the same posture for quite some time.

The battle had ended, and the tall, handsome young man was now pushing a contented old man, half-reclining in a wheelchair, slowly out of the villa.

As they walked, they continued to converse.

“How did you get into a feud with them?”

“Forgotten. Who still remembers things that happened decades ago?”

“Think about it. If it turns out you were wrong, I’ll come back and apologize.”

“Apologize my ass! In the martial arts world, it’s always about strength, not right or wrong. Don’t you understand that?”

“Ugh… How many are left?”

“About ten more or so.”

“Then we need to hurry…”

Their conversation was as casual as the idle chat between a junior and an elder during a walk.

Before they knew it, they had reached Sun Zhengli and Sun Zhihua.

“Creek—”

The wheelchair came to a stop.

Both the handsome young man and the old man in the wheelchair turned their gazes toward the two.

Sun Zhihua gulped down a mouthful of saliva with difficulty and stammered, “L-Lu Yuan.”

“Hmm.”

The handsome young man smiled and nodded at Sun Zhihua, who immediately exhaled a sigh of relief, as if he had come back to life.

The pressure then shifted to Sun Zhengli.

His entire body tensed up, sweat dripping heavily from his forehead. He desperately wanted to say something but couldn’t utter a single word.

Fortunately, the young man merely glanced at him before continuing to push the wheelchair onwards.

Only then did Sun Zhengli let out a deep breath, like a drowning man who had finally climbed ashore.

But before he could relax, he heard the soft, wind-carried conversation of the departing duo.

“Friends of yours?”

“Only one of them.”

“Hmm, that kid’s alright. The other one, though, isn’t worth befriending—just look at how useless he seemed…”

“Do you have to talk about people behind their backs? Next time, say it to their face.”

“You little brat…”

Remembering how he had just scolded Sun Zhihua earlier, Sun Zhengli’s old face flushed crimson.

But that embarrassment was quickly overshadowed by shock, horror, and disbelief.

Sun Zhengli looked at the ravaged villa, then at the two figures fading into the lamplight and the night.

His mind buzzed, filled with a single swirling, tumultuous thought—

A disciple of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style’s former sect leader, the Poison-Handed Crane Demon Liu Daoyuan, had just defeated the heart refining sect’s super genius, one of the Twin Stars of the southern part, Xue Guangyao, and the heart refining sect sect leader!

And each of them was crushed in a single, overwhelming blow!

?!

Was he dreaming?