Chapter 102: Daring to Be Distracted While Fighting Me

Master Jingkong took a step forward, leaving behind a trail of afterimages. His fingers curled into claws as he lunged toward the head of Xiao Hei.

"Dragon Claw Hand!"

Like the Golden Bell Shield, this was one of the seventy-two supreme skills of the Shaolin Temple, possessing immense power capable of shattering bricks and stone with iron-like fingers. The force of this strike was comparable to that of a half-step Spirit Venerate.

*Hiss!*

Xiao Hei let out a sharp hiss, neither dodging nor retreating. The Dragon Claw Hand struck Xiao Hei’s protective aura, but it merely created a ripple before being completely neutralized.

Master Jingkong’s expression shifted slightly. A strike like this would have instantly shattered a Grandmaster of the same cultivation level. Yet, it couldn't even break the protective aura of this giant python.

*Roar!*

Xiao Hei let out a fierce roar and swept its tail across. Master Jingkong was unable to dodge in time. With a resounding thud, the master was sent flying backward, embedding himself deep into the wall. He gasped for air, the golden light of his Golden Bell Shield now significantly dimmed; one more strike would surely shatter it completely.

Xiao Hei stared at the master with its sharp, vertical pupils and lunged, jaws wide open.

"You wicked beast!"

Master Jingkong’s eyes widened. He pushed off the wall with all his might and dropped to the ground. With a nimble tap of his feet, he transformed into a blur of afterimages, narrowly escaping the bite. However, Xiao Hei was incredibly agile; it spun its body around and lunged again.

*Snap!*

Master Jingkong’s Golden Bell Shield shattered instantly, and along with it, his head was bitten off by Xiao Hei. The python opened its massive maw and swallowed the rest of the master's body whole.

Silence descended.

Master Jingkong, the strongest among them, had been devoured by a black python. Several Grandmasters were now paralyzed with fear. Xiao Hei flicked its tongue, its body turning into a streak of black lightning as it appeared behind another Grandmaster.

"Help me!"

The Grandmaster’s face turned deathly pale, his usual air of authority completely vanished. Mo Cangqin swung his broadsword, unleashing several blades of light, but they vanished into Xiao Hei’s protective aura like stones cast into the sea, barely causing a ripple.

There are nine stages of Grandmaster, and Xiao Hei, with its strength at the half-step Spirit Venerate level and the cultivation techniques taught to it by Lin Yi, was far superior. If it fought seriously, even a half-step Spirit Venerate would be no match, let alone these Grandmasters, who were nothing more than prey in its eyes.

Xiao Hei swallowed this Grandmaster in a single gulp, then lashed out with its long tail, coiling around another unlucky soul. With the sickening sound of snapping bones, the Grandmaster was crushed to death.

"Monster! It's a monster!"

Several Grandmasters suffered mental collapses on the spot. Grandmasters were only human; they could act arrogant against those weaker than themselves, but when faced with someone stronger, they were nothing but lambs waiting for the slaughter.

In less than five minutes, only Mo Cangqin remained of all the Grandmasters in the courtyard.

"Demon, you are a demon!" Mo Cangqin stammered, his legs turning to jelly. He had thought that a dozen Grandmasters would be more than enough to handle Lin Yi. He never imagined Lin Yi possessed such a ferocious spirit beast, one that even a stage-eight Grandmaster like Jingkong could not withstand. This python was at least at the ninth stage of Grandmaster, perhaps even a half-step Spirit Venerate.

Lin Yi strode up to Mo Cangqin and said in a deep voice, "You wanted to send me to the Western Paradise?"

Though he appeared easy-going, if someone crossed his bottom line, they deserved whatever fate befell them.

*Hiss, hiss.*

Xiao Hei stared at Mo Cangqin with cold, vertical pupils.

Mo Cangqin’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat, his legs trembling. He gripped his broadsword tightly, as if it were the only thing providing him a shred of courage.

"Lin... Lin Yi, I never said that," Mo Cangqin pleaded. He had never been a man of strong backbone, or he wouldn't have compromised so humiliatingly last time.

"Xiao Hei, eat him." Lin Yi couldn't be bothered to waste more words and gave the order.

A flicker of delight crossed Xiao Hei’s eyes. These Grandmasters were filled with such abundant vitality; it felt that if it consumed this man, its bloodline would rise to the next level. It flicked its tongue, and Mo Cangqin could clearly smell the stench and the scent of blood emanating from the creature's mouth.

"Lin Yi, you cannot kill me! I am a member of the Mo family!" Mo Cangqin shouted, his eyes bloodshot, trying to use the prestige of the Mo family to intimidate Lin Yi.

But Lin Yi remained unmoved. "Don't worry," he said coldly. "The rest of the Mo family will be joining you soon."

Xiao Hei opened its blood-stained maw and lunged at Mo Cangqin.

Just then, a long, drawn-out sigh exploded out of thin air.

"Sigh..."

With that sound, Xiao Hei’s body was suddenly frozen in place. The massive, blood-filled mouth was less than three centimeters away from Mo Cangqin—close enough that, had he looked up, he could have seen the gruesome remains inside the beast's throat.

"Grand... Grand Elder..."

Endless joy surged in Mo Cangqin’s heart, and he crawled away from the python's jaws in a desperate scramble.

Lin Yi looked up to see a short, elderly man standing at the courtyard gate. Behind him followed several other white-haired elders, all glaring at Lin Yi with expressions of deep, blood-feud hatred. They were the Grand Elder of the Mo family and his fellow elders.

"You wicked beast! By killing so many Grandmasters, you have set the martial arts world of Yanxia back by decades!"

As soon as the Grand Elder finished his sentence, Xiao Hei, which had been invincible moments before, was sent flying backward like a toy.

*Boom!*

Xiao Hei crashed into a villa, the massive structure collapsing under its weight and sending up clouds of dust. When the dust settled, Xiao Hei lay on the brink of death, its bones shattered and most of its scales torn away.

The onlookers were stunned. No one had expected that this old man, with just a glance and a single sentence—without even lifting a finger—could inflict such grievous wounds upon the terrifying python.

It was horrifying. Truly terrifying.

Mo Cangqin scrambled to the Grand Elder’s side, pointing at Lin Yi with hateful eyes. "Grand Elder, kill him! Kill him!"

The Grand Elder looked at Lin Yi, his clouded eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Young man, hand over the pills you possess, and I may spare your life."

"Grand Elder, you cannot let him go! This is like keeping a tiger in the house!" Mo Cangqin, desperate to see Lin Yi dead, pleaded.

"Silence! This is not your place to speak," the Grand Elder snapped, glancing sideways at Mo Cangqin. Mo Cangqin felt a jolt of panic and immediately shut his mouth.

Lin Yi spoke up, "Very well. If you want the pills, come and take them."

The Grand Elder remained expressionless. He took a step forward, his body seemingly treading upon invisible stairs.

Walking on air—the mark of a Spirit Venerate.

"Heaven help us! That is the legendary realm!" The members of the ten great families were filled with awe and terror. A single Grandmaster was enough to suppress the ten families, yet here was the Mo family’s Grand Elder, a true Spirit Venerate. This display of power gave everyone a brief, chilling glimpse into the nature of the transcendent forces.

"Grandfather, what is a Spirit Venerate?" Zhang Xinyi asked, bewildered.

"A Spirit Venerate is a realm above a Grandmaster. Alas, it seems Heaven has decreed the end of our Zhang family," the old man sighed. They were tied to Lin Yi's fate. If Lin Yi died, even if the Mo family didn't wipe them out, the other great families would slowly devour them.

"Ah!" Zhang Xinyi covered her mouth in shock, her heart filled with worry for Lin Yi.

The Grand Elder walked toward Lin Yi step by step. With every step, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to freeze. A Spirit Venerate could manipulate the power of heaven and earth on a small scale, which allowed them to walk on air and use that power directly against their enemies. It was no wonder Xiao Hei had been defeated in a single move.

Mo Cangqin was overjoyed. If he had known the Grand Elder was a Spirit Venerate, he would have just had him suppress Lin Yi from the start.

"Hand them over." The Grand Elder looked down at Lin Yi from above, his tone indifferent, as if he could swat Lin Yi to death at the slightest hint of defiance.

Lin Yi showed no panic. Instead, he said, "You are forcing yourself to use the power of a Spirit Venerate. After this, even if I don't kill you, how much longer can you live?"

The Grand Elder’s eyes narrowed, his aura surging like a rising tide as he pressed down on Lin Yi. It was true, as Lin Yi had said; his Spirit Venerate status had been forcibly attained at the cost of his lifespan. After this, he would have only three years left, and if he pushed himself again, he likely wouldn't survive more than two more bouts.

The Spirit Venerate realm was powerful, but few could ever reach it. The Grand Elder had come today to pave the way for the Mo family and intimidate the rest of the world.

"Come then, let me test the strength of a pseudo-Spirit Venerate like you," Lin Yi said calmly.

"You have some nerve!"

The Grand Elder’s eyes flashed, and a massive, invisible hand descended toward Lin Yi.

"Too weak." Lin Yi sighed to himself, raised a fist, and shattered the giant hand with a single blow, turning it into nothing but fading sparks.

The Grand Elder was surprised. He waved his hand again, and a sharp white blade of energy sliced toward Lin Yi’s head. Even a half-step Spirit Venerate would be killed or severely maimed by such a strike. This was the terror of a Spirit Venerate.

However, Lin Yi shook his head slightly. His hands turned into blades, and he slashed through the air, a beam of white light cutting through the sky.

*Boom!*

The Grand Elder’s energy blade was instantly shattered, and the remaining force of Lin Yi's strike continued toward the elder.

"This rogue..."

The alarm bells rang in the Grand Elder’s mind. He scrambled to move, the white light grazing past his shoulder.

*Whoosh!*

The white light turned back in a sudden, vicious counter-attack. The Grand Elder lived up to the title of a pseudo-Spirit Venerate; even with the "pseudo," it was still a Spirit Venerate. He twisted his body, and with a sweep of his arm, a broadsword appeared in his hand.

"Fall for me!"

The Grand Elder channeled the power of heaven and earth into this strike. With a loud *bang*, the white light shattered, and at the same time, the sword in the Grand Elder’s hand broke into pieces.

If one looked closely, they would see the Grand Elder’s arm trembling violently.

"I miscalculated. The strength of this rogue is truly terrifying." The Grand Elder sighed inwardly. He realized that if he didn't kill Lin Yi now, it would be the Mo family that would eventually perish.

Suddenly, Lin Yi’s voice appeared right beside his ear: "You dare to be distracted while fighting me?"

Lin Yi drove a fist directly into the Grand Elder’s chest.

"Oh no!"

The Grand Elder hurriedly channeled all his internal energy to protect his heart.

*Boom!*

Lin Yi’s fist landed, and the Grand Elder felt as if he had been struck by a giant hammer, sent flying backward in an instant.