"Heavens! Am I dreaming?"
Lu Xue stared in disbelief at Lin Long, who had been sent flying, her face frozen in shock.
What's going on?
The esteemed Young Master of the Lin Clan, who had cultivated the clan's secret techniques and consumed rare and precious elixirs since birth, was no match for Lin Kai?
How is this possible?!
"Damn it! How is this bastard so much stronger than me? This is absurd! This can't be happening!"
Lin Long was equally stunned, unable to accept the outcome.
Having been pampered since childhood, he was accustomed to even higher-ranking members of the Lin Clan deferring to him. He had never encountered anyone as ruthless as Lin Kai.
Convinced that Lin Kai had resorted to underhanded tactics, Lin Long roared furiously:
"You little bastard! Did you cheat? If you have the guts, fight me fair and square!"
"Even if you a lazy wastrel like you a higher cultivation realm and better resources, you still wouldn't stand a chance against me!" Lin Kai sneered.
He was at the third level of Qi Nurturing Cultivation, while Lin Long was at the fifth level. Yet the latter dared to accuse him of unfairness?
There was indeed unfairness, but the advantage clearly lay with Lin Long.
"How dare you insult me, Young Master?" Lin Long's face flushed crimson, his roars echoing through the air.
"I'm not just going to insult you—I'm going to kill you bitch!"
Lin Kai's eyes burned with fury as he lunged forward.
Lin Long had taken advantage of his absence to meet secretly with his fiancée, even forcing her to make him offer everything. This was a blatant trampling of his dignity as man.
He would not stand for it, even if he has to die.
Lin Long would pay the price. This pair of adulterers would die!
With a thunderous roar, Lin Kai's rage soared to the heavens, as if possessed by a berserker god. Qi erupted from his fist, unleashing a devastating force.
Bang!
Lin Long stood no chance against Lin Kai's fury. The punch shattered his handsome face, swelling it into a grotesque, pig-ass. Blood streamed down his face, a stark contrast to his earlier arrogance.
"Murder! He's killing him!" Lu Xue screamed, never having witnessed such violence.
"Shut up bitch!" Lin Kai's eyes turned icy, devoid of the tenderness he once held for her. Only cold, murderous intent remained.
"Lin Long, you will repay today's humiliation tenfold!"
After silencing Lu Xue, Lin Kai charged again, driving his knee savagely into Lin Long's abdomen.
Pfffttt!
Lin Long, completely defenseless, spat out a mouthful of blood, teeth flying with it. He was a wretched sight, his face swollen and blood covering his whole upper body.
But Lin Kai wasn't finished. After making Lin Long vomit blood, he stomped down, crushing several ribs and pinning him beneath his foot.
Lin Long coughed up blood repeatedly, but he refused to yield. His eyes burned with a malevolent fury as he spat out threats:
"Lin Kai, if you dare kill me, the Lin Clan will never accept you again! My father is the Great Elder, and my brother is Lin Hu, the clan's top genius! They will crush your bones to dust!"
"If I ever feared death, I wouldn't risk my life every day, fighting on the razor's edge between life and death!" Lin Kai sneered, his heart unmoved and his leg still stomping on Lin Long.
"Damn it!" Lin Long cursed inwardly, sensing the danger. He saw the fearlessness and killing intent in Lin Kai's eyes—this madman truly meant to kill him!
Panic seized Lin Long. He desperately begged for mercy:
"Lin Kai, I was a beast! I shouldn't have seduced your fiancée! Please spare me! Don't kill me!"
"It's too late for apologies!" Lin Kai raised his fist, ready to deliver the final blow.
But just then, a bone-chilling sense of extreme danger washed over him.
He jerked his head up to see a gray-robed elder standing in the courtyard, his icy gaze fixed on Lin Kai. The elder's low growl cut through the air:
"Lin Kai, stop!"
"Third Elder!" Lin Kai's pupils constricted. The man before him was Lin Yaodong, the Third Elder of the Lin Clan. He spoke in a low, measured tone:
"Third Elder, this is a matter for my honour. I urge you not to interfere!"
"As an elder of the Lin Clan, I cannot stand idly by. Tell me your grievances, and I will ensure justice is served. But spare Lin Long for now."
The Third Elder spoke with a stern tone.
"Very well!"
Hearing Lin Yaodong's promise of "impartial justice" and knowing his good character Kai clasped his hands in a fist salute and slowly withdrew his fist and foot.
Boom!
The moment Lin Kai moved his foot, Lin Yaodong struck. He first shielded Lin Long behind him, then unleashed a devastating punch. Caught completely off guard, Lin Kai coughed up blood as he was sent flying backward, his body slamming into a wall.
"Third Elder! What are you doing?!"
Clutching his throbbing chest, Lin Kai glared at Lin Yaodong.
Hadn't Lin Yaodong promised to uphold justice? Why had he attacked first?
"Hmph! You, a lowly ordinary disciple, dare to harm the Lin Clan's Young Master? It seems you have a death wish!"
The Third Elder sneered coldly.
This fool! How could he possibly offend Lin Long for the sake of a mere Lin Kai? He has shown some kindness to Lin Kai in past because of his hardworking nature. But compare to him, Lin Long has the backing of Great Elder Lin Xiong!
"Lin Long started this. He seduced my fiancée and attacked me first..." Lin Kai spat through gritted teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He never imagine the only elder ever being kind to him would ever struck him from darkness.
"Lies! I saw you ambush Young Master Lin Long out of petty jealousy and shamelessly injure him! You're clearly dissatisfied with the Great Elder and the clan, plotting rebellion!" Lin Yaodong sneered, immediately pinning a treasonous label on Lin Kai.
"Lin Yaodong, you senile old man, you're twisting the truth and aiding the wicked! You don't deserve to be an elder of the Lin Clan!" Lin Kai's eyes burned with fury.
He never imagined that this self-proclaimed "upholder of justice," the Third Elder, would be such a sycophant! To curry favor with the Great Elder, he was willing to abandon all reason and turn the blame on him.
"How dare you disrespect me! Spreading rumors about me! I'll cripple you now! Let you reflect on your transgressions!" Lin Yaodong roared, slapping his palm toward Lin Kai.
Despite Lin Kai's astonishing combat prowess, allowing him to fight opponents far above his level, he was still only at the third stage of Qi Nurturing Cultivation. Lin Yaodong, on the other hand, had reached the seventh stage, a vast disparity in cultivation that granted him an overwhelming advantage.
Bang! With a single palm strike, Lin Kai coughed up blood again, his internal organs nearly shattered.
But Lin Yaodong wasn't finished. After severely injuring Lin Kai, he struck again, aiming for his Dantian.
"No!" Lin Kai's eyes widened in horror.
Crack!
The Dantian shattered, and the hard-earned cultivation energy within Lin Kai's body dissipated like a receding tide.
His cultivation had been crippled!
In that instant, Lin Kai's mind went blank.
In this world where strength reigned supreme and the strong were revered more than one own parents, having one's cultivation crippled was worse than death itself!
"Lin Kai, this is the consequence of defying me! Did you think learning a few combat tricks outside could make you a match for me? The entire Lin Clan stands behind me! What do you have to fight me with?!"
Lin Long gloated, his arrogance reaching new heights.
"Be ready to mine in a spirit mine for the rest of your life." Lin Yaodong said as he watch Lin Kai blank face.
"Young Master Long, this old one will escort you to the medicine hall for a checkup. We must ensure you haven't been injured."
Lin Yaodong fawned over Lin Long, showering him with concern, before the three of them departed, leaving Lin Kai alone in the room.
The room grew deathly cold.
Lin Kai lay in a pool of blood, two streams of crimson tears of resentment flowing from his eyes.
"Heaven is blind!"
He had risked his life daily, fighting for his only woman and clan, and he knew he had never wronged no one.
Yet now...
The treacherous adulterous couple who had betrayed him remained free laughing a loud, while he had his cultivation crippled?
And was to be exiled to the Spirit Mine as a slave?
What kind of world was this?!
He hated his own weakness!
Hated that he couldn't slaughter every faithless wretch in existence!
"Boy, do you want revenge?"
As if sensing Lin Kai's burning rage and despair, a sinister laughter echoed from the depths of his consciousness, like the voice of devil.
"Who's there?"
The sudden voice startled Lin Kai.
"Don't panic. Focus your mind, withdraw your divine sense into your Sea of Consciousness, and you will see me."
At that moment, the eerie laughter echoed once more.
Lin Kai followed the instructions, withdrawing his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness. He was immediately stunned by what he saw.
His Sea of Consciousness was now bathed in golden light.
A golden Holy Dragon coiled in the sky, its massive body nearly filling the entire world within his Sea of Consciousness.
The dragon's colossal head lowered, its gaze fixed upon Lin Kai.
The overwhelming pressure made Lin Kai's heart tremble violently, he couldn't stop his blood pressure from rising up.
"This energy... it feels so familiar. Could it be that Golden Lightning?"
Before his return, Lin Kai had been dispatched by the City Lord's Manor to transport supplies to Great Dragon Mountain.
During the journey, he had been struck by a bolt of Golden Lightning. At the time, he had seen a golden dragon burrow into his body and dismissed it as a hallucination.
"Correct. I am the Holy Dragon. I was forced to take refuge within your body after failing to transcend my tribulation."
The golden Holy Dragon glanced at Lin Kai and continued, "I am aware of everything you have endured. Do you seek revenge? This venerable one can help you!"
"Why would you help me?"
Countless life-and-death trials had forged Lin Kai's cautious nature.
He believed there was no such thing as a free lunch, even now, when he was trapped in a desperate situation.
"If I don't intervened, you wouldn't survived more than a few weeks out there with your current enemies. When I failed to transcend my tribulation and entered your body to save my soul, my soul's root became entangled with your divine sense within your Sea of Consciousness. Saving you is equivalent to saving myself!" the Holy Dragon explained helplessly.
Lin Kai discovered that the dragon's soul root was indeed connected to his own soul's origin, their fates intertwined: shared glory, shared ruin.
"Alright, I believe you for now. How can you help me?" Lin Kai asked.
"The Nine Dragons Heaven-Devouring Art!"
The golden Holy Dragon opened its maw and spat forth a cultivation manual, which materialized before Lin Kai.
Lin Kai scanned it with his divine sense, his breathing growing rapid:
"The Nine Dragons Heaven-Devouring Art... It can devour all things in heaven and earth, refine their essence, and enhance the cultivator's own strength! And it doesn't require a Dantian! Even with a shattered Dantian, cultivation is possible!"
But that wasn't the most crucial aspect. The most vital feature was that this art could not only absorb an enemy's power but also extract their some memories!
"Once you master this technique, that trash Lin Long and that pathetic Third Elder will be no match for you! You'll crush them with a mere flick of your wrist!" the Holy Dragon sneered.
"Good. I'll cultivate it!" Lin Kai declared, taking a deep breath and clenching his fists.
He refused to remain a weakling, bullied and humiliated like today. He would become strong! He would avenge his grievances! He would make Lin Long and the others pay the price with their life!