Fang Lin's action was so fast that it felt as if time itself had frozen within the market.
Vren, who stood behind him, felt his eyes light up—as if he had always believed in his brother. The grip on his sword unconsciously loosened.
Mu Chen's mouth remained wide open, unable to process what he had just witnessed.
Several spiritual stones slipped from the seller's counter, falling onto the ground due to his trembling hands, yet his gaze never left Fang Lin.
Even the mature man nearby widened his eyes in disbelief.
Every person present shared the same question—
"How could Fang Lin do this…? Impossible."
For a breath, the market forgot how to move.
Chopsticks froze midair.
Laughter died in throats.
Even the constant noise of bargaining faded into an uneasy silence.
Eyes widened as heads slowly turned toward Fang Lin.
Some visitors took an unconscious step back, sensing danger they couldn't explain.
Others stared, disbelief written plainly on their faces—like they had just witnessed something that should not have been possible.
Whispers began to ripple through the crowd.
"Did you see that…?"
"That was Fang Lin… right?"
"No—he's changed."
No one dared to speak louder.
Because in that moment, the market visitors understood one thing clearly—
The weak Fang Lin they remembered no longer existed.
The noise of the marketplace vanished for a brief moment.
The man thrown to the ground groaned in pain as he tried to get up, but his body refused to obey him.
The mature friend standing beside him instinctively took a step back—
for the first time, without thinking.
Fang Lin stood straight.
His posture was calm, yet something within him had completely changed.
"You two," Fang Lin spoke, his voice soft yet heavy like stone,
"are still comparing me to the Fang Lin who only lowered his head when insulted?"
There was no anger in his eyes—
only cold indifference.
Among the crowd, a few people subtly pointed toward the two standing before Fang Lin.
"Look carefully… aren't they from the Lin family?" one whispered.
"What… the Lin family?" another murmured in shock.
"Didn't you notice their robes?"
Both of them were wearing light green robes, a clear mark of the Lin family.
A man nearby frowned and said quietly,
"Then why are they provoking Fang Lin? Do they really not care about the Lin family's current situation?"
Another person leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"Haven't you heard the rumors? The Lin family's young lord only obtained C-grade aptitude during the Awakening Ceremony. And in their entire family, only two managed to awaken with B-grade."
Soft gasps spread through the listeners.
"Looks like they've picked a fight with the Fang family," someone muttered.
"Now we'll see… how long the Lin family can really survive."
A faint smile appeared on Fang Lin's face.
He lifted his gaze and looked straight at the humongous man before him.
"Looks like you're from the Yin family,"
Fang Lin said calmly, his voice carrying a quiet mockery.
"Even your young lord couldn't achieve B-grade aptitude."
His smile deepened slightly.
"Is something wrong with your head?" he continued.
"While your Lin family is already in decline, you came here to offend me instead?"
His eyes sharpened, cold and unyielding.
"You should have come begging for forgiveness, groveling at my feet," Fang Lin said.
"But instead, you chose to show arrogance."
The words fell like a blade—clean, precise, and merciless.
The mature youth standing beside the fallen man was still frozen in shock at Fang Lin's sudden change.
This… this is Fang Lin? he thought.
The same Fang Lin we used to toy with before the Awakening Ceremony?
Before that incident, Fang Lin had been timid to the extreme. No matter how much they bullied him, he never fought back—only lowered his head and apologized again and again.
But now…
It feels as if a completely different person is standing there.
As if another personality has taken over—one that is the exact opposite of the past.
His thoughts raced again.
Is there any way out of this?
Suddenly, realization struck him.
Right— the Patriarch's order.
Before leaving for the sect, no fights are allowed among those who have awakened their primal sea.
A glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.
At the same time, the humongous youth who had been thrown aside struggled to his feet, his expression twisted with disbelief.
"Fang Lin…" he sneered.
"Looks like after getting A-grade aptitude, you've learned how to fly."
He stepped forward slowly, his eyes filled with resentment.
Before he could move further, the mature youth grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Then, looking straight into Fang Lin's eyes,
he spoke calmly:
"Oh… Fang Lin. You may not be the same as before," he said,
"but you should remember one thing."
"In ten days, we are all heading to the sect. During this period, no fighting is allowed."
He paused deliberately.
"Otherwise, the one who causes trouble will be forbidden from joining the sect."
After saying this, he straightened his back, standing tall with renewed confidence—
as if he was already certain that Fang Lin would not dare to act.
Mu Chen, who had been stunned by everything that happened earlier, finally snapped back to reality.
He walked up to Fang Lin and placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking with helpless restraint.
"Fang Lin… we shouldn't go any further," he said quietly.
"If this escalates, we won't be allowed to join the sect."
It sounded as if he had already accepted the other side's words as an unchangeable rule.
Even the seller spoke up at this moment, his tone unusually cautious.
"Fang Lin," he said,
"it would be best for you to return to your family now. If this incident reaches the Patriarch's ears, things will become very difficult for you."
Vren remained silent.
He stood there, gripping the sword tightly in his hands, his small frame unmoving—
as if he were afraid that loosening his grip even a little would make everything collapse.
Fang Lin paid no attention to Mu Chen or the seller.
He lifted one hand to his forehead, brushed his loose hair back, and slowly raised his gaze toward the two youths of the Lin family.
A devilish smile curved across his lips.
"Are the two of you trying to suppress me now," he said calmly,
"by hiding behind such meaningless words?"
His eyes sharpened, turning cold and cutting as blades.
"I don't care about those worthless rules at all," Fang Lin continued.
"They only apply to trash like you—"
"—not to me."
The air around him seemed to freeze as his words echoed through the market.
Both members of the Lin family were stunned by Fang Lin's words.
The humongous youth was the first to react. His face twisted with rage as he stepped forward.
"You're getting ahead of yourself," he roared.
"Did you just call us trash? We are not nobodies—we are the two who awakened B-grade aptitude in the Lin family!"
The mature youth stepped up beside him, his voice colder but equally sharp.
"That's right. You cannot break the rules set by the Patriarch," he said.
"Or do you intend to go against the Patriarch himself?"
The pressure in the market thickened, as if an invisible storm was about to erupt.
Suddenly, Fang Lin burst into arrogant laughter, completely unconcerned about where he was—
or who stood before him.
"Ha… ha… haaaaaa—"
"Ha… ha… haaaaaa—"
His devilish laughter echoed through the marketplace, sending a chill down everyone's spine.
For a brief moment, every gaze—cultivators, merchants, and passersby alike—
locked onto Fang Lin.
Without hesitation, Fang Lin pulled back the same arm he had used to block him earlier.
"This is the right moment to release all frustration whose inside me " he thought coldly.
In the next instant, his fist shot forward.
It slammed directly into the humongous youth's face.
A dull, cracking sound rang out as the man staggered backward, losing balance before crashing onto the ground, clutching his face in shock and pain.
Fang Lin stood tall, utterly calm.
"So what if you're B-grade?" he said confidently.
"In front of me, you're still nothing but trash."
That laughter rang out once more—sharp, merciless.
"Because I—" Fang Lin continued, his eyes burning with pride,
"—am A-grade aptitude."
"The number one genius of this entire clan."
"Ha… ha… haaaaaa—"
The market fell into dead silence.
**************
Within Tianjian Clan's market, an almost invisible figure moved silently, carefully avoiding contact with every passerby. She paused for a moment, yet her eyes continued to scan the crowd relentlessly, as if searching for someone who should have been right in front of her.
It was Chu Jingxia.
Her brows knit together in irritation as she murmured under her breath,
"I've been looking for him for so long, yet I still can't find him… Where did he disappear to? He should be in the market. I clearly saw Tian Xueya here earlier—so Fang Lin must be nearby."
Her gaze suddenly shifted toward a distant commotion.
"…What's going on over there? Why are so many people gathering in one place?"
She turned in that direction, her expression sharpening.
"That's the center of the market, isn't it? I haven't checked there yet… Tch, let's see what's happening."
Without hesitation, Chu Jingxia rose into the air.
Her invisible body lifted smoothly above the crowd, gliding over their heads like a silent shadow. Not a single person below sensed anything unusual.
This was one of the traits of her concealed form—
" Flying"
However, each moment spent airborne placed a heavy burden on her mental power. Even so, she didn't slow down.
Her eyes were fixed ahead.
A faint look of relief appeared on Chu Jingxia's face, if only for a brief moment.
"Finally… I've found you."
Her gaze then drifted toward the surrounding crowd, her brows tightening slightly.
"But why is everyone staring in his direction…?"
She focused more closely on Fang Lin.
That was when she noticed two figures bent forward before him, their postures stiff and unnatural.
"…What's going on over there? And why are those two bowing?"
Her eyes narrowed as she observed them more carefully.
"Judging by their clothes… they're from the Lin Family. But this—"
She was still floating in the air, yet the shock hit her so suddenly that her invisible form instinctively drifted backward.
She murmured under her breath, disbelief seeping into her voice,
"This can't be happened… From everything I learned about Fang Lin's past, he was always the one being bullied—always lowering his head, always apologizing to everyone."
Her eyes widened as the scene below unfolded.
"But now… it's the Lin Family who are bowing before him."
For the first time in a long while, Chu Jingxia's certainty wavered.
Her eyes trembled slightly.
"…It seems I was wrong about him."
— - — - — – — ---
"Forgive us…"
"Please forgive us…"
"Fang Lin!"
Both men were kneeling on the ground, bowing repeatedly as they begged.
The humongous one had collapsed onto his knees, clutching his thigh with both hands. Blood was still dripping from his nose, though it had finally stopped flowing. His face was swollen, his clothes stained and filthy, splashed with dark red marks—on the fabric, on his hands, everywhere. He looked utterly miserable.
Beside him, the mature boy was in far better condition. Swallowing hard, he looked up at Fang Lin and spoke carefully.
"We never intended to offend you. We only came to apologize… for what we said earlier—about your brother, and about Tian Xueya."
He lowered his head deeply.
"We truly didn't expect things to turn out like this."
Fang Lin stood calmly before them.
There wasn't a single injury on his body. No wounds. No signs of struggle.
Only a few drops of blood stained his robe.
That was all.
He rubbed his jaw lightly, his expression indifferent as he spoke.
"Oh? So you came to apologize?"
His eyes slowly sharpened.
"Then who is going to compensate me for the time you wasted?"
His gaze locked onto the one who had spoken.
Then, without warning, Fang Lin grabbed the humongous man by the hair, forcing his face up. His voice dropped, cold and devilish.
"And who's going to take responsibility for dirtying my clothes?"
He released him, pushing his head back down.
Straightening up, Fang Lin calmly tied his loosened hair again, as if the entire scene before him was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
For a brief moment, the market fell into complete silence.
No shouting.
No bargaining.
Even the clinking of spiritual stones seemed to stop.
Dozens of eyes were fixed on Fang Lin.
Then—soft whispers began to spread.
"Did you see that…?"
"He didn't hesitate at all."
"That was Fang Lin… right?"
"A-grade aptitude…"
"So this is how an A-grade acts?"
Some looked at him with awe.
Some with fear.
And some—quiet envy.
Mu Chen still couldn't fully believe what had just happened before his eyes.
He didn't stop Fang Lin.
He didn't even feel the need to.
Calmly, he looked at the two boys who were kneeling and begging, thinking to himself:
"I don't feel uncomfortable with Fang Lin's behavior at all.
What he did to them… they deserved it."
Suddenly, fragments of the past surfaced in his mind.
Six boys.
Two victims being cornered and bullied.
Among them—Fang Lin's elder brother.
Three boy in a green robe.
A girl wearing a golden robe.
And another boy dressed in red.
Mu Chen's lips moved unconsciously as he murmured,
"They bullied me too… along with Fang Lin."
He then looked at Fang Lin again.
This time, his gaze was different.
"It seems Fang Lin chose to stop enduring and started fighting back," he thought.
"I should become like him too—strong enough that no one dares to bully me again."
Mu Chen walked up to Fang Lin and said seriously,
"Fang Lin… you opened my eyes today.
I won't let myself be bullied anymore.
I'll become strong—and fight back."
But soon, tension crept onto his face.
"…However, we should leave now.
If the elders see this, the situation could become much worse."
The sword seller also spoke up with concern,
"Yes, Fang Lin. You should leave now.
If this reaches the elders, things will turn ugly."
Outwardly calm, the seller was panicking inside.
"Why did they have to fight right in front of my stall?
If people find out that a fight broke out here and I did nothing…
my shop's reputation will be ruined."
Without even turning back to look at Mu Chen or the seller, Fang Lin spoke coldly,
"There's no need for you to worry about me.
If you want to leave, then go.
But I will stay right here—until they pay the compensation."
As his words fell, Fang Lin's hand moved to his waist.
With a smooth motion, he drew the sword Mu Chen had given him—
Azure Silent Gleam Sword.
The moment the blade left its sheath, the air around them seemed to sink.
It wasn't a loud pressure, nor an aggressive killing intent.
It was heavy.
Deep.
Like a calm ocean hiding an endless depth beneath its surface.
The nearby cultivators felt it instinctively.
Breathing became difficult.
Spines stiffened.
Even those far from the scene felt an invisible weight pressing against their chests, as if the sword itself was silently judging them.
The humongous boy froze.
Fang Lin slowly raised the blade above the his's head.
His expression remained calm—almost indifferent.
Inside his mind, Fang Lin thought quietly:
"Mu Chen, I'm not doing this because he bullied the old Fang Lin.
That matter… I'll think about it later, after asking Lingyi."
His grip tightened slightly.
"Right now, I'm doing this for myself."
"So that I won't have to do it again in the future."
"So that I can live freely… and enjoy this world in peace."
The sword hovered there, silent yet overwhelming—
as if it only needed a single thought to decide fate.