Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The crisp applause echoed through the silent village, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
A young man slowly emerged from the direction of Lou Feng's former home.
He appeared no older than twenty, dressed in the white-striped robes of the Wind Tiger Gang. A long saber rested quietly at his waist, one hand lazily draped over its hilt as he stepped across the blood-soaked ground without the slightest concern.
His boots crushed the broken wooden handle of one of the fallen clubs.
Only after stopping a dozen paces away did he look at the three corpses scattered across the street.
Then...
His gaze shifted toward Lou Feng.
"What an unexpected surprise."
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Who would've thought that losing your parents would become the greatest opportunity of your life?"
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
As though he wasn't standing beside three freshly killed subordinates.
As though the dead youths beneath his feet were nothing more than stray dogs.
Behind Lou Feng, Aunt Wang hurriedly wiped away the tears staining her face.
"Feng'er..."
Her voice trembled.
"Be careful."
"He's very strong."
Lou Feng didn't take his eyes off the newcomer.
His fists slowly clenched.
The veins beneath his skin bulged slightly.
"...Uncle."
His voice was unusually quiet.
"Was he the one who injured you?"
Uncle Wang struggled to sit upright, his expression grave.
"...Yes."
The moment those words entered Lou Feng's ears...
A chilling killing intent quietly rose from within his heart.
Meng Yun naturally noticed it.
Instead of becoming angry...
He smiled.
"That's right."
"I was the one who broke his ribs."
"I was also the one who ordered those three useless fools to throw you off the cliff."
His gaze briefly swept over the corpses.
"What a disappointment."
"I thought they could at least handle one starving orphan."
"It seems I'll have to clean up the mess myself."
He lightly dusted his sleeves before offering a slight bow.
"Oh."
"Where are my manners?"
"My name is Meng Yun."
"The steward of the Wind Tiger Gang."
His fingers slowly wrapped around the saber's hilt.
"I believe..."
"...you're Lou Feng."
Lou Feng remained silent.
Meng Yun continued speaking as though chatting with an old acquaintance.
"Tell me..."
"Do you know why martial artists are divided into ordinary practitioners..."
"...and true martial cultivators?"
Without waiting for an answer—
His figure suddenly blurred.
"So fast!"
Lou Feng's pupils contracted.
One moment Meng Yun had been standing over ten meters away.
The next...
He had already appeared directly beside him.
The saber silently left its sheath.
No flourish.
No unnecessary movement.
Only a cold blade flashing straight toward Lou Feng's waist.
If it landed...
He wouldn't die immediately.
But his waist would be split open, leaving him unable to continue fighting.
Instinct screamed.
Lou Feng's body moved before his thoughts did.
His feet twisted sharply.
His body shifted half a step sideways.
Whoosh!
The saber narrowly missed his waist, slicing through empty air.
Meng Yun's eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Oh?"
"You dodged."
His expression remained relaxed.
"But..."
"Raw physical strength can only take you this far."
The moment those words fell—
A faint green light suddenly flowed across the blade.
Lou Feng immediately sensed the difference.
The pressure...
Had increased.
The saber no longer felt like ordinary steel.
It carried an invisible force that made even the surrounding air tremble faintly.
Internal Energy.
Meng Yun smiled faintly.
"This..."
"...is what separates true martial artists from people like you."
The saber descended once more.
This time, Lou Feng didn't dare evade carelessly.
He crossed both forearms before him while simultaneously gathering every ounce of strength his Hundred Refinement Body had accumulated during the past three months.
Clang!
The collision echoed throughout the village.
Lou Feng's feet sank several inches into the ground.
His muscles trembled violently.
The terrifying force transmitted through the saber almost numbed both of his arms.
Before he could recover—
Meng Yun laughed.
"You're a fool."
His wrist suddenly twisted.
The green Internal Energy surrounding the saber instantly burst outward.
Wind Saber Slash!
Several crescent-shaped slashes erupted from the blade, each formed entirely from compressed Internal Energy.
They tore through the air with astonishing speed.
Lou Feng's expression changed drastically.
He immediately retreated.
One.
Two.
Three.
He barely avoided the first few slashes.
But the fourth quietly grazed across his chest.
Rip!
His already tattered shirt split open completely.
A long, shallow cut appeared across his chest.
Fresh blood slowly seeped from the wound.
Lou Feng lowered his head, staring silently at the crimson line stretching across his skin.
Then...
He slowly raised his eyes once more.
For the first time since returning to the village...
His expression became truly serious.
Meng Yun lowered his saber slightly, his smile growing wider as he looked at the shallow wound across Lou Feng's chest.
"Feeling weak already?"
His tone was almost gentle.
Yet that question alone sent a chill through everyone watching.
Why...
Why would someone ask his opponent such a thing?
Meng Yun slowly rested the saber against his shoulder and laughed.
"Do you know what you're feeling right now?"
"The moment my Internal Energy entered your body..."
"...your fate was already decided."
His smile became even brighter.
"It should be spreading through your meridians by now."
"Every breath you take should feel heavier than the last."
"Soon, your internal organs will begin rupturing one after another."
The surrounding villagers looked at Lou Feng with sympathy.
They understood exactly what Meng Yun meant.
That was the terror of an Internal Martial Artist.
The greatest difference between Internal and External Martial Artists had never been physical strength.
External Martial Artists possessed astonishing physiques.
Their muscles, bones and skin far exceeded ordinary people.
But regardless of how powerful their bodies became...
They still needed to fight at close range.
Internal Martial Artists were different.
Once Internal Energy was cultivated, it could be infused into weapons.
A single slash no longer ended at the blade itself.
The Internal Energy extended the weapon's killing range while allowing invisible force to invade an opponent's body.
Even if the wound appeared insignificant...
The real damage occurred inside.
The invading Internal Energy could tear apart meridians, shatter organs and destroy a person's vitality before they even realized what had happened.
For this reason, External Martial Artists often carried long weapons whenever possible.
Keeping distance from an Internal Martial Artist greatly reduced the chance of allowing Internal Energy to invade the body.
Unfortunately...
Meng Yun had overlooked one crucial fact.
Lou Feng wasn't cultivating an External Martial Art.
He was cultivating an Immortal Dao Body Refinement technique.
The Hundred Refinement Body Forging Art.
The moment the foreign Internal Energy entered his body...
It was immediately met by refined Spiritual Qi flowing naturally through every muscle, tendon and bone.
The two energies collided.
The result...
Was absolute suppression.
The invading Internal Energy disintegrated almost instantly, leaving behind nothing but a trace of warmth before completely disappearing.
Lou Feng blinked.
"...So that's it."
He had wondered why the attack felt strangely weak.
Now...
He finally understood.
The Internal Energy Meng Yun had spoken of...
Had never succeeded in harming him.
Meng Yun naturally noticed the confusion disappear from Lou Feng's face.
His smile slowly froze.
"...Impossible."
Before that thought fully formed—
Boom!
Lou Feng's figure exploded forward.
The distance separating them vanished in an instant.
Meng Yun's pupils contracted violently.
"So fas—"
A hand clamped around his throat.
The overwhelming physical strength behind those fingers instantly crushed his windpipe.
His feet left the ground.
Meng Yun instinctively struggled.
His Internal Energy erupted wildly as he attempted to break free.
Yet Lou Feng's grip didn't loosen in the slightest.
Instead...
It tightened.
Crack!
The crisp sound echoed throughout the silent village.
Every struggle stopped.
Meng Yun's head tilted unnaturally to one side.
The light within his eyes faded rapidly, leaving behind only endless disbelief.
Even in death...
He couldn't understand.
He had clearly struck Lou Feng.
His Internal Energy had undoubtedly entered the boy's body.
So why...
Why was he completely unaffected?
His corpse slowly slipped from Lou Feng's grasp before collapsing onto the ground with a dull thud.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The villagers stared blankly at the body lying before them.
The feared steward of the Wind Tiger Gang...
An Internal Martial Artist had died just like that.
Killed by a single movement.
Lou Feng looked down quietly at the corpse.
He understood exactly why the battle had ended so quickly.
Meng Yun had underestimated him from the very beginning.
Believing his Internal Energy had already crippled Lou Feng, he completely lowered his guard.
Even after Lou Feng charged forward...
He still believed the boy was making one final desperate struggle.
Had Meng Yun maintained his distance...
Or immediately retreated while continuing to attack with Internal Energy...
The outcome might have been very different.
Unfortunately...
There were no second chances in battle.
One moment of arrogance had cost him his life.