Lin Xuan's answer immediately enraged the three of them. Their leader, Lin Fang, crossed his arms and sneered, "You think you have the right to refuse? We've wanted to do this for a long time. I can't believe you had the audacity to give a Wood Carving to Miss Lin. No wonder you were always carving—it was for her! Why don't you take a good look at yourself? A cripple like you dares to aim so high? Just because you were close as kids, you really think you're Miss Lin's fiancé?"
Lin Fang seemed to have found an outlet, finally venting the flames of his jealousy. Many people knew about Lin Xuan and Lin Xue's close relationship, and they were all jealous. When Lin Xuan fell far behind and eventually went blind, many of them had gloated over his misfortune.
The fact that Lin Xuan was now giving a Wood Carving to Lin Xue had irritated them all over again, so they couldn't resist coming to rob him. In any case, leaving these Elixir Pills with Lin Xuan was a waste. 'His eyes are blind. What kind of future could he possibly have?'
"I've never thought of myself that way. If that's what you think, I have nothing more to say. But as for this bottle of Elixir Pills, I suggest you drop the idea. They're mine, and no one is taking them from me!" With that, Lin Xuan turned to leave. He had no time to waste on them.
"Damn it! You dare ignore us? Leaving won't be so easy. You're not going anywhere today without leaving those Elixir Pills behind!" Lin Fang snarled and charged forward, throwing a punch at Lin Xuan's back. A fierce gust of wind gathered around his fist. If the blow landed, even if it didn't kill Lin Xuan, it would leave him bedridden for a month.
Just as the punch was about to land, a wooden staff, moving faster than his fist, thrust forward. It struck him squarely in the abdomen. THUD. Lin Fang stumbled back several steps, clutching his stomach as cold sweat dripped down his face. He stared at Lin Xuan in utter disbelief.
Lin Xuan stood there, holding the wooden staff, still in the pose of his finished thrust. His expression remained as serene as ever.
At the side, Lin Yuan's eyes went wide. He stammered in shock, "That... That was the Cloud-Entering Form..."
They were all dumbfounded. With a single strike, he had hit Lin Fang so hard he almost coughed up blood.
Clutching his stomach, his face contorted in pain, Lin Fang glared at Lin Xuan and ordered coldly, "Both of you, get him! He only hit me by a fluke!"
He threw all concern for his reputation to the wind, ordering the others to gang up on Lin Xuan. He didn't care that his opponent was blind. Ganging up on a blind man would be a huge disgrace to his name if word got out.
The others were well aware of this, so they rushed to attack at once. If anyone else saw this, their reputations would be ruined.
Lin Yuan also charged forward, circling around to Lin Xuan's back and throwing a punch. Lin Xuan, who had been motionless, moved again. He executed another Cloud-Entering Form, his staff lashing out like a Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun, and a gust of wind slammed into Lin Yuan's stomach.
THUD. Lin Yuan grunted and stumbled back several steps, clutching his stomach. Lin Xuan immediately followed with a backhand swing, striking the third person on the head. With a muffled cry, the man staggered back, clutching his now-bleeding head. If Lin Xuan had been holding a True Sword, they would all be lying on the ground by now.
If the first strike was a fluke, the second one definitely wasn't. 'It's as if he can actually see us.'
Lin Fang flew into a rage. He drew his sword without hesitation and roared, "I wasn't going to draw my sword, but you little bastard are just asking to die!"
Seeing Lin Fang lose control and draw his sword, the other two paled. If they accidentally killed Lin Xuan, all of them would be expelled from the Lin Family! Sparring was common in the Lin Family, but it was always restrained. If someone was killed by accident, the perpetrator would have their Cultivation crippled and be cast out of the family!
The Lin Family's rules on this matter were very strict. They did not want their disciples killing one another.
Lin Yuan was about to cry out and stop him, but the crazed Lin Fang had already leaped into the air. He aimed his sword at Lin Xuan and slashed down viciously, the blade flashing with a blinding white light.
This move was the Sea-Entry Form, a technique even stronger than the Cloud-Entering Form! Lin Fang truly intended to kill Lin Xuan. A True Sword against a wooden staff—it was obvious who would win.
Lin Xuan, still holding his wooden staff, felt his ears twitch. He seemed to have heard the vibration of the descending sword. He didn't dodge. Instead, he swung the staff in a backhand arc. A powerful gust of Qi Force suddenly erupted from him, coiling around the wooden staff.
CLANG!
A clear, ringing sound echoed as a sword was sent flying. It spun several times in the air before falling to the ground with a loud CLATTER.
What they saw wasn't Lin Xuan's staff being split in two. Instead, it was Lin Fang's sword that had been knocked away, while Lin Xuan's staff was now pointed unerringly at Lin Fang's chest. The fabric over Lin Fang's chest had been sliced open as if by a sharp blade, splitting apart to reveal his skin.
Lin Fang stared blankly at the staff aimed at him, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He could do nothing but swallow, unable to utter a single word.
"This... This is the pinnacle of the Cloud-Entering Form... How is that possible!" Lin Yuan was dumbstruck. It wasn't just the outcome that was beyond their expectations; Lin Xuan's true strength was even more so!
The Cloud-Entering Form was the most common Martial Technique in the Lin Family. Every disciple practiced it, but very, very few could generate Qi Force with it. That was a sign of absolute mastery! Generally, no one would bother mastering such a low-level Martial Technique. There was no point. Even when perfected, the power of a low-level technique was still, in the end, low-level.
But regardless of how low-level the Martial Technique was, they had never imagined Lin Xuan would be able to generate Qi Force with it. He usually just sat here carving, and was almost never in the training plaza. Most people assumed his Cultivation had regressed. Even if it hadn't, what was the point? 'The man is blind, what good could it do him?'
But reality had shattered their expectations. Not only had Lin Xuan's strength not declined, he had actually cultivated Qi Force! Its power could turn a wooden staff as hard as steel in an instant, making it even tougher than the sword in Lin Fang's hand!
"Shall we continue?" Lin Xuan asked, his tone light and calm.
He held that wooden staff as if he were holding the entire world, and the sheer pressure he exuded left them breathless.
Lin Fang's voice was hoarse. "N-No more..." He realized his voice sounded awful, like a broken gong. He could feel the imposing aura radiating from the staff and had the distinct premonition that if he dared to resist, Lin Xuan would not hesitate to poke a few holes in him.
Hearing Lin Fang's surrender, Lin Xuan drew the staff straight down. THUMP. A gash nearly an inch deep appeared in the ground, and the Qi Force surrounding the staff vanished.
"My eyes are blind, but my heart is not!" His vacant eyes swept in their direction for a moment. Then, using the staff as a walking stick once more, he tapped it on the ground and walked away.
Once he was far away, Lin Fang and the others stared at the gash in the ground and swallowed hard. Every last bit of their anger had vanished without a trace, replaced by the feeling of cold sweat drenching their backs.
Lin Yuan crouched down and touched the gash. "I'm not sure what the absolute pinnacle of the Cloud-Entering Form is capable of," he said, his voice filled with horror, "but to cause this much damage with only a wooden staff... you'd have to be at least at the Sixth Layer of Body Refining Stage. That's a higher Cultivation than any of us."
"Sixth Layer of Body Refining Stage..." Lin Fang gasped, muttering in a daze, "That's so much higher than us. If he wasn't blind... even if he couldn't compare to the top geniuses, his achievements would have been significant. To cultivate to this level with just a Third-class Talent... that's monstrous..."
Sixth Layer of Body Refining Stage. Lin Fang was only at the Fourth Layer of Body Refining Stage, and Lin Yuan was about the same. He was a full two layers higher than them. No wonder he could defeat them so effortlessly. A higher Cultivation level could naturally dominate a lower one, but the crucial point was that Lin Xuan was blind. It was a mystery how he had managed to train at all.
They recalled his words. 'My eyes are blind, but my heart is not.' His eyes couldn't see into the distance, but his heart saw in their place, perceiving things even farther away. Perhaps it was this unyielding spirit that had made him stronger than anyone else.