96: One punch breaks the Fiery Dragon

He... actually dared to agree?!

"Hahahaha! I didn't mishear, did I?! This Qi Refining Realm waste, actually... really dared to agree?!"

"He's crazy! Completely, utterly crazy! Who does he think he is? Who does he think he's facing?! That's Senior Brother Yan Lie! A peerless Genius at the Middle Stage of the Treasure Body Realm!"

"It's over! The Qingyun Sect this time, I'm afraid they're going to lose all face! I can almost see all their Disciples having to bow when they see our Xuanhuo Sect members in the future!"

Mockery, disdain, and undisguised pity... all sorts of voices converged into an invisible wave of sound, threatening to completely drown that slender figure who had just mustered 'courage'!

"Lin Ye! Come back!" Behind Su Changqing, a Core Elder could no longer suppress the shock and anger in his heart, and roared, "You don't represent just one person! You represent the dignity of the entire Sect! How can you treat this as child's play?!"

He bowed deeply to Su Changqing and the several Elders whose faces were ashen.

"Sect Master, Elders," he slowly began, his voice not loud, but every word clear, "This Disciple knows that he is insignificant."

"But, this Disciple also knows that the dignity of our Qingyun Sect must not be... trampled upon!"

His upright back, at this moment, seemed to contain a power capable of supporting the heavens and earth!

Su Changqing stared at him intently, the light in his profound eyes, which seemed capable of piercing through eternity, shifting erratically. Finally, he slowly closed his eyes and waved his hand weakly.

He knew that things had come to this, and there was no turning back.

The glory of the Qingyun Sect, at this moment, was truly, completely resting on this young man's shoulders!

"..." After receiving the Sect Master's "tacit approval," a cruel and excited smile appeared on Yan Lie's face.

He slowly took a few steps back, clearing enough space for Lin Ye to "perform."

He didn't even assume any defensive stance, simply stood there with his hands behind his back, at ease, chin slightly raised, looking down at Lin Ye with an extremely contemptuous posture, as if looking at an ant about to be casually crushed...

"Come on." The mocking curve of his lips widened to the extreme, "You have three chances, make sure to seize them well."

"Use all your strength, and please... don't disappoint me."

Facing such humiliation that would make anyone collapse, Lin Ye's face remained as calm as an ancient well.

He didn't utter another word of nonsense.

He raised his hand. Then, he clenched his fist.

The simplest, most unadorned movement.

However, amidst the contemptuous clamor, Yan Lie's eyes, which had been filled with mockery, suddenly narrowed!

Something was wrong!

Although the opponent hadn't revealed even a trace of Qi, with his keen intuition at the Middle Stage of the Treasure Body Realm, he felt a threat that made his heart palpitate from that seemingly slender body in that instant!

"Playing tricks!"

A flicker of irritation flashed through Yan Lie's heart! But the absolute confidence of a Treasure Body Realm powerhouse instantly suppressed this unease.

He decided to stand there and take this punch head-on with his strong Physical Body and Protective Aura! He wanted this ant, who didn't know its place, to completely despair in the face of absolute power!

A simple, unadorned, no-frills... straight punch.

However, this unremarkable punch instantly froze Yan Lie's face, which had still been wearing a mocking smile!

The contempt in his eyes vanished at this moment! Replaced by an unprecedented horror!

He was horrified to discover that as the fist advanced, the space around him seemed to be completely... locked by an invisible, irresistible, terrifying force!

He could only watch as that seemingly unremarkable fist, rapidly enlarging in his pupils, drew closer and closer to him!

"Roar—!!!"

At the brink of life and death, Yan Lie no longer cared about his demeanor. He frantically activated all the spiritual power within him, letting out a furious roar filled with shock and disbelief!

A terrifying aura, as scorching and violent as the majestic sun, suddenly erupted from his body!

Endless crimson fire-elemental spiritual power, like a volcanic eruption, frantically converged in front of him!

In this flash of lightning, he forcibly activated his protective Divine Ability!

A ferocious Fire Dragon, several zhang long, burning with raging flames, instantly formed, coiling in front of him, creating the most solid... flame barrier!

However, the moment that ferocious Fire Dragon had just formed—

Lin Ye's fist also arrived.

Time seemed to be completely still.

That seemingly unremarkable fist collided violently with the ferocious Dragon's head!

"Pop."

In an instant, that arrogant protective Fire Dragon, fully unleashed by a powerhouse at the Middle Stage of the Treasure Body Realm, stiffened the moment it touched that fist!

Immediately after—

Under everyone's ghost-like gazes, its massive body, condensed from the Law of fire, shattered with a "crack" starting from the Dragon's head, like glass struck by a heavy hammer!

It turned into... countless, scattered... sparks!

Just one encounter!

That supreme Divine Ability, capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, was... shattered by a single punch?!

"No... impossible!!!"

The cruel sneer on Yan Lie's face had long been replaced by endless horror!

However, he no longer had time to think.

Because the fist that shattered the Fire Dragon showed no decrease in power!

An invisible, yet seemingly containing the weight of the entire Nine Heavens, terrifying fist wind penetrated through the scattered sparks, heavily striking his chest, which was wide open due to his shock!

"Pfft!"

Yan Lie felt as if he had been directly struck by an ancient divine mountain plummeting from the Nine Heavens!

His Protective Aura couldn't even last for a single breath before it shattered inch by inch like paper!

He violently spat out a large mouthful of scarlet blood mixed with fragments of internal organs!

His tall and burly body, moreover, was like a kite with a broken string, struck head-on by an invisible siege hammer, flying backward at an even faster speed than he had come!

"Rumble..."

He successively crashed through several huge statues made of hard jade, and finally, a hundred meters away, he slammed heavily onto the cold ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, twitched a few times, and then completely... fainted.

The entire venue was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard!

The Genius Disciples from the six great Sects were like thousands of statues instantly petrified, each with their mouths agape, eyes vacant, and minds blank.

They stared blankly at that slender figure slowly retracting his fist.