11: Chapter 11 is outrageous: You call this an ordinary student?

Lin Qi ignored the bald man's struggling. He picked up the broken blade from the table with his other hand and waved it under the light.

The cross-section was jagged and uneven; it had indeed been snapped by brute force.

The surrounding crowd of onlookers pointed and whispered.

"Isn't that Old Third from the Black Wolf Mercenary Group? Has he run into a tough nut to crack?"

"Who is that student? How is his strength so immense?"

Hearing the discussions around him, the bald man felt he was losing face. He used his other hand to push Lin Qi.

"Let go! You little brat, stop meddling! This is between me and Huichun Hall!"

Lin Qi stepped aside to dodge the push, releasing the bald man's hand in the process.

The bald man had used too much force. He stumbled several steps and nearly crashed into the counter.

Rubbing his numb wrist, his eyes turned fierce. "What kind of sorcery did you just use?"

"It's not sorcery, it's physiology."

Lin Qi tossed the broken blade back onto the table with a sharp clang.

"The cross-section of the blade has obvious white granular spots. This is metal fatigue caused by long-term, high-load hacking."

Lin Qi pointed at the edge of the break.

"On top of that, there was an issue with how you applied force just now. When encountering a hard object, you should use 'Dragging Blade Force' to dissipate the impact, but you used brute force to clash head-on."

He looked at the bald man, his tone as flat as if he were reciting a textbook.

"This blade should have been scrapped three months ago. The fact that it lasted until now shows that Huichun Hall's maintenance oil is actually quite good."

The shop fell silent for a few seconds.

Although most of these black market dwellers were rough men, those words sounded incredibly professional.

Even the shop assistant, who had been scared witless, nodded blankly.

Zhang Wei's eyes lit up, and he immediately straightened his back. "Did you hear that? This is an expert! If you want to extort money, at least find a better excuse!"

Having been exposed in public, the bald man's dark face turned a deep red.

In this black market where only fists mattered, being suppressed by logic was more humiliating than being beaten up.

"To hell with your expert!"

The bald man flew into a rage out of humiliation. He ripped off his wolf-tooth necklace and slammed it onto the ground.

"I don't know anything about metal fatigue! I only know the blade is broken and my money is gone! If you don't compensate me today, none of you are leaving!"

He waved his large hand and roared at his two companions behind him.

"What are you all staring at? Move! Knock this kid's teeth out for me. Let's see how he talks logic then!"

The two burly men who hadn't spoken yet had long been unable to restrain themselves.

They drew short clubs and daggers from their waists, surrounding him in a triangular formation.

Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the surrounding customers immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fearing blood might splatter on them.

"Seven, run! A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him."

Zhang Wei's face was deathly pale. He reached out to pull Lin Qi toward the back door.

Although he wanted to protect the family business, he knew his own limitations.

The opponents were genuine mercenaries who lived by the blade—men who had killed monsters and even other people.

Lin Qi's feet seemed rooted to the spot; he didn't move.

He simply handed over the three sacks containing scrap materials and bone powder.

"Hold these. Don't spill them."

Zhang Wei subconsciously took the sacks, his face full of confusion.

What time was it, and he was still worried about these few bags of trash?

"Seven..."

"Stand back."

Lin Qi cracked his knuckles, his joints making several light popping sounds.

There were no prompts from a data panel, no glow from a skill casting bar.

He just stood there simply, as casual as if he were waiting in line at the school cafeteria.

The burly man on the left with the short club was the first to charge.

The club whistled through the air, aimed straight for Lin Qi's temple.

This was a lethal blow.

Lin Qi didn't even blink.

Just as the club was about to hit, his toes lightly tapped the ground.

Loach Step.

His body seemed boneless as he slid half a foot to the left with an incredibly eerie fluidity.

The short club grazed his hair and struck empty air.

Before the man could recover his strength, Lin Qi's hand-blade had already struck the inner side of the man's elbow.

*Crack.*

That was the sound of the ulna and the olecranon colliding.

"Ah!"

The man let out a scream of agony, and the short club flew out of his hand.

His entire arm hung at an unnatural angle. Though the bone wasn't broken, the strike had precisely paralyzed the ulnar nerve.

The one on the right with the dagger followed immediately. The tip of the blade glinted with a blue light, clearly poisoned.

Lin Qi did not retreat.

He took a half-step forward, crashing directly into the man's chest.

Close-quarters combat.

He used his shoulder to brace against the man's knife-wielding wrist, while his right fingers formed a hook, gripping the man's patella.

A squeeze and a shake.

This was a variant application of the 'Bone-Piercing Force' he had used against Zhao Tie earlier.

The man felt as if a handful of broken glass had been shoved into his knee. The pain was excruciating.

His leg buckled, and he fell directly to his knees.

The dagger clattered to the floor.

In the blink of an eye, both henchmen were on the ground wailing.

Only the bald man was left standing there.

His raised fist froze in mid-air. On his fierce face, the expression shifted from anger to bewilderment, and finally to terror.

What the hell was this?

No shields, no dodge skills, and not a single ripple of energy.

Just a simple dodge, a collision, and a squeeze.

Two Level 1 Awakened were disabled just like that?

"You... are you a Fighter class?" the bald man's voice trembled.

"I'm a student."

Lin Qi brushed the dust off his school uniform and took a step toward the bald man.

The bald man subconsciously backed up two steps, his back hitting the doorframe.

"You said just now that you were going to knock my teeth out?"

Lin Qi looked at him, his gaze so calm it made one's skin crawl.

The bald man had seen this kind of look before.

It was the look top-tier predators in the wilderness gave their prey.

Devoid of any emotion, simply evaluating where it would be most convenient to take the first bite.

"Mis... Misunderstanding!"

The bald man swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring down his smooth forehead.

"I failed to recognize your greatness! Let's forget today's matter! I broke the blade myself! It has nothing to do with Huichun Hall!"

He might be a thug, but he wasn't stupid.

Someone who could take down two of his brothers in the blink of an eye wouldn't need much effort to crush him to death.

"No compensation anymore?" Lin Qi asked.

"No! Not a single cent!"

The bald man shook his head like a rattle.

He bent down to help his two brothers up, only to find his hands shaking violently.

"Get lost."

Lin Qi waved his hand as if shooing away an annoying fly.

"In the future, use your brain when buying things. Don't always try to cheat people."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

As if receiving a grand pardon, the bald man hoisted his two groaning companions and scrambled out of the shop door.

He didn't even dare to take the broken blade with him.

Peace returned to the shop.

A few customers hiding behind the counters poked their heads out, looking at Lin Qi with eyes full of awe.

Zhang Wei clutched the three sacks, his mouth agape. His expression was more vivid than if he had just watched a horror movie.

Everything that had happened just now was too fast.

So fast he didn't even have time to shout for help.

He looked at the youth who was currently lowering his head to straighten his sleeves, suddenly feeling that this 'thigh' he was clinging to was even thicker than he had imagined.

How was this a student?

This was clearly a humanoid dragon wearing a school uniform!

"Seven... Seven."

Zhang Wei stammered slightly out of excitement.

"Was that Kung Fu just now? Is it Kung Fu? I knew everything written in those books was true!"

Lin Qi took the sacks back from him and shouldered them again.

"Sort of. Just striking techniques targeting articular cartilage. As long as you study anatomy well, you can do it too."

Zhang Wei nodded frantically, even though he didn't even know where the appendix was.

"So awesome! Truly too awesome! Seven, from today on, you're my real brother!"