91: Chapter 91 If you can't beat them, then trade your life for them.

"Fifteen seconds?" Lin Qi looked up at the big screen, his brows furrowing.

Although Shi Potian had been broken through by him earlier, he had still managed to hold on for a full three minutes.

Yet, the one known as the "strongest in the school," Li Shaobai, had only lasted fifteen seconds against Li Qingxuan.

The screen was playing a replay.

In the footage, Li Shaobai's Flying Sword filled the sky, with a momentum as grand as a sword immortal.

Li Qingxuan simply stood where he was, raising his hand in a phantom grip.

There were no flashy light effects, nor were there any intense collisions.

Those Flying Swords, forged from refined steel, were crushed as if run over by an invisible hydraulic press, twisting into a pile of scrap metal out of thin air.

Immediately after, Li Shaobai was slapped against the shield wall by an unseen force, knocking him unconscious instantly.

From start to finish, Li Qingxuan hadn't even moved his feet.

"This is the Void Realm style."

Old Mo had approached at some point, his tone unusually heavy.

"Stop watching. This isn't a battle in the same dimension at all. You're fighting inside a painting, and he's tearing the paper from outside. No matter how hard your fist is, you can hit the air, but you can't hit space itself."

Lin Qi withdrew his gaze and followed Old Mo back to the lounge.

As soon as they entered, Old Mo locked the door and even drew the curtains.

"For tomorrow's finals, I suggest you forfeit."

Old Mo unscrewed his thermos and took a sip of wolfberry water, his tone very serious.

"Li Qingxuan's [Hand of the Void] is a mutation among the S-rank abilities. Physical attacks are basically ineffective against him, unless your punch speed can exceed his mental reaction time, or..."

"Or what?" Lin Qi sat on a chair, loosening his slightly tight wrist guards.

"Or you can lock onto his 'anchor point' on a spiritual level, which is what we call 'Martial Intent.' Or, your Physical Body strength could reach the level of 'Indestructible Diamond,' allowing you to hard-resist spatial cutting."

Old Mo shook his head. "At your current stage, you can't do either. Spatial cutting has no resistance; once it cuts through a human body, it means being severed in two."

Lin Qi didn't speak.

He reached into the inner pocket of his combat suit, took out a small metal vial, and placed it gently on the table.

The bottle contained a dark red liquid; even through the special glass, one could seemingly feel the violent energy within.

Old Mo was drinking water, and catching a glimpse of the bottle, he nearly spat it out.

"Are you crazy?"

The old man stood up abruptly, snatched the bottle, and exclaimed, "This is the waste material left over from refining the Stone Beetle essence. It's mixed with highly corrosive acid. I haven't even had a chance to dispose of it yet. What are you doing with it?"

"This is exactly what I need."

Lin Qi took the bottle back and spun it twice in his hand.

"Conventional means won't win against Li Qingxuan. Although my bone density is hard enough, it can't withstand spatial tearing. I need another metamorphosis."

"This isn't a metamorphosis, this is suicide!"

Old Mo was so angry his beard was trembling. "If you drink this, your internal organs will rot first, and then your bones will be softened and restructured. That's pain like being sliced alive, and the success rate isn't even ten percent!"

"Ten percent is enough."

Lin Qi's eyes were calm. "There is a saying in my hometown: 'If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die without regret in the evening.' If it's for the sake of becoming stronger, this risk is worth it."

In his previous life, to break the limits of martial arts, he had jumped into lava. In this world, what was a bottle of poison?

The potential of this body hadn't reached its end; it was simply trapped by the shackles of a mortal frame.

To break those shackles in a short time, one had to use a heavy hammer.

"You..."

Old Mo pointed at Lin Qi, his finger trembling for a long time, before finally dropping it helplessly.

He could see it now; this kid wasn't asking for permission, he was giving notification.

He had seen this look before—it was the look only a madman had.

"Wait here."

Old Mo turned and walked to the cabinet, rummaging through it until he found a sandalwood box, which he tossed to Lin Qi.

"This is a Heart-Protecting Pill I've treasured for thirty years. It can protect your heart Meridians for ten minutes so you don't die. If you haven't made it through after ten minutes, I'll just collect your corpse."

Lin Qi caught the box, a rare hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks, old man."

Late at night, in an abandoned warehouse.

This was usually a place for storing miscellaneous items, but at this moment, it was terrifyingly quiet.

Lin Qi, stripped to the waist, sat cross-legged on the ground with the small metal vial in front of him.

Moonlight spilled onto him through the broken windows, his well-defined muscular lines looking like a drawn bow.

"The path of the Martial Saint has always been paved with one's life."

Lin Qi pulled out the stopper, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

Gulp.

The dark red liquid slid down his throat into his stomach.

Three seconds of silence.

Then, a burning sensation, like molten lava, exploded inside his body.

There was no scream.

Lin Qi gritted his teeth, his jaw bulging with hard angles.

His skin rapidly turned crimson, and the sweat that emerged was evaporated into white mist by the high heat.

Pain.

Bone-deep pain.

The liquid didn't actually corrode his internal organs; instead, wrapped in the medicinal power of Old Mo's Heart-Protecting Pill, it transformed into countless tiny files, crazily scraping against his entire skeletal structure.

This was to break the growth limits of his bones, forcing a restructuring.

Lin Qi's entire body was convulsing, but he did not pass out.

He forced himself to stay conscious.

Because only at the edge of extreme pain and life and death could the deepest latent life potential of the human body be stimulated.

This was what his previous life called — Qi sensation.

"Give me... condense!"

A low, beast-like roar escaped Lin Qi's throat.

He mobilized the violent medicinal power rampaging through his body, guiding it along the most profound Internal Skill route from the "martial arts era."

Once, twice, ten times.

His Meridians were battered until they were riddled with holes, only to be repaired by the medicinal power of the Heart-Protecting Pill.

This cycle of destruction and regeneration was like rolling in Hell.

Time passed second by second.

Old Mo kept watch outside the warehouse door, the red thermos already crumpled in his grip.

No screams came from inside, which only made him more worried.

Who knows how much time had passed.

The heart-stopping high temperature inside the warehouse suddenly began to subside.

Replacing it was a dull, powerful heartbeat.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Like beating a large drum covered in oxhide.

Lin Qi slowly opened his eyes.

His originally crimson skin had returned to normal, becoming even more delicate, with a luster like cold jade.

But beneath the skin, his original bones seemed to have become denser, with every single bone seemingly containing explosive power.

Most importantly, at the location of his Dantian, a wisp of Qi as thick as a hair was slowly rotating.

A True Qi seed.

Although weak, this marked that he had finally shed his purely mortal Physical Body and stepped into the threshold of the "Internal School."

"That's it."

Lin Qi clenched his fist, his knuckles popping with a crisp sound.

This feeling of being filled with power allowed him to reclaim a shadow of his Peak from his previous life.

The next morning.

Old Mo, with two dark circles under his eyes, saw the warehouse door pushed open.

Lin Qi walked out.

He had changed into a clean combat suit, and the heavy sword on his back was still worn, but the feeling he gave off had changed.

If the Lin Qi of yesterday was a blade with its edge fully exposed, then the one today was a sword hidden in its sheath.

One couldn't tell the depth of his power, but it instinctively made people feel he was dangerous.

"You succeeded?" Old Mo looked him up and down, his eyes filled with disbelief.