8: Chapter 8 Twenty Times Return

"Young Master Wang."

Lin Fan's voice remained calm, showing no emotion. "It seems your luck isn't very good. This dirt on the ground..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the muddy ground and the scattered stack of bills.

"Are you planning to have it steamed or braised?"

Wang Teng's whole body trembled. He instinctively took a step back, his heel tripping over a stone on the ground, nearly falling on his backside.

"You... you..."

Wang Teng pointed at Lin Fan, his fingers shaking. "You're cheating! This must have been a setup! That fat guy is your shill!"

"A shill?" Lin Fan smiled.

He casually picked up the deformed steel pipe from the ground, tossed it lightly, and then suddenly thrust it downward.

Puchi!

Like cutting through tofu, the steel pipe sank more than three inches directly into the hard concrete floor, landing right between Wang Teng's legs, only a few centimeters away from his vitals.

Wang Teng let out a strange cry of terror and slumped to the ground, a warm liquid instantly soaking his crotch.

He had wet himself.

The dignified young master of the Wang family had been scared into peeing himself by a steel pipe.

"If he's a shill, I'll give you a chance to be one too."

Lin Fan looked down at him from above. "There are still two boxes on the ground. Ten thousand each. Aren't you rich? Didn't you say anyone who buys one is an idiot?"

"Now, here's your chance to prove you're not an idiot."

"Buy it, or get lost?"

Just then, the system's notification rang in his mind again, carrying a sense of pleasure that made his soul tremble.

[Ding!]

[Detected that a blind box sold by the host has yielded a C-Rank Talent (Hardened Skin).]

[Twentyfold Return triggered!]

The notification sound echoed in his mind.

Immediately after, a domineering heat flow poured into the top of his head out of nowhere.

Pain.

A tearing, excruciating pain.

If the fat man's awakening was a trickling stream, what was pouring into Lin Fan's body now was a roaring, surging river.

[Reward distributed: Host has obtained a B-Rank Talent, Vajra Skin.]

Lin Fan stood in place, appearing calm on the surface. But hidden under his cheap T-shirt, every inch of his muscle was frantically writhing, tearing, and restructuring.

Dense popping sounds came from deep within his bones, crackling like roasting beans, but they were perfectly masked by the noisy exclamations around him.

On the surface of his skin, a faint golden luster flowed past and then vanished beneath the surface.

It wasn't the coarse, rocky callus like the fat man's; it was a higher-order, more perfect evolution of life.

His muscle density skyrocketed several times over in just three seconds. Although his thin frame didn't seem to change, if a knife were to strike him now, the knife would definitely be the one to break.

B-Rank Talent.

In Jianghai, this was the watershed of genius.

Not to mention this was a B-Rank focused on physical defense; in terms of actual combat ability, it was enough to crush those of the same rank.

Huff.

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Lin Fan clenched his fist.

The air in his palm was squeezed until it popped, letting out a dull, low rumble.

Power...

Unprecedented power.

His blood qi value was jumping frantically. 0.9... 1.5... 3.0... 5.0!

In just an instant, his blood qi intensity crossed the threshold of the early Martial Apprentice stage, surging all the way up to the level of a Fifth-grade Martial Apprentice!

This rocket-like leveling speed, if word got out, would be enough to make those old martial artists who had cultivated for decades die of shame.

Lin Fan slowly raised his eyes.

His gaze pierced through the dust floating in the air and landed on Wang Teng, who was half a meter away.

At this moment, the world seemed to have changed.

Before, looking at Wang Teng was like looking at a mountain that needed to be looked up to and endured—a B-Rank genius who made him feel suffocated.

And now?

He was just a joke.

Wang Teng was still sitting slumped on the ground, his crotch wet, his face as pale as paper. His lips trembled as he looked at the flattened steel pipe in the fat man's hand. The terror in his eyes hadn't faded, now mixed with unbelievable jealousy.

This was the so-called young master of a prestigious family?

This was the arrogant rich kid who just now had told him to kowtow and apologize?

An impulse to beat him to death surged in Lin Fan's heart.

Just one punch.

With his current level 5 Martial Apprentice strength combined with the counter-shock force of the Vajra Skin, he could blow Wang Teng's head apart like a watermelon with a single punch.

Kill him?

No.

That would be too easy on him.

Dying is easy; living and suffering is the hard part.

This kind of self-righteous idiot was the best "leek" to harvest, the best stepping stone. Letting him die easily before squeezing out every bit of his remaining value would be a waste of resources.

Lin Fan forcibly suppressed the boiling killing intent within him. The faint golden light in his eyes quietly receded, returning to the depth of an unfathomable ancient well.

Make money.

The primary task now was to make money.

With strength, money is no longer just money; it's a resource, the fuel for reaching higher realms.

"Hey."

Lin Fan spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap, instantly snapping the dazed crowd around him back to reality.

"Have you seen enough?"

Lin Fan pointed at the other two black boxes on the ground, his tone as casual as asking "Have you eaten?" "The C-Rank Talent has already been drawn. Does anyone else want these two boxes?"

One second.

Two seconds.

After the dead silence came a total explosion.

Boom!

The crowd went wild.

"Holy crap! You really can get a talent! And it's C-Rank!"

"Ten thousand? Buying a C-Rank Talent for ten thousand? This is practically a giveaway!"

"That fat guy was just a D-Rank loser a moment ago, and now he's taking off. These blind boxes are for real!"

"Grab them!!"

Rationality?

In the face of a temptation that could change one's fate, rationality was worth nothing.

The passersby who had previously kept their distance due to Wang Teng's threats now had bloodshot eyes. Like hungry wolves smelling blood, they desperately squeezed toward the stall.

Wang Teng's threats?

To hell with the Wang family!

As long as I can get a C-Rank Talent, I'll be a noble martial artist from now on. What does the Wang family matter!

"I'll buy it, I'll buy it! Stop pushing me!"

"I'll give you fifteen thousand! Sell it to me!"

"Get lost! I'll give you twenty thousand! Boss, I want this box!"

"Don't snatch it! I saw it first! Don't you dare!"

The crowd surged like a zombie horde, instantly submerging the small stall.

Countless hands waving banknotes、 cell phone， Even gold necklaces， It frantically reached out towards the two surviving wooden boxes in front of Lin Fan.。

The scene was a hundred times more brutal than elderly ladies fighting over discounted eggs at a supermarket.

Wang Teng, standing at the very front, bore the brunt of it.

Before he could even crawl up from the ground, he was stepped on several times by the swarming crowd.

"Ah! Don't push! I'm Wang Teng! I'm the young master of the Wang family... Ow!"

A large foot wearing a leather boot stepped hard on his face, leaving a clear footprint.

Then a second one, a third one...

The passersby who were usually respectful to him didn't care at all who was under their feet. In the face of a chance to change their lives, anyone in the way was a mortal enemy.

"Boss, I have money! I have thirty thousand!"

A balding middle-aged man squeezed to the front with all his might, his face covered in oily sweat, thrusting his phone's payment QR code right in Lin Fan's face. "Scan me! Quick, scan me!"

It was the neighboring stall owner who had been mocking Lin Fan just now.

At this moment, where was his previous sarcasm? His face was filled with flattery, greed, and madness.

"Get out of the way!"

A burly Mercenary shoved the balding man aside and slammed a stack of blood-stained bills onto the cardboard. "Little brother, I'll take both boxes. Fifty thousand!"

"Why do you get to take them all? I'll give sixty thousand!"

"Eighty thousand!"

The price was skyrocketing.

From ten thousand, it was bid up to eighty thousand in the blink of an eye.

This was the gambler's mentality.

Seeing was believing. The fat man's success was right before them, and that living C-Rank Talent was like a shot of adrenaline injected straight into everyone's main artery.

Lin Fan looked at the distorted, fanatical faces before him and heard the constantly increasing numbers.

He was in no hurry to collect the money.

He just watched quietly, like a high-level trader looking down from the clouds at the ants below fighting madly for a few scraps.

This was human nature.

Ten minutes ago, they were laughing at him for being a scammer and a loser.

Ten minutes later, they were on their knees begging him to take their money.

How ironic.

But also, how satisfying.

Lin Fan extended a finger and lightly tapped the ground in front of him.

Dong.

The sound wasn't loud, yet it was exceptionally clear amidst the chaotic crowd.

Everyone instinctively stopped their movements and held their breath, staring intently at the young street stall owner, afraid to miss a single word he said.

"Are you sure? What you get depends entirely on luck."

Lin Fan's voice remained calm. Realizing he needed money, he didn't mind acting like a Shrewd Merchant for once. "There are only two blind boxes left. They go to the highest bidder."

"But, once the deal is done, there's no going back. I won't guarantee anything if you lose money on the draw."