28: How about I give you a hand?

In the center of the banquet hall, Ye Star’s provocative challenge, like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirred up a thousand waves.

The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone’s gaze, like searchlights, focused uniformly on the storm’s epicenter—the young man at the Long Family’s main seat, whose expression had remained indifferent from beginning to end.

How would he respond to this sudden challenge, which was almost a public humiliation?

Would he accept the challenge with thunderous momentum, defending his supreme prestige as the number zero heir?

Or would he… Under countless complex gazes mixed with curiosity, anticipation, schadenfreude, and a hint of worry, Lin Tian slowly put down the glazed jade cup in his hand.

He raised his eyes, calmly glanced at Ye Star, who stood in the center of the hall, his face somewhat distorted by anger and jealousy, and then, under everyone’s astonished gaze, he gently… shook his head.

He spoke slowly in a tone full of “sincerity” and “difficulty,” his voice not loud, but clearly reaching the ears of everyone present:

“Brother Ye’s kindness is appreciated by Lin.”

“It’s just that I am naturally lazy and truly dislike fighting. Moreover, I have been in seclusion for many years, neglecting actual combat, so my strength is quite ordinary. Compared to a Prodigy like Brother Ye, whose name shakes the world, I am merely a firefly next to a bright moon.”

“If I were to go on stage, I fear I would humiliate myself within three moves. To avoid offending everyone’s eyes, I think… it’s better not to.”

These words were spoken with genuine emotion, and his posture was extremely humble, as if he truly were just an ordinary young man who was not skilled in combat and only had his status.

As soon as these words were uttered, the entire hall erupted in an uproar!

“What?! Did I hear that right? He… he actually refused?!”

“Ordinary strength? What a joke! The phenomenon of his Breakthrough during seclusion a year ago required even a Martial God to suppress it!”

“This… could this be the legendary… cowering from battle?!”

At the Long Family’s seats, Long Ao and the other Heirs all frowned slightly, a hint of confusion and disappointment flashing in their eyes. And at the North America “Holy Mountain”’s seats, Kyle Austin directly scoffed, his gaze towards Lin Tian filled with undisguised contempt.

As for the challenger, Ye Star, after hearing Lin Tian’s “refusal,” he was first stunned, and then, the last trace of apprehension he had for the number zero heir completely vanished!

In his opinion, this was not humility at all, but the most blatant… lack of confidence!

He became even more certain that this so-called “Number Zero” was merely a good-for-nothing, overly protected by his Family, with only innate talent and potential, but actually strong on the outside and weak on the inside!

Thinking of this, Ye Star’s self-confidence instantly soared!

He burst into laughter, his laughter filled with condescending arrogance and a hint of “tolerance” to show off his demeanor in front of his beloved goddess.

He said loudly, “Brother Lin, there’s no need to be so modest! I know you must be afraid that my Cultivation is deeper than yours, my Realm more stable, and that I might accidentally injure your precious Physical Body!”

He puffed out his chest and, in a “magnanimous” tone, deliberately added a debuff that would be humiliating for any Martial Artist!

“Like this!”

“To show my sincerity, and to make this spar fairer! I, Ye Star, hereby promise in front of the whole world!”

“I will let you… use one hand!”

“And I will only use fifty percent of my strength!”

“We will stop before anyone is seriously hurt! Let’s just consider it entertainment for this grand banquet, how about it?!”

“Let you use one hand”!

“Only use fifty percent of my strength”!

How arrogant were these words! How presumptuous!

This was no longer a spar, but blatant, unilateral “guidance” and “humiliation”!

The atmosphere of the entire hall instantly reached its Peak! Everyone looked at Lin Tian with an expression of watching a good show, wondering if he could continue to “yield” in the face of such humiliation.

However, before Lin Tian could answer, a clear and pleasant, yet indignant and protective, young girl’s voice preemptively echoed throughout the hall!

Jiang Luoling, the little girl who had just been too shy to look up, now poked her cute little head out from behind Lin Tian, like a protective mother Dragon whose cub had been provoked.

With puffed cheeks and burning anger in her bright, expressive eyes, she huffed and shouted at Ye Star:

“Hey! You’re so annoying! Who wants you to concede?! Are you that great?!”

She walked in front of Lin Tian, spread her arms, and protected Lin Tian behind her like a mother hen protecting her chicks, continuing in a worried yet righteous tone:

“My Brother Tian is so handsome! So good-looking! Is his face something you can touch?!”

“What if! I mean, what if! What if you, this clumsy guy, accidentally injure his face and leave even a tiny scar, what then?!”

She pointed at Ye Star and, in a very serious tone, posed a Soul-searching question:

“Can you… afford to compensate?!”

Pfft—!

This “masterstroke” of a “husband-protecting” assist, filled with “face-value” logic, instantly transformed the banquet hall’s atmosphere from tense to one of endless joy and absurdity!

The elders of the Long Family and Jiang Family could no longer hold back, each one laughing heartily, their eyes filled with doting affection as they looked at their Juniors.

As for Ye Star, the “humiliated” party, upon hearing these words, his handsome face instantly turned a liver-like purple!

Injure his face… can he afford to compensate?!

What in the world… are these outrageous words?!

For him, this was a blatant disregard and humiliation, more damaging than any taunt!

He felt his lungs were about to explode from anger!

Just then, Lin Tian, who was protected behind Jiang Luoling, finally sighed deeply, seemingly “helplessly.”

He gently patted his cousin’s shoulder, signaling her to step back. Then, he slowly walked forward, facing the trembling Ye Star, and said in a tone full of “no other choice”:

“Alas… Since Brother Ye is so insistent, it would seem unappreciative if I, Lin, were to decline again.”

“Very well.”

“Then… it would be disrespectful to refuse.”

He agreed!

Just when everyone thought he would continue to “chicken out,” he actually agreed!

The atmosphere of the entire hall instantly shifted from joy back to extreme tension and anticipation!

Lin Tian slowly walked onto the white marble arena, which had long been prepared for the Prodigies in the center of the banquet hall.

In his heart, however, he was already overjoyed.

“Feigning weakness → opponent seeking death → divine assist escalating the situation → reluctantly accepting the challenge… Tsk tsk, with this whole process, even if I beat him to death on the spot, others would only think he brought it upon himself, seeking his own demise.”

He looked at his “love rival” opposite him, who was already completely blinded by jealousy, and inwardly began to mourn for him.

At the same time, a clear thought emerged in his mind.

“After a year of seclusion, my Cultivation has broken through from a one-star Martial Artist to the Peak of the Martial King Rank.”

“The Nine Transformations of the Divine Dragon has also successfully Cultivated to the third transformation, ‘Dragon Bone Golden Body,’ doubling my Physical Body strength again from its original foundation, reaching… four hundred thousand tons.”

“Perfect, I’ll use you to test my strength and see what quality this four hundred thousand tons of power truly is.”

On the arena, Ye Star took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart.

He kept his promise, slowly putting his left hand behind his back, adopting a stance of facing the enemy with one arm.

He looked at Lin Tian, his eyes cold, preparing to utterly crush this pretty boy in front of him with his “merciful” right hand!

Lin Tian looked at his “a gentleman’s word is his bond” suicidal demeanor, and simply, casually, threw a punch forward.

This punch seemed unremarkable, carrying no internal Qi, causing no unusual phenomena, just like an ordinary person performing the most basic punching motion.

However, precisely this seemingly ordinary punch, at the moment it was thrown—

The air in the entire banquet hall seemed to be fiercely sucked in by an invisible, ancient beast from the primordial wilderness!

Centered on Lin Tian’s fist, a visible, absolute vacuum zone formed!

The terrifying air pressure instantly covered all the crystal chandeliers, glazed cups, and jade tables in the entire banquet hall with spiderweb-like cracks!

All the guests, regardless of their Cultivation, at this moment, turned pale with fright, feeling a suffocating fear from the depths of their Souls, enough to make even gods tremble!

The chapter abruptly ended just before this world-shattering punch was about to hit Ye Star’s face, which was filled with shock and disbelief.