82: You will not die if you believe; you will die if you do not believe.

Inside the pure white space.

Lin Fan was covered in blood, his Aura as weak as a flickering candle in the wind, but his eyes were terrifyingly bright.

He stared at the blurry phantom image of the old man before him, grinning to reveal blood-stained teeth. "Cut the crap... Where's the Legacy? Hand it over."

The inheritance spirit remained silent for a moment.

The phantom image seemed to shake its head, its tone carrying an indescribable complexity.

"Boy, eighty-five percent of your Meridians are damaged, your Dantian is nearly depleted, your Divine Soul Origin is shaken from forcibly using a forbidden secret technique, and your Physical Body is riddled with injuries from the backlash of laws..."

"If an ordinary Martial Artist were injured like this, they would have died a hundred times over."

"You, on the other hand, not only survived but even dare to bargain with this old man here."

Lin Fan coughed up a mouthful of dark-golden blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, panting as he spoke. "Then... are you giving it or not?"

"Giving it?" The inheritance spirit phantom image suddenly laughed, a smile that carried a hint of... malice?

"This old man's Legacy isn't given for free."

"If you want it, you have to take it with your own ability."

As the words fell.

The pure white space suddenly distorted and transformed!

It was no longer pure white, but had turned into a vast and boundless starry sky!

Stars shifted and the Milky Way hung upside down. Lin Fan found himself floating in the center of the starry sky, with a bottomless deep Universe abyss beneath his feet.

The phantom image of the inheritance spirit now became incredibly clear.

It was a thin, withered old man wearing coarse hemp clothes, his hair messy like a bird's nest, and a face so ordinary he would be lost in a crowd.

But the old man's eyes seemed to encompass the entire Universe, so deep they made one's heart palpitate.

"This old man goes by the name Martial Maniac. In my life, I loved three things: fighting, drinking, and beating up Geniuses."

The Martial Maniac grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.

"Boy, you're arrogant enough, ruthless enough, and reckless enough. You suit my taste."

"Therefore..."

He slowly raised his right hand, clenching his fingers into a fist.

"The way I'll pass my Legacy to you is also simple and crude."

"Take three of my punches."

"If you can withstand them, the Legacy is yours."

"If you can't..."

A hint of playfulness flashed in the Martial Maniac's eyes.

"Then die here and add a floating corpse to my starry sky."

Lin Fan's pupils shrank slightly.

Three punches?

In his current state of being heavily injured and on the verge of death, let alone the will left behind by an ancient Martial God like the Martial Maniac, even an ordinary Martial Master giving him a punch would cause him to die on the spot!

"What, scared?" The Martial Maniac raised an eyebrow.

"Scared?" Lin Fan laughed, coughing up blood as he did, yet he still straightened his back. "That word doesn't exist in my dictionary."

Lin Fan wasn't afraid.

From the moment the notification of the System binding successfully rang in his mind.

He knew that fear would have nothing to do with him in this life.

He believed he was the protagonist.

Protagonists don't die; at least in all the novels he had read, the protagonist never truly died.

Since obtaining the System.

He had always relied on acting tough and face-slapping to deepen this perception of himself!

Until he believed it completely!

The power of belief is terrifying.

In 'My Date with a Vampire', the strongest Mortal, Ma Dalong, relied on this power to take a hit from the King of Men head-on!

Now, Lin Fan possessed this same power!

He took a deep breath—even though this movement pulled at the wounds all over his body, causing excruciating pain.

"Come at me."

"First punch."

The Martial Maniac nodded and, without wasting words, raised his hand and threw a punch!

This punch was plain and unremarkable.

There was no earth-shattering Aura, no power to tear through space, and it didn't even stir up a breeze.

It was like a casual punch thrown by an old farmer on the street.

But Lin Fan's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needlepoints!

Because he saw it!

On the trajectory of that punch, space was wailing!

It wasn't tearing, it wasn't shattering—it was wailing!

It was as if the 'True Intent of Martial Arts' contained in this punch had exceeded the limit that space could bear!

This punch was not targeting his body.

It was targeting his Martial Dao Origin!

"Damn it..." Lin Fan gritted his teeth, wanting to dodge, but found that he couldn't even move a single finger.

This punch had already 'locked onto' the 'concept' of his existence in this starry sky!

There was nowhere to run!

He could only take it head-on!

But with what?!

His Meridians were all shattered, his Dantian was depleted, and his Physical Body was on the verge of collapse... In a flash, a hint of madness flickered in Lin Fan's eyes.

He abandoned all defense.

He abandoned all resistance.

He even gave up on maintaining the Sacred Heart Art that held his last thread of life.

Instead!

Using the last of the strength in his entire body, he raised his right hand.

Against the Martial Maniac's punch.

He likewise threw a punch!

Meeting attack with attack!

Risking life for life!

"COME!!!"

Lin Fan roared, his voice hoarse like the growl of a dying beast!

BOOM!!!

The two punches collided.

There was no explosion, no shockwave, and not even a sound.

There was only... Lin Fan's right fist, along with his entire right arm, turning into dust the moment they touched!

It wasn't broken, it wasn't shattered—it directly turned into the finest dust and dissipated in the starry sky!

Immediately after, that invisible 'True Intent of Martial Arts' surged into Lin Fan's body through his severed arm.

Like billions of red-hot steel knives, it frantically sliced and burned through every inch of his Meridians, every piece of bone, and every single cell!

"Argh!!!"

Lin Fan let out a non-human scream, his body trembling violently, blood spraying from all seven orifices simultaneously!

But he did not fall.

He gritted his teeth so hard they shattered, his gums bled, but he still remained standing!

A flash of surprise crossed the Martial Maniac's eyes.

"He didn't die?"

"Still standing?"

He withdrew his fist, looked at Lin Fan's extremely wretched appearance, and nodded.

"The first punch, consider it taken."

"However..."

The Martial Maniac smiled, a malicious grin.

"The second punch won't be this simple."

He raised his hand again.

This time, it was no longer a casual punch.

Instead, he opened his five fingers and slowly pressed down toward Lin Fan.

"Second Form: Suppressing the Universe."

BOOM!!!

The entire starry sky seemed to sink under the pressure of this hand!

Infinite gravity slammed down onto Lin Fan!

It wasn't physical gravity.

It was Soul gravity!

Lin Fan felt as if his Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits had been thrown into a gravity field billions of times stronger than normal, being frantically compressed, distorted, and ground down!

The intense pain coming from the Soul level was thousands or tens of thousands of times stronger than physical pain!

His consciousness began to blur, and multiple phantom images appeared before his eyes, as if his Soul would Fly Away and Spirit Scatter at any moment!

But just then!

Inside Lin Fan's mind, the long-dormant Ancient Desolate Sacred Elephant Body Origin was suddenly stimulated by this Soul gravity and erupted!

ROAR!!!

A divine elephant phantom image, treading on Hell with its head against the heavens, appeared behind Lin Fan!

The divine elephant roared toward the sky, and as its trunk swung, it actually forcibly bore that peerless Soul gravity!

"Hmm? Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength?" The Martial Maniac's eyes lit up. "And it's a variant after fusing with the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body?"

"Interesting..."

Instead of stopping, he increased the intensity!

"For this old man—KNEEL!"

The Soul gravity surged tenfold!

CRACK!

The bones in Lin Fan's legs shattered inch by inch!

His entire body was pressed down into a curve, his knees only three inches away from the starry ground!

But he did not kneel.

He used his broken leg bones to stubbornly brace against the ground. His teeth shattered and grew back, grew back and shattered again. Blood gushed from his mouth, but he still... did not kneel!

"Old... old thing..." Lin Fan squeezed out the words from between his teeth, "Is this all... the strength you have?"

"You also want... to make me kneel?!"