10: Chapter 10 Let Me Do It

"Who is next?"

The short-haired youth stood in the center of the arena, his hands behind his back.

The soft, yielding palm power of the Qingfeng Palm circulated around his body, stirring up a faint breeze.

His gaze swept over the people of Lin Family Village, carrying undisguised contempt.

Lin Hu clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his flesh.

He was the top expert of the Martial Arts Team after Lin Jing, yet he hadn't even lasted twenty Moves against his opponent.

That soft, yielding palm power clung to him like maggots on a bone, completely neutralizing the fierce, powerful force of his Mountain-Opening Fist.

"Why wouldn't I dare!"

Lin Hu let out a low roar and charged out once again.

This time, he gave it his all, cycling through the forty-nine Moves of the Mountain-Opening Fist, his punches whistling like thunder.

The short-haired youth sneered, his body swaying slightly to dodge the direct brunt of the attack, and then he struck out with a palm.

The palm power was soft and gentle, yet it struck precisely on the side of Lin Hu's fist.

The soft, yielding force penetrated his body, burrowing into his Meridians like a venomous snake.

Lin Hu let out a muffled groan, his entire arm going numb and weak, and his punch stance instantly collapsed.

The short-haired youth followed up with a second palm strike to his chest.

"Bang!"

Lin Hu flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground, and spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Trash."

The short-haired youth withdrew his palm and said indifferently.

Another youth from Lin Family Village gritted his teeth and charged out.

He wielded a hunting fork with fierce Moves, but after ten Moves, the fork was knocked away by a palm strike, and he was kicked to the ground.

The third, the fourth...

Five people from Lin Family Village went up in succession, and all of them were defeated within ten Moves.

The strongest lasted fifteen Moves, while the weakest only lasted three.

The short-haired youth didn't even break a sweat.

He shook his head and said with an indifferent tone: "Too weak."

Cheers erupted from the side of Wang Family Village.

"An expert from a Martial Arts Hall is truly different!"

"What do these bumpkins from Lin Family Village have to fight us with?"

Village Head Wang Laosuan smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits, stroking his goatee: "Don't waste your energy. The person I invited is a Genius Disciple from the Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall, a legitimate First-Rank Martial Artist. With the meager resources of your Lin Family Village, what do you have to resist?"

The people of Lin Family Village looked ashen.

Several young people struggled to get up, wanting to fight again, but were sternly stopped by Village Head Lin Tieshan: "Enough! Everyone stand down!"

Continuing to fight would only increase casualties.

Lin Dashan's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

He stared fixedly at Village Head Wang Laosuan's smug face, his teeth grinding together.

They had been schemed against.

Completely and utterly schemed against.

The so-called youth duel, the best-of-three, it was all a ruse.

That old fox, Village Head Wang Laosuan, had dug a pit long ago, just waiting for Lin Family Village to jump into it.

The water source... it was going to be lost.

What would happen to the hundreds of acres of wheat fields in the village for the next month? What would all the old and young in the village eat?

Lin Dashan felt a tightness in his chest and a sweet taste in his throat.

He suppressed his surging blood and Qi and waved his hand: "We... concede..."

"Let me."

A voice suddenly rang out; it wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent arena.

Everyone was stunned and turned their heads in unison.

Lin Tian walked out from the crowd, his expression calm.

"Lin Tian?"

Lin Jing was the first to react, hurriedly grabbing him: "Don't be reckless! You are no match for him!"

The others from the Martial Arts Team also tried to dissuade him: "Sister Lin Jing and the others have already lost; what use is it for you to go up?"

"How many months have you even been practicing martial arts?"

"Don't cause trouble, come back quickly!"

Lin Tian shook his head: "I can do it."

He had been observing all along.

The short-haired youth's Qingfeng Palm did indeed counter the Mountain-Opening Fist—but that was the Entry-Level Mountain-Opening Fist.

Lin Jing and Lin Hu's Mountain-Opening Fist had only reached the Entry-Level, emphasizing brute force but lacking variation, making them completely countered by the principle of using softness to overcome hardness.

But Lin Tian was different.

His Mountain-Opening Fist had already reached Minor Achievement.

In the Minor Achievement Realm, there is softness within hardness, and the force penetrates in all directions.

It appears fierce and powerful, but actually hides variations within.

The soft, yielding power of the Qingfeng Palm might not be able to fully neutralize it.

Furthermore, with three months of hard training, three hundred jin of strength, and the Minor Achievement Mountain-Opening Fist, he was confident he could fight.

But Lin Jing and the others didn't know that.

In their eyes, Lin Tian was just a newcomer who had only been practicing martial arts for three months.

Since even a veteran like Lin Hu, who had practiced for five or six years, had lost, wouldn't Lin Tian just be going to his death by going up there?

"Lin Tian, don't be stubborn!" Lin Hu gritted his teeth and said, "That kid strikes ruthlessly; you really might lose your life!"

Lin Tian didn't explain further, just looked at Lin Dashan: "Village Head, let me try."

Lin Dashan looked at this youth.

Three months ago, he was still a piece of trash who couldn't even lift a fifty-jin stone lock.

Now, he dared to stand up and challenge a Disciple of the Martial Arts Hall.

His courage was commendable, but...

Lin Dashan smiled bitterly in his heart.

Try? How to try? By going up there and getting beaten?

But looking at Lin Tian's firm gaze, and then at the desperate clansmen behind him, he finally sighed: "Fine, go ahead."

Lin Tian walked toward the center of the arena.

The side of Wang Family Village had been a bit nervous; could Lin Family Village still be hiding some expert?

But when they saw Lin Tian's appearance clearly, a youth from Wang Family Village suddenly laughed out loud: "Hahaha! I was wondering who it was, so it's him!"

He pointed at Lin Tian and said to the people around him: "I know this kid! During the last water source dispute, it was me who knocked him out with a club! He has never practiced martial arts at all!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people of Wang Family Village were stunned for a moment, then burst into uproarious laughter.

"He dares to go up without ever having practiced martial arts?"

"Is there no one left in Lin Family Village?"

"This isn't how you go to your death!"

Village Head Wang Laosuan also breathed a sigh of relief, stroking his beard and laughing: "Lin Dashan, if you really have no one, just concede. Why let a greenhorn come up here to die?"

On the side of Lin Family Village, everyone's faces looked even worse.

Lin Hu stamped his feet in anger: "How embarrassing!"

Lin Jing bit her lip and turned her face away. The other clansmen also shook their heads and sighed, unable to bear watching.

In the arena, the short-haired youth looked at Lin Tian, who had walked up to him, and frowned slightly: "If you haven't practiced martial arts, don't come up. Fists and kicks have no eyes; I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."

Lin Tian stopped and said in a deep voice: "I hadn't practiced martial arts before. But for the past month or two, I have started. So now, I am also a Quasi-Martial Artist."

He paused and looked directly at the other party: "Feel free to attack, don't hold back."

"Practiced for two or three months?"

The short-haired youth was stunned, then scoffed. The people of Wang Family Village around them laughed even harder, bending over.

"Two or three months? Hahaha!"

"A Quasi-Martial Artist of two or three months? What kind of thing is that?"

"Has Lin Family Village just given up entirely?"

Even on the side of Lin Family Village, some people covered their faces. Lin Dashan regretted it even more; why had he been so possessed as to agree just now?

Lin Hu cursed under his breath: "Idiot!"

Lin Jing closed her eyes, unable to bear watching.

The short-haired youth shook his head, the last bit of patience on his face vanishing: "You ignorant fool. Since that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Before his voice had even fallen, he moved.

His figure moved like the wind, instantly closing the distance. He struck out with his right palm, the first Move of the Qingfeng Palm, "Wind Rising from the Green Duckweed".

The palm wind was soft and gentle, seemingly powerless, but actually concealed dark energy. He only used fifty percent of his strength for this palm, but it was enough to deal with a "Quasi-Martial Artist" who had only practiced for two or three months.

As the palm reached his chest, Lin Tian finally moved.

He stepped back half a step with his right foot, his body sank slightly, and his right fist shot out from his waist.

Mountain-Opening Fist, opening Move.

The movement was simple and unadorned, just the most basic punch.

But the moment the punch was thrown, the air emitted a "chi" sound of tearing. Where the fist passed, the airflow twisted.

Fist and palm collided.

"Boom!"

A muffled sound, like a beating drum.

The short-haired youth's expression changed abruptly.

He felt a violent force coming from the fist, like a collapsing mountain or a tsunami, instantly crushing his palm power!

Before absolute strength, the soft, yielding palm power shattered like paper.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

The short-haired youth retreated three steps, each step leaving a deep pit in the ground.

He steadied his figure, and the look in his eyes when he gazed at Lin Tian changed for the first time.

The whole arena was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned.

Lin Jing opened her eyes and stared blankly at the arena.

Lin Hu's mouth hung open, as if someone had choked him. The expressions of the people of Lin Family Village were frozen, their minds blank.

Opposite, the people of Wang Family Village had smiles frozen on their faces.

Village Head Wang Laosuan's cane clattered to the ground, and he didn't even notice.

"Ho... how is that possible?" Lin Hu muttered.

"He repelled... he repelled a Disciple of the Martial Arts Hall?" a clansman's voice trembled.

Lin Dashan stared fixedly at Lin Tian and suddenly cried out involuntarily: "Minor Achievement Realm! Minor Achievement in Mountain-Opening Fist!"

These words exploded like a thunderclap.

"Minor Achievement?"

"Minor Achievement in Mountain-Opening Fist? Doesn't that take ten years to practice?"

"Lin Tian has only practiced for three months!"

Lin Hu screamed, his voice changing pitch: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! It took me five years to reach Entry-Level, and he reached Minor Achievement in three months?"

Lin Jing was also bewildered, her mind a blank slate.

Three months, from zero, to reach Minor Achievement in Mountain-Opening Fist?

What kind of talent is this?

The bearded captain, Village Head Lin Tieshan, was also stunned, and the blade in his hand almost fell to the ground.

When he practiced the Mountain-Opening Fist back in the day, it took him a full eight years to go from Entry-Level to Minor Achievement!

Three months? He wouldn't even dare to dream of that!

In the arena, Lin Tian slowly withdrew his fist and looked at the short-haired youth: "You are not my opponent."

The short-haired youth's face was livid.

He had indeed suffered a loss from that punch just now. The opponent's fist power was too fierce, far exceeding his expectations.

But he didn't believe it—how could a country bumpkin be stronger than him, a Genius of the Martial Arts Hall?

"Arrogant!"

The short-haired youth let out a low roar and attacked with full force.

This time, he didn't hold back.

He unleashed all forty-nine Moves of the Qingfeng Palm, with countless palm shadows, like a breeze brushing against the face, penetrating everywhere.

Every palm carried soft, dark energy, specifically designed to break fierce, powerful fist techniques.

Lin Tian's expression remained unchanged as he unleashed the Mountain-Opening Fist.

The Mountain-Opening Fist at the Minor Achievement Realm was completely different from when it was at the Entry-Level. It appeared fierce, but actually contained softness within hardness.

The fist stance was like a mountain, yet flowed like water, continuous and unending.

The short-haired youth's Qingfeng Palm struck the fist, and just as the soft, dark energy tried to penetrate, it was shaken apart by a rotating force.

He wanted to use softness to overcome hardness, but he discovered that the opponent's "hardness" hid "softness," and his "softness" had nowhere to exert force.

Twenty Moves, thirty Moves...

Sweat appeared on the short-haired youth's forehead.

The more he fought, the more alarmed he became—the opponent's fist technique was as if he had practiced for over a decade!

The power, angle, and variation of every punch were flawless.

On the forty-fifth Move, Lin Tian threw a punch, the fist tearing through the air and emitting a sonic boom.

The short-haired youth struck out with both palms, trying to take it head-on.

"Boom!"

Fist and palm collided, and the air wave exploded.

The short-haired youth felt an irresistible, massive force coming, his arms in excruciating pain, and he flew backward like a kite with a broken string, spitting out a mouthful of blood in the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

He was defeated.

The Martial Arts Hall Genius had been defeated by a country youth.

The entire arena was silent, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the wheat fields remaining.

Lin Tian withdrew his fist, turned around, and walked back to his side.

Behind him, the short-haired youth struggled to crawl up, staring fixedly at his back, his eyes full of disbelief.