372: Chapter 372 What makes him so special?

Wen Yan's brain felt like it had been stuffed with a tangled mess of thread, grinding to a complete halt.

What was this?

An impromptu martial arts performance at a disaster relief reconstruction site?

Or were the three of them so overloaded with life energy that it had fried their brains?

Wen Yan rubbed his throbbing temples, trying to make some logical sense of the absurd scene before him.

But he failed.

The sparring in the field continued.

Zhao Tianyang threw a fierce straight punch, carrying a sound of tearing air, straight towards Lin Yu's face. Before the fist arrived, the force of the wind it generated had already flattened the ten-meter-tall foxtail grass surrounding them, making it bend backwards.

Facing this punch powerful enough to shatter an armored vehicle, Lin Yu merely extended two fingers and lightly, effortlessly, tapped Zhao Tianyang's wrist.

Hum.

A faint tremor.

That overwhelming force vanished without a trace in an instant, as if it had never existed.

Zhao Tianyang's body lurched forward from the excessive force, yet it was held firmly in place by those two seemingly slender fingers, unable to move.

This was a mastery of force control so exquisite it was sublime.

It wasn't deflecting, nor was it blocking; it was dismantling the very composition of the attack at its source.

Wen Yan saw clearly: the moment Lin Yu's fingers made contact with Zhao Tianyang's wrist, the energy gathered on Zhao Tianyang's fist dissipated instantly, like a popped balloon.

On the other side, Lin Yao's figure transformed into a blur as she circled behind Lin Yu.

Her five fingers merged into a knife-hand, a layer of ice as thin as a cicada's wing condensed at her fingertips, silently stabbing towards the back of Lin Yu's neck.

The angle was tricky, the timing precise.

This strike was enough to make any special forces king regret the encounter.

However, Lin Yu didn't even turn his head.

He merely shifted his body half an inch to the left.

Just that half an inch.

The lethal ice blade grazed past the skin of his neck; the chilling air it carried didn't even raise goosebumps on him.

Missing her strike, Lin Yao immediately changed her move. With a flick of her wrist, the ice blade swept horizontally, aiming directly for Lin Yu's throat.

But Lin Yu's body, like a ghost with no inertia, leaned back at an unbelievable angle once more, precisely avoiding the sweeping attack.

Throughout the entire process, Lin Yu's feet hadn't moved even a fraction.

Lin Yu was demonstrating an unbridgeable chasm to the other two, in the simplest, and most humiliating, way possible.

Wen Yan realized his judgment wasn't entirely correct. Lin Yu not only had absolute confidence, but he also possessed unparalleled proficiency in these basic skills and movements, as if he had practiced them a thousand... ten thousand, or even a hundred million times!

At least for Lin Yao and Zhao Tianyang, Lin Yu's proficiency was simply too high!

Zhao Tianyang seemed long accustomed to this. Having his attack neutralized, he immediately retracted his fist and stepped back. There wasn't a trace of discouragement on his face; instead, he wore a thoughtful expression, as if savoring the moment his force was dismantled.

But Lin Yao was different.

The girl's face no longer held its previous calm and focus.

In its place was a growing frustration and anger, intensifying with each exchange.

Her attacks grew faster and faster, her moves more ruthless. Ice blades, ice spikes, ice shards—attacks of various forms came in an unending torrent, turning the three-meter radius around Lin Yu into a death zone.

Yet, no matter how ferocious her assault, Lin Yu remained that picture of unflappable calm.

He was like a person taking a leisurely stroll in a raging storm, always finding the safest path through the countless gaps between the lethal raindrops.

Finally, after another seemingly surefire attack was easily caught between Lin Yu's two fingers, Lin Yao could no longer hold back.

"I'm not fighting anymore!"

The girl leaped back a step, withdrawing from the combat circle. Puffing out her cheeks in anger, she flung the ice blade in her hand to the ground, where it shattered into a pile of ice crystals.

"Seriously, what gives? I can't land a single hit at all!"

Lin Yao's shout, thick with a nasal tone, echoed through the empty "jungle."

She first shot a fierce glare at Lin Yu, then turned her ire towards Zhao Tianyang, who was observing from the side.

"Losing to him is one thing, but why can't I even beat you?"

Zhao Tianyang rubbed his nose, looking innocent.

"I... I didn't use my ability."

"You didn't use your ability?" Lin Yao's pitch instantly shot up an octave. She pointed a fair finger at Zhao Tianyang. "I just used 'Shattering Star Step' to circle behind you, and you could actually keep up with my speed! You call that not using your ability?"

Zhao Tianyang scratched his head with a simple, honest expression.

"Yao-jie, I really wasn't trying hard!"

"You!"

The implication was that she was just lousy!

Lin Yao's face flushed bright red with anger, her chest heaving violently.

She turned her head and looked again at the calm-faced culprit.

"You're not even using those weird abilities of yours, and I still can't beat you now!"

This was directed at Lin Yu.

Although the young girl had conceded physically and mentally accepted defeat, her mouth was still stubborn.

Watching from afar, Wen Yan felt the scene was somehow oddly amusing.

This was hardly a duel between masters; it was clearly a little sister throwing a tantrum at her older brother.

Sure enough, the next second, Lin Yao seemed to think words weren't enough. She prepared to express her dissatisfaction through action.

Her mouth drooped, her eyes reddened—by the looks of it, she was about to plop down on the ground and commence the ultimate sulking technique.

At the very instant her knees were about to bend...

Her movement froze.

She seemed to have sensed the distant observation. Tilting her head, she met Wen Yan's gaze—which he hadn't had time to retract—filled with scrutiny and a hint of... schadenfreude.

The air froze at that moment.

The welling-up frustration in Lin Yao was instantly dammed by a powerful surge of shame.

Her bending knees snapped straight, her back straightened, her hands clasped behind her, and she even cleared her throat with an air of importance.

That deliberately composed demeanor made it seem as if the person who had just been furious and ready to throw a tantrum was not her at all.

Only her slightly reddened eyes and the disappointment she couldn't quite hide betrayed her true state of mind.

She had thought she was already strong.

Over these past few days of cultivation, her understanding of the [Myriad Laws Comprehension] class had reached a whole new level.

She had even created a terrifying spell like "Forbidden Gate," powerful enough to shatter heaven and earth.

Yet, even so, she still couldn't beat her brother.

She couldn't beat his ultimate moves, couldn't beat his regular moves, couldn't even beat him in a pure physical contest!

Losing to Zhao Tianyang she could accept; he was, after all, a myth-class being. But Lin Yu?

This immense sense of disparity weighed on her heart like a massive stone.

Seeing the girl's forced composure, Wen Yan sighed inwardly for no particular reason.

The troubles of a genius are often just that simple.

When a completely unreasonable "cheater" appears in your world, no matter how hard you try, it all seems somewhat futile.

Just like him and his childhood friend.

No...

It's different. I have a higher tier than my friend; winning is normal...

But Lin Yu has a *lower* tier than Lin Yao!

Right!

What gives him the right?