C16 Pretending to be a Pig to Eat a Tiger!

As Faang Yi's words trailed off, a figure darted out from the outskirts of the stronghold with incredible speed.

"Phew!" Faang Yi was about to let out a sigh when she suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

Indeed, she had just risked everything to create a diversion for Ling Han to escape, but the one who had fled was Wang Ji.

Ling Han was still positioned right behind Faang Yi.

With Wang Ji gone, the burly man, realizing he was too late to pursue, began to close in on Faang Yi.

At this point, it seemed Faang Yi was in grave danger!

"Damn it! Wang Ji is a duplicitous jerk whose words and actions never align! I had assumed that being born into a royal household, he'd surely have a last-ditch trick up his sleeve. I thought I could use that to escape with him, but he turned out to be such a contemptible pretender."

Ling Han, however, remained completely unfazed.

But one thing was clear to Ling Han: Faang Yi was someone worth befriending. Her willingness to go out of her way to save him had genuinely impressed him.

After all, Faang Yi had pushed herself and the power of the Scarlet Crescent Whip to the brink to encircle the old thief. She didn't have to do that, and it could have even resulted in a harmful backlash.

Now, Ling Han spoke up, "Faang Yi, leave that man to me and focus on the other. I'll handle this old fellow!"

At that moment, Zhou was reflecting on Faang Yi's good fortune in gaining the trust of the future emperor.

If Ling Han could hear Zhou's thoughts, he'd likely be infuriated enough to spit blood.

"But you..." Faang Yi started to object, but before she could finish, Ling Han sprang into action. A burst of purple genuine energy, more solid than the old man's, erupted from Ling Han's fist.

Normally, the genuine energy Ling Han exuded was faint and diffuse, making him seem to most like someone just a bit more powerful than a seventh-level practitioner of Awakening.

However, the velocity of Ling Han's punch and the tangible state of his genuine energy were not to be underestimated by anyone.

Onlookers often have a clearer view, and the elder caught in the midst of Ling Han's assault felt the impact most profoundly.

To the elder, it seemed as if an emperor was rebuking a humble farmer. His genuine energy, meant to shield him, shattered piece by piece, and Ling Han's fist landed solidly on his shoulder.

In that moment, Ling Han resembled someone feigning weakness to catch the unwary off guard. He declared, "If you had reached the realm of astral force, then not one, but two of me would be no match for you. But as long as you remain outside that realm, you will continue to fall to me!"

"Who are you, really?" the elder demanded, his eyes wide with shock. "Why is my genuine energy dispersing as if paying homage to an emperor?"

Instead of an answer from Ling Han, the elder was met with an even more vicious punch.

During his previous battle with the Second Elder, Ling Han hadn't known how to channel his genuine energy into his fists, only how to conjure a protective shield.

But his recent days spent wandering the secular world, under Yu's guidance, had enlightened him. He realized his genuine energy was unique, and he had learned several potent attack techniques.

Typically, the further one advances in cultivating genuine energy, the more solid it becomes. For instance, someone who has achieved Perfection at the ninth level has genuine energy several times more condensed than someone at the eighth level.

Yet Ling Han had shattered this convention.

Now, the genuine energy of an ordinary practitioner at the tenth level of the Awakening realm couldn't possibly match the gel-like state of Ling Han's.

Ling Han's genuine energy-infused punches were like the grasp of a demon, intent on dragging his opponent to hell.

Seeing Ling Han's increasingly fierce strike, the elder desperately fought back, swallowing several medicinal pills and unleashing a thunderous roar.

Ling Han was already familiar with such pills; Chu Qing had been given them by the Chief Elder after sustaining injuries.

Yu had further explained that pills came in varieties for healing, power enhancement, and the most coveted of all, those that could induce a breakthrough.

Ling Han was beginning to realize that the elderly man must have ingested several power-stimulating pills and was gearing up for a desperate fight with him. Yu had mentioned that such pills typically required time to be fully absorbed.

But Ling Han couldn't afford to give the old man any more time. If he allowed him to fully harness his newfound strength, the tables would turn, and Ling Han might meet his end.

Undeterred, Ling Han employed the palm techniques Yu had taught him, advancing rapidly towards his adversary. Indeed, just like the genuine energy handprint the Second Elder had used against Ling Han previously, Ling Han's current handprint was exponentially more formidable.

"You're ruthless!" the old man exclaimed, his face contorting in pain as if he had taken a severe hit. "You're one of the most merciless cultivators I've ever encountered. You're the real wolf in sheep's clothing!"

Meanwhile, Faang Yi and the shirtless man refrained from engaging in combat, instead fixating their attention on the showdown between Ling Han and the old man. They recognized that their own strength was no longer a factor in determining the outcome.

The question now was who had the upper hand—Ling Han or the old man? The victor would symbolize triumph.

Faang Yi was particularly astounded. After all, Ling Han was a random encounter on the street, a genius in disguise. "Could my intuition be so sharp that I can stumble upon a prodigy just by standing on the street?" she pondered. Reflecting on Ling Han's initial reticence and his subsequent actions, she realized how prudent and calculated he had been.

As she reminisced about their time together, she was struck by Ling Han's meticulousness—every move he made was flawless.

The bare-chested man was equally taken aback. He had just witnessed Wang Ji slip away using some elusive technique, and now he watched another seventh-level Awakening practitioner cunningly outmaneuver his own father.

"Are you not going to surrender?" Ling Han pressed on relentlessly, launching one massive handprint after another at the old man. Despite being battered and bloodied, on the brink of collapse, the old man continued to resist with all his might.

"You're asking for it! Just wait until the medicine kicks in, and I'll have you spitting out teeth all over the floor!"

At that moment, the elder was still clinging to the effects of the elixir he had consumed, seemingly pinning his last shred of hope on its potency.