C10 He Smashed His Teeth and Swallowed Them

Lin Haotian perched atop the Dragon Horse, showing no signs of dismounting.

He jabbed a finger at Jee Yun's nose, berating him and causing a slight furrow in Jee Yun's brow.

Jee Yun had always been patient with Su Xiaomei, solely because she was the daughter of Su Nan Tian.

Yet, Jee Yun had never anticipated that his forbearance and concessions would only embolden Su Xiaomei further.

Now, she had gone so far as to fan the flames, coaxing Lin Haotian into troubling him.

Lin Haotian had long harbored a grudge against Jee Yun, and with this pretext, he eagerly seized the chance to release his pent-up resentment.

He had once feigned the role of a modest gentleman in front of Su Xuerou.

But now, having caught Jee Yun out in the open, he was ecstatic, ready to heap shame upon him.

"You've said so much!"

"Was that last bit really the truth you wanted to spill?" Yet, Jee Yun remained unbothered by Lin Haotian.

In terms of talent, Lin Haotian was merely above average.

But when it came to infatuation, Lin Haotian was in a league of his own.

He was well aware that Su Xuerou was already his wife, even if in name only.

Still, Lin Haotian persisted in shadowing Su Xuerou day after day.

Clearly content to play the role of the understudy.

"Hmph!"

"Am I wrong?"

"Xuerou is a celestial phoenix, while you're nothing but an earthbound toad, utterly unworthy of her!"

"And yet, you fail to appreciate her. You've even stooped to insulting Xiaomei. Tell me, don't I have a right to set you straight?"

Lin Haotian's face was a mask of moral indignation, but seeing Jee Yun's defiance brought him a secret thrill.

Jee Yun's refusal to yield was the perfect excuse for Lin Haotian to discipline him and maintain the moral high ground in Su Xuerou's eyes.

"Oh?"

"You?"

"You think you can teach me a lesson?"

Jee Yun looked at the overconfident Lin Haotian, a chill smile playing on his lips.

A decade of sword mastery.

Jee Yun knew his sharpness had faded, allowing the world to forget his once-renowned name.

Now, a mere Astral Qi warrior had the audacity to strut around before him, which Jee Yun found amusing.

"Step aside, and I'll consider everything you've said to be nothing but hot air and spare you."

"Otherwise, you, the rising star of Dirtcliff, might just meet your downfall!" Jee Yun's smile turned icy.

He casually rested his palm on the hilt of his sword behind his back.

Since the chaos that erupted a decade ago, the Heavenly Mysterious Sword had been crying out from its sheath.

Jee Yun understood that the sword, much like his own heart, could no longer stay silent.

Yet, the time to draw it had not come.

"Haha, hahaha!"

"I could laugh myself to death!"

"You think you can spare me?"

"And dare to dismiss my words as nonsense?"

"Very well. I, Lin Haotian, am curious to see the source of your brazen confidence. Jee Yun, kneel before me!"

Lin Haotian, mounted on his Dragon Horse, roared with laughter.

He believed Jee Yun had gone mad, babbling foolishly.

In his mind, he had fantasized over and over about how he would torment Jee Yun, envisioning the moment when Jee Yun, overwhelmed by humiliation, would plead for mercy.

Yet, he hadn't anticipated that Jee Yun would remain as defiant as he had been in the Su Mansion, oblivious to the might of an Astral Qi Realm warrior.

In a fit of scornful laughter,

Lin Haotian leapt from his Dragon Horse and delivered a fierce punch towards Jee Yun's chest.

He held back, using only a fraction of his strength.

It was meant to be a gentle warning.

But even so, a direct hit would send Jee Yun's organs into turmoil, leaving him collapsed on the ground.

"Boom!" As Lin Haotian's fist flew, the direction of the wind itself seemed to shift.

Jee Yun, who had initially dismissed Lin Haotian, took a moment's pause. Witnessing the punch, he realized that Lin Haotian had indeed advanced, stepping into the Aura Realm.

Even without full force, the punch's might was not to be taken lightly.

No wonder Lin Haotian was so self-assured.

So young, and yet he had reached the Aura Realm.

Given time, he was certain to ascend to the Master Realm, perhaps even to the heights of a Martial Grandmaster.

Regrettably, Lin Haotian had made the grave mistake of crossing paths with Jee Yun.

"Snap!"

Confronted with Lin Haotian's Heaven Shaking Fist, Jee Yun simply stood his ground, extending his palm with an air of nonchalance.

To Lin Haotian's astonishment, Jee Yun firmly caught his fist.

"This is the extent of your power?"

"Heaven Shaking Fist?"

"More like an ant trying to topple a tree!" Jee Yun sneered, and with a flick of his wrist, sent Lin Haotian stumbling back six or seven steps.

But that was just the beginning.

Lin Haotian's internal Qi roiled, nearly reversing its flow.

"How can this be?"

"You're nothing but a martial arts ignoramus, a nobody. How could you withstand my full power?"

After his move failed, Lin Haotian's face flushed with embarrassment, yet he refused to concede.

"Because your fist lacks the might to shake the heavens!"

"You might shine as a rising star within Dirtcliff, but in the vast world beyond, you're no prodigy!"

"Go home!"

"I have no time to waste on you!" Jee Yun shook his head, looking on as Lin Haotian stood there, disheveled, but he remained unprovoked.

A decade had passed.

Much had changed.

Jee Yun's demeanor was still cool and detached, but it had softened, no longer as cutting as it had been a decade prior.

Once quick to draw his sword and take a life over any slight, he had mellowed.

Ten years to temper a sword.

He had cultivated not just the Xuan Tian Sword, but also his own Enlightened Sword Heart.

"Damn you!"

"How dare you, a worthless fool, scorn me!"

"Don't get cocky. That was merely a fraction of my strength. If I went all out, one punch would reduce you to a pulp!"

"Today, you'll see that I, Lin Haotian, am the one truly suited for Xuerou. I am the unparalleled genius of Dirtcliff!"

Lin Haotian's contempt for Jee Yun's condescending gaze was palpable. Gasping for breath, his initial intention to pull his punches was now a distant thought, cast aside in the heat of the moment.

In that moment, his urge to prove himself was overwhelming.

He was convinced that Jee Yun's ability to catch his punch was nothing more than a fluke.

"Heaven Shaking Fist!"

Lin Haotian launched his attack anew, this time unleashing the full force of his Genuine Qi, particularly infusing this punch with a wisp of the Heaven Shaking Aura.

It exploded in the air, a burst of blinding light.

"You're in over your head!" Jee Yun, watching Lin Haotian's persistent delusion, finally lost his patience and struck.

"Snap!"

Without even resorting to his skills, Jee Yun swatted at him as if dispatching a fly, the crisp sound echoing across the wilderness.

Lin Haotian advanced with speed but retreated just as swiftly.

The stark new feature on his face was a vivid palm imprint.

Jee Yun's slap had come without a ripple of Genuine Qi.

It left Lin Haotian reeling as if struck by lightning.

"How dare you strike me?"

"You're seeking your own demise!" Lin Haotian's rage boiled over after a brief daze.

He had completely forgotten his mission from Su Xiaomei to discipline Jee Yun.

With his murderous intent surging, Lin Haotian's power soared.

Yet, that very intent turned Jee Yun's expression utterly icy.

"Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!" With a slight shift of his slender frame, Jee Yun didn't allow Lin Haotian any opportunity to retaliate, moving in swiftly.

He delivered a barrage of slaps to Lin Haotian, then sent him flying with one final blow, teeth and blood spraying in midair.

Gone was Lin Haotian's earlier bravado.

Now, he lay on the ground, blood streaming from every orifice, convulsing uncontrollably.

His head had swollen grotesquely, resembling a pig's.