C16 Afraid!
"No, I don't want this jade ring. I want a jade ore mine!" Yu Beigu declared with a subtle smile.
Lin Yiping was momentarily taken aback by the request, but soon nodded in agreement.
Lin Manjun, however, sneered. "Clearly, he doesn't know the true value of things. This jade ring is worth far more than just a jade ore mine!"
"I'll grant your request!" Lin Yiping affirmed with a nod.
"I have one more condition. I want to choose it myself!"
"That's acceptable. Agreed," Lin Yiping replied, smiling.
"Let's get started then. Are you sure you want me to go first?" Yu Beigu asked Lin Manjun once more, "You're welcome to take the first move."
"If I strike first, you won't get a chance to respond!" Lin Manjun boasted with a smug laugh.
Yu Beigu decided not to waste any more time in debate.
Lin Manjun focused on his breathing, as invisible strands of gas emanated from his muscles and skin, enveloping his body.
To the average person, nothing seemed amiss, but Lin Manjun had become virtually invincible to any ordinary attack.
Lin Yiping nodded, impressed by his grandson's improved Qi cultivation.
"Come at me, but be careful not to injure your hand," Lin Manjun taunted with a smirk.
Yu Beigu strolled over leisurely and positioned himself in front of Lin Manjun.
"You have the makings of a fine martial artist," Yu Beigu commented with a light smile.
Lin Manjun was unimpressed, finding Yu Beigu somewhat eccentric.
"Hu!" In that instant, Yu Beigu's hand finally moved!
Lin Manjun didn't even catch the motion, but he felt an overwhelming force strike his abdomen. It was like being hit by a speeding train; he was sent flying backward.
He slammed into a wall with a thunderous crash.
The wall gave a dull thud and then crumbled!
Lin Manjun crumpled to the ground, knocked out cold.
"Brother!" Lin Luoyan cried out, rushing to his side. Simultaneously, a squad of guards emerged and quickly encircled Yu Beigu.
"Don't be disrespectful!" Lin Yiping's gaze shifted back to Yu Beigu, filled with utter astonishment.
His concern for his grandson was palpable, yet he was aware that Yu Beigu had pulled his punch at the last moment. Lin Manjun would be hurt, but his life was not in danger.
"Your life was spared by the promise of a mountain of jade," Yu Beigu said with a smile.
At those words, Lin Yiping's hands, hidden within his sleeves, involuntarily trembled.
The consistently indifferent and serene expression on the young man's face gripped his heart with a sudden force.
Such a demeanor he had only ever seen on the face of the guardian deity from Fecroyso!
This smile, this expression, it wasn't benevolence but detachment – a detachment from life itself!
He now believed that the young man before him might very well be telling the truth.
Had he not agreed to grant him access to a jade ore, he feared that Yu Beigu might have indeed delivered a fatal blow to Lin Manjun with that single punch.
"The gentleman truly is an Unhuman!" Lin Yiping realized, as if awakening from a dream. Unbeknownst to him, his back was soaked with sweat.
Despite his advanced age and deep martial arts discipline, he had felt a chilling fear in that instant, as if Death itself had set its gaze upon him.
His Qi convulsed and quivered intensely, signaling imminent danger.
Lin Manjun had been taken to the infirmary.
The facility was a renowned sanatorium, staffed year-round with the province's top physicians.
Soon after, Lin Manjun regained consciousness.
"It's impossible! There's no way I could be knocked out by a single punch!" he roared from his hospital bed. "I want to challenge him again, to see what sorcery he used to render me unconscious!"
"Oh? You're looking to take another punch from me?"
Before Lin Manjun could finish, a voice laced with mockery echoed from the doorway.
The image of the youth, forever wearing that aloof, cold smile, flashed through Lin Manjun's mind, causing his body to shudder involuntarily. He had the intention to challenge Yu Beigu, but inexplicably, the words were trapped in his throat, unable to be voiced.
