I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

A gust of wind rose along the mountain path, stirring up the dust that had settled on the ground.

Zhao Hu stood ten feet away from Qin Yuan's hut, arms crossed, like an iron-gray wall.

When he saw the three return, his thick eyebrows furrowed. The girl in the pale yellow dress was at the tenth level of Qi Refining, while the woman in white possessed an aura as deep and restrained as an abyss, indicating she was at least at the Foundation Establishment stage.

But recalling the contemptuous tone of Liu Feng's cousin's message yesterday: "A piece of trash who crawled out of a mine, does he think he's worthy of my personal attention? Cousin, go and teach him a lesson, let him know that the people of Seventh Peak are not someone he can mess with."

Zhao Hu felt reassured. That's right, he was doing this for his cousin, what was there to be afraid of? He could use this opportunity to establish his authority in the outer sect and show those opportunists that only those who follow the Seventh Peak will get the rewards.

"Qin Yuan!" he shouted gruffly, "Get over here!"

Qin Yuan did not stop walking.

Lin Qing'er suddenly turned around, her almond-shaped eyes wide open: "Who are you? Why are you shouting like that!"

Zhao Hu saw the Seventh Peak Token on her waist, cursed inwardly, and forced a fake smile: "Junior Sister, I need to discuss some private matters with Qin Yuan."

"How can it be unrelated?" Lin Qing'er stepped in front of Qin Yuan, blocking his path. "Brother Qin Yuan is my friend!"

Friend? Zhao Hu's eye twitched, but he couldn't back down under the watchful eyes of everyone.

"Qin Yuan!" he raised his voice, "Yesterday, Senior Brother Liu Feng was magnanimous and only punished you slightly. Instead of being grateful, you went around spreading rumors and trying to get the senior sister from the Third Peak to stand up for you? You good-for-nothing who lives off a woman!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the mountain path fell silent.

Qin Yuan slowly turned around, his face expressionless.

"What did you say?" Lin Qing'er was so angry that green light flowed from her fingertips.

Zhao Hu's heart skipped a beat, and he shouted, "Sect rules! Inner disciples are not allowed to attack outer disciples without cause! Do you want to break the sect rules?!"

The green light at Lin Qing'er's fingertip paused.

Liu Han sighed softly. She realized that Zhao Hu was a dog sent by Liu Feng. If Qing'er made a move, the Seventh Peak would definitely seize the opportunity to cause trouble.

"Qing'er," Qin Yuan suddenly spoke.

Lin Qing'er turned around.

"Let me do it myself," he said.

Zhao Hu scoffed, "Anyone can talk big behind a woman's back. If you have the guts, step forward!"

Qin Yuan stepped forward and stood three zhang away from Zhao Hu.

At that very moment—

"It's quite lively."

A voice came from above the mountain road.

A streak of azure light arrived on a sword, landing as Liu Feng. He glanced around the arena, his gaze lingering on Liu Han for a moment, a smile playing on his lips: "Junior Sister Liu is here too."

Liu Han nodded slightly: "Senior Brother Liu."

Liu Feng looked at Zhao Hu and asked casually, "Cousin, what are you doing?"

Zhao Hu quickly bowed and said, "Cousin, Qin Yuan was disrespectful to you yesterday, and today he tried to implicate the senior sister of the Third Peak. I was just about to teach him a lesson on your behalf."

"Nonsense." Liu Feng scoffed lightly, but without any intention of blaming her. Instead, he looked at Liu Han and said, "Junior Sister Liu, the Seventh Peak and the Third Peak have always been on good terms. It's not worth ruining our harmony over such a trivial matter."

Liu Han remained silent.

She understood the unspoken meaning—Liu Feng was reminding her that the relationship between the two peaks was more important than that of an outer disciple.

Lin Qing'er said urgently, "Senior Sister Liu, it was Zhao Hu who provoked us first!"

Liu Han looked at Qin Yuan. The gray-robed youth stood in the wind, his back straight, his eyes calm enough to send shivers down one's spine.

"Qing'er," Liu Han finally spoke, his voice very soft, "Come back."

"Senior Sister!" Lin Qing'er exclaimed in disbelief.

Liu Han didn't explain, but only said to Liu Feng, "Senior Brother Liu is right. It's indeed not appropriate for us to interfere in the disputes among the younger generation."

Liu Feng's smile deepened: "Junior Sister Liu is reasonable."

Seeing this, Zhao Hu's courage grew. He glanced sideways at Qin Yuan and sneered in a low voice, "See? Even the Third Peak can't protect you. A piece of trash is a piece of trash; climbing up a high branch won't help."

Qin Yuan didn't look at him; his gaze was fixed on Liu Feng's face.

Liu Feng was also looking at him, his eyes filled with the same condescending disdain as they had in the main hall yesterday.

"Qin Yuan," Liu Feng said, as if ordering a dog, "kneel down and apologize to Zhao Hu, and we'll let this matter go."

The mountain path was so quiet that you could faintly hear the noise from the dining hall in the distance.

All eyes were on Qin Yuan.

Lin Qing'er clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. Liu Han lowered his eyes, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the hilt of his sword.

Qin Yuan suddenly smiled.

A very faint smile, like a fine crack appearing on the surface of ice.

"Senior Brother Liu," he said, "what if I don't?"

Liu Feng raised an eyebrow.

Zhao Hu roared, "Insolence!" He took a step forward, his right fist, already wrapped in earthy yellow spiritual light, slammed towards Qin Yuan's face—a low-grade Yellow Rank "Mountain-Opening Fist," a full-force strike!

He had calculated it correctly. With Liu Feng present and Liu Han having already stated he wouldn't interfere, this was the perfect opportunity to establish his authority!

The wind howled from the punch.

Qin Yuan made a move.

Without any build-up or fancy moves, he threw out a punch just like before.

Two fists collide!

BOOM—!!

The dull thud was like striking heavy leather.

Zhao Hu's sinister smile froze instantly. He felt as if he had struck not a fist, but a mountain! The tyrannical spiritual energy surged through the meridians in his arm, shattering them inch by inch!

"Ugh—!"

A scream shattered the silence.

Zhao Hu was sent flying backward, crashing into a locust tree as thick as a bowl beside the mountain path, rolling seven or eight times before coming to a stop. His right arm hung limply, his elbow bent backward, the bone piercing through his flesh, blood gushing out.

Qin Yuan withdrew his fist and stood still, his clothes perfectly in place.

Dead silence.

Liu Feng's smile froze.

Liu Han raised her eyes, a faint hint of surprise flashing across them.

Lin Qing'er covered her mouth.

The disciples peeking through the window gaped, their mouths agape.

Zhao Hu, a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator... was crippled by a single punch?!

Qin Yuan turned around and looked at Liu Feng. His eyes were calm, as calm as a deep pool, but something was churning beneath.

"Senior Brother Liu," he spoke, his voice low but each word clear, "is this apology enough?"

Liu Feng stared at him for a long while, then suddenly smiled: "Good, very good."

The laughter was cold.

"Looks like I misjudged you," Liu Feng said slowly. "But Qin Yuan, when the outer sect competition comes to the fore, I hope your fists will still be this hard."

With a flick of his sleeve, he wrapped the unconscious Zhao Hu in his robes, then rode away on his sword, transforming into a streak of light.

Only three people remained on the mountain path.

Lin Qing'er breathed a sigh of relief and ran to Qin Yuan's side: "Brother Qin Yuan, are you alright? You scared me to death!"

"It's nothing." Qin Yuan shook his head and looked at Liu Han. "Thank you for earlier, Senior Sister Liu."

What are you thanking me for? For not stopping her? Or for... giving me the opportunity to act?

Liu Han gave him a deep look: "Did you use your full strength in that punch?"

Qin Yuan was silent for a moment: "Seventy percent."

70%.

Liu Han's fingers tightened slightly. A Qi Refining Stage 7 cultivator, using 70% of their strength, crippled a Qi Refining Stage 6 cultivator with a single punch... This was not the combat power one would expect from a cultivator with a mixed Five Elements spiritual root.

"I'm leaving." She turned around.

Lin Qing'er glanced at Qin Yuan, then at her senior sister's retreating figure, and hurriedly said, "Brother Qin Yuan, be careful! Liu Feng definitely won't let this go!"

The two left.

Qin Yuan walked back to the hut and closed the door.

The room was dimly lit. He opened his right hand. There was a bit of Zhao Hu's blood on his fist, dark red.

He wiped away the bloodstains and sat down cross-legged.

The system panel appears:

[Host: Qin Yuan]

Cultivation Level: Qi Refining Level 7 (Peak)

[Cultivation Points Available: 0 years]

[Next refresh: Tomorrow at midnight]

He did indeed only use 70% of his strength in that punch. But the instant he threw it, his spiritual energy surged like a river—the ten years of cultivation accumulated by the system, though transformed, still contained its "momentum".

He closed his eyes.

He understood the look in Liu Feng's eyes as he left.

That was murderous intent.

Yeah.

Qin Yuan opened his eyes, a flash of cold light disappearing from them.

The outer sect competition is in two and a half days.