After the college entrance examination, my identity as a Mahayana Immortal Venerable could no longer

"Boom—!"

The heavy solid wood door of the intensive care unit, which was said to be able to withstand impacts, was kicked and shattered by an overwhelming force! Metal fragments from the broken lock flew like bullets, clattering against the walls. The ear-piercing sound of the shattering instantly broke the deathly silence of the hospital in the dead of night, and even the emergency lights in the corridor flickered violently.

Three men in black trench coats strode in, their coat hems sweeping over the debris, exuding a menacing aura. The leader, a man with a buzz cut, was as strong and muscular as a tiger. A grotesque scar ran from his left eyebrow to his ear, and his stern shoulders and back radiated a brutal ferocity born of years of battle. Just his presence made the air in the ward seem to freeze.

He was clutching a small, black device in his hand. Red lights flashed wildly on the screen, and a piercing alarm blared so loudly it could puncture eardrums and almost lift the roof off.

"Captain, Captain! The spiritual energy concentration has exploded! The peak is still rising, and the source is definitely in this ward!" The bespectacled man following behind stared intently at the instrument screen, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, his voice filled with terror—he had never seen such terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations before, as if a dormant volcano was awakening from this small ward.

Wang Gang, the man with the buzz cut, didn't even lift his eyelids, completely ignoring his subordinates' panic. His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, locked onto the slender figure beside the hospital bed—Lu Yuan.

Just minutes ago, the twenty-odd elite bodyguards Zhao Tiancheng brought to the corridor, each a master capable of taking on ten men, couldn't even withstand a single punch from him. They all collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain, too weak to even get up. He had assumed that the one who could trigger such a terrifying surge of spiritual energy must be a reclusive, peerless expert, but before him stood only a boy who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, with delicate features, dressed in simple casual clothes, resembling an ordinary high school student.

The stark contrast fueled Wang Gang's resentment. He strode up to Lu Yuan, looking down at him with an icy, commanding tone: "Boy, state your name! What just happened here? Did you cause the spiritual energy fluctuations?"

Lu Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids, as if the three uninvited guests in front of him were nothing more than three eyesores of ants. He slowly pulled over the damp towel next to him, his movements were so gentle that they were almost unbelievable, and wiped away the fine beads of sweat that seeped from Lu Qingxue's forehead little by little. The warmth of his fingertips passed through the towel and landed on the girl's pale forehead. He even kept his breathing extremely soft, for fear of disturbing his sleeping sister in the hospital bed.

Only after Wang Gang had finished speaking did he slowly open his mouth. His voice was soft, yet carried an icy chill. There was no emotional fluctuation, but it was more intimidating than any roar: "Get out. Don't wake my sister."

Wang Gang was stunned for a moment, then burst into wild laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. His laughter was full of mockery and rage: "Hahaha! Get out? Kid, do you know who I am? I am Wang Gang, the action captain of the Jiangnan branch of the Extraordinary Immortal Bureau! In this Jiangnan region, no one has ever dared to speak to me in such a tone!"

He had spent five years working his way up in the Immortal Bureau, encountering countless martial arts masters. Even Grandmasters of the Transcendent Realm had to give the Immortal Bureau some respect. How dare this brat tell him to get lost? He was simply courting death!

"You don't know your place!" Wang Gang's face darkened, and his eyes flashed with murderous intent. His thick hand reached out to grab Lu Yuan's shoulder. His knuckles protruded, and the back of his hand was covered with calluses from years of boxing practice. His strength was enough to crack stone. If this grab landed, an ordinary person's shoulder blade would be crushed instantly, and they wouldn't even be able to scream!

The air was whipped up by the grab, and the two henchmen standing at the door smirked, as if they could already see Lu Yuan's bones being crushed and him howling in pain.

But just as Wang Gang's hand was less than three centimeters from Lu Yuan's hem, about to touch him—

Lu Yuan abruptly stopped wiping his sweat.

He slowly turned his head, raised his eyes, and glanced at Wang Gang indifferently.

That one glance, without any overwhelming anger or sharp gaze, struck Wang Gang like a thunderbolt, freezing his blood instantly!

An indescribable, terrifying gravity slammed into him without warning, especially his shoulders, as if a towering mountain had suddenly pressed down on him. The surrounding air instantly became as thick as mercury, making even breathing incredibly difficult.

"Snap—!"

The sharp, teeth-grinding sound of bones cracking was particularly jarring in the deathly silent ward, like a thunderclap in his ears. Wang Gang didn't even have time to react; his legs buckled, and his knees slammed heavily onto the hard floor tiles. The tiles instantly cracked into a dense, spiderweb-like pattern, shards flying everywhere. The excruciating pain spread from his knees throughout his body, causing him to convulse.

"ah--!!"

A piercing, distorted scream erupted from Wang Gang's mouth. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his trench coat, streaming down his face. His complexion was ashen, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single complete sentence. He desperately tried to circulate his internal energy, struggling to stand up, but the weight was too terrifying, as heavy as Mount Tai, making it impossible for him to even move a finger. He could only kneel on the ground in a sorry state, the excruciating pain in his knees almost causing him to faint.

The two henchmen standing at the door were completely dumbfounded. Their pupils contracted, their bodies trembled, and the things they were holding fell to the ground with a clatter. They hadn't even seen Lu Yuan make a move, not even a flick of his finger, yet their captain was inexplicably kneeling on the ground, his kneecaps shattered? What kind of sorcery was this?!

"Captain! Captain!" The bespectacled man reacted, roaring hysterically, his face deathly pale. He yanked a silver, specially made pistol from his trench coat pocket, pointing it firmly at Lu Yuan's head, his finger on the trigger. His voice trembled uncontrollably, but he still tried to sound fierce, "Hands behind your head! Crouch down! Or I'll shoot! I really will shoot!"

He knew better than anyone that this specially made pistol was not loaded with ordinary bullets, but with armor-piercing bullets that were concentrated with high-voltage current. They were incredibly powerful. Even a Grandmaster of the Transcendent Realm would be severely injured if shot by one of them, and an ordinary person would be electrocuted into a charred corpse!

Lu Yuan remained expressionless as he slowly tossed the towel into the basin of water, making a soft "splashing" sound. He turned around, facing the dark muzzle of the gun directly, his eyes showing no fear, but rather a hint of impatience.

The next second, he raised his right hand, and gently pressed his index finger down on the man with glasses.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, as if an invisible giant hammer had slammed into the bespectacled man's skull, the man didn't even have time to scream before he lay sprawled on the ground. His glasses shattered into dust instantly, and the special pistol in his hand was crushed into a twisted piece of scrap metal by that invisible force, with the trigger embedded in the barrel.

Another subordinate standing nearby was also affected by the aftershocks. It was as if an invisible hand was pressing him firmly to the floor. His chest heaved violently, making it extremely difficult to breathe. His face turned red, and he made a "hoarse" sound in his throat. He didn't even have the strength to struggle.

The entire ward was instantly filled only with Wang Gang's suppressed groans of pain and the still-piercing alarm of the medical equipment.

Lu Yuan pulled up a chair, slowly sat down, crossed his legs, his posture languid yet exuding an aura of domineering arrogance. He lowered his eyes, looking indifferently at Wang Gang kneeling before him, writhing in agony, his tone laced with cold mockery: "Don't you people from the Immortal Bureau know how to knock before entering?"

Wang Gang gasped for breath, enduring the excruciating pain in his knees and shoulders. He stared intently at Lu Yuan, his eyes filled with fear and resentment, yet he still forced himself to remain composed. He invoked the name of the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals, attempting to use the power of the state to exert pressure: "Who...who exactly are you? How dare you lay a hand on someone from the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals! Do you know that's a capital offense?! The Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals will not let you get away with this!"

"Death penalty?" Lu Yuan chuckled softly, as if he had heard something utterly ridiculous. His laughter was devoid of any warmth, filled only with endless contempt. "I have a problem with this: I hate it when people try to use rules to pressure me."

He slowly extended his foot, the sole of his shoe gently landing on Wang Gang's shoulder. His tone was calm, yet carried an unquestionable absolute authority. Each word struck Wang Gang's heart clearly: "Because in this world, the place where I stand is the rule."

With a slight push of his feet, Wang Gang felt the pressure on his shoulders surge instantly, as if another mountain had crashed down on him. His cervical vertebrae creaked and groaned, as if they were about to break. He was in so much pain that his whole body convulsed, but he didn't even have the strength to look down. He could only stare helplessly at Lu Yuan.

At this moment, he finally became completely awake—this seemingly ordinary young man was not some greenhorn at all, but a monster a hundred times more terrifying than any martial arts master he had ever seen! Let alone him, an action team leader, even if the entire Jiangnan branch came, they probably wouldn't be able to crush him with a single finger!

"Yes, it was my fault... It was a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!" Wang Gang had lost all his previous ferocity; his voice was full of pleading, his teeth grinding as he forced out a sentence, "We detected abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations here and thought it was the work of evil cultivators, which is why we rashly barged in... Please, let me go, I'll never dare to do it again!"

"Heretical cultivator?" Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, his tone even more sarcastic, and he lightly stomped his foot.

"Snap—!"

With another crisp cracking sound, Wang Gang's right shoulder collapsed, his collarbone breaking into three pieces. Instant pain swept through his body, causing his vision to go black. Snot and tears flowed uncontrollably from his nose and face. His screams erupted again, but due to the intense pain, he could only let out weak whimpers.

Just then, the black instrument that had fallen to the ground suddenly emitted a rapid beeping sound. The alarm abruptly became shrill, the screen lit up abruptly, and a deep, authoritative voice, carrying an undeniable pressure, blared from the speaker, echoing throughout the ward: "Wang Gang, have you located the spiritual energy tide in Jiangnan City? Where is the source? Report immediately!"

Hearing this voice, Wang Gang grasped at it like a last straw. With all his might, he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice hoarse and broken, filled with despair and pleading: "Chief! Help! I'm in the intensive care unit of the First Hospital! The source is here! There's a monster here! He's crippled me and my brothers! Please send someone to save me!"

A brief silence fell on the other end of the instrument, broken only by the crackling of electricity. The air pressure seemed to drop even lower, and an invisible killing intent slowly permeated the air through the speaker.

Two seconds later, that deep, authoritative voice rang out again, its tone filled with undisguised rage and killing intent. Each word was like an ice pick, striking Lu Yuan: "No matter who you are, immediately release my people, hand over the treasure that triggered the spiritual energy tide, and voluntarily return with me to the headquarters of the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals in the capital for investigation!"

"Otherwise, you will be making an enemy of the entire Chinese martial arts world, and the entire Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals! From this day forward, no one, in heaven or on earth, can save you!"