"Bang, bang, bang!"
Qi Fengyang, with his sleeves rolled up and arms bared, unleashed a brutal barrage of kicks at Lin Ran, all while raining down a torrent of curses.
The scene was enough to make onlookers' hearts race, their teeth clench, their jaws drop, and their eyes glued to the spectacle. They couldn't look away. All they could think was: "They're both at the ninth stage of Xuan Martial, so how is the gap this massive?"
And indeed it was. Even Chu Feng's mouth hung wide open, because he could tell this wasn't a difference in cultivation level—it was a raw difference in combat power. Much like how he, at the seventh stage of Yuan Martial, had been able to defeat Gong Luyun at the fourth stage of Xuan Martial.
Qi Fengyang's combat power, while not quite as freakishly overwhelming as Chu Feng's, was clearly in an entirely different league from Lin Ran's. He was leagues above him—beating Lin Ran was like beating a child. Lin Ran had absolutely no chance to fight back, not even a sliver, because Qi Fengyang was completely and utterly crushing him in raw combat strength.
"Th-this… what do we do? Qi Fengyang is just as terrifying as ever—even Lord Lin Ran, who took the forbidden medicine, is no match for him…"
"What can we do? Fall back! This old geezer vanished for ages, and during that time, the Qi clan got absolutely crushed by our Lin clan. Now that he's suddenly shown up, he's definitely not going to let us off."
Watching their Lord Lin Ran get pummeled left and right, the army of Qilin guards from the Lin clan furrowed their brows, shivering uncontrollably. They quietly turned around, trying to sneak away unnoticed.
But with an army that large, that many people, slipping away without drawing attention was impossible. So the moment the first person turned to run, Qi Fengyang bellowed:
"Stand the hell right there! If anyone so much as steps foot outside this arena, I'll break all three of their legs!!!!"
"Hua~~~" His shout froze every last member of the Qilin army in their tracks, each one trembling where they stood, their legs shaking like leaves.
They were absolutely terrified of Qi Fengyang. The Qi and Lin clans had always been at odds, and back when Qi Fengyang had been in the manor, he had dominated the Lin clan. Back then, Qi Fengyang's very name was enough to make Lin clan members tremble with fear—even the Lin clan patriarch had found him a nightmare to deal with.
After Qi Fengyang suddenly disappeared, the Qi clan lost its leader, and the Lin clan had struck back. During that period, the Qi clan had indeed been brutally suppressed. But now that this living nightmare had returned, they could all too well imagine what awaited the Lin clan.
"Well, well, you've really grown some guts, haven't you? While I was gone, you've been pretty high and mighty—bullying my Qi clan's people inside the manor, and even going after my close friend's sect outside! Who the hell gave you the nerve?"
"All of you—kneel down!!!"
"Whoosh!"
At Qi Fengyang's thunderous command, the entire Lin clan army dropped to their knees without a moment's hesitation. That pride they once wore like armor, that unshakable self-respect—in the end, it was all worth nothing before Qi Fengyang. They abandoned it without a second thought.
Qi Fengyang was used to scenes like this, but for the outsiders watching, it was nothing short of astonishing. These people weren't just kneeling to Qi Fengyang—they had all been caught in the same wave. Everyone present had been made to kneel.
Having made the Qilin Manor's army bow before them—even if indirectly—was something they could brag about for the rest of their lives. Even if they never became great figures, at least they'd have one heck of a story to tell their grandchildren, wouldn't they?
"What are you spacing out for? Slap yourselves one hundred times!!!" Qi Fengyang planted his foot on Lin Ran's head and pointed at the Lin clan warriors, roaring his order.
"Qi… Qi… Clan Leader Qi, we were only following orders from above! We really had no choice!!" This time, someone hesitated, his face a mask of grievance as he tearfully pleaded with Qi Fengyang.
At the same time, tens of thousands of Qilin Manor guards all nodded with equally aggrieved expressions, hoping Qi Fengyang might let them off the hook.
"No choice, my ass!" Qi Fengyang wasn't buying it for a second. He let out another curse, then pulled off his shoe, swung his arm, and hurled it straight into the face of the man who'd been begging.
Anyone else's shoe would still just be a shoe, but Qi Fengyang's shoe was practically a lethal weapon. The impact was devastating—smashing the man's nose sideways, caving in one side of his face, knocking him out cold and leaving him completely facially paralyzed on top of it.
At the sight of that man crumpled to the ground, the tens of thousands of Lin clan warriors froze for exactly 0.001 seconds. Then, in perfect unison, they raised their hands and brought them crashing down against their own cheeks—"slap, slap, slap, slap"—laying into themselves with brutal force. How hard they were hitting wasn't even the point—the point was that not a single one of them dared stop before reaching one hundred.
The whole scene left the onlookers stunned, slack-jawed, utterly dumbfounded. That Qilin army, which had arrived bristling with menace and dripping with killing intent, had been reduced to this—absolutely unbelievable. It really opened their eyes.
Even Eggie, the little spirit in Chu Feng's spiritual world, wore an expression of pure shock on her sweet little face, her surprised mouth falling slightly open as she couldn't help but exclaim:
"This old man is a real piece of work! Back in Hundred Channel Gully, he seemed like such a righteous, upstanding person—who would've thought that when dealing with enemies, he'd pull absolutely no punches, stooping to such shameless and despicable tactics."
"Sigh… thank goodness he's not an enemy, because he's even scarier than Lin Ran."
As for Chu Feng, a faint smile hung at the corner of his lips. He felt incredibly fortunate—fortunate to have encountered this benefactor, Qi Fengyang. The man had not only saved his life but had also saved the lives of his closest companions.
And beyond that, he was even more grateful that Qi Fengyang was not his enemy. Because he knew that if this old man were opposed to him now, he would be utterly, hopelessly played to death.
Finally, the one hundred slaps came to an end. The tens of thousands of Lin clan members from Qilin Manor all had faces swollen red, deep handprints branded into their cheeks. They really hadn't held back on themselves.
Of course, they wouldn't dare hold back. In front of Qi Fengyang, pulling any tricks was out of the question. If he caught even a whiff of it, he would literally torment them to death.
"Brother Chu Feng, these little bastards came here to cause trouble and ruined your perfectly good life-and-death battle. Tell me—how should we punish them? Big brother's got your back."
Qi Fengyang walked over to Chu Feng and clapped him heartily on the shoulder with an easy, generous air. He looked less like he was addressing a junior and more like he was talking to a brother.
Chu Feng felt nothing but gratitude toward Qi Fengyang. Back in Hundred Channel Gully, the man had saved his life once, and that was already a huge debt he hadn't even begun to repay—only to have his life saved by him yet again.
And today, Qi Fengyang hadn't just saved Chu Feng. He'd saved the lives of nearly a million people present. Chu Feng's gratitude was boundless, so he cupped his fists and bowed: "Senior Qi, your great kindness toward this junior is something I will never forget for as long as I live. I will repay you in the future."
"Tch, what did you just say?" To Chu Feng's surprise, the words clearly didn't sit well with Qi Fengyang. His lips curled into a frown, his eyes narrowed, and he shot Chu Feng a glare: "Don't call me 'Senior'—call me 'Big Brother'!"