Chapter 41: Worthless
Chapter 41: Worthless
Staring at the transparent tiger head slowly forming above his fist imprint, Ling Yi looked utterly shocked.
This was the unnamed fist technique passed down to him by the Enchantress.
He could clearly sense the force fluctuations pulsing within that ghostly beast head.
The power of Fist Aura was immense!
Truth be told, only those at the Sixth or Seventh Level of the Second-Phase could unleash Fist Aura.
Once mastered, a single punch’s destructive capability multiplied dramatically—geometrically!
For example, a Second-Phase Fifth Level martial artist without Fist Aura could unleash eight hundred to a thousand pounds of force per strike. Meanwhile, a Second-Phase Sixth Level practitioner who had cultivated Fist Aura could deliver over two thousand pounds effortlessly!
Therefore, the presence of “Aura” was the simplest way to gauge strength among Second-Phase martial artists.
Aura was an external release of energy. It wasn’t limited to fists—it could be Blade Aura, Sword Aura, or extend from any limb.
Higher cultivation levels meant more refined control over this energy discharge.
The potency of this Aura grew with one’s realm.
A Fourth-Phase Golden Body Master, with a casual flick of their wrist, could slice an ordinary person in half with deadly Aura!
No wonder that one Golden Body Master from before died unjustly.
Despite overwhelming offensive and defensive prowess, he never imagined a Second-Phase novice could fell him.
Yet controlling Aura’s release was notoriously difficult!
Even Fourth-Phase Golden Body Masters rarely wielded it freely.
But Ling Yi… could!
The ghost tiger wavered above his fist, then condensed fully.
At his will, it surged outward… then drew inward like a breath.
For someone freshly entering Third-Phase to command Aura with such precision—freely releasing and reclaiming it—was astonishing.
But what truly thrilled Ling Yi was its visible form!
The Enchantress had once mentioned fist techniques generating Sword Qi, and though skeptical at the time, Ling Yi now believed.
Following his concentration, the transparent tiger head slowly opened its jaws.
Ling Yi extended his arm, guiding it toward a plastic water bottle on the table—
CRACK!
The bottle snapped cleanly in two.
Water spilled everywhere.
Normally, Ling Yi would’ve rushed to clean it instantly.
Now, he just stood grinning foolishly.
“Tsk. Such a lame little trick—why so proud?” The girl’s voice dripped with scorn. “Master this technique utterly, and your Aura will fly free—changing shape as you wish, striking anywhere!”
“And if you cultivate elemental arts? Then… it can ignite. Blazing Aura… Ice Aura… Steel Aura…”
“Elemental arts exist?” Ling Yi gasped.
“Sigh. Explaining things to someone clueless is exhausting.” Her sarcasm sharpened.
Unfazed, Ling Yi pressed, “Could you teach me?”
“You?” Mockery thickened her tone.
“What’s wrong with me?” He bristled; he was a genius!
“Not yet. Elemental arts aren’t beginner stuff. We’ll see… if the chance arises.” She shut it down, though not permanently.
She avoided saying when, or what needed finding.
She urged him to perfect this nameless fist technique first, not chase grandiose dreams.
Later, as Ling Yi cleaned up the spilled water, even she couldn’t recall a suitably majestic title.
“Just you name it! I’m sick of this!” she snapped.
“Well… since its power morphs infinitely at peak mastery,” he mused, “how about… Awesome Fist Technique?”
The Enchantress: ???
Bad idea!
Speechless, she finally grumbled, “I thought only I sucked at naming things… Now I find someone worse. Whatever makes you happy…”
Then she added, “I need sleep. Oh—get me some Spirit Stones soon.”
“Right. But once I do… how will you absorb them?”
“You handle the cultivation.” Her reply was blunt. “Just channel the energy within you. I’ll siphon it off. Simple. How did that question escape your lips?”
Ling Yi: “……”
For Third Eye awakening… For potential elemental arts… For future techniques from this cryptic benefactor… Ling Yi decided to smile through hardship.
Maybe this Enchantress wasn’t entirely terrible?
In their short time together, she’d showered him with astonishment.
Truth was—even if no meteor bearing her had crashed down—Lu Qingming’s faction would’ve ambushed his adoptive father anyway.
The meteor was merely their excuse, like debating which foot first to cross a threshold.
After grievously wounding Ling Yi’s adoptive father, Lu Qingming’s crew ignored the meteor entirely, proving where their true malice lay.
True, she’d sealed his acupoints. But she also helped him reflexively kill that Golden Body Master during crisis. She made him a billionaire overnight. She gifted this devastatingly potent—albeit nameless—fist art…
Not to mention the Soul Spirit Tree and twin Primordial Spirit Fruits still waiting at Heaven’s Gate Sect.
Her intrusion had detoured his destiny, smoothing his cultivation path beyond measure.
Actually… maybe this Enchantress was no bad thing?
Yes. This was precisely what a useful cheat tool looked like.
Therefore, assisting her within his abilities seemed only fair repayment.
……
At last… Graduation Day arrived.
To outsiders, Zongwu Academy seemed tranquil as ever.
But quiet currents stirred within.
Clusters of first-, second-, and third-year students whispered among halls:
“They say he’s coming back today!”
“Really? I thought we’d never see him again.”
“His name’s finally cleared! The traitors got punished… except the real leader…”
“Shh… careful, walls have ears!”
“Anyway… after this, I’m leaving early—enlisting.”
“You too? I’m joining too!”
“All these years of peace… hide how weak Great Qin’s military truly is. We should do our part…”
“Me too!”
“I feel the same, and… the current Zongwu Academy is different from before. I don’t like it!”
When Ling Yi returned to the academy, almost everyone who saw him warmly stepped forward to greet him.
This was a sharp contrast to the day he left the academy, when many felt sympathy but did not dare to speak up!
He Qin and Luo Xue and the others had not yet arrived.
Ling Yi intentionally came back a little earlier because he wanted to go home for a visit.
Although without his adoptive father, that place was no longer his home, but since he was back, he couldn’t help wanting to take a look.
Greeting both familiar and unfamiliar faces along the way, Ling Yi continued walking toward the residential area.
This familiar road, he had walked it for over ten years!
It could be said that no student in this campus knew Zongwu better than him.
Arriving in front of that familiar little building and seeing the glaring seal on the door, his heart, which had been calm for many days, was once again filled with sadness.
He stood quietly at the doorway, his gaze falling on the steps where he had coughed up blood that day.
Perhaps after days of wind and rain, the bloodstains left behind had long since disappeared.
But that scene was something he could never forget.
Ling Yi stood quietly there for over ten minutes before finally letting out a soft sigh, turning around, and preparing to leave.
Once he left this time, he truly did not know when he would return again.
But just then, a group of people hurried over from a distance.
The young man at the front, upon seeing Ling Yi, immediately jogged over, a familiar, sycophantic smile plastered on his face.
Ling Yi was stunned.
He almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him or that time had somehow reversed.
It felt like he was back in the days when his adoptive father was still alive.
Back then, this young man had the same expression whenever he saw him.
“It really is Ninth Brother! I thought those people were talking nonsense. Ninth Brother, why didn’t you tell your brother you were back? Have you become a big shot and forgotten your old friends already?”
Though Ling Yi had not seen the worst of human nature extensively, he had encountered some of it.
But the sheer ugliness of human nature, he had not seen enough of.
So he couldn’t quite control the feeling of disgust rising in him.
Such shameless words and such shameless behavior left Ling Yi utterly bewildered. Was this young man really one of Zongwu Academy’s promising talents?
He looked at the young man and suddenly felt extremely weary.
With someone like this, even if they offered their face for a slap, he wouldn’t want to hit them.
Too filthy!
“Who are you?” Ling Yi asked him.
“Oh, Ninth Brother, you must be joking. It’s only been a few days—I don’t believe you could have forgotten me already… It’s me, Xiao Wei,” the young man said with a full-faced smile, exuding an air of humility from head to toe. “Ninth Brother, you wouldn’t hold a grudge over what happened that day, would you? Hey, I had no choice. You know, when the higher-ups gave the order, how could I not follow it? Ninth Brother, you’re magnanimous, so you definitely won’t hold it against me, right?”
Ling Yi shook his head. “No.”
The young man continued with an ingratiating smile. “Then Ninth Brother, just tell me how you want to punish me. I’ll accept any beating or penalty. And these fools too, they’re the same. Right, guys?”
The young man glared at a few red-faced people beside him.
These were the ones who had come to drive Ling Yi away that day and had even wanted to lay hands on him.
They fidgeted uncomfortably, looking extremely awkward.
Well, not everyone could be as shameless as this young man.
“I came here today, first to apologize to Ninth Brother, and second… to return the keys. The higher-ups said this house will remain Ninth Brother’s home from now on! The Old Principal worked hard and made great contributions, so he rightly deserves this house. So Ninth Brother can come back to live here anytime he wants!”
Then, he glared at the people beside him. “What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and tear off the seal! Then clean it, inside and out, make it spotless! Our Ninth Brother is a clean person!”
“Wait,” Ling Yi frowned, looking at the young man. “Who sent you?”
Based on his position alone—a minor official in the discipline inspection department—he had no authority to decide matters regarding this house.
If he had heard about Ling Yi’s change in fortune, it was possible that he came to apologize on his own, but something like this, without backing from someone important, was absolutely impossible.
So he had to figure out exactly who was behind this and what they wanted.
“It was Principal Zhao. Principal Zhao said he had no idea about what happened earlier and didn’t expect it would cause Ninth Brother so much harm. He also said he would personally apologize to Ninth Brother at the Graduation Ceremony…”
A personal apology at the Graduation Ceremony?
“Hah, he’s trying to deceive you. Since he can’t use force, he’ll just placate you first and then find a chance to stab you in the back.”
The Enchantress sneered coldly in Ling Yi’s mind.
Ling Yi looked at the young man before him, who was already shorter than him and kept bowing, hunched over like a prawn.
“Your apology, I will not accept,” Ling Yi said flatly.
The young man lowered his head, the smile gradually fading from his face.
“But I won’t trouble you either.”
The young man was stunned for a moment, then sighed in relief.
Wasn’t this exactly what he feared, groveling and wishing he could kneel before Ling Yi?
“Because you’re not worthy,” Ling Yi continued, looking at him. “And don’t come back here again. I’m afraid you’ll defile this place. Your entire being gives off a disgusting aura.”
The young man fell silent.
The people beside him wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Who could have imagined that karma would come so quickly?
It had only been a few days!
A supposedly hopeless waste whose acupoints were sealed had miraculously turned his fortunes around!
And it was such a turnaround that even Zhao Tianping could do nothing about it!
Since Zhao Tianping had compromised, these small fry… were naturally filled with dread.
And now, their leader, in Ling Yi’s eyes, was already someone insignificant… like garbage… like a fart!
As for them, they were not even worth that much.