Free Web NovelChapter 40: Power of Wilderness
The spectator applause slowly converted into a low hum of clicks before scoffing completely.
"Hahaha... Finally, it’s my grandson’s battle," Lin Cangxuan smirked, his voice low as a whisper.
Following Lin Cangxuan’s voice, Luo Zhen’s hum boomed across the arena.
"Attention! The wait is over! More than half of you are waiting for this match!" Luo Zhen enlivened, his voice lingering across the arena like loud roaring thunder. "The Final Battle of Round 1 of arena competition: Lin Yuan v/s Gu Fang Xin."
The announcement sent shivers through the massive stadium, causing the several spectators to gasp. The atmosphere in Green Hollow City had been suffocating for days. Ever since Xiao Lingtian’s sudden death, the brutal truth behind Xiao Chen’s murder had shattered the little peace that remained in the city.
The revelation had stunned the people to their core. The younger heir of the mighty Qing clan had brutally murdered two students within the academy. But no one dared to ask, only a suffocating silence had followed. The reasons were whispered in the shadows of the alleyways. Even though Lin Yuan had been rejected by the sacred River of Origin, and even though his own family openly treated him badly for rejection, the blood in his veins could not be denied. He was still a member of the mighty Qing Clan.
Thud! Thud!
Lin Yuan and Gu Fang Xin climbed onto the battle stage and stood opposite one another.
As they faced each other, the arena’s cacophonous mixture of sounds became silent deliberately. The sudden drop in sound was eerie, as if a large blanket had been thrown onto the crowd. Many spectators leaned forward, their eyes locked onto the two figures. And also the various clan elders sighed deeply, clicking their tongues frenziedly as they exchanged anxious, knowing glances.
"That is the infamous Lin Yuan?" a merchant in the front row whispered, squinting through the dust.
"He is truly elegant! Look at his posture, he doesn’t look like a rejected disciple at all," a young cultivator replied, slowly standing up to see Lin Yuan.
The vast majority of the spectators were residents and low-tier cultivators of Green Hollow City. They came because they desperately wanted to know if the wild rumors lingering through the taverns were true. Was Lin Yuan’s sudden rise in strength genuine? Or was everything they had heard merely an exaggerated gossip?
Standing at the edge of the ring, Luo Zhen glanced toward both disciples, ensuring their readiness. Finding no objections, he raised his hand high.
"Begin!" Luo Zhen announced.
Immediately after announcing the start, he stepped far away from the battle stage to grant them the full space of the arena. Lin Yuan and Gu Fang Xin stood perfectly still, unbothered by each other’s presence.
Seconds ticked by in stillness. The atmosphere between them became strangely heavy with an invisible pressure that seemed to warp the air. Gu Fang Xin calmly observed Lin Yuan for a long moment, measuring his opponent’s breathing, his stance, and his lack of movement. Sluggishly, keeping his movements deliberate and unthreatening, Gu Fang Xin raised his hands and cupped his fists in a traditional greeting.
"Brother Lin, I am Gu Fang Xin. Nice to meet you!" Gu Fang Xin smiled, his face carrying an unblemished kindness.
But Lin Yuan felt something different. Looking at the pleasant smile, his eyes sluggishly narrowed in disdain. A familiar, terrifying sensation quivered against his senses. It was a mixture of hidden emotions that he had learned to recognize in the darkest corners of his life: fear, hostility, and one can simply call them as a strong killing intent.
It wasn’t a massive, overwhelming aura, but it was there, hiding inside Gu Fang Xin’s politeness. Lin Yuan recognized it instantly. It was the exact same feeling he had sensed whenever he crossed paths with Gu Shiyan — the false kindness masking a desperate desire to see him ruined.
"Hell with your introduction," Lin Yuan sighed, clicking his tongue in nonchalance. He didn’t bother returning the bow. Instead, he gave a pathetic, pitying look toward Gu Fang Xin, as if looking at a tragic bastard.
"Huh?" Gu Fang Xin froze, his polite smile evading sluggishly.
The spectators frowned in utter confusion. Lin Yuan’s gaze remained filled with total nonchalance, as if he were thoroughly pissed off at Gu Fang Xin’s existence, completely ignoring the fact that the official battle had already begun.
"You are weak," Lin Yuan sneered, his voice cutting through the silent arena like a sharp blade. He took a slow step forward, his eyes locking onto his opponent’s trembling pupils. "... and lame. I also sense fear from you. This is your end, Fang Xin!"
Gu Fang Xin’s expression instantly darkened in disbelief. The sheer insult, delivered so flatly in front of the entire city, caused the blood to rush inside him. Lin Yuan tilted his head slightly.
Lin Yuan’s words fell, plunging the entire arena into an eerie, suffocating silence. Nobody breathed. Gu Fang Xin’s face twisted in a frantic way, the polite mask shattering to reveal the ugly rage beneath.
"You arrogant—"
BOOM!
Before Gu Fang Xin could even finish his curse, a faint, pale green essence erupted rapidly beneath Lin Yuan’s feet. It withered with a wilderness, smelling faintly of crushed grass and earth. It was the essence of the Rank 2 Rabbit — the beast on which Lin Yuan had risked his life to test his theory of multi-beast cultivation.
Though it was not his core beast, the power flooded into his body instantly. His body became lighter and faster than it had ever been, dissolving into the thin air. The distance between them vanished in a mere five seconds. The speed was abnormal. It defied the heavenly dao of a normal cultivator of Lin Yuan’s level. Some of the spectators couldn’t even follow Lin Yuan’s steps, their eyes tracking nothing but a blur of pale green light stretching across the battle stage.
"What?" Gu Fang Xin’s eyes widened hectically. Panic seized him, and his white beast essence hadn’t even manifested to defend him; it was still like a mist clinging to his shoulders. Gu Fang Xin’s body hadn’t fully entered a proper combat stance, his weight trapped awkwardly as his mind barely understood the sudden appearance of Lin Yuan right in front of him. Fang Xin’s eyes frowned in a mixture of disdain and fear.
Lin Yuan appeared before him like a ghost flashed out from the wind. Without a fraction of a second’s delay, he raised his hand instantly. His palm and fingers infused with the sharp, pale green beast essence, condensing into a rigid, blunt blade of energy. A clean strike landed against the side of Gu Fang Xin’s neck. Lin Yuan unleashed a brutal strike against Gu Fang Xin’s neck, which was precise and lethal in its way. The impact sent a flick straight to Gu Fang Xin’s brain. Instantly, Gu Fang Xin’s vision obscured into pitch-black darkness, his eyes squinting frantically as his senses collapsed under the force. His legs took two faint, chaotic steps sideways, his knees buckling as his body quivered vehemently against the air.
Then—
THUD!
Gu Fang Xin fell down to the ground frenziedly, crashing face-first into the stone without any trail of movement. He lay there, limp, his white essence dissolving into nothingness. The entire arena stared at the battle stage with pure disbelief. For a long moment, the only sound was the wind howling through the academy pillars. Then, a few disciples subconsciously stood up from their seats. Everyone froze, petrified, witnessing the terrifying dominance and the absurd speed of the battle’s conclusion.
"What the fuck?" Chen Ming frowned deeply in the competitor area, his jaw nearly dropping from sheer shock. He had prepared himself for a grueling match, but this was an instant knock out.
"Lin Yuan... you don’t know how to hesitate, right?" Ying Yue muttered to herself, rubbing her temples frantically. The sheer fallout of this instant humiliation was going to be a nightmare.
"He knocked out Gu Fang Xin in a mere five seconds!" Lian Nichang narrowed his eyes, his fingers tightening against the armrest of his seat.
A few rows over, Gu Shiyan maintained his calm outside expression, his face a carved mask of unconcernedness. But under his robes, his fists were clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, and internally, he cursed Lin Yuan a hundred times over, his mind rumbling with fury. The entire battle had lasted less than five seconds.
"What the fuck!?" Luo Zhen’s voice suddenly echoed throughout the arena, the words slicing sharply through the eerie silence. The spectators immediately turned toward him, darting their eyes quickly in surprise.
"Language, Luo Zhen," Lin Cangxuan sighed from the VIP stand, though he made no real effort to hide the amusement in his voice. He coughed slightly, suppressing a loud laugh that threatened to erupt from his chest. A faint, proud smirk crawled across his face. "Lin Yuan... you are truly a demon."
Nearby, Dan Zhenren nearly spat out his tea, coughing into a silk handkerchief. Mo Qinghe frowned deeply, his eyes darting the green essence still lingering near the battle stage. Teng Lianhua’s eyes widened in profound shock. Gu Yanluo remained completely silent, watching Lin Yuan with a cold stare. But all four masters were staring at the exact same person. Lin Yuan.
Meanwhile, Lin Cangxuan’s smile slowly faded into a serious expression. His gaze shifted away from his grandson, darting across the floor toward Gu Shiyan, and then darted back toward Lin Yuan. A strange thought emerged within his mind, settling in his consciousness.
’This brat...’ Lin Cangxuan thought, his eyes narrowing sluggishly as he stroked his chin. ’His actions... the lack of hesitation, the efficiency of the strike... it’s too similar to the Silent Wanderer.’ fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Then he glanced back at Gu Shiyan, noting the subtle, murderous tension in the young man’s shoulders. ’And Gu Shiyan as well.’ frёewebnoѵēl.com
For the first time since the tournament began, a faint feeling of unease flickered within the Headmaster’s heart. He felt an old, long-buried instinct screaming at him from the depths of his soul. ’Something is wrong with both of them.’
On the battle stage, Lin Yuan paid no attention to the reactions of the elders or the crowd. He merely adjusted his slightly ruffled sleeves, calmly dusting off his dark robes. His expression remained utterly serene, and calm. As if knocking out one of the city’s top geniuses was no different than brushing away an annoying fly.
Luo Zhen finally recovered from his shock, glinting vehemently as he looked down at the unconscious, twitching body of Gu Fang Xin. He swallowed hard, realizing he still had a job to do. His eyes darted toward Lin Yuan, who was already turning his back on his defeated foe. After a few breaths to steady his racing heart, Luo Zhen raised his hand deliberately toward the sky.
"The winner is..." Luo Zhen quivered, his voice shaking slightly before his amplified spiritual energy took over, throwing the words across the academy grounds. "Lin Yuan!"
Along with the roaring voice of Luo Zhen, a massive cacophony of applause and frantic murmurs lingered across the arena, exploding outward.
"He won!?"
"What just happened? I blinked!"
"Five seconds? Did it even take that long?"
"No, less than that! It was instantaneous!"
"He didn’t even use a named technique! Just speed and a basic strike!"
"Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying!"
"He is magnificent!"
"He is a demon in human form!"
"He doesn’t have the slightest sign of mercy!"
"That’s the same person who was rejected by the River of Origin?"
"Impossible! The River must have been defective!"
Meanwhile, Lin Yuan simply walked back toward the competitor stand with a measured, steady posture. His face was calm, and his pride was as elegant as ever, his spine straight as a spear. He ignored every rising voice, every shocked stare, and every emotion directed toward him from the stands. For the first time since the competition began, many people started wondering whether the sacred River of Origin had truly made a mistake rejecting him.
