“This Venerable has one thing he does not understand,” Lai Li’an spoke, his tone casual.

Yin Wushe frowned slightly. “What is it?”

“For what reason is your Blood Lotus Sect hunting down this girl?”

Yin Wushe fell silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Su Wan’er’s face before returning to Lai Li’an.

“This is an internal matter of our sect; I am not at liberty to say.”

“An internal matter?” Lai Li’an chuckled lightly, his gaze turning profound. “Since when did a cultivator possessing a Supreme Water Spiritual Root become an internal matter of your Blood Lotus Sect?”

Yin Wushe’s expression shifted slightly.

“This Venerable has lived for many years and witnessed plenty of plundering and extortion,” Lai Li’an’s voice was unhurried. “But it is quite rare to see behavior like your Blood Lotus Sect’s, snatching someone’s Spiritual Root and then murdering them to silence them.”

A trace of killing intent flashed through Yin Wushe’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. Did this person already know everything but insist on saying it out loud just to embarrass him?

“Fellow Daoist, this matter has nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do with this Venerable?” Lai Li’an tilted his head slightly. “Then tell me, what does have something to do with this Venerable? This girl was saved by this Venerable, meaning her life belongs to this Venerable. You want to kill her, yet you say it has nothing to do with this Venerable?”

Yin Wushe’s face darkened completely.

“In other words, fellow Daoist is dead set on interfering?”

Lai Li’an did not answer, only looking at him quietly. That calm gaze sent a chill down Yin Wushe’s spine.

Finally, Yin Wushe gritted his teeth. After weighing the matter in his mind again and again, he ultimately chose to back down.

“Fine, I will give fellow Daoist face today. We will part ways here.”

He turned around to leave.

The corners of Lai Li’an’s mouth curled up slightly.

It worked.

Talk-no-Jutsu really is invincible in this world.

However, in that split second—

Yin Wushe suddenly spun back around.

He had never intended to leave at all; his earlier retreat was entirely a setup for this exact moment.

The short blade in his hand turned into a pitch-black ray of light, thrusting straight toward Lai Li’an’s chest. Infused with all of his Spiritual Power, the speed of the strike was so fast that it tore through the air, letting out a sharp, explosive screech.

“Senior, watch out!” Su Wan’er screamed.

Lai Li’an saw it.

His brain was frantically issuing commands: Dodge! Quickly dodge!

But his body couldn’t keep up.

With an empty shell of a Cultivation Base at the Early Foundation Establishment realm, facing the full-power strike of a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator, he didn’t even have time to react.

It was over.

This was the last thought that flashed through Lai Li’an’s mind.

Clang—!

A loud crash of colliding metal echoed through the mountain forest.

Yin Wushe’s short blade struck Lai Li’an’s chest.

And then… it stopped.

The blade pierced the gray robe, but couldn’t advance a single inch further.

The sharp tip seemed to have struck an indestructible iron plate.

Yin Wushe’s eyes suddenly widened.

This strike was infused with almost all of his strength. Let alone an Early Foundation Establishment cultivator, even a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator would be dead or heavily injured if they took this attack head-on.

However…

His opponent hadn’t even budged.

“Wh… what?” Yin Wushe’s voice trembled.

Lai Li’an looked down at the short blade pressed against his chest.

It didn’t hurt at all.

He could even feel a slight resistance where the blade touched his skin, as if some invisible force was protecting him.

Indestructible Vajra Physique?

Skin like gold and iron, bones like refined steel.

He had previously cursed the system in his heart for being a scammer, thinking this was just an ordinary external martial arts technique.

Now, it seemed…

There really was something to it?

Yin Wushe’s effeminate face contorted completely.

“Impossible… this is impossible!”

Lai Li’an looked down at him from above, his face devoid of any expression.

At this moment, Yin Wushe’s hands began to tremble. Looking into Lai Li’an’s calm eyes, he felt a bone-piercing chill.

Without any Spiritual Protection Aura, without any Magic Tool for defense.

Relying solely on his physical body, he had blocked his full-strength strike.

What the fuck kind of monster was this?!

Yin Wushe’s mind went blank. His legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thud.

“This junior… this junior knows his wrongs!” Large drops of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. “I beg… I beg Senior to let me off!”

Lai Li’an looked down at him, remaining silent for two seconds.

Right at this moment, the System Panel popped up:

A majestic spiritual pressure suddenly erupted from Lai Li’an’s body.

He didn’t release it intentionally; rather, it was a natural leakage brought about by his Golden Core Cultivation Base. That spiritual pressure was like an overturning mountain, pressing heavily onto Yin Wushe.

Yin Wushe’s body suddenly stiffened, as if an invisible giant hand had pressed down on his shoulders. He was forced flat onto the ground, unable to move.

It really was Golden Core!

He was completely finished.

Su Wan’er half-knelt in the distance, taking all of this in.

The moment that wave of spiritual pressure washed over her, she could barely breathe.

The oppressive aura of a Golden Core cultivator.

She was all too familiar with it. Her Master was a Golden Core Master, and every time her Master was enraged, the shuddering sensation that emanated from the depths of her soul was exactly the same as this.

No, that wasn’t right.

Her Master normally wouldn’t unleash their spiritual pressure, so she had never actually faced the full might of a Golden Core cultivator’s oppressive aura.

But now, she felt it.

That sense of oppression almost made her heart stop.

Senior… truly is a Golden Core.

Not Foundation Establishment. It wasn’t that she had guessed wrong, but rather that she had underestimated him.

Su Wan’er’s eyes reddened slightly, whether out of fear or excitement.

“Spare my life, Senior! Senior, spare my life!”

Yin Wushe groveled on the ground, his voice thick with tears. A Late Foundation Establishment cultivator was currently as pathetic as a stray dog.

Lai Li’an looked at the “Early Golden Core” indicator on his System Panel, ecstatic.

Golden Core!

He, Lai Li’an, was now a Golden Core!

Although he knew this was just an empty shell, at this moment, the surging power welling up from his Dantian was real. The feeling that he could shatter a mountain with a single punch was real.

Awesome!

So fucking awesome!

Lai Li’an then came back to his senses. However, having just a Cultivation Base alone meant he couldn’t kill Yin Wushe. It would be better to just put on a front and let him go; it would be bad if the other party realized the truth later.

He looked down at Yin Wushe groveling on the ground, his tone indifferent:

“Tell you what, take one punch from this Venerable. If you survive, this Venerable will let you leave.”

Yin Wushe jerked his head up, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.

Just one punch.

He was at the Late Foundation Establishment stage. Although his physical body was inferior to a Body-Refining Cultivator, it had still been tempered by Spiritual Power, making him countless times stronger than an ordinary person.

The other party was a Golden Core. He definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand a full-strength strike, but if it was just a matter of surviving…

“Senior!” Su Wan’er’s voice came from behind, laced with urgency. “This person cannot be spared! When you cut the grass, you must remove the roots!1 If you let him go back, the Blood Lotus Sect will definitely not let this rest!”

“Shut up!”

Yin Wushe glared viciously at Su Wan’er. “Senior has already spoken, it’s not your place to dictate!”

With that, he immediately turned to Lai Li’an, his face piling on a flattering smile. “Senior, this junior is ready.”

Lai Li’an nodded expressionlessly.

He just wanted to end this farce quickly so he could go check the big gift bag the system had given him.

“Ready?”

“Yes! This junior is ready!”

Yin Wushe took a deep breath and frantically circulated the Spiritual Power within his body, condensing layers of defense in front of him.

Kneeling on the ground and leaning slightly forward, he braced himself to take the punch head-on.

Lai Li’an raised his right fist.

He had never learned any fist techniques, did not know how to exert force, nor did he know how to utilize the Spiritual Power of his Golden Core. But at this moment, he was a Golden Core cultivator, and the surging power within his body was his absolute confidence.

He took a deep breath and concentrated his attention on his right fist.

The Spiritual Power of the Golden Core Stage surged like a rushing river, flowing along his meridians into his right arm. He felt a blazing power gathering in his fist, and a faint golden light surfaced on his skin.

He threw a punch without any flashy moves or shocking phenomena, looking just like an ordinary person hitting a punching bag.

Yin Wushe watched the trajectory of that fist, secretly rejoicing in his heart.

That was it?

With such an unremarkable punch, even if it hit, it would at most break a few bones. He was in the Late Foundation Establishment stage; taking a single punch wouldn’t kill him.

His taut nerves relaxed for a brief moment, and then the fist landed on his Spiritual Protection Aura.

Boom—!

Yin Wushe’s defense was like paper mache, torn to shreds the instant the fist made contact.

The fist smashed solidly into his chest.

In that instant, he felt as if he hadn’t been hit by a fist, but crushed by a mountain.

Yin Wushe didn’t even have time to scream before his body flew out like a cannonball, snapping three large trees before crashing heavily into the ground, smashing a crater into the dirt.

In the distance, Yin Wushe’s limbs were twisted at impossible angles, bleeding from his seven orifices. His eyes were still open, pupils unfocused, and his mouth opened and closed as if trying to say something, but he couldn’t make a single sound.

Then, he stopped moving.

Lai Li’an maintained his punching posture, standing stunned in place.

Huh?

Dead in one punch?

He retracted his fist and looked down at his right hand. Was… was the power of the Golden Core Stage really this exaggerated?

He had just thrown a casual punch, and a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator was beaten to death just like that?

Hahahaha!

A Golden Core Cultivation Base is way too incredible!

Lai Li’an almost couldn’t hold back his laughter out loud. He tried his best to maintain a detached expression on his face, placed his right hand behind his back, and turned to look at Su Wan’er.

Su Wan’er was half-kneeling on the ground, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide and round, looking as if she had been frozen in place.

Just one punch.

A Late Foundation Establishment cultivator didn’t even have time to let out a scream before being beaten into that state.

Is this the Senior’s true strength?

She suddenly felt that all her previous speculations about the Senior had been too conservative.

Ding!

Seeing this prompt, Lai Li’an was overjoyed.

A full-value reward!

He couldn’t wait to open the System Panel to see what good things he could get this time.

Then, his smile froze.

Lai Li’an stared at the panel, the expression on his face crumbling inch by inch.

Fuck!!! The Golden Core Cultivation Base is gone?! He hadn’t even warmed it up yet!

What reward? He hadn’t even seen a shadow of the reward, and it was already gone?

Was this system messing with him?

Lai Li’an’s mouth twitched a few times. He took a deep breath, forcefully resisting the urge to curse out loud.

He looked closely at the new data on the panel and immediately realized that Su Wan’er’s Fantasy Points had risen to 100, and the Cultivation Base she contributed had also increased from Early Foundation Establishment to Late Foundation Establishment.

Lai Li’an’s mood was complicated to the extreme.

He silently cursed the system a hundred times in his heart, then raised his head to look at Su Wan’er.

Su Wan’er was looking at him with an admiring gaze.

“Senior… are you alright?”

Lai Li’an shook his head. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To find a place for you to heal your injuries.”

Su Wan’er nodded heavily.

She leaned on her longsword to stand up and followed behind Lai Li’an, walking into the misty mountain forest.

Behind them, the ruined walls of the dilapidated temple gradually blurred in the morning light.

Lai Li’an’s back was as straight as a pine tree, his pace calm and unhurried.

No one knew that at this very moment, he was frantically cursing that damn system in his heart.