Thank you, Leader of the "Book Friends 20180906125016289".

All was silent.

As Huai Shi spoke, the music stalled. Numerous muscular men turned around in astonishment; even the smile on Luo Lao's face froze for an instant.

Such an ingenious train of thought was truly something he had never encountered before.

Huai Shi calmed down, his expression resolute.

This Old Turtle wants to cheat me out of my money!

Clutching his wallet, a surge of infinite courage suddenly welled up in the young man's heart, as if he were no longer afraid of the deafening music or the crowd of brawny men.

He would stand firm on his principles, never waver.

After voicing his refusal, Huai Shi stood up, straightened his collar in front of them, then popped open a can of ice-cold cola and drained it. This demonstrated his determination while also clearly drawing a line between them.

This Happy Water is such good stuff, and yet some people don't drink it? They must be crazy!

Then he turned and left.

So breezy and carefree.

It wasn't until the old man behind him spat a thick glob of phlegm on the ground and asked disdainfully, "Don't even dare to fight? Are you even a man? With your effeminate looks, is that stubble glued on? Hmm, perhaps you indulged a bit too much with those rich older women when you were a Cowherd..."

TSK.

Huai Shi's steps halted. His eyebrows furrowed as he slowly turned back.

"Old man, you're getting on in years; you shouldn't speak so carelessly..."

"Huh?"

Luo Lao played dumb, tilting his head to look at him. "What careless things did I say? Wasn't it all true?"

As he spoke, he flexed his arm. The densely packed muscles rippled like a tide as he provoked Huai Shi, "Come on, Little Brag! If you're not happy, then hit me!"

"Are you sure?" Huai Shi asked coldly. "The last old man who spoke to me like that still owes me forty bucks for a performance fee. You're not trying to scam me, are you?"

"HAHAHA, Little Brag, you've certainly got some ideas."

Luo Lao grinned, the short white stubble on his face bristling like steel needles. His smile grew increasingly ferocious, as if muscles were bulging even within his grin. "If you can kill me, you might even collect a bounty of a few hundred million. Why would you need to worry about someone scamming you?"

"I'm not afraid, but the problem is..."

Huai Shi looked past Luo Lao and jerked his chin.

Just as the old man turned back in confusion, Huai Shi drew a pistol from the holster at his back, flicked off the safety, and aimed at his bald nape.

His movements were as smooth as flowing clouds and water, completing the action in one fluid motion.

He pulled the trigger.

BANG!

At the deafening blast from the muzzle, Huai Shi was taken aback.

In that instant, as he activated his lightning reflexes, he glimpsed a blur of motion.

The moment he pulled the trigger, just when the shot seemed impossible to dodge, the old man's head bizarrely rotated a full three hundred and sixty degrees on his neck, returning to its original position.

The muscles in his right arm swelled instantly, taking on a steely blue hue. In a flash, his arm lashed out towards the muzzle of the gun like a whip.

The crisp crack of the Space Break and the roar of the gunshot overlapped, making them nearly indistinguishable.

A twisted bullet had already fallen from Luo Lao's hand to the ground.

HISS.

Huai Shi gasped, his disbelief giving way to an indescribable shock. This Old Turtle... he's a bit gay, sure, but he might actually be an unworldly expert...

Although he had already concluded that bullets posed no threat to Luo Lao, the old man's reaction still filled him with a chilling fear.

He had heard it perfectly clearly.

The sound that burst from Luo Lao's arm as it whipped down wasn't singular, but six distinct cracks.

In that brief interval, imperceptible to the naked eye and ordinary senses, the robust arm had whipped forward with boneless flexibility to meet the red-hot bullet.

But what had truly made contact were his five fingers, moving as if plucking instrument strings.

With a momentary, gentle caress, they had counteracted the spin imparted by the rifling, plucking the bullet from its trajectory and sending it into the dust.

Nearly terrifying Power, speed invisible to the naked eye, and astounding Talent were all fused in that single strike.

"How about that? Was that display to your satisfaction, Little Brag?"

Luo Lao wasn't angry about Huai Shi shooting him from behind; rather, he seemed somewhat pleased by such a despicable and shameless act. He grinned, tiny muscles rippling beneath the skin of his face.

A purple, blood-like energy suffused his bald head.

He walked out from behind the long table, slowly moving his body as if warming up. The sound of metal grinding against metal echoed intermittently, and a terrifying heat emanated from his frame.

With his heart pounding like a drum, his muscles spasmed violently. Yet, they didn't bulge; instead, they slowly contracted until, finally, they returned to the size of an average person. As he gradually bent over, his muscles, now tinged blue, gave him the appearance of an upright ape-man forged from steel.

The music came to an abrupt stop. Everyone scrambled to the sides, avoiding the excited coach, terrified of being dragged into this brutal training session.

"You're pretty good."

Luo Lao, however, advanced slowly, speaking deliberately, "When I heard you learned a bit of the Yu Step technique from Xiao Xian, I felt some regret. Her own mastery is lacking; she'll only mislead her students. Since you've come today, and in light of your Talent, I'll give you a proper demonstration—"

Saying that, he stopped fifteen meters away, twisted his neck, bent slightly at the waist, and assumed a sprinter's stance, preparing to rush Huai Shi, who was on high alert.

"Watch closely. This is..."

Huai Shi's vision blackened as a hurricane-like force slammed into him. Then, amidst an explosive roar, the aged face that had suddenly appeared before him lifted its gaze and slowly announced,

"—Yu Step!"

A distance of fifteen meters, covered in a single leap, at a speed so extreme that not even his lightning reflexes could perceive it!

The old man grinned, countless purplish-green muscles rippling and overlapping. Though his eyes held a joyful ease, as if he were on a leisurely stroll through a forest, his face erupted with the solemn majesty of a mountain and the cold, stern fury of iron.

He looked like... one of the legendary vajra-wielding Wisdom Kings!

In his astonishment, Huai Shi subconsciously stepped back.

"Wrong." Luo Lao shook his head in resignation, sighing. "How could you retreat at a time like this? Retreating only gives the enemy an opportunity to press their advantage. Since the enemy has delivered himself to your doorstep, you should have committed to an all-out "Offensive", right? You missed it, the only moment you could have struck, just to gain a mere meter of dodging space? Was it useful? Do you think it was? Let me tell you, it wasn't."

The old man reached out to Huai Shi, but his movement seemed slow, his hand stopping a hair's breadth from Huai Shi's clothes. However, Huai Shi felt no joy, only a deep chill and a potent danger emanating from the old man's hand.

"Watch carefully..."

In that instant, Luo Lao's outstretched hand, thirty centimeters from Huai Shi with fingers splayed, suddenly clenched, and he yanked his hand back!

This was—Drummer!

Sparks flew as his fingers rubbed together, Power comparable to the deep Sea surging into his palm.

In a flash, a colossal boom resounded.

Between those fingers, an airwave erupted, blasting outwards in all directions, transforming into a ferocious gale. It was like a Shock Bomb exploding in front of him; Huai Shi's vision went dark, and his ears rang.

I'm done for!

His heart sank. He wanted to use the gust of wind to retreat, but then he felt the turbulent gust, like a deep-sea undercurrent, actually push him forward as Luo Lao's fingers tugged, pulling him towards the old man three steps away.

Luo Lao smiled like a Buddha.

He was reaching out to Huai Shi.

It was as if he had truly grabbed the void itself.

Then, as Huai Shi watched in a daze, Luo Lao raised his other palm, covering his right fist, the one that had seemed to grasp the void.

Rock, paper, scissors.

CLAP!

The two collided instantly. His open left hand enveloped his right fist. The movement was light and gentle, yet it unleashed a heart-stopping roar and a colossal boom.

It was as if he witnessed heaven and earth slowly closing before him.

The Vault of Heaven collapsed, shattering the endless earth.

The Moon fell, burning to a scorching red in the atmosphere before sinking into the deep Sea, raising cosmic-scale tidal waves and radiating tangible Destructive Power from the epicenter.

Huai Shi's heart raced, his face deathly pale.

In that instance, as his palm covered his fist, the combined hands, now like a hammer, lightly pushed forward.

It pressed against Huai Shi's chest.

A light touch, instantly withdrawn.

The brief collision sent the roaring Power coursing through the old man's body and veins flooding into Huai Shi's frame, suffusing his limbs and core. It distributed the unparalleled Power evenly across every fascia, muscle, and vertebra in Huai Shi's body...

And so, he heard it: heavenly thunder rousing, the earth's drum resounding.

This was—

—Thunderbolt!

Huai Shi was left in a stupor.

He felt no pain; in that instant, he only heard a savage, deafening boom, the likes of which he had never experienced.

Following that, he entered what felt like a third-person mode.

It was as if the blow had knocked his very soul out of his body. He could no longer feel his physical form or control his limbs; he could only stare rigidly and sluggishly at the world through the eyes of this shell.

In that immeasurably long instant, he saw the smiling yet ferocious old face slowly moving away as he flew backward.

Flying backward.

In the silence, he lifted smoothly and effortlessly from the ground, spiraling through the air with a dazed expression, tracing a long arc.

He soared thirty meters, flying over countless burly men working out, dancing, or sparring. He finally landed on the smooth tiles at the entrance, bounced once, then fell, his remaining momentum causing him to slide backward.

Like a heap of soft mud.

DING! As the elevator doors opened, the upper half of his body slid limply inside.

It was a long while before Huai Shi roused from his daze. He still couldn't feel his limbs, only an excruciating pain and an unbearable sense of misery.

"Hmm? A rare visitor."

When he raised his eyes, he saw a pair of exquisite sandals before him, then delicate, slender toes, and well-shaped, toned calves.

Looking up, he saw a grey long skirt, an impressively endowed chest, and a familiar face.

Her eyes curved like crescent moons, and her smile was as refreshing as a spring breeze.

"...Luo Xian?"

Huai Shi asked incredulously, then retched, spewing a large mouthful of blood faintly tinged with green.

"Mm, long time no see, Huai Shi."

Luo Xian bent down, looking at the youth. His face was a mess of broken capillaries, and blood streamed from his nostrils. She raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Have you come to visit?"

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