Ye Lingchen made a coy smile. “Senior, that’s just a childish joke. I’ll immediately allow the Stick Nation to purchase the Canine Bane Pill once I head back.”
“Haha, once you head back?” The old man snickered. “There is no going back! Wouldn’t it be better to capture you, keep you in our Stick Nation, and let you create medicine for us?”
“Senior, I’m from the Warrior’s Department,” Ye Lingchen said.
“And?” The old man smirked indifferently. “Are you going to willingly come back with me, or would you like me to beat you half-dead and then bring you back? That old tortoise at your feet looks good too. It’d be perfect as a mount, or it could end up as a pot of soup!”
“You must be kidding. A weakling like me wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on a senior like you.” Ye Lingchen laughed dryly but his heart sank slightly. He then asked, “Your strength is amazing. You’ve probably already broken through the Innate Stage, right.”
The old man smiled coldly and said, “That’s right. The realm above the Innate Stage is called the King Stage, and the realm above the King Stage is called the Venerable Stage.”
“Thank you for your advice, Senior. All I know is that we have a Warrior’s Department in China. I didn’t expect the Stick Nation to have such masters like yourself.” Ye Lingchen transitioned smoothly into flattering him.
“Hehe, China learns Kungfu in the Warrior’s Department. Our country calls it the Heaven Pavilion and we learn judo!” As the old man spoke, he extended his hands slightly in front of him and a milky spiritual energy intertwined the air like a silk thread. It looked exactly like silken thread, but the strength contained within was nothing short of terrifying. Ye Lingchen had earlier seen how that silken thread easily divided the whole shark into two!
The Stick Nation’s Taekwondo and Jiu-Jitsu had merits and could create a combination of rigid and soft moves.
However, Stick Nation named themselves the Heaven Pavilion while the Sun Nation called themselves Earth’s Gate. Those two countries were exceedingly arrogant—they were obviously island countries, yet they claimed themselves to be ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’.
“Don’t even think about stalling. No one ever comes here, so come with me!” the old man remarked bluntly. His hands did a little wave and the silken thread in front of him immediately came to life and wound toward Ye Lingchen like a snake.
“Retreat!”
Ye Lingchen decided that he was not prepared to get entangled with the silken thread. Since the way forward was blocked, all he could do was retreat quickly.
Old Tortoise exerted all its strength, moved its limbs frantically, and swam forward like a submarine.
Splash, splash, splash!
The flexible silken threads shuttled into the sea, tearing fish in half wherever they struck. The silken thread’s speed was actually faster than Ye Lingchen and penetrated the water like a water snake.
Ye Lingchen retreated and clenched his fists with both hands. A surge of spiritual power surged into his hands, while his arms expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye and his fists gradually turned red.
“Arhat Fist Force!”
Boom!
With a thrust of his fists, the sea water all around Ye Lingchen grew turbulent. Sea water rushed toward those silken threads along with the fist force and instantly succeeded in impeding the threads.
However, Ye Lingchen’s eyes did not seem to express any joy. He retreated even faster, but it was during the next moment that those silken threads rushed out again and reached to seize him.
“Not bad of you to have this kind of strength and talent at such a young age,” the old man said with a sneer. “Do you still want to continue fighting?”
“Senior, we’re all going to fight the Void Realm together. Earth’s existence is at stake. Are you sure you want to do this?” Ye Lingchen asked.
The old man laughed. “You’re too naïve, Kid. I might as well give you a short lecture. Our world is far crueler than you think. Let’s set aside the fact that you and I are from different countries. Even if we’re compatriots, we can be enemies in an instant, especially after entering the Void Realm. Many humans die in the hands of humans every year in order to compete for resources and strength. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Only the strong can guarantee Earth’s survival. As long as a strong person shows up, no one really cares if you fight against each other.
“Plus, who’s gonna care if I kill you? Your life is worthless!”
The old man’s aura increased slightly. He raised his hand and waved a palm toward Ye Lingchen.
Whoosh!
Seawater shot up into the sky and Ye Lingchen spouted a mouthful of blood. He felt like his entire body was going to fall apart, and many parts of his body were already split open. If not for his rock-hard bones, that blow alone might snap his ribs off.
Ye Lingchen retreated violently.
“Are you still going to resist capture? My patience is limited, Boy. I’ll let you survive if you let me rid you of your martial arts skills!” The old man squinted his eyes and cackled strangely.
“Eat sh*t, Old Bag!” Ye Lingchen had already retreated near Hell’s Gate and cursed out loud. “If that’s the case, let’s all suffer together!”
“This little brat is digging his grave!” The old man’s eyes were filled with insurmountable hostility. His face tensed up and spiritual energy began building up in his hands. Just as he was about to slap Ye Lingchen, his actions stopped midway.
“Come on then, Old Bag! Come on!” Ye Lingchen stood by the gate and stared at the old man with a smirk.
Hell’s Gates had a peculiar characteristic that prevented it from being in contact with an upsurge of spiritual energy. In the Capital New District, for example, Xiang Guocheng did not dare to approach it because the gate would expand if he got any closer.
Although the present gate had not opened fully yet, any spiritual interference from the outside world would speed up the rate at which it opened.
At that moment, Ye Lingchen was standing right beside the gate, and the consequences would be unimaginable if the old man used his spiritual energy and attacked it.
The old man’s expression wavered for some time before he grinned. “Don’t mess around, Boy. Any one of these gates are priceless to humans and extremely dangerous too. If you’re not ready, this action of yours may bring disaster to mankind. Do you dare to do that?”
“Hehe, you hold me in too high regard. If I’m going to die anyway, why would I care as much?” Ye Lingchen grinned at the old man and placed his hands in front of the gate. The spiritual energy was building up in his palms. “Back away and get out of my sight!”
The old man’s expression changed drastically and his murderous intent began to surface. “Let me give you some advice, Boy. You’d better be more mindful of your actions, otherwise you’ll be enjoying the worst form of torture in the world!”
Ye Lingchen’s expression remained steadfast and he warned in a deep voice. “Don’t force me to do this, Senior. Step back!”
The old man stood still, seemingly thinking of something.
“Master, under you! Be careful! ”
Old Tortoise’s urgent voice suddenly issued a warning from under the sea.
Ye Lingchen instinct was to make a hasty retreat!
Several silken threads suddenly sprang out from where he stood before, and if he had not retreated in time, his entire body would have been pierced by them!
Failing at their first attempt, those silken threads rushed visibly toward Ye Lingchen. The old man quickly followed suit from behind!
“Damn you, Old Bag. You leave me no choice!”
A savage look appeared on Ye Lingchen’s face as he raised his fist and blasted toward the Hell’s Gate…
