Gazing at the figure behind Lin Shan, Qing Tan and Lin Changqiang's expressions changed as a look of worry surfaced in their eyes.
Lin Dong face was stretched taut, as he similarly cast his gaze behind Lin Shan. A youngster clothed in white was holding onto Lin Shan's shoulder, steadying him and preventing him from falling to the ground.
The youngster looked to be around 15 or 16 years old and he had rather handsome facial features. A small smile was on his face, yet in Lin Dong's eyes, this smile appeared slightly cold.
Lin Hong. Lin Shan's elder brother and a fairly outstanding member of the Lin Family. He was only 15 years old, yet he had long ago reached Tempered Body 5th Layer. At this stage, he needed only one more step before he will be able to cultivate a Yuan Power Seed. After which, he would definitely be ranked top three among all of the younger generation in the Lin Family.
"Ge!" Although Lin Shan was extremely overbearing towards others, he became as meek as a sheep in front of the seemingly gentle-natured Lin Hong.
"With just this level of skill, why do you go out and embarrass yourself, instead of practising properly?" Lin Hong chuckled as he loosened his grip.
"It was only because I was careless… If we fought again, there's nothing for me to fear!" Lin Shan's face flushed red with embarrassment at Lin Hong's words. Yet Lin Shan's retort seemed a bit forced, as it was clear that Lin Dong's punch was indeed very powerful.
"Four echo Penetrating Fist is not something you are capable of blocking." Lin Hong's gaze turned towards Lin Dong, scrutinizing the latter for a while before saying: "Lin Dong-biao-di, looks like you've been hiding this for quite some time..."
Lin Hong also knew about the difficulty in practising Penetrating Fist. No matter what, in order to train till the 4th echo required months of effort. Yet prior to this incident, he had never heard that Lin Dong even knew this martial art.
"It's just trickery, hardly worthy of Lin Hong-biao-ge's attention."
The corners of Lin Dong's mouth pulled into a wry smile as he replied. Perhaps because of the feud between their fathers, even if you put it nicely, Lin Hong and his brother had a strained relationship with Lin Dong. Likewise, Lin Dong harboured no good will towards them.
Though Lin Hong seemed polite and friendly on the surface, Lin Dong knew that compared to the menacing Lin Shan, his brother was actually much more fiendish. The reason why Lin Shan could be a little tyrant within the younger generation in the Lin Family, was not only due to his father but also Lin Hong, who had quite a far reaching influence himself.
Of course, most importantly, Lin Dong had heard from Lin Xiao that half a year ago, Lin Hong had actually asked to be engaged to Qing Tan. Thankfully, this request had been flatly rejected by Lin Xiao.
This matter had further deepened the enmity between both parties.
"Lin Dong-ge, lets leave first."
Qing Tan stealthily tugged on Lin Dong's sleeve as she whispered. Though she was extremely surprised that Lin Dong had managed to defeat Lin Shan, Lin Hong stood heads and shoulders above Lin Shan in regards to both martials arts and wit. He was definitely not someone to mess with.
"Heh heh, Qing Tan, it's been so long since we've met." Lin Hong chuckled as he turned his gaze to Qing Tan with a strange lustre in his eyes. Although Qing Tan was young, she was a blooming beauty. Among the younger generation in Qingyang Town, many secretly admired her and naturally, he was no exception.
"Lin Shan has always been such an impulsive brat. However, if you need any elixirs, you just need to approach me. A grade one elixir like the Scarlet Sun Grass is after all a little lacking in quality."
Hearing Lin Hong talk to her as if they were on familiar terms, Qing Tan's crescent shaped eyebrows tightly knitted together. However, due to the other party's strength, although she was not too pleased about it, she chose not to talk back.
"Dammit, this guy is so repulsive, I will definitely beat him to death in the future." Lin Changqiang muttered behind Lin Dong's back as he was also extremely disgusted by Lin Hong's words.
"Much thanks to Lin Hong-biao-ge's goodwill, however we'd rather depend on ourselves. It's not easy for the family to earn money so it's only right that we try our best to save even a little of it." Lin Dong smiled, ignoring the mutterings of Lin Changqiang. If he saw Lin Hong in the past, he could only hope to retreat before anything happened. Yet it was different now, as he possessed the secret Stone Talisman, he knew that surpassing Lin Hong was only a matter of time.
"Oh? Lin Dong-biao-di's unyielding character is exactly the same as his father's. Indeed worthy of his legacy!" Though Lin Hong was smiling, anyone who heard his words could tell that they held a hint of ridicule.
Anger flashed across Lin Dong's eyes as he heard these mocking words.
"Heh heh, since the Scarlet Sun Grass was found by Qing Tan, then it must be returned. Fret not Qing Tan, after all this, I will definitely help you teach this rude fellow a lesson." Lin Hong took the Scarlet Sun Grass off Lin Shan's hands and then waved it at Qing Tan while smiling.
Seeing his actions, Qing Tan pursed her tiny lips, not daring to move forward to retrieve the Scarlet Sun Grass. She was worried that Lin Hong may seize this opportunity to create trouble for Lin Dong in the future. If so, she would rather give up this Scarlet Sun Grass.
In response, the corners of Lin Hong's mouth could not help but slightly raise.
"Seems like Lin Hong-biao-ge is truly a magnanimous individual."
Yet, before a smile could form on his face, Lin Dong interrupted it with a laugh. After which, under the watchful gaze of the crowd, Lin Dong stepped forward and approached Lin Hong as he unapologetically stretched out his hand to grab the Scarlet Sun Grass.
Lin Dong's sudden actions caused Lin Hong's face to turn rigid. The latter stared straight at the former with an icy look in his eyes. Lin Dong's actions in front of the crowd had hurt Lin Hong's pride.
However, Lin Dong turned a blind eye to Lin Hong's stare as he attempted to exert more force to snatch the Scarlet Sun Grass. Nevertheless, he found that Lin Hong's hand continued to hold onto the Scarlet Sun Grass like a pair of metal pincers. At once, Lin Dong smiled and asked: "So…? Does Lin Hong-biao-ge suddenly fancy this Scarlet Sun Grass now?"
Upon hearing these words, the corners of Lin Hong's eyes twitched as he slowly released his grip. Staring daggers at Lin Dong, he laughed and said: "Lin Dong-biao-di, I am also interested in your Penetrating Fist, would you be willing to engage in a light duel with me?"
Without waiting for Lin Dong's reply, Lin Hong suddenly took a step forward as his palm flew towards Lin Dong's chest. The gust that followed was much stronger than before when Lin Shan attacked.
Seeing as Lin Hong launched his attack as soon as he spoke, Lin Dong's facial expression darkened as he swiftly raised both of his arms in front of his chest, to protect his vital organs.
"Thud!"
As they exchanged blows, Lin Dong immediately felt a vigorous force and sharp pain ricocheting through his arm, forcing him to move ten steps back. Thankfully his foundations were solid, thus he did not end up convulsing on the ground.
"Yuan Power? Tempered Body 6th Layer?!"
Steadying his body, Lin Dong muttered as he stared at Lin Hong. He had clearly seen an extremely weak light engulfing the latter's fist. That was obviously the effects of Yuan Power!
This means that Lin Hong had actually entered the realm of Tempered Body 6th Layer and a Yuan Power Seed had been born in his body!
Lin Hong shot a glance at Lin Dong, his brows knitting together. The fact that he had unexpectedly failed to defeat the latter in one move did not sit well with him. Yet, he remained confident that he could defeat Lin Dong within five moves. This was the confidence that he had in himself, who had achieved Tempered Body 6th Layer.
"Lin Dong-biao-di is indeed skillful, come again!"
The dangerous glint in his eyes hinted that Lin Hong did not plan to let Lin Dong off so easily. With a quick laugh, he once again rushed towards the latter. This time however, many in the crowd gasped in response as they could clearly see that on his body was shrouded in an extremely weak light.
As he stared at that formidable Lin Hong, the rage in Lin Dong's eyes intensified. He gritted his teeth as he prepared to launch an all-out counter with his Penetrating Fist. Yet before they clashed again, an angry voice suddenly shouted out.
"Both of you stop right now!"
Lin Hong's footsteps immediately halted as the voice filled his ears. As he turned to look, he saw a young lady walking out from the crowd, red hot anger on her beautiful face.
The young lady was clothed in red, and she looked approximately seventeen to eighteen years old. She was slightly older and bigger than the rest, and her facial features could be considered beautiful. As her brown ponytail hung down to her slim waist, her slightly vertical eye brows gave her a heroic spirit that would not lose out to any man.
"It's Lin Xia-jie!"
Upon witnessing the said lady, the surrounding crowd erupted.
"Oh, looks like its Lin Xia-jie." Lin Hong smiled at the lady clothed in red.
"Lin Hong, since we are all from the Lin Family, do you really need to use Yuan Power during a duel?" Lin Xia replied, frowning as she surveyed at the crowd.
"We were just playing. Since Lin Xiao-jie has spoken, we are naturally all good now." Lin Hong casually muttered.
At this instance, Lin Dong also withdrew his fists as he politely greeted Lin Xia-jie. This lady was the daughter of their first uncle, and even though she was female, she was the most outstanding individual among the younger generation in the Lin Family. In fact, it was rumoured that she had already advanced to Tempered Body 6th Layer half a year ago, and right now no one knew just how far she had grown since.
Lin Xia's reputation could be considered pretty good, even among the younger generation in Qingyang Town. Hence, in the Lin Family, she held quite a high status, and even Lin Hong did not dare to offend her.
"What is the point of fighting against your own brothers from the same family? If you are really capable, when the Qingyang Town Hunt begins, you ought to compete with the younger generation in other families. Only if you win, then can you be considered as skilled." Lin Xia retorted. Like a female gang leader, her words carried some weight.
"Lin Xia-jie is right."
Lin Hong lazily replied. He approached Lin Dong with the Scarlet Sun Grass in hand and threw the elixir towards the latter. Promptly using a soft tone that could only be heard between two, he lightly muttered: "I will enter the top three in the Family Competition coming up in six months. After that, I will ask Grandpa to allow me to be engaged to Qing Tan. In the mean time, please take good care my future bride."
As he finished, he patted Lin Dong's shoulder as though they were already brother-in-laws, before he turned around with a smile on his face, and left with Lin Shan.
As Lin Dong stared at Lin Hong's back, he slowly tightened his fists into balls as an icy look flashed across his eyes. He will definitely stop this bastard from marrying Qing Tan!
"Want to be top three, it's not that easy!"
Even though Lin Hong's abilities were vastly superior to his, Lin Dong remained confident that with the help of the stone talisman and his own hard-work, he would definitely catch up with Lin Hong before the Family Competition!