The elder, with his hands clasped tightly behind his back, clenched his fists and his face alternated between light and dark, as Ling Fan completely ignited the fury within him.
In today's world, the status of martial artists is highly revered, and even the lowest grade martial artist cannot be insulted by a common person.
Before entering the martial artist realm, many are stuck in the late stages of body tempering and cannot advance. Stepping out of the body tempering realm is to truly enter the martial artist realm.
A first-grade martial artist can split stone tablets and crack rocks with a wave of the hand, incomparable to ordinary people. This realm is at the stage of hard qigong, having already entered the threshold of cultivating martial arts.
The elder's name was Jiang Hua. In his early years, he had been apprenticed to a martial artist, and although he could not compare to those from noble houses, it was still a tremendous opportunity.
But to put it bluntly, he was nothing more than a loose cultivator. Reaching this stage was already indicative of his considerable talent, and he was quite content. The identity of a martial artist had already brought him considerable honor.
"Young man, I hope your strength is as tough as your mouth," Jiang Hua said with an angry sneer.
"Heh, whether my strength is tough is none of your concern, but dealing with you is more than enough," Ling Fan stared at the elder, his face full of disdain.
The onlookers, faces full of astonishment, watched the elder with graying hair. This old man was actually a martial artist?
They had heard of martial artists, but most had never actually seen one. Most of those present were students, and the school had clubs like the Martial Arts Pavilion where only those exceptional in martial arts could qualify to enter.
These people, according to classifications, were mostly in the early and middle stages of body tempering, with a few in the late stages. It was said that the realm above body tempering was the martial artist realm, which was also the goal and pursuit of these Martial Arts Pavilion students.
The elder who had shown up, whom Ling Fan claimed was a first-grade martial artist, not only did he not regard the old man highly, but dared to look down upon him. Could this security guard be an expert even greater than a first-grade martial artist? How could that be possible?
The crowd was eager and full of anticipation, while Xia Ying and Xu Miaotong seemed to be seeing Ling Fan for the first time and were at a loss for words.
They could only stand aside, shocked, watching the situation unfold, realizing they had no right to be involved at this moment.
"Young man, boasting requires capital; try to take a punch from this old man," the elder said as he concentrated his energy into his palm and made a fist.
Just then, a commotion came from the doorway as seven or eight people walked in, with three men quickly striding forward, the middle one dressed in a Zhongshan suit, appearing to be in his early fifties, with a hanging brow and short hair, exuding a bit of a commanding presence.
"Old Hua, what exactly happened, has this miscreant caused trouble again?" the man asked in a deep voice.
Ling Fan glanced up, a hint of amusement in his gaze. He didn't recognize the others, but the woman next to the middle-aged man was all too familiar, having just parted ways at Tian Hao Hotel shortly before—Li Mengying.
"Old Master Li, I'm truly sorry, letting Guohao get injured. What would you like done with this one? This time, I can handle it personally," Jiang Hua said apologetically, pointing at Ling Fan.
Li Guohao, looking lifeless, lit up with a touch of vigor in his eyes seeing his father's arrival.
"Dad, avenge me. I want him dead," Li Guohao's voice was hoarse, filled with pleading.
The newcomer was the Patriarch of the Li Family, Li Taihe. Hearing this, he quickly turned his head, and seeing Li Guohao lying miserably on the ground, his heart felt as if it had been violently squeezed.
Despite his irresponsible son, he still felt much self-reproach; he had been neglectful since the boy's mother died early.
After he remarried, this kid became even more rebellious and ended up being nothing more than a debaucher.
But after all, he was his own son. Although this unworthy son was disappointing, Li Taihe still had hopes he would carry on the family line.
Seeing Li Guohao in such a pitiful state now, Li Taihe's rage surged up instantly, like a volcano erupting.
"Was it you? Old Hua, kill him," Li Taihe exclaimed in rage.
Faced with Li Taihe's fury, everyone fell silent, as if chilled by the cold, recognizing the reputation of the Li Family in Binzhou as a known power player. The onlookers being mere students, how could they not feel fearful?
Looking at Ling Fan, their eyes filled with sympathy. With Li Taihe personally present, the outcome of Li Guohao having his legs broken was self-evident.
Wang Chuang, lying on the ground, managed to sit up slightly, his broken ribs causing him such pain that cold sweat streamed down his face, his gaze at Ling Fan filled with deep malice.
Xia Ying bit her lip, her palms sweaty. Faced with this tense situation, she truly felt powerless and secretly resented this as the sorrow of the powerless.
Xu Miaotong's face was pale as paper; at such a gathering, she was even more insignificant, barely catching the attention of the influential figures present.
Amid such a tense atmosphere, everyone was stunned to find that Ling Fan remained indifferent, even having a hint of a smirk on his lips.
"Was this guy scared silly?" someone whispered.
Li Mengying was stunned the moment she saw Ling Fan; it was indeed a narrow path for enemies.
She never expected that in just a blink of an eye, Li Guohao would have troubled this formidable threat, the Li Family and Xiao Family's useless son-in-law truly had a peculiar fate.
The moment Ling Fan left Tian Hao Hotel, she notified her father, Li Taihe, detailing the life and death crisis the family was facing.
Li Taihe was immensely shocked, and he immediately sought Feng Wenshan, the third child of the Feng Family, and, at the same time, found out about the person who made Zhou Zhenxiong kneel and beg for mercy, a big shot from Jiangbei Province, Cao Jinghui.
If the Li Family were to face the Zhou Family alone, it would be like using an egg to smash a rock, utterly powerless.
Yet, Feng Wenshan's wife was the sister of Li Taihe's current wife, who was also Li Mengying's aunt. With this relationship, the Li Family had some confidence.
However, the trio had just met and hadn't had the chance to talk in detail when they were notified by Jiang Hua that Li Guohao had caused trouble.
Regarding Li Guohao, Li Mengying had absolutely no respect, and Li Taihe was also very furious. Anytime could have been for causing trouble but not at this critical juncture.
Only when he arrived at the scene and saw the actual situation did all of Li Taihe's fury pour out onto the culprit who hurt his son.
He was already irritable because of the life and death crisis facing the Li Family, and now his son had been crippled by an unknown bar security guard.
Since when had the Li Family become so vulnerable? He could not afford to offend the Zhou Family, and he had overlooked the useless son-in-law of the Xiao Family, but what the hell was this self-important bar security guard?
Li Taihe now just wanted to vent his anger, not killing this trash security guard in front of him would not quell the hatred in his heart.
Upon receiving the instructions from Li Taihe, Jiang Hua immediately closed in with a body movement, not dragging it out, and threw a punch creating a terrifying blast of air, heading straight for Ling Fan's face.
The humiliation Ling Fan had just caused made him truly enraged, so his strike was without the slightest hesitation, aimed to give Ling Fan a lesson he would never forget.
Seeing Old Hua taking action, Li Guohao finally became excited, his heart screaming madly, "Kill him, kill him, he must be killed."
Li Mengying who had just come to her senses hurriedly cried out, "Uncle Hua, stop!"
But it was already too late. Jiang Hua's fist was only three inches away from Ling Fan, even if he wanted to withdraw, it was too late now, if the punch landed, Ling Fan would either die or become a vegetable.
Witnessing this scene, Li Taihe snorted coldly, "Daring to challenge the dignity of my Li Family, you must pay with blood."
Xia Ying's tears came tumbling down as she urged loudly, "You need to dodge!"
Xu Miaotong's pale face was streaked with tears like beads off a string, she closed her eyes and turned her head away, unable to bear the sight of Ling Fan's brain splatter.
Wang Chuang felt an endless excitement and anticipation rise within him, "Die, he must die!"
In everyone's eyes, Ling Fan was as if scared silly, for he stood motionless in place facing this terrifying punch, death seemed certain.
Li Mengying was conflicted in her heart. If this useless man, who had brought a life and death crisis upon the Li Family, could die here, perhaps it would be a good thing; she was well aware of Uncle Hua's abilities.
But could she really get her wish? Her heart was in turmoil, feeling she couldn't see through this useless son-in-law of the Xiao Family.
When the fist was only an inch away from striking, Ling Fan could clearly feel the force of the punch, not pulling back at all, a blatant attempt on his life.
"Since it's come to this, then you're looking for your own death," Ling Fan's eyes narrowed.
His body suddenly moved, dodging the lethal punch with incredible speed and angle, and at the same time, his left fist shot out like lightning.
A loud 'bang' resounded.
Jiang Hua only felt a blur before his eyes, as if hit by a cannonball on the face, his mind roaring, then he lost consciousness.
The imposing Jiang Hua was sent flying seven or eight meters back, crashing into the bar, overturning numerous bottles and jars.
His entire body sprawled on top of the bar counter, limbs hanging limply, unmoving; he had been killed instantly by Ling Fan's explosive punch.
In the face of such a drastic turn of events, the entire venue fell into dead silence, not a sound to be heard.