The Wang Family compound was unnecessarily large. From Lin Jue's point of view, anyone who needed a fifty-foot stone wall and twelve pairs of patrolling guards was either weakling cry-baby or hiding a ridiculous amount of money.

  Hopefully, it was the latter. He was currently broke, and ARIA was a very demanding business partner.

  Red lanterns hung from the eaves, casting a festive, bloody glow across the muddy street. Inside, the faint sound of a zither and polite laughter drifted over the walls.

  They were celebrating.

  Lin Jue checked the translucent blue timer in the corner of his vision.

  [Time Remaining: 42:15]

  'Forty-two minutes to ruin a wedding, steal back a spirit mine, and find something shiny enough to pawn before the system yanks me back to homeroom,' Lin Jue mused, pulling the grey cloak tighter around his shoulders.

  He didn't bother trying to sneak over the wall.

  Stealth was for assassins, and as he had recently discovered, ancient assassins were terribly underpaid and very incompetent.

  And who goes to ruin a wedding in a undercover!

  He walked directly up to the main gate. It was a massive slab of ironwood, reinforced with bronze studs.

  Two guards with Qi-glowing halberds crossed their weapons in front of him.

  "Halt!" the left guard barked. "The Wang estate is closed to commoners tonight. The Young Master is celebrating his union."

  Lin Jue paused. He looked at the halberds. He looked at the guards. Then he reached into his robes and pulled out the shattered, crumpled brass incense burner he had used to smash his own assassin's face in an hour ago.

  He tossed it onto the cobblestones. It landed with a heavy, unceremonious clank.

  "Pardon the intrusion," Lin Jue said politely. "I believe the Young Master left his trash in my courtyard. I'm just here to return it."

  The guards frowned, looking down at the bloody, dented brass.

  "What nonsense is this?" the right guard sneered, stepping forward to shove Lin Jue away. "Get lost before I cripple your—"

  The guard's hand touched Lin Jue's shoulder.

  Instantly, the guard felt like he had just tried to shove a mountain.

  The reverse force from pushing Lin Jue traveled up the guard's arm, dislocating his wrist with a sharp pop.

  "Ahhh!" The guard stumbled back, clutching his limp hand in horror.

  Lin Jue didn't hesitate. He stepped into the guard's space and slapped him across the face.

  CHHHHAPP---

  It wasn't a martial arts technique. It was a purely disrespectful, open-handed backhand powered by the Foundation level of the Iron-Ox Body Tempering Art.

  The guard spun exactly three times in the air before hitting the ground, completely unconscious.

  [From Wang Guard A's distress, +60!]

  [From Wang Guard B's distress, +80!]

  The second guard stared at his partner, then at Lin Jue, his brain struggling to process the physics of what he had just witnessed.

  He raised his halberd, channeling a faint green Qi into the blade.

  "Intruder! Enemy att—"

  Lin Jue grabbed the shaft of the halberd. The guard pulled.

  "Ughh!!"

  The halberd didn't move an inch.

  "Sigh...I was kind enough to ignore but you bought this upon yourself!"

  Lin Jue sighed, yanked the weapon out of the man's grip, and casually snapped the thick ash-wood shaft over his knee like a dry twig.

  He tossed the pieces aside and drove his knee into the guard's stomach.

  THWACHKK--

  The man folded in half, gasping silently like a beached fish, and collapsed.

  "Arghhhh!"

  Lin Jue stepped over the bodies. He stood before the massive ironwood doors.

  Back on Earth, a military-grade Esper would need a localized shaped charge or a Tier-2 Fireball to breach this. That would take at least a five-second incantation.

  Lin Jue just planted his feet, rotated his hips, and delivered a straight right punch directly into the bronze locking mechanism.

  BOOM.

  The sound was like a cannon firing in a closed room.

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  The ironwood didn't just splinter; the entire twelve-foot door tore off its reinforced hinges and exploded inward, crashing into the courtyard beyond in a cloud of dust and shredded timber.

  Inside the grand banquet hall, the music stopped abruptly.

  Dozens of elite cultivators, dressed in fine silks, froze with their wine cups halfway to their mouths. At the head table, Wang Teng—a handsome, arrogant youth with a jade crown—sat beside Lin Wan,

  Lin Jue's stunningly beautiful, treacherous bride. She was wearing a red wedding dress, currently holding a cup of celebratory wine.

  The dust from the shattered gate slowly settled.

  Lin Jue walked through the ruined archway, brushing wood chips off his grey cloak. He stepped over the wreckage, his gaze sweeping the silent, stunned crowd before locking onto the head table.

  "Sorry I'm late," Lin Jue announced, his voice carrying easily across the silent courtyard. "Traffic was murder. Speaking of murder, Wan'er, your poison tastes like cheap mud. We really need to talk about your budget."

  The silence in the hall stretched so tight it threatened to snap.

  Lin Wan dropped her wine cup. It shattered on the floor, spilling red liquid that looked remarkably like blood.

  Her face drained of all color, turning an ashen, terrifying white.

  "Lu... Lin Jue?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Impossible. You drank the Heart-Rot Powder. I saw you swallow it. Your meridians are crippled! How are you walking?!"

  [From Lin Wan's extreme distress, +666!]

  [From Wang Teng's shock, +200!]

  [From the assembled guests' confusion, +400!]

  'Ah,' Lin Jue thought, watching the points roll in. 'Music to my ears.'

  "Heart-Rot Powder?" Lin Jue repeated, acting deeply offended. "Is that what that was? I thought my tea had just gone bad. Honestly, Wan'er, if you wanted a divorce, you could have just asked. But trying to liquidate my assets and my internal organs on the same night? That's just poor etiquette."

  Wang Teng slammed his hand on the table, shattering it. He stood up, a powerful, swirling aura of blue Qi erupting from his body. The pressure in the room immediately dropped. He was a genuine Qi-Refinement expert.

  "You crippled trash!" Wang Teng roared, his handsome face twisting into a snarl. "I don't know what demonic trick you used to survive, but barging into my home? You court death! Guards! Kill him!"

  Ten elite Wang family guards surged forward from the shadows, their swords drawn and glowing with lethal Qi. They moved fast, their footwork coordinated and deadly.

  Lin Jue didn't pull out a weapon. He didn't drop into a stance. He just stood there, looking mildly inconvenienced.

  'On Earth,' Lin Jue thought, 'these guys would be dead before they crossed the room. A mid-tier Mage would have laid down a minefield of Flame Bursts by now. But since nobody here knows what a gun or a fast-cast spell is, they just run at you with glowing sticks.'

  The first guard reached him, slashing a heavy broadsword horizontally aimed directly at Lin Jue's neck.

  Lin Jue simply raised his left hand and caught the blade.

  Bare-handed.

  The guard's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. The Qi-infused steel ground against Lin Jue's palm, shooting off sparks, but it didn't even break the skin.

  The Iron-Ox Foundation made his flesh denser than the metal.

  "Is this pig iron?" Lin Jue asked, sounding genuinely disgusted. "You guys are stealing my family's spirit mine and you still buy budget weapons? No wonder you're so angry."

  Lin Jue clamped his fingers down. The broadsword snapped in half with a sharp crack.

  Before the guard could scream, Lin Jue drove his right fist into the man's chest. The guard flew backward, crashing into three of his comrades and sending them all tumbling into a decorative lotus pond.

  [From Elite Guard A's distress, +150!]

  [From Elite Guard B's distress, +100!]

  "Stop playing with him!" Wang Teng shouted, drawing a gleaming, silver-tasseled longsword from his waist. The blade hummed with violent energy. "He's using a mortal body-hardening trick! He has no Qi! Cut his legs off!"

  The remaining six guards hesitated, looking at their broken comrade in the pond, then gritted their teeth and lunged simultaneously.

  It was a beautiful, coordinated net of sword strikes.

  Lin Jue sighed. He grabbed the broken, jagged half of the broadsword he had just snapped and channeled his raw, newly-forged physical strength into his arm.

  Although he has never cultivated, he was still a peak martial artist since he couldn't feel mana very early neither had the luxury to drink genetic potions and meditate, he practiced and mastered karate, boxing, etc.

  He took his stance and readied himself but seeing the rushing meatheads, he dropped and just stride towards them slowly.

  He didn't use a profound sword technique. He swung the broken blade like a baseball bat.

  CLANG! CLANG! SNAP!

  The sheer kinetic force behind Lin Jue's swing met the incoming swords. Three pristine, Qi-infused weapons shattered upon impact.

  The shockwave rattled the guards' bones, throwing them off balance.

  Lin Jue stepped into the gap.

  He moved with ruthless, terrifying efficiency. A punch to a liver here, a palm strike to a jaw there. He didn't use flashy energy blasts. He was a wrecking ball of pure muscle smashing his opponents left and right.

  Within ten seconds, the remaining guards were groaning on the floor, nursing shattered ribs and dislocated shoulders.

  Lin Jue dropped the broken sword. He didn't even look out of breath. He turned his attention back to the head table.

  Lin Wan was shaking so hard she had to lean against the wall. Wang Teng's face was a mixture of absolute rage and creeping horror.

  [From Wang Teng's anger, +500!]

  [From Lin Wan's extreme fear, +400!]

  [System Alert: Total Balance: 2,550 Points.]

  'I'm rich,' Lin Jue thought happily.

  "Now," Lin Jue said, stepping onto the raised dais, his boots crunching on the broken porcelain of the wine cups. "Let's talk about the division of assets. Namely, you have my spirit mine, and I have a very short temper. I suggest we negotiate."

  Wang Teng gritted his teeth, his blue Qi flaring so high it blew the lanterns out around the table.

  "Negotiate this, you crippled dog!" Wang Teng bellowed.

  He leaped into the air, his longsword tracing a brilliant, freezing arc of energy. "Cold Moon Severing Slash!"

  It was a true martial skill. The temperature in the air plummeted. A crescent wave of icy sword Qi shot toward Lin Jue, carrying the power to slice a boulder in half.

  The crowd gasped. Some closed their eyes.

  Lin Jue just stood there. He watched the glowing energy wave approach.

  'Ah,' Lin Jue thought. 'A ranged attack. Finally, something I can respect.'

  He didn't try to block it with his hands this time. The Iron-Ox art was tough, but he wasn't stupid. Instead, he opened the System Shop interface in his mind.

  'ARIA. Let's show these ancient bumpkins how a modern man solves problems. Buy the 'Shadow Step' manual. Instant comprehension.'

  [Transaction Complete. Deducting 1,000 Points.]

  The crescent wave of ice hit the spot where Lin Jue was standing, detonating in a massive explosion of frost and shattered stone.

  A cloud of freezing mist filled the dais.

  Wang Teng landed gracefully, panting slightly, a cruel smile returning to his face. "Body cultivator or not, flesh cannot block the Cold Moon... "

  "You're right," a voice whispered directly into Wang Teng's right ear. "Flesh shouldn't block it."

  Wang Teng's blood ran cold. He spun around.

  Lin Jue was standing perfectly still behind him, entirely untouched by the ice.

  "That's why," Lin Jue continued conversationally, raising a fist that now carried the momentum of a speeding train, "you just move out of the way. It's called basic spatial awareness. Look into it."

  Lin Jue punched Wang Teng squarely in the nose.

  THWAACKK---!

  The sound of the Young Master's nose breaking echoed loudly in the silent hall. Wang Teng spun like a top and crashed face-first into the banquet table, sending roasted duck and expensive wine flying everywhere.

  [From Wang Teng's agonizing shame and confusion, +999!]

  Lin Jue wiped his knuckles on his grey cloak. He looked down at the whimpering Young Master, then turned to his terrified, trembling bride.

  "So," Lin Jue said, offering her a bright, customer-service smile. "About that spirit mine."