Chapter 40: Palm After Palm

The atmosphere gradually grew heavy and still...

Ren Woxing asked, "A year ago, if I had not intervened, would you still have wanted to kill this old man?"

Ren Yi replied, "Yes!"

"Why? Why must you always go against my father?"

The voice was crisp and melodious, though slightly trembling. Ren Yingying’s exceptionally fair and delicate face had completely drained of color. Her phoenix eyes stared fixedly at Ren Yi, glaring at him with a gaze... filled with hatred, resentment, and a profound sense of humiliation.

Ren Yi calmly replied, "There is no special reason. I simply feel that he deserves to die."

Biting her lower lip tightly, Ren Yingying said with bitter hatred, "Just because *you* feel that way? What kind of logic is that?"

Ren Yi smiled. "This is my logic, and I only abide by my own."

"Hahahaha! Good, good, very good!" Ren Woxing burst into loud, hearty laughter, laughing to his heart's content. When the laughter finally subsided, he said, "I always considered myself the most arrogant and domineering person in the martial arts world, but compared to you, I still fall somewhat short."

Ren Yi nodded slightly. "To be arrogant and domineering in the pugilistic world, one's martial arts must be the absolute highest. You are not the one with the highest martial arts, but I am! Your martial arts are not just a little bit behind mine; they are far, far inferior!"

Ren Woxing smiled as he nodded. "What you say is true. A year ago, Ning Zhongze, Shaolin's Fangzheng, Wudang's Chongxu, along with this son-in-law of mine Linghu Chong, plus myself and Brother Xiang, all attacked together, yet we were defeated by your single sword. If the Divine Swordsman Ren Yi is not the number one person in the world, then what am I?"

There were still around a hundred guards in the grand hall, but the moment Ren Woxing saw the terror in their eyes, he abandoned any thought of giving an order. Ren Yingying was still by his side, and Xiang Wentian was nearby as well.

Ren Yi spoke up, "It is about time. Make your final arrangements."

"Father, we..."

Suddenly, Ren Woxing struck, his palm landing with a force that knocked Ren Yingying unconscious.

Linghu Chong caught the fair maiden, crying out in shock, "Yingying! Master Ren, you..."

Ren Woxing waved a hand to cut him off, turning to face Ren Yi. "You only want my life. Can you spare the lives of my daughter, my son-in-law, and Brother Xiang?"

Ren Yi nodded. "Very well!"

The words had barely faded when Xiang Wentian spoke up, "Cultivator Master, this subordinate is not much younger than you. If you are to leave, why should Xiang Wentian linger on in this world? Today, the two of us shall face this number one person in the world together."

"Hahahaha! Good, well said! You truly are my brother, Ren Woxing."

Saying this, Ren Woxing looked at Linghu Chong and commanded, "Chong'er, you are not to interfere. Take good care of Yingying."

Linghu Chong wanted to speak, but ultimately nodded in compliance.

With that, Ren Woxing leapt down from the high dais, swiftly 'drawing' his hands out from within his wide sleeves as if he were pulling out a pair of unique, lethal weapons.

Having always excelled in palm techniques, combined with the heaven-defying Skill-Siphoning Great Technique, he naturally had no need for any conventional weapon.

These were extraordinary hands. With a single empty-handed grasp through the air, they immediately pulled a single saber flying from the ground.

Before the saber could even reach his palm, Ren Woxing struck out with another palm strike... Propelled by the fierce wind of his palm, the saber instantly shot forward like a falling star, streaking straight toward his target.

With a flash of cold light, the blade was already close at hand, yet in the next fraction of a second, the edge of the saber was firmly pinched between two fingers.

Ren Yi's fingers were coated with true qi, and with a slight exertion of force, the steel blade shattered into pieces.

Ren Woxing followed right behind the saber, spreading his palms wide. Two streams of pale, swirling energy burst from his palms like a raging gale across the void, and with a resounding roar, he slammed both palms toward Ren Yi.

Before the palm force even arrived, the whistling wind of his strike shrieked viciously.

Ren Yi raised his hand slightly. His movements were light, winding, and shifting unpredictably. The 'Thirty-Six Wudang Cotton Palms' had now been refined by him into the Ten-Section Cotton Palms. This art was divided into precisely ten strikes, which could also be said to embody ten distinct forces.

The power of these ten forces far surpassed anything seen before. Facing Ren Woxing's shrieking, gale-force palm attack, he gently thrust out a soft, yielding palm.

The palms met, and the two violent gales crashed into one another... Yet, the fierce winds that had been churned up by the true qi suddenly vanished into nothingness.

Upon contact, Ren Woxing instantly felt his own palm force shatter into dispersion. And just as he attempted to unleash his Skill-Siphoning Great Technique, he suddenly felt the acupoints in both of his hands completely sealed off, followed immediately by an irresistible wave of palm force that blasted him backward.

He flew five or six zhang away, his feet tapping rapidly against the ground to regain his footing, and the moment he steadied himself, fresh blood slowly seeped from the corners of his mouth.

The first layer dissolved the enemy's palm force into invisibility; the second layer sealed the opponent's acupoints; the third layer delivered a wave-splitting, heart-shattering palm force.

A single palm strike from Ren Yi contained three distinct forces—it was the execution of the Dissecting Palm, the Acupoint-Sealing Palm, and the Heart-Splitting Palm, all unleashed simultaneously within the Ten-Section Cotton technique.

The moment Ren Woxing retreated, Xiang Wentian closed in with a sweep of his saber. The blade came with terrifying velocity, accompanied by a fierce gale of wind as it slashed directly toward Ren Yi's chest.

Yet, facing such a blade, Ren Yi merely extended his hand.

It was a man's hand, and a man's hand could hardly be described in terms of beauty or lack thereof... Yet after his palm shifted and transformed, it had become the most beautiful hand in the entire world.

His palm cut straight into the radiance of the blade. The seemingly ordinary hand instantly turned infinitely profound and mystical.

The absolute precision of the grip, the sharpness of the force projected, the ferocity of the palm wind, the violence of the palm strength, the overwhelming momentum of the stance, and the profound depth of the technique meant that the moment the palm was unleashed, it sliced through the blade's light, sliced through the steel edge, and sliced through the man himself.

Blood burst forth, the broken blade bounced away, and a massive, gaping wound was torn across Xiang Wentian's body from his breastbone down to his lower abdomen.

He staggered backward, stumbling until he collided with a stone pillar in the grand hall. Then, with an expression of utter disbelief, he stared at that man...

Ren Yi's hand hung downward, blood slowly dripping from his fingertips.

Even though Xiang Wentian was still breathing, he was not far from death. The disparity in power was simply too vast. With a single palm strike, he had gravely injured Ren Woxing; with another single palm strike, he had slain Xiang Wentian.

Everyone present could not help but wonder: Just how high was his martial arts level?!

Three breaths later, Xiang Wentian died. Then, Ren Woxing began to laugh—a miserable, wretched laugh!

At this very moment, he no longer possessed the slightest desire to fight, nor even an ounce of the will to resist. To continue the fight would be nothing more than courting humiliation and making a fool of oneself.

He laughed, and his laughter was directed entirely at himself.

Ren Yi walked toward him. With every step Ren Yi took, the air seemed to solidify a fraction more, and with every advance, the oppressive weight grew increasingly tangible.

Stopping right before Ren Woxing, with a swift *whoosh* of his finger, he struck the opponent's Danzhong acupoint.

Ren Woxing collapsed silently without a sound. Then, Ren Yi turned and walked toward Yang Lianying.

"I am looking for something. It is a snow lotus, but a red snow lotus. It is entirely scarlet and dazzling, as brilliant as a blooming flower, accompanied by an exotic fragrance, with a faint, bone-chilling coldness radiating from it. You acquired it ten years ago. Now, you will take me to find it."

His voice was soft, his tone calm, entirely devoid of harshness or anger, and free of any coercive threats. Yet anyone who looked at him and listened to his words did not dare utter a single word of refusal.

He was merely a man, but everyone looked upon him as though they were gazing upon ghosts or deities. His words seemed to possess a hypnotic magic; no one could disobey them, no one could reject them, and no one dared to say it was impossible.

Yang Lianying, who moments ago had shown no fear of life or death, now trembled as he nodded.

"I—I know... It—it is in the dwelling place of the Cult Master. I will take you there!"

Ren Yi nodded in approval. "Very well, lead the way!"