If Huliena and the others were behind this, these people would probably pester him every day.
"Fine, then I'll just crush them," Lin Yu said calmly. "I'm not interested in fighting you one by one. Just have the strongest one among you fight me."
"Our strongest has a soul power level of 19. Are you sure you want to pick the strongest? Want to switch?"
"..." Lin Yu was a bit speechless. "I thought your strongest would at least be a second-ring soul master. What's the point of switching? Have your strongest come out and fight me."
Lin Yu's words were full of confidence, but to them, it sounded outrageously arrogant and presumptuous.
"How dare he! This kid is way too arrogant!"
"Does he think that just because he's trained by the Grand Sacrificer, he can easily stomp us core disciples who have trained for three or four years?"
"Qi Ge! Show him what the core disciples can do!"
The crowd stepped back, leaving a boy called Qi Ge standing forward.
"Lin Yu, just a reminder, in sparring, injuries and losing control of force are unavoidable. If I accidentally hurt you, don't get mad, okay?" the boy said with a smile.
But he was obviously a smiling tiger—his eyes betrayed his true intent.
"Heh, giving a fancy excuse for maliciously hurting someone? This isn't just sparring; they want to beat me up!" Lin Yu sneered in his heart and replied coldly, "You're right, injuries happen in sparring, but if I hit too hard, you wouldn't be angry either, right?"
"Hahaha, yeah, yeah, of course I wouldn't be angry. It's just sparring, normal stuff," the boy laughed disdainfully, thinking, Ridiculous, you've only trained one year and want to hurt me? If you manage to injure me, all my four years of training would be wasted!
"Then let's begin!"
The boy began a brief self-introduction.
This was a customary ritual before a soul master duel—both sides briefly introduce themselves.
"My name is Ye Xiuqi, I'm 10 years old. My martial soul is Demon Vine, a 19-level first-ring control-type soul master. Please teach me!"
Xieyue shook his head and smiled: "Although Ye Xiuqi is level 19, his full power is comparable to a level 21 great soul master. He dared to come out as their strongest, he's asking for trouble."
Yan was getting excited: "I love seeing arrogant brats like this get beaten down. I can't wait to see his reaction after the beating! Nana, Xieyue, I'm getting hyped!"
Huliena smiled wickedly: "How many moves do you think he'll last?"
"Definitely less than ten. Might be down in three! Hahaha!" Yan jeered loudly.
Xieyue and Huliena also wore amused smiles.
But at this moment, Lin Yu's voice stopped their laughter, and their faces immediately darkened.
"Lin Yu, Martial Soul: Elemental Angel, level 18 strong-attack type battle soul master. Please teach me."
"What... eighteen?!"
"How is that possible!"
The words stunned Huliena, Xieyue, Yan, and the surrounding core disciples.
Yan roared in disbelief: "This Lin Yu increased his soul power by 8 levels in just one year?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"
Huliena and Yan's faces darkened in disbelief: "Even at level 18, with only one year of combat experience, he wouldn't be a match for Ye Xiuqi, who has four years of experience."
Hearing Lin Yu was level 18 shocked Ye Xiuqi as well, and he no longer dared to underestimate him. He immediately unleashed his Demon Vine martial soul.
He directly activated his soul skill: "First soul skill, Demon Vine Bind!!"
"Demon Vine Bind? What's the difference from a mother's embrace?" Lin Yu thought as the black vines rapidly spread before him, suddenly reminding him of Tang San's first soul skill.
He didn't dodge at all, just stood there letting the vines wrap around his body.
"The binding force isn't bad, probably stronger than a mother's embrace?"
"Hahaha! Lin Yu! I wasn't fully confident I could beat you before, but now you're not dodging, you're finished. My Demon Vine Bind from a first-ring soul master is almost impossible to escape, plus it paralyzes."
"You're definitely going to lose!!"
Ye Xiuqi laughed joyfully and threw a punch at Lin Yu.
"Huh? Paralyzing effect too? This is exactly like Tang San's Blue Silver Bind, wait—paralyzed? I don't feel anything at all."
"Oh! Almost forgot, my Light Body type can resist any side effect."
"Lin Yu's finished. Watch me knock you down with one punch!"
Just as Ye Xiuqi's fist came within a meter of Lin Yu, terrifying blazing flames suddenly erupted from Lin Yu's body, instantly burning the vines to ashes. His lips curled up with a smirk:
"What are you dreaming about?"
"You don't really think these vines can bind me, do you?"
Ye Xiuqi's eyes widened in horror: "What!!!"
"Impossible."
"Scram."
Bang!
"Uwaahaha! Ah!"
Before he could even react, Lin Yu had already delivered a fierce kick to Ye Xiuqi's face.
A terrible scream rang out as Ye Xiuqi was kicked flying more than ten meters. His body bounced several times on the ground like a stone skipping on water, finally collapsing while foaming at the mouth and convulsing.
Instant kill!
One kick directly knocked him down!
The fight had just begun—and was already over.
The entire scene instantly fell into a stunned silence, completely dead quiet.
"W-What… just happened??"
"L-Lost!?"
Everyone wore the same expression: eyes wide open, mouths agape, shocked as if their jaws were about to drop.
Until one core disciple blurted out, "Wǒ cào!" (Damn!)
The whole place erupted at once!
"Wǒ wǒ cào!!!"
"Ye Xiuqi, Qi Ge! Qi Ge was instantly killed by Lin Yu with one kick!!!"
"How is this possible?"
"How could Lin Yu be... this strong!!"
Lin Yu retracted his strength, arrogantly facing the core disciples: "Hey, anyone else want to challenge me?"
Seeing Ye Xiuqi's miserable state after being kicked like that, who dared to step forward and invite a beating?
All they felt for Lin Yu was fear and dread.
"If no one else, then I won't bother. Goodbye!" Lin Yu waved his hand and left coolly, under the shocked gazes of the core disciples.
"This kid is actually this strong? Damn, we seriously underestimated him."
Watching Lin Yu's departing back, Huliena and the others were flushed red with embarrassment.
Recalling their earlier arrogant words, their faces stung as if slapped.
For the first time, they truly felt their so-called genius hearts shaken and developed a deep apprehension toward Lin Yu!
That was fear of Lin Yu's talent far surpassing theirs.
For geniuses like them, it's not that they can't accept someone having stronger talent — just a little stronger. But if it's too much stronger, it becomes unbearable inside.