Cosmic Trading System

"State of Dark Strength? Has this Lin Yi reached the Initial Stage of Dark Strength?" exclaimed Zhang Wentian upon sensing the inner strength emanating from Lin Yun.

What surprised him was not that Lin Yun had attained the state of Dark Strength at such a young age. After all, even though Lin Yun's state was that of Dark Strength, it was merely the initial stage, similar to Zhong Nan, who was close to Lin Yun's age.

What was astonishing for him was that Lin Yun had just sparred with Zhong Nan. In fact, after learning his son had befriended someone like this, he had even paid attention to several of Lin Yun's matches.

Yet he hadn't noticed that Lin Yun had reached the state of Dark Strength.

You must know, he was at the level of a Grandmaster.

Ordinarily, even without taking action, he could perceive the other party's state based on his keen senses.

Those in the state of Dark Strength, who had started to manifest internal strength, could be sensed by those with keen perception as soon as there was the slightest fluctuation in their inner strength.

To what degree had this Lin Yi developed control over his power?

"Initial Stage of Dark Strength..."

Lin Yuanshan was also astounded.

He had reached the Mingjin peak state, and his perception was by no means weak. He was equally amazed that he had remained oblivious to Lin Yi reaching the state of Dark Strength.

"So you've reached the initial stage of Dark Strength. Is that where you get your confidence from?" Qin Daoming, who naturally sensed Lin Yun's martial arts state, chuckled coldly and asked.

As he spoke, his palm had already made contact with Lin Yun's shoulder.

Originally, he intended to land his palm on Lin Yun's chest, wishing to incapacitate Lin Yun with one blow. However, a twist from Lin Yun had denied him of a firm footing, and he was forced to target Lin Yun's shoulder instead.

In his eyes, with his Grandmaster-level strength, a palm strike to Lin Yun's shoulder would leave Lin Yun either crippled or severely injured. This should allow him to kill Lin Yun with the next strike.

It was simply a difference between one strike or two.

At his level, there wouldn't even be a second's difference between executing a single or a double strike.

No one else would have time to prevent it.

Unless, Zhang Wentian intervened.

It didn't take long for Qin Daoming to realize this. With this in mind, he slightly adjusted his stance, preparing to defend against Zhang Wentian's potential intervention.

However, what happened next surprised him.

"Bang--"

His palm indeed landed on Lin Yun's shoulder, but to his astonishment, Lin Yun was as elusive as a slippery fish and deflected his strike's full force in a split second. Taking advantage of the momentum, Lin Yun swiftly retaliated with a palm strike.

This strike derived from Lin Yun's martial technique, and it temporarily amplified his strength beyond that of a typical martial artist in the initial stage of Dark Strength, to a level comparable to martial artists in the mid-stage of Dark Strength and approaching the late stage of Dark Strength. Moreover, his target was one of the most vulnerable areas of a person's body.

Immediately, Qin Daoming sustained some injuries.

Being a distinguished martial artist, he felt humiliated and enraged when a novice at the initial stage of Dark Strength not only fended off his attack but also counterattacked successfully, leaving Qin Daoming injured. His face turned crimson instantly.

Whoosh--

With these thoughts, Qin Daoming twisted his body and launched a more ruthless kick towards Lin Yun.

"Bang--Bang--Bang--"

The two engaged in combat swiftly. In no time, Lin Yun and Qin Daoming were exchanging blows back and forth.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen moves had passed, and Lin Yun had not sustained a single injury.

However, despite the ferocity of these moves, Lin Yun could not find an opportunity to land another blow on Qin Daoming.

After all, Qin Daoming was a Grandmaster-level martial artist. His speed and strength far exceeded those of Lin Yun. Under such rapid attacks, it was challenging for Lin Yun to seize an opportunity to counterattack.

"As expected, my current strength can tie with a martial artist at the initial stage of Huajin..." Lin Yun calculated silently as he countered each blow.

Recently, his strength had been increasing rapidly. Before coming here, he had practiced his skills against his robots multiple times, which had sharpened his abilities greatly. After his arrival, however, he hadn't had the chance to do so.

His current bout with Qin Daoming was yielding fruitful results, validating several theories he had conceived in recent times.

"Is this...Tai Chi?" Qin Daoming was slowly realising something as their fight progressed, and his thoughts were in turmoil. Eventually, he could not suppress his astonishment and exclaimed.

Initially, he planned to kill Lin Yun with one blow. However, when he realized that was impossible, he planned to kill Lin Yun within two blows. To his surprise, after more than a dozen rounds, Lin Yun remained unscathed.

He was certain that Lin Yun was merely in the initial stage of Dark Strength.

An inexperienced martial artist at the initial stage of Dark Strength could withstand more than a dozen blows from him, a formidable Grandmaster at the level of Huajin, and even seemed his equal. How could this not astonish him?

Even a martial artist at the peak of Dark Strength might not be competent enough to do the same...

The techniques Lin Yun used didn't exactly resemble Tai Chi, but most of the force behind his strikes felt as if they were being deflected. Apart from Tai Chi, he could not think of any other martial art that was capable of this.

He knew that some martial artists who mastered the essence of Tai Chi were no longer limited to the fixed moves in Tai Chi Fist, Tai Chi Sword and other Tai Chi martial arts. They could incorporate many types of moves with the essence of Tai Chi.

However, martial artists capable of learning the essence of Tai Chi were invariably disciples of the Tai Chi Sect or the Wudang Sect.

The Wudang Sect and the Tai Chi Sect were not inferior to their Baji Sect—in fact, Wudang surpases the Baji Sect in some aspects of martial arts.

"Are you a disciple of the Wudang Sect, or the Tai Chi Sect?" After another ten or so rounds, Qin Daoming abruptly stepped out of the fight circle. His facial expression kept changing as he looked at Lin Yun and growled.

If Lin Yun were indeed a disciple of the Wudang Sect or the Tai Chi Sect, he would need to rethink how he should treat him.

"Whistle--"

"Damn!"

"This is just too exaggerated!"

"This Lin Yi, he actually crossed hands with a martial arts grandmaster for dozens of rounds without falling behind!"

"He's only at the Initial Stage of Dark Strength!"

"No wonder he's so arrogant, turns out, he has the capital to be arrogant!"

During Lin Yun's showdown with Qin Daoming, spectators beneath the deathmatch stage inhaled sharply in unison.

"This Lin Yi's strength...it's terrifying..."

"So unexpected, a terrifying character like this emerging from the rookie tournament..."

"Compared to him, we so-called martial arts prodigies are all a joke..."

"Indeed, at the Initial Stage of Dark Strength, he can actually cross hands with a martial arts grandmaster for dozens of rounds without falling behind. This is beyond exaggeration…"

Afar, those martial arts prodigies who were watching, also sharply inhaled in unison.

"Tai Chi? Qin Daoming said that he's using Tai Chi! Brother Shaoning, could he be a secret disciple of your Wudang Sect?"

A martial arts prodigy turned his head to look at Li Shaoning from the Wudang Sect and asked consecutively.

"It should be, Brother Shaoning, you are the Wudang Sect's publicly recognized senior disciple. With your own strength reaching the Mid Term Realm of Dark Strength, wouldn't a secret disciple of Wudang Sect be even stronger? Your sect has hidden its strength well..."

Another martial arts prodigy was certain of this and couldn't help but sigh.

"No, this person is not a disciple of our Wudang Sect..."

Li Shaoning said with a bitter smile.

His status in the Wudang Sect was not low. He was aware of some of the secret disciples of their school, and in fact, his status as the public senior disciple of Wudang Sect was primarily because of his personality. His own strength was not worse than those secret disciples.

"He's not a disciple of the Wudang Sect? Could it be...he's a disciple of the Tai Chi Sect?" Hearing Li Shaoning say so, a martial arts prodigy asked in surprise, looking up at another martial arts prodigy in the process.

This martial arts prodigy was a disciple of the Tai Chi Sect and another super genius at the Initial Stage of Dark Strength.

"No, no, he's not our Tai Chi Sect's disciple either," the martial arts prodigy of the Tai Chi Sect shook his head repeatedly.

"I'm starting to question if he really is at the Initial Stage of Dark Strength. You should all know, his previous performance was merely at the Mingjin peak stage, if not somewhat inferior... Now... Who dares to say that he didn't conceal his strength?n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Otherwise, an Initial Stage Dark Strength martial artist being able to stand against a martial arts grandmaster is just too exaggerated..." At this point, a martial arts prodigy hesitated.

"That shouldn't be the case, right? For a martial artist at the Mingjin stage, since they haven't developed their inner strength, it is hard to determine their martial arts realm. But Dark Strength martial artists have developed their inner strength. Once they reveal it, the quality and feeling is different..." A martial arts prodigy furrowed his brows.

"Right, for a Dark Strength martial artist of the same realm, even if the inner strength is slightly different, it wouldn't be too much of a disparity," another martial arts prodigy nodded in agreement.

"Hard to say though, reportedly, in ancient times, there were people who could conceal their inner strength realm. It's hard to say he didn't hide anything. An Initial Stage Dark Strength martial artist being able to stand against a martial arts grandmaster, even if he uses Tai Chi, which is renowned for its attribute of conquering the strong despite being weak, is still pretty exaggerated…"

A martial arts prodigy mused.

"Even if he could hide his inner strength realm, he couldn't hide his age. I checked, he is just slightly over twenty-three this year. With such strength at this age, he's probably a once-in-a-century genius, we are just no match for him..."

A martial arts prodigy shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"I know... but the degree to which he has leveled up is just too exaggerated... Now, regardless of whether he has concealed his strength or not, his strength is undoubtedly impressive..."

The martial arts prodigy who had previously raised this issue also smiled bitterly.

Seeing the really strong Lin Yi, they were willing to admit defeat.

"I'm neither a disciple of the Wudang Sect nor the Tai Chi Sect. Weren't you planning to gauge my strength? Let's go another round!" Facing Qin Daoming, whose face was changing continuously, Lin Yun said calmly.

Whooosh—

His words fell and Lin Yun charged towards the opponent again.

His skirmish with his opponent allowed him to familiarize himself with his own power, and better understand his weaknesses. This kind of combat experience was hard to come by, even against robots.

How could he pass up an opportunity like this?

Did the opponent think he could fight when he wished and stop when he pleased? Is there ever such a pleasant thing?

"Neither a disciple of the Wudang Sect? Nor the disciple of the Tai Chi Sect?" Hearing Lin Yun's words, Qin Daoming felt relieved.

Yet right after, he saw Lin Yun charging towards him again, and an anger surged in his heart.

How dared a martial artist in the Initial Stage of Dark Strength to take the initiative against him, a martial arts grandmaster? He clearly didn't regard him, a martial arts grandmaster, in high regard!

Honestly, as a grandmaster from the Baji Sect, wherever he went, didn't he receive respectful treatments and admiration from many?

Not long ago, despite being an admired figure and a martial arts grandmaster, he took the initiative to attack a martial artist in the Initial Stage of Dark Strength and failed to defeat him even after dozens of moves…

As some people marveled at Lin Yi's strength, didn't they also despise him?

Even, he had heard it personally, many people were mocking his martial arts grandmaster's strength, saying it was not as good as it seemed.

Lin Yun's move at this moment provoked his anger even further.

"You're seeking death!" Qin Daoming was furious.

"Boom——"

His powerful aura exploded as he rushed towards Lin Yun once more, throwing out a punch towards Lin Yun swiftly.

Since the opponent was not a disciple from the Wudang Sect or the Tai Chi Sect, he couldn't blame him for being discourteous anymore.

Today, this person had to die.