Master, What Dao Do You Cultivate?

Chapter 69: One Punch Man Elder Ji

Before coming here, Ji Qinglin and Yu Ye had studied the assassins known for revealing their cultivation techniques. 

Master indeed had countermeasures to some extent. For Yang Qu’s Flying Knife Immortal-Slaying Style, Cui Sanmei had even provided some intel. But ultimately, a weapon-and-technique-focused opponent like this couldn’t be easily simulated. 

So Master had only worked out a strategy with her. 

Now that she saw just how dangerous the move was, Yu Ye couldn’t help but want to assist her Master. 

Mad Ye: Don’t be impulsive! Don’t worry, your master’s got this. 

Yu Ye: But it looks seriously dangerous! 

Mad Ye: He hasn’t even pulled out his weapon yet. He must still have something up his sleeve. 

Yu Ye had no choice but to steady her mind and keep her eyes fixed on her Master. 

Sure enough, just like Mad Ye said—relying on Beidou Maps and Phantom Shadow Soul-Chasing Steps, Ji Qinglin had no major problem moving within the Flying Knife Immortal-Slaying Formation. He was just waiting for the moment to break through. 

The surrounding Elders and Commerce Guild members were all shocked to see Li Qinglin’s movements leaving behind trailing phantom shadows. With nearly ten flying knives spinning and rebounding alongside ghostly shadows in the formation, what they thought was a one-on-one duel now looked more like a battlefield clash. 

If you relied solely on automatic rebounding, the efficiency of the throwing knives would be low and easily lose their charge. That’s why Yang Qu had trained specifically in object control techniques, integrating them with a control module. But with the ghostly afterimages everywhere, it was nearly impossible to tell which one was the real Li Qinglin. 

Ji Qinglin, of course, wouldn’t miss such a fleeting chance—he slid low under the blades flying overhead. 

Taking advantage of the moment before the knives regrouped, he broke out of the formation, his two fingers aimed straight at Yang Qu. 

As a ranged fighter, Yang Qu naturally understood the risks of letting someone close in. That’s why he never threw his last two knives—and why they were shaped like claw-blades, meant for close combat. 

He thought, No matter what your fingers are made of, there’s no way you’ll slice through my titanium-alloy blades. 

All he had to do was block one strike, then recall the knives behind him to regain control. 

What he didn’t expect was that Ji Qinglin never intended to clash fingers with him. 

Before the distance had fully closed—while they were still too far for an arm to even touch—Li Qinglin’s two fingers had already swept past. 

Swish— 

Yang Qu, who had misjudged the attack range, felt something lightly graze his neck. When he looked down, he saw something black congealed on Ji Qinglin’s passing fingers. 

In that instant, Yang Qu finally realized—it wasn’t that Li Qinglin disrespected him by not using a weapon, it was that he had underestimated his opponent. 

He didn’t feel much pain, and was still ready to press forward with both claw-blades. 

But while his body lunged forward, his head refused to follow. 

Snap—splat— 

The force of his charge caused his now-disconnected head to tumble off. Blood sprayed in torrents from the stump where his neck had just been. 

His head rolled to the side, and nearby Elders could still see the stunned look on his face at the moment of death. 

The Throat-Slashing Blade had his own throat severed. 

Clink clink clink— 

The knives spinning behind him lost their control and dropped to the ground. 

Another one-move kill. 

Ji Qinglin had already distanced himself after the strike, without a drop of blood touching him. The surrounding members and Elders immediately understood: 

Ji Qinglin had never planned to throw a second move. 

“What was Elder Li holding just now? It flashed by too fast to see clearly.” 

“It looked like some kind of black weapon, but it disappeared in a blink. Was it a molecular wire? But he didn’t seem to be holding any between his fingers.” 

“And it didn’t look like any prosthetic weapon either—his fingers didn’t change at all.” 

From his previous fight with Duan Tianpeng, Ji Qinglin had learned something important: a sword didn’t have to look or behave like a sword. It just needed to cut when needed. 

That insight led him to train for a long time until he finally succeeded in rapidly condensing nanobots at his fingertips— 

Creating his own controllable, variable-length “Mind-Only Sword Intent.” 

His ability to control nanobots wasn’t deep, so the reach was limited, but in situations like this, surprise alone was more than enough. 

Not far behind, seeing Li Qinglin take another clean kill, both Yu Ye and Lei Qiuyun finally relaxed. 

The last assassin, Sha Zizai, holding twin blades, slowly walked to a raised platform near Bai Qiucheng—one without any corpses. 

It was originally meant for the Commerce Guild Elders to resolve disputes by force, and now, it was being put to good use. 

Still draped in his black robe, Sha Zizai didn’t attack immediately. He stabbed his two blades into the ground and raised a hand: 

“Dare to test fists and feet instead?” 

Everyone present was stunned. Sha Zizai—the Twin-Blade Phantom Shadows—wasn’t exaggerating his name. Why was he giving up his blades for fists? 

Ji Qinglin slowly lowered his two fingers. Although unexpected, it wasn’t a bad thing—after all, his unarmed combat was stronger than his weapon techniques. And since the sword was still “in hand,” he could draw it at any time without fear of a sneak attack. 

“As you wish.” 

The two stood at opposite ends of the platform. Since he didn’t know much about Sha Zizai’s unarmed skills, Li Qinglin didn’t rush to strike. 

Beneath the black robe, Sha Zizai’s muscular frame stomped down with one leg—stone bricks cracked and flew. 

Then his whole body shot forward like a cannonball, launching a punch straight at him, pure force with no technique. 

This time, Ji Qinglin didn’t dodge or retreat. When it came to weapons or Soul Sense, he had to be cautious. But power alone? He had nothing to fear. 

Unlike Sha Zizai, he didn’t charge. Instead, he coiled power into a right-hand hook and met the strike head-on. 

Boom— 

The bricks beneath both their feet shattered. The Commerce Guild members and Elders even felt a gust of wind blow across their faces as the explosion echoed. 

Just moments ago, everyone thought Ji Qinglin’s one-punch kill of Heart-Piercing Hand Chen Sun was his strength limit. 

But this punch seemed even stronger—Ji Qinglin hadn’t shown his full power yet. 

That said, people were equally surprised at Sha Zizai. Not only was he skilled in blades—his unarmed combat techniques and force were at Grandmaster-level. 

After the clash, both stepped back slightly. But judging by distance, Sha Zizai had retreated several more steps despite using all his strength. Clearly, Ji Qinglin held the upper hand in raw power. 

A flicker of surprise passed over Sha Zizai’s face, but he didn’t hesitate. His fists glowed red, like twin cannons, and he swung again. 

Ji Qinglin didn’t know the trick behind the move and didn’t dare take it head-on again. Just as he tried to dodge, he felt his body being pulled in—his head drawn toward the glowing red fists. 

Luckily, Ji Qinglin reacted quickly. He drove his elbow forward to forcefully parry the attack. 

But Sha Zizai didn’t give him a chance to retreat. He threw another of those gravity-pulling punches. Even those watching from below could feel the swirling fist wind. 

Seeing how dangerous the move was, Ji Qinglin didn’t dare counter recklessly and risk leaving himself open. He seized the moment and grabbed Sha Zizai’s wrists with both hands. 

Sha Zizai grinned at that—Ji Qinglin immediately sensed something was wrong. 

Shhk— 

Two cold flashes pierced through Sha Zizai’s robe, stabbing out from his chest—aimed directly at Ji Qinglin. 

Fortunately, since he was already holding Sha Zizai’s wrists, Ji Qinglin noticed the anomaly in time. He and Beidou Maps activated simultaneously. 

Letting go and stepping forward into the Phantom Shadow Soul-Chasing Step, he narrowly dodged the lethal strike. 

His windbreaker was sliced open in two spots. 

The sudden shift stunned everyone present. A few experts instantly understood why Sha Zizai had suggested fists-only. 

When both sides used weapons, it was hard to control the opponent. But in close-range hand-to-hand combat, surprise weapon strikes left almost no time to react. 

If Ji Qinglin hadn’t seized control of Sha Zizai’s wrists first, he would’ve been skewered. 

Or perhaps… he had already seen through it—and acted preemptively?

Behind them, Yu Ye widened her apricot eyes, and only after seeing her Master dodge the fatal strike did she shout, 

“You shameless old bstard! Sneak attack with a blade!”  

The surrounding Elders were ready to rush in and execute the shameless Sha Zizai on the spot, but since Ji Qinglin hadn’t spoken, none of them could move in to help just yet. 

Sha Zizai had originally intended to grab Ji Qinglin’s hands and stab through his chest, but unexpectedly, the guy had moved first. 

Maybe it was because of the pressure Ji Qinglin exerted—it wasn’t the best moment to strike, but he’d done it anyway. The fact that Ji Qinglin still dodged under those conditions only confirmed just how terrifying he truly was. 

Ji Qinglin smiled bitterly in his heart. Normally, he was the one ambushing others, but today’s occasion wasn’t the right time for dirty tricks—it was about making a statement. 

Since his deadly trick was revealed, Sha Zizai didn’t bother hiding anymore. He tore off his cloak, revealing parts of his prosthetic body—and a small figure clinging to his chest like a kangaroo baby, wielding twin blades. 

Sha Zizai picked up his fallen twin blades and gave four quick swings—two up, two down. 

Li Qinglin frowned and said, 

“So that’s what Twin-Blade Phantom Shadows means.” 

As he spoke, his two fingers lifted again, ready for battle. 

Sha Zizai didn’t reply. He lunged again. Ji Qinglin dodged as before—but this time was different. 

Sha Zizai, charging like a cannonball, didn’t stop. 

All four blades struck out, aiming straight for Bai Qiucheng, who was standing near the viewing platform. 

“You backstabbing traitor!” 

Confident in his strength, Bai Qiucheng had crossed his arms and stood closest to the platform, trying to get a better look at Ji Qinglin’s technique. 

He never expected Sha Zizai to charge directly at him. Shocked, he tried to dodge, but with people all around, he had no space—he prepared to block using Frost Severing Palm, but just as the four blades closed in, they suddenly stopped. 

Ji Qinglin had grabbed Sha Zizai’s ankle from behind and yanked him back with force. 

Failing yet another sneak attack, Sha Zizai was both enraged and embarrassed, but had no choice but to face Ji Qinglin again. However, since his back was exposed from the failed attack, he no longer held the initiative. 

The twin blades retracted, and as his body was pulled back, he turned—only to see Ji Qinglin’s face, full of murderous intent, like a demon from the abyss. 

Boom— 

No holding back this time. Ji Qinglin used the last of his stored power to deliver an Eight Extremes Crushing Punch—his strongest strike of the day. 

The punch came down from above and slammed into Sha Zizai’s back, driving his unsteady body straight into the ground. 

There was only a muffled grunt before chunks of flesh, blood, and shattered prosthetic parts exploded outward.