I agreed to be a kept man, but I'm still being punished by the system.

The wind still blew atop the Forbidden City. A half-section of a white marble pillar lay across the viewing platform.

Lin Tong rolled on the ground, clutching his face. Boiling water scalded half of his face, turning his skin and flesh contorted in agony, and his screams shattered the surrounding silence.

In the stands, more than a dozen high-ranking members of the Lin family from Yanjing stood. No one went to help Lin Tong. They stared at the young man on the stage who hadn't even broken a sweat, and fear finally seeped into their eyes.

Zhang Shitai was their last trump card. Even after taking the drug, Zhang Shitai couldn't even scratch Lin Yang.

"Emily, the stuff." Lin Yang turned his head and raised his hand towards the southeast corner of the stands.

Emily pulled a miniature megaphone from her leather jacket pocket and tossed it toward the ring.

The megaphone traced a parabola through the air. Lin Yang reached out and caught it, then turned it on with his thumb.

"Sizzle—"

The sharp, whistling sound of electricity amplified through the loudspeaker, echoing across the Forbidden City's summit and causing those in the front rows to cover their ears.

Lin Yang patted the microphone mesh.

"I've learned all the rules of Yanjing," Lin Yang said. His voice, amplified by the loudspeaker, drowned out the sound of the wind.

He looked at the heads of aristocratic families on the observation deck, dressed in Tang suits and wearing thumb rings.

"The day before yesterday, the Lin family sent someone to my apartment. They brought a contract. The contract stated that as long as I acknowledge my ancestors and return to the Lin family, the Lin family's doors will always be open to me."

The martial artists below the stage whispered among themselves. For martial artists from humble backgrounds, recognizing their ancestors and returning to their roots was like climbing a ladder to heaven.

Lin Yang's lips curled into a smile: "The conditions are that I hand over all the assets of the Huahai Hongmen. I also hand over the highest-level access code on the dark web. And, for the rest of my life, I can only live as a bodyguard for the Lin family."

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Not all the martial artists present were disciples of aristocratic families. There were also independent cultivators and representatives from small sects. Their gazes towards the Lin family's higher-ups changed.

The dark web, the Hongmen. These are behemoths that even the authorities fear. The Lin family wants to get something for nothing.

After recovering on the ground, Lin Tong pointed at Lin Yang and roared, "You're talking nonsense! You have Lin family blood flowing through your veins, and your things belong to the Lin family!"

Lin Yang switched the microphone to his left hand. "My surname is Lin, because my father's name is Lin Jianshe, the director of the Linhai County Cardboard Box Factory. I have absolutely nothing to do with you bunch of good-for-nothings who play the game of borrowing chickens to lay eggs."

"You!" An old man with a white beard pointed at Lin Yang, trembling with rage, "Outrageous! You've forgotten your ancestors!"

"Stop talking nonsense." Lin Yang interrupted him. "I've slapped the faces of the aristocratic families so hard today. Anyone else who wants to take my assets? Get down here yourselves."

No one responded.

The twelve internal energy assassins were crippled. Zhang Shitai, ranked third on the Dragon List, was crippled. The Lin family, with its unfathomable foundation, was helpless against pure physical overwhelming force.

Lin Yang tossed the megaphone to his feet, looked up, and gazed across the observation deck toward the entrance to the passageway.

"Ye Fan. It's your turn."

"tread."

A soft footstep sounded.

A figure dressed in a black, coarse cloth training uniform walked out of the passage.

Ye Fan was not carrying a sword. He had a long, narrow black cloth bundle on his back.

He ignored the gazes of the powerful figures from the viewing platform and walked straight to the arena.

"Mr. Ye!" Lin Tong shouted urgently, "Kill him! The Lin family will double your reward!"

Ye Fan stopped and glanced at Lin Tong.

Just one glance. Lin Tong swallowed the rest of her words. Those were eyes devoid of all worldly emotions, filled only with the will to fight.

"My sword is not for sale." Ye Fan withdrew his gaze and stepped onto the white marble steps.

He walked to the center of the ring and stood five meters away from Lin Yang.

The two stared at each other across the distance. The day before yesterday in the underground parking garage, they had only been testing each other. Today, it was a matter of life and death.

"You wasted your energy fighting those trash," Ye Fan said.

"Hitting them is easier than breathing." Lin Yang ripped off his tattered haute couture suit jacket and tossed it off the ring.

He was left wearing only a white shirt that had been torn in two places by the poison. His taut muscles stretched the fabric.

On the system panel, physical fitness remains at its peak of 200%, and stamina has not declined.

Ye Fan nodded, then reached behind him with his right hand. He grabbed a corner of the black cloth and pulled hard.

"Zheng—"

The black cloth ripped apart. A heavy, unsharpened sword made of jet-black iron was drawn from its sheath. The blade was three fingers wide and weighed seventy pounds.

The sword was exposed to the air, and the surrounding temperature dropped instantly.

The internal energy of the mastered Dark Force was attached to the Xuan Tie Sword, forming a visible, transparent aura.

"Sever the water." Ye Fan gripped the sword hilt with both hands, the tip of the sword pointing diagonally at the ground.

Lin Yang glanced at the weapon rack in the corner of the arena. There were all kinds of weapons, including swords, spears, halberds, and knives.

[Ding, high-intensity combat detected. Activate the 'Weapon Master' skill?]

The system notification sound flashed through my mind.

【activation.】

Muscle memory was instantly reassembled. The key points of using the eighteen kinds of weapons, the techniques of exertion, and the variations of routines were all imprinted into the nerve endings of Lin Yang's brain.

Lin Yang hooked his right foot onto the base of the weapon rack and suddenly lifted it up.

A two-meter-long white waxwood spear flew into the air. Lin Yang reached out with his right hand and caught the middle of the spear shaft in mid-air.

The gun jerked.

"Buzz!" The white waxwood staff emitted a highly elastic popping sound, and the tip of the staff exploded into three silver phantoms the size of bowls in mid-air.

"Come here." Lin Yang held the gun in one hand, the tip of the gun touching the ground.

Ye Fan made a move.

The Xuan Tie Heavy Sword didn't thrust, it only slashed. Ye Fan exerted force with both legs, creating two deep pits in the white marble ground. He transformed into a black afterimage, rushing towards Lin Yang.

The heavy sword came crashing down.

"The first move of the Water-Severing Sword Technique, Waterfall Slash!" Ye Fan roared.

This sword strike carried all the hidden energy Ye Fan had painstakingly cultivated over thirty years. As the sword pressed down, the stone slab beneath Lin Yang's feet was directly crushed into a network of cracks.

Lin Yang did not dodge.

He gripped both ends of the gun barrel with both hands, raising it in a "fire-burning-the-sky" stance, bracing himself.

"clang!"

A deafening metallic explosion echoed across the summit of Forbidden City.

The sound waves spread, causing more than a dozen teacups in the front row of the stands to shatter and scatter fragments everywhere.

Lin Yang bent his knees slightly. The granite base beneath his feet cracked and dented three inches. But he caught it.

The white waxwood staff did not break. The weapon master's ultimate technique, combined with the power-dissipating aura of a perfected master, transmitted all the downward destructive force deep underground.

"What strength!" Ye Fan's eyes burned with even greater fervor.

Using the force of the recoil, he swept his heavy sword horizontally, aiming straight for Lin Yang's waist. Lin Yang raised his spear to block.

The sounds of weapons clashing exploded in rapid succession.

Within ten seconds, the two exchanged thirty blows. There were no fancy probing moves; every strike was aimed at vital points.

The Xuan Tie Heavy Sword wielded immense power, each strike accompanied by a short sonic boom that tore through the air. Ye Fan completely lost himself in the moment, increasing his sword speed and abandoning all defense.

Lin Yang pushed his weapon mastery skills to their limit. The white wax spear came alive in his hands. Block, grab, thrust. The most basic spear techniques, combined with the abnormal explosive power provided by his 200% maximum physical attributes, transformed into an impenetrable net of spears, managing to withstand the relentless bombardment of the Xuan Tie heavy sword.

"laugh!"

A sliver of shirt flew up. Ye Fan's sword energy bypassed the defensive circle, tearing through Lin Yang's shoulder and leaving a white mark on his skin. The sword energy couldn't cut through the extremely dense muscle fibers.

Lin Yang pushed the butt of the spear with his backhand. The white waxwood shaft bent into an exaggerated arc and struck Ye Fan's left rib with a "snap".

Ye Fan groaned and was pulled back three steps.

"That felt good!" Ye Fan steadied himself and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

He gripped the sword hilt with both hands behind his back and raised it above his head.

The wind on the summit of Forbidden City Mountain has stopped.

All the hidden energy and power surged wildly into the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword. The pitch-black blade emitted a faint cracking sound as it struggled under the weight.

"The Water-Severing Sword Technique, a fatal blow!"

This is a technique Ye Fan created after sitting in a mountain cave for three years following his defeat by Xiao Yan. When the sword is drawn, it drains all of his life force.

A blinding red light flashed on Lin Yang's retina. The Five-Star Crisis Warning frantically alerted him; this attack was enough to destroy the Infallible Body's defensive layer.

Lin Yang composed himself.

Both hands gripped the end of the spear shaft. The spear trailed behind him. Grandmaster-level combat skills, weapon mastery, perfected aura, perfected internal strength—all power poured into his arms. 200% of his muscle groups contracted to their limit.

A counterattack.

Ye Fan brought his heavy sword down. The materialized black sword light sliced ​​through the arena floor, sending rubble flying towards Lin Yang.

Lin Yang turned around and thrust his spear straight at him.

A blast of air rose into the air. The spear tip struck the heavy sword blade with pinpoint accuracy.

Two extreme forces collided in the center of the arena, causing the entire white marble arena to collapse completely from the center outwards. Dust filled the air, obscuring everyone's vision.

People in the stands stood up and backed away.

It was in that split second that life and death were decided.

The light above the arena dimmed. An immense pressure, so overwhelming that it disregarded the existing rules of martial arts, descended without warning at the center of their battle.

"Bang!"

Two crisp sounds overlapped.

The ash wood in Lin Yang's hand exploded into a shower of sawdust at the point of contact.

The heavy black iron sword in Ye Fan's hand broke in two with a clang.

Both of them were simultaneously repelled by a tremendous force, each sliding back more than ten meters, and standing on the edge of the shattered arena.

The dust was dispersed by an invisible airflow.

A middle-aged man in a gray long gown now stands in the center where the two of them were standing.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his leather shoes resting on a loose, suspended rock.

The man first glanced at Ye Fan, whose face was deathly pale, then turned and stared at Lin Yang, who was holding half a broken piece of wood.

"Young man, you've got too much of a temper."

The man spoke. His voice was soft and gentle, yet it forcefully penetrated the eardrums of everyone atop the Forbidden City.

With a slight tap of his toes, the suspended granite fragment turned into a handful of fine powder and drifted away.