Power and wealth bring fragrance

The whistling of bullets tearing through the air wove together in Wei Yuan's ears into an impenetrable net.

He did not back down.

There was no way to retreat.

Behind me was a cold steel railing, and beyond that, the churning black sea.

Dozens of gun muzzles spewed fire from all directions simultaneously, the trajectories drawing deadly arcs in his all-seeing ear, intersecting, overlapping, and sealing off every inch of space to maneuver.

Wei Yuan clenched his teeth and pressed his tongue against his palate, forcefully suppressing the metallic taste rising in his throat.

The remaining martial energy in his dantian was almost gone, like a riverbed about to dry up, with only the last pool of turbid water left.

But his eyes were frighteningly bright.

Under extreme pressure of life and death, the Divine Eye of Destiny became clearer than ever before.

Bullets streaked across his vision, leaving faint trails. The trajectory, speed, and impact point of each bullet were clearly marked by the faint light of his aura.

The thick black aura surrounding the middle-aged fisherman, under the full exertion of his internal energy, caused the tremors in his dantian to become even more pronounced than before.

The frequency with which weaknesses appear is accelerating!

"Trying to wear me down with bullets?"

Wei Yuan let out a low shout, and suddenly exerted force with his feet. Instead of dodging backward, he charged forward into the gunfire!

This choice was completely unexpected by everyone.

The fake coast guards' shooting predictions were all based on the assumption that Wei Yuan would dodge and retreat. The dense barrage created a brief vacuum the moment he charged forward—bullets whistled past his head and sides, the closest one grazing his earlobe, the scorching air stinging his skin.

"court death!"

A cold glint suddenly appeared in the middle-aged fisherman's eyes.

He never expected that Wei Yuan would dare to charge forward in such a desperate situation, and that the direction of his charge was precisely where he was!

With a flick of his wrists, a surge of hidden energy erupted like a tidal wave. Before the palm wind even arrived, a chilling and oppressive force had already pressed down on Wei Yuan's meridians.

With this palm strike, he used seventy percent of his hidden strength, aiming to kill the young man in one blow and give him no chance to turn the tables.

Wei Yuan's all-seeing ears trembled violently.

Under the opponent's palm strike, the hidden force split into three streams: one stream directly clashed with the opponent's, while the other two streams circled around and attacked from both sides simultaneously.

This is the killing move of a master of internal strength – "Three Yin Locking Meridians"!

Once struck by three hidden forces simultaneously, one's meridians will be severed, and internal organs will be ruptured; even a god could not save one.

But what Wei Yuan wanted was for him to go all out!

In the eyes of Qi Yun Shen, the black evil energy in the middle-aged fisherman's dantian trembled violently for a full instant when 70% of his hidden strength surged out—longer and more obvious than ever before!

It's now!

Wei Yuan suddenly ducked, almost sliding off the deck. The hidden force grazed his scalp and sent several fake coast guards flying, spitting blood and collapsing to the ground.

The two hidden forces from the left and right crossed and clashed, but they passed each other in the instant he ducked, striking empty air.

"What?!"

The middle-aged fisherman's pupils suddenly contracted.

His move, the Three Yin Locking Meridians, sealed off all evasive maneuvers in the upper, middle, and lower areas. Unless the opponent could lower their body to the point of being touching the deck within a fraction of a breath, there was absolutely no way they could dodge it.

But Wei Yuan did just that.

It wasn't because of his speed, but because his all-seeing ear had already discerned the direction and destination of the three forces the instant the opponent's hidden force split, and his divine eye simultaneously locked onto the only safe area.

He wasn't dodging; he was "walking," precisely navigating along the barely perceptible safety line of the opponent's deadly attack.

Sliding to within three feet of the middle-aged fisherman, Wei Yuan suddenly sprang up!

He brought his right index and middle fingers together, pouring all the remaining martial energy into his fingertips without reservation, and the finger sword condensed once again!

This time, he no longer needed to create openings to lure the enemy.

Because the middle-aged fisherman had already released 70% of his internal energy, leaving his dantian empty, that opening was wide open, waiting for him to strike!

"you--"

The middle-aged fisherman's expression changed drastically. In his haste, he forced his energy back to protect himself, but it would take time for the internal energy to flow back from his body, and Wei Yuan's finger sword had already arrived!

"puff!"

This time, the sword was not blocked by the protective internal force.

The finger, imbued with all of Wei Yuan's remaining martial energy, pierced through the middle-aged fisherman's hastily flowing internal energy defense like a red-hot iron rod piercing butter, its tip striking fiercely against his dantian!

"ah--!!"

The middle-aged fisherman let out a piercing scream.

The dantian is the foundation of a martial artist and the source of martial power.

Being directly stabbed by the finger sword, even if it was just a touch of the fingertip, the martial energy that had been condensed to the extreme burrowed into his dantian like a venomous snake, wreaking havoc inside him!

The thick black aura surrounding the middle-aged fisherman trembled violently, twisted, and dissipated like a stone thrown into a lake!

The hidden energy that had been circulating within his body for decades was completely disrupted the moment his dantian was injured, rushing and crashing through his meridians like a flood bursting its banks.

"puff--!"

A mouthful of blood spurted from the middle-aged fisherman's mouth. His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the deck and sliding several meters before coming to a stop.

The entire room fell silent.

The gunfire stopped.

All the fake coast guards stood frozen in place, their guns still in firing positions, wisps of smoke rising from the muzzles, but none of them pulled the trigger.

Their leader, a master of internal energy, was defeated by a young man covered in wounds who looked like he could collapse at any moment, with a single finger strike.

Wei Yuan stood there, breathing heavily.

This single finger strike exhausted the last bit of martial energy in his dantian.

At this moment, his dantian was completely empty, and his meridians were as dry as cracked earth. He was only able to stay upright thanks to his willpower.

But he knew the battle was not over.

Although the middle-aged fisherman suffered damage to his dantian and his internal energy was disordered, the vitality of a master of internal energy is far stronger than that of a martial artist with external energy.

Having one's dantian destroyed does not mean immediate death; the opponent still has the ability to retaliate.

He himself was already at his last gasp.

"Cough...cough cough..."

The middle-aged fisherman, bracing himself against the deck, slowly rose from the ground. Blood was still trickling from the corner of his mouth, his face was as pale as paper, and a hole had been pierced in his robe at his dantian by a finger sword. The surrounding skin was an unnatural bluish-black, an internal injury caused by the intrusion of martial energy into his dantian.

But his eyes remained fixed on Wei Yuan, the killing intent in his gaze almost tangible.

"Good...good lad..."

His voice was hoarse and broken, and every word he spoke aggravated the injury in his dantian, causing more blood to spill from the corner of his mouth.

"I have cultivated internal energy for over thirty years, and no one can rival me... Yet today, I have been defeated by a junior like you who hasn't even reached the peak of external energy..."

He slowly straightened up, and although he swayed, the unfathomable sense of oppression around him did not completely dissipate.

The injury to his dantian prevented him from using his internal energy as freely as before, but the foundation he had built up over decades of cultivation was still there; even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse.

"but……"

The middle-aged fisherman grinned menacingly. "You think you can defeat me just because you've destroyed my dantian? Even with your dantian destroyed, a master of internal energy still has muscles and bones that you can't withstand!"

Before he finished speaking, he pounced on him!

Without any hidden strength or sophisticated techniques, it was pure physical power. Like a wounded beast, driven by a mad urge to perish together, it punched Wei Yuan in the face!

Wei Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

He heard it clearly: after the opponent's punch, the humming sound of internal energy flowing through his meridians was gone, leaving only pure muscle power.

However, this power still far surpasses that of ordinary Ming Jin martial artists.

Masters of internal strength have been tempering their muscles and bones with internal strength for many years, so their physical strength is already extraordinary.

He himself had exhausted his martial arts strength and could no longer maintain his supernatural abilities; even raising his arm felt incredibly heavy.

To take the hit head-on would be certain death.

dodge?

His legs were already trembling. That finger strike had almost drained all the strength from his body. The fact that he could stand up was the limit of his willpower.

The middle-aged fisherman's fist grew larger and larger in his field of vision, carrying a foul stench, killing intent, and the madness and humiliation of a master of internal strength being injured by a junior.

Wei Yuan's mind was unusually calm at this moment.

Although the Heavenly Ear produced noise due to the depletion of spiritual energy, its most basic hearing was still intact.

He heard the sound of the opponent's fist cutting through the air, the trembling of the opponent's taut muscle fibers, and the opponent's disordered breathing due to the injury to his dantian.

My breathing is disordered.

Even if a master of internal energy suffers damage to their dantian, their decades-old breathing habits will not be easily disrupted.

But at this moment, due to his rage and injuries, the middle-aged fisherman's breathing rhythm had a very slight flaw—he forced out a punch before he had finished inhaling, resulting in the punch having 30% less power than when he was at his peak.

Thirty percent is not enough.

But what Wei Yuan needed was not a difference in strength, but an opportune moment.

Although his spiritual eyes had become blurred due to the depletion of his spiritual power, at the moment his opponent threw a punch, he still managed to detect a faint wisp of spiritual energy emanating uncontrollably from the black aura that had mostly dissipated in his opponent's dantian.

When the dantian is damaged, the evil energy leaks out, which is a sign of a martial artist's cultivation regressing and luck being lost.

The malevolent aura emanating from the fisherman carried the martial arts attributes of the middle-aged fisherman himself—cold, melancholic, and restrained.

A sudden inspiration struck Wei Yuan.

He neither dodged nor blocked, but just as the opponent's fist was about to hit his face, he suddenly opened his mouth and took a deep breath!

The movement was extremely strange, and a hint of confusion flashed in the middle-aged fisherman's eyes, but his fist did not stop for the slightest—

"boom!"

A punch landed squarely on Wei Yuan's chest!

Wei Yuan was thrown backward like a sandbag struck by a heavy hammer, crashing heavily into the railing with a dull thud.

The railing was deformed and bent from the impact. His body slid down the railing and knelt on the deck. He could no longer suppress the blood, which gushed out and splattered into a dazzling blood flower on the steel plate in front of him.

"Hahaha!"

The middle-aged fisherman burst into wild laughter, "I thought you had some amazing skills, but it turns out you're just courting death!"

He strode towards Wei Yuan, ready to deliver the final blow.

But what he didn't notice was that although Wei Yuan was sent flying by a punch, his ears were trembling slightly.

He didn't inhale air when he took that deep breath.

Rather, it was the malevolent aura emanating from the middle-aged fisherman's dantian, permeating the air!

The malevolent energy entered the body, chilling and piercing, like an ice snake burrowing into the throat and traveling downstream along the meridians.

If it were someone else, inhaling the malevolent energy leaking from a martial artist would result in damage to their meridians at best, and at worst, the cold energy would enter their body and their martial arts skills would be completely destroyed.

But Wei Yuan was different.

He possesses the supernatural ability to hear clearly.

The two great supernatural powers, the Heavenly Ear and the Divine Eye of Qi, both originate from the ability to hear—a mysterious ability to perceive the flow of Qi in all things in heaven and earth.

He can not only "hear" the flow of martial energy and the changes in fortune, but also, in extreme situations, "incorporate" the external energy into his body and analyze and assimilate it with his listening power!

This was a secret technique he had accidentally discovered during his previous training, but because it was extremely risky, he had never tried it in actual combat.

At this moment, driven to the brink, he had no other choice.

As the murderous aura entered his body, an icy chill instantly swept over him, causing Wei Yuan's body to tremble uncontrollably.

But he gritted his teeth, concentrated all his remaining mental energy, and activated his Listening Divine Power to begin analyzing the essence of this wisp of malevolent energy.

Cold, melancholic, and reserved.

This is the hidden strength attribute that the middle-aged fisherman has cultivated for over thirty years; it is the foundation of his martial arts skills.

The analysis by Diting is not just about understanding, but also about replication.

The depleted martial energy in Wei Yuan's dantian suddenly resonated subtly the moment the analysis was completed. The assimilated baleful energy, like a seed, took root in his empty dantian, and then...

"Buzz."

A brand new martial energy slowly rose from the depths of his dantian.

It wasn't his original martial arts strength, but rather a kind of cold, somber, and restrained power that carried the hidden strength attributes of a middle-aged fisherman!

Although it was weak and only a trace, the nature of this force was hidden force!

Wei Yuan suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

The middle-aged fisherman had already walked up to him, raised his fist, and was ready to end the fight.

"Go to hell."

The fist landed.

Wei Yuan made a move.

He raised his right hand, seemingly slowly but with perfect precision, to meet the opponent's fist.

The moment their palms made contact, a chilling and oppressive dark force emanated from them.

"Boom!"

As their fists clashed, the middle-aged fisherman's expression changed drastically!

He sensed a familiar force—it was his hidden force attribute!

Cold, somber, and reserved—just like the hidden strength he had cultivated for over thirty years!

"This...this is impossible!!"

The middle-aged fisherman was horrified. A person's martial arts attributes are determined by their training methods, physique, and even temperament, and cannot be copied by others in a short period of time.

Moreover, Wei Yuan had clearly exhausted his martial energy and his dantian was empty just now. How could he not only recover his martial energy in such a short time, but also unleash the hidden force that originated from him?

But the facts are right in front of us.

Although the hidden force in Wei Yuan's palm was weak, it precisely cut into the gaps in the force of his fist.

Because they share the same origin, they understand each other best. The direction of his punch, the rhythm of his exertion, and even the subtle changes in his muscles were all clearly understood by this hidden force from the same origin.

The principle of "using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds" was brought to its extreme in the face of internal force of the same origin.

The middle-aged fisherman felt as if the force of his punch had vanished into thin air, as it was gently deflected by the subtle yet exquisite internal force in the opponent's palm, and all of it was dissipated to the side.

Taking advantage of the situation, Wei Yuan stood up, his left hand forming a sword shape, and pointed it at the middle-aged fisherman's dantian once again!

"No!"

The middle-aged fisherman retreated in fear.

His dantian was already damaged; if he were to be stabbed by the finger sword again, his martial arts skills for the rest of his life would be completely ruined.

But Wei Yuan did not give him a chance to back down.

With his feet firmly planted on the deck, his figure followed him like a shadow. His left hand pointed a sword, always locking onto the location of his dantian, while his right palm emitted hidden energy, constantly blocking his escape routes.

Use hidden force against hidden force, and use the same source to break the same source.

The middle-aged fisherman grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed. He discovered that although Wei Yuan's use of internal force was clumsy, it was terrifyingly precise.

Every flow of energy, every moment of exertion, perfectly countered his moves.

It was as if... as if Wei Yuan had completely seen through his martial arts style!

In fact, Wei Yuan did see through it.

Tongtian Ear listened to every detail of the flow of hidden energy in the opponent's meridians, Qi Yun Divine Eye watched every change in the opponent's murderous aura, and added the sensory resonance brought by the wisp of hidden energy of the same origin in his body.

The middle-aged fisherman had almost no secrets from him.

"Who exactly are you?!"

The middle-aged fisherman was both shocked and furious, and roared.

Wei Yuan did not answer.

His mental strength had reached its limit; the noise in his Heavenly Ear was getting louder and louder, and the vision of his Divine Eye of Fortune was beginning to blur.

The replicated internal energy within the body was rapidly depleted through continuous use.

This power wasn't something he cultivated himself; it was temporarily analyzed and copied by the Di Ting (a powerful spiritual medium). It diminishes with each use and cannot be replenished.

He must act quickly.

Taking a deep breath, Wei Yuan suddenly poured the last bit of internal energy into the fingertip of his left hand, and a faint, cold aura swirled around the finger sword.

The middle-aged fisherman sensed the deadly danger and turned to flee.

But it's too late.

Wei Yuan exerted force with his feet, shooting out like an arrow. His left hand, pointing at the sword with the last trace of hidden strength, precisely struck the middle-aged fisherman's dantian just as he turned around.

This time, it's not poked on the outside.

Instead, it pierces directly!

"Pfft."

The fingertip pierced through the skin, the hidden force as sharp as a needle, and exploded completely inside the middle-aged fisherman's dantian!

"ah!!!"

The middle-aged fisherman let out a scream that was not human. The black evil aura around him, which had already dissipated by more than half, exploded like a punctured balloon and scattered in all directions!

His body stiffened for a moment, then slowly slumped down and knelt on the deck.

The dantian was completely destroyed.

More than thirty years of arduous cultivation were destroyed in an instant.

Wei Yuan withdrew his finger, staggered back two steps, leaned against the deformed railing, and gasped for breath.

His vision began to darken, and a tidal wave of noise surged into his ears. At that moment, his Heavenly Ear and Divine Eye of Fortune shut down simultaneously.

When mental energy is completely exhausted, supernatural powers automatically recede; this is the body's self-protection mechanism.

But he won.

With his peak Ming Jin cultivation, he defeated an An Jin master.

On the deck, the remaining fake coast guards looked at each other, their guns now lowered.

With their leader deposed, morale collapsed, and no one dared to take another step forward.

Wei Yuan leaned against the railing and slowly slid down onto the deck.

He knew that now was not the time to relax.

Although these fake coast guards were demoralized, there were still more than a dozen of them, and they were armed, while he himself had completely lost his fighting ability.

But just then...

"BOOM!!"

A muffled, loud bang suddenly came from the distant sea.

Everyone turned to look at the same time.

On the horizon, a large ship was cutting through the waves at full speed, its warning lights flashing a blinding red in the twilight, and its water cannons were already raised high, aimed at the fake coast guard vessel.

The real coast guard has arrived.

As Wei Yuan watched the approaching law enforcement vessel, his tense nerves finally relaxed.

He closed his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips, then his head lolled to the side, and he passed out completely.