Ryan lifted his chin slightly, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Good. I was afraid you might run away."
Through the Sky Eye Technique, he'd already confirmed that Li Yong was just an eight-star warrior. Someone of that level daring to "teach" him a lesson?
That was comedy at its finest.
He turned his head. "Xue'er, stand behind me."
Li Xue obediently retreated, almost instinctively slipping into the same position she had taken last night when Ryan crushed Li Yujing.
She peeked from behind Ryan's broad back, her entire expression softening with a warmth she didn't notice in herself.
So tall… so steady…
She felt strangely safe simply watching Ryan's shoulders.
Not far away, Li Meiran noticed that tiny look of admiration on Li Xue's face.
His teeth nearly shattered at the sight.
"Damn it!" he spat. "Li Yong, why are you dawdling? Hurry up and beat him..."
Li Yong's gaze sharpened. Under Li Meiran's urging, he surged forward. His steps boomed against the floor as he approached Ryan in an instant.
Yet… Ryan didn't move an inch.
He didn't even flinch.
"Huh? What's this?" Li Yong sneered as he reached Ryan. "What happened to all your arrogance from earlier? Scared stiff now? Trash should know its place."
Ryan's gaze, however, turned bored. "A little eight-star warrior seeking attention? If you don't make noise, no one will even know who you are."
"Little, eight-star?" Li Yong blinked, stunned for half a heartbeat. Then his face contorted.
"Fine then! Let me show you what a little eight-star can do!"
He roared and launched a full-force punch toward Ryan.
But before that fist could find its target...
A hand quietly lifted.
Clack.
Ryan caught the punch.
Li Yong's eyes widened instantly.
"Impossible!"
He had used at least three-tenths of his strength, equivalent to a six-star warrior's blow, intending to beat him and not kill him. Yet Ryan held it like someone catching a falling feather.
Li Yong gritted his teeth and tried to pull his hand back.
But it was like trying to move a mountain.
Ryan's fingers clamped down like an iron vice.
The Li Clan crowd had no idea what was happening.
From their perspective, Li Yong rushed over, threw a punch, and then simply froze like a statue.
"What's he doing?"
"Is he pretending? Why isn't he hitting?"
"Did he forget how to fight?"
"Eight-star warrior? My ass! I bet he faked his rank!"
They heckled loudly, completely unaware of the cold sweat soaking Li Yong's back.
Li Yong was collapsing inside.
His grip… I can't break free at all."
Panic flared in his heart. And he became desperate.
He swung his left hand in a full-force palm strike straight toward Ryan's cheek.
An eight-star warrior's full slap, wind howling around it. If Ryan took this, he should have bled at the very least.
But...
Ryan's other arm rose.
Snap.
Ryan casually clamped Li Yong's palm between his index and middle fingers this time. The violent palm wind instantly died in his grip.
Li Yong's heart plummeted at once.
Both hands… trapped?
How?
The first one was atleast acceptable, as it was suppressed by a full arm, but the second? Only two fingers, casually pressed onto the middle and ring fingers of Li Yong, and yet he couldn't even take his hand back.
He had no choice but to admit a truth that suffocated him...
Ryan was far stronger than him.
He wasn't a waste.
Forget about being a waste...
He was, in fact, a monster.
Of course, the others still didn't understand why Li Yong looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Li Yong! Don't play!"
"Hit him already!"
"We want to see blood!"
"Don't tell me he actually can't beat Li Wei."
No matter how much they yelled, Li Yong couldn't move even a joint.
Sweat dripped from his chin. His arms trembled uncontrollably. Ryan simply smiled at him in a relaxed manner
Then...
Boom!
A single kick.
As a kick was planted onto his abdomen, Li Yong's body shot backwards like a broken sack, flying seven or eight meters before crashing into the dirt. He didn't even groan; he was already unconscious.
Just one strike.
An Eight-star warrior was instantly defeated.
Meanwhile, Ryan dusted his hands as if he didn't do much.
If this weren't a public challenge, he would have outrightly killed them. But since this wasn't, Ryan could only knock him out in the end.
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
"What the..."
"Li Yong got knocked out… by Li Wei?"
"Hey, tell me I am not hallucinating."
"Is Li Yong sick today? How does he get kicked by someone who can't even cultivate?"
"Is he acting? Are they putting on a show?"
"In front of so many people? Must be a joke!"
To them, Ryan's movements were too fast and too subtle. They didn't see the force, only the result: a flying Li Yong who then fell unconscious.
Since they couldn't acknowledge Ryan, their brains did the only thing they could do: blame Li Yong.
Call him the waste.
Ryan just crossed his arms and sneered without a care about their opinion.
Let them misunderstand. They'll learn soon enough.
Meanwhile, Li Meiran narrowed his eyes in silence. "Just as I thought."
Unlike the others, he didn't believe the fantasy that Li Yong had magically become weak. He knew Ryan had changed; he had sensed it last night, sensed it again in the main hall.
And now, watching Ryan catch fists and crush bones with terrifying ease, Li Meiran was certain: Ryan's strength had already surpassed the peak of warriors, perhaps even reached the Elite realm, the same as him.
That grim realization tightened his jaw.
Before he could say anything further, several Li Clan disciples stepped forward, eager and arrogant.
"Brothers, Li Yong got knocked out! Should we teach Ryan a lesson together?"
A few of them shouted with indignation, angered by Ryan's calm confidence.
One after another, they stepped out, faces twisted with bravado.
Li Qiang, nine-star warrior.
Li Huming, nine-star warrior.
Li Chuan, also nine-star.
Li Fan and Li Jing, both eight-stars.
Five disciples in total, all high-ranking warriors of the younger generation, their combined strength enough to overwhelm a fresh Elite.
To them, Ryan was still the "waste" who couldn't cultivate.
These weren't Li Meiran's henchmen, though. They were merely fellow members of the clan who hated Ryan's guts and people who were too delusional to accept the truth. A trash should act like trash, not act overbearing.
And Ryan's behavior only hurt their ego, and they were eager to put Ryan in his place.
"Good, teach him! Break his arrogance..."
"Make him kneel!"
"Beat him until he can't stand up again!"
Their eyes shone with the joy of mob justice, seeing Ryan as the perfect outlet for their frustration.
Behind Ryan, Li Xue bit her lip anxiously. Five people, each one stronger than the last, all of them, were interested in attacking together. It felt like too much, even for someone as resilient as Ryan.
"Wei-Ge…" she whispered nervously.
But Ryan only stepped forward gently, shielding her without looking back.
Across from him, Li Qiang cracked his knuckles loudly. "You've been riding high all morning, Li Wei. Now kneel and beg..."
Ryan raised a brow, "Oh? And if I don't?"
"Then your legs are finished! I'll break your legs and turn you into a real cripple."
"Good," Ryan said with a smile that chilled the air, feeling for his brain-dead opponents. "Come. Break them."
Li Qiang's expression twisted at his challenge. "You asked for it! Brothers, don't hold back!"
Dust scattered as they all lunged at once. Five shadows surged toward Ryan with murderous intent.
Ryan merely shook his head with a sigh, "Delusional clansmen..."