Chapter 383: Three Hundred Taels of Medical Fees

"If the younger generation doesn't act arrogant, are they supposed to wait until they're forty or fifty to barely scrape by as Lower Fifth-Rank before acting cocky? At that level of cultivation, showing even a hint of arrogance in the martial world would get you slapped to death by someone, wouldn't it?"

Yang Ling said with a straight face, looking as serious as if he were discussing some profound academic topic with the other party.

Wang Yaozu, being an instructor at the Star Observation Academy, was someone normally revered and admired by the students beneath him.

Even when traveling abroad, his friends in the martial world would show him great respect.

As a proper Lower Fifth-Rank martial artist, no matter where he went, he was considered a regional power.

When had he ever been mocked like this by such a young junior!?

"The Crimson Ghost Ginseng is already in my hands, so consider this matter settled. As for compensation..."

Yang Ling glanced at Lin Hua:

"How many times did you hit his disciple back then?"

"Just three times!"

Lin Hua quickly replied.

Yang Ling said to Lin Zhen, "Give me three hundred taels."

"Oh."

Lin Zhen took out three hundred taels of silver notes and handed them to Yang Ling.

Yang Ling passed them to Wang Yaozu:

"Consider these three hundred taels as medical fees for your disciple. Hurry on back now. At your age, you shouldn't be out here trying to pull a scam. It'd sound terrible if word got around."

Staring at the three hundred taels of silver notes forcibly shoved into his hand, Wang Yaozu was momentarily stunned.

The atmosphere on the scene grew increasingly delicate.

Lin Hua gasped sharply. That actually worked!?

Lin Baoshan and his wife exchanged bewildered looks, both catching a hint of worry in each other's eyes.

Three hundred taels... that was way too little, right?

Even if the other party was deliberately picking a fight, shouldn't he at least offer a few thousand taels as a show of good faith...

Lin Hai and his group chose to remain silent.

Neither side was someone they could afford to provoke.

At this moment, they even somewhat regretted coming here.

"Ahhh!"

Wang Yaozu's blood suddenly surged, his eyes turning bloodshot.

His hair stood on end, lifted strand by strand by the rushing Vital Qi.

His aura began to climb steadily!

Under the effect of the Vast Spirit Heart Sutra, his dual attributes instantly broke through the 200-point mark!

He then drew the treasured sword at his waist, unleashing the Vast Spirit Sword Technique and Vast Spirit Body Technique, launching a fierce assault on Yang Ling like a rabid mad dog!

The Vast Spirit Sword Technique primarily boosted Agility, and the Vast Spirit Body Technique also boosted Agility.

At this moment, Wang Yaozu's Agility had easily broken through the 300-point threshold!

His Strength had also firmly reached around 230 points!

"Na na na, you all saw that! He struck first!"

Yang Ling shouted, activating both the Vajra Bright King Technique and the Great-Grade Azure Dragon Force simultaneously.

Strength instantly skyrocketed by 180 points!

Agility surged by 60 points!

Ethereal Steps! Agility boosted by another 80 points!

Wind God Vajra Legs! Strength and Agility each boosted by 50 points!

At this moment, without using any equipment whatsoever, Yang Ling's panel showed Strength at 380 points!

Agility had also reached 339 points!

His base attributes completely crushed a watered-down Lower Fifth-Rank like Wang Yaozu!

Treading Emptiness! Azure Dragon Force! Two-Times Critical Hit!

In that instant, Yang Ling's figure became blurry.

It was because his speed was so fast that only Wang Yaozu among everyone present could track him.

To the others, watching him was like staring at a mass of afterimages.

The terrifying Azure Dragon Force surged through his body, condensing into his legs.

With a single kick, the longsword in Wang Yaozu's hand went flying.

This treasured sword with Upper Sixth-Rank Divine Armament properties hadn't even managed to serve as a fire poker in Wang Yaozu's hands!

Then Yang Ling's legs lashed out like wild whips, flogging Wang Yaozu's body again and again.

The massive destructive power of Two-Times Critical Hit, along with the true damage brought by Azure Dragon Force, left the self-healing genes inside Wang Yaozu's body nowhere near fast enough to repair his injuries.

In just a short span, twenty whip-like kicks!

All of them landed across various parts of Wang Yaozu's body.

A few breaths later, the scholar's robe on Wang Yaozu was already kicked to shreds.

Revealing the Inner Armor worn beneath.

But the Inner Armor had clearly begun showing signs of damage as well.

With the final Wind God Vajra Leg, Wang Yaozu slid across the ground flat on his back.

Whether by coincidence or not, he happened to slide right between Military Officer Mo's legs.

Military Officer Mo didn't dare move a single muscle, a layer of cold sweat slowly beading on his forehead.

Bang—

Wang Yaozu's top of the skull slammed into the edge of the courtyard wall, half his head sinking deeply into the bricks before his body finally came to a stop.

Wang Yaozu didn't pass out, but the Vital Qi inside his body had been thoroughly thrown into chaos by the other party's attacks.

The Vast Spirit Heart Sutra had long since ceased functioning.

He could feel that several of his ribs were probably broken.

His arm bones and leg bones had also developed cracks of varying degrees.

Pains densely covering his entire body continuously stimulated his nerves.

To the point where he'd grown somewhat numb instead.

His body was slowly healing.

The main issue was that he'd taken a massive amount of damage in an instant, completely unable to recover while fighting.

He'd need at least fifteen minutes or so to restore about thirty to forty percent.

Wang Yaozu's mind was a complete blank at the moment. After confirming that he would recover, he let out a breath of relief.

His thoughts suddenly began to drift, reminiscing about the little moments at the Star Observation Academy.

"Oh right, I think I still have a class to teach those youngsters today."

Wang Yaozu suddenly thought of this.

He tried to get up, but then realized he didn't seem to be in bed.

Wait... where am I?

Wang Yaozu thought hard, the sensations on his body also feeling very strange.

The courtyard was very quiet. Everyone was watching Wang Yaozu with expressions of shock, fear, astonishment, or dread.

"Right, I'm at the Lin Family in Qi Heavenly Provincial Capital! I was just crossing blows with the Devour Heaven Palace Master's personal disciple!"

"He's Lower Fifth-Rank!? No, he's Middle Fifth-Rank!?"

Wang Yaozu suddenly remembered where he was, his eyes filled with terror.

"With his Lesser Master recovery ability, he should be fully healed in about fifteen minutes or so."

Yang Ling looked at Military Officer Mo, smiling as he cupped his hands:

"You must be Military Officer Mo of the Qi Heavenly Provincial Capital prefectural yamen?"

"Indeed, that would be this official."

Military Officer Mo subconsciously nodded, then snapped back to his senses, staring hard at Yang Ling with a flicker of dread deep in his eyes.

The Devour Heaven Palace Master's personal disciple had already advanced to Fifth-Rank!?

And such a young Fifth-Rank at that!?

Wouldn't that mean the other party was practically guaranteed to become a Fourth-Rank Grandmaster!?

At that thought, Military Officer Mo gasped sharply inwardly, suddenly feeling fear flood his entire body.

He might have offended a future Grandmaster!

"Just now, Instructor Wang struck me first. Did Military Officer Mo see that?"

Yang Ling asked.

Military Officer Mo glanced at Wang Yaozu, still lying against the wall corner resting, then nodded:

"Indeed, Instructor Wang did strike first."

Yang Ling then looked at Lin Hai and the others:

"You all saw it too, right?"

Lin Hai's gaze at Yang Ling was filled with terror, his old face covered in panic.

Hearing this, he immediately nodded:

"Yes, yes, yes, Instructor Wang struck first."

His descendants also nodded along, indicating they'd seen it too.

Yang Ling let out a relieved breath: "That's good then. I was afraid he'd try to frame me, and then come demanding the Crimson Ghost Ginseng from me."

Lin Zhen looked at Wang Yaozu, then at Yang Ling, a hint of astonishment gradually spreading across his face.

At this moment, he finally realized just how enormous the gap between himself and this Senior Brother Yang truly was.

The other party had actually overcome someone who had passed through the life tribulation at Upper Sixth-Rank to crush a genuine Lower Fifth-Rank with overwhelming force!

Even within the Devour Heaven Palace, he knew several Mountain Chiefs whose actual strength was comparable to this Wang Yaozu!

Lin Baoshan and his wife quietly sucked in a breath of cold air. They finally knew who had defeated their son.

With this person around in the Devour Heaven Palace, the position of Palace Master's personal disciple could never have fallen to Lin Zhen no matter what.

At this moment, the few young scholars Wang Yaozu had brought finally snapped out of their stupor and ran over with cries of alarm to check on his injuries.

One of them pointed at Yang Ling, so furious he couldn't even speak.

But the very next moment, his finger was forcibly snapped backward.

"Don't point at me carelessly. I don't like that."

Yang Ling held his finger, his tone more serious than ever before.

This scholar, wracked with pain and terror, let out a series of howls.