Chapter 51: Nonsense

Even so, Qi Jingchun had already made up his mind to protect the Liuli Ward at all costs, along with the six thousand and more townspeople who had lived and multiplied there for generations.

Though doing so would inevitably offend the supreme saints of the Three Teachings and potentially invite disaster, Qi Jingchun did not care.

Even if the path ahead led only to certain death, he would still plunge headlong into the difficulty without a second thought. This was the Great Dao he had chosen, and it was likewise the deep aspiration within his soul!

Qi Jingchun remained silent as the four saints gazed down upon him with varied expressions.

Some of the saints' eyes held anger, some showed displeasure, some wore subtle expressions, while others remained completely detached.

Witnessing this, Su Ling—whom the four supreme saints regarded as a pathetic wretch—felt a sense of frustration at their lack of ambition.

"Mr. Qi, you must remember the worldly principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

At that moment, a voice infused with vast and terrifying martial arts genuine Qi reverberated through the void. There was no air in the void, and thus no medium for sound propagation, yet the martial arts genuine Qi acted as a universal conductor.

Disregarding the face of the four supreme saints looming above, Su Ling turned and bowed in salute to Qi Jingchun.

A gentleman was not the kind of passive gentleman who would not return a blow when struck or an insult when cursed.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jingchun's previously solemn Dharmic Form suddenly blossomed into a smile, as gentle as a spring breeze.

"Haha~ How could there be any principle of a junior committing insubordination against his superiors? Although this student intends to act against the Heavenly Dao, that still remains no justification for violating moral principles and etiquette."

Qi Jingchun smiled without speaking, merely shaking his head slightly. Yet the stern and murderous aura surrounding him dissipated greatly, restoring the poised and unhurried demeanor he had when they first met.

"..."

Seeing this, Su Ling felt rather helpless and emotionally exhausted. Unwelcome guests had turned up at the doorstep, yet the host was still acting like a naive innocent—truly exasperating.

"Hmph! Junior, do you truly intend to collude with Qi Jingchun!"

At that very moment, the supreme saint of Confucianism spoke insolently, his magnificent Dharmic Form wearing an ugly expression as he deeply disliked Su Ling, this sudden variable.

Hearing this, Su Ling frowned, turned, and looked up at the terrifying figure overhead that seemed to cover an entire world. After a moment of contemplation, he chuckled softly.

"Respecting the aged and loving the young—Mr. Qi upholds propriety, but I am hardly one to show reverence to my elders."

"Old sir, you had better brace yourself for this punch of mine—!"

Since the visitors were clearly harboring malicious intent, Su Ling saw no need to follow their rules. Having a powerful fist made one just that arrogant!

Su Ling stepped sideways, pulling one leg back while tensing the muscles in his lower limbs, resembling a tensely drawn, ultra-heavy war bow.

As he mobilized the vast genuine Qi within his body, trails of terrifying crimson genuine Qi wrapped around his limbs, amplifying his power and providing a point of leverage.

After all, the void lacked physical substance; to throw a punch, one still required a point of force exertion.

Crack~!

Inside his clenched fist, the air was compressed by sheer terrifying force to the point of producing a terrifying sonic boom, with visible crimson shockwaves rippling around his fist.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Since the supreme saint of Confucianism had spoken offensively, he naturally deserved a taste of his own medicine—only this medicine was terrifying to the absolute extreme!

Just as Su Ling unleashed his punch, the supreme saint of the Confucian lineage lost a bit of his composure, for he knew all too well the terrifying strength possessed by Su Ling.

Su Ling swung his arm, wreathed in crimson genuine Qi, leaving an afterimage in the void as he struck out with a deafening boom toward the space where the Confucian saint resided.

There was no physical matter in the void, but this force of ultimate terror used Su Ling's dense martial arts genuine Qi as a medium, forming a crimson fist-wind that blasted toward the Confucian saint overhead.

In an instant, a terrifying, inhuman crimson gale formed a rapidly expanding and dispersing sector, overwhelming and magnificent, rushing toward the colossal Dharmic Form of the Confucian saint, which rivaled a planet in size.

It even shattered segments of the void along its path, leaving the laws of space showing faint signs of fracture!

"What?!"

The supreme saint of Confucianism, whose expression had previously been detached, revealed a trace of shock.

Similarly, the other three supreme saints in the distance wore expressions of utter incomprehension.

After all, although they had previously heard that Su Ling—this abruptly emerged variable—possessed terrifying strength, hearing about it could not compare to seeing it with one's own eyes.

This terrifying momentum, this destructive force powerful enough to shatter this realm, was even greater than the power wielded by these very saints—utterly terrifying, exceptionally startling, and unheard of!

Just as the Confucian saint hurriedly prepared to meet the attack, a terrifying crimson fist-wind capable of swallowing his planetary Dharmic Form instantly engulfed him entirely!

Simultaneously, a nuclear-explosion-like, spine-chilling roar echoed throughout the void, and multicolored streams of light rippled outward like wave upon wave of shockwaves.

The sheer scale of this heaven-shaking anomaly and its resulting aftermath even blew away the thunder clouds surrounding Qi Jingchun, exposing a pristine, pitch-black void completely devoid of impurities.

As for the other three saints, whose Dharmic Forms had been concealed within the thunder clouds, they were likewise caught in the shockwave of Su Ling's unreserved, full-strength strike.

At this moment, aside from the supreme saint of the Military Strategists—renowned for warfare—who stood completely unmoved, the other two, along with the Confucian saint whom Su Ling had struck with a single punch...

Their planet-sized Dharmic Forms appeared as though blown away by a hurricane, rapidly retreating from the vicinity of Qi Jingchun and crashing down at the edge of the void thousands of miles away.

Right now, their eyes widened, completely stripped of the grand demeanor they held as mighty beings of great divine powers at the start, staring down at Su Ling with looks of absolute disbelief.

Su Ling, a junior they had entirely ignored from the very beginning, had suddenly erupted with an energy output even greater than that of Qi Jingchun. This completely shattered the four saints' expectations and left them profoundly shocked.

On one hand, they were gratified to see that the human race seemed to have produced a youth destined to become a Martial God; on the other hand, they found it a headache that this youth possessed such a fiery temper—comparable to the headache-inducing vigor of Qi Jingchun in his youth.

Never mind the fact that the Confucian saint had merely spoken insolently before suddenly being sent flying by Su Ling's merciless punch—he was still frantically trying to patch up his cracked Dharmic Form.

Although the four saints had not brought a significant portion of their true divine powers within their Dharmic Forms for this trip, they were still beings far beyond the reach of Su Ling, who had not even stepped into the Upper Five Realms.

Yet an utterly unexpected scene had materialized before them, as jarring as a thunderbolt from a clear summer sky—truly unbelievable and intensely startling.

At this moment, the expressions of the four saints were frozen in numbness; they did not even know what words could possibly measure Su Ling, this terrifying variable.

Their minds brimmed with profound knowledge, yet they could not articulate a single appropriate sentence, which showed just how deeply the four saints' worldview had been shaken.

The void fell silent for a moment. Just as Su Ling was dusting off his clothes, ruffled by the backdraft of his own punch, Qi Jingchun's somewhat helpless voice drifted over.