Seeing this scene, everyone around was utterly dumbfounded. The top elite of Iron Fist Sect couldn’t even last a single move, and now Ryan Ling was literally standing wide open, letting him hit. Many people watching started to wonder if Darren Qiu and Ryan were putting on a double act. If this was real, it’d be the kind of freak show the Harbor City martial arts world hadn’t seen in a hundred years.
Right now, since the Harbor City High incident had blown up and Iron Fist Sect was involved, a bunch of martial arts experts from all over Harbor City were crowding around to watch. They’d all witnessed what just happened, and you could see the shock on their faces.
“I bet this kid has definitely trained in Shaolin’s Body-Protection Divine Art, and not at a low level either. I’d say at least sixth level or above.”
“Sixth level? That’s way too low. Iron Fist Sect is famous for their iron fists—one punch from them can put a hole in any wall. I think he’s at least eighth level.”
“Eighth level’s still weak. Just look at this kid’s bearing, his eyes, his tall and heroic vibe—I’d say he’s already reached the mighty ninth level. Damn, we’re all members of the Harbor City Martial Arts Association, and we never spotted such a genius. I’ve decided: we need to focus on training this kid. With his skills, if he enters the provincial martial arts tournament this year, he’ll definitely win gold!”
......
At this moment, hearing all these professional martial arts guys commenting, Darren Qiu—flat on the ground—was completely stunned. He suddenly felt like his lifelong reputation was about to be ruined by this kid, and Iron Fist Sect would probably kick the three brothers out of the sect for this humiliation. The more he thought about his miserable future, the more bitter and furious he got.
Suddenly, his mind snapped. He whipped out a dagger from inside his coat and, faster than lightning, stabbed straight at Ryan Ling’s chest. Darren moved so fast that nobody expected him to pull such a shameless, dirty trick.
By the time anyone could yell for Ryan to watch out, it was already too late.
The sharp blade had already stabbed in with a loud clang.
"You bastard! Claiming to be Iron Fist Sect’s strongest elite, and you just pulled a knife on a high school kid? Do you even have any shame left?"
"Go eat shit! If anything happens to Harbor City’s martial arts prodigy, I’ll chop you up myself, you little turtle!"
"Why are you all just standing there? Surround those three brothers for me! Barging into Harbor City and acting tough—what, you think us old-timers are just air?"
Seeing this, before Lin Zhan, Zhang Hu and the others could even start cursing, the local Harbor City martial arts experts had already jumped up.
Meanwhile, nobody knew just how miserable Darren Qiu was feeling inside. He finally realized how terrifying this "monster" Ryan Ling really was. The dagger hadn’t stabbed into his chest at all—instead, it shattered the instant it made contact, and the broken tip even rebounded straight through Darren’s own palm.
He screamed in pain and staggered back, obviously traumatized by Ryan.
"Holy crap, you guys said this kid trained Shaolin Body-Protection Divine Art to ninth level, but from what I just saw, he’s gotta be at the highest realm—great perfection, tenth level! We need to get him into the Harbor City Martial Arts Association ASAP, and best make him a vice-president right away. Otherwise, if those bald Shaolin monks hear Harbor City’s got a genius like this, they’ll snatch him up and make him a monk!"
At that moment, one of the association’s old guys blurted out, and the other members all nodded in agreement.
Over on the other side, Darren Qiu just wanted to die. He never should’ve come to Harbor City for this abuse. Right now, he seriously wished he were dead.
Meanwhile, on the Harbor City High side, the whole faculty and student body had been completely fired up by Ryan Ling. Just moments ago, they’d all been terrified, but now everyone was howling with excitement.
Zhang Hu was so fired up he led everyone in singing ‘Unity Is Strength.’ With every cheerful note, the crowd started shouting out revolutionary slogans.
“Ryan, you’re the coolest!”
“Ryan, you’re the best!”
“If Ryan says he’s second, who in Harbor City dares claim first?”
......
Basically, at this point, it wasn’t just Ryan beating up the enemy anymore—the thousands of people at Harbor City High were all ‘counter-abusing’ the attackers together.
Right now, the Qiu brothers had already collapsed. Harvey Zhao had tried to sneak away, but Qiangzi and the other ‘comrades’ assigned to watch him caught him. They didn’t say a word and just started beating him up, stomping right on his face.
At this point, only Frank Fan and his Fan Family thugs were still barely hanging on. But with Frank’s arrogance, they’d already pissed off the whole crowd. The righteous onlookers all closed in, nearly surrounding these bastards.
“Young Master, these people are insane. We should just surrender, or we really might get beaten to death!” A Fan Family servant was trembling as he spoke, seeing the situation.
When he said that, the other thugs all looked at Frank Fan. Sure, the Fan Family was powerful in Harbor City—if they killed a couple people, they could probably cover it up. But now that they’d pissed off the entire crowd, facing hundreds of angry eyes, how could they not be scared?
"Screw surrender! You want Frank Fan to bow down? No way! I don’t believe—even if he’s that tough—he can block bullets!" At that moment, driven totally mad, Frank Fan suddenly whipped out a handgun and pointed it right at Ryan Ling.
Nobody expected he was packing heat, and the gun was already loaded.
Instantly, everyone’s face went pale—especially the Harbor City martial arts crowd. They knew better than anyone: no matter how strong your skills get, even if Ryan’s Shaolin Body-Protection Divine Art really was at tenth level, blocking bullets was still a stretch.
Seeing all this, Ryan was stunned too. He’d tested the Iron Body Talisman in all sorts of scenarios, but never with bullets. Even if his body was solid steel, a bullet could still do serious damage.
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He instinctively stepped back two paces. Seeing Ryan hesitate, Frank Fan burst out laughing, still acting all cocky: "Ryan, you finally know what fear is! I’m gonna put two rounds in you right now—let’s see what’s stronger, bullets or your so-called divine art!"
Frank Fan was obviously a total hothead. He really did pull the trigger.
In that moment, a bunch of people screamed. Sophie Su burst into tears with a wail, and Frank Fan’s muzzle was pointed straight at Ryan’s head.
One gunshot—life or death in an instant!
Lin Zhan was desperate. Right then, he wished he could throw himself in front of that bullet!
But right then, the loyal figure who’d been silently guarding Ryan’s back suddenly shot forward—moving like a streak of red lightning—and blocked the shot.
The gunshot rang out; smoke curled from the barrel.
Everyone was stunned to find Ryan totally unharmed, and the bullet was pinched between the newcomer’s fingers. With a crisp clang, the crushed bullet dropped to the ground.
The whole crowd was dumbstruck. What the hell was happening today?
Having a freak like Ryan was already a miracle for Harbor City martial arts, but now another super-expert who could catch bullets had appeared. It was like getting struck by lightning twice—totally unbelievable.
“No way—unless you’re at the innate level, nobody can catch a bullet. Is this guy an innate master?” The same martial arts elder spoke up again.
In the martial arts world, reaching inner strength is already a big deal. But if your talent is off the charts, and you have all the right conditions, you might just push through to inner strength tenth level and hit ‘innate.’ But those masters are insanely rare.
Nobody expected to see one in Harbor City.
A bunch of people, hearing the elder’s words, got so hyped they wanted to bow to this ‘innate master.’ But right then, the expert did something that blew everyone’s mind.
He walked over to Ryan with extreme respect, bowed like a servant, and asked, "Master, are you alright?"
Hearing that, everyone was completely petrified...