"There's someone else?" Melissa Mu heard Evan's words and looked utterly scornful, shaking her head and sighing. "Clearly you have no idea what it really means to reach mid-stage Inner Strength."
"Let me spell it out for you, country bumpkin. In martial arts, there's a huge gap between External Strength and Inner Strength. Most people, by age eighteen, can at best reach the peak of External Strength—which means, if you're really at the top, you could punch hard enough to flip a car over."
"But stepping into Inner Strength? That takes way more than just grinding and a good teacher—you need real talent. Tons of people train their whole lives and never get past External Strength. Even reaching the early stage of Inner Strength already blows External Strength out of the water. Put it simply: right now, someone like Harvey Xie could literally kill you with one punch."
Melissa Mu stared at Evan, her eyes icy cold.
Her whole goal here was to cozy up to Harvey Xie, so whenever she had to face Evan—who was clearly in Harvey's bad books—her attitude was naturally nasty.
As soon as she finished, Harvey Xie looked super pleased with himself—especially at Melissa's "country bumpkin" jab at Evan. That one really hit the spot.
"You're the real country bumpkin here! Why do you always have to talk so much trash? Ever heard of basic manners? This is a law-abiding society, you know! And if one punch could really kill someone, why aren't you off being a bodyguard or something?" Yolanda Fang shot back, eyebrows raised.
"Seriously, let's not even go there. Who could really punch a car and flip it over? That'd have to be some world-class powerhouse!" Lynn Chen couldn't help but look skeptical.
But Melissa Mu didn't even bother glancing at them. She just turned back to Evan and asked, "You said there's another eighteen-year-old at mid-stage Inner Strength in Minghai City besides Harvey Xie? Who is it? Is that person even real?"
"You really have no clue how ridiculous you sound. Someone with Harvey Xie's talent would stand out even in a place like Jinnan, let alone a small city like Minghai." Melissa Mu scoffed, voice dripping with contempt.
"Mid-stage Inner Strength is supposed to be strong? I doubt it could even handle a slap from me." Evan's gaze was playful.
"Country bumpkin." Melissa Mu said coldly, clearly not believing him.
Harvey Xie snorted, "When the time comes, I'll put my face out and beg you to hit me—let's see if you can even throw a punch!"
Harvey Xie was feeling fully confident again, totally back to his best. He was sure that if he made a move now, he could pin Evan to the ground and beat him up.
"There really is a second eighteen-year-old in Minghai City who reached mid-stage Inner Strength. Harvey, you're getting way too impatient." The Fire Elder spoke up from the front, glancing back at Harvey Xie with a slight frown.
Ever since leaving the valley, Harvey Xie had let him down more than once.
Melissa Mu was momentarily stunned by these words, then looked over at Uncle Li.
Uncle Li also seemed to remember something, fell silent for a moment, and then cautiously looked at the Fire Elder beside him. "Immortal Master, is the second person you're talking about...?"
At this point, Uncle Li stopped himself, hesitating to speak further.
"Uncle Li, who is it?" Melissa Mu asked curiously, glancing at Evan and frowning deeply. "How could there be a second person? Reaching mid-stage Inner Strength at eighteen is almost impossible!"
The Fire Elder looked forward, nodded at Uncle Li's words, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes: "That's right, it's that Lin Nine-Mysteries who recently shook three cities in Seacrest!"
"If he could repeatedly defeat several of our Medicine King Valley elders, his strength must be formidable—maybe even far beyond mid-stage Inner Strength. So, saying Minghai has a second person isn't exactly a lie." The Fire Elder finished, not even glancing at the others behind him.
"Lin Nine-Mysteries?"
Hearing that name, Melissa Mu froze for a moment. Suddenly, she remembered the name she'd been hearing everywhere lately.
"Lin Nine-Mysteries? The one who beat River City's top dog, Drake Huang? He's not even eighteen?" Melissa Mu snapped awake, eyes wide.
There were endless rumors about how fierce and domineering Lin Nine-Mysteries was—stomping on Drake Huang, punching fourth-grade Vajra Gavin Cheng, and countless other feats.
Melissa Mu had always thought Lin Nine-Mysteries was young, but at least in his twenties—she never imagined he hadn't even reached eighteen!
Not even eighteen, yet strong enough to crush Vajra experts and fight Medicine King Valley elders nonstop! Such talent goes way beyond 'freakish.'
"Eighteen? Hmph, I doubt he'll ever make it to eighteen." The Fire Elder snorted coldly, his tone murderous.
As he finished speaking, the air temperature around them dropped noticeably.
Uncle Li nodded in agreement, echoing, "That Lin Nine-Mysteries may be gifted, but he's way too arrogant. Daring to provoke Medicine King Valley is basically a death sentence."
"Lin Nine-Mysteries, my ass! If he ever shows up, my master will chop him down on the spot!" Harvey Xie grumbled, clearly annoyed that Lin Nine-Mysteries had stolen his thunder.
As the group chatted and joked, no one paid any attention to Evan behind them.
"Hey, do you know who this Lin Nine-Mysteries they're talking about is? He sounds pretty badass." Yolanda Fang poked Evan's arm and asked.
Evan glanced at her. "That's me."
Yolanda stared at Evan for two seconds, then shook her head decisively. "You may be tough, but the Lin Nine-Mysteries everyone talks about is supposed to be some unstoppable monster—beats anyone, anywhere."
"You've been getting beat up since freshman year. Sure, lately you've started fighting back, but you never had time to go beat up guys in other cities. If you said Lin Nine-Mysteries was your big brother, maybe I'd believe you." Yolanda pouted. She couldn't imagine that Lin Nine-Mysteries had beaten so many people in just over a month.
Only those few who went to River City for the Math Olympiad with them might vaguely guess the truth, but for now, even Shao Sisi and the others hadn't dared to talk about it outside.
"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do." Evan shook his head helplessly.
Just as he finished speaking, Evan noticed Lynn Chen nearby, her eyes full of disapproval—probably annoyed by his bragging again.
The group wound their way along the mountain path, surrounded by lush forest and vegetation. After a few twists and turns, they came to a narrow stone road ahead.
The guide in front stopped, turned to the group, and said, "Once you cross this stone road, you'll see the Old Immortal Sage's abode. But there's a formation set up here—anyone without fate can't pass. So if you finish walking and find yourself back where you started, just wait in place. Don't force it."