Leilin had always avoided pointless conflict.
After all, the thrill of beating someone up was, in his eyes, far less satisfying than improving his strength through cultivation.
Besides, he had no real grudge against Olin. He might even owe the guy for nearly killing Leilin in the first place, since that had given him the chance to be reborn.
Leilin was a practical man. To him, appearances mattered far less than substance.
Even swearing an oath on his family's honor cost him nothing. But when Olin's demands crossed the line, that was another matter entirely.
"You… you can't do this! The Lord in Black won't let you get away with it!"
Leilin clutched the pouch in his hand, his face a mask of panic.
"Haha… since when do the Lords in Black care about our little squabbles? Don't you remember the last time I beat you half to death and nobody came to help?"
Olin cracked his knuckles, each joint popping with a crisp snap. "If you don't want me to snap your ribs one by one, you'd better hand over those Magic Stones!"
As Olin closed in, his towering frame swallowed Leilin in shadow.
Leilin glanced around. They were already quite far from camp, and the only others present were a handful of youths who had come with Olin — all of them watching the show with eager eyes.
"Don't bother looking around. Nobody's coming to save you…"
Olin grinned savagely.
"Oh? Good — I'd prefer nobody came!" Leilin suddenly smiled.
His figure blurred, and in the next instant he appeared behind Olin. "That thing from the other day — I've been waiting for my payback!"
He drove a vicious kick straight into Olin's side. A fierce gust of wind trailed the strike.
Olin felt a tremendous force slam into him from Leilin's foot, launching his body into the air!
Boom! Olin hit the ground hard. The searing pain from his side made his eyes turn red. "You dare! You dare! You dare lay a hand on me!"
"You're dead! I'll strangle you with my own hands!"
Olin shot to his feet, his eyes blazing with savage bloodlust.
"So this is what good physique buys you?" Seeing that a kick at fifty percent strength had barely fazed Olin, Leilin's pupils contracted.
"Ha!" Olin swung his fists like a raging black bear.
Leilin sidestepped, dodging the punch, and watched Olin's fist crater the trunk of a small tree behind him, leaving a deep indentation. A strength of 1.7 — no small thing indeed.
"What a heavy punch. Even with my physique, I couldn't take more than a few of those…" Leilin's mind raced.
"Chip! Run a simulation for the optimal takedown strategy!"
"Acknowledged. Task initiated. Entering support mode." The Chip's voice sounded in his mind, and its immense computational power produced the optimal plan in an instant.
"Duck!" the Chip prompted. Leilin dropped low, narrowly evading Olin's roaring attack.
"Enemy defense has opened a vulnerability. Optimal strike zone: under the armpit!" the Chip reported.
Leilin flickered forward, dodging another assault while closing the distance. "You know, your strength is impressive, but your footwork is clumsy. Is this the disadvantage of being so big…"
Between attacks, Leilin still had breath to speak, showing he was far from pushed to his limit.
"Is… is this really the old Leilin? How… how can he be this strong?" The watching youths gaped in disbelief.
Under their stunned gazes, Leilin threw a punch — dead center into Olin's exposed armpit. This time he gave it everything. Olin crumpled to the ground, his face twisted in agony, unable to get up for a long while.
Even at full power, Leilin's strength was around 1.5 — not far behind Olin's. And the armpit was a painfully vulnerable spot. Olin lay in the dirt, his eyes flooded with veins of red, letting out a guttural growl: "You're dead! My family will never let this go!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Leilin's expression didn't change. He delivered another kick to Olin's lower abdomen, curling the bigger youth up like a cooked shrimp.
Leilin crouched down and looked at Olin with a pleasant smile. "Since you're not going to let me go anyway, tell me — shouldn't I just strike first and kill you?"
In that moment, Leilin's smile looked like a demon's to Olin.
"He's not joking. He'd really do it!" Seeing the killing intent in Leilin's eyes, Olin felt as though a lion had locked onto him. The rage in his head vanished, replaced by raw fear.
"Mr. Leilin! Lord Leilin! You can't do this! I… behind me stands the Donglan Family! If you kill me, you'll bring terrible trouble on yourself!"
"Then admit your fault!" Leilin asked in a mocking tone.
"I admit it! I'm sorry… I apologize!" Under the pressure of imminent death, Olin surrendered quickly.
"Good. I accept your apology. Furthermore, by the laws of the nobility, I am entitled to compensation!"
Leilin spoke with a smile, but it only deepened Olin's sense of dread.
"As compensation, you'll hand over the Magic Stones you're carrying." Sure enough, Leilin cheerfully uttered his extortionate demand.
"No! You can't! Do you have any idea how many lives my family sacrificed to get those Magic Stones?"
Olin struggled uselessly.
"Sometimes life comes down to a simple multiple-choice question. Your turn, dear Olin — your life or the Magic Stones. Pick one!"
Olin's pleas didn't move Leilin in the slightest. Instead, he planted his boot on Olin's face and slowly increased the pressure.
The leather sole ground Olin's head deeper into the soil, squeezing the breath from his lungs.
After several minutes, Leilin eased up slightly. "Well? Have you thought it through?"
"Pfft!" Olin gulped down huge mouthfuls of sweet, fresh air. His broad face was caked with dirt and bore the imprint of a boot, making him look utterly ridiculous.
But none of the surrounding youths dared laugh.
One of them shuffled backward, intending to slip away.
Leilin picked up a pebble. "Wind speed calculated. Trajectory adjusted!"
The stone whistled through the air and struck the fleeing youth behind the knee, sending him sprawling.
"See that, Olin? No point waiting for reinforcements… And don't push my patience any further!"
Leilin swept his gaze across the remaining youths. Each one who met his eyes immediately looked down, trembling from head to toe.
"Fine! You can have the Magic Stones! But they're in my cart — come with me and I'll get them!" Olin surrendered.
"If the Magic Stones are so important, you wouldn't carry them separately in a cart. Do you take me for a fool?"
Such a childish lie was never going to fool Leilin.
"It seems you haven't had enough pain yet." A凶 light flickered in Leilin's eyes. He seized Olin's arm and wrenched it.
Crack!!! A sickening sound of fracturing bone split the air, accompanied by Olin's scream.
"Tell the truth or I'll break the other one!"
"No! No! No! You can't! The Lords in Black won't let you get away with this!" Olin clutched his shattered arm, writhing on the ground.
"Haha… since when do the Lords in Black care about our little squabbles? Don't you remember the last time you beat me half to death and nobody came to help?"
Leilin sneered, throwing Olin's own earlier words right back at him.
"It really looks like you want to die." Leilin stepped forward again.
"Wait! Wait! Fine! I'll give you the Magic Stones, but you have to swear you won't seek revenge!" Seeing Leilin approach, Olin blanched and shouted.
"Very well! I swear on the honor of the Farell Family!" Leilin agreed.
Olin's face turned a sickly shade of green. Struggling into a half-sitting position, he fished a golden wallet from inside his clothes and tossed it to Leilin. "All my Magic Stones are in there!"
Leilin caught it and examined it. It was a palm-sized purse embroidered with threads of gold and silver. In the center sat a crest — an eagle above a shield, ringed by a border of delicate floral patterns. It looked like a family emblem.
Leilin opened the wallet and found over a dozen black crystals the size of fingernails lying quietly inside.
"Beep. Unknown energy source detected." The Chip issued its alert.
"Any use to me?" Leilin brightened.
"Cross-referencing database… Insufficient data! No utilization method found!"
"Warning. This energy source contains unknown trace radiation. Subject is advised to strengthen protective measures!"
"Is that so?" Leilin considered, then turned to Olin. "Which academy are you headed to?"
"Sw… Swamp Garden!" Olin's expression was grim.
"Swamp Garden! I've heard of it. The enrollment fee is ten Magic Stones, isn't that right?"
"Correct! Where did you hear that?" Olin looked surprised.
Leilin offered a slight smile, looking somewhat mysterious. He had never heard of any Swamp Garden in his life — he had simply bluffed. Tuition at these places was always a round number, so a wrong guess cost him nothing.
"All right. Here — keep them." Leilin took three Magic Stones from the wallet and tossed the rest, along with the purse, back to Olin.
"These three Magic Stones are my compensation." Though he could have taken all of them right now, Leilin genuinely didn't know how the Lords in Black or the Lords in White would react to this sort of thing. He wasn't about to test their tolerance. Leaving Olin with enough to enroll would also give him a convenient excuse if anyone ever raised the matter.
"Th… Thank you!" Olin's complexion improved considerably. Losing all his Magic Stones and failing to enroll would have made it impossible to face his family.
"Don't worry — I won't be taking your Magic Stones." Leilin looked up and spotted the other noble youths huddled together, clutching whatever they had hidden against their chests. He shook his head.
"Thank you, Lord Leilin!" Hearing his assurance, the others breathed sighs of relief and hurried to bow.
"However! I expect other forms of compensation!" Leilin fixed his gaze on one particular youth — the one who had tried to run and gotten taken down with a pebble.
"That Cross Sword at your hip looks fine." Leilin stared until the boy began to fidget nervously, then pointed at the weapon at his waist.
Taking the hint, the youth quickly said, "Please, take it, my lord!"
"Well then, I won't be polite!" Leilin took the Cross Sword from the boy, hefted it, and nodded with satisfaction.
As a nobleman's sidearm, the quality of this Cross Sword was excellent.
The hilt was adorned with elegant patterns to prevent slipping, and the scabbard was crafted from sharkskin, giving it an air of refinement.