“You are left with no choice in this situation.” Lin Sheng sighed, taking a half-step into the hall. “So, you can try to run. If you succeed, you might live. Otherwise…”

Qin Fen lightly raised his arm, his movement seemingly slow. His spread five fingers gently curled inward, effortlessly locking onto the nearest guard who was charging at him—a guard whose strength reached the Fourteenth Star level of Martial Arts. He lifted the man as if carrying a chick, holding him suspended, allowing the guard’s legs to flail uselessly in the air. The guard’s hand desperately clawed at Qin Fen's wrist, trying to pry open that vise-like grip.

“In an instant,” Qin Fen’s voice was perfectly calm. His five fingers tightened slightly, and a sharp crack echoed through the silent room—a series of bones snapping. The guard’s facial bones were crushed under the pressure. The legs that had been kicking wildly stilled. His arms dropped limply to his sides, still swaying slightly from the inertia.

A domineering entrance, a casually executed murder. The sound of shattering bone was jarringly loud in the quiet room, sending shivers down everyone’s scalp.

Dead. A Fourteenth Star, a near Martial Arts Master. In the very next moment after launching a sneak attack on Qin Fen, this man’s life was completely extinguished from the world, as fragile as an ant.

This was the difference between a Martial Arts Master and a near Martial Arts Master! This was the starkest demonstration of the gap between a true expert who had undergone Marrow Cleansing and Nest Nurturing, achieving the Great Innate Realm, and a martial artist who had not.

Qin Fen’s gripping fingers relaxed slightly, and the man whose neck he had seized dropped like a sack of old rags onto the floor, landing with a dull thud.

While the sound of this body hitting the ground wasn't particularly loud, it resonated like a soul-drum striking the heart, causing the hearts of every general present from Hanzhou to violently constrict.

Qin Fen’s raised hand did not drop. His loosened fingers curled slightly again, and his index and middle fingers flicked outward. A muffled groan came from the dark corner behind Li Mingzheng, followed by the sound of a body colliding with the floor.

Wuxiang Tribulation Finger! Qin Fen used the technique he learned from Qilin, launching an invisible, soundless strike that instantly killed a Fourteenth Star near Martial Arts Master who had been attempting to sneak away.

A grasp, a flick. Two lives gone! Even these soldiers, hardened by constant exposure to life and death, felt a terrifying shock.

For soldiers, death itself was not the most frightening thing. Every warrior donning a uniform harbored the desire to die honorably to protect their homeland! Even in death, they aimed to drag the enemy down with them, or at least inflict injury so that their comrades would not fall to the enemy's hands, allowing their comrades to avenge them.

What was truly terrifying was a death utterly devoid of resistance, a death without any value. Even if they died bravely in battle, they could inflict no injury upon the enemy—like lambs led to the slaughter.

Zhang Zaihe’s cheek twitched. This manner of slaughter felt like sheer annihilation!

Li Mingzheng watched Qin Fen’s absolute, frigid decisiveness and sucked in a lungful of icy air. Every hair on his body stood on end. His soldier’s instinct warned him that Qin Fen hadn't given a single thought to the consequences—the massive shockwave that would hit the entire high command of the Hanzhou Military Region if they were wiped out.

Or perhaps, having slain two famed martial arts masters in the civilian sector, Qin Fen possessed the mindset of a true Martial Arts Master, willing to bear all responsibility, and simply disdained the notion of considering the fallout from eliminating every senior officer in the Hanzhou military.

Qin Fen stood silently at the doorway, utterly motionless. After the most intense battle at Qilin Mountain, followed by over a month of dedicated, rigorous training and sparring, his presence now carried an indescribable aura. He was still the same height, yet in their eyes, he seemed like a towering deity, and the entire room felt contained within the span of his open hands.

Li Mingzheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as his gaze darted nervously around every corner of the room. Nine Fourteenth Star martial artists exploded into action simultaneously!

Nine thuds, perfectly synchronized, merged into a single colossal impact. The combined reactive force threatened to flip the conference hall’s floor. The long table set in the center of the hall leaped three times with a resounding clank, causing the entire structure to shake.

The nine Fourteenth Star martial artists unleashed their strength in unison, their power earth-shattering. This stomp felt like an attempt to shake the building down. The flagstones that were flipped and bounced from the ground instantly pulverized into dust, resembling the flying debris and shifting sand stirred up when a great demon appears in ancient myths, filling the entire room.

Nine thunderous air-breaking punches swept out, tearing through the air with a high-pitched whistle! They created an unparalleled pressure wave in the room, making the generals sitting by the table feel as if a thousand-pound stone had collapsed onto their chests, crushing their breath away.

A Fourteenth Star martial artist had already stepped into the ranks of near Martial Arts Masters. The destructive power of one individual was staggering; the simultaneous attack from nine Fourteenth Star near Martial Arts Masters projected a pressure even greater than that of a true Martial Arts Master!

The moment the momentum crested, the sounds of solid fists connecting, kicks landing, and elbows striking echoed endlessly through the exploding haze of smoke and dust.

Hit! Hit! Hit!

The same thought flashed through the minds of the nine near Martial Arts Masters. Their punches and kicks had all genuinely connected with the target. Individually, they might lack certainty, but with nine near Martial Arts Masters attacking at once, they were confident that even against a Martial Arts Master, this stacked force would be enough to kill him, or at least severely wound him!

“Well struck,”

Qin Fen’s steady, mild voice drifted slowly out of the smoke. Nine pairs of eyes, wide with shock, pierced the dense haze like blades. Such heavy blows landing simultaneously on one target—even superalloy would have been pounded into sludge! Yet, this man’s voice carried full vigor, as if he were entirely unharmed.

Peering through the dust, the nine near Martial Arts Masters were astonished to see that Qin Fen’s skin, where their attacks landed, was smooth and jade-like. It seemed as if any strong light shone upon him would turn his body into a source of illumination. The true Qi from their fists and feet, upon contact, felt as though it was being completely repelled by a strange force, unable to penetrate Qin Fen’s body.

Qin Fen surveyed the various punches and kicks striking him. His state of True Gang entering the body, combined with his protective divine technique, made the boundless power of the nine near Martial Arts Masters’ strikes seem utterly brittle and ineffective.

Outside the smoke, Li Mingzheng rapidly pressed an inconspicuous button on the nearby table. A streak of true Qi shot through the air and shattered the button just before his finger made contact.

“This—”

Li Mingzheng froze. His subtle eye signal just now was intended to prompt the nine near Martial Arts Masters to strike simultaneously, hoping to buy a sliver of time! Even a moment would be enough! With that time, the room’s hidden mechanisms would activate, whisking them from their seats into the underground magnetic levitation vehicles, initiating high-speed escape. Even a Martial Arts Master could not match their resultant speed.

“Are you finished? Then it is my turn.”