Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 41: Sudden Attack

After all, he had just come from the mines, so upon arriving in Beiye City, he was suspicious of everyone who approached him.

Xu Yunfan’s cold expression softened slightly.

He thought for a moment. "You really want this house?"

Hearing Xu Yunfan relent, Qin Bo quickly replied, "Yes, this is my ancestral home. I was a bit too eager yesterday. My Junior Sister Fei has a hot temper and only heard half the story. When she learned my house had a new owner, she thought that if she scared you a little, we could easily buy it back."

He gave a bitter laugh and cupped his hands. "I hope Brother Xu can forgive us. This was indeed our fault. When Junior Sister Fei’s injuries have healed a bit, I will bring her over to apologize."

Xu Yunfan nodded slightly, turning to walk as he spoke. "Since this is your ancestral home and you’re willing to be reasonable, I won’t make things difficult. Come in and we’ll talk."

"Thank you."

Qin Bo took a deep breath and slowly followed Xu Yunfan into the house.

The moment he stepped inside, his gaze subconsciously darted toward a corner of the courtyard.

In that instant, his pupils constricted violently.

A bluestone brick at the base of the courtyard wall was shattered. ’That’s where it was buried—the one thing that matters most!’

In an instant, a surging tide of shock and rage completely flooded his mind.

’Someone dug it up!’

He snapped his head up, eyes rapidly turning bloodshot as he fixed a deathly stare on Xu Yunfan’s back.

Xu Yunfan, however, remained completely oblivious, continuing, "I only bought this house from a brokerage a few days ago. I’ve only given it a preliminary cleaning; the furniture is basically untouched. I won’t give you a hard time. The Silver Notes I got from your junior sister amounted to just a thousand taels of silver. Add to that my own..."

"CLANG!"

The crisp sound of metal striking something hard suddenly echoed through the otherwise quiet courtyard.

Feeling a sharp sting at his side, Xu Yunfan whipped his head around to see Qin Bo, dagger in hand, stabbing viciously at his kidney.

The dagger tore through his skin, tough as oxhide, but the tip only sank in a fraction of an inch.

Qin Bo was a Martial Artist, after all, and his strike was incredibly powerful. It pierced the skin at Xu Yunfan’s waist, but an instant later, his muscles subconsciously contracted, clamping down on the blade like an iron vise and stopping it dead in its tracks.

"What... are you doing?"

Xu Yunfan’s gaze lowered. His voice was deep and steady, without a hint of fluctuation.

A bitter taste filled Qin Bo’s mouth, his eyes wide with disbelief. He stammered, "A Horizontal Practitioner?!"

He felt as if his world was collapsing. The random person he had targeted turned out to be an incredibly rare Cross-training Martial Artist.

The rage in Xu Yunfan’s heart ignited like a powder keg.

’It’s a good thing I cultivate the Copper Body Skill,’ he thought. ’Anyone else would have been completely incapacitated by that strike, left on the brink of death.’

’A pierced kidney... In an age with such terrible hygiene, it’s practically a fatal wound. God knows if a doctor could even treat it. Most likely, you’d just be left to die.’

He was both furious and alarmed. The Blood Qi in his body surged like a sudden clap of thunder.

In an instant, his heart rate skyrocketed to nearly three hundred beats per minute. A massive volume of blood, along with rapidly surging hormones, rushed through his entire body.

His muscles instantly tensed and swelled as if being inflated. Veins bulged across the surface of his skin like the gnarled roots of an old tree, looking especially monstrous under the sun.

A faint coppery sheen even appeared on his skin. As he moved, the sunlight caught it, causing his body to flicker with a metallic luster.

Xu Yunfan’s hand shot out like lightning, clamping down on Qin Bo’s shoulder as he tried to retreat.

His immense strength drove his fingers deep into the muscles of Qin Bo’s shoulder, pinning him in place and preventing him from retreating even an inch.

The pain completely ignited Qin Bo’s savage nature.

He knew that without a Sharp Blade Level weapon, ordinary Mortal Soldiers couldn’t harm Xu Yunfan in the slightest. Making a split-second decision, he let go of the dagger.

Qin Bo’s Blood Qi surged, and the muscles in his arms bulged as if they would burst through his skin.

His palms, engorged with Blood Qi, seemed to swell a full size larger.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Bo let out a sharp grunt and slammed his palm toward Xu Yunfan’s temple.

The wind from his palm strike howled, its immense power making the air WHOOSH.

Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t even seen the attack. He simply lowered his head and charged forward, rapidly closing the distance.

"THUD!"

The force of the palm strike rocked Xu Yunfan’s head, making his eyes tremble violently in their sockets.

’A direct hit!’

A wave of ecstasy washed over Qin Bo. He knew that before they reached the Perfection Realm, all Horizontal Practitioners had weak points. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The groin, throat, and temples were nearly impossible to fortify with Strength Refining, leaving them as vulnerable as any normal person’s.

The ecstasy hadn’t lasted for even half a second before Qin Bo felt his side being clamped in an iron grip.

The next moment, he was hoisted into the air and then slammed straight into the ground like a falling star.

"BANG!"

The massive impact nearly scrambled his internal organs, and his condensed Blood Qi was thrown into disarray. His eyes twitched uncontrollably as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Seeing Qin Bo still trying to struggle to his feet, Xu Yunfan didn’t hesitate. He bent down, wrapped his arms around the man’s waist, planted his feet, and let out a low grunt as he engaged his core.

The muscles in his arms swelled, and veins popped into sharp relief across his skin.

Then, a powerful force surged up from the ground, channeling through the layers of his muscles as if he were hoisting a massive weight, and erupted with sudden violence.

Xu Yunfan once again hoisted Qin Bo into the air, then spun and smashed him back down onto the ground.

"THOOM!"

A sickening thud, accompanied by the sound of cracking bone, rang out. Qin Bo didn’t even have time to grunt before he lost consciousness.

Xu Yunfan slowly released his grip, his face impassive.

He was a little bewildered. ’Why are all these Mortal Martial Sect Members so insane?’

’We barely exchange a few words and they’re already trying to backstab me.’

’What the hell is wrong with them?!’

Xu Yunfan let out a breath and stretched his limbs, slowly calming the turbulent Blood Qi within him.

He rolled up his sleeves, put his hands on his hips, and shook his head to clear the lingering dizziness.

Although Qin Bo’s palm strike hadn’t caused any real damage, it had left his head ringing.

With his mastery of the Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hammer, he could have easily dodged it in close combat.

In a word: tough.

When fighting a Cross-training Martial Artist up close, as long as you didn’t strike a vital point, they were practically unstoppable within the same Realm—provided their opponent lacked Secret Martial Arts or a Sharp Blade Level weapon.

He slowly paced around the courtyard. He finally recalled that just as he had turned, Qin Bo had glanced at the base of the courtyard wall, and his whole demeanor had instantly changed.

A thought struck him, and he walked toward the courtyard wall.