Sin Becomes a God

Chapter 41: My Turn

The hands on the stopwatch ticked away; as time passed, they had already reached the number eight. Those who had bet on three, five, or seven seconds were destined to lose their entire stake. Yet they didn’t seem to mind; instead, they all fixed their gaze on Lu Renjia, who was passively taking the blows. For a long time, no one had ever managed to withstand ten punches from the Repairman—let alone a ten-second barrage of twenty punches per second at full force. Everyone could see that the Repairman was now fighting with blind fury. Originally, the crowd had simply wanted to watch Lu Renjia—this exchange student from China—make a fool of himself, but now the situation had taken a different turn. Even the butcher, who was acting as the referee, couldn’t help but start worrying about Lu Renjia. Fox glanced at Sloan and, seeing that he hadn’t spoken up to stop it, hesitated but ultimately chose to remain silent. The Gunsmith’s sharp eyes were fixed intently on the stopwatch in Sloan’s hand; for some reason, he actually found himself hoping that those terrifying ten seconds would end quickly. Human nature is complex. When everyone saw Lu Renjia gritting his teeth and holding on under the Repairman’s storm of punches, some members of the “Brotherhood” actually began cheering for him. “Hang in there… Chinese kid!!!” “Two more seconds… just two more seconds and you’ll win!!!” Once the first person began cheering, the rest of the “Brotherhood” members—whether they simply wanted to see the Butcher lose everything after betting against him or genuinely felt sympathy for Lu Renjia—joined in, their cheers rising in a continuous chorus. The Repairman’s hook punch flew straight toward Lu Renjia’s temple. As a late-stage second-tier martial artist, Lu Renjia naturally sensed the danger; this punch seemed to channel all of the Repairman’s strength. Absolute speed can generate boundless power, and conversely, when power reaches a certain level, it can transcend the barrier of speed. With the Repairman unleashing his full power, the fist—driven by 1. 5 metric tons of wrist strength—swooped forward without a sound. At that moment, Lu Renjia’s nose was crushed, the corners of his eyebrows were split open, and his lips were smeared with blood—he looked utterly battered. But in reality, protected by the “Iron Bone” realm of the second level of the *Invincible Vajra Body Divine Art*, he had suffered no life-threatening injuries. His mind remained clear. With his late-second-tier cultivation, he could have easily dodged this life-threatening punch by simply lowering his head slightly. But Lu Renjia knew that if he dodged, he would lose. And what he would lose was not just the 500,000 in cash and this contest—it would also cast a shadow over his future path in martial arts. Although in the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*, his innate cultivation had been forcibly bestowed upon him through the “Enlightenment Ritual” by that Fire Monk, deep down, Lu Renjia knew that throughout history, every renowned martial artist had been someone who could face mountains of blades and seas of fire without so much as a flicker of a brow—only those daring enough to challenge the heavens and earth were worthy of being called true masters. “Damn it… Once you’re dead, it’s all over… but if I don’t die, I’ll live for ten thousand years!!! I’m a Qualified One from Earth… If I don’t even dare to block a single punch, what right do I have to stand alongside the President and the others in the Battle Chronicle Group Battle? Come on…” Lu Renjia roared inwardly as his surging Nine Yang True Qi raced through his Twelve Regular Meridians. To his surprise, the Yang Qiao Meridian—one of the blocked Eight Extraordinary Meridians—showed a slight loosening. It turned out that under the fifty-fold cultivation acceleration provided by the “Marrow-Cleansing Pill,” the Nine Yang True Qi contained within Lu Renjia’s Twelve Regular Meridians had already reached its peak; all that was needed was a trigger to advance him from a second-rate martial artist to the first-rate realm. Now, faced with the threat of death, Lu Renjia channeled the Nine Yang True Qi within the Twelve Regular Meridians to its absolute limit, just enough to break through the thin barrier obstructing the Yang Qiao Meridian. In the blink of an eye, Lu Renjia seemed to hear the sound of shattering glass—“Crack… crack… crack…”—coming from within his body. As the surging Nine Yang True Qi poured into the Yang Qiao Meridian, his entire being entered a state of profound stillness. The Nine Yang True Qi, built up over time and now unleashed in a single burst, not only cleansed the Yang Qiao Meridian but also, in one fell swoop, opened up the Yin Qiao Meridian as well. In that instant, even the *Nine Yang Divine Art* broke through to the third level—the realm of Nine Yang Reverse Flow. At that moment, the icy voice of the “Evil God System” echoed in Lu Renjia’s mind: “Congratulations to the Qualified One on achieving a breakthrough in the heat of battle. The Qualified One’s physical attributes are as follows: Internal Energy (Early First-Tier), Reflexes 35 (35 times that of an average person), Strength 40 (40 times that of an average person), Speed 35 (35 times that of an average person), and Comprehension 3 (3 times that of an average person). Overall evaluation:E-rank martial artist.” The *Nine Yang Divine Art* is undoubtedly the greatest cheat in the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*. With the *Nine Yang Divine Art* fully mastered, Lu Renjia could, in just a few hours, bring *Eagle Claw Fist*,*Frosty Cotton Palm*, and *Mighty Vajra Palm*—martial arts that typically require decades of intensive study to master—to their highest levels in just a few hours. At this point, Lu Renjia had already entered the realm of a first-rate martial artist. Although he was only at the early stage of this tier, as the *Nine Yang Divine Art* broke through to the third level—the “Nine Yang Reversal”—the *Vajra Invulnerable Body Divine Art*, a passive defense technique within his body, also broke through to a state where it was impervious to water and fire. Although the “Evil God System” had included the E+-ranked Yitian Sword in Lu Renjia’s overall evaluation, there was no denying that his physical stats were now approaching those of Feng Xifan from the film adaptation of *The Deer and the Cauldron*. A dull thud, like the clang of metal, rang out. The repairman’s powerful fist—boasting 1. 5 metric tons of wrist strength—slammed into Lu Renjia’s temple. “FUCK!!!!!” The pain, as if his finger bones were shattering, made the repairman curse uncontrollably. With that punch, the repairman felt as though he’d struck a block of steel. Lu Renjia, who had been sitting on a stool, was sent flying sideways along with the stool. Under the immense force of the impact, Lu Renjia felt as if he’d been struck by a speeding car. He crashed into who knows how many tables before finally coming to a stop. “Click…” Sloan pressed the stopwatch in his hand and shouted, “Time’s up…” The entire restaurant fell deathly silent. Everyone stared at Lu Renjia, who had been sent flying by the Repairman’s left hook. Sloan nodded at the Russian, who shrugged and walked over to Lu Renjia, preparing to carry the unconscious man to the infirmary for treatment. Although Lu Renjia had ultimately been knocked unconscious by the Mechanic’s punch in today’s match, his fearless and unyielding spirit left an indelible impression on everyone present. Cursing under his breath, the Repairman slowly unwrapped the bandage from his left fist. The five fingers on his left hand were swollen as big as radishes, and even his little finger was bent and deformed. The Butcher let out a long sigh of relief. “Phew… thank goodness… thank goodness… otherwise I would’ve lost even my secret stash of savings…” Just as the Russian was about to help Lu Renjia to his feet, he saw Lu Renjia’s eyelid twitch. Then, a puzzling smile curled at the corners of Lu Renjia’s split lips. “I really do have to thank you… Repairman… If you hadn’t made me feel the breath of death, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to break through… Is the time up? Now it’s your turn to sit on the stool and let me fix you, isn’t it?” For a moment, all the “Brotherhood” members in the restaurant stared in disbelief, their eyes wide with shock. Sloan was particularly stunned, muttering to himself, “A breakthrough… He actually achieved a breakthrough under these circumstances…” “Break through what?” Fox voiced the question on everyone’s mind. Sighing, Sloan stared at Lu Renjia as he slowly stood up; a strange gleam flashed in his cloudy eyes. “You all know the three levels of the ‘Assassin’s Heart’: Mastery, Application, and Control…Martial artists, however, are different. Through relentless, rigorous training, they continuously unlock the body’s potential, using the path of martial arts to comprehensively enhance all aspects of physical function—strength, speed, and endurance… This process of improvement requires long-term accumulation, and a breakthrough signifies an exponential increase in all physical metrics—it’s a qualitative leap… Lu Renjia is, without a doubt, the most naturally gifted martial artist I’ve ever seen. Perhaps even their leader, Li, can’t compare to him…” In response to Sloan’s high praise, Lu Renjia stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and stretched. His bones cracked and popped all over. Turning around to face the Russian, whose face was etched with bewilderment and shock, Lu Renjia asked, “Got any cigarettes?” “Uh… yes… yes…” The Russian hurriedly pulled out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Lu Renjia. By this point, a storm of emotions was raging inside the Russian, and he thought to himself, “What on earth is this Chinese man made of… to have withstood the Repairman’s punches for ten whole seconds… that’s two hundred punches…Each punch carried no less than 800 kilograms of force… and that final punch delivered an impact of 1. 5 metric tons… Damn… not even the ‘Cross’ could pull that off…” Paying no heed to the Russian’s bewilderment and shock, Lu Renjia pulled out a cigarette and lit it without a second thought. He took a deep drag and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke. As the Yang Qiao Meridian and Yin Qiao Meridian became unblocked, the Nine Yang True Qi within his body surged ceaselessly like a raging river,The gap between the early stage of a first-tier martial artist and the late stage of a second-tier martial artist—though separated by only a wall—was as vast as heaven and earth. In the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*, a second-tier martial artist’s combat power would be considered decent at 3,500 at most, but upon advancing to first-tier, that power would double. Lu Renjia cast a cold glance at the repairman frozen in place, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Are you ready?” The repairman, frozen in shock, momentarily forgot the pain in his left hand and stood there dumbfounded. Ignoring the stunned repairman, Lu Renjia quickly finished the cigarette in his hand in a few puffs, casually flicked the butt away, and walked slowly toward the repairman, while the shocked “Brotherhood” members automatically parted to make way for him. “How many punches can I throw in a second? I’m not that bored, so I’ve never counted… As for how much strength I have in my wrists? Heh… I don’t know either…All I can tell you is that this style of boxing is called the ‘Mighty Vajra Fist,’ and it dates back hundreds of years… The ‘Vajra’ here isn’t the Transformers from your American cartoons… but rather the celestial deity from Buddhism, the ‘Mighty Vajra’… This is the first time I’ve used this style… If I don’t execute it well, please forgive me…” As he spoke, Lu Renjia had already walked up to the repairman. “I’ll throw just one punch… If you can take it, you win…” After saying this, Lu Renjia glanced at the Butcher. “Fatso… don’t forget to pay back the five million you owe me…” Hearing this Chinese man call him by his childhood nickname once again, the Butcher’s mouth twitched slightly as he said weakly, “How about settling the gambling debt with my body?” “Heh heh heh… We’ll settle our accounts between us later…” With that, Lu Renjia fixed the repairman with an intense stare. Under Lu Renjia’s gaze, the repairman, gritting his teeth, adopted a look of resolute determination, as if ready to face death. He pulled up a stool and sat down. “Come on, then… I don’t believe you can knock me out with a single punch… ‘Mighty Vajra’ or whatever… If you’ve got the guts, bring it on!!!” These seemingly defiant words sounded rather feeble to the onlookers. Lu Renjia struck a strange pose, standing with his feet spread at an awkward angle, then lowered his center of gravity into a horse stance, his right hand drawn to his waist with his fist clenched. Then he took a deep breath and slowly extended his right fist. This slow motion left Sloan, Fox, the Gunsmith, and the Butcher—who were watching the whole thing—completely baffled. Even the Repairman found it hard to believe. “Isn’t a punch supposed to be more lethal the faster it is… and the more powerful it is? This slow… he couldn’t even hit a mosquito… Could it be that he’s holding back to avoid damaging the relationship between their organization and our ‘Brotherhood’?” Fox thought to himself. At that moment, under the Repairman’s puzzled gaze, Lu Renjia’s slow-moving fist gradually approached his chest. Suddenly, Lu Renjia shouted, “Knock on the mountain to scare the tiger…” “Boom…” A whirlwind of air erupted instantly from the repairman’s chest. The immense force made him feel as if he’d been knocked flying by a truck. “Pfft…” A mouthful of blood mixed with bits of flesh spurted out, and the repairman flew backward like a kite whose string had snapped. A loud “Boom…” echoed as the repairman—along with the stool beneath him—was embedded into the restaurant wall.