Chapter 64: Dark Iron Kitchen Knife

Patting Tianhao on the shoulder, Lin Dong stepped forward boldly. In his right hand, a brand-new bench appeared silently.
Qiao Tianhao’s eyes lit up. This time he saw clearly—the bench in Lin Dong’s hand had appeared out of nowhere. That meant the other party possessed a storage spirit ring.
Scanning Lin Dong’s hands, he spotted a copper ring. Qiao Tianhao was overjoyed. Though unattractive, it was undoubtedly a storage spirit ring; otherwise, there was no other explanation.
A storage spirit ring! He had long wanted one, but they were exorbitantly expensive. His monthly salary went toward purchasing spirit stones for cultivation, leaving him unable to save enough money. Now, it seemed one had fallen from the sky.
Instantly, Qiao Tianhao’s gaze toward Lin Dong lost its anger, replaced by gleaming admiration, as if the man before him was a great god of wealth.
When they were less than five meters apart, both rushed at once. Lin Dong moved swiftly, flashing past Qiao Tianhao and appearing beside him. He swung the bench hard at Qiao’s left arm.
Bang!
Qiao Tianhao cried out in pain and flew sideways. As he spun, he raised his right arm, and the dark iron knife created a series of blue light barriers to block the still-unwithdrawn bench.
With several sharp sounds, the long bench shattered like tofu under the impact of the light barriers.
Lin Dong watched Qiao Tianhao fly away before looking down. His bench was now half the length, with a smooth cut.
“Truly worthy of being a dark iron kitchen knife.”
Lin Dong was amazed. He tossed the half-bench aside and flipped his hand, producing another one.
“Dad!”
In the distance, Tianhao wanted to step forward but dared not defy Lin Dong’s earlier instructions.
“It’s fine! Dad has plenty of these.”
Lin Dong smiled, shaking the bench in his hand. The earlier clash had increased his confidence in victory.
With the Ethereal Step and the Immortal Body realm, along with dozens of benches, as long as he could end the fight quickly, Qiao Tianhao’s powerful weapons would be useless.
Stomping his right foot on the ground, Lin Dong took advantage of Qiao Tianhao’s unsteady footing and rushed forward.
“Damn it! How fast is he?”
Blue light reappeared. Learning from his previous defeat at the Martial Assessment Institute, Qiao Tianhao stopped attacking. The moment Lin Dong turned into a blur, he slowly rotated his body, swung his right arm, and the dark iron kitchen knife transformed into layers of light barriers, shielding him completely.
Swish!
Lin Dong appeared behind Qiao Tianhao. He changed the bench’s motion from sweeping to stabbing. Upon touching the light barriers, it seemed to be thrown into a meat grinder—huge force surged into his palm, sending wood fragments flying everywhere.

Startled, Lin Dong dropped the half-bench in his hands, and the immense force surging into his palms dissipated. He stared at Qiao Tianhao, who had sheathed his sword, with a slightly tense expression.

“Ha, scared now?” Qiao Tianhao smirked, tapping the back of his sword dismissively. “Don’t think just because you’re fast makes you special. With my sword skills, there’s no way you can get close. I advise you to keep that arm wearing the storage spirit ring if you don’t want to suffer.”

Lin Dong was speechless. Was this kid getting too arrogant? Being able to use a sword to protect his entire body meant his sword skills were indeed formidable, but it was still just enough for self-defense. If he didn’t get close, what could he do?

It was a shame! The spiritual energy in his dantian wasn’t enough to enable him to use the air control technique. Otherwise, if he could control Qiao Tianhao’s black iron kitchen knife in mid-air, even just slowing it down temporarily, it would be enough for him to knock Qiao Tianhao away with a bench.

But…

Lin Dong scanned the hall and his gaze settled on a wooden counter not far away. Just as he was about to move, the back door burst open, and burly men armed with long sticks rushed in. By their appearance, they were clearly guards from the Maple Forest Tavern.

“Get lost…” Seeing that the guards planned to surround Lin Dong, Qiao Tianhao snapped impatiently, “You’re not needed. With his weak abilities, I, Lord Qiao, can handle him alone.”

The burly men were glad not to have to fight alongside this plague. They turned their attention to Tianhao, who was standing at the door. Thinking it impossible for someone his age to be a master, they charged over.

In an instant, the sound of bangs filled the air. Lin Dong glanced up and saw that Tianhao wasn’t even engaging directly. He grabbed a table, fought while running, and smashed anything in sight. The guards, instead of being alarmed, were pleased, thinking Tianhao was too weak to fight head-on. They cheered and chased after him relentlessly.

With the strength of the Ninth Level of the Spirit Mobility Phase, he had no need to worry about facing a few guards. Lin Dong wasted no more time and headed toward the counter.

“Trying to run? The main door is closed. Can you really escape?”

Qiao Tianhao laughed and chased after him with his sword in hand.

Discarding the bench, Lin Dong suddenly grabbed the counter. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the two-meter-long counter into the air. Then, when Qiao Tianhao was less than three meters away, he turned sharply and pushed hard. The massive counter flew through the air, heading straight for Qiao Tianhao.

“No matter how big it is, it’s useless!”

Although Qiao Tianhao tried to dodge, it was already too late. He scoffed stubbornly, quickly twisted his wrist, and swung his black iron kitchen knife, which emitted bursts of green light, toward the counter.

The moment the two collided, wood shards flew everywhere, and the huge counter shrank at a visible speed.

“I’ve cut down even bigger spiritual beasts. It’s just a blink of an eye.”

Qiao Tianhao curled his lips. As he sharpened the knife, the lightning-fast black iron kitchen knife forced him to retreat without even needing to strike, as the counter couldn’t be pushed forward by an inch.
“Is that so?”
A shadow flashed beside him. Lin Dong thrust the bench at him.
Qiao Tianhao was shocked and finally understood Lin Dong’s intention.
By the time he tried to react, it was already too late. With a gritted tooth, he realized that compared to the bench, the counter, moving at high speed, was far more terrifying. He immediately ignored the incoming bench.
Thwack!
The tip of the bench pierced deep into Qiao Tianhao’s side, stopping only four or five centimeters in. A sharp pain hit his waist, draining all his strength. The tightly swirling black iron kitchen knife suddenly stalled, while half of the counter rushed forward, knocking Qiao Tianhao flying.
With a loud clatter, the black iron kitchen knife fell to the ground. The counter trembled beneath it, but Qiao Tianhao didn’t get up for a long time.
Lin Dong smiled indifferently, retracted the bench, and moved the counter. Looking up, he saw the hall in chaos, with Tianhao still running around frantically with his guards.
“Tianhao, it’s time to go!”
“Mm!”
Suddenly, Tianhao stopped. His dark right hand formed a fist, and as the five guards kept charging, he slammed his fist hard onto the ground.
Boom…
The ground shook violently. The five guards flew backward like leaves in a storm. The entire restaurant trembled—its power even greater than Jiang Kui’s roar.
Lin Dong grinned. “That’s awesome! Group attack!”
Tianhao scratched his head and apologized, “The rules state that the sect’s spiritual techniques cannot be shared outside. If Dad wants to learn, I’ll talk to the master. He should agree.”
“No need. Dad has better spiritual techniques; he just lacks the strength to use them yet.”
Lin Dong shook his head. Each skill has its own expertise. Though that move was impressive, it could never surpass the Sky Controlling Art.
Glancing at Qiao Tianhao, who was still struggling to get up, Lin Dong walked over and picked up the black iron kitchen knife from the ground.
“That’s mine! It belongs to me!” Qiao Tianhao’s eyes turned red with anger.
“You destroyed two of my benches and wasted over a minute of our father-son time. How can there be no loot?” Lin Dong dismissed him disdainfully.
“Brother, sir, that’s mine! My stuff! Good people wouldn’t do such things…”
Watching the black iron kitchen knife disappear into Lin Dong’s hands, Qiao Tianhao was utterly devastated. He had thought today would be lucky—his enemy had come to him on his own, even bringing a storage spirit ring. But now, everything had turned out like this!
The father and son exchanged smiles, pushed open the door, and left.