Faced with that attack, Ye Lingchen shook his head disapprovingly. His right hand formed a claw and met with the meter-long wind blade Qi force.

"What's he trying to do?"

"Is he not countering? Does he want to die?"

Huo Shan and the others were confused. Was Ye Lingchen trying to meet the Qi force attack with his mortal body?

However, the next instant, their expression changed once more as they witnessed a scene that blew their minds.

Ye Lingchen held that incredibly ferocious Qi force in mid-air—it was resting in his palm! He had stopped the meter-long wind blade that threatened to crush everything in mid-air.

Ye Lingchen's hand seemed to have formed an isolated world, and he had absolute control over it.

From an outsider's perspective, the attack meant for Ye Lingchen was caught in his hand. The Qi force was formless, yet it was captured by someone. That feeling sent chills down everyone's spine.

Moreover, that meter-long wind blade started growing continuously and quickly reached two meters! The crowd could even hear the sharp howls of the angry winds!

That was the effect when the spiritual energy from his Cultivation synergized with Dragon-Catcher Hand!

"How's that possible?!" Huo Shan exclaimed in shock.

His wind blade was subdued by another person. That was something he never experienced in his lifetime. It was as if someone managed to hold onto the wind.

"This isn't something martial arts can achieve. How can there be such miraculous techniques in the world?" Huo Shan muttered to himself, feeling his scalp go numb.

Cultivation allowed Ye Lingchen to easily control the spiritual energy around him. Although he had yet to obtain the Wind Spirit Constitution, it did not mean that he could not control the wind. It just required more effort on his end than if he had the Wind Spirit Constitution. However, Huo Shan's attack did not resonate with much spiritual energy, allowing Ye Lingchen to easily grab hold of it.

If one tried to achieve that with martial arts alone, it was extremely difficult.

"Go!"

Ye Lingchen did not even bother looking at the dejected Huo Shan. He flicked his wrist and sent the two-meter long windblade at Huo Shan like a huge blade.

The wind blade's speed was extremely fast. All the martial artists around them could only see a flash of its afterimage.

"Ahh!"

Seeing that, the hair on Huo Shan's entire body stood on end. He felt his body enveloped by the ominous feeling of certain doom. He knew it was impossible to get out of the way and could only meet the attack by giving it everything he had. His feet rubbed against the ground as he took a deep breath, after which he gave a sweeping kick!

That kick formed a curve with a radius the length of his leg. It swept forward, threatening to cut steel apart in an instant.

Boom!

Both wind blades collided with a thunderous roar that could be heard all over as it caused raging winds within the vicinity.

The crowd tried to withstand the raging winds and watched intently. Ye Lingchen's wind blade had plenty of strength to spare and had collided straight onto Huo Shan's chest. Huo Shan was like a kite with its string cut, flying backward. He drew an arc across the air and finally landed with a thud on the ground.

"Elder Huo!" the Mo family members shouted in horror as their faces drained of color.

As for Huo Shan, he had a deep gash running from his left shoulder down to his right waist. It was a gory scene, and one could see the bones of his body exposed. He seemed to be barely alive and was struggling for his last breath.

Silence took over!

All the families at the scene felt a chill run down their spine and spread all over their bodies.

In just one exchange lasting less than 20 seconds, the amazing Huo Shan was at death's door with grievous injuries!

Meanwhile, Ye Lingchen barely did anything. He did not even take it seriously and merely counterattacked using Huo Shan's own attack, turning the wind blade into a flying throwing dagger without using much strength. That calmness and composure seemed so nonchalant.

"Now, what stage do you think I'm at?"

Ye Lingchen still stood at the same spot as he calmly asked the question.

At that moment, everyone at the scene dared not look down on Ye Lingchen any longer. They did not even dare to meet his gaze. None of them expected the bodyguard to be just a cover while the true expert was Miracle Doctor Y himself.

That was just...monstrous!

Who could have thought the amazing Miracle Doctor Y to also be a martial art expert?

'Innate stage?!'

Quite a number of them swallowed hard as cold sweat formed on their foreheads.

"So he's that powerful."

Su Qingxue finally calmed down slightly. Her beautiful eyes turned toward Ye Lingchen as her mouth was left slightly open from the disbelief. The 'boasts' Ye Lingchen made back on the bus seemed to be haunting her ears. Turned out he was not joking all the while.

The head of the five great families narrowed their eyes. The power Ye Lingchen displayed upended their imagination.

Huo Shan was the most affected. His mind was steeped in regret. He did not expect Miracle Doctor Y to be so capable. Moreover, apart from the simple catch and throw, Ye Lingchen did not even show them any other techniques. That itself was a miraculous feat.

'Just what kind of monster is this?' Huo Shan lamented in his heart.

However, he was met with Ye Lingchen's question. "You've yet to tell me what's the half-step innate stage."

Looking at Ye Lingchen's gaze, Huo Shan's heart raced as fear spread through him.

Nevertheless, he was an old-timer in the world of martial artists. He quickly got himself together and answered in a hoarse voice, "Mr. Y, please forgive our Mo family's previous offense. We sincerely admit defeat. The so-called half-step innate stage is a sub-category that we added between the inner force stage and innate stage."

"Inner force mastery can be categorized to novice, amateur, adept, and half-step innate stage. Beyond that would be the innate stage."

Ye Lingchen's brows twitched. As he had expected, the innate stage was a stage beyond the inner force. As for the half-step innate stage, it was just a stage that was forcefully added on.

However, Huo Shan paused for a moment just to deliver a piece of shocking news to them. "Our master of the Mo family had just recently broken through to the innate stage!"

Those words immediately broke the silence as everyone took in deep breaths.

"Innate stage? Master Mo finally broke through?"

"I heard that Master Mo went into seclusion three years ago and never showed himself. Did he really succeed in breaking through?"

"This will throw the whole Sichuan-Tibet region into chaos!"

"That's just terrifying. The Mo family is truly the greatest family here. What monstrous strength!"

Each of the great families started their own discussions. Their eyes were filled with envy and fear.

Meanwhile, the masters of the four great families exchanged looks. Their eyes were filled with worry. If Master Mo really broke through to the innate stage, then they would have no chance at all. In fact, they might even be absorbed into the Mo family.

"Innate stage?"

Only Ye Lingchen remained calm. He was curious about how strong an innate stage martial artist could be. Although he practiced martial arts, he had no clue when it came to the different stages of a martial artist. He merely followed the system's lead. Most importantly, the path he took had branched out. One could say that he had deviated from the path of martial arts. The rankings of the various stages in martial arts meant nothing to him.