"Bang!"

John Harper slammed his palm onto Ryan Carter's chest. Ryan Carter's body was suddenly forced back several steps, but he quickly regained his footing. He stared blankly at John Harper, who was blocking his path, his eyes filled with confusion, as if wondering why this person had attacked him.

That trace of curiosity lasted only for a moment, then he started walking again, as if he had already forgotten John Harper's previous attack, continuing forward.

"Who dares to cause trouble on our Ling family's territory?"

"Masked coward, you won't escape!"

The two sisters suddenly leapt up, their beautiful faces turning cold, charging toward John Harper together. Two surges of strong spiritual power stirred, causing the mountain wind to howl.

On the mountain path, John Harper stood with his back to his two bewildered daughters, his gaze strangely fixed on Ryan Carter...

Fifteen-year-old Ryan Carter looked thin and small, almost malnourished. Yet, after taking that palm strike, he had only staggered back a few steps and had not collapsed from the force.

Although that strike hadn't used any spiritual power, John Harper knew very well that the force behind it was enough to knock down many martial artists at the third level of body refinement!

From what he sensed just now, there was no obvious spiritual power protecting Ryan Carter's chest, which meant Ryan Carter had no spiritual power within him and couldn't be considered a true martial artist.

Yet Ryan Carter had withstood the blow without falling!

This meant that, beneath Ryan Carter's seemingly frail appearance, there was an unbelievably strong physical body!

Was it simply a matter of physical toughness?

The Ling family patriarch was filled with doubt. After a brief hesitation, he suddenly struck again!

"Crack, crack, crack!"

The bones in John Harper's hand made crisp sounds as his palm suddenly doubled in size!

A thin layer of green mist slowly rose from his palm. As he moved, the green mist flickered, like a cluster of burning green flames.

Green Flame Force, a fifth-grade mortal-level spiritual art—this was a secret technique John Harper had practiced in secret and rarely used, not even his two daughters had ever seen it.

At the mid-stage of the Opening Origin Realm, John Harper channeled ten percent of his spiritual power, his palm burning with green flames, and once again pressed toward Ryan Carter's chest.

"Despicable scoundrel!"

"How dare you!"

The Ling sisters shouted in unison, but they were still some distance from John Harper and could only try to pressure him with words.

John Harper ignored everything else, his enlarged palm shrouded in green mist, now just inches from Ryan Carter's chest. He stared intently at Ryan Carter, wanting to see something out of the ordinary.

"Boom!"

A surge of violent spiritual power, mixed with green smoke, poured into Ryan Carter's chest. In that instant, in Ryan Carter's seemingly eternally vacant eyes, there appeared threads of icy lightning darting about.

Almost simultaneously, a thunderous boom exploded in John Harper's mind, shaking his spirit and making him lose focus.

At that moment, the Ling sisters finally arrived, ready to strike at him with fierce momentum.

John Harper had no time to discern whether the thunder in his mind and the icy lightning in Ryan Carter's eyes were real or just his imagination. Seeing his two daughters about to attack him, he could only retreat in frustration.

Like a wisp of white smoke, he flickered a few times and disappeared into the forest.

"Don't chase him!" Sarah Harper's bright eyes flashed as she called out to stop Emily Harper, her beautiful face grave. "The way he retreated was like a phantom, like lightning—he's definitely not at the body refinement level. He's not someone we can handle."

She bent down and looked at Ryan Carter, who was lying on the stone ground, a dark green handprint on his chest where his clothes had been shattered. Frowning, she said softly, "That man is very dangerous. It's strange—why would he attack a fool? Could he be an old enemy of Grandpa Qin Shan?"

As she spoke, she reached out her fair jade hand, her crystal-clear fingers gently pressing a few times on Ryan Carter's injured area. The confusion on her beautiful face deepened. "He didn't use his full strength at all. The spiritual power that entered Ryan Carter's chest was very weak and is already dissipating. It's really strange—if he wanted to kill Ryan Carter, he wouldn't have stopped there..."

Earlier, John Harper had attacked Ryan Carter with his back to the two sisters, and he was standing between them and Ryan Carter, so the sisters hadn't seen anything unusual about Ryan Carter, nor had they seen his eyes, let alone heard the thunder that exploded only in his mind.

"Yushi, Xuanxuan, carry Ryan Carter back. Whatever happened, wait until your father and I return to discuss it!" On Medicine Mountain, Robert Harper suddenly appeared, calling out loudly.

"Third Uncle, we..." Emily Harper called out.

"I know—a man in white attacked Ryan Carter, we saw it too. Your father has already gone after him. You two take Ryan Carter back first, in case something else happens," Robert Harper said, covering for them.

Hearing this, Sarah Harper didn't think much more about it. Seeing that Ryan Carter had fainted, she had no better option and could only bend down and carry Ryan Carter on her back. "Ugh, this guy is so heavy!"

The graceful elder sister had just lifted Ryan Carter onto her back when her beautiful legs suddenly trembled, and a look of surprise flashed in her bright eyes.

"Sis, what nonsense are you talking about? That fool is so skinny—how could he feel heavy to you?" Emily Harper pouted, thinking her sister was just joking.