Divine Level Witch Doctor

This unexpected development left Kobayashi Haruo stunned for a good ten seconds before he came to his senses.

Heaving a long sigh of relief, he burst out laughing. ”Hahaha! There’s no needle on the board, which means your Golden Needle must have flown off! Oh man, that’s hilarious! Seeing how confident you were, I actually thought your Finger Power was something special. Turns out this is all you’ve got? And you dared to challenge me? You really don’t know your own limits!”

At that moment, Kobayashi Haruo felt like he had just survived a catastrophe. Seeing Zhao Yuan’s apparent failure made him ecstatic, as if he’d just won the lottery.

However, Zhao Yuan’s face showed no trace of annoyance or nervousness. ”Isn’t it a little too early to be celebrating?”

Kobayashi Haruo froze. His excitement vanished, replaced once again by anxiety as his mind raced. ’Does this kid still have a way to turn things around? No way, absolutely impossible! His Golden Needle flew off, so how could he make a comeback? He must be bluffing to scare me!’

As if he had heard Kobayashi’s thoughts, Zhao Yuan spoke. ”Who told you my Golden Needle flew off? And who told you my Golden Needle isn’t inside this board?”

Everyone stared, stunned.

What did he mean? Was the Golden Needle still on the board? That was impossible. Other than Kobayashi Haruo’s Golden Needle, there were no others on the surface.

Zhao Yuan didn’t explain. He turned to Chairman Cui and asked, ”Excuse me, do you have a saw or something similar here?”

”A saw?” Chairman Cui was taken aback.

’Aren’t we in the middle of a Finger Power competition? Why bring a saw into it? Did he fail to place the Golden Needle and now wants to saw off his hand as an apology? There’s no need to take it that far, is there?’

Terrified by the image his own imagination had conjured, Chairman Cui asked meekly, ”What do you need a saw for?”

Zhao Yuan replied, ”To saw open the block of wood, of course, so you can all see where my Golden Needle is. What else would it be for? It’s not like I’m going to saw my own hand off, right?”

Chairman Cui let out a dry laugh and muttered to himself, ’That’s exactly what I was worried about.’

He quickly put two and two together and exclaimed, ”Zhao, what did you say? Don’t tell me your Golden Needle went all the way into the board, handle and all?”

His words sent a shockwave through both the live audience and the viewers watching the online stream.

”What? The handle went into the board along with the needle’s body? How is that possible?!”

”My god, is the Great God joking or is he serious? To drive an entire Golden Needle, one as fine as a hair, completely into a block of wood? How much Finger Power would that take! No, wait, immense Finger Power alone wouldn’t be enough. You’d also need incredible control!”

”Why are you all so shocked about him sinking the whole Golden Needle into the board? I don’t see what the big deal is.”

”Hey, keyboard warrior, don’t run off. If you think it’s so easy, go try it yourself and you’ll see. All Golden Needles are made with a thin body and a thicker handle. This design not only makes them easier to manipulate but also prevents the handle from accidentally entering the body along with the needle. To put it simply, it’s very difficult to get the handle to pierce human skin, let alone a hard, thick block of wood! If it’s true, as the Great God claims, that the entire Golden Needle is inside the board, then his Finger Power and his control over it, even if not number one or two in the world of Acupuncture, would absolutely place him in the top tier!”

”Great explanation! I knew it! How could the Great God possibly fail at showing off? Turns out he was charging up his ultimate move right from the start!”

The live audience and the online stream erupted in discussion. Meanwhile, Kobayashi Haruo, one of the parties involved, was roaring hysterically, ”Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Sinking an entire Golden Needle into a block of wood? Not even my teacher, the Grandmaster of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Genji Doju, can do that! How could a young kid like you possibly pull it off?”

”If your teacher can’t do it, it’s because he never fully mastered his craft!” Zhao Yuan’s words were arrogant, yet so cutting that Kobayashi Haruo was left speechless.

After lightly mocking Kobayashi Haruo and his teacher, Zhao Yuan urged Chairman Cui to get the saw. Understanding Zhao Yuan’s intention, Chairman Cui wasted no more time. He immediately called over a staff member from the Jing City Acupuncture Association and ordered him to find a saw, no matter what.

Impressively, the staff member was extremely efficient. In just a few minutes, he returned with a small saw and handed it to Zhao Yuan.

Weighing the small saw in his hand, Zhao Yuan didn’t start right away. Instead, he beckoned to Kobayashi Haruo and the reporters and streamers he had brought with him. ”Watch closely,” he said. ”And could the cameras please move in a little closer? I don’t want to saw this board open only to have someone jump out and try to weasel their way out of it with excuses like they didn’t see clearly.”

Everyone immediately moved closer, hoisting their cameras and holding out their phones. After a moment’s hesitation, Kobayashi Haruo also stepped forward, his eyes wide as he stared at the thick wooden board, holding his breath.

All he wanted now was to find out if Zhao Yuan had truly sunk the entire Golden Needle into the board. As for losing face, he couldn’t be bothered with that anymore. He had already been thoroughly humiliated today; a little more wouldn’t make a difference.

Wielding the saw, Zhao Yuan began to cut, the blade making a harsh, grating sound.

After just a few strokes, a large chunk of the thick board came off. A brilliant golden light burst forth from within, dazzling everyone’s eyes.

”It’s the Golden Needle! I see the Golden Needle!”

”The Golden Needle really is inside the board! The whole thing is there, not a single bit missing!”

”My God, this is just unbelievable!”

”Look closely! Not only is the entire Golden Needle inside the board, but it’s embedded very deep. This means that even after it left the Great God’s fingers, it still had a lot of force left, enough to let it keep drilling a few more inches into the wood! Man, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d never believe it!”

”Just how strong is the Great God’s Finger Power? If he didn’t practice medicine and used that power to hit people instead, he could probably kill someone in seconds, couldn’t he?”

The bullet comments in the domestic live stream chat instantly flooded the entire screen. All the netizens were expressing their admiration for Zhao Yuan. Meanwhile, the stream for East Japan had just as many comments. Only this time, they were no longer cursing Kobayashi Haruo. The tide had turned, and they had begun to shower Zhao Yuan with praise.

The Japanese have a natural admiration for the strong. Zhao Yuan’s series of displays had shown the demeanor befitting a true master, winning over the Japanese audience. It was no surprise that they now worshiped and praised him.

Zhao Yuan stopped sawing. He held up the thick block of wood for everyone to see, then turned to Kobayashi Haruo and said, ”This is what true Finger Power looks like!”

THUD!

Whether from fright or shock, Kobayashi Haruo’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, landing hard on his rear.

His assistant hurried forward to help him up.

Although he was helped to his feet, Kobayashi Haruo seemed completely stupefied. His mouth hung open as he endlessly mumbled the same words, ”How is this possible... How is this possible...”