“Changge!”

Lyu Hao went up to support Zhao Changge, but Zhao raised his left hand and shook his head gently. “I’m fine, I just suffered some external injuries. Luckily, I broke the Seal of the Heavenly Girl at the very last instant. Otherwise, a few of my bones would have been broken. That young Taoist nun’s strength is truly terrifying.”

“That’s right. I had goosebumps just watching her fight. Isn’t she afraid of scaring off any potential suitor?” Yu Wude said mockingly. Before he finished speaking, however, he realized that there was a black cloud above his head, and that Leng Yueyan had swept her gaze casually over him. His neck shrank, and he tried to laugh it off. “My Yiyi is still the best!” he said.

“Damn you. Don’t let me get my hands on you, or I’ll make you look ‘good’!” Shangguan Yiyi had overheard him somehow, and she was shaking her fists in anger.

“Oh, I see that you can’t forget me, and that you’re still reminiscing about me, Yiyi. Brother Yu looks ‘good’ even if when you’re not grabbing him, thanks for the concern!” Yu Wude said cheerfully to Shangguan Yiyi.

“Be careful. I’ll let you suffer if you fall into my hands!” said Shangguan Yiyi as she raised an exquisite finger and pointed at him.

“Look at you. I’ll be yours if I fall into your hands. Why wouldn’t my life be good if that happens? Stop trying to put up an act. We’ll lead a blissful life together, and it’ll be a match made in Heaven!” Yu Wude continued to tease her.

“You! You! This is so infuriating! Just you wait, I’ll kill you!” Shangguan Yiyi replied. Her delicate features had turned even redder than the evening sky, and she was so angry that she was stamping her foot. If Meiqing had not held her back, she would have charged toward the cheeky man.

“Tough love is true love, I say. So, you’re completely in love with me, Junior Shangguan!” Yu Wude said, forcibly speaking in a low voice.

“Go and die!!” Shangguan Yiyi exclaimed, completely enraged by now. She waved her fists at Yu Wude, and a powerful murderous aura began to fill the air, causing all practitioners between them to retreat.

“That’s enough, shut up,” Wang Bugui said, finally requesting for Lyu Hao and Zhao Changge to keep Yu Wude’s mouth shut. If he went on, they would really have a fight on their hands.

The next matchup was announced after a short break. The names of the combatants appeared in the skies, and everyone began to get excited again after seeing the words “Recreational practitioner Wang Bugui versus Wu Kuang of Lingwu Sect”.

“It’s my turn already!” Wang Bugui said with a casual smile. He then appeared at the middle of the arena in the next instant.

“I’m going!” Wu Kuang bid his juniors and seniors farewell before leaping into the center of the arena.

As the two previous titanic battles had smashed the arena beyond recognition, Tong Yixing began using the stone discs to repair the arena as he stood in the palace. He added a few more layers of protective barriers to prevent the arena from being damaged easily, as repairs took up additional time. The practitioners began discussing among themselves again as they looked at the two combatants facing off.

“Wang Bugui has been concealing his true power and only showed us a glimpse of his might yesterday. How strong is he truly?”

“The Lingwu Sect follows a Taoist school which focuses on training one’s body. Legend has it that they have a technique called the Unyielding Martial Form. Anyone who masters it can go toe to toe with the 30 Foot Golden Body Manifestation of the Buddhists!”

“Their Physical Training is ranked second in the entire world, and only the Palace of the Human Emperors, with its peerless lineage, can compete with them. Wang Bugui will definitely meet his match today.”

…

The practitioners were interested in the matchup. From the previous battle, they could see that Wang Bugui’s physique was considerably strong, but they felt that it was definitely no match for the disciple of a sect which focused on Physical Training. Many of them hoped to see him being taught a good lession by Wu Kuang, especially those practitioners and elders who had lost their precious artifacts to him. They gritted their teeth as they thought about being cheated by those four people, their faces turning completely dark.

“Clang!”

The clear sound of the ancient bell ringing reverberated throughout the arena, signaling the start of the third competition.

“Heavenly Cloud Technique!”

Wu Kuang roared, and he was planning to start strong. He knew that he could not dally around with such an opponent, and that he had to subdue him from the start to prevent him from counter attacking in the later stages. Wang Bugui unleashed his Mental Prowess and used his Hell Step to deal with his opponent’s attacks.

Wu Kuang’s fist came crashing toward Wang Bugui, and he sidestepped to dodge the blow. He also evaded the next dozens of punches. Wu Kuang suddenly kicked at his opponent, but Wang Bugui absorbed the force of the attack with just one arm. He then took three consecutive backward leaps to avoid the chain of kicks which came flying toward him. He reached an arm out immediately after his feet touched the ground to absorb yet another punch.

“Bam! Bam!”

Huge ear-rattling sounds of their bodies smacking into one another rang out, and they had exchanged thousands of blows in the blink of an eye. Wu Kuang frowned as he noticed that his opponent seemed to be very calm. He became angry as the thought, “I’m a genius who has been lauded as a great talent since a young age. How can I be looked down upon by a recreational practitioner?”

“Ah!”

Wu Kuang increased the force of his next punch, and Wang Bugui reacted by channeling his blood vigor into his next blow. A huge shockwave was generated by the impact of their exchange, and a strong gale began blowing. Wang Bugui, who was in the middle of the storm, launched another attack with a powerful kick. His opponent blocked it with both arms and Wang kept up the pressure with a chain of dozens of kicks.

Wu Kuang met fire with fire and found an opportunity to knock his opponent backward. As the distance between them grew, he suddenly attacked with a Cloud Piercing Kick. An immense amount of spiritual force was contained in the kick; he wanted to gain the upper hand. Wang Bugui secretly channeled his power and returned serve with a Meteorite Kick. Up till now, he had not used his Innate Prana Power and was relying solely on his vast amount of blood vigor.

“Ergh!”

It was Wu Kuang himself who suffered from the clash. A micro fracture appeared on his shin bone, and he leaped far away to regenerate with his spiritual power. Wang Bugui did not follow up and gave him time to heal. He then charged forward again when his opponent had fully recovered.

He struck with a blow of his Break Heaven Fist, and the impact caused Wu Kuang’s blood vigor to become turbulent after he met the attack head on. He gritted his teeth and continued fighting in anger. He lashed out with a powerful Shattering Martial Fist, which his opponent blocked with one arm before striking at him with the other. Wu Kuang leaped back to avoid the blow before somersaulting into the air to avoid his opponent’s sweeping kick. He then used the momentum of his jump to launch an airborne elbow strike on Wang Bugui.

Wang Bugui immediately kept his sweeping leg back upon seeing the attack and flipped himself upside down. He supported his body weight on both hands and kicked at his opponent. Both of them had secretly infused their attacks with Tao and magic, and another huge boom rang out. They retreated faraway from each other. Wu Kuang could feel his entire arm turning numb and thought, “I didn’t expect my opponent’s body to be so tough. Looks like I have to show my true power.”

“Lording Over All Beings, Unmatched Martial Prowess!”

He let out an angry roar and forced two forces out of his body, one of them white and the other black. His abilities had been increased by a few times beyond their usual levels now. He unleashed his Heavenly Palm, and a giant white palm flew out. Wang Bugui summoned a huge giant hand to meet it head on, and both gigantic hands turned into a shower of light as they clashed.

Wang Bugui seemed to have realized something and leaped up into the air. Wu Kuang’s leg came flying toward him less than a second after his feet left the ground, and he used the momentum to launch an airborne Extreme Heaven Explosion assault. Powerful punches rained down on Wu Kuang, and he was not fast enough to block all of them. A few of them fell on his shoulders.

Wang Bugui followed up with an immensely powerful punch. It came crashing toward Wu Kuang with tremendous force, and it forced the ground, which had been protected by a few defensive barriers, to sink by a few inches. Needless to say, the amount of spiritual force unleashed by Wang Bugui was immense. It forced Wu Kuang to kneel, and before the force of the blow had dissipated, Wang Bugui somersaulted in the air and kicked him directly, causing him to fly backward.

There was a huge crash, and Wu Kuang only stopped moving backward only after a long passage had been carved into the ground. He was trembling in anger as he had never been put down in this way before. He had been suppressed by Wang Bugui ever since he counter attacked, and he had not managed to turn the tide even after using his forbidden art. He got up slowly and coughed out a mouthful of blood. “You’ve pissed me off, and you’re going to have to pay for that!” he said.

“Come on then!” Wang Bugui replied coldly.

All of the practitioners who were watching were shocked. None of them had expected a disciple from a sect which prided itself on physique cultivation to lose out to that of Wang Bugui’s, and for Wu Kuang to be seriously wounded as well. They were alarmed at how strong Wang Bugui was.

“Worship the martial arts, and become obsessed with it. Challenge the heavens!”

Wu Kuang seemed to have been driven wild with anger, and his eyes had been replaced with a terrifying neon red glow. A ruthless aura emanated from his body, and he seemed to have lived up to his namesake – to become obsessed with martial arts! It was a technique of his own creation, and it triggered a power that was 10 times more powerful than his usual self. It leaked out of the arena, terrifying all of the practitioners and causing their hairs to stand.

Green veins protruded out of his skin. “I’m going to cripple you with the next move!” he roared.

“You’ve already lost by using a technique that you can’t control or direct. Let me teach a lesson about what cultivating one’s body is all about!” Wang Bugui chided angrily. He then channeled his Heavenly Battling Force secretly, and there was no overwhelming aura leaking to the surroundings. In fact, he gave off a very calm aura.

Wu Kuang was already charging toward him by this time like an uncontrollable beast released from its cage to look for prey. Wang Bugui raised his fist gradually, and the spectators noticed that a gale was forming around his hand as he raised it. It was formed by immense spiritual power, and a vast pool of blood began surging out, engulfing the entire arena in the process.

“What powerful blood vigor!”

A few practitioners could not help but exclaim. “Who could compete with such immense blood vigor? No wonder his body is so tough”, they thought. Wang Bugui kept absorbing huge amounts of spiritual force from the surrounding, and he punched out when Wu Kuang was about half a meter away from him. It struck Wu Kuang directly on his abdomen, and the surrounding air and spiritual force rapidly condensed before exploding in the next instant.

“Boom!”

Wang Bugui struck with his Break Heaven Fist at maximal force, and it came crashing down upon Wu Kuang with 50 kilograms of force, along with immense spiritual force and blood vigor. The spectators observed a red ball of light rapidly growing bigger and breaking apart. The blinding red flash that ensued engulfed the entire arena, along with everyone else. Even the Headmasters and elders in the palace observed with their eyes wide open.

It took an entire minute for the red light to completely vanish.

“What?! This…!”

Everyone suddenly realized that the entire arena was beyond recognition again. It had sunk by few centimeters, and a huge crater about 30 meters wide appeared in the center of the arena. Wu Kuang himself was lying right in the middle of the crater. Wang Bugui stood beside him and turned to sweep his gaze across all the spectators. It was as if an indomitable demon was staring at them, and it caused the spectators to take two steps back involuntarily.

They felt as though their hearts had leaped out of their chests, and they tried to forcibly control their fear. Wang Bugui had won, and he had absolutely no doubt that he would win. He had even boasted of teaching Wu Kuang the true meaning of physical cultivation, and he did it. Wang Bugui had beat the sect which prided itself on physical training at its own game.

“The meaning of physical cultivation is to discover the hidden potential at the extreme limits of the human body, along with its amazing properties. If one’s strength is insufficient, one should forcibly train. So what if one’s bones are broken, or one’s ligaments are torn? Rejoin them and break them again. Only then, one can be considered as having embraced physical cultivation. You can’t achieve that merely by using magic. Suffering and cultivating an unbreakable body; that is the true path!”

Wang Bugui chided the semi-conscious Wu Kuang before leaping out of the crater and turning to leave. The other practitioners parted a way for him, and none of them dared to look down upon him again. His strength was so terrifying that it was suffocating.

A little of the usual devilshness was gone from his face, replaced by pride and authority. It made all of the ordinary practitioners bow down to his might, and even the geniuses that remained were moved. All of them acknowledged that he was a peerless opponent.