At the same time, the other great powers also came to their senses and transformed into streaks of light, rushing into Zixiao Palace with the same target: the six meditation cushions.
The opportunity was right before them. No one wanted to miss it!
Yet the Three Pure Ones and Nüwa seemed to have heaven's aid in the dark, claiming the first four cushions almost instantly.
Relying on his speed advantage, Kunpeng seized the fifth.
Qin Xuan had his sights set on the final cushion. He was extremely fast as well, but just as he was about to touch it, Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi arrived almost at the same time.
Qin Xuan's gaze sharpened. The Law of Strength within him surged at once, and without a second thought, he threw a punch at Hongyun, who stood in his way.
But just as the fist was about to land, Zhen Yuanzi beside Hongyun flicked his whisk. A scroll-shaped dharma treasure flew out and instantly transformed into a dense curtain of earthen-yellow light, shielding Hongyun within.
The Earth Book!
Qin Xuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he forcibly halted his punch.
In an instant, the Law of Strength ran in reverse within his body. Under the backlash, his organs felt as though they had been struck by lightning, and a metallic sweetness rose in his throat.
In the blink of an eye, Hongyun had already plopped down onto the final cushion.
Qin Xuan frowned.
He had rather endured some backlash and stopped, not because he feared Zhen Yuanzi.
The problem was that it was the Earth Book Formation!
It was known as the Primordial World's number one moral blackmail formation!
Attacking the Earth Book Formation was equivalent to attacking the fetal membrane of the Primordial World's earth. Even if Hongjun himself came, he probably would not dare make a move.
Kunpeng, seated beside Hongyun, saw Qin Xuan suffer a setback before the Earth Book's defense and retreat. He could not help feeling rather smug.
He considered himself the fastest in the Primordial World, though he was not nearly as confident in his strength. Seeing Qin Xuan not dare strike even such a "thin" layer of light, contempt immediately appeared in his eyes.
Looks like he's a coward. Such a thin layer of light—I could break it with one hand! Kunpeng thought to himself.
Being stared at so directly, Qin Xuan immediately sensed it. Turning his head, he saw the smug yet disdainful look in Kunpeng's eyes.
Qin Xuan found it amusing.
Wasn't this practically being delivered to him on a platter?
He did not dare attack the Earth Book, but did that mean he did not dare attack Kunpeng?
He immediately strode over to Kunpeng, a friendly smile on his face, and spoke in an even tone:
"Kunpeng, I see that this cushion is fated for me!"
Kunpeng froze. Just as he was about to fly into a rage, a cold and arrogant voice suddenly rang out from nearby:
"Fur-covered, horned creatures, born damp and hatched from eggs—what qualifications do you have to sit alongside us, Pangu's Orthodoxy? Get lost at once!"
The speaker was Yuanshi. He looked at Kunpeng with utter arrogance, and with a single sentence, he drew everyone's hatred.
As soon as those words were spoken, the expressions of many great powers around them changed, and they glared at Yuanshi in anger.
Other than a handful of innate divine beings, who present had not been "fur-covered, horned, born damp, and hatched from eggs"?
Even Nüwa and Fuxi looked at Yuanshi with a hint of displeasure.
Kunpeng's formerly smug face instantly twisted, darkening until it seemed ready to drip water.
But the cushion he had obtained represented an immense opportunity. He could never give it up, so he snarled at Qin Xuan:
"You say it's fated with you, so it is? Are you even worthy?!"
He did not dare provoke Yuanshi and his two brothers, but this useless fellow before him, who did not even dare attack the tiny "Earth Book," dared challenge him?
Kunpeng spread his wings, and the vast aura of a mid-stage Great Golden Immortal suddenly filled the entire front hall of Zixiao Palace.
The pressure was nearly tangible, making the surrounding space emit faint groans as though it could no longer bear the strain.
The next instant, he flapped his wings. Howling gales rose, and sharp wind blades swept toward Qin Xuan!
Such might made many listeners in the hall turn pale.
The strength of a mid-stage Great Golden Immortal was truly terrifying!
Those with weaker cultivation instinctively retreated again and again, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
"Big Sister!" Amid the crowd, Changxi nervously clutched Xihe's arm and whispered, "That birdman is so fierce. Can that fellow cultivator... withstand him?"
Xihe was slightly surprised. She glanced at the calm-faced Qin Xuan, then turned to her younger sister and asked gently:
"You have never met him before. Why are you so worried about him?"
Changxi lowered her little head slightly. A faint blush crept across her ears, and her voice became as soft as a mosquito's buzz:
"He... he's handsome."
"You..." Xihe smiled helplessly and gently patted her younger sister's hand. "Don't worry. That fellow cultivator has an extraordinary bearing. He is certainly no ordinary person."
Just then, a sudden change erupted in the arena.
An utterly ordinary fist flashed through the hall!
Boom!
Before anyone could even see what had happened, they saw a figure fly backward like a kite with its string cut, smashing fiercely into a pillar of Zixiao Palace with a muffled thud.
Then it slowly slid down!
The raging winds came to an abrupt halt.
When everyone looked closely, they all sucked in a cold breath.
That figure was actually Kunpeng!
At that moment, Kunpeng lay curled on the ground, his face twisted in agony. A distinct fist mark had caved in his chest, and who knew how many of his bones had been shattered.
One punch!
With just one punch, Kunpeng, a mid-stage Great Golden Immortal, had been defeated!
Silence. Deathly silence!
Everyone stared at Qin Xuan in disbelief, including the few seated on the cushions at the front.
Kunpeng's strength was not among the very best of them, but he was certainly not weak either. Most of those present believed they were only evenly matched with him.
But Qin Xuan's punch...
Fuxi instinctively shielded Nüwa behind him, his expression more grave than ever before.
Even Taiqing, who had been sitting with his eyes closed in meditation, suddenly opened them. A flash of brilliance passed through his gaze, carrying a trace of shock.
Crack!
A faint sound of breaking shattered the silence.
Kunpeng struggled to rise, and with his movement, one of the wings on his back snapped off at the root and fell onto the gleaming floor.
"Gulp..."
At that moment, Hou Tu, standing beside Qin Xuan, stared at the massive wing on the ground. Her throat bobbed involuntarily as she swallowed.
She suddenly recalled something Qin Xuan had once casually said:
"A Kun is so large that one pot can't stew it all..."
That look, that expression—Qin Xuan knew it too well. It was the true nature of a foodie showing through.
With a casual wave, he stored the severed wing into his storage space.
He had eaten plenty of chicken wings, but this was his first time seeing a Kun wing. It would not be bad to try something new later.
Only after finishing all this did Qin Xuan turn his gaze toward the struggling Kunpeng and ask evenly:
"Fellow cultivator, do you think I am worthy of this cushion now?"
Kunpeng endured the bone-shattering pain, his voice trembling:
"Worthy, worthy! It... it was I who failed to recognize greatness and offended you!"
After saying that, his venomous gaze immediately turned toward Hongyun on the other side.
If that old do-gooder had not insisted on competing for the sixth cushion, how could he have ended up in such a state?
He did not dare harbor even the slightest resentment toward Qin Xuan, who had crippled him with a single punch. He could only firmly pin this debt on Hongyun.
Naturally, he did not know that Qin Xuan had used less than thirty percent of his strength in that punch.
After all, this was Zixiao Palace, Hongjun's territory. Injuring someone was fine, but killing him outright would be somewhat disrespectful.
The current Hongjun was still in the realm of "senior" to him.
As for forming karmic enmity with Kunpeng?
Compared to forming karmic enmity with an Ancestral Witch, one of the protagonists of a calamity?
What was Kunpeng?
Was he worthy?
Was he tired of living?
Qin Xuan naturally noticed Kunpeng's gaze toward Hongyun and understood inwardly:
It seems that even without the matter of giving up the seat, this old do-gooder Hongyun could not escape the fate of being hated by Kunpeng. Was this calamity written into his destiny?
He did not think further. Taking Hou Tu's hand, he led her to the now-vacant cushion while he himself stepped aside.
"Little Brother Xuan!" Hou Tu hurriedly grabbed him. "You seized this cushion with your own ability. You should be the one to sit on it. Your sister can sit beside you." As she spoke, she tried to rise and yield the seat.
But how could her strength possibly match Qin Xuan's?
Qin Xuan pressed down on her shoulder, preventing her from getting up, and said warmly:
"Big Sister Hou Tu, it is only a cushion. There is no need to refuse."
Seeing that Hou Tu was still hesitant, Qin Xuan simply pressed her firmly onto the cushion...
At that moment, a voice filled with arrogance, deliberately lowered yet still clearly audible, drifted over:
"Hmph. Born deficient and ignorant of the heavenly order, and yet you think yourself worthy to stand alongside us, Pangu's Orthodoxy?"
Qin Xuan's eyes flashed like lightning as he followed the voice. The speaker was Yuanshi of the Three Pure Ones, the contempt on his face completely undisguised.
Before you continue