Defeated and Forced to Retreat

A gust of wind swept past, stirring the snow on the ground.

Jin Sanqiu's figure suddenly flickered. His right leg cracked through the air like a whip, lashing straight at Elder Ping standing in the courtyard.

Though his body was squat, plump, and round, such nimble and swift movements looked rather comical at first glance.

Yet the entire sequence flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest awkwardness. Faintly, it was even accompanied by the Sound of Wind and Thunder.

It was precisely the Golden Thunder Martial Academy's ultimate technique—Thunderous Leg.

Once the kick was unleashed, it was like startled thunder streaking across the sky, carrying immense force and crushing weight.

Facing Jin Sanqiu's savage assault, Elder Ping remained unhurried and calmly extended his right hand.

The movement appeared slow, yet it was in fact swift to the extreme, striking after yet arriving first.

At the instant the gale from the kick reached him, he formed his palm into a blade and slashed it sideways, precisely chopping toward his opponent's ankle.

After one touch, he withdrew, already diverting three-tenths of Thunderous Leg's fierce power and neutralizing its attack.

At the same time, Elder Ping's left palm silently thrust out, stamping toward Jin Sanqiu's shoulder blade.

Jin Sanqiu's heart tightened slightly. His attack had missed, so he immediately used the momentum to withdraw his leg and twist his body.

His fat, massive body was as agile as a loach slipping into water. With a single spin, he evaded the strike.

His toes touched down, and he had already slid more than ten feet away, once more assuming his stance.

In the flash of sparks from flint, the two had already exchanged several moves.

After separating at a touch, they each stood still, their breaths calm, as though neither had moved at all.

Jin Sanqiu's expression gradually darkened, and the bewilderment in his eyes grew ever stronger.

Staring At Elder Ping, turmoil surged within him—

Rumor had it that Ping Jiuxiao had suffered grave injuries years ago, and his Cultivation Level had fallen drastically.

Over the past few years, he had kept a low profile and rarely gone out, already showing signs of an oil lamp running dry.

Yet during those brief exchanges just now, his power had flowed in perfect harmony, and his blood and qi were hidden like a blazing furnace.

His foundation was clearly deep and his inner breath abundant. Where was there even the slightest sign of grave injuries or impending death?

There was even a faint, almost intangible pressure that made him, who had only just stepped into the Organ Refining realm, feel a trace of suffocation.

"Impossible!"

Jin Sanqiu thought to himself:

"This old bastard must be forcibly suppressing his injuries, barely raising a breath to put on an act. Let's see how long you can keep it up!"

With that thought, a fierce glint flashed through his eyes, and he stopped probing.

Since he had already made his move today, he absolutely would not return empty-handed!

Jin Sanqiu suddenly let out a low shout. His blood and qi surged explosively throughout his body, and his entire figure swelled slightly as though inflated.

He stomped his right foot fiercely upon the ground, shattering the bluestone slab beneath it.

Using the force of that stomp, his fat body rose lightly into the air as though weightless, soaring over ten feet high.

In midair, he violently exerted force through his waist, spinning like a top three times in rapid succession to build up his momentum.

Then, using the combined force of his descent and rotation, Jin Sanqiu cleaved down with one leg.

It was no longer a probing whip kick, but an exceptionally fierce and violent move of Thunderous Leg—Thunder Roars in All Directions.

Before the leg even arrived, the fierce wind had already crushed the breath from one's lungs.

That kick, carrying over ten thousand jin of force, made Jiang Qinghe, watching from the side, catch his breath. He could not help worrying for his Master.

Elder Ping raised his head and looked at the figure bearing down from above, disdain on his face.

"So you've stepped into Organ Refining. Unfortunately, you're still not worth looking at!"

Before his words had even faded, his aura abruptly changed.

He lowered his waist and settled into his stance, drawing in his chest slightly as the force throughout his body flowed like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, gathering in his palms.

The next moment, Elder Ping suddenly opened his mouth and exhaled with a shout, like thunder exploding from level ground.

His slightly drawn chest abruptly expanded, and both palms fiercely thrust upward.

The wind from his palms was fierce and violent, yet it carried a strange, hidden force of vibration.

At the same time, Elder Ping still had strength to spare. Turning his head, he shouted at Jiang Qinghe and Zhao Guangyi, who were nervously watching nearby, "Watch carefully! Force travels through the whole body, like waves and billows. The source stirs, and power is born! When you can turn yourselves into the source of those waves, you will have truly grasped the essence of Mountain Shaking Palm!"

As he spoke, palm and leg collided with a thunderous crash!

"Bang—!"

The explosive sound was like muffled thunder rolling over the Martial Academy. Visible ripples in the air burst outward from where the two had clashed, sweeping snowflakes from the ground into the air.

When true masters fought, there was no need for cumbersome moves.

Life, death, victory, and defeat had already been decided in a single ultimate technique.

In midair, Jin Sanqiu's expression changed drastically.

He felt the force of his Thunderous Leg strike a wall of steel forged ten thousand times.

Not only had it failed to shake it in the slightest, but a vast and tyrannical force, containing several layers of vibrations, surged into his body along his leg bones.

Jin Sanqiu's body strangely froze in midair for an instant.

The next second, the rebounding force erupted with a boom.

With a muffled groan, he flew backward even faster than he had come, like a stone hurled from a catapult, shooting more than twenty feet into the air.

After landing in a sorry state, he staggered back another seven or eight steps. His face first turned deathly pale, then flushed red.

He Chong and Qin Wu had already watched with their hearts in their throats. Seeing this, they rushed forward in alarm and steadied him from either side.

A sweetness rose in Jin Sanqiu's throat as a mouthful of reverse-flowing blood surged to his lips, but he forcibly swallowed it back down.

He abruptly raised his head and looked toward Elder Ping, who still stood steadily in place. His face was filled with horror as he roared inwardly:

"This old bastard's force is so vast and powerful. There isn't the slightest sign that his old injuries have yet to heal!"

By then, Elder Ping had withdrawn his stance. His hands were casually clasped behind his back, his expression calm.

"Jin Sanqiu, well? Can these old bones of mine still withstand your tossing about?"

Hearing This, Jin Sanqiu's face turned iron-blue.

"Ping Jiuxiao, very good! It was I, Jin, who failed to recognize greatness and misjudged you. Farewell!"

"Hold it. Do you take this place for a teahouse? You come when you please and leave whenever you wish?"

Jin Sanqiu halted. His back stiffened where he stood, but he did not turn around. He merely squeezed a few words through clenched teeth.

"What do you want?"

Elder Ping's gaze slowly swept over Jin Sanqiu's right leg, which trembled faintly from the shock injury.

"Since you came, you must leave something behind. How about this? Give up another twenty percent of the Blood Activating Powder allocation."

Jin Sanqiu's chest heaved violently.

But when he recalled that palm strike from before, the fierce glint in his eyes faded again.

Only after several breaths did he say unwillingly, "Fine. As you say."

With that, Jin Sanqiu had no face to remain. He fiercely flung his sleeve and led the Golden Thunder Martial Academy group away.

With a clang, the main gates shut completely.

At that moment, Elder Ping, who had been standing calmly all along, swayed slightly.

The healthy color in his face turned somewhat ashen. His brows knitted tightly as he suddenly raised a hand to clutch his chest, then spat out a large mouthful of dark, clotted blood. The sight was horrifying.

"Master!"

Jiang Qinghe and Zhao Guangyi cried out and rushed forward.

"Cough, cough... I'm fine."

Elder Ping waved a hand. He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and the churning in his chest eased somewhat.

A trace of complexity passed through his eyes as he sighed leisurely.

"I never expected Jin Sanqiu, at his age, to reach the threshold of Organ Refining. If I had not taken that Vermillion Fruit last night and temporarily recovered some of my strength, I truly might have fallen into his hands today, and there would have been no easy end to it."

Elder Ping's tone carried a hint of fatigue.

"It's just that forcibly using Mountain Shaking Force, though it frightened him away, has worsened the injuries that had only just begun to ease. Cough, cough..."

Jiang Qinghe listened silently at the side, unable to help feeling somewhat helpless.

That Vermillion Fruit had likely been wasted.

As for the other one in his possession, he had no idea what means he could use to refine it into a Foundation Solidifying Pill and completely heal Elder Ping's injuries.