Level Up, Qi Energy Emerges

Early the next morning, at the Asura Sect's Martial Arts Arena, Zhuge Xiang and Li Bin stood facing each other. Today was the day of their official duel. Neither of them had any reputation within the Asura Sect, so there were not many people watching their fight.

The few scattered onlookers beneath the Martial Arts Arena were merely people who had risen early to train and had stopped to watch a duel out of curiosity. Those who had not comprehended Qi Energy all practiced the Qi Nourishing Fist. What tricks could such a fight possibly have?

"Heh heh, Zhuge Xiang, today I'll make you lose completely..." Li Bin sneered as he looked at Zhuge Xiang standing before him, brimming with confidence.

Yet seeing Zhuge Xiang's calm expression, Li Bin was secretly puzzled. Hadn't he drunk the Spirit Fruit Nectar laced with Heartbreak Powder right in front of him yesterday? By now, he should have been weak in all four limbs and dizzy-eyed. Why was there no sign of it at all?

"Use whatever abilities you have. I'd also like to see what exactly you learned from Zhao Feiyun. You, a defeated general, actually dared to bark again." Zhuge Xiang did not even raise his eyes at Li Bin's threatening words. If fighting could be won by wagging one's tongue, why would anyone need to cultivate?

Zhuge Xiang's indifferent attitude made Li Bin's brows twitch violently. To Li Bin, nothing was more intolerable than Zhuge Xiang's dismissive manner. In his fury, Li Bin's voice sharpened. "Zhuge Xiang, do you know what I hate most? Your attitude. That contemptuous look makes people want to grind you beneath their feet."

"Contempt?" Zhuge Xiang watched Li Bin's near-hysterical appearance calmly, then truly did smile with contempt. "Whether I respect you is not up to me, but to you. You have not comprehended Qi Energy, yet you strut about all day long. You even treat Niu Geng's loyalty as a weakness, fancying yourself clever. What about you is worthy of my respect?"

"Bastard! I'll kill you!" Li Bin could not refute Zhuge Xiang's words, and his humiliation turned into rage. In a burst of fury, he stepped into a strange, profound footwork and lunged toward Zhuge Xiang.

Zhuge Xiang's eyes locked onto the charging Li Bin as he assumed the opening stance of the Clear Wave Palm. His strike shot out like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, his palm stamping toward Li Bin's chest from a tricky angle.

However, Li Bin's Netherworld Step training over the past few days had clearly not been in vain. At the critical instant, he shifted his feet and swayed aside, actually evading Zhuge Xiang's palm strike.

"Oh..." The moment the two began fighting, quite a few people below the Martial Arts Arena cried out in surprise.

Those who had not comprehended Qi Energy should have fought much like ordinary people. Without Qi Energy or Martial Art techniques, what could they do? Yet Li Bin's Ghost Step was clearly extraordinary. That evasive footwork just now had certainly not been a coincidence.

"Heh heh, although I haven't comprehended Qi Energy, I've practiced the Thirty-Six-Step Netherworld Footwork more than a thousand times these past few days. You won't even be able to touch the corner of my clothes." The cries of the disciples beneath the Martial Arts Arena inflated Li Bin's vanity. His Ghost Step shifted unpredictably as he spoke smugly.

Watching Li Bin's figure shift unpredictably like a butterfly flitting through flowers, Zhuge Xiang frowned slightly. Though Li Bin had not grasped the true essence of the Ghost Step, the footwork alone was hard to predict. With the Ghost Step's agility, it would be difficult for Zhuge Xiang to catch him. He struck six or seven times in succession, yet Li Bin nimbly evaded every attack.

Li Bin's Ghost Step was agile and swift, and Zhuge Xiang could not even touch the hem of his clothes. The spectators below began discussing among themselves. On one hand, they marveled at Li Bin's Ghost Step; on the other, they felt Zhuge Xiang was certain to lose.

Zhuge Xiang frowned deeply at Li Bin's Netherworld Step, but Li Bin was equally puzzled by Zhuge Xiang's condition. Hadn't he drunk the Heartbreak Powder? Why had it not taken effect yet? Moreover, movement accelerated the flow of blood and Qi, making the Heartbreak Powder's effects easier to trigger. Yet after all this time, Zhuge Xiang still showed no abnormality whatsoever.

"What? Is this the fleeing skill you learned from Zhao Feiyun—leaping about like a monkey?" After several consecutive attacks had yielded no result, Zhuge Xiang stopped and stared at Li Bin as he mocked him.

Zhuge Xiang's mockery was what Li Bin found hardest to bear. Though he had wanted to wait until the Heartbreak Powder took effect before attacking, with the Netherworld Footwork in hand, Li Bin believed he was certain to win even without the Heartbreak Powder.

Suppressing his doubts about the Heartbreak Powder for the moment, Li Bin directly used the Ghost Step, appearing eerily behind Zhuge Xiang. He swung a fist at Zhuge Xiang's back. "I originally wanted to play with you a little longer, but since you can't wait, I'll send you to meet the King of Hell."

Seemingly unaware of the Ghost Step's strangeness, Zhuge Xiang took Li Bin's punch squarely in the back. A dull thud rang out like a drumbeat, and Zhuge Xiang's face turned deathly pale. That punch had clearly shaken his internal organs.

Having landed his blow, Li Bin wore a smug sneer as he prepared to retreat. But at that moment, Zhuge Xiang's palm suddenly appeared before his eyes, striking from a tricky angle with astonishing speed.

Li Bin's pupils contracted as he stared at the suddenly appearing palm in disbelief. How was that possible!? How could Zhuge Xiang's hand keep up with his Ghost Step?

"You lost!" Zhuge Xiang's face appeared before Li Bin, his eyes carrying an icy chill as he calmly spoke those three words. His palm struck Li Bin's chest, one move following another in an unbroken chain.

If the Ghost Step was strange and unpredictable in movement, then the defining trait of the Clear Wave Palm was its chain upon chain of connections.

The Clear Wave Palm did not have many moves, but once unleashed, it was like the Eight Trigrams' mystical formations. One attack followed another, like mercury spilling across the ground—once unleashed, it could not be stopped. As long as the first palm landed, it was almost as though one had been entangled by silk threads, unable to escape the attacks that followed.

Although Zhuge Xiang had not comprehended Qi Energy either and had merely learned some moves of the Clear Wave Palm, his opponent was only Li Bin, who had likewise not comprehended Qi Energy. Though the Ghost Step was profound, under the Clear Wave Palm's control, Li Bin felt as though he had been caught in a spiderweb. Zhuge Xiang's attacks came one after another, impossible to evade.

"This is a palm technique! Impossible! How could he have learned a palm technique!?" At this point, no matter how foolish Li Bin was, he knew Zhuge Xiang's chain of attacks was a palm technique. He could not believe it. Within the Asura Sect, those who had not comprehended Qi Energy could not come into contact with Martial Arts at all.

Just as Zhuge Xiang had said, Li Bin was destined to lose. The moment Zhuge Xiang's first palm hit him, it had been decided—or perhaps it had been decided the instant Li Bin's fist struck Zhuge Xiang.

The Ghost Step was extremely strange. Although the Clear Wave Palm was powerful, it was helpless if it could not hit him. Thus, Zhuge Xiang had conceived the idea of trading injury for injury. He deliberately provoked Li Bin into attacking, then seized the instant Li Bin's strike landed on him to launch a rapid counterattack.

This had been Zhuge Xiang's desperate measure, or perhaps a gamble. If he succeeded, landing the first palm would secure victory. But if he failed, if Li Bin hit him and escaped the Clear Wave Palm's range, then it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven for the injured Zhuge Xiang to turn the tide.

Thus, he used himself as bait to lure Li Bin into attacking. It had seemed to be a matter of an instant, yet it was enough to decide the course of victory and defeat. Fortunately, Zhuge Xiang had won his gamble. His Clear Wave Palm training these past days had not been for nothing.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Palm after palm struck Li Bin in an unbroken chain. After all twenty-four moves of the Clear Wave Palm had been unleashed, Li Bin had endured more than twenty attacks. Unable to counterattack or even flee, he vomited blood and collapsed onto the Martial Arts Arena.

"You... Didn't you drink the Spirit Fruit Nectar laced with Heartbreak Powder? Why...?" Lying on the ground and vomiting blood, Li Bin was utterly listless. His injuries were clearly severe, yet he forced himself to keep one breath. He simply could not understand it. He had personally sprinkled the Heartbreak Powder into the Spirit Fruit Nectar, and Zhuge Xiang had drunk it before his very eyes. Why was he completely unaffected?

Yet his injuries were too severe to wait for Zhuge Xiang's answer. Li Bin's head lolled to one side, and he fainted. As for Zhuge Xiang, he frowned. Heartbreak Powder? Spirit Fruit Nectar?

"He won? No wonder he dared accept the challenge—he really has some skills. One has footwork, the other has a palm technique..." Zhuge Xiang's victory left many of the spectators below stunned. Then realization dawned upon them. No wonder Zhuge Xiang had dared accept Li Bin's challenge. He had learned a palm technique too.

Below the Martial Arts Arena, Niu Geng also smiled. It was a smile from the bottom of his heart; seeing Zhuge Xiang win had clearly made him happy as well.

Defeated ordinary person Li Bin. Gained 11 experience. Level Breakthrough. Current level: Qi Cultivation Realm First Layer. Gained 1 Skill Point.

Just as Li Bin lost consciousness, that mechanical voice rang out again. Zhuge Xiang then felt his utterly exhausted body become like a parched field that had suffered drought for years, suddenly receiving a spring of clear water. He could distinctly feel a strand of Qi Energy emerge and flow through his meridians, swiftly dispelling the fatigue within him. The system notification also diverted Zhuge Xiang's attention from the Heartbreak Powder...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Zhuge Xiang stood upon the Martial Arts Arena. His coarse cloth garments fluttered despite the absence of wind, and his jet-black hair rose as well. A faint aura radiated from his body. Though weak, it could be clearly felt.

"Qi Energy! He comprehended Qi Energy! He actually comprehended Qi Energy in battle!" The crowd beneath the Performance Stage cried out, their eyes filled with envy.

"Qi Energy! So this is Qi Energy! I finally succeeded!" Zhuge Xiang clenched his fists and felt the Qi Energy circulating within him, his heart surging with excitement. After a year of hard work, he had finally reaped results. With Qi Energy, he would now be an official disciple of the Asura Sect.