Rong Heng collapsed on the arena and completely passed out.
Li Changqing stood with his face raised to the sky, his terrifying aura sweeping through the entire venue. Even the spectator stands had fallen silent as cicadas in winter.
A true man standing between heaven and earth should brew wine with green plums and gaze down upon the heroes of the world.
He threw a punch.
His strength was completely linked together.
Li Changqing felt exhilarated. At that moment, his essence, vitality, and spirit twisted into a single rope.
He had not deliberately shaped the Overlord's True Intent, yet that invincible aura gradually transferred from the True Intent onto Li Changqing himself.
In his mind, the description of the Overlord's True Intent changed.
Overlord's True Intent, Fusion Rate: 15%
Within the Artistic Conception Scroll, the Overlord's face changed once more, gaining three parts of a resemblance to Li Changqing.
If before, he had merely used his emotions to passively shape the True Intent and awaken resonance—
Then after defeating Rong Heng with that single punch and fully revealing his True Self, Li Changqing's state of mind began to resonate with the Overlord's True Intent,
Gradually merging.
Once the progress bar reached 100%, the Overlord's True Intent would disappear completely and be fully absorbed by him.
It would become Li Changqing's True Intent.
On the silent arena, the referee temporarily laid Rong Heng's body down properly. Then he stepped forward and grabbed Li Changqing's left arm.
He raised it high.
"Group B ranking battle finals."
"Li Changqing wins!"
He had won!
Li Changqing's victory—
It was something no one present had expected.
Yet what shocked them even more was the manner in which Li Changqing had defeated Rong Heng.
There had been no bitter battle lasting three hundred rounds, nor had both sides revealed all their trump cards and fought until their oil ran dry and their lamps went out.
None of the scenes they had imagined, in which Li Changqing might defeat Rong Heng, had occurred.
It had merely been a punch thrown through the air.
A force that could topple mountains and overturn seas had crushed Rong Heng completely, like withered wood and rotten weeds.
It was a chasm-like gap that could not be crossed.
So vast that Rong Heng had been unable to mount even the slightest effective resistance.
At the commentator's booth, Tang Cheng was completely fired up.
He stared at the young figure standing tall on the arena in the electronic display.
"Ten-Step Divine Fist? There is no mistake!"
"This is a fist technique that only a Lower-Rank Martial Artist at the peak can unleash."
"It sends vitality beyond the body, piercing through the ten paces ahead. Even its remaining force can still shatter stubborn stone."
Tang Cheng's excited voice echoed throughout the venue.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as the commentator for this match, I am honored to witness Rong City's miracle together with all of you today."
"Contestant Li Changqing has defeated the veteran Rong Heng and officially earned the right to advance to Group A and contend for the Youth Cup championship."
"Not only that, we have witnessed the birth of a prodigy. Contestant Li Changqing, who only formally stepped onto the martial path a little over a month ago, has already become a genuine peak Lower-Rank Martial Artist!"
"This is Rong City's miracle!"
Tang Cheng's words not only ignited the passion of the entire audience, but also spread Li Changqing's name across all of Rong City through the livestream.
From this day onward, he would no longer be an unknown nobody.
In just over a month, he had risen from a university student to the peak of the Lower-Rank Martial Artist realm. Such talent was rare even across the entire nation.
Li Changqing's name would hang high in Rong City's history. A genius like him would be recorded in Rong City's local chronicles.
In a sense, Li Changqing could already be considered—
A name left in the annals of history.
"Li Changqing! Li Changqing! Li Changqing!"
Listening to the cheers around him, he waved toward the spectator stands on both sides and leisurely walked off the arena. The resonance of the True Intent continued merging with his will.
Finally.
Will +3
His will, which had not increased for a long time, rose once again, as though a dried-up spring had received water.
The refreshing sensation made Li Changqing unable to stop.
Before the vitality within his body had even begun nourishing his will, he had already taken another step closer to becoming a Mid-Rank Martial Artist.
At the end of the contestants' passage, Kang Tianchen stared in disbelief at Li Changqing walking toward him.
Only when the latter reached him did Kang Tianchen finally force out a sentence.
"Changqing, just how much have you been hiding from me?" Kang Tianchen asked with a bitter smile.
"Don't tell me that when you reach the Youth Cup main event finals, you'll tell me you've already broken through to Mid-Rank Martial Artist."
"That won't happen."
"Really?" Kang Tianchen looked deeply suspicious.
"Really." Li Changqing nodded very seriously.
"My will is not strong enough yet. Fully mastering Artistic Conception in a short time is somewhat difficult."
Fully mastering it? Somewhat difficult?
Kang Tianchen's heart skipped a beat. He felt that something was off.
Just then—
Ring—
Seeing the caller, a confident smile spread across Kang Tianchen's face.
It was Hou Chengtian.
Previously, when he had asked to borrow the Psionic Stone Tablet, Hou Chengtian had believed Liu Yi needed it more, and that Li Changqing would not get very far, so he had casually refused.
At the time, Kang Tianchen had been utterly helpless.
But now, heh heh!
He was brimming with confidence!
Giving Li Changqing and Huang Xuan a look, Kang Tianchen answered the call.
"Hello, Headmaster."
"When is your student's match against Rong Heng? Bring him back to the martial arts school tonight. Once we register his identity, I'll guide his training for a while. With your student's talent, mastering those vitality secret techniques should not be difficult. It isn't as though he has no chance of winning."
Kang Tianchen raised his brow. Since when had Hou Chengtian become so easy to talk to?
He was even going to personally guide him?
"Headmaster, weren't you going to guide that kid Liu Yi? How do you have time to guide my student?"
As he spoke, Kang Tianchen's tone carried a trace of sarcasm that even he himself did not notice.
The memory of failing to borrow the Psionic Stone Tablet from Hou Chengtian last time, when the man had deemed Li Changqing hopeless of advancing, still rankled Kang Tianchen to this day.
Sure enough, Hou Chengtian went silent on the other end. Only after a long while did he continue.
"It isn't about making time. From now on, I will devote all my efforts to helping your student."
Kang Tianchen sensed that something was wrong. His heart skipped a beat as a bad premonition rose within him.
Sure enough.
"Liu Yi encountered Jixing Martial Hall's second seat in today's top thirty-two match."
He had been eliminated?
Chengtian Martial Arts School's strongest member of the younger generation had actually failed to enter the top sixteen.
No wonder Hou Chengtian's attitude had changed so drastically today. So that was why!
If Li Changqing had not appeared out of nowhere, then Chengtian Martial Arts School would truly have been humiliated to the extreme this year.
A martial arts school that claimed to rank among Rong City's top two, yet not a single person had entered the Youth Cup's top sixteen?
Kang Tianchen felt somewhat regretful, but when he saw Li Changqing chatting and laughing with Huang Xuan nearby, his heart brightened again.
I still have my good disciple.
At that thought, Kang Tianchen's brows relaxed, and even his voice carried a smile.
"Headmaster, there's no need."
"What do you mean?"
Kang Tianchen took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply, sweeping away all the gloom in his heart.
"I said, there's no need. Just now, my student defeated Jixing Martial Hall's third seat, Rong Heng, with a single punch."
Dead silence fell over the other end of the call. Hou Chengtian's thoughts were thrown into chaos by Kang Tianchen's earth-shattering words.
He had defeated Rong Heng? With one punch?
He could only wonder whether Kang Tianchen had reached that age and developed dementia.
"Moreover, the technique my student used to defeat Rong Heng was the Ten-Step Divine Fist."
The successive news made Hou Chengtian feel as though he were in a dream.
First, Liu Yi, the martial arts school's hope, had suffered a disastrous defeat in the top thirty-two, plunging his heart into darkness. But immediately afterward, Kang Tianchen had brought news of his genius student. Another Lower-Rank Six-Star had made Hou Chengtian pull himself together.
But then, the intelligence that Rong Heng had entered Group B had nearly made Hou Chengtian lose his temper at the Youth Cup venue. Just as his heart was tangled with worry, Kang Tianchen told him—
Rong Heng had been defeated, and his student had used the Ten-Step Divine Fist.
Their Chengtian Martial Arts School had actually gained a peak Lower-Rank genius Martial Artist for nothing.
Though countless thoughts churned in his heart, Hou Chengtian still made a swift judgment.
"Kang Tianchen, come to the martial arts school later and take that Psionic Stone Tablet to your student. I suspect he saw something inside it last time."
Hou Chengtian paused.
"Tell him that you gave him the stone tablet. There's no need to mention the martial arts school, and no need to mention me."
Hou Chengtian understood clearly that, to Li Changqing, both he and the martial arts school were practically equivalent to nothing.
He had rejected the young man before. There was no need to shamelessly crowd forward now and make himself look ugly.
Since that was the case, he might as well leave all the favor to Kang Tianchen. Kang Tianchen was Li Changqing's coach, the one who had taught him the path.
Besides, Kang Tianchen was also a coach at the martial arts school. Objectively speaking, his student was also the martial arts school's student.
As long as Li Changqing did not deny it, the martial arts school would make a killing.
But when Hou Chengtian thought about how he might have missed out on a genius right beneath his nose, it felt as though a steel blade had been plunged into his heart.
It was icy cold.
But that was reality. He had failed to seize the opportunity last time, and there might not be another chance afterward.
The call ended. Li Changqing and Huang Xuan both looked over, while a smile appeared on Kang Tianchen's face.
"Done!"
Jixing Martial Hall.
Fourteen contestants sat in a circle within the martial hall's training ground.
On the screen was the footage of Li Changqing using a Ten-Step Divine Fist to crush Rong Heng.
"Does anyone have anything to say?"
The coach of Jixing Martial Hall's voice echoed through the empty training ground, but no one answered.
"Ten-Step Divine Fist... It is hard to believe this came from a twenty-two-year-old young man."
He looked around at his students.
"Which of you is confident?"
The training ground was silent. Wherever the coach's gaze fell, each person slowly lowered his head.
Li Changqing's wild and invincible bearing was like that of a heavenly god.
That punch had not only crushed Rong Heng, but also shattered the pride in their hearts.
It made them understand what it meant for there to be heavens beyond heavens, and people beyond people.
Just as the atmosphere in the training ground became so oppressive it nearly solidified, Bei Xing, Jixing Martial Hall's second seat, spoke.
"We have no confidence, but one person does."
He raised his head, worshipful light flashing in his eyes.
"So what if Li Changqing is a genius?"
"We still have our Senior Disciple Brother, who has never known defeat! Several months ago, Senior Disciple Brother was already capable of throwing the Ten-Step Divine Fist."
"Senior Disciple Brother is invincible!"
Before you continue