Peak Showdown

When Lin Xiao's words, filled with boundless arrogance and chilling murderous intent, echoed like a massive boulder dropped into a calm lake within this death valley already thoroughly soaked in blood and flames, time itself seemed to hit pause.

Whether it was the remnants of the Heavenly Martial Society, their courage shattered and trembling behind Wu Tianxiong, or the members of Yellow Class Nine, who had just been pulled back from the brink of death and were now watching that god-like, towering figure with fervent excitement, at this moment, everyone's minds simultaneously fell into a complete blank!

What... what did they just hear?!

"Come... and die?!"

This Lin Xiao, he actually dared to utter those two arrogant words, worthy of being struck down by lightning, to the undefeated God of War, Wu Tianxiong, who had already elevated his aura to a level that made heaven and earth change color – the "Half-step Spirit Movement" realm?!

Was he truly insane?!

Or did he truly possess a terrifying trump card capable of contending with gods?!

"Heh..."

"Hehehehahaha!"

After a full three breaths of deathly silence, Wu Tianxiong, floating in mid-air like a human-shaped sun, could no longer contain himself and let out a burst of unrestrained laughter, more manic and filled with endless mockery than ever before!

His laughter, like rolling thunder, reverberated back and forth within the narrow valley, shaking the fiercely burning golden flames and causing the incredibly hard black mountain rocks to tremble!

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Well said, 'Come, and die'!"

Wu Tianxiong laughed so hard he almost fell over, tears welling up in his eyes.

He slowly reined in his laughter, his eyes, now completely replaced by dazzling golden light, gazed down upon the slender figure on the ground below, like an insignificant ant unaware of its own doom. His tone was filled with the merciless indifference of a god judging mortals.

"Lin Xiao, I admit, your 'guts' are indeed the most I, Wu Tianxiong, have ever seen in my life!"

"It's a pity..."

"In the face of this absolute power that can crush everything!"

"Your laughable courage and your despicable schemes are worth nothing!"

"Now, I will let you witness firsthand!"

"The vast... chasm between us, like a rift in the heavens!"

"Allowing you to be utterly... crushed into ashes by my supreme Imperial Dao power, amidst the deepest despair and fear!"

"Boom—"

The very instant his last word, "ashes," fell!

Wu Tianxiong's figure moved!

He no longer used his previous flashy, wide-ranging attacks. Instead, he gathered all the terrifying golden Spiritual Energy, capable of boiling mountains and seas, back into his body. He transformed into a golden lightning bolt, imperceptible to the naked eye, instantly tearing through the less than a hundred zhang spatial distance between them at a terrifying speed that surpassed sound. Then, in the simplest, most direct, and most overbearing manner, he slammed his colossal fist, completely enveloped in dazzling golden light, towards Lin Xiao's seemingly fragile and tiny head!

There was no flourish to this punch.

All there was, was pure, ultimate power and speed!

Where the fist wind passed, space itself let out a pained groan under the immense pressure!

Visible white air currents spread out madly in all directions from his fist!

It was as if even the heavens and earth could not withstand this divine might that was about to transcend the mortal realm!

It's over!

The moment that golden fist, carrying an aura of endless destruction like a meteor from outer space, appeared within their sight, the same icy words filled with boundless despair surfaced in the hearts of Shi Lei, Su Yue, and all the remaining members of Yellow Class Nine!

Too fast!

Wu Tianxiong's punch was simply too fast!

So fast that their minds hadn't even had time to process the earth-shattering starting motion before the destructive attack, capable of instantly blasting them all into dust, had already arrived before the face of their only hope – Lin Xiao!

This was a complete, no-contest, dimensional crushing blow!

Unavoidable!

And unstoppable!

However, just as everyone had instinctively closed their eyes, unable to bear witnessing the bloody scene about to unfold, Lin Xiao, the absolute center of this storm of death, showed no change on his face, which had always been as calm as still water.

His eyes, as bright as the Emperor's stars in the ninth heaven, were as placid as if not a single ripple disturbed them.

It was as if the incoming force was not a fatal iron fist capable of leveling mountains in an instant, but merely a gentle breeze brushing past his face.

In the split second before that golden iron fist of destruction touched the tip of his nose!

His body finally moved!

He did not retreat.

Nor was he foolish enough to attempt a direct block.

Instead, with an extremely bizarre angle, completely defying the principles of human biomechanics, he shifted his body to the left by less than half an inch!

It was this half-inch!

To anyone else, it was insignificant, even negligible, this half-inch distance!

Yet, it was like an insurmountable chasm, causing Wu Tianxiong's fatal punch, which he was so sure would land, to narrowly miss Lin Xiao's nose!

"RUMBLE--"

A deafening, terrifying roar!

Wu Tianxiong's terrifying punch, capable of instantly heavily injuring even a Spiritual Movement Realm expert, landed squarely on the incredibly hard black mountain wall behind Lin Xiao!

The entire valley trembled violently!

Hideous cracks, like spiderwebs, spread outwards from his fist in all directions!

A terrifying fist pit, over three zhang in diameter and bottomless, appeared before everyone's eyes!

Silence.

The entire battlefield fell into a deathly stillness once more.

Everyone's movements froze.

They simply stared, like mortals witnessing a divine miracle, with eyes filled with endless shock and disbelief, at the slender figure standing unharmed before the terrifying fist pit.

Dodged...

He dodged?!

He... he actually dodged that divine fist that even light couldn't catch?!

This... how is this possible?!

"You..."

Even Wu Tianxiong, the attacker, his face that had always worn arrogance and indifference, finally showed a flicker of intense emotion called "shock" for the first time!

He slowly retracted his fist, his eyes, burning with golden flames, stared intently at the strange youth before him who had shattered all his perceptions time and again, his voice filled with endless confusion and bewilderment.

"How... how did you do it?!"

He didn't understand!

He completely didn't understand!

With that last punch, he had already pushed his speed and strength to a terrifying level that even made him tremble!

He could say with absolute certainty that within the entire Body Refinement Realm, no one could possibly take or dodge his "unsolvable" strike head-on!

Yet this ant, whose cultivation was clearly only at the Body Refinement Eighth Level, had... actually done it!

And in a bizarre way he couldn't comprehend at all!

"It's very simple."

Facing Wu Tianxiong's furious and self-doubting question, Lin Xiao calmly patted the corner of his clothes, which had a bit of dust from the violent fist wind, and said indifferently.

"Because, your 'Imperial Dao', in my eyes..."

"Is riddled with flaws."

"Wh-what?!"

Lin Xiao's words were like a thunderclap from the heavens, striking Wu Tianxiong until he was burnt black and white, his mind a complete blank!

Riddled with flaws?!

His invincible fist intent, evolved from the Great Sun Burning Heaven Art, the top Body Refinement technique in the Royal City, capable of sweeping aside opponents of the same level and killing those above him, was actually... actually being judged as "riddled with flaws" by this bumpkin from a border town?!

This...

This was simply the most absurd and laughable colossal joke he had ever heard in his life!

"You! Are! Seeking! Death!"

A surge of rage, even more terrifying and violent than before, instantly overwhelmed the last shred of Wu Tianxiong's sanity!

He no longer cared about thinking about how this youth had dodged his attack!

His mind was filled with only one thought!

That was--to kill this damned, ignorant ant!

To tear him to shreds in the most cruel and bloody way possible!

"Die! Die! Die!"

Wu Tianxiong had completely descended into madness!

His towering, iron-like physique transformed into an indestructible golden afterimage!

His iron fists, burning with golden flames, were like two hammers of judgment from the divine realm, carrying a terrifying might capable of shattering space itself, transforming into a sky full of deathly fist shadows that enveloped all areas within a hundred zhang of Lin Xiao!

However, facing this storm of indiscriminate attacks, which would make any peak Body Refinement Ninth Level expert despair, Lin Xiao's figure remained like a lone boat adrift on a stormy sea, seemingly precarious and in grave danger, yet always managing to narrowly avoid the fatal fist edges that could instantly crush him into dust at the most critical, most impossible moments, with an extremely bizarre, completely illogical, minuscule movement!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A string of terrifying explosions, so dense they made one's scalp tingle, erupted around Lin Xiao!

The incredibly hard black mountain rock beneath his feet had already been pulverized into unrecognizable fragments by the violent fist winds!

He himself was like a peerless dancer treading a razor's edge!

With death as his accompaniment!

With destruction as his stage!

Performing a magnificent waltz that would silence even the gods!

"This... this... how is this possible?!"

From a distance, the remnants of the Heavenly Martial Society, already trembling in fear at the terrifying spectacle of gods and demons battling before them, watched as the bizarre figure, who remained unfazed and whose clothes weren't even touched amidst the Chairman's world-ending, insane attacks, once again shattered their already overturned worldviews!

They couldn't comprehend it!

They absolutely could not understand what was happening before their eyes!

Why?!

Why was their invincible Guild Leader, who had never lost a battle and could sweep through the entire outer court, the "Imperial Dao" himself, being completely suppressed by Lin Xiao, whose cultivation was clearly far inferior, like a strong but simple-minded, brutish Savage Bull?

Meanwhile.

The members of Yellow Class Nine, who had already retreated to a safe zone, watched the familiar back as he strolled leisurely amidst the myriad of fist shadows, appearing as graceful as an immortal, and their hearts, once filled with endless worry and fear, finally settled.

In their place arose a fervor and adoration that came from the depths of their souls!

Although they also couldn't understand how Lin Xiao was doing it, they knew one thing with absolute clarity!

That was—their Chief Instructor was creating an immortal legend, one without precedent and without successor!

An unparalleled legend who could stand firm against someone at the Half-step Spirit Movement realm while only being at the Body Refinement Eighth Level, and not be defeated!

"Why?! How... how did you do it?!"

Unable to land a decisive blow after a prolonged assault, and with his stamina and Spiritual Energy rapidly depleting, Wu Tianxiong finally couldn't hold back and let out a roar of frustration and insane unwillingness!

He was going mad!

He felt like a pathetic brute who had swung a colossal axe with all his might to kill a fly!

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how wildly he attacked, he could never even touch a single strand of hair on the damned fly that kept flitting and provoking him before his eyes!

That feeling of powerlessness, of having nowhere to direct his strength, was about to make his chest explode with rage!

"Didn't I already tell you?"

Facing Wu Tianxiong's near-collapse, insane questioning, Lin Xiao finally spoke slowly after evading another fatal whip kick, capable of breaking him in half, from an extremely tricky angle.

His voice was still as calm as ever, but each word was like an invisible blade coated in potent poison, stabbing deeply into Wu Tianxiong's already tattered and proud self-esteem!

"Because your 'Dao' is too 'righteous'."

"So 'righteous' it's stupid."

"Every punch and every kick of yours is filled with a so-called 'Imperial Dominance'."

"Open and grand, advancing fearlessly."

"Seemingly powerful and unrivaled."

"But, in reality..."

The corners of Lin Xiao's mouth slowly curved into an icy arc filled with endless mockery.

"It's as stiff as a rock in a latrine!"

"You...!"

Wu Tianxiong was so enraged by Lin Xiao's vicious words, filled with endless humiliation, that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood!

"And I..."

Lin Xiao didn't give him any more chances to speak!

After evading another heavy punch from Wu Tianxiong, which revealed a huge opening due to his disordered mind, he advanced instead of retreating!

Like a peerless ferocious beast that had been lurking for a long time, finally revealing its deadly Fangs capable of tearing through the heavens!

"Cultivate... the..."

"Killing Art!"

"BOOM--"

The instant his last word, "Art," fell!

A terrifying aura, completely opposite to Wu Tianxiong's extremely yang and extremely hard "Imperial Dao," filled with endless coldness and chilling killing intent, erupted from his seemingly slender body like a Nine Nether Demon Mountain that had been dormant for eons!

His eyes, which had always been as calm as an ancient well, were instantly filled with an eerie blood-red hue!

And his right hand, which looked fair and slender, had, at some unknown time, transformed into a black lightning bolt that was impossible to capture with the naked eye!

In a manner even more bizarre, more cunning, and more deadly than Wu Tianxiong's previous attack, it arrived later but struck first, with terrifying force!

It pierced through the sky-filled golden fist shadows!

Like a venomous snake from the depths of hell, it silently landed on Wu Tianxiong's chest, which was exposed in a fatal opening as his old strength faded and new strength had yet to arise!

"One Finger Annihilation, fused with Heaven-Turning Seal..."

"Myriad Paths Converge as One..."

"Reverse! Mortal! World!"