Huo Yuanhong Takes Action! Yue Xiuwen Defeated in One Move!

"Senior Brother Wang actually lost..."

In the courtyard, a young disciple muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief.

It was as if he had seen with his own eyes the towering mountain he had once admired most suddenly collapse.

That shock, that blow...

No words could possibly describe it.

It left the young disciple utterly lost.

Huo Yuanhong listened briefly to their discussion and learned what had happened.

It turned out that, in a private spar not long ago, an expert from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall had consecutively defeated three elite disciples from their side, prompting Wang Tianlong to personally step in and try to salvage their morale.

The result...

In just nine moves, Wang Tianlong was defeated—thoroughly defeated. One of his arms had even been broken!

And the man from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall who had acted...

"Yue Xiuwen."

Huo Yuanhong spoke that familiar name.

He knew that name all too well—better than anyone!

The younger brother of Gentleman Sword Yue Xiuqun, a renowned peerless prodigy!

Like Yue Xiuqun, Yue Xiuwen was also the sort who looked down his nose at everyone. He had never regarded poor apprentices as human beings, and most enjoyed treating commonborn apprentices as human punching posts to practice his martial arts on!

In the past, the moment Huo Yuanhong heard Yue Xiuwen's name, he would have to take the initiative to avoid him, lest he accidentally ran into him.

But now...

"Just a head with a price tag stuck on it, nothing more."

Not a ripple stirred in Huo Yuanhong's eyes.

The twice-over explosive power brought by Manifest Strength at its utmost limit, his masterful control, and even combat methods like Old Xu's seemingly simple, return-to-the-basics Peak Expert-level practical fighting style gave him more than enough confidence to face this demon who had once been his nightmare!

"Everyone."

Just then, a booming voice rang out.

It was Wang Tianlong. His face was still somewhat pale, one arm suspended in a sling.

"Yue Xiuwen is too strong. We definitely won't be able to take first place in this competition, but we must hold on to second, third, and fourth!"

"And if we want to keep second, third, and fourth, we must first make sure our seeded experts avoid Yue Xiuwen. We'll sacrifice the weakest disciples, those with no hope of placing, and put them in the same matches as Yue Xiuwen—our best horses against their middling horses, our middling horses against their inferior horses, and our inferior horses against their best horses!"

Wang Tianlong spoke in a deep voice.

When the competition began, both sides would draw lots to determine their opponents. Logically speaking, there was no way to arrange things in advance.

But the veteran master responsible for overseeing the fairness of the draw had already been bought off by the powerful figure behind Wang Tianlong. He had promised to turn a blind eye.

The other disciples present naturally understood the meaning behind Wang Tianlong's words. Their expressions immediately relaxed, and they regained confidence in the coming competition!

"It's settled! It's settled! As expected of Senior Brother Wang—not only is his martial arts formidable, his command of strategy is just as impressive!"

"If we can hold on to second, third, and fourth, then at least we can save face on the surface. A Manifest Strength practitioner at Yue Xiuwen's absurdly over-the-line pinnacle is simply beyond the scope of the contest. Losing to him is hardly our fault!"

Thus, these elite disciples began heatedly discussing who should face Yue Xiuwen. Every one of them wanted someone else to go, and not one had the courage to confront that nightmare-like, invincible existence head-on!

To them, Yue Xiuwen was absurdly beyond the standard.

Even a peerless genius like Wang Tianlong had fallen into despair, voluntarily giving up on first place. One Transformation Strength master who had witnessed the match had even sighed that he would not wish to face Yue Xiuwen at the same level, much less them.

"A bizarre spectacle indeed."

Huo Yuanhong watched these scions of great families scheme against one another, trying to find ways to buy off and bribe the staff, his expression blank.

This...

Was what the martial hall world had become?

They competed in connections, competed in wealth, competed in schemes—yet no one dared compete in martial arts, no one dared rely on genuine skill to fight their way straight through.

He knew it was because Yue Xiuwen was too strong—so strong that even people like Wang Tianlong, peerless geniuses in their own right, had been driven to despair, unable to summon even the slightest courage to resist!

But even if they truly preserved second, third, and fourth through such maneuvering, it would still be nothing more than a joke! The ones losing face would be Divine Spear Martial Hall and his master, Li Shuxing!

Since when had the martial hall world of his dreams become like this...

Huo Yuanhong felt deeply disappointed, even absurdly so!

If even Divine Spear Martial Hall, the leading hall, was like this, one could well imagine what the other martial halls were like!

From a single leaf, one knows the depth of autumn.

At that moment, he somewhat understood why his master, despite being Jin Gate's number one, so often traveled alone. Aside from Old Xu, he had virtually no close expert friends, and his relations with other factions had even become quite strained.

"Looks like my decision was right. I'll fight through them all alone and bring this chaotic competition to an early end..."

"It's enough for me to take first. Everyone else can have zero points—better than letting them disgrace Master."

Huo Yuanhong's gaze calmed.

The weak are changed by their environment; the strong change their environment.

Since this was not the martial world of his dreams, then once he ascended to the pinnacle, he would forge a new martial world!

A martial world where everyone had the right to learn martial arts, where everyone could settle their hearts and pursue martial arts, pursue the Dao!

Huo Yuanhong headed straight out of the courtyard, toward the outer yard where the arena had been set up.

By his reckoning, the people from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall should all have arrived beside the arena by now. It was time to send them on their way.

"Junior Brother Huo!"

Seeing him about to leave, Wang Tianlong called out.

"When the final matches come tomorrow, Junior Brother Huo, you'll have to face Yue Xiuwen. Don't put any pressure on yourself. Just admit defeat once you get on stage."

Clearly, in Wang Tianlong's eyes, Huo Yuanhong was one of the inferior horses, meant to be matched against Yue Xiuwen, the superior horse on the other side, so that the others would not run into Yue Xiuwen alongside the other two prodigies.

Huo Yuanhong could not be bothered to respond. His steps did not pause in the slightest as he walked outside.

This reaction—one that seemed to disregard the bigger picture in everyone's eyes—made Wang Tianlong frown slightly. But before he could say anything, Fang Yu walked in and whispered several words into his ear.

At once, Wang Tianlong's brow furrowed even deeper. After a brief silence, he slowly said, "Since it is the Hall Master's intention, Junior Brother Huo can draw lots normally when the time comes. Whatever he draws is what he gets. No need to force it too much—so long as he can wear down some of their stamina."

Upon hearing Wang Tianlong's words, the expressions of the surrounding elite disciples varied.

Though restrained by Li Shuxing's authority, they did not dare say anything unpleasant, nor did they dare question Li Shuxing's arrangements.

Still, they were more or less dissatisfied with Li Shuxing forcibly stuffing his disciple in to gain experience.

If their side held the advantage, then one extra burden would have been no great matter.

But they were already at a disadvantage. The remaining nine of them had to go all out, pull strings, and scheme just to have any hope of preserving their rankings—yet at such a moment, someone was actually occupying a crucial spot and affecting their arrangements...

In that instant, their emotions nearly surged to their peak, on the verge of erupting.

"What are you all looking at?!"

Senior Sister Fang Yu swept her gaze around, forcing the surrounding elite disciples to avert their eyes one after another, before hurrying after Huo Yuanhong.

"Junior Brother, don't mind those people. Fight if you can; if you really can't, hurry and jump off the stage. Anyway, this is Master's arrangement. Give them ten times the guts and they still wouldn't dare defy it..."

"This bottle of Boiling Blood Powder—take it before the match. It can briefly put you into a boiling-blood state, greatly increasing your strength while heavily dulling your pain. You'll be able to hold out for a few more exchanges, so your loss won't look quite so ugly..."

"Don't worry. There won't be anything unusual visible on the surface after taking it, and it can't be detected afterward either. Besides, with Master here, nothing will happen!"

Fang Yu spoke in a lowered voice as she slipped a small porcelain bottle into Huo Yuanhong's pocket without leaving a trace.

"Senior Sister, there's really no need to go to such trouble..."

Huo Yuanhong raised his head and glanced at the Crimson Refining Paste placed atop the raised platform as the prize, then calmly swept his eyes over the surrounding elite disciples, Wang Tianlong, and the others.

"Keep an eye on the Crimson Refining Paste for me."

"I'll be back in a moment."

As his calm voice fell, Huo Yuanhong had already stepped out the door.

By this time, the area around the arena was packed with people. Not a single competitor from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall was absent; all of them had arrived early, wearing smiles of certain victory.

Huo Yuanhong pushed through the crowd and climbed the arena step by step. Looking down at the elite experts of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall below, he crooked a finger at them.

"I'm in a hurry. Come at me together."

His attitude of utter disregard made the Sword Inquiry Martial Hall experts rise to their feet one after another, their faces expressionless.

The several instructors from Divine Spear Martial Hall responsible for overseeing the first match were also somewhat surprised.

The first match clearly was not supposed to be Disciple Huo, was it? Had there been a last-minute substitution?

And what did he mean by coming together?

Surely...

He was not planning to take on all of them alone, was he?

"Huo Yuanhong? I never expected you to be the one facing me in the first match..."

The man in the middle walked out with a faint smile. He was none other than the Manifest Strength Supreme Expert who had driven Wang Tianlong to despair—Yue Xiuwen!

"Junior Brothers, just remain seated. Once I've dealt with this man, I'll return to continue the arrangements. One breath will be enough..."

Yue Xiuwen had the refined air of a scholar, yet his eyes were chillingly indifferent—a ruthlessness born from years of life-and-death fights in the octagonal cage, from killing as easily as cutting hemp.

At those words, the other elite disciples around him, who had originally risen to act, stopped and looked at Huo Yuanhong with a touch of pity in their eyes.

This kid was finished!

"Tiger Form."

Yue Xiuwen strode forward in great strides, like a ferocious tiger standing upright. He sprang violently into the air, landed atop the arena, and charged at Huo Yuanhong!

With every step, an unusual force tremor rippled out, swiftly activating every muscle throughout his body. At the same time, his arms and palms thrust out as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water. The muscles in his forearms twitched like plucked zither strings, releasing terrifying force as they contracted and expanded!

Every movement was exquisitely precise beyond imagination. This was hardly a Combat Method at all—it was an art honed to its very summit!

This was Yue Xiuwen, the Martial Maniac! A Manifest Strength Supreme Expert whose Combat Method utterly crushed Wang Tianlong's, so formidable that even Transformation Strength masters were unwilling to fight him at the same realm!

By the time he reached Huo Yuanhong, Yue Xiuwen's aura had surged to its peak. His eyes held only the cold indifference of someone looking down on ants as he swung out with a palm!

This palm strike—whether in its command of Internal Force or its grasp of timing—was exquisite to an unimaginable degree. Even Transformation Strength masters would not dare claim they could have done better!

Even an expert who had entered Heart-Mind Unity would have needed to go all out to deal with it!

But...

Faced with this astonishing, unbelievable palm strike, Huo Yuanhong's expression did not ripple in the slightest. Only when Yue Xiuwen closed in did he take a simple Charge Step, cutting into Yue Xiuwen's range, then threw a simple Top Elbow Strike with a sharp snap.

"Bang!"

Before Yue Xiuwen could react, Huo Yuanhong's elbow, carrying unstoppable Internal Force, had already slammed into his chest.

Yet Yue Xiuwen's exquisite palm strike, at the instant Huo Yuanhong's body turned sideways during the Charge Step, merely grazed past him and struck empty air, passing by Huo Yuanhong's body.

Only half a hair's breadth separated it from hitting Huo Yuanhong, yet that half a hair's breadth became a heavenly chasm he could never cross!

The scene looked as though Yue Xiuwen had willingly stepped forward, offering his chest to receive that utterly simple Top Elbow Strike.

"Step... step... step..."

Huo Yuanhong walked past at an unhurried pace. From beginning to end, he did not spare Yue Xiuwen a second glance.

Behind him, Yue Xiuwen stood stiffly in place, utterly motionless.

Two breaths later...

"Pfft!"

With a mouthful of blood spraying out, this Supreme Expert of Manifest Strength who had driven Wang Tianlong to despair, whom even Transformation Strength masters had not dared spar with—the peerless figure whose nightmare-like pressure had left the Divine Spear Martial Hall's geniuses unable to breathe...

Fell backward!

He had not even lasted a single exchange before Huo Yuanhong, using supreme Internal Force in concert with a Combat Method that had returned to simplicity...

Instantly killed him!