When the Fist Arrived, the Step Arrived Too—Striking Men Like Pulling Weeds!

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

Everyone stared blankly, their eyes filled with an indescribable shock.

Only Huo Yuanhong's unhurried footsteps echoed through the hall, as though they were treading on everyone's hearts. They brought a terrifying pressure that steadily closed in, leaving the remaining nine elite disciples of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall nearly unable to breathe.

Strong...

Too strong!

From Yue Xiuwen gathering momentum and striking, to his palm missing, to an elbow smashing into his chest, everything had erupted in a flash of lightning and flint. They had not even had time to react.

Only when Yue Xiuwen crashed to the ground did those elite disciples finally realize what had happened.

What followed was a soul-shaking sense that everything they knew had been overturned, along with bewilderment and uncertainty before the unknown.

They...

Could not understand it!

They simply could not understand why Yue Xiuwen's intricate, exquisite palm technique, dazzling as a work of art, had been broken and instantly defeated by Huo Yuanhong with one simple charging step and raised elbow!

It was too simple, too direct.

It completely overturned their understanding, going beyond everything they knew about Combat Methods.

The unknown... was what frightened people most! These Manifest Strength elites, who had been so arrogant before the disciples of Divine Spear Martial Hall, now did not have a single person who dared step forward!

Among all those present, the only one who could see anything at all was the white-haired elder who had originally been seated.

He was the Transformation Strength master brought by Sword Inquiry Martial Hall to hold the fort. His status was extremely high, and his martial arts were unfathomable. Even a volley from more than a dozen Western Firearms could not touch him. He was truly a top-tier expert qualified to stand against an entire nation at arm's length; even the Governor-General of Jin Gate had to show him due respect.

Yet at this moment, this Transformation Strength master, who would not so much as ripple even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, abruptly rose to his feet. The teacup in his hand burst with a bang, scalding tea running over his hand and soaking his sleeve, but he was completely unaware of it.

With his powerful eyesight, he had clearly captured every instantaneous detail of that brief exchange.

And thus, he understood...

Behind that seemingly simple Combat Method lay unimaginable control over the three feet before one's body, and a terrifying command over every fraction of strength!

From the contraction and relaxation of each muscle, releasing force, to the minute tremors of every bone, transmitting force, and then to the Internal Force raised by the waist and stance becoming one...

Everything combined together, ultimately evolving into...

Extreme speed! Extreme explosive power!

This Combat Method, simple and efficient to the utmost, almost like the Great Dao reduced to simplicity, left even this Transformation Strength master slightly dazed. In a clash at the Manifest Strength stage, he had actually seen the bearing of a Peak Expert!

Or rather, the young man before him was like a Peak Expert who had suppressed his strength down to Manifest Strength!

This Combat Method, combined with peerless Internal Force that was likely only a hair's breadth from true perfection, had utterly and completely crushed Yue Xiuwen. They were not even on the same level!

It was practically an adult beating a child!

He could not be allowed to keep fighting... The Transformation Strength master's heart was heavy as he prepared to first rebuke Huo Yuanhong, then find a way to alter the rules of the match, lest the disciples of his martial hall be wiped out to the last man.

But...

Just as he was about to take a step, the master suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end. A hand had silently settled on the back of his neck.

"Want to die?"

Hearing the calm voice from behind him, the Transformation Strength master of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to move in the slightest.

The person behind him was too terrifyingly powerful. He was a Transformation Strength master, yet he had not even known when someone had gotten behind him.

With such a Peak Expert watching over the match, no one dared play any tricks at all.

"Master Wu!"

The remaining nine felt their hearts sink. They knew they could no longer count on this master, and could only grit their teeth and fight on their own.

"Together!"

"Nine against one—I refuse to believe he can knock all of us down before his strength runs out!"

"No matter how formidable he is, he only has two hands and two legs! Surround him! Make him fight front and back at once!"

A siege was different from a one-on-one fight. Two people working together in perfect coordination could often produce an effect where one plus one was greater than three.

They believed that if they joined forces to surround someone, they too could defeat Yue Xiuwen. They might not necessarily be inferior to the young man before them.

After all, they were elite disciples painstakingly trained by the martial hall. The nine quickly adjusted their mindsets, shifting their steps to surround him before rushing in all at once.

Even if it was a little shameless, it was still better than being doomed to a crushing defeat!

Otherwise, if they truly had to fight one-on-one, it would be far too despairing!

"Get out!"

The two who charged fastest were precisely the two deathsworn who had been slipped in against the rules. Perfectly coordinated, they threw punches at Huo Yuanhong almost at the same instant.

As deathsworn who had fought since childhood inside the octagonal cage, kings of the poison jar who had survived one life-and-death match after another, their practical combat ability was even more formidable than Yue Xiuwen's. They had even joined forces to assassinate experts in the early stage of Heart-Mind Unity! At this moment, they used themselves as the sharpest spears. They were far more terrifying than Yue Xiuwen fighting alone, intent on forcibly halting Huo Yuanhong's unstoppable momentum!

"Kill!!!"

The two savage Prop Hammers nearly fused together all the Internal Force in their bodies! They were all-out, self-sacrificing strikes, exploding forth from faith burned to ashes—and a combined attack at that. They could trade their lives to kill two Yue Xiuwens!

Even an expert in the early stage of Heart-Mind Unity would have to temporarily avoid the edge of this peak attack!

But Huo Yuanhong...

Boom!

His sole stamped down. As he surged forward, both arms rose upright, his prop elbows sweeping left and right to knock aside the two incoming fists!

Then, in the instant their bodies crossed, a left and right Top Elbow Strike erupted with a crash, like two great spears stabbing fiercely ahead, blasting toward their chests through the opening created by the Double Prop Elbow!

"Not good!"

The two men were startled. They swiftly shifted their centers of gravity, sank their bodies, and raised their other arms to block head-on.

Such a response displayed astonishingly rich real-combat experience—enough to earn praise even from veteran masters.

After all, this was no one-on-one fight. So long as they could hold him up for an instant, the others would surround him and form an encirclement. Then, striking together, they would surely make short work of this madman.

Never mind Yue Xiuwen—even an expert at the middle stage of Heart-Mind Unity, when faced with so many peak Manifest Strength fighters skilled in deadly combat, would find two fists unable to beat a dozen hands when attacked from both front and back. Retreating and temporarily withdrawing would be the only path.

It was a fine plan.

Unfortunately...

Huo Yuanhong was too fast!

The two had only just lowered their waists and begun to raise their arms when Huo Yuanhong, bursting forward with a Charge Step, crossed past them in an instant.

At the same time, his left and right Top Elbow Strikes smashed viciously into their chests as their pupils dilated wide!

Smack! Smack!

Their chests caved in and their ribs shattered. They were driven stumbling backward, then crashed onto the arena floor with a bang, knocked unconscious.

In a single exchange, the two death warriors who, working together, were stronger than Yue Xiuwen...

Defeated!

Whoosh!

Only then did fierce wind howl from the side. The four men following behind had finally closed in—two punched, two kicked, and all attacked at once!

Under normal circumstances, no matter how skilled a fighter was, he only had two hands and two feet. Against four opponents attacking simultaneously, he would inevitably take a blow or two!

But...

They were facing Huo Yuanhong!

Whoosh!

Huo Yuanhong pivoted his feet, as though wading through mud, and slid sideways toward the gap in the encirclement that had opened ahead after he defeated the two strongest men. He easily left the range of the four men's fists and kicks.

Then his waist and hips twisted, driving his body into a sudden turn. He went from having his back to them to facing them head-on.

"Advance and retreat together. Don't get separated!"

The remaining four wore solemn expressions. Having fully recognized Huo Yuanhong's prowess, they no longer dared give him the chance to pick them off one by one as before.

"Ha! Hng!"

Huo Yuanhong's expression did not change in the slightest. He inhaled and exhaled, and in the instant he turned around, he had already adjusted his breathing and returned to peak condition.

Then...

Whoosh!

His right foot shot out like a fierce dragon leaving its den, so fast that no one could react. With a whoosh, it kicked the nearest man squarely in the shinbone.

"Argh!"

A sharp pain tore through the man's lower leg. His stance, once firmly rooted, immediately became uneven, and his base lost balance for a brief moment. In that instant, his coordination with the other three broke apart.

Then...

Boom!

Strength exploded beneath Huo Yuanhong's feet, and he charged straight before the man. A Leaning Elbow struck like a Violent Bear's charge, shattering the man's ribs and sending him flying backward!

Riding the recoil from the impact, Huo Yuanhong unleashed a Rear Raising Elbow, which struck the arm attacking from behind so hard it trembled violently, followed by a crisp crack of breaking bone!

And then!

His spine twisted, like a great dragon instantly coiling and rolling all the force in his body. His arm lashed out like a whip—smack!—sending the man on his right reeling with his skull buzzing before he pitched headfirst to the ground.

This was Baji Quan's King of Hell's Hand Flick, also known as the Big Slap!

With Huo Yuanhong's full-body force behind that whipping strike, the man looked as though a fierce tiger had slapped him across the face. He passed out at once!

Of the second group of four who had surrounded him, one had been sent flying unconscious by the Leaning Elbow, one had his arm broken and was half-crippled by the Rear Raising Elbow, and another had been slapped to the ground by the Big Slap.

Only the last man barely managed to rush forward. By the time he realized that being alone was dangerous, it was already too late.

Charge Step!

Huo Yuanhong slapped in close. With a rising elbow, he not only forcibly broke through the man's guard, but struck his chin with undiminished force, snapping his head high back. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he fell onto his back.

Where the fist arrived, the step arrived too—striking men was like pulling weeds!

At this moment, Huo Yuanhong embodied those words to the utmost. Though he was one against nine, he held the initiative completely.

Embrace Rub Step! Charge Step! Top Elbow Strike! Collapse Elbow! Rising Elbow!

His fists moved with his body! His steps shifted with his elbows!

It was practically like bullying children—he pinned down this group of Manifest Strength peak fighters from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall and gave them a savage beating! These experts, regarded as formidable enemies by the disciples of Divine Spear Martial Hall, were knocked down one by one, utterly crushed!

"Slap!"

The instant that man went down, Huo Yuanhong pivoted with an Embrace Rub Step, spinning his body around. He raised his hand and delivered a Big Slap, sending the Manifest Strength peak fighter with the broken arm falling stiffly backward.

"Bang! Bang!"

The two men to his left and right crashed to the ground in opposite directions almost simultaneously. Huo Yuanhong merely walked past with an indifferent expression, not even a tear in his clothes.

"We can't beat him! We absolutely can't beat him!"

"A demon! A madman! A devil!!!"

The last three Manifest Strength peak fighters charging forward looked at the fate of the six before them and completely broke down, swallowed by absolute despair!