The courtyard fell deathly silent.
Those calm words exploded like a thunderclap, making Wang Tianlong and everyone present change color. Not a crow or sparrow dared chirp.
Even a figure of towering status like Fang Pingsheng could not help revealing his shock.
Having witnessed Yue Xiuwen defeat Wang Tianlong in nine moves, he knew better than anyone how terrifying Yue Xiuwen was. That was not something Manifest Strength could possibly achieve!
Yet now, someone had actually defeated Yue Xiuwen and punched through every last one of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall's people?
How was that possible!?
One against one and one against many were entirely different concepts!
Even a Manifest Strength Pinnacle expert as formidable as Yue Xiuwen could snap Wang Tianlong's arm in nine moves in a one-on-one fight. But if several Manifest Strength Pinnacle fighters skilled in mortal combat besieged him, he would have no choice but to retreat first!
If anyone else had told him that a fellow Manifest Strength fighter could charge alone through ten Manifest Strength Pinnacle experts, he would not even have bothered responding. What kind of bullshit was that!
But...
Fang Pingsheng knew Old Xu's identity, and therefore knew full well that a Peak Expert with such pride would never disdain himself by lying about something like this—especially something that could be verified with a single look!
So...
Huo Yuanhong had truly punched through the entire opposing side by himself!?
Fang Pingsheng's gaze turned solemn in a rare display.
To defeat them all, even if he had only done it after taking the highest-grade Boiling Blood Powder—a heavenly treasure-grade forbidden drug that showed no outward abnormalities and could not be detected afterward, temporarily greatly boosting one's strength—it was still enough to prove Huo Yuanhong's power!
Without using Boiling Blood Powder, his true strength...
Was probably not much weaker than Yue Xiuwen's! At the very least, he was on Wang Tianlong's level and truly qualified to take first place!
"Huo Yuanhong..."
Fang Pingsheng murmured the name, truly committing it to memory.
One had to know that this young man had only entered the Martial Arts Hall a few days ago!
And yet... in such a short time, he had grown to rival Wang Tianlong, even approaching Manifest Strength Pinnacle experts like Yue Xiuwen!?
"Looks like the old ancestor guessed right. Huo Yuanhong is Li Shuxing's secretly cultivated successor. As early as a year ago... no! It should have been many years ago that he began secretly teaching him martial arts, secretly pouring resources into his training..."
"Only now that his Manifest Strength is nearing its utmost limit did he use this opportunity to bring him into the spotlight..."
A speculation rose in Fang Pingsheng's mind.
Eight or nine times out of ten, that was precisely it!
But no matter what, even if he had been raised under Li Shuxing's tutelage since childhood, supplied with vast hidden resources, and perhaps even trained specifically in practical combat...
To possess such strength before even reaching twenty was still remarkably extraordinary!
One could imagine that after this, the name Huo Yuanhong would surely resound through Jin Gate's Martial Arts Hall circles! He would truly make a name for himself!
Perhaps in just another two or three years, at twenty-two—or even as early as twenty-one...
He would step into Dark Force and become a Martial Master whose fist was faster than a gun!
Although...
He could not compare with Wu Yuanchu, who had entered Dark Force at nineteen. The gap was still immense. But who was Wu Yuanchu?
As a martial arts prodigy whose reputation shook the entire Celestial Empire, he had already been selected for the Martial Immortal Plan. The Fang Family and several top aristocratic families not much weaker than the Fang Family had jointly cultivated him, doing everything possible to supply every kind of top-grade secret medicine!
How could just any genius from the Commoner Faction be qualified to compare?
Fang Pingsheng had never hoped to encounter a second martial arts prodigy like Wu Yuanchu.
A candidate like Huo Yuanhong, whose talent was no less than Wang Tianlong's and who had ties to Li Shuxing, already satisfied him greatly and was worth backing!
"Looks like the Manifest Strength genius my Fang Family invested in has found a more suitable choice than Wang Tianlong..."
Fang Pingsheng smiled. With equal talent, investing in Huo Yuanhong would also draw them closer to Li Shuxing. Naturally, he was far more suitable than Wang Tianlong!
As for this martial contest...
This was a contest between Martial Arts Halls. Everyone from the hostile hall had already been laid flat. What was there left to contest?
"For this martial contest, first place goes to Huo Yuanhong! Everyone else receives zero points!"
This great figure of the Fang Family settled the matter with one hammer blow.
Only then did Wang Tianlong recover from that soul-upending shock. Hearing Fang Pingsheng's words, his expression immediately turned ugly.
He knew that the Fang Family's investment in him would likely be shifted to Huo Yuanhong.
"Fortunately, with my long accumulation, I only need half a month to swiftly enter the initial stage of Heart-Mind Unity. Then I will naturally pull ahead of Huo Yuanhong and reclaim the glory and resources that belong to me!"
Wang Tianlong kept a grim face as he silently thought to himself.
He admitted that Huo Yuanhong was indeed powerful, but in terms of talent and potential, he believed he was not necessarily inferior. He had merely lost out because no formidable master had guided him hand in hand, nor had he been given the most top-grade Boiling Blood Powder by a formidable master.
He would immediately begin cultivating Heart-Mind Unity and successfully enter its initial stage within half a month, letting everyone know who the true genius was!
"Brother Li, by my reckoning, the contest should have begun already, yes?"
In the reception room deep within the Martial Arts Hall, Li Shuxing sat opposite several people.
The man who spoke had a lean, refined face, wore an ash-white robe, and had a famed sword hanging at his waist.
He was none other than Mo Wuji, chief hall master of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall—one of the heroes among the "One Peak Expert, Two Heroes," an unparalleled swordsman famed throughout the land!
"Oh? Hall Master Mo seems quite impatient?"
Li Shuxing raised his tea, took a careful sip, and only then looked at Mo Wuji before him.
"Brother Li, you jest. It is merely a sparring match among juniors. Even if there are wins and losses, it will not harm the harmony between us."
Mo Wuji smiled.
"So Hall Master Mo means that my Divine Spear Martial Hall will lose?"
Li Shuxing slowly set down his teacup. Simply sitting there calmly was enough to make Mo Wuji and the others feel immense pressure. The three of them had to join forces just to stand on equal footing with him.
Yet Mo Wuji was, after all, one of the Two Heroes second only to Li Shuxing. With the Martial-Arts-Guild-Second-in-Command and the Wu Family Patriarch, two top experts, at his side, he did not fear Li Shuxing.
"I did not mean that. I merely hope that Brother Li will not let a momentary win or loss ruin the harmony of Jin Gate's Martial Arts Hall world."
Mo Wuji also put down his teacup, looked directly at Li Shuxing, and spoke slowly.
This contest was a joint suppression by their several Martial Arts Halls, the Martial Guild, and the Wu Family against Divine Spear Martial Hall. Step by step, they intended to weaken Divine Spear Martial Hall's momentum and knock it down from its throne as Jin Gate's foremost hall.
Everything was now in place. With several of them here to hold Li Shuxing back, once the contest outside ended, they could have newspapers and scholars do their work, letting the world "learn" that Divine Spear Martial Hall's younger generation had withered away.
This would certainly not topple Divine Spear Martial Hall, nor would it topple Li Shuxing. But once its disastrous results were widely publicized, those officials and wealthy magnates who did not know the truth would think twice and be far less likely to send their outstanding descendants to Divine Spear Martial Hall for training.
In that way, Divine Spear Martial Hall would have much of its wings clipped. As one side waned and the other waxed, when they truly moved against Divine Spear Martial Hall later, their chances of success would increase by another measure!
Li Shuxing naturally understood this as well. He had already made up his mind that if these people truly refused to leave even a shred of face, he would simply flip the table!
With his temperament, he would not let these people boil a frog in warm water and gradually weaken Divine Spear Martial Hall's strength!
"I wonder how A-Hong is doing. With Old Xu watching outside, nothing should happen. At worst, he'll be beaten up and need to lie down for a few days..."
As Li Shuxing thought, his aura locked onto the three people opposite him, ready at any time to make a move and suppress them.
After all, this was his territory. If these three truly started making trouble, it would be his own foundation that got smashed.
"Hall Master! Hall Master!"
At that moment, someone suddenly rushed in anxiously. It was an instructor from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall, drenched in cold sweat.
"What are you panicking for!"
Mo Wuji barked.
"H-Hall Master, something happened..."
Sweat covered the instructor's forehead as he forced himself to speak.
"Speak."
Mo Wuji said indifferently.
Surely... it could not be that Li Shuxing's people had turned hostile first and directly flipped the table?
"Yue Xiuwen... and the other disciples who were supposed to compete have all been beaten severely. They're lying in bed, unable to get up. No one can take the stage now."
The news exploded like a thunderclap. Mo Wuji crushed his teacup with a snap and looked coldly at Li Shuxing.
"Who did it?"
In his mind, Li Shuxing must have had someone hold back Sword Inquiry Martial Hall's senior masters, then arranged for other older Dark Force disciples to strike and heavily injure Yue Xiuwen and the rest.
"It was a newly accepted personal disciple of Hall Master Li's, named Huo Yuanhong. His strength is likely only a hair away from the utmost limit of Manifest Strength, and his fighting style is even more formidable!"
The instructor had already asked around. After hesitating, he added, "It is said... this boy was originally from our hall. He was an apprentice for ten years, but was expelled not long ago by Yue Xiuqun's personal disciple, so he turned and entered Hall Master Li's service..."
Li Shuxing's personal disciple? He had once belonged to their Martial Arts Hall?
Mo Wuji could not help but freeze.
How had he never heard of this?
Moreover, a monstrous talent only a hair away from the utmost limit—no matter which great faction he belonged to, he would be the core among cores. How could he have been expelled from the sect?
Especially when this discarded son had also wiped out every one of their Martial Arts Hall's most gifted younger generation...
"Absurd!"
Mo Wuji's expression darkened.
If such absurdity spread, their attempt to suppress Divine Spear Martial Hall's reputation would become lifting a stone only to smash their own feet, digging a pit and jumping into it themselves.
If mishandled, they would become a laughingstock for all Jin Gate to discuss over tea and after meals.
"Tell Yue Xiuqun to get his ass to the study and wait!"
Mo Wuji's face was ugly. He had already understood that Yue Xiuqun, his fine disciple, had deliberately suppressed this matter while he was in seclusion, resulting in them losing face before outsiders.
"Hall Master Li truly has impressive calculations. As expected of Jin Gate's number one. You trained such an excellent disciple; I admire you!"
Mo Wuji stared at Li Shuxing, narrowing his eyes.
How could there be such a coincidence in this world? An apprentice who originally did not even possess Manifest Strength had been taken away by Li Shuxing for a few days and suddenly become nearly at its utmost limit, making them lift a stone only to smash their own feet.
As expected, Huo Yuanhong had long been secretly cultivated by Li Shuxing. He might even have been Li Shuxing's personal disciple from childhood, trained for ten or twenty years, merely waiting for this moment to leap out and trap them!
"Likewise, likewise."
Li Shuxing raised his teacup, unhurriedly took a sip, and wore a calm, composed expression, as though nothing under heaven or earth could ever escape his control.
Yet where Mo Wuji and the others could not see, a tiny crack had somehow appeared at the bottom of Li Shuxing's teacup. He then controlled it with terrifying precision until it fused back together, as though nothing had happened.
Four days...
It had only been four fucking days...
Manifest Strength had gone from beginner to nearly its utmost limit?
Such a freakish monster... how the fuck could he possibly have taught him!?
Even he, the master, had no idea when this kid had become so fierce... Hadn't the news he heard at Master Fang's place last night said he was only at Manifest Strength Great Accomplishment?
But then again, this style of doing things—charging right up to their door and wiping them all out—really did suit his temperament. Worthy indeed of being his heir!
That was right, his heir!
When facing trouble that demanded an enormous price, true disciples could be discarded at critical moments by great experts like them. There were plenty more, after all.
But an heir was different!
An heir was no longer merely bound by the relationship of master and disciple, but of father and son! He was even more important than one's biological son, the inheritor of one's lifelong efforts!
Whoever dared touch an heir would face a struggle to the death!
And at this very moment, Li Shuxing had made up his mind to regard Huo Yuanhong as his heir!
This also meant that, just as he would protect his own biological son, no matter how great a price he had to pay, he would protect Huo Yuanhong to the death!
"Hall Master Mo."
Just as Mo Wuji and the others were about to step outside, Li Shuxing's indifferent voice rang out behind them.
"Hmm?"
Mo Wuji's body paused slightly.
"Does Hall Master Li have another matter?"
"Nothing. I merely wish to remind you all not to think of using any tricks."
Li Shuxing sat there, lifted his eyelids slightly, and said indifferently, "Whoever dares touch my heir, I'll kill his whole family!"
Those words made Mo Wuji's body tremble slightly.
He had already valued Huo Yuanhong as highly as possible, yet he had never imagined that this boy was Li Shuxing's heir!
In that case, it made sense for him to possess the potential of a Martial Saint while being only a hair away from the utmost limit of Manifest Strength! After all, under Divine Spear's wholehearted cultivation as though raising his own son, cultivated day after day for ten years without change, it would be stranger if he did not possess the potential of a Martial Saint!
"Hall Master Li is being excessively domineering. If someone fails to hold back during a spar, would that also count as touching your heir?"
Mo Wuji slowly turned around and looked at Li Shuxing.
"In a fair duel, I naturally will not interfere. If he dies, it only means his skills were lacking..."
"But if someone plots against him or uses the strong to bully the weak, then do not blame me, Li Shuxing, for using the strong to bully the weak as well."
Li Shuxing remained seated without moving, speaking calmly.
Mo Wuji, the Martial-Arts-Guild-Second-in-Command, and the Wu Family Patriarch fell silent for a moment. In the end, they said nothing. They merely snorted and turned to leave.
Without Li Shuxing, several of them—especially Mo Wuji, in order to preserve Sword Inquiry Martial Hall's reputation and avoid one day being saddled with the label of having eyes yet failing to recognize talent—would not have minded crushing an ant underfoot.
But if crushing that ant would bring Li Shuxing's retaliation, then it was not worth it.
None of them doubted Li Shuxing's words.
Whoever dared touch an heir would go mad! Even if Li Shuxing would certainly be besieged and killed afterward, once they died, they would be truly dead.
What were their statuses? Trading lives with an ant was far too worthless!
One had to know that even after another ten or twenty years, this ant might not necessarily be able to stand before them.
Perhaps...
If this ant had not been Li Shuxing's disciple, they would never even have known such an ant existed.
Like a giant dragon looking down from the high heavens, how could it notice the crawling insects beneath the earth?
Besides, in another twenty-odd days would come the Jinmen Grand Competition that would determine the fate of the Commoner Faction. Then, blocked by countless aristocratic family geniuses, this boy was destined to be knocked into the dust! He could not possibly punch through everyone all the way like this!
Before you continue