"Finally got you!"
The words had barely left his mouth when a cold glint flashed in Lu Jue's eyes. His Qi and Blood erupted thunderously, and his five fingers clamped onto Li Zhanting's right arm like iron pincers, leaving him unable to break free.
At the same time, his long-prepared right fist shot out like an arrow loosed from the bow, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek as it drove straight at the other man's face!
This punch carried the strength of his entire body. The muscles in his arm bulged and knotted, veins standing out as a visible current of air trailed in the wake of his fist!
Li Zhanting was horrified beyond measure. In his haste, he could only raise his left arm to block.
"Crack—!"
The crisp sound of bones breaking rang out clearly!
Lu Jue's punch directly shattered Li Zhanting's arm, its momentum undiminished as it slammed viciously into the side of his face!
"Pfft!"
Li Zhanting's eyes bulged as he flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the wall of the training hall!
The tremendous impact echoed through the hall. Dust rained down from the walls, which had even developed countless fine cracks.
At the sight of this, every student stood dumbfounded.
The whispers that had confidently declared Lu Jue's inevitable defeat still seemed to linger in their ears, yet they were utterly smashed apart by this earth-shaking reversal!
Some students who had mocked Lu Jue earlier now wore awkward expressions, their eyes flickering as they quietly retreated to the very back of the crowd.
"W-What did I just see?" A student rubbed his eyes, seemingly unable to believe what had happened before him.
"Instructor Li was actually sent flying?" A girl's voice trembled, her eyes filled with horror.
One particularly tall student even cried out in disbelief, his face full of confusion and incredulity. "How is that possible?! He was clearly being beaten down just now!"
"One punch! Just one punch!"
"This was a challenge across ranks!"
An uproar like raging waves finally erupted. Gasps rang through the hall one after another, every face filled with disbelief as their gazes swept back and forth between the sprawled, bedraggled Li Zhanting and Lu Jue, standing proudly in the center of the arena.
Dust continued to drift down.
Li Zhanting lay on the ground, his cheek visibly deforming at a rapid rate. The corner of his mouth had split open, and blood mixed with broken teeth flowed out in streams.
"Damn it..."
His head buzzed without end, as though ten thousand bees were shrieking inside it. The agonizing pain and dizziness nearly swallowed him whole, but worse than that was the unbearable humiliation of being defeated in public!
He could even clearly feel it: those gazes once filled with awe and fear had now turned into undisguised schadenfreude. Every stare had become a razor-sharp blade, slicing his dignity to pieces.
Li Zhanting was twenty-six this year, and the Advanced Fist Arts he practiced had been passed down through his Lineage.
After studying countless detailed notes left behind by his elders and receiving careful instruction from specialists, he had endured thirteen years of bitter toil without daring to slack off before he finally, as naturally as water flowing into a channel, touched upon that mysterious and profound "Entering Force"!
Yet that was far from enough!
For a fist practitioner to enter force, two major conditions had to be met!
First, one had to master Advanced Fist Arts and comprehend Entering Force.
Second, one had to temper one's Qi and Blood Value to above twelve thousand points!
Entering Force without sufficient Qi and Blood was like trying to cook without rice; it was simply impossible to refine true force!
His talent was limited. Even after piling up vast resources, he had only barely raised his Qi and Blood Value to the threshold of twelve thousand last year, reluctantly refining that faint yet crucial thread of force.
But what about Lu Jue before him?
That mud-legged brat from the slums possessed a force in his fists that actually surpassed his own by far!
Even if Lu Jue's physique had been naturally inclined toward strength, for him to send him flying with one punch meant his Qi and Blood Value had absolutely exceeded thirteen thousand points!
How old was he?
Eighteen!
An eighteen-year-old youth born in the slums, with no support from any power, had somehow reached such a shocking level!?
This could never be explained away as a sudden epiphany!
That bastard was definitely cheating!
Boundless jealousy seized Li Zhanting in an instant.
He clearly realized that if he did not risk everything, he might truly capsize in a gutter today and fall completely here!
Under the gazes of those commoner students he had once oppressed, he nearly went mad!
"Fine, fine, fine! You all want to see me make a fool of myself, don't you?!"
The last trace of reason in Li Zhanting's eyes was utterly devoured by madness.
With his back to the crowd, he trembled as he used his still-mobile right hand to snatch the dark-red Crimson Blood Pill from his chest and shove it into his mouth, swallowing it whole!
The pill entered his stomach like a volcano being ignited!
"Boom—!"
An incomparably violent energy instantly exploded inside his body, wildly scouring through every meridian!
The intense agony made him let out a howl that barely sounded human. Capillaries across his skin swelled one after another, while the aura around him rapidly became savage and violent. Even his left hand, which had been unable to move from the excruciating pain, was forcibly driven by that terrifying energy after a violent bout of trembling!
This horrifying development once again drew cries of alarm from the entire hall!
"What's going on? Instructor Li was still holding back?"
"Where are the people who said Instructor Li was defeated in one punch? He was clearly holding back!"
Tang Ning instinctively moved to rush into the arena, but Su Li grabbed her.
"Don't panic!"
Su Li's gaze remained calm. "He hasn't lost yet!"
Tang Ning gritted her teeth and stopped, her gaze fixed tightly on the arena.
"Ahhh! Damn lowborn scum! I'll tear you apart!!!"
Li Zhanting let out a beastlike roar. Seeing Lu Jue already charging in to press his advantage, he did not hesitate. His right leg, flooded with violent Qi and Blood, swept up like a steel whip with a heart-palpitating shriek through the air, striking Lu Jue's incoming fist dead on!
"Bang!!!"
A deafening explosion erupted in the arena!
Lu Jue felt a scorching, violent force crash into his fist. Not only was his forward charge forcibly halted, but the impact even sent him staggering several steps back! His fist was in unbearable pain, and the web between his thumb and forefinger had already torn open!
This strength was actually several degrees greater than his own!
He had been hiding his strength?
No!
During that clash, Lu Jue had clearly sensed that the other man's Qi and Blood was unusually violent and utterly chaotic.
It was as though he had used some secret art or taken prohibited drugs, temporarily boosting his strength while leaving his body unable to fully control it!
Having landed a blow, Li Zhanting's bloodshot eyes held nothing but frenzied killing intent.
He gave Lu Jue no chance to catch his breath. Borrowing the recoil, he twisted his body around, his ten fingers hooked and spread. Even his nails seemed to exude a bloody Baleful Intent as, with a shriek that tore through the air, they smashed viciously toward Lu Jue's face once more!
This time, he no longer used Basic Fist Arts, instead unleashing the Advanced Fist Arts inherited by his Lineage.
Faster! Stronger!
His moves became even more vicious, and he completely abandoned defense, every strike a life-or-death assault meant to drag his opponent down with him!
"Die!!"
Facing this mad counterattack like a torrential storm, Lu Jue's eyes turned icy.
Though the battle had reached white-hot intensity, his mind remained exceptionally clear. In that fleeting instant of sparks and flint, he had already noticed the key point.
Although Li Zhanting's strength had soared, he had also lost much of his reason. Even that strange footwork had become chaotic and disordered.
Fine, fine, fine!
A head-on clash, was it?
Then let's see who could hold out until the end!
Before you continue