Wei Wuji

After the first round of intense martial arts competition, forty-seven people were unfortunately eliminated. Yang Wei, who was usually lazy in his training, naturally lost in the first round.

"Brother Xia! You're too fierce... you sent him flying with just one punch!"

Since Yang Wei didn't need to participate in the subsequent matches, he watched the remaining bouts with Xia Qi'an.

"It was just luck! If I could use Blood Essence, it would have been hard to say who would win!" Xia Qi'an said humbly.

"Brother Xia, you're too modest. In the future, at Wei Dao Si, I'll have to rely on you for a lot of care, brother!"

"Haha... absolutely!"

Xia Qi'an replied with a smile.

After this period of getting along, the relationship between the three grew even closer.

Meanwhile, Wang Xie defeated his opponent and advanced to the next round with great momentum.

Xia Qi'an's opponent in the second round was a thin woman named Zhou Xiaofan, who had mastered the use of hidden weapons.

Zhou Xiaofan was as agile as a swallow and wielded her hidden weapons with fluid grace, making her an extremely difficult opponent.

However, after more than ten rounds of fierce exchanges, facing Xia Qi'an's fierce offense and his defense, which was as solid as a rock, Zhou Xiaofan couldn't even inflict a scratch on him without using Blood Essence. Thus, Zhou Xiaofan decisively chose to surrender!

In the third round, Xia Qi'an unexpectedly met Wang Xie head-on.

Xia Qi'an chuckled, "Old Wang! We've shared a room for so long, it seems we've never had a serious spar?"

Wang Xie also smiled, "I've had the same thought for a while!"

With that, their expressions turned serious, and they immediately began to fight.

Although Wang Xie appeared lazy on the surface, his martial arts cultivation was profound.

He was also skilled in saber techniques, wielding a willow-leaf saber as thin as a cicada's wing. When he used it, it was as fast as lightning, with tricky and unpredictable moves that targeted vital points.

Xia Qi'an was not to be outdone, his fists moved like the wind, powerful and unmatched.

Each punch was like Mount Tai descending, with immense momentum.

"Clang," "Clang," "Clang"...

In an instant, they had exchanged dozens of blows.

Xia Qi'an's fists were like metal, directly clashing with Wang Xie's saber edge bare-handed.

The willow-leaf saber was undoubtedly sharp, but when it struck Xia Qi'an's fist, it only left a shallow white mark.

Although Xia Qi'an still felt pain, after the special training under instructor Jiang Feng.

He had long grown accustomed to such injuries.

Finally, he seized an opportunity and landed a punch on Wang Xie's right shoulder.

Wang Xie cried out in pain, as if struck by lightning, and stumbled back dozens of steps.

With this punch, his right shoulder blade was dislocated, and his right arm became as limp and powerless as a willow catkin in the wind.

Wang Xie gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain in his shoulder, and admitted defeat, "What an Iron Body technique! What a fist technique! Brother Qi'an, you win!"

"Brother Wang! I concede!"

His match against Wang Xie this time had already attracted many eyes.

Clearly, Xia Qi'an's dominant performance in the several rounds of competition had caught the attention of others.

In the blink of an eye, the three-day martial arts competition was drawing to a close.

Xia Qi'an had fought his way through, finally reaching the final battle.

His opponent in the last match was a young man named Wei Wuji. He was tall, had a cold expression, and was only a year older than Xia Qi'an.

Like Xia Qi'an, Wei Wuji practiced martial arts that focused on strengthening the body, and he was also skilled in fist techniques.

"Your Golden Body Technique is well cultivated! And your Great Strength Vajra Fist has some proficiency. Unfortunately, you've met me, so you can only aim for second place!"

On the stage, Wei Wuji stood tall and evaluated Xia Qi'an mercilessly.

"You're speaking a bit too soon. We'll have to fight to know!"

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xia Qi'an and Wei Wuji attacked simultaneously.

They both chose to punch head-on, directly blasting towards each other.

After all, they were both body-cultivating martial artists, and neither was willing to show weakness in front of the other.

"Bang!"

Their fists collided like meteors, and a thunderous sound, deafening and muffled, echoed across the competition arena.

In this head-on clash, both fighters were evenly matched; neither gained any advantage.

However, neither was willing to retreat even half a step, like two fierce tigers, they stared each other down.

Immediately after, they both threw punches, hitting each other's faces like a storm of wind and rain.

Xia Qi'an and Wei Wuji were both sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.

A solid punch landed, igniting Xia Qi'an's fury and fully awakening the ferocity within him.

With a powerful surge, he sprang from the ground like a leopard, spitting out a mouthful of blood as if to vent all his rage.

Then, with a roar, his legs coiled like springs, propelling him off the ground like a cannonball. He charged at Wei Wuji again, like a starving wolf pouncing on its prey.

Seeing Xia Qi'an's fierce charge, Wei Wuji roared, "Excellent!"

This time, Xia Qi'an held nothing back, casting all defense aside. His fists rained down like a storm, carrying an overwhelming force.

Wei Wuji, not to be outdone, responded with punches as swift as the wind and as firm as a rock, each blow like Mount Tai bearing down.

The two clashed fiercely once more, completely abandoning defense and allowing each other's fists to land.

They refused to yield an inch.

Even as the Blood Essence churned within them and their internal organs ached, they gritted their teeth and swallowed the blood back down.

In the brutal exchange of blows, Xia Qi'an gritted his teeth, his face contorted into a terrifying grimace, blood seeping from between his clenched teeth.

"Wei Wuji... I'll X your XX... die for me!"

Xia Qi'an was fueled by pure rage.

Wei Wuji's eyes were equally bloodshot, his face twisted in a snarl as he spat, "Country bumpkin... lowly peasant, vulgar fool!"

This intense battle continued for over half an hour without pause.

Everyone watching was filled with excitement.

At this moment, Xia Qi'an's mind held only one thought: to defeat Wei Wuji until he couldn't get up, to make him grovel at his feet.

Finally, both men exhausted their last ounce of strength.

They fell down simultaneously.

A few breaths later, only Xia Qi'an staggered to his feet with difficulty.

"Wei Wuji... I won this match!"

Xia Qi'an roared at Wei Wuji, who lay at his feet, proclaiming his victory.

"Good!"

"This is the spirit a martial artist should have!"

"I declare the final winner of this martial arts competition to be Xia Qi'an!"

The speaker was the Head Instructor, Lin Beihai.

With Lin Beihai's announcement, Xia Qi'an's training camp journey came to a perfect conclusion.

This also meant he had officially become a member of the Wei Dao Si.

In the following days, Xia Qi'an did not immediately return to Jinling to take up his post. Instead, he remained at the training camp, receiving care and treatment from the Wei Dao Si physicians.

During this time, Xia Qi'an received his rewards from the martial arts competition.

He obtained a total of three martial arts techniques.

The reward for the champion of the martial arts competition was the internal cultivation technique manual, "Extreme Wind Thunder Force."

This internal cultivation method required the user to channel the power of wind and thunder through their own Blood Essence to temper their body.

It allowed for the nurturing of both wind and thunder, forces of nature, within the body.

The technique combined the destructive power of thunder with the agility of wind.

It was perfectly suited to Xia Qi'an's characteristics and could compensate for the shortcomings in his movement techniques.

After careful consideration, Xia Qi'an realized this technique might have been specially chosen for him by Lin Beihai.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be such a coincidence.

As expected, after a brief perusal, the technique only contained the first three levels. Subsequent levels would likely need to be redeemed with merit points.

The other two techniques were the "Wood Burning Saber Technique" and the "Light Body Technique."

These two techniques were fundamental skills that all members of the Wei Dao Si were required to cultivate.

The Wood Burning Saber Technique, when used, caused flames to wreathe the blade, making it particularly effective against demons and strange creatures.

The Light Body Technique was unremarkable.

If there had been better options, Xia Qi'an would not have chosen this movement technique.

Additionally, the martial arts competition also awarded one Vital Energy Pill.

This pill was specifically refined to increase a martial artist's Blood Essence, enough for Xia Qi'an to undergo another blood exchange.

In comparison, the reward of two hundred taels of silver seemed insignificant next to the other two.