Mouse and Cat

Xu Lie's face immediately twisted with ferocity. He stepped forward and demanded, "Luo Zheng, you promised to challenge me today, so why are you late? If you don't dare to step onto the arena, kneel down and kowtow to me three times, call me Grandpa three times, then withdraw from the Azure Cloud Sect yourself. Hiding at home like a turtle—what ability is there in that?"

Luo Zheng blinked and said leisurely, "I did promise to challenge you today. But I said today, and Zi Time is also today. Wu Time is also today. What? Did I ever promise which hour today?"

Luo Zheng's counter-question left Xu Lie stunned for a moment, while the anger on his face deepened. "You slippery brat. Once we're on the arena, I'll see what use that mouth of yours is!"

"Before I step onto the arena, I have one more request," Luo Zheng suddenly said.

"What request? Could it be that you still expect me to show mercy? The rules on Azure Cloud Sect's arena are that death or crippling carries no responsibility!" Xu Lie's goal today was to take Luo Zheng's life. If Luo Zheng made such a request, Xu Lie would absolutely refuse.

Luo Zheng shook his head. "On the arena, fists and feet have no eyes. Of course I know the rules. I just feel that fighting such a plain challenge is dreadfully boring. Why don't we bet something? It would be nice to have a stake!"

Xu Lie was slightly taken aback. He had not expected Luo Zheng to make such a request. In Xu Lie's mind, his goal had basically been achieved. As long as he lured Luo Zheng onto the arena, Luo Zheng would essentially be a dead man, so as long as Luo Zheng was willing to step onto the arena, everything else would be easy.

He had not expected Luo Zheng to be so confident, even wanting to bet on something.

Xu Lie could not figure out where Luo Zheng had gotten his confidence. Could he really think he could win? A little fellow in the Viscera Refining Realm wanted to defeat him, a Half-Step to the Innate Realm? What a joke!

"Hahaha, a stake? Very well. What do you want to bet? I'll see it through to the end!" Xu Lie said.

"How about this? I'll put up one hundred Square Crystal Stones, while you put up a High-Grade Profound Artifact. If you win, the one hundred Square Crystal Stones are yours. If you lose, that High-Grade Profound Artifact will belong to me!" Luo Zheng said with a beaming smile.

"One hundred Square Crystal Stones?" Xu Lie was stunned again. Born from humble roots, Xu Lie was not very wealthy. Although he had earned quite a number of points through his strength over the past few years, he had spent all those points exchanging for cultivation methods and pills. Raising a martial artist was a money-burning endeavor in itself, to say nothing of Xu Lie having no great clan supporting him.

That bet was nothing to an Aristocratic Clan Disciple, but to an Outer Sect Disciple born from humble roots, it was an enormous fortune.

Xu Lie was quite willing to bet with Luo Zheng, but he could not produce a High-Grade Profound Artifact...

"Brat, you know perfectly well that I don't have a High-Grade Profound Artifact, yet you want to bet this with me. I say you're just deliberately finding an excuse," Xu Lie said angrily.

Luo Zheng sighed and put on a regretful expression. "Since that's the case, there's no need to fight this challenge. Going back and forth would just be wasting energy. Why should I fight you?"

"You!" Xu Lie was genuinely left speechless with rage. "You're clearly just finding an excuse because you don't want to step onto the arena. I bet those one hundred Square Crystal Stones are just empty boasting too—you can't produce them at all!"

The moment Xu Lie finished speaking, a clinking sound rang out as a pile of Square Crystal Stones slid from Luo Zheng's hand. Each Square Crystal Stone was crystal-clear, gleaming with magnificent colors beneath the sunlight.

Square Crystal Stones were hard currency. Most of the Outer Sect Disciples on Little Rain Peak were born from humble roots. This pile of more than one hundred Square Crystal Stones was unquestionably a huge fortune.

"I've brought out this many Square Crystal Stones. As long as you produce a High-Grade Profound Artifact, I'll step onto the arena. If you can't, then I think we'd better not fight. I really don't want to waste my energy!" Standing amid that pile of Square Crystal Stones, Luo Zheng smiled especially brightly.

Xu Lie was now completely at a loss for words. What he had thought would be a simple matter had been dragged out for so long by Luo Zheng's hemming and hawing.

At that moment, Steward Zhu suddenly said ominously, "Xu Lie, he wants to bet a High-Grade Profound Artifact, so just bet with him. Could it be that you're afraid you'll lose?"

"But I don't have a High-Grade Profound Artifact," Xu Lie said gloomily.

"If you don't have one, can't you borrow one? I refuse to believe that on a huge Little Rain Peak, no one can produce a High-Grade Profound Artifact," Steward Zhu reminded him.

"Right!" Xu Lie swept his gaze around, then looked toward someone in the corner. "He Bing, if I remember correctly, you have a High-Grade Profound Artifact?"

He Bing indeed possessed a High-Grade Profound Artifact, and his strength was not weak either. Seeing Xu Lie approach him, he said with a smile, "Brother Xu Lie, I do have a High-Grade Profound Artifact. So what?"

"Lend it to me. I'll return it shortly!" Xu Lie said. In his eyes, this was a very simple matter.

What Xu Lie had not expected was for He Bing to shake his head. "No."

"What? Are you afraid I'll lose to this brat?" Xu Lie demanded angrily.

He Bing continued shaking his head. "Of course I'm not afraid you'll lose to this brat. But why should I lend it to you for no reason?"

"You..." Xu Lie's eyes shifted as he immediately understood He Bing's meaning. He said, "How about this? Once I defeat that brat, I'll split the Square Crystal Stones with you fifty-fifty. How about it?"

Only then did a satisfied smile appear on He Bing's face. "You should have said so earlier, Brother Xu Lie. Here, catch!"

After He Bing finished speaking, he untied a sword from his waist and tossed it to Xu Lie.

Xu Lie caught it, inwardly cursing He Bing for being the sort who would not lift a finger without profit. Then, with a sharp clang, he drew the treasure sword from its sheath. The three-foot azure blade shimmered with a faint purple radiance. He said to Luo Zheng, "He Bing's sword is called the Purple Azure Treasure Sword. It's a High-Grade Profound Artifact of the Profound Rank. That can serve as the stake, right?"

Luo Zheng glanced at the Purple Azure Treasure Sword, then nodded. Turning to Mo Can behind him, he said, "Help me send these Square Crystal Stones over." After saying this, Luo Zheng leaped onto the arena.

Seeing Luo Zheng step onto the arena, Xu Lie secretly rejoiced. He feared nothing except Luo Zheng truly backing down. Thus, he handed the Purple Azure Treasure Sword to Mo Can and likewise leaped onto the arena.

On the arena, Luo Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, but the power within his body had begun to circulate slowly. Facing Xu Lie, a Half-Step to the Innate Realm, Luo Zheng seemed unconcerned on the surface, but inside he was filled with vigilance. Anyone who had cultivated to Xu Lie's level would surely have a trump card.

Xu Lie had endured for a long time and had wanted to end this challenge quickly. After stepping onto the arena, he let out a cold laugh. Lightning flashed beneath his feet, and his entire body seemed wrapped in a layer of lightning as he charged toward Luo Zheng at astonishing speed.

Xu Lie cultivated a technique called Thunderclap Fist. The innate true qi it produced was filled with the imposing force of thunder, making both its speed and explosive power extremely astonishing.

Xu Lie continued drawing closer and growing larger in Luo Zheng's pupils. When the distance between them was only two meters, his enormous fist transformed into a bolt of thunder and struck straight down at Luo Zheng's head.

At the Half-Step to the Innate Realm, one could already skillfully control innate true qi and transform true qi into thunderbolts. The might of this punch was astonishing.

Facing this punch, Luo Zheng did not retreat.

He clenched his five fingers into a fist. Strands of purple light wrapped around his body, and the moment he struck, he used the Rosewood Inch Strength from the Rosewood Fist!

He actually wanted to meet Xu Lie head-on!

The people beneath the arena saw this and their mouths fell wide open.

They had originally thought Luo Zheng would certainly turn tail and flee at the first exchange.

After all, the difference in realms was far too great. Facing an enemy head-on, Luo Zheng did not have the slightest chance of winning.

If these fists collided, half of Luo Zheng's body would probably be scorched black by Xu Lie's Thunderclap Fist.

"Bang!"

The two fists collided head-on.

Under the tremendous force of their collision, Luo Zheng retreated four steps before stabilizing himself.

Xu Lie, meanwhile, was sent stumbling backward seven or eight steps before barely coming to a stop. A strange glint flashed in his eyes.

This punch had not only exceeded Xu Lie's expectations, but also those of every watching Outer Sect Disciple.

How could anyone who cultivated the body not understand the importance of realm?

At the Five Realms of the Body, every breakthrough to a higher realm increased one's strength severalfold.

Since when could the strength of the Viscera Refining Realm stand on equal footing with that of the Half-Step to the Innate Realm?

Whether they believed it or not, the scene before them had truly occurred.

A solemn look flashed across Luo Zheng's face as well. In the instant they had exchanged blows, the purple light on Luo Zheng's arm had been scattered by Xu Lie's Thunderclap Fist. His Rosewood Inch Strength was clearly somewhat feeble now, unable to display its full effect.

Sure enough, when the Rosewood Fist encountered a true expert, it was still somewhat inadequate.

Xu Lie's lightning power had actually spread into his arm, like two bright silver snakes winding around it and biting fiercely.

Before long, the smell of something scorched rose from Luo Zheng's arm.

Luo Zheng's strength had greatly exceeded Xu Lie's expectations, but seeing Luo Zheng's charred arm, Xu Lie still revealed a savage grin. "Good strength! But that arm of yours is crippled now!"

"Is that so?" A faint smile surfaced on Luo Zheng's face. Power circulated through his arm, and strands of purple light surged out from within it. The two little snakes formed from lightning were instantly strangled by the Purple Sandalwood True Qi.

Seeing this, Xu Lie's eyelid twitched. Although this brat was only in the Viscera Refining Realm, his strength was astonishing, and his body was especially strange. Xu Lie himself knew best how difficult the lightning power of Thunderclap Fist was to deal with.

Yet it had not worked well against this brat.

But so what if he had extraordinary talent? If this brat were also a Half-Step to the Innate Realm, Xu Lie would probably turn and run. But he was still only a brat in the Viscera Refining Realm. No matter how formidable he was, how formidable could he be? With that thought, lightning flashed across Xu Lie's body, and his figure vanished from the arena in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, he suddenly rolled to the side. At the spot where he had been, Xu Lie descended from the sky and slammed a Thunderclap Fist into the ground. It exploded like a thunderbolt splitting a clear sky, making everyone's eardrums ring wildly.

"That speed is too fast..." Luo Zheng frowned. At that moment, he was also focusing his entire attention on Xu Lie. His greatest disadvantage was that his speed was too slow.

The final realm of the Five Realms of the Body was the Marrow Refining Realm.

In the Marrow Refining Realm, one refined out the impurities in the marrow throughout the body. This realm could be simplified into two words: "marrow cleansing."

Only after successfully cleansing the marrow would the entire body undergo a qualitative transformation. The body would grow stronger, movement speed would surge, and one's senses would become sharper.

When he had dealt with Xie Lang back then, he had suffered precisely because he could not pursue his opponent's figure. Now Xu Lie was using the same move.

"Crackle!"

Another Thunderclap Fist smashed toward Luo Zheng.

This time, Luo Zheng could not completely evade it. Part of the lightning power latched onto his leg.

Fortunately, Luo Zheng possessed a body powerful beyond compare. Most of the lightning power was absorbed by his body, and the remainder did not inflict much damage on him.

"Can't keep up with my speed, can you? Let's see how long you can endure it!" Xu Lie grew more and more excited as he attacked. Having a free moving punching bag for him to hit naturally made him delighted.

"Smack!"

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

Every time Xu Lie struck, he shouted arrogantly.

"You're quite good at dodging, aren't you?"

"Let's see how long you can keep dodging!"

"Again!"

On the arena, a cat-and-mouse game was unfolding. But no matter how well a mouse could run, it would eventually be caught by the cat.