"Not bad."
On the eastern restaurant, Zhou PeiDe let out a breath of relief.
He shook his head slightly. "He could have won with ease, yet insisted on showing off. If he'd brought out his trump card earlier, would he have ended up in such a sorry state?"
Another middle-aged man with a black beard praised him instead. "Zhou Bai has already grasped the ape form. After this battle, he'll surely rise to another level. His aptitude far surpasses ours."
His name was Wang Yao, one of the Eight Great Vajras. He had followed Zhou Pan to study martial arts from a young age and usually practiced medicine at the family clinic.
He was considered the most well-regarded of the Eight Great Vajras.
"Junior Brother Wang, you flatter me."
Zhou PeiDe stroked his beard and nodded, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
Beside them, Yuan Qu was already too lazy to speak. As he listened to the two men converse, a trace of mockery appeared in his eyes...
On the western restaurant, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
"Looks like Old Zhang is going to lose his bet."
An old martial arts hall senior shook his head slightly, unwilling to accept it. "He has gained the ape form and the Monkey Intent as well. That boy from the Zhou family truly has extraordinary aptitude. Old Monkey finally has someone to carry on his legacy..."
"What are you all panicking for?"
Zhang YuanShang snorted, his face dark as he took several pulls from his water pipe.
Setting aside the thoughts of the various factions, the battle above grew increasingly fierce.
On the arena, Li Yan took another claw.
Three claw marks scored his left shoulder, blood flowing freely.
But he paid it no attention, staring fixedly at Zhou Bai.
At this point, exchanging wounds with the Great Luo Dharma Body was useless. This was the Life and Death Arena. Even if he recovered, unless he broke through his opponent's "circle," he would still end up injured.
He had to admit that Zhou Bai was truly ferocious.
His Monkey Fist had already grasped its true meaning, moving with nimble freedom.
Li Yan could even feel that the person he faced was no longer a human being, but a ferocious ape rampaging through the mountains and forests.
Not a person?
Looking into those wild, savage eyes, Li Yan's heart suddenly stirred. As he retreated to evade, he formed the Yang Seal with his hand and drew a deep breath.
Sure enough, something was strange about Zhou Bai.
A faint fishy, rank odor lingered around him without end.
This smell was completely different from the aura of the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier or the Immortal Family worshiped by Widow Wang. It held none of that icy Killing Intent. It was more like the aura of a living creature.
So this brat was cheating!
Although he did not know the reason, Li Yan could be certain that Zhou Bai had used some kind of technique to enhance himself, allowing him to display the Monkey Intent to the fullest.
Li Yan was furious, yet even calmer.
According to Zhang ShiTong, people from the yamen had witnessed this match, while someone invited from the City God Temple had also been stationed there to prevent anyone from using techniques.
Now it seemed that the person they had invited was utterly irresponsible.
He might even have turned a blind eye because of the Zhou family.
Moreover, the aura was extremely faint. Even if Li Yan exposed him, the person using the technique could disperse it with a wave of his hand, making it pointless...
What a pity the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel was not on him.
Whoosh!
Just as he was deep in thought, Zhou Bai darted over again. He lowered his body and thrust his right claw toward Li Yan's ribs, a hissing sound rising from his mouth at the same time.
This was the Red Fist Hidden Strength secret art, Thread Penetrating Sound.
With each inhalation and exhalation, his breath became as fine as silk, passing through his organs and abdomen and stirring his fascia.
Zhou Bai's skill was still shallow, after all. Repeatedly using Hidden Strength had already become difficult for him. By now, he had to rely on Thread Penetrating Sound as an aid to execute it smoothly.
Combined with his ape form, it sounded like a beast's roar.
Li Yan was in the same predicament. Facing that thrusting claw, he had nowhere left to retreat and could only use Hidden Strength to deflect it as well.
At the same time, his chest heaved as he recited the mantra of the Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound.
"Hum!"
A muffled boom rang out. His chest resonated as if thunder were rumbling.
The area beneath the arena was already noisy. The watching commoners felt nothing unusual upon hearing it. After all, some people practicing martial arts often made grunting sounds while throwing punches.
But Zhou Bai, who was nearby, heard a muffled thunderclap beside his ear. His head buzzed, his vision went black, and his breathing instantly fell into disorder.
The aura of a horse monkey stained his body, and he had only achieved it through a secret art. It was like oil mixed with water, the boundaries between them sharply distinct.
The Great Cloud Thunder Sound was originally a Buddhist mantra, imitating the changes of yin and yang in the thunder of heaven and earth. It could naturally intimidate all evil. Though it was not a technique, it still caused the horse-monkey aura to stagnate.
Once that aura fell into disorder, the Hidden Strength naturally dispersed.
Li Yan, however, exhaled and shouted, gathering all his strength.
With a crack, Zhou Bai's thrusting claw was directly knocked aside by Li Yan. Half his hand bent backward with a broken bone, flesh split open, and jagged bone stabbed out.
"Ah—!"
Though Zhou Bai often sparred with others and had experts guide his moves, everyone feared Zhou Pan and would never dare strike with lethal force. Thus, he had never suffered any serious injury.
The violent pain in his wrist was unbearable. Cold sweat covered his head as he staggered backward.
The Divine Drum Cloud Thunder Sound can break it!
Li Yan could smell that the fishy, rank odor around Zhou Bai had become unstable.
Though he did not know the reason, how could he miss such an opportunity? He exerted force through his calves, crossed his steps left and right, and seized the opening to close in.
Red Fist was likewise renowned for its agility.
When Li Yan closed in, Zhou Bai had no time to dodge.
In his panic, Zhou Bai shook his left hand. His fingers curled like a steel rake as he clawed toward Li Yan's face, trying to force him back.
However, after circling with him for so long, Li Yan had already become familiar with his Monkey Fist patterns. He knocked the hand aside with his left hand, drove a right hook into Zhou Bai's upper abdomen, shoved with his left hand, then brought down a backfist with his right like a hammer.
Red Fist rapid-hand technique: Reveal, Smear, Thrust, Chop!
Each move came faster than the last.
At the same time, Li Yan exhaled and shouted, the "Hum" mantra continuing without pause. Zhou Bai took several solid blows and felt as though he were an Evil Creature being struck by heavenly thunder.
Thunder roared incessantly beside his ears, his head buzzing. With a sudden splurt, he vomited mouthfuls of blood.
The fear of death surged upward.
Zhou Bai knew that if he did not do something, he would die here today!
As Li Yan brought down his final punch, Zhou Bai suddenly raised both elbows to block.
Crack!
The sounds of both arms fracturing rang out at once.
By then, Zhou Bai had also retreated into the corner of the arena. Under that tremendous force, he was sent flying backward, blood spraying from his mouth.
With a heavy thud, he fell from the three-zhang-high arena and landed hard. His legs twitched several times before going still.
"Seeking death!"
A furious shout rang out from the eastern restaurant.
A figure smashed through the window and leaped directly down from the building.
It was Zhou Bai's father, Zhou PeiDe.
Although he was rigid by nature and extremely strict with his son, and although his words were never pleasant, he loved him deeply and demanded much of him.
This precious son had always been his greatest pride.
Seeing his son gravely wounded and his life or death unknown, he instantly lost all reason.
Crash!
At the same time, several figures leaped from the western restaurant.
An old man sprang forward and directly blocked Zhou PeiDe.
"Get lost!"
Zhou PeiDe roared and raised his hand, striking with a Heart-Piercing Palm.
Yet the moment he attacked, the figure before him vanished.
The person blocking him was none other than the Eight Trigrams Palm elder Luo ShiHai.
The steps of Eight Trigrams Palm moved as though wading through mud, its arms twisting like rope and its turns grinding like millstones. It excelled at close-range circling.
Luo ShiHai shifted and hooked his body, already circling to Zhou PeiDe's side. At the same time, he used a Double-Change Palm to sweep aside Zhou PeiDe's arm, then suddenly sank his shoulder.
Thump, thump, thump!
Zhou PeiDe immediately lost his balance and stumbled backward repeatedly.
Only then did Luo ShiHai lightly stroke his long beard. His eyes were cold as he said evenly, "On a Life and Death Arena, once victory or defeat has been decided, all grudges are settled. Retaliation and interference are forbidden."
"What, your son's life is a life, but my disciple just has to endure it?!"
The question was filled with undisguised fury.
His disciple, a Female QingYi with tremendous promise, had been humiliated by a disciple of the Zhou family and hanged herself.
He had tried to seek revenge, but on the arena he had not been Zhou Pan's match. He could only settle the matter temporarily, forcing his anger down.
Now that he had been given an opportunity, he naturally had to reclaim his dignity.
At the same time, Zhang YuanShang and the others surrounded them as well, facing off against the Eight Great Vajras beside Zhou PeiDe.
For a moment, the atmosphere grew exceedingly tense.
Just then, Wang Yao of the Eight Great Vajras stepped forward, felt Zhou Bai's pulse, and shouted, "Senior Brother, he's still breathing. Save him first!"
"Quick! Quick!"
How could Zhou PeiDe care about anything else now? He hurriedly led people forward, lifted Zhou Bai onto a stretcher, and swiftly left.
As he departed, he did not even have time to leave behind a threat.
Yuan Qu and the others among the Eight Great Vajras coldly swept their eyes over the scene, then turned and quickly left.
There were many people from the martial world present. Seeing this, each wore a different expression.
They were all old hands and knew the situation in Xianyang City like the backs of their hands.
Everyone understood that with the end of this arena match, the two sides of the Divine Fist Society had completely broken apart. From this day forward, Xianyang Road would no longer be peaceful!
"Brother Yan, are you all right?"
Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei naturally had no time to concern themselves with those people. They hurried to the foot of the arena and repeatedly asked Li Yan, who was climbing down from above.
They had good reason to be nervous. Li Yan's condition was no better.
Before turning defeat into victory, he had taken several solid claws. His body was covered in wounds, and he was drenched in blood from head to toe.
Li Yan opened his mouth, then suddenly closed his eyes and fainted, falling straight down.
Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan panicked and hurriedly caught him.
However, Li Yan grabbed one of their arms, while a low voice sounded beside their ears. "I'm fine. Let's go back first!"
The two understood at once. They found a stretcher, carried Li Yan onto it, and quickly left.
"Good!"
Though both sides had suffered terribly, the people of Xianyang City had thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. As Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan carried Li Yan past, cheers rang out continuously along the way.
Yet among the crowd, quite a few people wore gloomy expressions, their eyes strange...
The old street near NiangNiang Temple, the puppet shop.
Crack!
As Li Yan broke the technique on Zhou Bai's body, a white porcelain doll painted with red talismans suddenly shattered on the offering table.
Chen FaKui, who had been carving a wooden puppet, stiffened. He then slowly rose and took a Yellow Talisman folded into a triangle from inside the shattered porcelain doll.
The instant the Yellow Talisman entered his hand, it rapidly decayed and turned to flying ash...
Before you continue