"You're asking for it!" When Xian He called him a dog, Li Zhen flew into a rage. He grabbed Xian He by the collar, ready to beat him up.
Unfortunately, Xian He was no longer the pushover he used to be.
"You're the one who's asking for it!"
Before Li Zhen could make a move, Xian He slapped him first.
With the boost from the food, his strength had risen to 1,175 points, reaching Yellow Obsidian One-star level.
Li Zhen's Force Dissipation was only Four-star White Obsidian. A single slap from him should have created at least a Level Two opening.
"Smack!"
Li Zhen was completely stunned and let go of Xian He's collar without thinking.
He'd never imagined that the coward he'd bullied since childhood would dare to fight back.
Getting slapped in front of everyone was humiliating.
"You dare hit me? I'll kill you!" His face flushed red, and he lunged at Xian He like a mad dog.
Xian He didn't flinch in the face of danger. He kicked out, using the first move of the Groin Kick Technique—Kick to the Front.
"Ooh-ho-ho!" Li Zhen clutched his crotch and dropped to his knees involuntarily.
His face contorted in agony, his features twisted together like a deep-fried dough twist.
Seeing the two of them fight before the competition had even begun, the referee and staff hurried over to break it up.
"What's going on?"
"Stop fighting! Keep it up and you'll be disqualified!"
"Contestant Li Zhen, are you all right? Can you still compete?"
The referee helped Li Zhen to his feet.
"I'm fine. I can still compete," Li Zhen replied through gritted teeth.
Boss Xiao Yang was always saying, "A barking dog doesn't bite; a biting dog doesn't bark." Li Zhen hadn't understood what that meant before, but now he was beginning to.
He seethed inwardly. "You dare bite me? I'll smash your brains out today and leave you dead in the ring! And you're not the only one—I'll have Yun Ling too once Boss Xiao Yang gets tired of her. Then you two can be a pair of dead spouses in the underworld. Heh heh heh..."
After helping Li Zhen up, the referee warned Xian He.
Xian He didn't take it to heart, brushing it off with a casual "Mm-hmm, uh-huh."
He glanced sideways at Li Zhen, who was clutching his crotch, puzzled.
In theory, he should have been able to create a Level Two opening with a single slap to Li Zhen's face, but he'd only managed a Level One opening.
Wasn't Li Zhen only Four-star White Obsidian? How could his Force Dissipation have reached a thousand? Unless...
Xian He suspected that Li Zhen had eaten Plain Boiled Egg and Fried Egg, just like he had.
Only Xiao Kuang had Fried Egg besides him. Had Xiao Kuang sold some to Li Zhen?
Xiao Kuang and Xiao Yang were sworn enemies. Why would he sell Fried Egg to someone from the Blazing Sun Hunting Team?
It might not have been Xiao Kuang himself. Perhaps one of his less loyal subordinates had sold it to Li Zhen.
Still, as long as he could create an opening, that was enough. Then he'd have a chance to win. If he couldn't, they'd be stuck scratching each other without doing any real damage.
The round of sixteen began soon after.
Those who had made it to the round of sixteen were all outstanding martial artists, with cultivation at least at White Obsidian Three Star.
The most monstrous among them was a Yellow Obsidian One-star contestant.
He was short, with a pointed, simian face and a pair of ears that stuck out. He looked just like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
His name was Jiang Xiaolin, and he had the greatest base strength of all the contestants.
In every match, his opponent either forfeited or got knocked out with a single slap.
Standing below the ring, Xian He narrowed his eyes and watched Jiang Xiaolin in silence. This man might be my greatest rival.
Although Jiang Xiaolin's opponent was a White Jade Five Stars martial artist, Jiang Xiaolin still knocked him out with a single slap.
Once martial artists reached Yellow Radiance grade, they could briefly convert their true energy into strength.
Jiang Xiaolin was a Yellow Obsidian One-star martial artist. His single-arm strength reached 1,100 pounds, and his dantian held over 600 units of true energy. In theory, he could unleash up to 1,700 pounds of force.
If Jiang Xiaolin hadn't held back, his opponent might have had his skull smashed by that single slap.
Although Jiang Xiaolin was strong, he still wasn't a match for Xian He.
After consuming the miraculous food, Xian He would have over a thousand points of Force Dissipation. Combined with the thousand points from the Lion Aspect Iron Head Skill, that gave him a total of 2,000 points. Jiang Xiaolin couldn't break through his defense.
And after awakening the Lion Aspect Iron Head Skill, he'd also gained a thousand points of Qi Control. Even if Jiang Xiaolin gave him internal injuries, he still wouldn't break through Xian He's defense.
If Jiang Xiaolin hadn't eaten Plain Boiled Egg and Fried Egg, Xian He could beat him easily.
If he had, the two of them would only be able to scratch each other without doing any real damage.
Still, as long as they didn't meet too early, Xian He's children would gradually be born and his cultivation would continue to improve, making his chances of winning easily grow greater and greater.
"If I'd known the Azure Light Competition would be this fierce, I wouldn't have sold the boiled eggs and Fried Egg," Xian He regretted silently.
In previous years, the Azure Light Competition had been full of weaklings at Green Obsidian level. Where had all these White Obsidian experts come from this year? Was the promise of a bag of rice seeds really so tempting?
Match after match ended, but Xian He's turn still didn't come.
He should have competed much earlier, but Xiao Yang abused his authority to force Xian He's match to be postponed, buying time for Li Zhen to recover.
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