"Ah!" Zhou Changming let out a pained cry, his voice seeming to pierce the heavens.
At the same time, his enormous, thick, ape-like palm came crashing down with immense force, like Mount Tai crushing an egg.
Faced with this ferocious attack, Gu Chen remained calm and fearless.
With lightning-fast reflexes, he raised one arm and steadily blocked the savage assault that came at him like a violent storm.
Then, seizing the momentum, he swiftly lashed out with his right leg. Like lightning splitting the night sky, it slammed viciously into Zhou Changming's legs before he could react.
The sudden blow caught Zhou Changming completely off guard. His legs were badly injured, and his previously mountain-steady body instantly began to sway, unable to remain standing.
Gu Chen sharply caught this fleeting opening and, without hesitation, executed a perfectly timed shoulder throw.
With a forceful swing of his arms, Zhou Changming's massive body flew straight out like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily onto the ground.
With a thunderous bang, Zhou Changming's body struck the hard ground, producing an incomparably dull impact.
Yet Gu Chen did not stop there. Seizing the chance, he leaped up and kicked fiercely at Zhou Changming, who had just fallen and had yet to get back up, like a sharp whirlwind.
Under the impact of that tremendous force, Zhou Changming was like someone struck by a speeding carriage, skidding across the ground for a long distance before slowly coming to a stop.
When he struggled to rise from the ground, blazing fury already burned in his eyes, as though it could incinerate the entire world.
At that moment, the Spirit Ring beneath his feet began to shine with dazzling light. He was clearly preparing to use his ultimate move.
"Third Spirit Skill: Heavenly Ape Heavy Strike!" As Zhou Changming roared, his Martial Soul suddenly fused with his body.
In an instant, an incomparably powerful surge of Soul Power burst from within him, rushing forth like floodwaters breaching a dam.
Carrying overwhelming might, that Soul Power transformed into a brilliant beam of light and blasted straight toward Gu Chen.
"So this is what fighting feels like? It really is intoxicating..." Gu Chen murmured softly, as though immersed in the fierce duel.
The collision of flesh and blood made his blood boil.
Even though the person before him was like a punching bag, capable only of taking hits, giving him none of that feeling of evenly matched combat.
It still gave him a trace of satisfaction. (Gu Chen: This really is delightful. I suppose I'll never forget you for the rest of my life.)
Gu Chen took a deep breath and gave a low shout. "Second Spirit Skill: Light of Destruction!"
In an instant, Gu Chen's gaze became incomparably sharp and solemn, as though he had utterly abandoned every emotional fluctuation, leaving behind only the stillness of dead water and bone-piercing coldness.
At the same time, his once clear and bright eyes were shrouded in a dense, ink-black Destruction Power.
With a dull rumble, Gu Chen's mysterious and powerful Double Pupils slowly closed.
Then, two substantial black rays abruptly burst from the depths of his pupils—terrifying beams condensed from the ultimate power of destruction!
The two beams shot straight toward Zhou Changming in midair with lightning speed, so fast that no one could react.
Two muffled pops rang out as the beams of destruction pierced through Zhou Changming's legs without obstruction.
Suffering such grievous injuries, Zhou Changming immediately let out an utterly miserable scream. Intense pain spread through his entire body in an instant, nearly making him pass out from the agony.
His legs gave out and collapsed to the ground, and his entire body uncontrollably fell to his knees in Gu Chen's direction.
This was still inside Eastsea City. If he killed someone, he would probably be arrested.
If not for that concern, he would not have aimed for the legs, but the head.
"Your turn."
Gu Chen's calm gaze shifted toward Zhou Changxi beside him, but the words he spoke sounded like a death sentence.
"Y-You! Don't come any closer!"
"Since you won't behave, go back in and stay there for a few more days!"
Bang!
"Ah!!!"
To him, it had all been nothing more than a minor interlude.
Not long after Zhou Changming and Zhou Changxi, father and son, fell, they were carried back inside on stretchers.
As long as he did not kill them, merely crippling or injuring them was naturally no big deal. No one came to trouble him; Gu Chen had people backing him.
Gu Chen might have been the final boss behind the scenes, but his status within the Butian Sect was not low either. At least on the surface, he was one of the Butian Sect's Candidate Holy Sons.
All that could be said about those two was that they had brought it entirely upon themselves.
If those two had not insisted on coming before him to make their presence known, he probably would not even have remembered those minor characters from the original story.
By the time Gu Chen returned to Eastsea Academy, the remaining students had nearly finished fighting.
Since Gu Chen had been absent, Tang Wulin easily achieved three consecutive victories before losing to Gu Yue.
When Gu Chen left, Wu Changkong had naturally followed him out of concern for his safety. He then witnessed Gu Chen effortlessly beating up a Three-Ring Soul Elder.
Afterward, he returned to Eastsea Academy before Gu Chen did.
Wu Changkong was a decent person, but the concealment he believed was so secret was completely exposed before the Double Pupils.
Whether it was concealing himself with Soul Power or using a stealth technique, it was as good as nothing before the Double Pupils.
"Chen Ge, are you okay?" Tang Wulin asked Gu Chen.
Gu Yue also cast him a concerned look.
"I'm fine. Because I'm the strongest," Gu Chen said calmly.
If anything had happened to him, he could not possibly have been this calm.
Seeing him return, Wu Changkong glanced at him before withdrawing his gaze and saying, "Fourth round: Gu Chen versus Wu Changkong."
Zero-Frame Start
Tang Wulin was dumbfounded upon hearing that. "Huh?"
Xie Xie was dumbfounded as well. "Hm?"
Having just returned and wanting to rest at the side, Gu Chen wore a bewildered expression as he uncertainly pointed at himself. "Huh? Me?"
Was that even something a person would say?
No matter how talented Gu Chen was, there should have been a qualitative gap between his Soul Power Level and the teacher's, right?
Was this necessary?
"No need to doubt it." Wu Changkong added, then turned his gaze toward Gu Chen.
"I just saw your performance. You only need to last ten exchanges against me."
Last ten exchanges against a six-ring Soul Emperor?
Twenty thousand years ago, Tang San had broken Immovable Wisdom King's defense.
Having started out already ahead of Tang San, he should be able to do it too, right?
Probably?
"Alright!"
"I can wait for you to adjust your condition."
"There's no need!"
After being refined by the Five-Colored Stone, Gu Chen's physique had begun to gradually catch up.
At the very least, he would no longer end up with his entire body aching from the recoil after striking with full force.
The strengthening of all his meridians allowed his Soul Power to recover far faster than that of others. In just this short while, he had already recovered roughly seventy percent of the Soul Power he had expended earlier.
It could only be said that it was terrifying.