A breath later, Chen Mo withdrew his gaze and calmly walked back to the edge of the field.
There was an hour of rest before the next round. Everyone used this time to replenish their supplies of meat and Qi-boosting pills.
Chen Mo also took two Yiqi Pills. As long as they weren't the sort of potent drugs that injured the enemy at the cost of a thousand and oneself at the cost of eight hundred, the examiners wouldn't interfere.
The hour was nearly up.
The two contestants from minor families, holding the "A-1" and "B-1" tokens, stepped onto the arena.
As they traded blows, their palm force surged and burst between them, filling the air with an unending hum...
In the third match, Xie Jinnian lost to Liao Tian in the sixth exchange.
In the fifth match, Liu Sha of the Black Tiger Hall fought for more than ten exchanges before finally defeating a martial student on the verge of reaching the late Dark Jin stage.
"Sixth match! Contestants, please enter the arena!"
At the clerk's shout, Zhang Chong strode slowly into the arena as a thousand gazes fell upon him.
"That's the Zhao Family's esteemed son-in-law. They say he's already got one foot in the peak Dark Jin stage."
"Who knows who his opponent is? What terrible luck."
Chen Mo walked forward steadily and stopped calmly in front of Zhang Chong.
Seeing this, everyone's eyes lit up.
"I heard Zhang Chong defected from Tianqing Martial Hall, and Chen Mo is with Tianqing Martial Hall. This is going to be a good show!"
Neither of them introduced himself, and they exchanged no words.
There was no need.
Instead, they circulated the force within their bodies. Zhang Chong's bones crackled, and Chen Mo seemed to hear the sound of force coursing through his opponent.
At that moment, Zhang Chong moved first.
Thud, thud, thud!
He stepped through the Bagua Formation Positions, his palm force rushing at Chen Mo like a gale.
Chen Mo launched into the Luo Smoke Steps, wind rising beneath his feet as he pushed his speed to the limit.
One after the other, they swept across the blue-brick paving, their footfalls pounding against the stone.
But Chen Mo wasn't simply retreating. His right hand had quietly readied a Stone-Crushing Strike, and in an instant, he thrust it out.
Bang, bang!
Fist met palm, and a mighty surge of force spread outward. The blue bricks beneath them shuddered violently, raising two clouds of dust.
After that exchange, they each retreated several steps.
Zhang Chong felt a jolt within. Chen Mo's fist has such incredible force...
On either side of the training ground, people watched the first exchange unfold nearly evenly, utterly unlike what they had expected.
One man had one foot in the peak Dark Jin stage, while the other had only just entered Dark Jin. How had they managed to fight to a standstill?
At the edge of the field, Yin Shanshan clenched both hands around her skirt, her palms damp with sweat.
In the blink of an eye, the two men shifted positions at the center of the training ground, their figures crossing. Within a few breaths, they had traded blows more than ten times.
Waves of force rippled outward, making everyone's eardrums ache.
Chen Mo twisted one foot halfway around and sprang into the air. His fist turned into a claw as he unleashed the full force of Dragon-Capturing Jin.
Zhang Chong, meanwhile, stepped precisely through the Bagua Formation Positions. At one moment, his palm became a blade and slashed diagonally toward Chen Mo's neck.
In an instant—
The dragon-shaped claw and the Bagua palm-blade clashed like swords, ringing out with a series of bangs.
By the tenth exchange—
Inside Chen Mo, the torrent of force flowing through his broad network of muscles and meridians had begun to slow, but he still squeezed out every last drop of strength.
His opponent's clothes were in disarray, his face flushed, and his breathing had grown unsteady.
He couldn't understand how Chen Mo had managed to fight him to this point!
A country bumpkin by birth, who had only broken through to Dark Jin thanks to extraordinary luck.
And Zhang Chong, though he hadn't come from one of the great families, was now universally recognized as the Zhao Family's esteemed son-in-law.
They were worlds apart, like a towering peak and a deep ravine!
As he thought this over—
Chen Mo took the initiative and attacked, unleashing both Dragon-Capturing Jin and Fuhu Fist at full force.
Using Flowing Cloud Attack as his foundation and the Luo Smoke Steps to support him, he made Snake Coiling Hand and Stone-Crushing Strike his main weapons, viciously targeting his opponent's throat, shoulder blades, and other weak points.
Zhang Chong's expression changed sharply. He immediately brought his Bagua formation into full play, stepping through the positions as his fists followed, ready to attack and defend alike.
Even so, Chen Mo's fierce assault forced him back step by step, and gaps began to appear in the Bagua formation's defenses.
Seeing this—
Zhao Huayuan's expression gradually turned as dark as the water in a deep pool.
The words he'd spoken to Yin Tianqing earlier seemed to slap him in the face one by one. His cheeks practically stung.
The surrounding crowd erupted into an uproar. Everyone craned their necks, afraid of missing a single moment.
"My god! What's going on?! Zhang Chong's actually on the back foot!"
"This is the most exciting Technique Trial match of the year. I wonder if Chen Mo will make a name for himself in Anyang County."
"Looking at this, Zhang Chong's in a bit of trouble..."
Zhang Chong could just make out the crowd's comments. His state of mind shifted dramatically, his face twisting as the Bagua Formation Positions beneath his feet gradually fell into disarray.
Seizing the opening, Chen Mo held nothing back. He stamped hard on the blue bricks and vaulted over Zhang Chong like a hawk turning in flight, then followed with a whip-like punch.
Fuhu Fist, sixth form: Swallow Return Strike.
Bang!
The punch struck Zhang Chong's shoulder blade, scattering his footwork completely. He stumbled several steps.
In the next moment, Chen Mo spun around at high speed and drove a punch forward with savage force.
Fuhu Fist, first form: Stone-Crushing Strike, reinforced with Dragon-Capturing Jin.
Bang, bang!
Zhang Chong managed to block the punch with both hands for a few breaths, but it forced its way through his guard and struck his chest.
The blow—
Drove him back four or five steps, sending the force inside his chest into a wild swirl.
Chen Mo could feel that the physical strength of someone in the late Dark Jin stage was far beyond that of someone in the early stage. Although the punch had knocked Zhang Chong back, his opponent stamped down hard and steadied himself.
Seeing this, Chen Mo sprang forward once more, combining the Luo Smoke Steps with Flowing Cloud Attack. At the late Dark Jin stage, his speed was nearly unmatched.
Fuhu Fist, second form: Wave-Intercepting Style.
He threw both fists at once, blocking Zhang Chong's counterattack with Baguazhang. For a moment, their robes billowed, and the powerful wind of their fists left their faces dry and chapped.
Even though he had the upper hand, Chen Mo still felt his whole body go numb as their fists met.
He suppressed the ache and numbness in his body, then followed with another straight-up, straight-down hook.
Fuhu Fist, third form: Sand-Raising Style!
Zhang Chong's expression shifted. He immediately raised his palm to block.
Just as fist and palm were about to touch, Chen Mo's momentum changed abruptly. Sand-Raising Style halted in midair, and he used the Luo Smoke Steps to slip around to the side. His fingers curled and spread like dragon claws, clamping onto Zhang Chong's shoulder.
The two stood back-to-back, but Chen Mo had already lowered his waist and gathered his strength. His claws held Zhang Chong fast in his grasp.
"Oh no!"
Zhao Huayuan jolted in alarm, cold sweat pouring down his body.
Two or three Hua Jin experts scattered around the training ground instantly recognized the lethal power of Chen Mo's Dragon-Capturing Claw. If it landed cleanly, Zhang Chong would at the very least be injured.
After gathering his strength for two breaths, Chen Mo suddenly tightened his fingers and hurled Zhang Chong forward.
Sensing the danger, Zhang Chong temporarily suppressed his chaotic thoughts and struck at Chen Mo's shoulder with his palm.
They both unleashed their strength almost simultaneously.
The instant Zhang Chong's palm struck Chen Mo's shoulder, Chen Mo's Dragon-Capturing Jin had already sent him flying.
The crowd watched a battered figure skid across the blue-brick ground, nearly scraping sparks from the stone, before stopping just a foot from the edge.
"Cough, cough—"
Zhang Chong had only just started to rise when Chen Mo's figure shot toward him.
A punch carrying his full strength crashed down...
Before you continue