Fist Strikes the Void!

"You're crazy!"

Dai Mubai couldn't help but curse, trying to cover up the panic in his heart:

"What's the point of living like that?"

"He didn't have the joys of childhood. He was like a puppet on strings."

"So what if he became strong?"

"He'd lost all the joy of being human!"

"I wouldn't last a single day living like that ascetic! I, Dai Mubai, refuse to!"

He had to tear the other man down.

Otherwise, it would be the same as admitting he was lazy and useless.

Yu Xiaogang's face had darkened, too.

The perseverance White Emperor had shown in the vision had rattled even him, the so-called "theoretical master."

But he absolutely couldn't admit he was wrong.

"Hmph."

Yu Xiaogang snorted, clasped his hands behind his back, and put on an air of inscrutable wisdom:

"Just putting on a show."

"Reading military texts at three? Could he even understand them?"

"He was just memorizing them by rote."

"Mechanical learning like that only stifles a child's creativity and natural talent."

"That's the classic cram-it-down-your-throat approach. It'll only turn him into a bookworm, not a true powerhouse."

At this, Tang San immediately nodded in agreement.

"Teacher is right."

"The path of cultivation requires balance between tension and relaxation."

"Cultivating bitterly without restraint only makes the mind rigid."

"This Dai Mubai from the White World will grow up to be a brute who knows nothing but cultivation and doesn't know how to adapt."

The people of Shrek chimed in one after another.

They desperately tried to disparage this kind of diligence from every angle, as if that were the only way to preserve their crumbling sense of superiority.

However.

Just as everyone in the Black World was busy practicing "self-consolation,"

the scene on the Sky Screen changed again.

This time,

it wasn't reading, running, or standing practice.

[White World: Three Years Old, A Fist That Shook the World!]

In the vision,

the setting sun bathed the Star Luo Imperial Palace's Martial Arts Arena in crimson.

Three-year-old Dai Mubai slowly closed the ancient book in his hands.

He placed it neatly on the stone table beside him.

Then,

he walked to the center of the Martial Arts Arena.

He took his stance.

There were no flashy movements.

His small body sank slightly, and his feet dug into the ground like the roots of an ancient tree.

He breathed.

With each inhale and exhale, white streams of air seemed to flow in and out of his nostrils, like two little white dragons.

The next moment,

he moved.

He was no longer as clumsy as before.

This time, when he punched, his fist carried a weight and dominance wholly at odds with his age!

"Ha!"

A crisp, low shout burst from his childish throat.

His tiny fist shot forward.

The punch looked unremarkable.

There was no glow of Soul Power, nor did a Martial Soul manifest.

It was nothing but the power of his flesh.

But—

the instant his fist shot out,

[BOOM!]

A deep rumble of thunder sounded from the Sky Screen!

Immediately after,

everyone watched in horrified disbelief as the air before little Dai Mubai's fist twisted and rippled violently, as though a boulder had plunged into the surface of a lake!

Ripples of transparent force, visible to the naked eye, spread wildly in every direction from his fist.

Crack!

For a fleeting moment, they could even see fine black fissures appear in the void, as if the sheer force of his punch was about to tear space apart!

Fist intent!

It was a supreme fist intent!

It was only the opening move.

That crushing pressure, that domineering aura that seemed capable of shattering the heavens—

it slammed through the screen and into the hearts of everyone in the Black World!

Black World.

Star Luo Empire, the Offering Hall.

Several white-haired elders who had been sitting cross-legged on their meditation cushions sprang to their feet as if their seats were on fire.

"This..."

"That opening stance..."

The High Priest, who stood at their head, spoke with a trembling voice. His cloudy old eyes were filled with the terror of someone who had seen a ghost:

"Is this... Fist Strikes the Void?!"

"Impossible! That can't be!"

A nearby elder was so worked up that he tore off several strands of his beard:

"This fist technique was obtained by an ancestor of the Star Luo Imperial Family from an ancient ruin."

"It was far too fierce and domineering, demanded an exceptionally strong body, and was incomplete."

"Even the ancestor back then only learned a little of it!"

"Over the past few centuries, countless extraordinarily gifted members of the Imperial Family have tried to cultivate it. They either suffered shattered meridians or died from their bodies exploding!"

"It's a dead-end technique that's impossible to master!"

"He... he's only three!"

"How could a three-year-old master Fist Strikes the Void?!"

These elders, all Titled Douluo, had completely lost their composure.

They stared at the tiny figure on the Sky Screen.

Every move and stance contained the terrifying intent to shatter the void.

It wasn't a showy routine.

It was the real thing—a perfect form of Fist Strikes the Void, even more profound than the version recorded in the incomplete text!

If this was real,

then Dai Mubai of the White World was a monster among monsters!

Heaven Dou Camp.

Though they didn't know what "Fist Strikes the Void" was,

anyone with eyes could see how terrifying the technique was.

The explosions of air with every punch,

the tremors in the earth with every stomp—

they all made it clear that this was no child's play!

Yu Xiaogang's jaw dropped.

He hadn't even managed to say "fancy but useless" before the words were forced back down his throat.

His face flushed a liverish purple, and his cheeks burned with shame.

Another humiliation!

Was this Sky Screen picking on him in particular?

He'd just called the boy a bookworm, and now the boy had turned around and displayed a punch technique that looked terrifying!

"W-what kind of fist technique is that?"

Tang San had pushed his Purple Demon Eye to its limit, staring fixedly at the scene.

A storm raged in his heart.

The force-generating techniques in this fist art were even more profound than the Tang Sect's Mysterious Jade Hand and Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon!

The way it unleashed pure strength defied common sense!

"Boss Dai, do you recognize this technique?"

Tang San turned to look at Dai Mubai beside him.

Dai Mubai was now

frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.

His pupils had shrunk to pinpoints. His lips trembled, but for a long time, no words came out.

At last,

he forced a few words through clenched teeth:

"Fist Strikes the Void..."

"That's... that's a forbidden technique of the Imperial Family!"

At the words "forbidden technique," everyone around them pricked up their ears.

Dai Mubai took a deep breath, forcing down his fear, and explained in a hoarse voice:

"It's a fragmentary manual that only emperors of each generation are allowed to read."

"They say that once mastered, the body can overcome all techniques, and a single punch can shatter the void."

"But..."

Dai Mubai suddenly lifted his head. His voice grew agitated, almost hysterical:

"It's impossible to master!"

"When I was ten, Father once had me try to attune myself to this fist technique."

"Just its opening stance nearly shattered my heart meridians with the force of its backlash!"