The Battle of Tenth and Eleventh Place

Facing this ferocious, peerless opening assault, Fang Mei remained utterly calm.

"Frost Palm—Willow Sway!"

She slid half a step back to the left, exquisitely avoiding the very center of Fang Lie's fiercest punch.

Her fair, jade-like right palm silently slipped out from beneath her ribs.

Though it looked light and fluttering, it carried extreme danger as it struck toward Fang Lie's wrist before he could retract it.

Before the palm wind even arrived, the bone-piercing danger made Fang Lie's wrist stiffen, and his offensive momentum faltered slightly.

"What swift footwork!"

"Senior Brother Fang Lie's fierce assault was defused!"

A wave of subdued exclamations rose from below the platform.

Fang Han watched without blinking, his mind completely drawn in by that exquisite evasion and counterattack.

So this was the strength of a Tendon Refining Realm expert?

That split-second timing of the dodge, that precise point of the counterattack, that seemingly weightless yet incredibly dangerous palm technique—all of it was an eye-opener for him.

"Hmph!"

Fang Lie snorted coldly, clearly extremely dissatisfied that his opening move had been thwarted.

He changed moves with astonishing speed. Before his punch had fully run its course, he forcibly withdrew it, twisted his waist, and lashed his right leg out like a steel whip at Fang Mei's lower body.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two exchanged blows at high speed, and a string of dense, muffled impacts of colliding force exploded across the Combat Platform.

As fists and palms collided, waves of air churned, making the robes of nearby disciples flutter wildly.

Fang Lie's punches were fierce and domineering, broad and powerful, every strike containing the tremendous force to split steles and shatter stones.

Fang Mei, on the other hand, moved like a drifting phantom. Her palm techniques were tricky, soft, and sinister, continuously wearing down and slowing Fang Lie's movements.

Their figures crossed and shifted, locked in an inseparable battle that displayed the speed, strength, and skill of Tendon Refining Realm martial artists to the fullest.

The entire area around the Combat Platform fell silent, leaving only the fierce sounds of collisions and robes slicing through the wind.

"What an incredible fight!"

Fang Han's blood surged as he watched. Even the blood exhausted from sword practice seemed to boil anew within him.

Those subtle force-dispersing techniques, those predictive evasions, those bursts of power unleashed in an instant—each was deeply branded into his mind.

The rankings on the Martial Dao Stele were merely a measure of explosive power in an instant.

In a true fight to the death, victory or defeat often depended on one's adaptability when facing an enemy, the sophistication of one's martial techniques, and one's control over strength and rhythm.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

The fierce battle continued for roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick.

Both of them gradually slowed, sweat appearing at their temples as their breathing grew heavy.

Sustaining a full-force eruption for so long was an immense burden even for the Tendon Refining Realm.

After another dangerous clash sent them apart, a vicious glint flashed through Fang Lie's eyes.

He drew a deep breath. The blood vitality throughout his body suddenly boiled, and the veins beneath his exposed skin writhed like little snakes. He was clearly preparing to use his trump card for one final gamble!

"Tiger Roar Fist—Mountain Shatterer!"

He let out a low roar. The muscles in his right arm instantly bulged as an even more terrifying force gathered at his fist.

The air itself seemed compressed as he hurled his fist at Fang Mei with the crushing pressure of a collapsing mountain.

The momentum of this punch surged to its peak!

Yet at the very moment he threw all his strength into that fist!

Fang Mei, who had been responding with nimble, elusive movements all along, had a flash of cold light in her eyes.

Rather than meeting that earthshaking punch head-on, the instant Fang Lie launched his attack—when his center of gravity was hardest to shift—her footwork suddenly became hazy and unreal.

Like walking over snow without leaving a trace, she spun sideways at astonishing speed and, unbelievably, arrived at Fang Lie's flank.

Her long-prepared right hand, fingers pressed together like a blade, sliced soundlessly and lightning-fast toward the exposed opening beneath Fang Lie's ribs after he threw his full-force punch.

Timing! Angle! Speed! The three combined perfectly, exquisite down to the finest hair!

"Frost Palm—Jade Cutter!"

Puff!

A muffled sound, not loud but exceptionally clear, rang out as Fang Mei's palm blade landed solidly beneath Fang Lie's ribs.

Fang Lie's earthshaking Mountain Shatterer punch came to an abrupt halt. The ferocity on his face froze for an instant, then turned into unbearable pain and utter disbelief.

Under that searing agony, his gathered blood vitality suddenly scattered, and half his body went numb in an instant.

Unable to hold back a groan, his body staggered backward like a kite with its string cut. He retreated all the way to the edge of the Combat Platform before barely managing to steady himself.

His face was pale as paper. Clutching his ribs, he panted violently as bead-sized cold sweat instantly covered his forehead. His gaze toward Fang Mei was filled with unwillingness.

The victor had been decided!

"Stop!"

The instructor beside the platform spoke at just the right moment. With a flicker of his body, he was already standing between them, preventing Fang Mei from pursuing.

"Fang Mei wins!"

After a brief silence, heated discussion and exclamations erupted below the platform.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

"Senior Sister Fang Mei won beautifully! Her grasp of the timing for that final strike was simply perfect!"

"Senior Brother Fang Lie did not lose unfairly. Senior Sister Fang Mei's combat experience and ability to seize opportunities were a notch above his!"

"So this is the strength of tenth and eleventh place?"

Standing amid the crowd, Fang Han watched Fang Mei on the platform—her face pale, yet her breath still steady—and Fang Lie, panting heavily, his face full of unwillingness but helpless to change the outcome. The turbulent waves in Fang Han's heart refused to settle for a long time.

The two of them were far stronger than he was now, but he believed that with the twofold enhancement of his Root Bone Talent and Sword Art talent, he would sooner or later enter the top ten as well—and that day would not be far off.

After leaving the Combat Platform, Fang Han headed straight back to the area where he usually trained.

He sat cross-legged and took a black pill the size of a longan from the porcelain bottle in his robes. It was a Blood Vitality Pill.

The instant the pill entered his stomach, it was as though a miniature sun exploded within his dantian.

Scorching waves of air surged and splashed like lava, making his body blaze as though he were a furnace.

He did not dare delay. He immediately assumed the opening stance of the Crane Stance, his muscles and bones slowly drawing taut like bowstrings.

Under the terrifying amplification of his doubled Root Bone Talent, the vast, blazing blood vitality was no longer a stream. It transformed into a rushing river, its nearly thunderous tidal roar echoing through his body.

Guided by his Stance Training, it crashed through his limbs and bones again and again.

His muscle fibers greedily absorbed the energy amid the torrential wash, producing faint tremors and hums.

The sweat that had just seeped from his pores was evaporated into wisps of white vapor by the boiling heat around his body.

Beneath his skin, his flesh was becoming clearer and denser at a visible pace, like refined iron hammered over and over again.

He had a feeling that breaking through to the Flesh Refining Mid-Stage was only a few days away.

Time passed amid focused training.

One morning several days later, Fang Han completed the final circulation of blood vitality in his Stance Training.

Suddenly, the muscles throughout his body began to tremble uncontrollably, vibrating at high frequency and with tremendous force like countless fine zither strings.

Along with those vibrations came an even denser, more explosive force, instantly filling every part of his body.

The toughness and strength of his muscles visibly rose to a new level.

The Flesh Refining Mid-Stage had been achieved!