Establishing Authority

On the north viewing stand of the Martial Practice Field, Zhao Ming leaned against a rattan chair, holding a purple grape in his hand.

He swallowed the fruit pulp, his eyes locked firmly onto Li Pingsheng's right arm.

Zhao Ming said to the attendant beside him, "The Iron Grinding Force is a martial art that loves this kind of stubborn trash."

"After today, that fellow surnamed Li won't be able to hold a pair of chopsticks steady for the rest of his life."

The attendant bowed and said, "Young Master Zhao is wise. Chen Tieshan's toughened skin and flesh are impenetrable even to martial artists of the same rank, let alone Li Pingsheng, who is half-crippled."

On the ring, Chen Tieshan was shirtless, his skin a cyan-gray hue from long-term conditioning with iron sand and medicinal liquids.

Every step he took made the wooden frame of the ring tremble.

Chen Tieshan said, "So you're the one with the superior bone structure?" He chuckled, "What a pity. No matter how good your foundation is, a bow with a snapped string is just scrap."

Li Pingsheng stood firm without saying a word, raising his left hand first to assume the opening stance of the Thunderbolt Fist.

His right arm hung limply at his side.

Chen Tieshan said, "Hmph, courting death! It's obvious at a glance that your right arm is injured!"

His two-hundred-plus-pound body suddenly accelerated.

Chen Tieshan charged forward like a wild bull, arms spread wide, aiming directly for Li Pingsheng's right shoulder.

This fighting style was designed specifically to target the wound.

When Li Pingsheng's footwork faltered and he tried to dodge sideways, the weight of his right arm dragged him down, causing him to stumble.

Chen Tieshan's fist grazed his shoulder, the force of the wind instantly tearing through Li Pingsheng's sleeve.

"Dodging? How far do you think you can run?"

Once Chen Tieshan gained the upper hand, he would never let his opponent off.

He stomped twice, leaving a crack in the bluestone floor.

The disciples below the stage all shook their heads.

"It's over. All those techniques are useless now; he can't fight at all."

"I'm afraid Master Pei misjudged this time. Li Pingsheng's meridian injuries are even worse than the rumors suggested."

"Chen Tieshan is going to crush him to pieces on the stage."

Instructor Wu stood at the edge of the stage, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Once Li Pingsheng was eliminated in this incident, all subsequent problems would cease to exist.

On the ring, Chen Tieshan's offensive grew increasingly frantic.

Every punch left a deep crater in the ground, sending stone fragments flying.

Li Pingsheng was in a precarious position, nearly sliding off the edge of the ring several times; one more push would surely send him tumbling down.

Chen Tieshan leaned close to Li Pingsheng's ear and whispered, "Someone paid a heavy price for me to grind you into pieces, inch by inch, on this stage."

Li Pingsheng activated his Martial Wisdom talent.

The violent force became clear lines of blood and qi in his eyes.

He could see the tremors in the muscles beneath Chen Tieshan's skin and the stiffened joints resulting from the pursuit of hardness.

Most importantly, Li Pingsheng saw that every time Chen Tieshan unleashed his full power, there was a pause of less than half a second at the Tanzhong acupoint on his chest.

That was the fatal weak point for breath regulation in the Iron Grinding Force.

"Just as in the simulation. Hmph, have you seen enough?"

Li Pingsheng suddenly spoke.

Chen Tieshan was infuriated, his blood and qi surging throughout his body, a faint red glow seeping through his cyan-gray skin.

This was the precursor to pushing the Iron Grinding Force to its limit: Iron Curtain Descent.

"Kneel!"

Chen Tieshan brought his arms together and smashed his head downward, blocking all of Li Pingsheng's paths of retreat.

This strike was unavoidable.

But Li Pingsheng stopped dodging.

Tiger Bone activated.

His right arm was restricted, but the blood and qi from his entire body surged into his left arm through the twisting of his waist and hips.

The chill of the Ice Marrow Fluid rampaged through his right arm, but it forced out Li Pingsheng's will to survive.

First form, Step Breaker!

Li Pingsheng took a small step forward.

He struck the fulcrum of Chen Tieshan's forward momentum.

Chen Tieshan's massive force was suddenly diverted and thrown off balance.

Second form, Momentum Breaker!

Li Pingsheng raised his left elbow, threading it through the gap in Chen Tieshan's arms to strike toward the Iron Curtain.

Chen Tieshan's expression turned ugly instantly; he felt the force in his body diverted by a hidden power, causing him to lose his balance entirely.

"Impossible!"

Chen Tieshan shouted.

"Nothing is impossible."

Li Pingsheng replied.

The final punch.

Li Pingsheng stepped forward, twisted his waist, and threw the punch.

The strength of his entire body surged up along his spine, finally concentrating at the fingertips of his left fist.

He intentionally suppressed the lightning on his fist, yet as it pierced through the air, a thunderous explosion rang out across the Martial Practice Field.

It was the sound of power compressed to its limit.

The fist struck Chen Tieshan's Dantian point with unerring accuracy.

The toughened skin and flesh Chen Tieshan had cultivated could not withstand this blow.

His eyes widened, bloodshot and bulging, as his body flew backward over ten meters, crashing into a stone pillar beside the ring.

The stone pillar was already damaged.

Chen Tieshan did not fall onto the stage; instead, his legs went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, shattering the stone beneath his feet.

He spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, mixed with fragments of his internal organs.

He tried to lift his head to look at Li Pingsheng, but his neck lacked the strength to do so.

The entire arena fell into dead silence.

Three seconds later, gasps of astonishment erupted.

"Holy shit! One punch? Just one punch?"

Chen Tieshan was a veteran disciple in the Bone Refining Realm; how could he be defeated by someone labeled a "cripple"?

"No, look at Li Pingsheng's left hand. That isn't just an ordinary Thunderbolt Fist, that is..."

On the high platform, Pei Guang suddenly stood up.

He stared intently at Li Pingsheng and uttered a single sentence: "Fist Intent Mastery!"

These four words carried immense weight.

In the martial arts hall, mastering the moves of a fist technique was not difficult, nor was developing internal force, but to cultivate "Intent" required extremely high comprehension and countless brushes with life and death.

How long had Li Pingsheng even been in the hall?

The purple grape in Zhao Ming's hand was crushed, its juice leaking through his fingers onto the floor.

He kept his eyes on the person on the stage, who remained standing there, looking calm.

"Trash! Chen Tieshan is truly trash! Bah!"

Zhao Ming cursed.

Li Pingsheng ignored the commotion below the stage.

He withdrew his left hand and tucked it into his sleeve.

His right arm was still trembling; the effects of the Ice Marrow Fluid had worn off, and he felt quite uncomfortable, but at this moment, he was the focus of the entire Martial Practice Field.

He turned and stepped off the stage.

The disciples blocking his path instinctively parted to both sides, their gazes shifting from mockery and pity to awe.

As he passed Instructor Wu, Li Pingsheng stopped.

Instructor Wu's face turned deathly pale, and he instinctively took half a step back.

Li Pingsheng asked, "Instructor Wu, have I won this match?"

"Won, you won. The first match, Li Pingsheng wins."

Instructor Wu unconsciously avoided Li Pingsheng's gaze, his hands retreating into his sleeves.

Because of this, Li Pingsheng's Synesthesia talent sensed it.

A cold, putrid aura reeking of blood emanated from Instructor Wu's sleeve.

Li Pingsheng was very familiar with this scent; he had sensed it by the Dragon Locking Well and on the demonic beasts in the Black Mist Forest.

Was this the turbid energy from the earth's veins? Or was the aura of those Gu masters simply that mysterious?

The Hall Master, standing in the spectator area wearing a bronze mask, had not spoken a word.

He glanced at the empty seat, then at Li Pingsheng's departing back, his fingers tapping against the wooden armrest.

"Heh, this kid is quite interesting."