A Single Palm!

A Single Palm! Before the stone steps of Arena No. A!

Shen Qinglan ignored the examination hall's rules entirely and came to his side, her voice urgent and tinged with worry.

"Chen An!"

"Admit defeat!"

"Look at Liu Qingyun's eyes. He'll definitely strike to kill!"

Seeing the worry in Shen Qinglan's eyes, warmth rose in Chen An's heart. Then he smiled faintly, calm confidence written across his face. "Trust me!"

With that, Chen An said no more and strode toward the arena.

Below the arena, Shen Qinglan watched that tall, straight figure climb resolutely upward. Instinctively, she raised a hand, wanting to seize him and make him stop, make him surrender outright.

Yet just as her fingertips lifted, they froze in midair in the end, and she did not reach out to grab him.

At that moment, a scene suddenly surfaced in Shen Qinglan's mind:

When she was seven, she had taken Chen An, who was a year younger than her, and secretly slipped out of the house to play in the streets.

Because she had carried quite a bit of silver on her, street thugs soon set their sights on her and abducted them.

In that moment of danger, it was Chen An, a year younger than her, who stepped forward. With his thin, frail little body, he had used every ounce of his strength to shield her, biting the thug who was about to smash her leg with a club. Only then had they held on until their father found them.

That figure from back then seemed to gradually overlap with the one before her now!

Taking a deep breath, Shen Qinglan looked at Chen An as he stepped onto the arena, then turned her graceful head toward Liu Qingyun, who was ascending from the steps on the other side. The worry in her eyes instantly transformed into icy coldness.

"Liu Qingyun, you'd better not hurt him. Otherwise..."

Shen Qinglan murmured to herself, killing intent flashing through her eyes.

Chen An climbed the steps, ascending the arena one step at a time.

When he raised his eyes, he saw Liu Qingyun already standing on the other side of the arena, arms crossed over his chest. A cold sneer hung at his lips, while his eyes brimmed with mockery and savage killing intent as he brazenly sized Chen An up.

"Chen An, looks like you've got some guts!"

Liu Qingyun sneered, undisguised contempt on his face. "I thought you would surrender right away!"

"But before long, you'll definitely regret the decision you made today!"

"Don't worry, I won't kill you!"

"Because first, I'll break both your arms. Then I'll break both your legs. After that, I'll cripple your cultivation. Finally, I'll smash every bone in your body, one by one, and make you wish you were dead!"

Faced with Liu Qingyun's vicious threats, Chen An's expression did not change in the slightest. Instead, he turned to look at the instructor standing nearby.

"Instructor, have you heard enough?!"

"You can begin!"

Hearing Chen An's words, the instructor overseeing this match could not help but pause in surprise.

He had thought that after hearing such ruthless words from Liu Qingyun, even if Chen An did not grow fearful, his expression should at least have changed, or he should have retorted sharply.

He had not expected Chen An to be so calm and composed, to even ignore the other man completely. The instructor could not help but feel secretly astonished.

He could not understand where Chen An, a Geng Class student at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, found the confidence to ignore Liu Qingyun, an A Class student at the ninth level of Qi Condensation.

"Good, good, good!!!"

"Chen An, you're dead today!"

"If I don't kill you, I, Liu Qingyun, swear I'm not human!!!"

Seeing Chen An ignore him yet again, Liu Qingyun ground his teeth in hatred. His eyes turned bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Chen An, as though he wanted to swallow him alive and flay him whole.

"Cough!!!"

Seeing Liu Qingyun's baleful aura soar and his fury surge, the instructor presiding over the match finally spoke in a deep voice.

His brow furrowed slightly as he swept a glance over the murderous Liu Qingyun. With a solemn expression, he announced loudly:

"I'll reiterate the arena rules once more. Listen carefully, both of you!"

"In this martial examination match, the use of weapons, hidden weapons, poison, and other crooked, sinister methods is strictly forbidden!"

"Other than that, there are no further restrictions!"

"The match will end only when one side voluntarily admits defeat, or falls and loses the ability to fight back!"

"Do you both understand?!"

"I understand, Instructor. Hurry up and begin!" Liu Qingyun stared fixedly at Chen An, true qi surging around him as he prepared to strike at any moment.

Chen An merely nodded calmly as well. "Understood!"

"Good, then..."

Once he saw that both had understood, the instructor raised his hand high.

Crack!!!~~~

A faint cracking sound suddenly spread from beneath Liu Qingyun's feet.

The arena floor, made of black ironstone as hard as refined iron, instantly split with several spiderweb-like cracks beneath the pressure of his violently surging true qi.

At the same time, an overwhelming and majestic aura erupted from Liu Qingyun's body. True qi roiled around him, his robes snapping and billowing, his long hair rising without wind.

A terrifying pressure swept in all directions. The many students watching below the arena suddenly felt their breaths catch, their hearts and minds shaken, and instinctively retreated several steps together.

"So strong! This aura is terrifying!"

"As expected of someone at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Condensation. His reputation truly isn't undeserved!"

"It's over. Chen An is only at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, a full three minor realms behind. This time, he's probably doomed!"

Feeling the vast true qi Liu Qingyun had suddenly unleashed, the students beneath the arena erupted into an uproar once more.

Almost no one thought highly of Chen An. They all believed his defeat was certain this time.

Among the crowd, Shen Qinglan's pretty face suddenly went pale. Then she secretly circulated her true qi, her eyes unblinking as she stared at the arena. If Chen An truly proved no match for Liu Qingyun, then even if it disrupted the county examination, she would rush onto the arena and save him.

On the raised platform, Zhou Tong could not help but reveal a faint smile at the sight.

"Begin!!!"

On the arena, the instructor's hand slashed down!

Boom!!!~~~

The instant the instructor's hand fell, an explosive roar burst from beneath Liu Qingyun's feet.

The once-level arena floor was stomped down nearly an inch by Liu Qingyun's erupting true qi, and dense spiderweb cracks instantly exploded across its surface.

A vicious gleam filled Liu Qingyun's eyes. True qi surged wildly around his body as he shot toward Chen An like a sharp arrow, carrying an unstoppable, razor-sharp momentum.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Qingyun crossed more than ten meters and appeared before Chen An.

"Die!!!"

Liu Qingyun's face twisted viciously as he let out a harsh roar. His right fist, wrapped in all the true qi in his body, shot forward violently.

That ordinary fist instantly became coated in a dark, pitch-black sheen. Dense, tyrannical true qi gathered around it without dispersing, and the force of the punch howled as it tore through the air. Carrying a terrifying might capable of shattering gold and splitting stone, it smashed straight toward Chen An's face!

Faced with that fist roaring toward him, seemingly capable of shattering gold and splitting stone, Chen An appeared to have been frightened senseless, allowing it to close in on him.

"Not good!"

Seeing this, Shen Qinglan's heart nearly stopped. True qi surged into her legs as she prepared to leap onto the arena and save Chen An.

On the raised platform, Fan Suiyun's innate true qi also began to stir within him. He was preparing to intervene and preserve Chen An's life.

Meanwhile, the students below the arena seemed to have already seen Chen An's head burst apart beneath that punch. Cries of alarm rang out among them.

But—

Just as that fist came within twenty centimeters of Chen An's face—

Chen An moved!

Without any unnecessary motion, he merely tilted his head slightly to one side, narrowly evading Liu Qingyun's punch by a hair's breadth.

Then, his right hand, which had been hanging at his side, moved. With lightning speed, he struck Liu Qingyun's lower abdomen with a palm.

Bang!!~~~

With a muffled impact, Liu Qingyun's body stiffened, the savage grin on his face freezing in place. His pupils suddenly contracted, and then his whole body flew backward as though struck by a cannonball.

While still in midair, he spat out a great mouthful of blood like a fountain, staining the ground red.

Only then did he crash heavily onto the ground, rolling several times before barely coming to a stop at the edge of the arena.

For a moment, the entire venue fell silent!!!