One Punch!

The moment those words came out, the entire place fell silent for an instant.

Then it exploded.

"What did he just do?!"

"He told Yan to come at him?! A one-ring soul master told a three-ring Soul Elder to make the first move?!"

"Has this kid lost his mind?!"

"Damn. I've seen stubborn before, but never this stubborn."

"It's over, it's over. He's getting carried off in a bit."

Yan stood frozen in place, the expression on his face shifting from stunned to disbelief, then to anger.

He narrowed his eyes, his voice turning cold. "You're telling me to make the first move?"

Yan's face flushed red in an instant.

He was one of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, a rank thirty-two Soul Elder, the owner of the Flame Lord martial soul.

And a kid who had only awakened a few days ago was curling his finger at him in provocation?

There were limits to what a man could endure!

"Fine." Yan squeezed out the word through gritted teeth. "You asked for it."

Before his voice had even faded, a scorching aura erupted from within him!

Two yellow and one purple, three soul rings rose from beneath his feet and slowly revolved around him.

Behind him, a massive phantom appeared—a stone giant wreathed in flames, letting out a low roar.

The Flame Lord!

Quite a few people below the stage were forced back two steps by that pressure.

"It's so hot!"

"So this is the Flame Lord martial soul..."

"Just releasing it makes it hard to breathe..."

Xie Yue looked at the furious Yan, somewhat worried that he would get too worked up and hit too hard.

Hu Liena, however, was not worried at all, because her instincts told her that there was always something about Ning Yuan that made even her martial soul feel a faint fear.

As for Yan?

He was far too impulsive. Letting him learn a little lesson this time was no big deal.

In the shadows, Yue Guan Douluo watched the scene with interest. He was not worried in the slightest that Yan would hit too hard and injure Ning Yuan.

From the Pope's private audience with Ning Yuan earlier, it was clear that there was something about this child even the Pope valued.

Yan did not use a soul skill.

He felt that using a soul skill against a one-ring kid would be far too embarrassing.

But he poured soul power through his entire body and stomped hard, cracking the bluestone platform beneath his feet into spiderweb-like fissures!

His whole body shot toward Ning Yuan like a cannonball, his right fist wrapped in scorching flames as it blasted straight at his face!

He had held back on this punch, but in his view, it was more than enough to teach this ignorant brat what the word "gap" meant.

The people below the stage could not help sucking in a cold breath. Even from down there, they could feel the terrifying heat of the flames around Yan.

In their eyes, if Yan's punch landed on Ning Yuan, he would probably have to be carried down.

Especially those who had previously thought Ning Yuan was unqualified to enter Heaven Class. They could not wait to see Ning Yuan embarrass himself in public like this. That way, they would have a chance to step on Ning Yuan and climb into Heaven Class themselves.

The wind from the fist rushed toward his face.

Ning Yuan stood where he was, motionless.

He stared at the figure charging toward him wreathed in flames, his gaze as cold as a pool of dead water.

Perhaps sensing Ning Yuan's anger at that moment, even Venom, who was usually especially talkative, was completely silent now.

Close.

Closer.

The wind from the fist had already lifted the loose hair over his forehead.

In the instant just before that fist was about to smash into his face...

Ning Yuan took half a step back.

His right fist drew back to his waist.

He kicked off the ground.

He twisted his waist.

He threw a punch.

The movement was clean and crisp, without the slightest excess.

And the instant he punched, a pitch-black substance surged out from beneath the skin of his right arm.

Black tendrils shot out of his arm, and his entire limb was instantly covered by that layer of darkness, as if it had been sheathed in flowing black armor.

The black substance gathered on his fist and swelled.

In the end, it turned into a huge, elongated black fist!

"Whoosh..."

A dull sound of air being torn apart.

That enormous black fist, wrapped in destructive force, met Yan's flaming heavy punch head-on!

He was going to rely on this punch to force everyone to take him seriously!

Boom—!!!

A deep, thunderous crash rang out.

Flames exploded, and black light flickered.

Everyone below the stage saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

That burly figure wreathed in flames flew backward like a kite with its string cut!

Yan's body traced an arc through the air, crossing half the arena before crashing heavily to the ground with a bang, then skidding several meters along the floor and smashing into the railing at the edge of the stands before finally stopping.

The entire place was silent.

Deathly silent.

The expressions of the onlookers froze on their faces, as if someone had pressed pause.

Those who had still been cracking melon seeds a moment ago did not even notice the seeds falling from their hands to the ground.

The silence lasted for several seconds.

Then the crowd exploded.

"What was that just now?! That black thing on his arm—"

"One punch?! He only used one punch?!"

"Doesn't he not even have his first soul ring?! What kind of power was that?!"

"That wasn't a soul skill... That was definitely not a soul skill! No soul ring lit up on him!"

"What exactly is Ning Yuan's martial soul?!"

Those who had still been thinking of stepping on Ning Yuan to rise up and enter Heaven Class no longer dared to entertain such thoughts.

That was Yan!

One of the three strongest of this generation, and someone who specialized in physical strength to begin with.

Yet he had been crushed head-on, in the very way he was best at, by a child who had only awakened four days ago.

How was this Ning Yuan still the easy target he appeared to be?

He was clearly a tough bone that was hard to chew!

Hu Liena's mouth hung open for a long time before she closed it.

Xie Yue's pupils suddenly contracted. At some point, the hands he had folded across his chest had already dropped, his fingers tightening slightly.

Hu Liena slowly turned her head and looked at Xie Yue.

The laziness on Xie Yue's face had long since vanished, replaced by a gravity he had never shown before.

He looked at Ning Yuan and stayed silent for quite a while before speaking.

"He just now... didn't use soul power."

Hu Liena was stunned. "What?"

"When he threw that punch, I didn't sense any soul power fluctuation at all."

Because of his martial soul, Xie Yue was extremely sensitive to soul power, and his tone was very heavy.

"That strike just now was entirely... Ning Yuan's own strength."

The two looked at each other and fell silent at the same time.

Before coming here, they had already attached enough importance to this Ning Yuan in their hearts.

But now they realized that what they had imagined was far from enough. This was more than strong. This was simply too strong!

In the shadow of the corridor pillar, Douluo Yue Guan slowly straightened up.

To be honest, that punch from Ning Yuan just now had shocked even a Titled Douluo like him.

The image of that punch still lingered in his pupils.

"...No soul rings?"

"No soul skill?"

"Purely relying on the martial soul's own power... to shatter a level thirty-two Soul Elder with one punch?"

He had stayed in Spirit Hall for so long. What kind of genius had he not seen?

But never had there been a single genius who had done what Ning Yuan just did. Never.

Yue Guan stayed silent for a long while, then drew in a soft breath.

"Your Holiness, just what kind of monster... did you recruit?"

On the arena, Ning Yuan withdrew his fist.

The black substance on his right arm moved like a living thing, slowly writhing before sinking back under his skin and vanishing from sight.

His arm returned to normal, clean and unmarked, as if that enormous black fist had never appeared at all.

He lowered his head and glanced at his own fist, his expression as calm as if he had merely waved a fly away.

In the gray dust below the arena, Yan struggled to prop up his upper body.

Right now, his mind was a little dazed.

There was a brief lapse in his memory.

What was he doing here again?

Right, he was fighting Ning Yuan.

He threw a punch, and then...

Everything went blank.

Now his head was buzzing, his vision was dark, and his chest felt as if it had been rammed by a crazed rhinoceros. A dull pain spread from his chest all the way to his limbs.

He lowered his head and glanced at his right fist. The skin over his knuckles had already split from the shock, and blood dripped through the gaps between his fingers.

He... was injured?

He lifted his head in disbelief and looked at that slender figure on the arena.

That punch just now...

He had not reacted at all.

He had not even managed to see clearly how that punch had been thrown.

All he remembered was his vision going black, an irresistible force smashing into his chest, and then his entire body flying backward.

He forced himself to believe it was because he had underestimated his opponent.

Because he had not used any soul skills.

Because he had been too careless.

But deep down, a voice told him, even if you had used a soul skill, would you definitely have been able to take that punch?

Yan's expression froze.

He had no answer.

Just then, footsteps sounded.

Ning Yuan jumped down from the arena, walked up to Yan, and stopped in front of him.

He was standing.

Yan was half-lying on the ground.

He truly could not get up for the time being.

The difference in their builds was still enormous—one slender, one sturdy.

But at this moment, everyone felt that the one standing was the true giant.

Ning Yuan lowered his head and looked at Yan lying on the ground, his tone calm and composed.

"Didn't you want to see what I was capable of?"

"Now you've seen it."

"Satisfied?"

Yan opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

Ning Yuan did not look at him again. He turned and walked toward the outside of the grounds without looking back.

That slender back slowly receded under the gazes of every onlooker, then disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Beside the arena, Yan was still lying on the ground, his chest heaving violently.

He looked in the direction Ning Yuan had left, unwillingness and shock mingling in his eyes until they finally turned into a single sentence squeezed out through gritted teeth.

"...Just what kind of monster is that kid?"

The result of the match quickly reached Bibi Dong.

"He defeated Yan with one punch..."

A sharp gleam flashed again and again in Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes.

This little fellow really did keep bringing her one surprise after another.

Being able to defeat Yan, who excelled in close combat, head-on meant that the quality of his martial soul was even higher than she had expected.

"I was planning to leave him hanging for a few days, but this little fellow just won't stay quiet!"

"So be it. His strength is enough to deserve proper attention!"

"Speaking of which, he should need his second soul ring now, shouldn't he? Have Yue Guan take him."

"This is getting more and more interesting!"