Victory Without Suspense

"I'll kill you!" Unable to endure such unfair treatment any longer, Xiao Ning bent his palms into claws, icy energy gathering around his five fingers. He stomped hard on the ground and charged straight at Xiao Yan. As he neared him, he thrust out his right claw toward Xiao Yan's throat, intending to kill him in a single blow.

Faced with those eagle-claw-like talons, Xiao Yan naturally would not stupidly choose to take them head-on. The first time he had done so, he had merely wanted to test the results of that month of hellish training.

During that month of hellish training, Medicine Elder had not only mercilessly whipped him with a long whip carrying a Heavenly Flame, but had also soaked him afterward in carefully prepared medicinal liquid. The ingredients in the medicine had been meticulously selected and had excellent body-tempering effects. Of course, its drawback was equally obvious—it hurt like hell. The sensation was practically no different from soaking in chili water.

Though the training had been painful, the results had been extremely gratifying. Xiao Ning's full-strength punch had only left a red fist mark on his body. He had felt only a slight ache, and compared to the pain of his training, it was not even in the same league.

Seeing Xiao Ning attack again, Xiao Yan threw out a punch. The wind howled as his fist tore through the air and smashed heavily into Xiao Ning's shoulder, sending him staggering back while coughing up blood.

The crowd on the training ground fell into dead silence once more. They had just suspected Xiao Yan of cheating, and Xiao Ning had even torn open his clothes, yet nothing had been found.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yan's attack had made Xiao Ning cough blood and sent him flying backward. At this point, no one below the stage harbored the slightest doubt about Xiao Yan's strength.

But why?

That was the question in everyone's mind, including Xiao Zhan and the three elders on the raised platform to the left. In merely one month, a good-for-nothing with only three stages of Dou Qi had advanced so dramatically. One punch had made Xiao Ning cough blood and fly away. His strength had to be at least at the seventh stage of Dou Qi, right?

How was that possible? Raising one's Dou Qi by four stages in a month was something no one could achieve! An ordinary person who raised a single stage in a year was already considered a genius, while two stages would make them a peerless genius. But four stages in a month? Even Xiao Yan in the past could not have done that. What terrifying cultivation talent would that require?

The three elders on the raised platform all looked toward Xiao Zhan. They thought Xiao Zhan had done it, forcibly pouring Dou Qi into Xiao Yan. But after watching for a while, they realized that aside from being utterly shocked by Xiao Yan at first, Xiao Zhan had fallen into the same confusion as they had.

Only Xiao Xun'er below the stage saw things somewhat more clearly. She could tell that Xiao Yan's cultivation was only at the fifth stage of Dou Qi. He merely seemed to have cultivated some kind of body-tempering Dou Technique. However, she also understood that such techniques were extremely difficult to cultivate. Not only did they involve endless suffering, but their effects were not necessarily all that great. After all, once one reached the Dou Master or Great Dou Master level, one could form a Dou Qi Veil or Dou Qi Armor, both of which possessed excellent defensive effects. Thus, most people did not like cultivating this type of defensive Dou Technique.

Seeing that Xiao Yan had achieved such results in just one month, Xun'er felt a little heartache for him.

Seeing the effect of that single punch, Xiao Yan revealed a satisfied smile.

Not only was Xiao Yan's defense now astonishing, but his strength had also improved greatly. He had merely used the first layer of overt force from Eight Extremes Collapse, yet it had already produced such an effect.

Eight Extremes Collapse truly deserves its reputation as a technique whose offensive power rivals an Earth-tier Dou Technique. I wonder what kind of power it will have once fully mastered. The Xiao Yan from the original story seemed to have only mastered one layer of overt force and one layer of hidden force.

"So? All that suffering wasn't for nothing, was it?" Medicine Elder's teasing voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Xiao Yan nodded. Looking at Xiao Ning, who lay on the ground as though questioning his entire life, Xiao Yan shook his head and turned to leave the training ground to continue training in the back mountain. He did not want to rest any longer. He wanted to become even stronger. Xiao Ning was merely an insignificant minor character to him. Nalan Yanran was the one he had to defeat in a year. He had no intention of being publicly humiliated by a broken engagement, then playing some "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river" game.

As Xiao Yan approached, the crowd quickly parted to both sides. Xiao Xun'er hurriedly ran toward him as well. She had not spent time with Xiao Yan for an entire month. Knowing he was cultivating, she had merely prepared breakfast for him every day so he would not waste time on such trivial matters.

Xiao Zhan also smiled and walked down from the raised platform on the left, wanting to ask his son how he had cultivated so quickly in such a short time.

At that moment, a savage and terrifying expression appeared on Xiao Ning's face as he lay on the ground. He had originally intended to crush Xiao Yan today, but instead of humiliating Xiao Yan, he had made a clown of himself. If others learned that he had lost to a good-for-nothing with only three stages of Dou Qi, how could he ever face anyone again? He quickly pulled out the dagger on his body. Its blade gleamed with a chilling light, clearly incomparably sharp.

Xiao Ning gripped the dagger tightly and stabbed straight toward Xiao Yan's back.

"Xiao Yan, be careful!" Because she was too far away, Xun'er could only shout to warn him.

"How dare you!" Seeing someone actually dare to kill his son, Xiao Zhan roared and shot toward Xiao Ning like a drawn sword.

"Stop!" Seeing that his grandson Xiao Ning had actually done something so foolish, the First Elder hurriedly shouted to stop him. Judging from Xiao Yan's performance, his cultivation talent had recovered and become even more terrifying. If Xiao Yan were injured now, Xiao Zhan would definitely tear his grandson apart alive.

Even if Xiao Zhan did not touch his grandson, he did not want Xiao Yan to die. With the talent Xiao Yan had displayed, his future achievements would certainly not be low. The Xiao Clan might even be able to return to the imperial capital through Xiao Yan and become a true great clan once more.

Unfortunately, all three of them were too far away and could only shout warnings.

But did Xiao Yan need a warning? They were merely panicking because they cared. With Xiao Yan's soul perception, how could he not know what was happening behind him? Xiao Yan raised his right palm and slowly circulated the Dou Qi within his body along the acupoints and meridians of the Cloud-Discharging Palm. This time, he used only one hand and only thirty percent of his strength. He was afraid of killing Xiao Ning outright. It was not because he was kind-hearted, but because Xiao Ning's sister had treated him fairly well. Even when his talent had disappeared, she had often looked after him. That was why he had held back somewhat.

"Cloud-Discharging Palm!" Xiao Yan suddenly turned around and shouted.

With a deafening boom, the eardrums of those standing nearby below the stage ached from the shock. Having taken a Cloud-Discharging Palm head-on, Xiao Ning was sent flying as though struck by a grenade. Blood streamed from his chest, and the fierce force tore his clothes into strips of rags. Fortunately, they still covered him enough to preserve his modesty.

The entire venue fell silent once more. Everyone present today had become somewhat numb. One unbelievable scene after another had battered their fragile nerves.

Xiao Yan's Dou Qi alone did not possess such power. It would already have been impressive if it could send Xiao Ning flying. The main force behind the attack had come from the explosive energy of Eight Extremes Collapse.

I never expected Eight Extremes Collapse to have the effect of blowing off clothes. If I used it on a girl... A smile appeared on Xiao Yan's face as he unconsciously looked toward Xun'er. Their gazes met, and Xun'er instantly understood what he meant. Her little face flushed red as she raised her small fist and glared fiercely at Xiao Yan, as though saying that if he dared use it on her, he would be dead.

"Yan'er, are you all right?" Without even glancing at Xiao Ning on the ground, Xiao Zhan hurriedly asked whether Xiao Yan had been injured.

Looking at his father's concern, Xiao Yan smiled. "I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine!"

"Good thing you're all right. Otherwise..." Xiao Zhan coldly looked toward the First Elder, who was examining his grandson's injuries, and spoke faintly.

Under Xiao Zhan's rather hostile gaze, the First Elder gave a bitter smile. "Xiao Ning dared to violate the rules of the match and use a weapon. He will be confined for three months."

Given Xiao Ning's injuries, he would definitely be bedridden for three months anyway. His chest had been blasted into a bloody mess, and several ribs were broken. Although they were all external injuries, it took a hundred days to recover from damaged muscles and bones. That held true anywhere.

Facing the punishment proposed by the First Elder, Xiao Zhan snorted coldly and instead asked Xiao Yan, "Yan'er, what do you think?"

Looking at Xiao Ning lying motionless on the ground, Xiao Yan did not want to be too harsh. He nodded, of course, out of consideration for Xiao Yu.

Seeing Xiao Yan nod, Xiao Zhan loudly said to the three elders, "Yan'er is kind-hearted and will not hold it against you. But do not think I do not know what you did today. If something like this happens again, hmph!"

Now that they knew Xiao Yan possessed such heaven-defying cultivation talent, they could not wait to curry favor with him. Why would they dare do such a thing again? As for Xiao Ning, although he was badly injured, they were all external wounds. The healing medicines of this world were quite good, and he only needed two or three months of recovery. The First Elder quickly carried his grandson away for treatment. If the injuries were not treated in time, lingering complications would be troublesome.

Seeing that Xiao Yan's cultivation talent had recovered and become even more terrifying, some rejoiced while others worried. Xiao Mei, who had watched the battle from the side, did not look very well. In fact, her expression was extremely ugly.

Xiao Zhan grabbed Xiao Yan's hand and, ignoring Xiao Yan's objections, headed straight for his study. He wanted to examine Xiao Yan carefully and find out exactly what had happened to him.