Melee (2)

At this moment, Zhou Deze and Yuan Mingzhi's battle had reached a fever pitch. Neither could do anything to the other. Zhou Deze's injuries were more severe, preventing him from using his full strength, while Yuan Mingzhi had suffered little injury. Thus, the two were evenly matched.

Zhou Deze's face was filled with shock and fury. "Yuan Mingzhi! If I weren't injured, do you think you could fight me to this extent?"

Yuan Mingzhi sneered. "If you can't win, you can't win! No amount of shouting will change that. Take another move from me!"

With that, Yuan Mingzhi struck directly. True energy surged throughout his body as he exerted himself to use the third form of the Shaolin Cotton Palm, "Relentless Ferocity." Waves of dense, forceful true energy slowly gathered in his palms, which instantly erupted with imposing power.

With twenty-five years of Inner Force, he struck with two thousand five hundred pounds of force toward Zhou Deze's chest.

Seeing this, Zhou Deze gritted his teeth and attacked. True energy burst from his entire body as he likewise used the third form of the Shaolin Cotton Palm, "Relentless Ferocity." Waves of dense, forceful true energy slowly gathered in his palms, which instantly erupted with imposing power.

With twenty-six years of Inner Force, but his injuries not yet healed, he could only strike with two thousand five hundred pounds of force as he forcibly received Yuan Mingzhi's Relentless Ferocity palms.

"Bang!"

The two Relentless Ferocity palms collided viciously, producing a dull explosive sound. Their palms pressed together as they frantically poured their Inner Force into the clash. Waves of true energy ignited around them, even slightly warping the air. Both wanted to use their Inner Force to crush the other in one stroke. The sight was truly terrifying!

A quarter of an hour later.

Both knew that they had little Inner Force left. They each erupted with all their remaining true energy and fiercely poured out one final surge of violent power.

"Pfft!"

The two spat out blood and staggered back seven or eight steps each. This contest of Inner Force had left both sides badly injured. Zhou Deze's face was as white as paper, and his head spun. His Inner Force was nearly exhausted, and his injuries were extremely severe. If not for his astonishing willpower forcing him to remain standing, he would have long since suffered a complete defeat.

Yuan Mingzhi's face was equally pale. His Inner Force was nearly exhausted, and he had also suffered serious injuries, though he was still much better off than Zhou Deze. He then used his last trace of true energy to perform the first form of the Shaolin Cotton Palm, "Unbroken Flow," and struck Zhou Deze with a palm.

"Bang!"

Zhou Deze had no strength left to resist and was sent flying directly out of the martial arena. He spat out a mouthful of black blood in midair. His injuries had worsened greatly; without one or two months of recuperation, he would never fully recover.

After delivering that palm, Yuan Mingzhi's true energy was exhausted, and he nearly fainted. He barely managed to remain standing, then glanced at the battle among the three men on the martial arena. With a bitter smile, he slowly walked down.

He truly had no strength left to fight. Besides, he could not bring himself to shamelessly stay there and watch the tigers fight from the mountain. Taking ninth place was already an unexpected delight, so he did not dare ask for more.

At the same time, the battle on the other side had also reached a fever pitch. The three exchanged blows, each attacking the other two. For a time, victory was impossible to determine!

The three attacked at once. Leng Tianlu used the third form of the Shaolin Cotton Palm, "Relentless Ferocity." Waves of dense, forceful true energy slowly gathered in his palms, which instantly erupted with imposing power. With two thousand seven hundred pounds of force, he charged straight at the other two.

Lei Tianyi and Huang Hongzhe both used the third form of the Shaolin Heart-Piercing Leg, "Buddha's Wrath Heart Pierce." Violent true energy gathered in their legs as they leaped into the air, and a phantom image of a Buddha appeared in the sky.

Then they launched a savage kick. The Buddha phantom likewise kicked out savagely, meeting Leng Tianlu's Relentless Ferocity palm head-on with two thousand seven hundred pounds of force!

"Rumble!"

A deafening explosion of air rang out. Leng Tianlu was forced back by the combined kick of Lei Tianyi and Huang Hongzhe, retreating a full zhang. True energy churned violently within him, and his face flushed red. He hurriedly suppressed it with his Inner Force.

"Hahaha! Brother Huang! Take a move from me!"

Lei Tianyi continued with the third form of the Shaolin Heart-Piercing Leg, "Buddha's Wrath Heart Pierce." With two thousand seven hundred pounds of force, he unleashed three savage kicks straight at Huang Hongzhe.

Huang Hongzhe refused to be outdone. He used the third form of the Shaolin Heart-Piercing Leg, "Buddha's Wrath Heart Pierce," and likewise kicked out three times with two thousand seven hundred pounds of force, meeting Lei Tianyi's sudden assault head-on!

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Three dull explosions rang out. Their strength was nearly equal, and neither gained the upper hand. Each retreated three or four steps before steadying himself.

Huang Hongzhe suddenly attacked, using the second form of the Shaolin Shadowless Kick, "Following Form." Waves of true energy slowly gathered in his legs. He abruptly leaped into the air, and with only the sound of wind, his leg shadow had already reached Lei Tianyi's chest.

Lei Tianyi's face changed drastically. Staggering, he had no time to react, especially against this leg technique built around speed.

He could only force himself to circulate all the true energy in his body and hastily use the second form of the Shaolin Heart-Piercing Leg, "Chain Heart-Piercing Kicks," to block it.

"Bang!"

Lei Tianyi could not bring out much of the Shaolin Heart-Piercing Leg's power in such haste. Huang Hongzhe's kick sent him flying, and he spat out blood, having suffered some injuries!

Suddenly, Huang Hongzhe felt a bone-piercing chill coming from behind him. Leng Tianlu was striking at him from behind with a palm. The forceful power made cold sweat stream down Huang Hongzhe's back. He immediately stomped the ground and leaped away, dodging the forceful palm.

He then seized the initiative, giving Leng Tianlu no chance to continue attacking. While in midair, he kicked out three lightning-fast kicks in succession. Leng Tianlu responded by unleashing three fierce, flowing palms toward Huang Hongzhe's three rapid kicks.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

After receiving the three palms, Huang Hongzhe performed a graceful backflip and retreated. The instant he landed, he felt the fierce, flowing palm force shake his legs. His legs went weak, and his steps faltered. He nearly lost his footing before suddenly spitting out blood. He was already seriously injured.

Huang Hongzhe had been injured by Leng Tianlu's fierce, flowing palm force, which triggered the injuries that Abbot Hongchen had previously suppressed. That was why his injuries were so severe.

Leng Tianlu had just intended to press his advantage when he felt a heart-piercing, icy force shooting toward his chest. Lei Tianyi had suddenly launched a Shaolin Heart-Piercing Leg kick.

Leng Tianlu was immediately startled. His movement technique was poor, and in his haste, he could not dodge. He could only take the kick head-on. Both palms shot out as he hastily used the Shaolin Cotton Palm against Lei Tianyi, intending to trade injury for injury—hurting himself eight hundred to wound his enemy a thousand.

"Pfft!"

Both endured the other's fierce attack and were forced back seven or eight steps. They each spat out blood and suffered serious injuries, then circulated their true energy to suppress their wounds.

A quarter of an hour later.

The three looked at one another. Their true energy was nearly exhausted, and their faces were slightly pale. Then their auras shook as they charged forward, beginning a close-quarters brawl with fists and kicks!

Huang Hongzhe attacked first, unleashing a flurry of lightning-fast leg shadows. Leng Tianlu blocked with both palms, desperately receiving one leg shadow after another. Huang Hongzhe's kicks were too fast, and Leng Tianlu could not block them all. Out of every ten kicks, he could only block seven or eight, leaving his body covered in bruises.

Whenever Leng Tianlu was struck by a kick, he gritted his teeth and slapped Huang Hongzhe's thigh with a palm. The fierce, flowing force directly numbed Huang Hongzhe's leg while weakening much of his kicking power.

Lei Tianyi could still barely use his leg techniques to fend off such rapid attacks, though he was struck by several kicks from time to time. His eyes narrowed, and he crouched low to use a sweeping kick, sweeping Huang Hongzhe off his feet. He then leaped into the air and drove both knees toward Huang Hongzhe's chest.

Huang Hongzhe was immediately startled. He gritted his teeth and rolled across the ground, barely avoiding the fatal blow. Seeing his attack evade him, Lei Tianyi landed steadily, then leaped back a full zhang and warily watched the other two.

Lei Tianyi and Leng Tianlu were both battered and bruised. Leng Tianlu in particular was terribly swollen, his entire head nearly turned into a pig's head. Lei Tianyi was slightly better off, though his injuries were more serious. As for Huang Hongzhe, his right leg limped badly; Leng Tianlu's palm force had already crippled it!

The three were utterly exhausted, their bodies covered in injuries. It seemed that any disciple who came up and merely blew on them could knock them down.

"Heh... heh! It seems we have all... all reached the end of our strength. We would probably collapse if anyone so much as touched us!"

"Y-yes... it seems we must decide... decide this with one strike!"

"I... I agree!"

With that, the three shouted furiously and charged at one another. Lei Tianyi kicked at Leng Tianlu, Leng Tianlu struck Huang Hongzhe with a palm, and Huang Hongzhe kicked at Lei Tianyi.

"Pfft!"

The three were sent flying by each other's attacks and spat out blood. For a time, none could rise. Lei Tianyi had suffered the worst injuries and had already fallen unconscious, taking eighth place. Though Leng Tianlu remained conscious, he could only crane his neck upward and could not get up, taking seventh place. Huang Hongzhe exhausted all his strength to barely crawl up, kneeling on the ground and gasping for breath as he took sixth place.

The Martial Arts Elder slowly walked out and said calmly, "Huang Hongzhe takes sixth place, Leng Tianlu seventh place, and Lei Tianyi eighth place!"

As soon as the Martial Arts Elder finished speaking, Huang Hongzhe could no longer hold on and collapsed unconscious.

All three lay unconscious on the ground and were immediately taken away for treatment.