Experimenting with the Steel Fist

"Huh? Who's trespassing on private property?"

Just as he was engrossed in studying the Heavenly Dream Soul Armor, he suddenly frowned slightly and looked outside.

At this moment, he finally realized that someone had broken into his Rubik's Cube Grand Formation again.

A boy seemed to have gone mad, relentlessly attacking his own formation. It was precisely because of this boy's frantic actions that he noticed the anomaly within the Rubik's Cube Grand Formation.

"Oh! There's actually a Spiritual Sea Stage expert here. Can't afford to offend him, really. Maybe I should lock him up for a while."

Just as he was thinking this, a Thatch Gu carrying a letter rushed in from outside the door. When the Thatch Gu saw that the man was not wearing any clothes, it quickly covered its eyes, afraid of getting a sty.

"What are you trying to cover up? It's like you're wearing clothes, but you're still not wearing any."

Long Xuan gave it an annoyed look, then snatched the letter away. Upon discovering that it was from the family head, he immediately became serious and quickly read through its contents.

He understood the general meaning of the message, and he quickly learned the identities of the people in the formation.

When he learned that the Western Land Long Family actually planned to bring in outside help to handle the arena match against the Bai Clan, he was stunned. Wasn't this cheating? The Western Land Long Family was too shameless!

What left him speechless was that the Western Land Long Family had a good eye and took a liking to him at first glance, preparing to invite him over.

His brows furrowed even deeper. The Western Land... that place is so far away from here. It's another region, far beyond the Far Western Lands.

He usually sent his clones to do the more time-consuming tasks himself.

However, this matter definitely cannot be handled by using a clone anymore, because the distance between the two regions is too far, and assimilating memories would be extremely inconvenient.

There wasn't even time to assimilate the memories. It was clear that the clone wouldn't be able to return anytime soon, as there were too many variables. Only the original body could go there in person.

He hadn't even finished developing his matching physical techniques yet, and this sudden event disrupted his plans. If he hadn't had no other choice, he really wouldn't have wanted to make this trip.

Very well! Let's go then. The Western Land are a vast region with far more resources than the Far Western Lands, and there are many powerful people and opportunities. It would be good to go to a large region to see what it's like; experience is also part of growth.

Treat this as a vacation, and maybe do some shopping in this resource-rich area. Don't disappoint me, Western Land!

After making his decision, Long Xuan walked outside.

Suddenly he quickly turned back.

He then realized that he was wearing the Emperor's New Clothes, not clothes at all. After putting on all his clothes and selecting the things he might need for the journey, he hung the spatial ring around his neck and slowly walked out.

However, this delay caused an unknown amount of time to pass.

Just as the high-ranking officials outside were getting impatient, a door suddenly opened in the barrier in front of them, and Long Qian finally walked out. He looked haggard, extremely exhausted, and his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept for several nights.

Long Ruoxue followed closely behind, but her eyes, which usually revealed wisdom, were no longer there; instead, they were filled with anxiety. She held a thick stack of maps in her hands, but they were all messy and different, with no discernible pattern.

She was completely driven mad by these maps. She had racked her brains, but she still couldn't find any pattern in them. Could there really be a pattern to these messy maps?

Who on earth came up with such a torturous formation? She had an urge to drag the person who created it out and beat them up.

"Time is of the essence, and I'm afraid I must depart now. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with the matter of the genius." As soon as they came out, Long Qian said to Long Wanli, his words seeming to be a change of topic.

"No trouble at all, I'll arrange it right away. You can rest first."

Long Wanli quickly wrote several letters and handed them to Thatch Gu. Being considerate, he didn't ask about the formation to avoid embarrassing Suogu.

The content of his previous letter to Long Xuan was to ask Long Xuan to deliberately create a flaw so that Long Qian could successfully leave, thus saving face for him, a third-grade array master.

Long Xuan did as instructed, but Long Qian could easily see that the array master had deliberately let him out, so he showed no joy after he came out.

He knew this must have been arranged by Long Wanli to prevent him from losing face, and he accepted this favor.

However, if he knew that Long Wanli had deliberately lured him here with words, then used his obsession with formations to trick him into entering, and then used reverse psychology to force him not to break the formation by force, thus trapping him completely inside the formation.

Long Wanli did all this simply to trick him into doing him a favor. If he knew that Long Wanli had schemed against him like this, he would be furious, probably even driven mad.

He was actually grateful to Long Wanli at this point, which was like someone else selling him out and him still counting the money for the other person.

At this moment, Long Xuan finally emerged from the formation. After glancing at the few people who had just come out of the formation, he walked towards the family head.

"Master, you called me?"

Long Wanli looked at him and said, "These three are Gu cultivators from the Western Land Long Family, so they are relatives of our branch. That young man wants to spar with you, so please give him some pointers. Consider it a friendly exchange between our two clans."

Upon hearing this, Long Xuan immediately looked at the arrogant, chuunibyou (delusional) teenager who stood tall and proud, thinking to himself, "Where did this extra come from? He has a villainous aura and looks like he deserves a beating."

Although the boy looked disheveled and exhausted, he still had an arrogant expression on his face, glancing at him sideways with a fighting spirit in his eyes.

Don't be fooled by his young appearance; he looks like he's under eighteen. That doesn't mean he's actually a minor. If a Gu cultivator breaks through too quickly, their lifespan is extended, but the changes in their appearance will be delayed proportionally.

Therefore, Long Xuan could tell at a glance that this was a genius with an extremely fast cultivation speed, capable of progressing by leaps and bounds in a day. However, his combat strength was hard to say, as a fast cultivation speed does not necessarily mean strong combat strength.

"My name is Long Biao, a genius with Heavenly-Grade Aptitude. Please enlighten me!"

Long Biao walked to the center of the arena and looked at Long Xuan arrogantly.

Long Xuan glanced at him in surprise. He hadn't expected him to be such a rare genius with a Heavenly-Grade Aptitude. No wonder his cultivation speed was so fast. Heavenly-Grade Aptitude with the fastest cultivation speed in the world was rare. It was also no wonder that he had developed such an arrogant and rude personality.

However, this was the first time he had ever heard of someone introducing their own aptitude during a martial arts competition, as if afraid that the whole world wouldn't know that they had Heavenly-Grade Aptitude.

"Long Xuan!" Long Xuan simply stated his name and then said nothing more, a rather unique self-introduction.

Long Qian glanced at him with admiration. The fact that a combination array set up using only basic formations could trap him, a third-grade formation master, was simply monstrous. He felt a sense of appreciation for this extraordinary talent.

If he didn't already have a closed-door disciple, Long Ruoxue, and if Long Wanli hadn't tried to kill him after he abducted this genius, he would have insisted on taking this genius as his disciple no matter what. This genius's mastery of formations had truly amazed him.

"Alright, now that you've both introduced yourselves, let's officially begin the duel," Long Qian said with a smile.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Long Biao charged toward Long Xuan at an astonishing speed.

Seeing that he was at the Mid Marrow-Cleansing Stage realm, the same level as himself, Long Xuan didn't take him seriously at all. The Ten Extremity Physique was known as invincible among those of the same level. Wasn't it just courting death for someone of the same level to challenge him? He didn't know what this person was thinking.

But Long Xuan didn't show his disdain on his face; he simply threw a punch at the man.

He didn't hold back with this punch; his Ten Extremity Physique had already been revealed before he even transmigrated. Everyone present already knew he possessed the Ten Extremity Physique. If someone with the Ten Extremity Physique struggled so much against someone of the same level, it would be too fake, as if they were fooling everyone.

So he simply used 70% of his strength, and instead of using his strongest ability, he used the Steel Fist he was researching.

The Steel Fist is still a work in progress, only 30% complete. It can only utilize 30% of the body's power, so it would be good if it could achieve 30% of the power.

Therefore, the Steel Fist is currently his weakest ability, and using it against an enemy is already considered a way of concealing his true strength.

Seeing his opponent use a fist technique, Long Biao revealed a cold smile. Under the Evil Dragon Emperor Eye, the opponent still dared to use physical techniques against him. Physical techniques would be full of flaws under his Evil Dragon Emperor Eye, and he could easily find the flaws and defeat him with one blow.

A scarlet eye immediately appeared between his brows, emitting an eerie light as it looked at Long Xuan.

However, Long Biao's cold smile quickly froze on his face, and he was completely stunned. There was no flaw in his deception. How could this be?

His expression changed drastically.

After that delay, it was clearly too late to dodge the fist, so he could only hastily raise his fist and collide heavily with Steel Fist.

"Bump!"

A dull thud, like fists colliding, echoed through the air.

Immediately afterwards, Long Biao was sent flying backward, traveling more than thirty meters, rolling several times on the ground, and finally, after struggling a few times, he couldn't stand up and completely passed out.

Long Xuan was taken aback. He realized that he had greatly underestimated the power of the Steel Fist. It was hard for him to believe that a half-finished Steel Fist could have such power.

He still hadn't grasped the situation. He concentrated all his strength into one point and unleashed it, generating power more than ten times that of a normal punch. With the added blessing of the Ten Extremity Physique, the power of his Steel Fist would increase several times over. His attack power was simply unmatched by anyone of the same level.

Let alone Long Biao, that slacker, even a true super genius wouldn't stand a chance against him. Anyone who dares to go head-to-head with a master of the Ten Extremity Physique is just courting death.

Seeing that Long Biao had been knocked unconscious in one move, Long Qian's lips twitched uncontrollably, and his face turned completely black.

He knew Long Biao would most likely lose, but he never expected him to lose so cleanly and decisively, to be killed in a single move. How humiliating!

He's a genius with Heavenly-Grade Aptitude! Even if he's not the best, he shouldn't be this pathetic!

How could he possibly save face?

If the geniuses who are considered top talents in the Lineage are nothing compared to the geniuses of other families, doesn't that imply that the geniuses cultivated by the main family are all mediocre and far inferior to those cultivated by the branch families?

This is incredibly embarrassing. How can he hold his head up in front of all these relatives?

Long Ruoxue also covered her face in embarrassment, unable to bear to look any longer. She knew it, she knew it, she knew that bringing this idiot out would be embarrassing. Today was incredibly embarrassing, and she herself was also losing face.

"Ahem! Don't misunderstand! This Long Biao isn't even among the top ten geniuses in our clan. I only brought him on board because of Ruoxue. I never expected him to be so incompetent."

Long Qian gave a dry laugh, his old face full of embarrassment.

Long Ruoxue looked at him in disbelief. Was he really going to treat his disciple like this? What did he mean by saying he only brought him on the ship because of her?

It's like I have a good relationship with him; it's embarrassing to be friends with him. Please don't do this to me!

Long Wanli was secretly pleased. He was also puzzled. How could Long Biao be so foolish as to dare to confront a Ten Extremity Physique cultivator head-on when they were of the same level? He truly lived up to his name, Long Biao!

A silence fell over the room; no one knew how to break the awkward silence.

Long Biao lay on the ground for a long time without anyone paying attention to him.