Battle Against Wu Hao

"Iron Sand Palm! Wu Hao had actually cultivated Iron Sand Palm to the mastery realm!"

Quite a few people in the arena recognized it. They had especially kept a close eye on a genius like Wu Hao, who had made it into the top ten of the previous Genius Summit.

Iron Sand Palm was also a High-Grade Yellow-Tier Combat Technique. Although its entry threshold was low, few people could cultivate it deeply. The reason was the hardship and pain involved—it required training in scorching iron sand year after year.

Yet once it was mastered, one's palms would become as hard as steel. Even some Fine-Grade Weapons could not leave the slightest mark on them.

"Careful! Your Iron Sand Palm carries a trace of poison!"

Taiwan Novel Network—first release of this book. An easy way to escape your reading slump, t̸̸w̸̸k̸̸a̸̸n̸̸.c̸̸o̸̸m̸̸, providing an error-free, properly ordered reading experience.

Having suffered a loss once already, Li Yuan Jia immediately spoke up to warn him. He had just been defeated because of this. In terms of actual strength, even if he was weaker than Wu Hao, the gap should not have been so great. If Wu Hao had not suddenly launched a sneak attack and struck him with a palm, allowing the poison to weaken him, he could never have lost so quickly.

At that moment, Wu Hao wore a savage grin. His palms were pitch-black and gave off a faintly fishy stench.

"I can't let him hit me, or that poison will enter my body!"

Li Ye had noticed it even without Li Yuan Jia's warning. Wu Hao's palm wind carried a sickly sweet smell. Merely catching a trace of it made his head spin and his body sway.

In an instant, Li Ye's entire body split into four figures, stepping through shifting positions so dazzling that they made the eye swim.

"It's Phantom Step!"

At this sight, several people from the Li Family revealed strange expressions. Phantom Step was one of the Li Family's few basic High-Grade Yellow-Tier Movement Techniques. Many Inner Disciples had tried to cultivate it, only to discover that it was far too difficult and give up one after another.

Yet Li Ye had clearly succeeded, and had even reached the minor mastery realm in one stroke. How could they not be shocked?

"Phantom Step is a High-Grade Yellow-Tier Movement Technique. Even those at Spirit Martial Tier Six cannot use it, and only Martial Masters at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm can barely employ it. How did Li Ye manage this?!"

They were filled with doubts, but could only suppress them for now and watch the clash between Li Ye and Wu Hao from the side.

"Hmph! You think a Movement Technique will let you escape?"

When he saw Li Ye split into four, Wu Hao was somewhat startled. Though he did not know what Movement Technique Li Ye used, he could tell that it was exceptionally advanced. When his first palm strike missed, he did not panic. He immediately struck out with four more palms, each one blasting toward one of Li Ye's four figures.

"Afterimages are illusions in the end. Let's see where you can run this time!"

It had to be said that Wu Hao, ranked second among the Wu Family's many disciples and inferior only to Wu Batian, was no empty name. He had even entered the top ten of the previous Genius Summit.

With a single glance, he spotted the crux of the matter and adapted at once. Four palms flew out in succession. No matter which figure was the true body, once it was struck, Li Ye would fall under his control.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated Phantom Step, once an Earth-Tier Movement Technique. Even if it was only an incomplete manual, it could not be broken so easily.

Still, one afterimage was struck and vanished like a bubble.

"Gale Legs!"

This was exactly the moment Li Ye had been waiting for. The instant one afterimage was blasted apart, he sensed a tiny slackening in Wu Hao's focus. Coordinating with his footwork, he instantly unleashed dozens of kicks.

Of the three Combat Techniques Li Ye currently possessed, Gale Legs was the fastest. Its defining feature was victory through quantity, victory through speed!

Bang bang bang!

Even Wu Hao had not expected that a mere Spirit Martial Tier Five cultivator could evade his attack and even strike back at him.

"Courting death!"

Who was Wu Hao? He was one of the Wu Family's foremost geniuses, second only to Wu Batian. Even in all of Wuzhou City, there were not many people who could defeat him. Among his peers, aside from the Four Great Geniuses, no one dared claim a certain victory against him!

Several footprints appeared on his chest in succession. In the end, he failed to evade every attack, though strikes of this level could not injure him. Still, his expression became incomparably ugly!

"I was actually hit by trash at Spirit Martial Tier Five!"

Boom! The aura of a Martial Dao Master erupted from him in full force, making quite a few people around him feel suffocated. Those below the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm could not endure it at all and retreated one after another.

"What a terrifying aura!"

Li Ye bore the brunt of it. Most of that pressure was directed straight at him.

"Kid! Die!"

The blackened palm came like Death's scythe. Its fishy stench made one want to vomit, and sent the mind reeling.

The icy chill directly weakened that poisonous palm wind by a considerable amount, but the strike still surged forward like bamboo splitting before a blade, impossible to stop completely.

"Cloud-Turning Palm!"

A sharp gleam flashed through Li Ye's eyes. Wu Hao's Iron Sand Palm was powerful, but after being obstructed by Frost Fist, its strength had dropped by at least twenty to thirty percent. A row of airwaves like crashing ocean waves now surged wildly forth, colliding head-on with Wu Hao's palm force.

Boom!

The two exchanged a direct palm strike. Li Ye then staggered back more than ten steps before barely managing to steady himself.

Wu Hao, on the other hand, had only retreated half a step. The difference between them was immediately clear.

Yet everyone, including the two people who had arrived with Wu Hao, was utterly astonished.

"There's something strange about this kid! He's clearly at Spirit Martial Tier Five, yet he possesses strength comparable to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm."

"And just now, he clearly used three Combat Techniques in succession. They all appeared to be at least Yellow Tier Mid-Grade, perhaps even Yellow Tier High-Grade. How could one person cultivate three Combat Techniques, plus that Movement Technique? How did he manage four techniques in total?"

"Kid, it seems I truly underestimated you! For someone at Spirit Martial Tier Five to fight me to this extent, you have every reason to be proud!"

Li Ye rolled his eyes. He had no interest whatsoever in Wu Hao's boastful words, but inwardly he thought, Wu Hao truly deserves to be among the top ten of the previous Genius Summit. A Martial Dao Master is several times stronger than a Martial Master! Unless I use Sword Control Technique or Blood Eyes, my chance of defeating him is less than ten percent!

But whether it was Blood Eyes or Sword Control Technique, both were his greatest trump cards and could not be used lightly.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. I'll use this man as the opportunity for my breakthrough!

The two continued to tangle with one another. Li Ye relied entirely on the advantage of Phantom Step to temporarily maintain a stalemate. Even so, it was still unbelievable to watch.

"This kid... Father was right. He'll become the greatest dark horse at this Genius Summit!"

Watching Wu Hao, who had easily defeated him, prove unable to deal with Li Ye in a short time, Li Yuan Jia felt bitter inside. He was undoubtedly a genius himself, or he could not have cultivated to this level at only twenty years old. He had even become the Li Family's second Inner Disciple.

But compared with Li Ye, he found his own progress as slow as a snail's crawl. At least, more than ten days ago, Li Ye had only been at peak Spirit Martial Tier Four. Advancing an entire realm so quickly was unheard of.

At that moment, Li Ye was like a lone boat caught in a Storm of Gale, liable to capsize at any moment.

Yet at the same time, the immense pressure from Wu Hao caused the Blood Soul power within him, which had reached a bottleneck, to show signs of loosening.

"Good! As expected, only battle can rapidly improve one's chances of breaking through!"

It turned out that he was using Wu Hao as a whetstone, stimulating his own potential to break through to Spirit Martial Tier Six.

The longer Wu Hao fought, the more alarmed he became. At first, out of disdain, he had used only forty to fifty percent of his strength. Now he was nearly going all out, yet he still could not truly threaten this peculiar youth before him.

"This kid is truly strange! I actually can't do anything to him!"

One had to know that he had ranked sixth in the previous Genius Summit. In all of Wuzhou City, among those roughly his age, the people capable of defeating him could be counted on one hand!

Finally, Li Ye felt the dormant Blood Soul power within him burst forth like floodwaters unleashed from a broken dam, surging wildly into every part of his body. At the same time, his aura paused, then abruptly rose by more than threefold!

"He broke through! Spirit Martial Tier Six!"

An aura far stronger than before erupted from his body.

"This kid actually used me to break through! Dammit!"

Who was Wu Hao? He immediately saw the key to it. That was precisely why he was furious beyond measure! Never had anyone humiliated him like this! Even the Four Great Geniuses of Wuzhou City had to show him, Wu Hao, some respect when they met him.

And now, he was being used as a whetstone by trash whose cultivation was still below the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm. How could he not rage?

But even after breaking through, Li Ye still showed no fear!

"Wu Hao! You made your move just now. Now it's my turn!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! In an instant, Li Ye became six people.

"Freak! His mastery of Phantom Step has deepened again!"

If Li Wei had been present, he would certainly have been greatly shocked. Li Ye's mastery of Phantom Step had already surpassed his own, despite Li Wei having immersed himself in cultivating it for years.

"Useless! Even if you break through, you still can't hurt me!"

Wu Hao also roared furiously, then instantly threw out several palms. Terrifying fierce winds carrying a fishy poison sought to envelop all six of Li Ye's figures.

"Storm of Gale!"

But Li Ye gave him no chance at all. The six figures moved like six real people, and countless leg shadows swept out in an instant, shattering Wu Hao's Iron Sand Palm in the blink of an eye.

Bang!

Wu Hao only felt a sharp pain in the bridge of his nose before his entire body was kicked flying.

"Wu Hao actually lost!"

At this sight, the two people who had come with Wu Hao looked at each other, unable to believe it.

At the same time, a group on the Li Family's side erupted in cheers! Regardless of whether they usually liked Li Ye, they were cheering from the bottom of their hearts now.

"I'll kill you!"

With a roar like a wounded beast, Wu Hao steadied himself in midair. His face twisted savagely as he let out a furious howl. Instantly, everyone felt a violent impact that seemed to blanket heaven and earth. Those of weaker strength even groaned softly, a trace of blood hanging from the corners of their mouths.

Li Ye had not expected Wu Hao to retain such strength after taking a Gale Legs strike from him. Still, he was not afraid. An icy aura radiated from his body as he threw a punch straight forward!

"Get down here!" The terrifying freezing aura instantly covered Wu Hao's body in a layer of white frost, while Li Ye's fist slammed viciously into the bridge of his nose once again!

Crack! Everyone clearly heard the sound of his nasal bone breaking. After suffering two consecutive heavy blows to the bridge of his nose, unless it were Hundred-Forged Steel, there was no way it could withstand them!