The hall fell silent

The main hall of the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy.

At that moment, every gaze converged on a single figure, every pair of eyes filled with astonishment.

Everyone around Jun Wangchen hurried aside. When he walked forward, they backed away; when he moved left, they retreated right. For a moment, the scene was downright comical.

Song Lin's gaze sharpened. At the sight of Jun Wangchen's thin frame, he could not help laughing. "Your Yang Family Martial Arts Academy really has run out of people. You actually dared to send out trash like him?"

The disciples of the Song Family Martial Arts Academy all sneered as well. Jun Wangchen looked so frail that even they could have dealt with him easily, never mind Yi Tianchou.

Guo Wu froze the instant Jun Wangchen appeared. When he realized the young man intended to step onto the platform and fight Yi Tianchou, his face darkened, and he shouted, "Kid, you're no match for him! Get down here!"

He had only just experienced Yi Tianchou's terrifying strength himself. Even if ten more experts as strong as him joined forces against Yi Tianchou, they probably still could not subdue him.

Jun Wangchen, meanwhile, was nothing but a coward whose ambitions far exceeded his abilities. Sending someone like him out would only further disgrace the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy.

Jun Wangchen shrugged and said calmly, "We won't know whether I'm a match for him until we fight."

"You..." Seeing that Jun Wangchen would not listen at all, Guo Wu nearly spat out another mouthful of blood in fury, his face full of exasperation.

Yi Tianchou was a merciless killer, cold and aloof to his very core. With Jun Wangchen speaking in such an arrogant tone, he was certain to be beaten half to death once he went up there.

At that thought, Guo Wu wanted nothing more than to slap Jun Wangchen across the face and knock some sense into the oblivious fool.

Long Dongqiang, the thick-browed young man who had been defeated earlier, stared at Jun Wangchen with his head wrapped in bandages and shouted a warning. "Kid, this is no time for jokes. Even our senior disciple couldn't defeat him. Going up there is suicide. Get down here before you get hurt!"

"Your senior disciple isn't all that strong either. If it were me, I could defeat him within three moves." Jun Wangchen ignored him and continued toward the fighting platform.

Measured by a cultivator's standards, Guo Wu was at most at mid-stage Qi Condensation, while Yi Tianchou was already at Late Qi Condensation. Without any supporting techniques, how could Guo Wu possibly defeat someone at Late Qi Condensation with his mid-stage Qi Condensation strength?

"Is this kid still half asleep?" Everyone's eyes twitched at those words. They looked at him as though he were a madman.

Guo Wu's inability to defeat Yi Tianchou did not mean he was weak. Yet no matter how they looked at Jun Wangchen, he showed not the slightest sign of being a martial artist. He barely seemed comparable to even some of the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy's ordinary disciples.

And now Jun Wangchen dared to claim he could defeat Guo Wu within three moves. His arrogance truly knew no bounds.

Guo Wu's face burned. Losing to Yi Tianchou was bad enough. Now some kid with more ambition than ability was declaring he could defeat him in three moves. It was utterly humiliating.

Long Dongqiang's face darkened too. If he had not been injured, he would have thrown Jun Wangchen out himself to stop him from disgracing the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy.

Master Yang's face alternated between pale and livid. As the murmurs around him grew louder, he was about to tell Jun Wangchen to step down when Zi Hanyan quietly approached and whispered something in his ear.

After hearing her out, Master Yang went still, and a sudden gleam appeared in his eyes. "Miss Zi, are you certain?"

"Master Yang, please trust me. Since Jun Wangchen dares to step onto the platform, he must have something to rely on," Zi Hanyan said earnestly with a nod.

Seeing how firmly Zi Hanyan vouched for him, Master Yang hesitated, but ultimately said nothing to stop Jun Wangchen.

On the fighting platform, Yi Tianchou watched Jun Wangchen approach and spoke in the same cold tone. "Kid, you shouldn't have come up here."

"Why?" Jun Wangchen blinked and asked curiously.

Yi Tianchou's aura abruptly changed, and he gave a sinister smile. "Because once you come up, you won't leave in one piece."

An invisible pressure spread from the fighting platform, making everyone feel as though they were suffocating.

Yet Jun Wangchen remained entirely unaffected. Instead, he met Yi Tianchou's gaze and smiled calmly. "Whether I leave in one piece isn't for you to decide."

If his strength had still been at mid-stage Qi Condensation, he might have weighed his chances. But an hour earlier, he had advanced to Late Qi Condensation, putting his strength roughly on par with Yi Tianchou's. Who would keep whom from leaving in one piece was far from certain.

"Very good. I like people who don't know when they're courting death." Yi Tianchou's face darkened completely. The faint chance of survival he had intended to leave Jun Wangchen vanished that instant.

In the coming fight, he would cripple Jun Wangchen utterly—cripple this arrogant fool who blundered about blindly and held everyone else in contempt.

Jun Wangchen smiled faintly and said nothing more.

"Master, hurry and tell that kid to come down. Looking as frail as he does, Yi Tianchou is certain to cripple him." Guo Wu shot Jun Wangchen a vicious glare for his recklessness, then urged Master Yang beside him.

The disciples of the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy all nodded in agreement and joined in trying to persuade Master Yang.

Unexpectedly, Master Yang did not heed their advice. After a long silence, he said with a composed expression, "Have faith in him."

"What?" Guo Wu and the others were dumbfounded.

The master... actually supported letting that arrogant, clueless kid fight?

"Hahaha! This is hilarious! Master Yang, if you want to concede, just say so. Why put on this act to cover up your own incompetence?" Song Lin laughed, his voice dripping with mockery.

What difference was there between conceding and sending out someone like Jun Wangchen, who could be defeated in a single move?

Guo Wu and the others looked deeply aggrieved. Just as Song Lin had said, they truly had no confidence in Jun Wangchen either.

Master Yang remained silent, as though he had not heard Song Lin. But a closer look would have revealed that sweat had already soaked his back.

He was gambling—gambling that Jun Wangchen was the expert Zi Hanyan claimed he was, that he could turn the tide and save them in this challenge match.

While everyone in the hall harbored their own thoughts, Jun Wangchen had already stopped a meter in front of Yi Tianchou.

His gaze was perfectly clear, like drifting clouds and flowing water, carrying a natural gentleness.

"Kid, remember this beautiful day well!" Yi Tianchou rotated his arms, making his joints crackle, his eyes icy cold.

"Enough talk. Make your move." Jun Wangchen smiled faintly, utterly fearless.

"You're asking to die!" Killing intent flashed through Yi Tianchou's eyes, and a towering chill abruptly enveloped the fighting platform.

Without another word or a moment's hesitation, Yi Tianchou shot his right hand out like lightning. His palm struck toward Jun Wangchen with overwhelming, mountain-toppling force, holding nothing back.

"That palm strike is seasoned and commanding, with the force of a river crashing through a gorge. If he'd used it against me, I could never have blocked it." Below the platform, cold sweat sprang onto Guo Wu's forehead at the sight. Along with his fear, he cast Jun Wangchen a look of profound pity.

If that palm struck Jun Wangchen, he would probably spend the rest of his life in a hospital bed.

Song Lin and the Song Family Martial Arts Academy's disciples smiled darkly. Yi Tianchou had attacked so viciously right from the start that he was clearly already enraged.

Long Dongqiang and the others turned their heads away, as though unable to bear the bloody scene about to unfold.

Master Yang clenched his fists, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. This strike would reveal Jun Wangchen's true strength—and determine whether the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy survived.

Zi Hanyan's palms grew sweaty. Although Jun Wangchen had confidently assured her earlier that he had a ninety-percent chance, seeing Yi Tianchou unleash such a ferocious palm strike still filled her with worry.

Under all those watching eyes, Jun Wangchen's tousled hair whipped wildly. His gaze was cold as lightning, yet utterly tranquil, like still water.

When Yi Tianchou's palm was only inches away, Jun Wangchen suddenly pushed off with his toes and vanished silently like a ghost.

Everyone saw only a streak of black flash before their eyes. By the time they registered what had happened, Jun Wangchen was already on Yi Tianchou's right.

In an instant, a force that seemed to command heaven and earth erupted. An immense aura swept across the entire fighting platform, and a wind from nowhere sent everyone's hair flying.

"So fast!" Yi Tianchou's expression changed. He swiftly pulled back his striking hand and raised his arms in front of himself to block.

Boom!

A thunderous sound burst from the fighting platform and rang throughout the Yang Family Martial Arts Academy, leaving everyone's ears ringing.

As the sound faded, everyone hurriedly turned their eyes toward the platform.

What they saw stunned them. Jun Wangchen stood with his fist still extended, his long hair flowing.

In front of him, blood stained Yi Tianchou's lips. His arms were held across his chest in a guard, his eyes filled with fear and disbelief. He looked utterly battered.

At that sight, the entire hall fell deathly silent!

"This... how is this possible?" The smiles on Song Lin's and his disciples' faces froze instantly, their eyes flooding with disbelief.

Someone as powerful as Yi Tianchou had actually been... injured by a single punch from Jun Wangchen?

The Yang Family Martial Arts Academy's disciples stared with eyes so wide they nearly popped out. Some even slapped themselves across the face, plainly unable to believe what they had witnessed.

Guo Wu and Long Dongqiang exchanged a glance, both gaping. Countless expressions of shock caught in their throats, leaving them unable to speak.

This frail-looking fellow was actually that powerful?

Master Yang's clenched fists quietly relaxed, and the heart that had been lodged in his throat finally settled. After discreetly wiping the sweat from his forehead, he looked both shocked and delighted.

"Wonderful!" Zi Hanyan let out a deep breath of relief. At that instant, she felt as though she had been given a sedative.

On the fighting platform, Yi Tianchou wiped the blood from his lips and stared at Jun Wangchen. His expression was grave, and his voice carried shock he could not conceal.

"Y-you... you're a late-stage human rank martial artist too?"