Defeat

"Am I suffering an undeserved disaster here, too?" Shi Qingyun thought about it and figured it probably didn't count as an undeserved disaster, since in their eyes he was considered part of Shi Hao's faction anyway.

Shi Qingyun shook his head and stopped thinking about it, simply quickening the pace of his feet a little more.

One of the reasons Shi Qingyun agreed so readily was precisely this: he knew that once he was classified into Shi Hao and his faction's camp, these troubles would be inevitable.

Another reason was that he also wanted to see where his own strength had reached and temper his actual combat abilities.

Shi Qingyun took the lead and walked in the front, followed by a crowd as they marched grandly toward the Dao Demonstration Arena.

The Martial King Manor disciples who were practicing Dao techniques or tempering their bodies on the Dao Demonstration Arena saw so many people arriving at the arena together.

They successively stopped what they were doing in their hands and cast their gazes toward Shi Qingyun and the others, while some people who knew the inside story had already gathered in twos and threes to discuss animatedly.

There's a good show to watch again!

I wonder which unlucky fellow Shi Long and the others have targeted this time!

A group of people simply folded their arms and stood at the edge of the Dao Demonstration Arena, chatting with familiar people around them.

This kind of thing was no longer the first time. Being able to have such events happen during this tedious journey of cultivation was, for them, nothing short of a way to relieve boredom.

Of course, there were those who watched the show, but there were also those who felt indignant toward Shi Long and the others for doing such things.

"They're all clansmen, why bully our own people?" A cute-looking little girl said angrily from the side.

She grew even angrier especially when she saw that the people around not only failed to dissuade them but were even watching from the sidelines by then.

Her little cheeks puffed out enough to rival a pufferfish.

As soon as these words came out, some Martial King Manor disciples standing around her were just about to spit out some mockery, but when they saw the person who spoke, they once again prudently chose to keep their mouths shut.

After all, they couldn't afford to offend this person's status, so they could only pretend they hadn't heard and turned around to converse with the people around them once more.

"How many moves do you think this brat can take from Shi Long?"

"Three moves, I suppose! After all, I've heard of that brat; it seems one of the ancestors within the clan thinks quite highly of him!"

"Crap! That brat just got lucky! I think he won't even take a single move! Shi Long's father manages the distribution of cultivation resources within the clan, and his grandfather is even one of the clan elders. Shi Long must have consumed some precious material when building his Foundation Establishment-his strength is even more formidable!"

"That's right! Didn't a brat get knocked down by Shi Long in just a single move a few days ago?"

Amidst the chattering discussions of the crowd, Shi Long and Shi Qingyun stood at opposite ends of the Dao Demonstration Arena, gazing at each other from afar.

The waves of exclamations coming from the surrounding people made Shi Long feel extremely gratified. He folded his arms and closed his eyes, completely not putting Shi Qingyun in his eyes.

It was as if he had already defeated Shi Qingyun at this very moment and was enjoying the cheers of the crowd.

Shi Qingyun looked at Shi Long with a somewhat baffled expression, and silently thought in his heart: This kid seems to have a somewhat faulty brain. Clearly he looked so insidious and cunning just now-could it be that I misjudged him?

That shouldn't be the case. It looks like I mustn't hit him on the head later!

Just as Shi Qingyun was having a mental storm and Shi Long was basking in the cheers of the crowd, after a moment, an elderly man with gray hair and wearing the attire of the Family Enforcement Team arrived at the Dao Demonstration Arena and glanced at the two combatants.

Seeing someone arrive to preside over this battle, Shi Qingyun stopped overthinking. He roused his spirits; he didn't want his first battle to end in failure-that was certainly not what he wanted.

Shi Qingyun, who had also folded his arms across his chest, turned a bit more serious. He didn't want to capsize in the gutter.

The white-haired old man arrived at the center of the Dao Demonstration Arena and, after confirming that both parties were participating in the battle of their own free will, gave the order for Shi Qingyun and the other to begin.

The moment the elder gave the order, Shi Long's legs slammed fiercely against the ground with a loud boom, and leveraging the rebound force, he charged toward Shi Qingyun like a cannonball.

The surrounding onlookers who were chatting with each other were all attracted by Shi Long's movement. Then, looking at Shi Qingyun, they immediately let out waves of mocking laughter.

Is that brat scared out of his wits?

Haha! It looks like it won't even take a single move!

Just this? It seems the ancestor misjudged him!

Seeing that Shi Qingyun only stood there dazedly watching Shi Long charge over without making any moves, everyone assumed Shi Qingyun had been scared stiff, and the people around began to discuss it animatedly.

However, a closer look would reveal that although Shi Qingyun stood motionless as if awed by Shi Long's momentum, not the slightest trace of panic could be seen on his face.

Only the white-haired old man watching the entire scene from the side noticed a slight clue, though he didn't mind it much-after all, it was merely children playing around.

When Shi Long's powerful and heavy punch was about to smash into Shi Qingyun, Shi Qingyun merely pivoted on his feet and leaned smoothly to one side, nimbly dodging Shi Long's attack.

The wind whipped up by the fist stirred the few wisps of stray hair on Shi Qingyun's forehead as the fist brushed past his cheek and fell.

Shi Long didn't mind, thinking Shi Qingyun had only dodged by luck. Before his fist had even finished descending, he smoothly followed up with an uppercut aimed at Shi Qingyun's chest.

Shi Qingyun leaned backward, bending his waist with his hands braced against the ground to evade Shi Long's attack, and seizing the momentum, Shi Qingyun kicked toward Shi Long's armpit.

Yet Shi Long reacted extremely quickly, pulling back his arm and crossing both hands to block Shi Qingyun's kick.

Even so, Shi Long was still forced back a good few steps.

Chapter 5: Defeat

The spectators watching from the surroundings all felt somewhat astonished upon seeing Shi Long forced back.

Eh? Why was Shi Long knocked back?

Maybe he wasn't paying attention and got hit?

Listening to the whispering by his ears, Shi Long felt he was losing face. Looking at Shi Qingyun, who stood there as light as a breeze, a raging fire instantly ignited in his heart.

Seeing Shi Long's somewhat shattered composure, Shi Qingyun found it somewhat amusing. No matter how mature one pretended to be beforehand, in the end, he was nothing more than a child.

Shi Long accelerated with his feet and charged toward Shi Qingyun, his right fist already tightly clenched and all his power poured into it as he fiercely blasted it toward Shi Qingyun's face!

This punch was bound to knock Shi Qingyun flat to wash away the humiliation of being toyed with by him!

Yet right when the fist was about to strike Shi Qingyun, he nimbly dodged aside once more!

Shi Long followed up by kicking out, but Shi Qingyun shifted to the left and once again narrowly dodged it.

Shi Long rapidly pulled back his fist, switching from a punch to an elbow strike that he fiercely slammed toward Shi Qingyun.

Shi Qingyun felt that every single move of Shi Long's was aimed at his vital points, and a trace of anger rose in his heart as well, made even more intense by the prior incident of having his doorway blocked.

Shi Qingyun flew up into the air, his right foot landing right on the right elbow strike Shi Long had blasted forward. A powerful sound of impact rang out, and streams of airflow rose from the center of the collision.

Shi Qingyun and Shi Long both tumbled backward. Shi Qingyun drifted down to land lightly on the ground, wearing a blank expression as he looked at the somewhat battered Shi Long.

Seeing that his attack was ineffective and that he had been knocked back by Shi Qingyun yet again, Shi Long was consumed by remaining fury. Disregarding his disheveled appearance, he charged at Shi Qingyun once more, and this time the speed of his attacks was a few fractions faster!

Amidst attacks so fast they produced afterimages, Shi Qingyun did not choose to clash head-on with him again, but always managed to find the gaps between attacks to nimbly evade them.

"Do you only know how to hide?! If you have the guts, let's fight head-on!"

Retreating to the side, Shi Long panted slightly as he spoke angrily to Shi Qingyun.

"As you wish!"

The moment Shi Qingyun finished speaking, he rushed forward, leaped into the midair, kicked out with his right leg in a flying knee strike toward Shi Long. Caught off guard, Shi Long could only barely manage to block with both hands before being sent flying with a heavy crash.

Seeing this scene, the crowd successively spoke out:

"Wow! I didn't expect this brat to be so formidable!"

"It looks like Shi Long is going to take a tumble!"

"Not really, that brat is just taking advantage of someone's vulnerability. He definitely wouldn't be Shi Long's opponent in a head-on fight!" Hearing this, some people nodded in agreement.

Shi Long, who had been sent flying by Shi Qingyun and lay sprawled on the ground, struggled several times but still failed to stand up. Just when everyone thought the matter would conclude with Shi Qingyun's victory,

Shi Long, lying on the ground, stuffed something into his mouth, and his body twisted on the ground a few times as strands of black aura radiated from his body.

In a short while, Shi Long's body stood straight up just like that!

At this moment, Shi Long's eyes were somewhat bloodshot, and creaking sounds emanated from all over his body.

Seeing this scene sent a bone-chilling coldness through Shi Qingyun's entire body, causing his muscles to tense up.

Shi Long twisted his neck, his eyes staring fixedly at Shi Qingyun with a cruel smile at the corners of his mouth. He said to Shi Qingyun, "Again!"

The moment his voice fell, Shi Long vanished from the spot, arriving beside Shi Qingyun in the blink of an eye.

Both strength and speed have increased this much! Has he mutated? Damn it! Shi Qingyun cursed inwardly.

Shi Long's speed was so great that Shi Qingyun could only cross his arms in front of his chest to barely block Shi Long's flying kick.

Shi Qingyun was knocked back, sliding a few steps and leaving a pitch-black sliding mark on the ground.

Seizing the timing, Shi Long launched another attack.

A sense of danger emanated from the power Shi Long was accumulating in his hands, and murderous intent surged from Shi Long's eyes!

The white-bearded elder watching the battle from the side naturally saw it as well; Shi Long had stirred up murderous intent. He was just about to intervene, but as if recalling something, he stopped.

Before Shi Qingyun's body had even steadied, he hurriedly mustered all his strength, causing a thin layer of blood-colored light membrane to slowly emerge and cover his body.

The moment the membrane surfaced, Shi Long's attack arrived as well, slamming fiercely into it and producing the sound of striking metal.

Shi Long was bounced back by the rebound force, while the light membrane covering Shi Qingyun shattered inch by inch.

Shi Qingyun felt as though his body was about to fall apart, gasping heavily for breath.

With no time to overthink, Shi Qingyun spread his feet and set his hands in a stance, waiting for Shi Long's attack to arrive.

Shi Long, who had been bounced flying by Shi Qingyun, landed on the ground and violently stomped his feet, sending spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the ground beneath him. Once again, a powerful and heavy punch carrying a piercing whistle of displaced air hurtled straight toward Shi Qingyun's face.

The onlookers watching from the side had long since been stunned by this series of unfolding events, left with nothing other than wide-open eyes.

Only when one person finally reacted did he swallow hard to compose himself before speaking up: "What's wrong with Shi Long? Why does he feel so terrifying?"

These words seemed to open some sort of switch.

"That's right, so terrifying! Is that thing on Shi Qingyun's body the external manifestation of Qi-Blood Power? Has his Qi-Blood Power reached this kind of level?!"

"Too terrifying! This is a Dao Platform made from Black Rock! It even has Dao Inscriptions covering it, yet it got crushed by a stomp!"

Shi Qingyun ignored the surrounding discussions and slowly closed his eyes.

A vague Dao Diagram floated into appearance beneath Shi Qingyun's feet.

"Adhere."

Shi Qingyun wrapped both hands around Shi Long's fist.

"Wind around."

He then pulled Shi Long's fist toward his own waist.

"Push."