Chapter 574: I Yield

Long smoke churned.

Blood stained the heavens!

The mountains trembled in shock, hearts quaked, spirits reeled.

The young heirs of the three families were all stunned.

"How could anyone have such vigorous blood qi?"

"Thirty zhang? Thirty-five zhang?"

"More! Definitely more!"

"A divine being! A divine being indeed!"

BOOM!

Wild winds howled.

Hu Zhao Hongyuan raised a hand to shield against the gale, tilted his head, silently counted, his mouth dry and tongue parched.

Ordinary wolf smoke, even with blood qi surging skyward, rarely reached five or six zhang.

After enduring multiple celestial phenomena and refined through true gang body cultivation, masters of Tianqiao who had honed their flesh could push to ten zhang.

Yet what lay before them…

Exceeded it by multiples!

It looked as if a blood dragon coiled upward, fangs bared, claws extended, gliding through the heavens.

Truly magnificent!

Human blood qi, unless breaking through a realm, rarely rises so sharply.

At barely twenty years old, how could he have accumulated such terrifying blood qi?

"That's… Young Master?"

Hu Qi leapt to the treetop, gazing at the distant red glow, sensing a faint familiarity in the surging aura.

At the same moment.

Throughout Chishan Ridge, hunters scrambled like ants, climbing trees to discern which two Hunting Tigers were clashing.

"Is it Chi Ang and Weihuo Hu?" Xu Xu Jiangming wondered.

"Is it Xu Xu Jiangming and Weihuo Hu?" Chi Ang wondered.

"The aura doesn't match."

Both thought so.

Villagers beyond Chishan Ridge sensed the anomaly, gradually stepping out from the noisy crowds, gazing at the horizon—thousands of trees merged into a crimson tidal wave, as if a red sun hung suspended over a sea of blood, Chichiweiluo.

Zheng Rusheng poked at a fried pancake with a wooden skewer, shook off the crumbs, mimicking a storyteller's sway, voice rising and falling in rhythm.

"Heroes of the world, truly as numerous as carp crossing the river~~"

WHOOSH!

Blood smoke surged, winds churned violently.

The drifting dust vanished clean.

Frost-light shimmered along two cold, sharp blades, radiating a chilling aura.

The entire wreckage of the forest, the blades locked in opposition, was laid bare before all eyes.

Undoubtedly.

Wolf smoke had blocked the Hunting Tiger!

How astonishing was Liang Qu's physique now?

The blood pillar swirled, pulsing with vigor, like a thunderclap—any ordinary man nearby would likely be shattered by the shock alone!

Capturing dragons, subduing tigers, Buddha hurling elephants.

Bai Yuan's dragon pillar, clouds drifting from Xiandao.

Power and momentum merged; momentum and power fused.

Not a single ounce held back, not a trace restrained—all force coiled into a snarling dragon, pouring forth with unrestrained fury!

BAM!

Dragon Fubo pressed downward.

The earth trembled.

Zhu Zhu Zongwang stepped back half a pace, crushing stones beneath his feet, embedding fragments into broken wooden stakes as wisps of white smoke rose.

Bai Yuan roared, swinging the pillar; the seven-zhang-tall flame tiger, its body ablaze with crimson flames, staggered backward.

The mountains erupted in shock again.

In raw power, he still held the upper hand!

The opponent was no mere weakling—he was Wolf Smoke's Twenty-Eight Mansions, the naturally born martial bone of Weihuo Hu!

"This kid!"

Zhu Zhu Zongwang's long blade met the weapon, his arms trembling slightly.

A staggering force surged like waves, each higher than the last—as if facing not a man, but a monstrous, raging ape!

Hu Zhao Hongyuan's warning had prepared him, yet actual confrontation still surpassed imagination—he took a minor setback.

Pure physical strength.

Could be so overwhelming!

What kind of martial bone was this?

"Again!"

Zhu Zhu Zongwang drew breath and roared.

The moment he struck, his thoughts severed instantly!

The blade's momentum never broke, not even a flicker of hesitation—Liang Qu felt the opponent's force shift abruptly, his whole body jolted, and when he regained awareness, his stance had been swept aside.

Crackling, popping.

Amid a rapid-fire chorus of bone and tendon friction, Zhu Zhu Zongwang's tall frame rose two inches higher, and a blinding slash of blade-light roared toward him.

The air rushed against his face, the blade's edge piercing his skin.

The stirred airflow nearly sliced Liang Qu's cheeks.

Weihuo Hu was far stronger than Jishui Bao; Hunting Tiger far outclassed Wolf Smoke.

Years of difference brought vastly greater combat experience!

Yet,

Where the mind goes, the hands, feet, and weapons follow!

The mastery of martial Dao granted an intuitive perception of all martial arts!

CLANG!

The spear tip, trailing blue radiance, swept upward in a perfect half-arc, rising like a dragon's head—the spearhead clashed with the blade, rebounding, then the spear's tail spun with the rebounding force, lashing out like thunder.

CLANG!

A piercing, trembling sound.

Zhu Zhu Zongwang's wrist bones cracked audibly; his feet shifted, darting sideways, sparks flying as he deflected the blow.

Bai Yuan seized the advantage and struck the flame tiger a crushing blow.

The dragon pillar crashed down.

The earth cracked like a spiderweb, wood splinters exploded, and a ten-zhang-wide ring of mud and sand erupted skyward.

The flame tiger nearly knelt.

WHOOSH!

Figures crossed.

The silver glint of blade and spear vanished beneath a curtain of motion.

Hu Zhao Hongyuan's ears rang with unceasing clashes.

Leaves and dust rose and fell beneath their feet, swirling into dust dragons that coiled around their necks, biting, as if caught in a torrent, ground to powder.

The rampant gang wind effortlessly tore through ancient trees ten zhang away, their cut surfaces smooth as mirrors.

The forest lay utterly silent, devoid of any living thing.

The dust raised a moment ago was instantly scattered by the gale.

Zheng Rusheng and Liu Liu Shouping could not open their eyes.

The sentry guards had long since packed up all living things, ready to flee if the situation turned worse.

Too far away.

From below Yulan Peak, Wolf Smoke's position made it impossible to see the rapid exchanges—only the true gang's power could indicate who held the advantage.

The five-zhang-tall Bai Yuan and the seven-zhang-tall flame tiger clashed and roared like two demonic beasts battling in the woods.

Extinguishing seas blazed, drifting clouds shifted.

In an instant.

Rocks shattered, the earth trembled, forests collapsed in vast swathes.

A painter, brush in hand, drenched in vivid colors, heart racing, yearned to capture this scene in full.

Wolf Smoke could fight a Hunting Tiger—and not just any Hunting Tiger.

Regardless of who ultimately won or lost.

Merely this scene alone was enough to shock the world!

Everyone who bet on Liang Qu's victory clutched their tickets and cheered wildly, urging him on.

More still, those who followed the crowd and bet on the Tailfire Tiger's win trembled in their legs, hoping Liang Qu's outburst was some secret art that couldn't last.

Yet.

The main contestant, Zhu Zhu Zongwang, felt his wrist bones ache and gasped heavily, growing more astonished with every strike.

Immense strength, unparalleled hardening, skill equally no weakness—his footwork was even exceptionally superb!

Even when he landed a hit, piercing through the spearwind, one dragon and one tiger actively guarded his body.

By the time he broke through the dragon and tiger qi to strike the flesh, his force had already drained by half, and the opponent merely withstood it outright through his hardened body—minimal results.

He excels in burst power—surely he must lack endurance?

Yet after more than a dozen breaths of relentless exchange, the opponent showed no sign of exhaustion—on the contrary, he grew fiercer with each strike, treating him entirely as a whetstone!

All of this was beyond comprehension!

Monster!

At this very moment, Zhu Zhu Zongwang's trembling arm finally confirmed: the one causing the transformation in his and Hu Zhao Hongyuan's destiny was this man before him!

Yang Yang Dongxiong, a half-step Master, could never have caused such a change in both of them.

"Come on! Come on!"

Long Dragon Lingxiao had long reverted to her original form; Liang Qu, bare-chested, strained with all his might—his skin flushed crimson as blood, his long spear wielded like a coiling dragon, endless as the sky and sea.

Each strike carried force enough to crush a Skybridge Smoke Wolf to death; in a Jianghuai Daze, it seemed countless green dragons thrust their heads forward.

Thrilling.

Truly thrilling.

Liang Qu's face burned red; his hot breath condensed into white mist in the cold autumn air.

For the first time since obtaining the Dragon-Taming Tiger-Taming Body, he had fought so freely!

Strike!

Strike!

Strike!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three spears sent the Flame Tiger reeling!

A streak of dark light flashed.

A jet of blood sprayed from his cheek.

Zhu Zhu Zongwang instinctively shut his eyes—then overwhelming force struck, hurling him midair.

The entire forest grove became a battlefield; rocks shattered into dust, gnarled roots reduced to fragments.

Bai Yuan wildly swung his staff, silver fur stained with crimson flame, golden eyes blazing like torches, showing not a trace of fatigue.

Now observe the Flame Tiger: listless, hunched, its body-wrapping flames mostly vanished.

Who flourished, who declined.

Plainly obvious!

A grand Tiger-Hunting Grand Martial Artist, reduced to struggling desperately, overwhelmed by defense!

Inside and outside the mountains, countless people stood frozen, silent, their sense of absurdity growing like wild grass.

Yet the effect of 【Divine Tree Revival】 gradually faded.

Liang Qu estimated the time, felt regret, but dared not linger—he violently swept aside the blade-light and retreated swiftly.

"This kid's done for!"

The Hu family disciples atop every peak perked up, shouting and clamoring.

Zhu Zhu Zongwang's brow loosened slightly, then tightened even more.

The decline came without warning…

The cheers from the peak had not yet echoed.

Suddenly, everyone saw the White Ape lower his Dragon Staff.

The moon rose, the tide swelled.

In the unseen depths.

An indescribable aura arose—like water flooding into the throat, filling the entire lung cavity, inducing unbearable discomfort.

This…

His heart pounded wildly; saliva stuck like glue; weakness surged into his limbs.

Overwhelming terror loomed overhead.

Damn!

He must not let him unleash it!

Zhu Zhu Zongwang's face twisted in shock; he had but one thought—release his grip and drop his blade.

"I yield!"