Chapter 35: Challenging the Hall! Seeking a Fight!

"Senior Brother is……"

The person before him, Qin Shuo, had never seen him.

But from the other's clothing, one could tell he was also an inner disciple of the martial arts hall.

"This is your Third Senior Brother Zhan Bai; when you joined the martial arts hall, he happened to be in the prefecture city buying medicinal herbs, which is why you hadn't met him before," Lin Feng said from the side.

"So it's Senior Brother Zhan."

Qin Shuo performed a proper salute.

Zhan Bai nodded in satisfaction and said, "Junior Brother Qin, your talent is astonishing—you managed to break through the gate in just over a month of entry. No wonder Master, in his old age, made an exception to take you as an inner disciple."

"Senior Brother, you overpraise me!"

Qin Shuo behaved very modestly.

Seeing this, Zhan Bai said nothing more, merely gave a slight nod, then shifted his gaze back to the battlefield in the courtyard.

"Senior Brother Lin, what's the situation today?"

Among the many inner disciples in the courtyard, only Lin Feng was closest to him, so he now voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Challenge the hall! Seek a fight!"

Upon mentioning this, Lin Feng's smile faded and his eyes grew a bit darker.

"Oh? Is it just Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall coming to challenge us, or are the four halls challenging each other?"

Challenging halls and seeking fights is common among martial arts halls; it's a relatively friendly exchange of practice.

Its main purpose is to promote practical sparring among the hall's disciples,

and to display the hall's strength to the outside world, so as to recruit more apprentices in the future and expand the hall's operations.

This was originally a good thing!

But just now he saw that whether it was Master Wei Yuan or Second Senior Brother Lin Feng, their expressions were not good.

"Just Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall."

Lin Feng's face darkened as he said, "The hall master of Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall recently obtained a Blood-Increasing Pill from the gang leader of the Heavenly Wolf Gang, successfully broke into the Meridian Opening Realm, and couldn't wait to come challenge us."

"Again, the Heavenly Wolf Gang!"

Qin Shuo muttered to himself, but said aloud, "So it's come to show off its strength. If Hall Master Yan has entered the Meridian Opening Realm, he should be challenging Master himself—why send his disciples to challenge our hall?"

"Challenging Master? He's only just stepped into the Meridian Opening Realm—how could he be a match for Master?"

Lin Feng snorted coldly and continued, "This time Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall dares to challenge our hall; besides Hall Master Yan Song having entered the Meridian Opening Realm, his newly accepted disciple Luo Tong, with the aid of the Blood-Increasing Pill, has reached the level of Internal Strength Great Perfection."

Meanwhile, your Third Senior Brother Zhan Bai, while escorting medicinal herbs, was attacked by bandits and suffered severe injuries.

Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall, having somehow obtained this news, invited the two other major martial arts halls and several prominent figures from the inner city to come challenge us.

"Oh? This is taking advantage of the fire to loot, wanting to step on our Liuhe Martial Arts Hall to rise above!"

Qin Shuo raised his eyebrows and finally understood why Master and the senior brothers had such grim expressions.

"Right, where's the Eldest Senior Brother? With such a big incident, why hasn't the Eldest Senior Brother returned?" Qin Shuo asked.

As for the Eldest Senior Brother of Liuhe Martial Arts Hall, Qin Shuo knew very little about him.

All he knew was that this Eldest Senior Brother possessed extraordinary talent and was the first inner disciple taken by Hall Master Wei Yuan when he first came to Blackwater City.

"The Eldest Senior Brother has been out adventuring for many years and hasn't returned yet," Lin Feng shook his head.

When mentioning that Eldest Senior Brother of outstanding talent, Lin Feng's expression showed a hint of nostalgia, but he quickly returned to reality and looked toward the center of the training field.

There, Zhang Xiong and Jiang Heng of Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall had been fighting for the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, still evenly matched, trading blows back and forth.

The two were fighting with utter abandon, but the onlookers found it rather boring.

Bang!

The two collided again, then were bounced apart by the rebound force, and just as they were about to continue fighting, an impatient voice sounded from the sidelines,

"How long are you two going to keep fighting? Jiang Heng, come out and let me learn a few high-level techniques from our Liuhe Martial Arts Hall."

As he spoke, a youth wearing the uniform of an inner disciple of Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall strode into the arena.

He wasn't tall, but his frame was extremely sturdy, his arms bulging with muscle like a strong bull.

Perhaps his looks weren't handsome, but he had a fierce aura, extraordinarily bold and intimidating, making people wary just to look at him.

"I am Luo Tong of Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall; please instruct me!"

Luo Tong stood opposite Zhang Xiong.

Although he was clearly half a head shorter than Zhang Xiong, his aura completely overwhelmed the latter, giving off an indefinable sense of tyranny and dominance.

"Luo Tong! This person is the rising star of Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall, the beloved disciple newly accepted by Hall Master Yan Song, Luo Tong."

As soon as Luo Tong entered the arena, the spectators outside immediately began to whisper.

Obviously, Luo Tong enjoys considerable fame in Blackwater City.

Not only do the disciples of the four martial arts halls know his name, but even those wealthy elders repeatedly nod in approval, speaking highly of him.

Upon seeing Luo Tong take the stage, the brothers and sisters of Liuhe Martial Arts Hall all grew tense.

For this challenge, Mang Shan Martial Arts Hall's greatest reliance is Luo Tong.

His cultivation has already reached the level of Internal Strength Great Perfection; looking across Liuhe Martial Arts Hall, aside from Hall Master Wei Yuan, only Third Senior Brother Zhan Bai could match him.

But Zhan Bai suffered injuries in the attack, and the remaining inner senior brothers are still some distance from Internal Strength Great Perfection.

On the surface, it seems Liuhe Martial Arts Hall is destined to lose this challenge.

"Please advise!"

Facing the imposing aura of Luo Tong, Zhang Xiong drew a deep breath, his eyes showing no intention to retreat.

During the days Qin Shuo was away, he relied on the Five-Colored Deer Qin Shuo had previously sold him, along with various medicinal tonics, gradually building up his strength until he ultimately reached the level of Internal Strength Great Accomplishment.

Therefore, even when facing Luo Tong, who had just broken through to Internal Strength Great Perfection, his fighting spirit remained high, and he never showed the slightest retreat.

"That's fine."

Luo Tong let out a cold snort, suddenly exerted force with his feet, and thrust out both fists violently.

The Vast Mountain Fist style is heavy and powerful, following a rigid, force-over-technique path.

Moreover, Luo Tong himself had the advantage in strength; at this moment he completely abandoned defense, meeting force with force, each move a hard clash.

Bang bang bang…

Luo Tong, whose internal energy had reached great completion, far surpassed Zhang Xiong in strength, speed, and reaction.

Thus, as soon as they clashed, Zhang Xiong fell into a disadvantage and could only endure blows passively.

But the Vast Mountain Fist emphasizes overwhelming with momentum; once a move gains advantage, it follows with layer upon layer of crushing pressure, giving the opponent no chance to breathe.

After only a dozen or so exchanges, Zhang Xiong was caught off guard by Luo Tong, who punched him in the chest.

Bang!

The over-two-hundred-catty Zhang Xiong was knocked off his feet, stumbling backward with thudding steps.

But this wasn't over yet.

After Luo Tong repelled Zhang Xiong, his other hand seized Zhang Xiong's arm, first pulling forward to unbalance him, then twisting hard.

Crack!

The grating sound of breaking bones echoed throughout the arena.

"Ah!"

Zhang Xiong couldn't help but cry out in anguish, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

But Luo Tong didn't stop; he kicked Zhang Xiong in the abdomen, sending him flying several meters away, where he crashed heavily to the ground.

"Too weak!"

After kicking Zhang Xiong away, Luo Tong stood with his hands behind his back, looking down on the entire arena.

His gaze toward the disciples of the Six Harmony Martial Hall was filled with contempt and disdain.