Chapter 52

Zhang Tao saw that Cang Luo’s right arm had been injured by his strike, and sneered inwardly: How dare someone with a mere Yellow-grade Low-tier technique challenge me head-on?

He retracted his fist, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked down at Cang Luo with disdain. “Your right arm is injured—it won’t recover in less than a stick of incense. Surrender now.”

Behind him, the brothers from Geng 45 Dorm cheered wildly at his single blow that had driven Cang Luo back, booing the three opposing dorms and shouting for them to make the despicable Cang Luo surrender immediately.

The disciples from the Liang, Wang, and Liu dorms immediately flew into rage and shouted back, but their voices were growing weaker.

Clearly, they all realized Cang Luo was no match for Zhang Tao—the man cultivated a Yellow-grade High-tier technique!

And Cang Luo? He, like them, cultivated only a Yellow-grade Low-tier technique...

Among the disciples, Zhao Renwu faintly smirked—he privately hoped Cang Luo would lose.

The reason was simple: in this small group of twenty-nine disciples from the three dorms, in prestige, influence, and strength, Zhao Renwu was second only to none.

He was like the senior brother—a dozen disciples looked up to him, and only Cang Feng could slightly threaten his position.

But today, a Cang Luo had appeared—a fellow at Warrior Seventh Layer—who not only had higher cultivation than him, but had also defeated Chen Da Hu, while Zhao Renwu had just lost to Chen Da Hu himself.

Isn’t this slapping my face?

Isn’t this stealing my senior brother status?

So you’d better lose—and lose badly...

Zhao Renwu’s face wore an expression of anxious concern for Cang Luo, as if genuinely worried—but inside, he wished for his defeat.

Cang Luo naturally didn’t know Zhao Renwu’s thoughts; he was already using Infinite Qi to heal his right arm, which recovered quickly, yet he still maintained the trembling posture of an injured limb.

Looking at Zhang Tao, Cang Luo feigned anger. “You want me to surrender? You’re not worthy!”

Saying this, he let his right arm hang limp and used his left hand to channel Thunderclap Palm, dashing forward to attack Zhang Tao.

Zhang Tao shook his head slightly—he thought Cang Luo had no self-awareness, no sense of his own limits. Just now, with both hands, you couldn’t match me; now you think one hand will do?

“Fine. Let you understand the gap between us.” Zhang Tao muttered, then assumed a defensive stance.

The next instant, Cang Luo closed the distance, thrusting his left palm forward. Zhang Tao remained unmoved, casually throwing out a Void-Piercing Fist.

The rush of wind came—Cang Luo easily dodged it, aided by his Dynamic Perception, and pressed his left palm further, striking straight for Zhang Tao’s face.

Zhang Tao was slightly startled—he hadn’t expected Cang Luo to dodge his attack.

Prediction?

No time to hesitate. Seeing the Thunderclap Palm about to land, Zhang Tao stepped back instantly, raising his left hand to shield his face, while his right hand—just used for the punch—snapped toward Cang Luo.

Zhang Tao’s reaction and counter were swift—nearly matching the upper limit of Cang Luo’s Dynamic Perception feedback.

Cang Luo focused entirely, lowered his body, dodged again, and slapped his palm toward Zhang Tao’s chest.

Zhang Tao couldn’t believe it—again, Cang Luo had evaded him. Shocked, he hurriedly raised his left hand to guard his chest, abandoning offense for defense.

Yet just as he thought Cang Luo’s assault had ended and he could breathe, he suddenly saw Cang Luo’s lips curl into a faint smile.

What is he laughing at?

No sooner had Zhang Tao’s confusion arisen than his eyes widened—he saw Cang Luo’s right arm, which he himself had injured, suddenly form a palm-strike posture...

Cang Luo sneered. His left hand continued channeling Thunderclap Palm toward Zhang Tao’s chest—though blocked—his right arm, long feigned as injured, struck at last.

Cang Luo seized the opening and delivered three rapid palm strikes to Zhang Tao’s abdomen, sending him flying backward, crouching low to the ground in agony, unable to rise.

The exchange between the two had involved many moves, yet lasted less than two seconds; apart from the four overseers, few could clearly see their clash.

Only when Zhang Tao was flung through the air did the crowd erupt in shocked cries, all staring at Cang Luo in disbelief.

Soon after, Zhang Tao rose, wiping blood from his lips.

Cang Luo’s three palm strikes had churned his internal organs—he nearly spat blood. He realized Cang Luo’s Qi was even more abundant than his own, cultivated under a Yellow-grade High-tier technique!

What the hell is going on?!

Still stunned by Cang Luo’s overwhelming Qi, Zhang Tao growled, “How did you neutralize my Void-Piercing Fist?”

Before Cang Luo could answer, he added, “You’re worthy to be my opponent.”

Saying this, Zhang Tao fully activated his Qi Wheel. The fire-element Qi from his Yellow-grade High-tier scripture, Xuan Lie Jing, surged through his body, endlessly fueling his strength.

At that moment, Zhang Tao’s Warrior Seventh Layer aura peaked—his robes stirred without wind, crackling with energy.

A few breaths later, Zhang Tao’s feet sank into the ground, activating the Yellow-grade Mid-tier body technique, Zhen Xing Step, vanishing from his spot and reappearing before Cang Luo, fists clenched, launching two Void-Piercing Fists simultaneously.

Cang Luo found Zhang Tao’s words arrogant: “You’re worthy to be my opponent”?

Do I need your permission to be your opponent?

Who the hell do you think you are?

Cang Luo grew furious. Seeing Zhang Tao appear before him, he didn’t dodge—he fully activated his Qi Wheel, channeled all his Qi, and slammed both palms forward to meet him head-on.

Instantly, Cang Luo was shoved back several steps, his arms numb, bones threatening to shatter—but he endured it through Infinite Qi’s healing.

Void-Piercing Fist was indeed a Yellow-grade High-tier technique; Cang Luo knew his Thunderclap Palm couldn’t match it.

But so what?

I’ve got Infinite Qi—I can heal. Try breaking my arms with one punch!

Cang Luo roared, veins bulging on his arms, gripping Zhang Tao’s fists tightly despite the agony, then lunged in and drove his knee repeatedly into Zhang Tao’s abdomen.

Simultaneously, Cang Luo used his head to trade blows, smashing it into Zhang Tao’s skull with reckless ferocity—a dull, heavy crack echoed...

After several such impacts, both men’s foreheads were bloody messes, but Zhang Tao fared worse—his abdomen had been hammered by Cang Luo’s knees, vomiting bile.

Both were Warrior Seventh Layer, and though Zhang Tao cultivated a Yellow-grade High-tier technique, his physical resilience was inferior to Cang Luo’s.

Because Cang Luo cultivated the Earth-grade High-tier scripture, Destroy Body Divine Art!

After such relentless impacts, Zhang Tao was severely wounded, nearly incapable of continuing.

Cang Luo wasn’t much better—he’d only just begun the first layer of Destroy Body Divine Art—but his Infinite Qi healed him as he was wounded.

Outside, Overseer Zhang, seeing Zhang Tao take heavy blows, hesitated briefly, then leapt into the arena; Overseer Liang followed immediately, forcibly separating the two.

“Hmph!”

“Hmph!”

The two overseers glared at each other, then hurried to check their disciples’ injuries.

Overseer Zhang quickly unbuttoned Zhang Tao’s shirt and saw his nephew’s lower abdomen bruised purple—he immediately pulled a pill from his robe and shoved it into Zhang Tao’s mouth.

Overseer Liang pulled up Cang Luo’s arm—swollen nearly twice its size—and immediately channeled Qi to soothe the injury; he specialized in water-element cultivation, and water-element Qi could heal wounds.

After a long while, their injuries improved slightly. Zhang Tao coughed twice, looked at Cang Luo, and smiled. “You’re ruthless.”

“Same to you,” Cang Luo chuckled. He realized Zhang Tao was just as ruthless.

Just now, as he smashed Zhang Tao’s abdomen and head, Zhang Tao had endured the pain and kept firing Void-Piercing Fists—wave after wave of force driving into Cang Luo’s arms.

Without Infinite Qi’s protection, both forearms’ meridians would have ruptured.

His arms still ached fiercely, but with Overseer Liang’s healing and Infinite Qi’s restoration, they were slowly mending.

Though brief, this battle was the most brutal Cang Luo had ever fought, the most severely injured—he’d suffered worse than against Chen Da Long.

Of course, that was before he activated Destroy Body Divine Art.

Zhang Tao added, “Cang Luo, at the year-end grand competition, I won’t hold back—I’ll make you scream for your parents!”

Cang Luo sneered back: “Hah! You think I used my full strength just now? I’ve got several hidden cards left—if I went all out, I’d crush you like a clay pot or a broken dog!”

“You’ve got hidden cards?” Zhang Tao frowned, clearly disbelieving.

At that moment, Overseer Liang spoke: “How about a draw?”

Overseer Zhang glanced at Zhang Tao, then nodded. “Fine. Draw it is. We’ll settle this next time.”

With that, Overseer Zhang led the Geng 45 Dorm disciples away in disgrace.

They’d come to this arena battle convinced of certain victory—who could have imagined ending in this result?

A Warrior Seventh Layer had emerged, and fought Zhang Tao—who cultivated a Yellow-grade High-tier technique—to a draw...

After they left, disciples under Overseers Liang, Wang, and Liu gathered around Cang Luo, cheering, shouting, “Senior Brother Cang, you’re amazing! You’ve restored our honor!”

Zhao Renwu and Zhao Renli also joined the cheers, but their faces were dark, lost in thought.

After the commotion, Overseer Liang raised his hand to quiet the crowd. When silence fell, he looked at Cang Luo and asked, “How long have you been stuck at Warrior Third Layer?”

Cang Luo paused—he immediately realized Overseer Liang was wondering why he’d advanced so fast.

He thought a moment. He couldn’t reveal his Earth origin, so he feigned recollection. “About... five years, maybe?”

“So that’s it!”

Overseer Liang understood, exchanged glances with Overseers Wang and Liu, confirming their shared suspicion.

A warrior’s cultivation level and Qi reserves are directly linked—sufficient Qi is needed to form the Qi Wheel.

Cang Luo had advanced from Warrior Third Layer to Seventh Layer in just over twenty days—he must have drawn on massive Qi reserves.

Overseer Liang knew Cang Luo’s talent was mediocre, with no access to abundant cultivation resources; such vast Qi couldn’t have been absorbed naturally.

Combined with the fact that at twenty-two, he’d only reached Warrior Third Layer, he deduced Cang Luo’s dantian must have accumulated enormous Qi over years—though he didn’t know why.

And coincidentally, during this period, that accumulated Qi had suddenly erupted, rapidly forming Qi Wheels—perhaps triggered by his solo training in the Beast Forest, where a life-threatening danger had unlocked his latent potential...

Thinking of this, Overseer Liang suddenly realized: perhaps this was why he’d been allowed to stay in the sect despite reaching Warrior Third Layer at twenty-two.

An Elder or Senior Brother from the Overseer Hall had spotted his potential!

Ha! I thought the Overseer Hall had assigned me a waste—turns out he’s a late-blooming “genius”!

Overseer Liang couldn’t help laughing aloud. He said to Cang Luo, “You’re impressive. Perhaps you’ll enter the Inner Sect within a year...”