Chapter 97: Destroying the Rotten, the Invitation of the Golden Blade (Supplementary Update)

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

On the fighting ring, under the impact of the immense force, Huang Shihu retreated wildly for over ten steps before barely managing to halt his decline.

At this moment, he was only a few feet from the edge of the ring, just a few steps away from falling off.

Below the stage, the thousands of people who witnessed this scene with their own eyes were in an uproar, unable to believe that a Martial Arts Master who shook Jinjin could be in such a sorry state.

Even Huang Shihu himself had his face twitching wildly, his aged and overbearing features revealing his shock and fury.

Regarding Lu Yuan, the outsider who had made Zheng Shan'ao admit defeat just yesterday, he had already been sufficiently cautious and careful, even going all out to deal with him.

But he still had not expected to face such power, which defied the common sense of the world and was unreasonably savage!

"Preposterous!"

"Come again!"

Being defeated by a young man's punch was an absolute humiliation for someone of Huang Shihu's status; consumed by rage, his baleful energy surged instead, and he forcibly suppressed the tremors in his blood, bones, and muscles to stomp down fiercely, then clapped his palms together, churning the air to move straight toward Lu Yuan in the center of the ring with the momentum of a collapsing mountain and a thousand overlapping waves.

It was unknown what trump card he was using, but as his palms struck and pushed, it was like a wild gale and giant waves, causing the air in all directions to surge violently like a tide, as if it were an infinite abyss in the deep sea, intending to swallow everything beneath his palms.

"Very good."

Seeing this, Lu Yuan's expression became slightly more solemn; he then stepped forward, clenched his five fingers, and a single punch shattered layers of air, raising a pure white air wave as it blasted toward Huang Shihu, who was in a defensive stance.

Whoosh—

The vast fighting ring was instantly completely enveloped by the gale of his punch; at this moment, Lu Yuan stopped holding back, and under the 【Earthly Fiend-Great Strength】, the power of Ten Dragons Ten Elephants surged out like a long-accumulated mountain flood breaking through a levee, with a force that collapsed mountains and overturned seas.

In an instant.

In Huang Shihu's consciousness at this moment, it felt as if a destructive thunderbolt had exploded before him; the suffocating gale had already drained all the air, making it difficult for him to breathe.

The huge, explosive sound seemed to pour directly into his soul, as if a great bell had been struck.

It was as if an ancient ferocious beast was pouncing toward him, and under the suffocating shadow, the hair on his back stood on end!

"Hah!"

There was no way to retreat, no way to avoid it.

At this instant, Huang Shihu's eyes were filled with shock and fury; his vigorous blood and strength surged wildly as he pushed his palms horizontally to meet the attack with a palm strike that felt like a collapsing mountain.

The next instant.

A loud bang!

The sound of the air explosion was deafening, echoing endlessly!

Where their hands met, a powerful air wave instantly exploded, expanding, billowing, and impacting in all directions, blowing away the shattered surface of the ring that could no longer withstand the force.

The fierce energy swept across, and within several yards, not a trace of dust could be seen; everything was swept away by the gale, and even an ordinary person standing too close would have been internally injured by such violent aftershocks.

Amidst the sound like beating war drums, Huang Shihu felt his vision go black; first, the arm he used to strike trembled violently, and then his entire body was blasted backward as if hit head-on by an ancient dragon!

It was as if he were a wild goose caught in a gale, impossible to resist; as he flew backward, blood spilled from his nose and mouth, and his body crackled; no matter how he tried to dissipate or exert force under his feet, it only caused large pits to explode in the ruined ground, yet he still could not stop his retreat.

Finally, under the irresistible power, his figure retreated nearly ten yards, and he ultimately fell off the stage in a sorry state.

Hiss—

The moment Huang Shihu fell off the ring in such a sorry state, the thousands of people in the crowd first gasped in unison, then erupted into a rolling uproar.

The number of people who came to Hehai Square today had increased several times over, and most of them had not seen Lu Yuan's fight with Zheng Shan'ao yesterday, only hearing various rumors.

Now, seeing Huang Shihu, this veteran of the Martial Arts Association, fall off the stage after only two punches, they finally knew that the rumors were not half-false!

Even Lin Xingchao and his disciples were completely stunned, seemingly unable to believe everything before their eyes.

After all, Lu Yuan had sparred with Xi Beichen over half a year ago, and at that time, although his strength and physique were astonishing, he was only at the level of Four Realms Thunder Sound.

How could they have imagined that in less than a year, the other party would transform and be able to repel a Six Realms Martial Arts Master with two punches!?

That feeling was as absurd as a street vendor with no background becoming the richest person in the country within a year.

The crowd was in a frenzy, and the well-informed Gu Kanshan spoke up in shock:

"Xingchao, what is going on with this kid? Isn't he a disciple Li Zicai has had for less than two years? How could he have such heaven-defying ability!?"

Lin Xingchao no longer knew what to say, only numbly stating: "Master Gu, I do not know either."

Xi Beichen and Gu Yourong also said with dazed expressions:

"Defeating a Martial Arts Master in two punches, how could such a thing happen..."

"Incredible... could Brother Lu be the reincarnation of some divine being?"

Such a thing that overturned their cognition and violated common sense was beyond their understanding, and they subconsciously began to think of supernatural forces.

And while they were in a state of chaos.

After Huang Shihu fell off the stage in a sorry state, a large group of his disciples and grand-disciples had already rushed out from the crowd, arriving under the stage to help him up:

"Grandmaster, Grandmaster, are you alright?!"

Huang Shihu, with blood spilling from his nose and mouth and his arm trembling, still gritted his teeth and forcibly pushed away his disciples and grand-disciples, shouting sharply:

"Move aside, this old man is fine!"

The others from the Martial Arts Association also gathered around, looking at Huang Shihu and then at Lu Yuan on the stage with fearful eyes, not knowing what to say.

Zheng Shan'ao smiled slightly:

"How about it, Master Huang? What I said was not false, right? This young man's strange strength is simply inhuman; he didn't even use his full strength. I knew after taking just one punch yesterday that three punches would surely be impossible to withstand. Do you believe it now?"

Compared to Zheng Shan'ao, who gave up and stepped down after one punch, this failure of being blasted off the ring on the second punch was clearly harder to accept; Huang Shihu's face was livid, his chest heaving, and he remained silent.

"To think there is such a peerless genius in the world..."

On the other side, another veteran of the Martial Arts Association, Ouyang Heng, whose hair and eyebrows were white, sighed heavily, saying as if to console them:

"It is a pity that I am old, my blood and energy have declined, and my Martial Arts cultivation is not even as good as you two; if I went up, I fear it would be the same."

Hou Zhenhua, who had also been defeated by Lu Yuan yesterday, said with both anger and helplessness:

"Three Masters, this kid from out of town is so arrogant, could it be that we really have no way to deal with him?"

The other experts of the Martial Arts Association were also filled with righteous indignation:

"An outsider is acting so arrogantly in Jinjin; how can this be tolerated!"

"If all else fails, let's sign a joint petition to invite Wu Taidou!"

"Indeed, if that old gentleman takes action, he will surely be able to subdue this brat!"

Not to mention the restlessness and public indignation on the side of the Martial Arts Association.

Lu Yuan, having won again on the stage, seemed to have done something trivial; he stood tall and faced the surroundings, his voice resounding like thunder:

"Next, who is coming?"

The voice rolled and echoed, and the crowd under the stage became even more turbulent; apart from some stubborn locals cursing loudly, many people's gazes had shifted from shock to reverence, as if they were witnessing a new legend of the world.

In such a situation, Gu Kanshan, who was beside Lin Xingchao, could no longer hold back; he stepped out abruptly and climbed onto the ring.

Seeing someone go up on stage, the thousands of people were in an uproar again; whether it was the Martial Arts Association or experts from other factions, all their gazes shifted, guessing Gu Kanshan's identity.

Gu Kanshan, whose identity had always been in the shadows in Jinjin, turned a deaf ear; he went straight to the Eight Immortals Table in the corner, paid the Silver Yuan, pressed his handprint on the life-and-death document, and then came to the center of the ring to face Lu Yuan directly.

Staring closely at the young man with an extraordinary temperament opposite him, Gu Kanshan lowered his voice, gathered his sound into a line, and asked in surprise:

"A Yuan, what exactly is going on here?"

"Where did you get this kind of ability, and why do you want to make such a big scene in Jinjin?"

Naturally, it was impossible for Lu Yuan to explain anything here; he just smiled and responded in a low voice:

"Old Gu, this is not the place to talk. Since you have come to the stage, would you like to try taking these Three Punches?"

Both of them lowered their voices and gathered them into lines, so not to mention the people under the stage, even the two coolies from the Ju-character association who were closest could not hear them.

Having come to the stage originally to personally experience what kind of power could repel two Martial Arts Masters, Gu Kanshan, who had no burden of reputation, said solemnly:

"Good, you go ahead and throw your punches; let this old man experience it too!"

As he spoke, he exhaled and shouted, his Qi and blood roaring, standing as still as a mountain, and assumed a defensive posture.

As the saying goes, one look from an expert tells you if they have the skill.

As soon as the stance was set, Zheng Shan'ao and other famous figures of the Martial Arts Association immediately saw that Gu Kanshan also seemed to be a Six Realms Martial Arts Master, and they couldn't help but be surprised, beginning to guess Gu Kanshan's identity.

At the same time, Lu Yuan nodded, then took another step forward without any nonsense and threw a punch.

Boom.

Just like before, under the 【Earthly Fiend-Great Strength】, his punch produced a dull, thunderous sound of Qi, forming a wild fist wind that surged like a tide.

The gale and air waves rushed toward him as if they were tangible; under such momentum, Gu Kanshan gave a low shout with extreme solemnity, exerted his full strength, and crossed his palms to meet it.

Then, with a bang!

A giant force like a mountain collapse and a tsunami surged from his palms throughout his body; the violence and intensity of the power made Gu Kanshan's eyelids jump wildly for an instant.

Step, step, step!

Under the irresistible impact, even though he used methods to dissipate and even borrow the force, he still groaned at this moment, his figure retreating wildly under the surging impact.

After retreating more than ten steps, when he was about to reach the edge of the ring, he gave a low shout, stomped his feet hard, and then stopped his decline amidst the cracking of the brick and stone stage.

"Good brat."

His palms had almost lost all sensation; Gu Kanshan suppressed his trembling muscles, bones, and blood, grinned, and looked up:

"This power is indeed strong enough!"

Lu Yuan just smiled and, pretending not to know him, said loudly:

"Does the senior still need to continue?"

Like Zheng Shan'ao, through the astonishing power contained in the punch just now, Gu Kanshan clearly knew that it was almost impossible for him to stand on the stage and take a second punch, so he sighed and shook his head immediately:

"Forget it, knowing I can't take three punches, why be stubborn? This old bag of bones of mine can't stand the tossing; I'm off."

Under the eyes of the public, it was not appropriate to expose his acquaintance with Lu Yuan, so he didn't say anything more and jumped off the stage cleanly, returning to the side of Lin Xingchao and the others.

"He won again."

"If I'm not mistaken, this one is also a Martial Arts Master, right!?"

"This is outrageous; three Martial Arts Masters have already gone up on stage, and none of them could take this outsider's Three Punches. What is his background?"

"What kind of freak is this? Could it be that only a Martial Arts Grandmaster can deal with him!?"

With one clean victory after another, the thousands of people under the stage buzzed and discussed again, shocked, suspicious, and incredulous.

Lu Yuan did not cast his gaze toward Lin Xingchao and the others; while looking around, he was just about to ask:

"Anyone else..."

"I'll come!"

Unexpectedly, among the front row of the crowd, an old man in a hemp shirt who looked unremarkable suddenly climbed onto the ring and laughed:

"I am Cao Futian of the Golden Blade Group; I have come to the stage specifically to learn a thing or two from you, little brother!"

After saying that, he also paid one hundred Silver Yuan, pressed his handprint on the life-and-death document, came to stand in front of Lu Yuan, and said eagerly:

"Little brother, come on. Although I can't block three punches, I can't help but want to try!"

The crowd under the stage buzzed again immediately.

The Golden Blade Group was one of the three major civilian forces in Jinjin, and Cao Futian was also a veteran and one of the founders of this group, a renowned Six Realms Martial Arts Master whose status was second only to the group leader.

Lu Yuan had naturally heard of this person, so he smiled and nodded immediately:

"Good."

Subsequently, he took a step forward and threw a punch.

The air exploded, and the fist wind surged like a roaring angry dragon.

The momentum of his punch was as thrilling as before, and Cao Futian, like Huang Shihu and Gu Kanshan before him, exerted his thick Qi and blood, using all his strength to resist amidst a low shout.

But in the next instant, with a loud bang, under the impact of the volcanic force, he followed in the footsteps of the previous challengers, his figure unable to be controlled as he retreated wildly, straight to the edge of the ring.

Seeing this scene, the thousands of people under the stage were basically no longer excited or indignant, but had become extremely shocked and even numb.

The people who went up on stage were not cabbages, but Martial Arts Masters chosen from one in a hundred thousand or even a million among countless martial arts practitioners.

Yet, even such figures, when counted up, have already seen a full four of their number defeated under Lu Yuan's fists.

Once, twice, but not a third time; for such an inconceivable event to occur four times in a row, anyone would become numb.

"Hiss."

Cao Futian, not caring in the slightest about his image, shook his numb and violently trembling palms and let out a strange cry:

"Good lad, with this kind of strength, I fear it is already at one hundred thousand catties? Never mind Tianjin, I am afraid that in the entire Jin Dynasty, as long as one is below the Grandmaster realm, no one can compare to you!"

Such high praise from Cao Futian caused the entire scene to boil over once more, while Lu Yuan merely smiled slightly:

"Senior, you flatter me. Shall we continue?"

"No, no."

Cao Futian waved his hands repeatedly in a very straightforward manner and asked:

"Little brother, you are truly a god-like man, but having caused such a massive scene, we still do not know your name?"

Lu Yuan, who no longer needed to conceal himself, did not mind:

"I do not change my name when I walk, nor do I change my surname when I sit; I am Lu Yuan."

"Lu Yuan? A good name!"

Cao Futian's gaze was burning, and he spoke solemnly and eagerly:

"Little brother, for a person of your stature and with this set of skills, it would be too much of a waste to use them merely for the pursuit of fame and fortune. Nowadays, foreign enemies are invading, the mountains and rivers are in turmoil, and the nation is shattered. Any true man should defend against the enemy from without, strive to hold up the collapsing Heaven, and save the masses from fire and water.

Our Golden Blade Group, though lacking, has gathered thousands of righteous people and hot-blooded men in recent years. Our goal is to wipe out the Holy Roman Empire and Russia, drive out the Western Powers, and restore the dignity of our land and people. We are in need of a peerless talent like you, little brother; I wonder if you have any interest in joining us?"

(End of chapter)