Chapter 49: Qi and Blood Clash, Extraordinary Power

"Trial Project: Dojo-crashing match completed. Result evaluation: Victory. Experience Points +100."

A panel notification rang in Zhou You's ears, and the wounds on his arms twitched with sharp pain.

The price of victory was not small; he had over a dozen wounds on his body, and in the deepest ones, bone could be seen.

Even now, some wounds were still bleeding.

Lu Qiang's voice rang out, "Zhou You, step down. You lot, someone get him some wound medicine."

Returning to the group of Apprentices, Li Hao pulled out a porcelain bottle, dug out some ointment, and applied it to the wounds.

A cooling sensation washed over him; the bleeding from the wounds stopped instantly, and the pain gradually faded away.

Zhou You looked at the porcelain bottle in surprise, "This wound medicine is good."

"Produced by the old-established Xingren Tang in the city. One tael of medicine costs ten taels of silver."

Li Hao finished applying the medicine and said in a low voice, "You fought well; you didn't lose face for our martial arts hall."

With so many fellow disciples present and the Hall Master also watching, had Zhou You lost even a fraction, the outcome would have been miserable.

Zhou You still felt lingering fear; the opponent's rapid-fire, fierce three-hit combo had been impossible to guard against. It was only by acting ruthlessly at the last moment to trade injury for injury, relying on his thick blood and high defense, that he had managed to exhaust Zhang Shiyu to death.

"You were also unlucky. Such a profound martial technique as the Triple-Stack Technique is only known by Senior Brother Xu. That youth opposite us is about the same age as us, yet he actually mastered it. It was a tough fight, a tough fight."

Li Hao was speaking fairly; Zhang Shiyu's strength was enough to rank in the top eight among the official Apprentices of the martial arts hall.

If it had been him on the field, he would have had to use his family's ultimate technique just to barely manage a draw.

Li Hao couldn't help but admire his sparring partner for turning defeat into victory through sheer ruthlessness.

"Fighting a farm-style brawl and still ending up covered in wounds—you city kids are truly delicate."

Whispers drifted over; without needing to look, one knew it was Zhong Shaoying's faction mocking them.

Xu Ying retorted, "What are you grumbling about? If you've got the guts, go up and try it yourself."

More than half the people fell silent; they really couldn't do it. The power of the Triple-Stack Technique was something everyone had witnessed; to run into it meant either death or injury.

While Li Hao was applying the medicine to Zhou You, the second match had already been underway for some time.

Lu Qiang and Zhuang Tie were both Qi and Blood Disciples, and the power of their strikes was extraordinary.

Calculated by the style of fist martial arts, it was equivalent to an upgraded version of the first match: a clash between the Tiger-Subduing Fist and the Dazhuang Fist.

However, the power of Qi and Blood Disciples was far beyond what mere force could compare to.

Zhuang Tie's Mud-Wading Step was more refined; the moment his toes touched the ground, he would dart ten meters away in the blink of an eye, leaving one unable to keep up.

"The speed of Basic Lightness Skill at level 2 only reaches this level!"

Zhou You's eyelids twitched as he watched; the gap between Qi and Blood and mere force was indeed immense.

With every gesture he made, a red light flickered in and out—this was a sign of Qi and Blood circulating throughout the body.

Between his fists and claws, the air was torn apart, and the sound of breaking air was like faint thunder.

The bluestone on the ground he swept across cracked, and gullies appeared in the soil, as if ravaged by seven or eight mad bulls.

Zhou You had some realization; no wonder Zhuang Daqiang dared to come crash the dojo with only a few people—having a fierce general like Zhuang Tie under his command was enough.

He then felt a bit uneasy; he wanted to kill Tu Laosan, but the opponent's older brother, Tu Laoer, who was accompanying him, was a Qi and Blood warrior—that would be a hard fight!

Zhuang Tie's opponent was the Big Senior Brother of the Jianxiong Martial Arts Hall, Lu Qiang.

Although no one said it aloud, everyone tacitly acknowledged that Lu Qiang, as Big Senior Brother, held a position equivalent to a Deputy Hall Master.

Wang Jianxiong was anchoring the third match himself and had sent Lu Qiang to lead the vanguard, proving his high regard and trust in him.

"Iron Tiger Lu Qiang."

A faint roar of a tiger seemed to come from the air.

A faint black aura swirled around Lu Qiang, and a dark, iron-like sheen appeared on his skin, distributed like tiger stripes.

His pupils were filled with blood-Qi, his hands swelled, his veins bulged, and his height increased by thirty percent compared to usual.

The clash between the two Qi and Blood Disciples tore the air and smashed through the ground, their speed so fast that their figures could not be distinguished.

The rammed earth of the open space at the entrance, first kicked into a large pit by Zhang Shiyu, was now being ravaged again, left in a state of utter ruin.

"Zhuang Tie is clearly lacking in strength."

At such a tense moment, the only ones capable of offering commentary were other Qi and Blood Disciples.

As soon as Shen Sijing spoke, a crowd of Apprentices vied to echo him, "Senior Brother Shen's eye is truly sharp."

"The opponent is vulnerable; Big Senior Brother is sure to win this round."

Zhong Shaoying, standing to the side, poured cold water on them, "Not necessarily. These Su City martial artists are at their wits' end and are fighting for their lives in desperation; the outcome is still hard to say."

This statement also had its logic, but the occasion was wrong.

"Zhong Shaoying, you're just showing off!"

Wang Jianxiong said coldly, and all the disciples and Apprentices instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Big Senior Brother was still fighting in the arena; as fellow disciples, they should be cheering him on.

Zhong Shaoying and Shen Sijing were bickering, but in doing so, they were inadvertently undermining Big Senior Brother, which was particularly lacking in awareness of the bigger picture.

After being scolded by his master, Zhong Shaoying became like a frosted eggplant, unable to perk up again.

"Nilipoisuishou."

Seeing that a prolonged battle was disadvantageous to him, Zhuang Tie let out a sudden shout and unleashed his heavy-handed ultimate technique.

Every school of fist martial arts had moves to kill and secure victory, whose power differed from ordinary moves, known as... ultimate techniques.

The power of an ultimate technique was terrifying and could only be unleashed with Qi and Blood as the foundation.

Even though Zhang Shiyu was highly regarded, he had only learned the Triple-Stack Technique and had not yet touched upon heavy-handed ultimate techniques.

Zhuang Tie was different; he was a Qi and Blood Disciple and a trusted aide cultivated by Zhuang Daqiang.

Seeing the opponent unleash his heavy-handed move, Lu Qiang shouted, "Good."

The mere force of the wind emitted by this Nilipoisuishou caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the ground ten meters away.

The frontal pressure brought by it was like hanging a thousand-catty lead weight on his body, making it impossible to move an inch.

"Waa-ooh!"

Lu Qiang's chest bulged violently, as if he had condensed ninety-nine percent of the Qi in his body into his chest, then spat it out fiercely.

The tiger's roar was as sharp as an awl, and everyone present covered their ears in unison.

Zhuang Tie was shaken by the invisible sound wave, his body swaying twice, and a trail of blood dripped from the corner of his eye.

The next moment, Lu Qiang charged over like a gale, a pair of Hu Zhua descending upon his head, emitting the sound of metal clashing.

Tiehuzhua vs. Nilipoisuishou.

The two forces collided, and the victor was decided in less than the time it takes to draw a breath.

Lu Qiang's Hu Zhua pushed the two forces to roll back, smashing Zhuang Tie's finger bones, wrist bones, and arm bones to pieces.

The momentum did not stop there, as he grabbed Zhuang Tie's shoulder and violently tore off a large chunk of flesh and skin.

Zhuang Tie let out a cry of alarm and staggered backward, his entire arm hanging limply as fresh blood gushed out incessantly.

The entire scene was in an uproar!

Eyes were fixed on Lu Qiang's palm, where a large piece of bright red muscle was still twitching.

"The entire biceps muscle has been torn off; this arm is as good as ruined."

Seeing such a tragic scene, Zhou You's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

With most of the bones in Zhuang Tie's arm shattered and the entire muscle torn away, even the most skilled doctor could not heal it.

Zhuang Tie was also a tough man; despite being drenched in sweat from the pain, he gritted his teeth and said nothing, refusing to admit defeat.

Lu Qiang crushed the flesh and blood in his hand and did not move again; he had won!

"Zhuang Daqiang, don't waste your time; let you and I decide the outcome in one battle."

Zhuang Daqiang looked much older than before; hearing this, he raised his head, "Wang Laohu, this old man has already been waiting impatiently."