The faint words from Zhang Ergou's mouth made the atmosphere of the entire scene even more bizarre.
"Did you hear that? Zhang Ergou said he's going to attack!"
"I'm not deaf, of course I heard."
"That kid Zhang Ergou really has some skill. He actually dodged that extremely powerful Qi sword."
Below the battle platform, the surrounding disciples erupted in chaos.
Li Xu, on the other side, was inwardly astonished. With his unique way of exerting force, he had caused many opponents to suffer.
Zhang Ergou's performance had already exceeded his expectations. He had never encountered such an opponent before, someone who could easily dodge his Qi sword without using any spiritual energy at all.
Although Li Xu was surprised, he was not flustered at all. To be a master on the inner disciple rankings, which one didn't have a trump card?
The reason he was surprised earlier was merely due to the peculiar way Zhang Ergou dodged.
However, he had absolute confidence in his own strength. In his opinion, it was debatable whether Zhang Ergou could even break through his defenses.
The gap between the Foundation Establishment stage and the Golden Core stage was not merely in cultivation. At the Golden Core stage, cultivators could condense their own spiritual energy shield, something Foundation Establishment cultivators never possessed.
The defensive effect of a spiritual energy shield was even stronger than ordinary magical artifacts, and the higher the cultivation, the stronger the defense of the condensed spiritual energy shield.
Li Xu was full of confidence in the spiritual energy shield around his body. He didn't believe that Zhang Ergou, with his Foundation Establishment cultivation, could break through his defense.
So what if he could dodge his Qi sword attack? He would still lose. Without formidable offensive capabilities, even the best evasion was useless.
Li Xu didn't even make any other preparations, merely injecting spiritual energy into his spiritual energy shield, making the condensed shield more solid.
Seeing Li Xu's seemingly nonchalant demeanor, Zhang Ergou smiled faintly.
To underestimate him would come with the price of underestimation. His self-created punch could even affect the spiritual energy shield condensed by Chi Yu, who was at the peak of the Golden Core stage, making Chi Yu spit blood with a single blow.
After being improved by the Six Paths Reincarnation Eyes, Zhang Ergou himself had no idea how powerful this punch was.
On the battle platform, the standing Li Xu saw Zhang Ergou moving rapidly, and then an unremarkable punch was about to strike his spiritual energy shield.
The curve of Li Xu's lips indicated his ridicule of Zhang Ergou's reckless behavior.
He actually wanted to shatter his defense with his fist? What a joke. Was the spiritual energy shield condensed by the early Golden Core stage so easily broken?
The crowd below the stage naturally also saw Zhang Ergou's move. Although Zhang Ergou's speed was extreme, his punch did not cause any anomalies.
There wasn't even a simple fluctuation of spiritual energy; it was just a straightforward move.
"Tsk... hmph..."
A wave of boos erupted from below the stage. These inner disciples did not believe that Zhang Ergou's ordinary punch would cause irreversible damage to Li Xu.
They even seemed to see Zhang Ergou being repelled by the spiritual energy shield.
"Huh? Why isn't Ergou using any spiritual energy for his attack? Does he not want to win?"
Xiao Qingyu watched Zhang Ergou's movements, thinking the same as most of the inner disciples. He naturally did not understand the power of Zhang Ergou's punch.
"Let's wait and see. This kid has shown us too many impossibilities. It's still too early to say anything."
Lin Yichen said in a low voice. He saw something different in Zhang Ergou's way of attacking. Although Zhang Ergou's punch didn't cause much of an anomaly,
Lin Yichen, with his sharp eyes, still discovered the surge of airflow around Zhang Ergou's fist when he struck. Clearly, that airflow was not a fluctuation of spiritual energy.
Frowning, Lin Yichen also couldn't figure out why Zhang Ergou wasn't attacking in his usual manner.
Just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, Zhang Ergou's punch landed on the spiritual energy shield condensed by Li Xu. Sud an novel network.
"Pfft..."
A weak sound did not cause much of a stir.
Li Xu sneered, looking at the struggling youth opposite him. Everything was as he had predicted: the spiritual energy shield was unharmed, only fluctuating slightly.
Looking at Zhang Ergou, who was standing close, the cold smile on Li Xu's face grew stronger, but he did not see the mockery in the young man's eyes.
Just as Li Xu raised his hand to attack Zhang Ergou, an unforeseen change occurred.
"Pfft..."
Li Xu spat out a mouthful of blood. The hand seal he was forming paused, and the spiritual energy shield completely dissipated.
Zhang Ergou's punch had not yet ended. He unleashed another punch, this time directly hitting Li Xu's chest.
"Pfft..."
Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Li Xu's body was sent flying backward. His internal organs were severely injured.
Striking through the defense, it not only allowed the force to be exerted on Li Xu's body through the spiritual energy shield but also allowed the internal organs to be injured through the chest.
Li Xu, flying backward, looked at the young man before him with wide, disbelieving eyes.
How could a seemingly ordinary punch possess such power?
That was his spiritual energy shield, and it was broken just like that?
Or perhaps Zhang Ergou's punch didn't break his spiritual energy shield, but how did his strength transfer to him?
Li Xu, flying backward, was completely bewildered, not even bothering about his injuries.
"Bang!"
With a loud crash, Li Xu's body slammed heavily onto the ground.
Zhang Ergou did not press his advantage, but calmly looked at Li Xu, who lay motionless on the ground.
"How is this possible? What did I just see? Zhang Ergou actually made Senior Brother Li spit blood with one punch?"
"That's right, you didn't mishear. I saw it too. It's incredible. Zhang Ergou is clearly only at the Foundation Establishment stage."
"Did you notice that Zhang Ergou's move didn't cause any spiritual energy fluctuations?"
"What? Then why did his punch have such immense power?"
The shock of the onlookers was no less than Li Xu's. They had not seen Zhang Ergou use any spells or skills from beginning to end.
What was even more incredible was that it only took one move to make a cultivator in the early Golden Core stage spit blood and be sent flying.
A simple, unremarkable punch actually possessed such formidable power.
Not only them, but even Lin Yichen, Xiao Qingyu, Wang Teng, and the others looked at the situation on the battle platform with disbelief.
Lin Yueru and Lu Xiaoyu also widened their beautiful eyes, looking at the fallen Li Xu and the still-standing young man with disbelief.
"This kid is becoming more and more mysterious. I couldn't see anything special about that move just now!"
Xiao Qingyu couldn't help but exclaim.
Wang Teng and the others felt the same, nodding in agreement.
"Senior Brother, you lost!"
On the battle platform, Zhang Ergou looked calmly at Li Xu, who was struggling to get up, and said faintly.
"Can you tell me what that move is called?"
A trace of unwillingness appeared on Li Xu's face, but he knew his physical condition best.
Zhang Ergou's punch did more than just send him flying and spitting blood...