"Who are you?"
Zhang Ergou narrowed his eyes, sizing up the newcomer.
"What, you bragged about challenging all the masters on the inner sect roster, and you don't even know who I am?"
The youth with a vicious expression sneered at Zhang Ergou, his face filled with mockery.
"Not just any stray cat or dog is worthy of my knowing."
If others were arrogant, Zhang Ergou was even more so.
If Zhang Ergou backed down when others directly provoked him, it would not be his way of life.
Even when challenging the masters on the inner sect roster, Zhang Ergou would naturally respect those who were courteous.
As for those who were arrogant and disrespectful, Zhang Ergou would not indulge them and retorted on the spot.
"Kid, you're quite arrogant!"
The youth's gaze towards Zhang Ergou grew even more somber.
"I hope your strength matches your boasting!"
Without another word, the youth unleashed two palm strikes towards Zhang Ergou.
The moment he detected the youth, Zhang Ergou was fully alert, but he hadn't expected this fellow to act so unconventionally.
He attacked with mystical skills without preamble. Seeing the approaching palm strikes, Zhang Ergou had no choice but to dodge.
He had never tried to see what would happen if his fist directly met a palm strike imbued with mystical power.
Although brute force could overcome skill, Zhang Ergou dared not take that risk.
If he couldn't overpower it and got injured by a palm strike, the loss would outweigh the gain.
He still had a long path ahead, and this was not the time to be reckless.
"Hmph, kid, are you only good at dodging?"
Seeing Zhang Ergou desperately evading, the youth's hand seals moved faster and faster, and palm strikes were launched in different directions towards Zhang Ergou.
It seemed Zhang Ergou would soon have nowhere to hide.
"I'll risk it!" With nowhere left to run, Zhang Ergou steeled himself.
He threw a punch fiercely towards one of the incoming palm strikes.
"Overestimating yourself!"
Seeing Zhang Ergou attempt to block his palm strike with his bare hands, the youth's smile widened.
His gaze towards Zhang Ergou became even more contemptuous.
"Brute!"
If cultivators' mystical skills were so easy to block, everyone would have pursued body refinement instead of qi cultivation.
The youth inherently disdained body refiners. Ever since he heard that Zhang Ergou was a body refiner, he swore he would defeat Zhang Ergou.
He wanted to make it clear to everyone that qi cultivation was the righteous path, and Zhang Ergou's methods were merely unorthodox.
This was also why body refiners had become so rare in the past ten thousand years; people only heard of body refiners from ancient times.
As part of the new generation on the Yin Zhou Continent, they had heard since childhood about qi cultivation, and the only way to become a great cultivator was through it.
Even the Nascent Soul cultivators who had cultivated for thousands of years had only heard of the might of body refiners, not witnessed it firsthand.
Naturally, they would not elaborate on it to these younger disciples, leaving them more unfamiliar with body refinement.
This youth was one of them. When he heard that Zhang Ergou was supposedly a legendary body refiner, the idea of defeating him took root in his heart.
He had always believed qi cultivation to be orthodox, yet now, early stage Golden Core cultivators were successively defeated by so-called body refiners who were not widely known.
How could he tolerate this? Thus, he launched a fierce attack immediately, giving Zhang Ergou no breathing room.
He had not missed a single one of Zhang Ergou's three matches today. He believed he had understood Zhang Ergou's peculiar strengths.
Wasn't it just that peculiar punch and extreme speed?
The youth resolved to attack immediately, preventing Zhang Ergou from unleashing his full speed, thus preventing him from getting close.
Then, he would bombard Zhang Ergou with his various mystical skills. Zhang Ergou would be wounded, if not killed.
Seeing that Zhang Ergou was indeed cornered into blocking a powerful move with his bare hands, as he had expected, the youth's smugness became more pronounced.
"Idiot!" the youth cursed inwardly. He had not held back from the start, unleashing full power in every palm strike.
He didn't believe Zhang Ergou could withstand his palm strikes with mere mortal flesh.
Bang!
With a deafening roar, everyone saw Zhang Ergou engulfed by the massive palm strike.
"What happened? Where did Zhang Ergou go? Was he injured by Wu Feng's palm strike?"
"I don't know. Zhang Ergou just blocked Wu Feng's mystical skill with his bare hands. You have to realize, Wu Feng is already at the peak of early Golden Core, one step away from mid-Golden Core."
"Yes, yes. Zhang Ergou must have been exhausted after several consecutive battles. Wu Feng must have seized this opportunity to challenge him."
"Isn't this Wu Feng a bit shameless?"
"Shush, speak softly. Be careful Wu Feng hears you, or you'll be in trouble."
As the crowd buzzed with discussion, the smoke cleared, revealing a figure.
It was Zhang Ergou.
Zhang Ergou stood calmly in his original spot. The cracked flagstones beneath his feet indicated that the energy he had just withstood was considerable.
"Kid, you've got some skill. If you can still stand unharmed, I'll respect you as a man."
Seeing Zhang Ergou standing unharmed, Wu Feng's expression changed drastically.
He quickly formed hand seals, and a glowing halo began to form behind him.
"No way, Wu Feng is actually using that move!"
"Even if Zhang Ergou loses, he can be proud. He forced Wu Feng to use a secret technique!"
Wu Feng's vicious expression intensified, and he looked at Zhang Ergou as if he were looking at a dead man.
Zhang Ergou felt the danger of this move. Before the ultimate skill could fully condense, he moved.
Ultimate skills were called ultimate skills for a reason. Although their power was immense, they required a long time to condense.
Zhang Ergou took advantage of Wu Feng's inability to move while condensing his ultimate skill. He unleashed his speed to its limit, grasping his long spear.
He thrust the spear fiercely at Wu Feng, who was rapidly closing in.
"Hmph! A mere trifle!"
Wu Feng was extremely confident in his spiritual energy shield. Seeing that Zhang Ergou wasn't using that peculiar punch, he stopped paying attention.
He didn't believe that pitch-black iron spear could pierce his spiritual energy shield.
His hands continued their movements, and the halo behind him grew more solid. Wu Feng's ultimate skill was about to be formed.
A strong wind suddenly arose. With only one step remaining, Wu Feng's ultimate skill was on the verge of formation.
"Heh, die!" Wu Feng grinned sinisterly, picturing Zhang Ergou's miserable state.
Pfft...
Suddenly, Wu Feng's expression changed drastically. He spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at the Zhang Ergou who was now right in front of him in disbelief.
"You cheated?" Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Wu Feng glared at Zhang Ergou.
If looks could kill, Zhang Ergou would have been sliced into a thousand pieces by now.
His ultimate skill was interrupted at the critical moment. Wu Feng not only suffered a backlash but also took a blow from Zhang Ergou. He was now somewhat weakened.
"Heh heh, all's fair in war. Who told you I was going to stab you with my spear!"
Zhang Ergou sneered and kicked the falling Wu Feng off the battle platform...