“What? Why did Zhang shi agree to a duel of fist art?”
Seeing the situation on the stage clearly, Pavilion Master Kang panicked.
The main reason why he didn’t think that Zhang shi would be able to win the champion spot was because he knew that such a thing would happen.
In the end, the latter’s cultivation was simply too weak. This weakness of his would surely be exploited by his opponents.
The foundation to fighting was one’s cultivation, and no matter how formidable Zhang shi’s Soul Depth or other qualities were, it would be of minimal help to him in a straightforward duel!
“Indeed, he was definitely rash to have accepted the duel…”
Su shi and Ling shi remarked with an awful complexion.
While the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, given its ranking in the previous tournament, didn’t have any say in the dueling format, Zhang shi still had an opportunity to reject the dueling format. Even though the other party proposed a physical duel, he could have rejected it!
On the other hand, Zhao Feiwu had already seen through the ploy of the master teachers and smiled bitterly in response.
“Actually… it doesn’t make a difference at all!”
“Hmm?” Frowning, the group turned around to look at Zhao Feiwu.
As long as it wasn’t a physical duel, given Zhang shi’s astounding talents in all other aspects, there was no way he would lose!
So why wouldn’t it make a difference?
“Knowing that the greatest weakness of Zhang shi is his cultivation realm, how could the other party possibly give up on such an ideal opportunity? If Zhang shi had rejected the duel of fist art, there’s a high chance that the other party would’ve proposed a duel of spear, a duel of saber, or something along those lines… He might be able to avoid it once, but he wouldn’t be able to do it the second time!” Zhao Feiwu said.
Even though she had never been to a Master Teacher Tournament before, she had read many books on it, and she had a good grasp on its rules.
“This…”
The faces of Su shi, Pavilion Master Kang, and the others froze.
They had overlooked this due to their anxiety.
Besides, as honorable master teachers, they didn’t expect Zhang shi’s opponent to actually exploit the loopholes in the rules in such a manner.
Upon realizing this fact from Zhao Feiwu’s words, their faces immediately puffed crimson in rage.
“Despicable!”
Ling shi bellowed, “How can they be so despicable!”
“But they are still playing within the rules. In the end, this is still a tournament after all. It is natural that they would use whatever means they could to achieve victory.” Pavilion Master Kang shook his head. “We can only hope for a miracle to happen now…”
“Miracle? How can a miracle happen so easily? Putting aside how Zhang shi has barely reached Yin-Yang realm pinnacle and it is unlikely that he has fully reinforced his cultivation yet, just the fact that there is a huge gap of two small cultivation realms between them already makes it nigh impossible for him to achieve victory…” Su shi shook his head.
There was a huge difference even in every small cultivation realm of the Transcendent Mortal realm, not to mention, a full cultivation realm. A Yin-Yang pinnacle cultivator only possesses 800,000 ding of strength whereas a Clarifying Turbidity realm intermediate stage expert harnesses an immense might of 1,200,000 ding. That was a difference of 400,000 ding! This was a gap that mere luck couldn’t hope to cover.
“Indeed, the gap between the two of them is simply too great. I don’t think it is possible for Zhang shi to reverse the situation as well… Ah?”
Pavilion Master Kang shook his head in dismay as the thought of Zhang shi falling in defeat dominated his mind. However, in the next instant, his body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes slowly widened in shock.
“What’s wrong?”
Su shi was baffled by Pavilion Master Kang’s sudden reaction.
“Look at the stage…” said Pavilion Master Kang hurriedly.
“At the stage?” Su shi quickly raised his gaze, only to see Zhang Xuan standing alone on the D stage. His opponent, Wu Tianhao, was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is the opponent he is fighting against?” Su shi asked bewilderedly.
How in the world did that fellow disappear in the blink of an eye?
One must know that leaving the stage after the start of the duel meant instant disqualification!
“He… He…”
With trembling lips, Pavilion Master Kang pointed in the sky and said, “He’s flying up there…”
“Flying?”
Guangdang!
Su shi and the others nearly fell to the ground.
Flying? Are you saying that that fellow is a Saint?
The group traced Pavilion Master Kang’s finger and looked up, and in an instant, a bizarre expression appeared on their faces.
There was indeed a black human silhouette soaring freely in the sky. At this point, he was already around a hundred meters above ground level, but his ascension didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
If that fellow in the sky was planning an attack, there was no reason for him to soar so high up. On top of that, he was shrieking non-stop as though he had seen a ghost. Furthermore, he was ascending backward instead of forward, as though a ball which was sent flying with a kick.
“What’s going on?” Su shi could no longer hold back his intrigue any longer.
“Zhang shi… lightly pushed him up, and he just suddenly… started flying!” Pavilion Master Kang’s lips were twitching uncontrollably.
Even though he had seen it happen personally, he still found it hard to believe his eyes.
That Clarifying Turbidity realm intermediate stage cultivator had driven his cultivation to its maximum capacity and shot a punch straight at Zhang shi.
The might of the fist art was so great that even an expert of Pavilion Master Kang’s caliber would have to go on the defensive. But… Zhang shi didn’t even attempt to avoid the punch at all. Instead, he faced it with a casual rising trajectory palm strike, and in the next moment…
That fellow was already soaring into the sky…
“Lightly pushed him up?”
Su shi, Ling shi, Jin Conghai, and the others stared at one another in confusion. They felt as though they were listening to a foreign language, and in an instant, they were all left dumbfounded.
Transcendent Mortal 4-dan intermediate stage, that was roughly their cultivation realm as well. Furthermore, the other party was a master teacher like them, meaning his eye of discernment and capability wouldn’t pale in comparison to them at all. And yet, with a light push from Zhang shi, he was actually sent flying?
Why did it sound as though it had come out from a fantasy novel? No matter how they tried to process this information, it simply sounded too ridiculous to them!
…
They weren’t the only ones who were left dumbstruck. At this very instant, the entire square was completely silent.
In truth, everyone also felt angered by Wu Tianhao’s shameless action of proposing a duel of fist art, but upon seeing this sight, their eyeballs nearly popped out.
What just happened?
They had considered the possibility of Zhang shi achieving a victory, but that should have been a difficult one after trading innumerable blows. Yet, to send Wu Tianhao flying with a light push, as though he was simply throwing a pebble, could this all be a dream?
When did a Clarifying Turbidity realm expert become such a pushover?
“No, it’s because of Zhang shi’s formidable eye of discernment!”
“He used Wu shi’s strength against him to send him flying!”
“That’s right. He saw through the other party’s technique in an instant and used the momentum of the other party’s movements against him to send him flying… This technique is the ideal example of ‘curbing force with skill’!”
“But everything happened in an instant, how did he manage to react so quickly?”
Soon, there were quite a few people who managed to put the pieces together, but this did little to alleviate their shock.
Everything was over in a flash, but there were a fair number of 4-star master teachers present in the square, and every single one of them possessed outstanding eye of discernment.
Wu Tianhao had put all of his strength into that single fist, but… As the saying goes, ‘the branch that does not bend is the first to break’. While thoughtless flexibility can land one in a disadvantageous position, a lack of flexibility can leave one vulnerable. Zhang shi had seen through the flaws of his battle technique instantaneously and exploited them. Thus, even before his fist could even connect, he was already sent flying.
And so… the sight of the flying man occurred.
Seeing this sight, the eyelids of Wu Tianhao’s friend twitched violently, and he nearly spewed blood.
If only he’d known that this fellow was so formidable, he would have never proposed a physical duel. Even if Wu Tianhao wasn’t injured by that palm strike, judging from how high he was flying… even if he wasn’t crushed into minced meat, he would surely be crippled.
Could it be that… he was the legendary ‘pig-like teammate’?
Just as he was filled with self-reproach, Wu Tianhao finally came to the peak of his ascension, and began falling instead. He fell headfirst into the roof of the Alliance Head Residence, and amidst a cloak of dust and screams of agony reminiscent of butchered pigs, he disappeared from view.
“Junior Tianhao…”
Leaping in fright, Wu shi’s friend hurriedly dashed toward the direction where Wu shi disappeared. But before he could get far, a voice tinged with embarrassment was suddenly heard from the D stage. “Um, pardon me… I accidentally used too much force…”
Pu!
Accidentally used too much force?
Hearing those words, everyone nearly collapsed to the ground.
You are the weaker one here, the one with the lower cultivation realm. You knocked a person with higher cultivation realm flying, and you still said that you accidentally used too much force…
The more Wu shi’s friend thought about it, the more frenzied he felt. It was as if that fellow wasn’t content with just smashing through every single test in the preliminary selection. At the start of the dueling round, he even had to knock a cultivator two small cultivation realms higher than him up into the air…
What kind of monster was this fellow?
Where did the fairness in the world go to?
While he was feeling so stifled that he could go insane, Zhang Xuan was plagued with frustration as well.
That fellow simply charged straight at him with all of his might as soon as the duel began. If it was anyone else, they might have really been forced into a disadvantageous position instantly. But in truth, that attack posed no threat to him at all.
With a might of 1,000,000 ding from his zhenqi cultivation and 1,600,000 ding from his soul cultivation, he was able to harness an immense might of 2,600,000 ding in total. This was on par with a Consonant Spirit realm intermediate stage expert, it would be a miracle if that fellow could withstand it.
But at the same time, he knew that if he were to send the other party flying in a frontal confrontation, it might incur some doubts. As such, he chose to utilize the Eye of Insight to search for an opening in the other party’s technique so as to throw him off the stage…
However, he still underestimated that fellow’s strength. On top of that, he hadn’t had many opportunities to test out his strength ever since the advancement in his cultivation, and thus, he didn’t have a clear grasp of his strength yet. As such, he accidentally put in a little more force…
Falling from such a high altitude, even if the other party was a Clarifying Turbidity realm intermediate stage cultivator, he would still suffer grievous wounds. While it was unlikely that he would die from this ordeal, he would probably be bound to his bed for the next two months.
Honestly speaking, Zhang Xuan really didn’t do it intentionally.
His face-off with clone, which ended in a tragic defeat for him, had given him a skewed impression of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan experts. How could he have known that that fellow would actually fly so far…
“Forget it. Hong shi, does this count as my victory?”
Since what was done was done, there was no use being conflicted over it. Thus, Zhang Xuan turned his attention to Hong shi and asked.
“Y-yes, you’ve won!”
Hong shi’s lips twitched.
It seemed the other party’s destructive capability didn’t differentiate between artifacts and humans…
He wasn’t the only one harboring such thoughts. The eyebrows of the other participating master teachers on the stage were also twitching uncontrollably.
“By no means should we ever fight with this fellow!”
“You’re right, but… if we don’t challenge him to a physical duel, what else can we challenge him in?”
“I’ve no idea as well. But in any case, a physical duel is out of question. Otherwise, who knows what kind of tragic fate could befall us…”
…
While everyone was astounded by Zhang shi’s amazing feats in the preliminary selection, they didn’t think that he was much of a threat. After all, the other party was a mere Yin-Yang realm pinnacle cultivator. As long as they unleashed their full strength, defeating him shouldn’t be a problem at all… But reality couldn’t be any further than that…
Wu Tianhao was a clear example.
Just thinking about Wu Tianhao’s plight was already sufficient to send shivers down their spines.
Since Zhang Xuan finished his duel early, he turned his attention to the other stages.
In this round, his pair was the only one who resorted to a physical duel. The other pairs chose to battle it out through other means.
In fact, there was even a pair who chose the unconventional ‘discourse duel’.
On top of a deep understanding toward cultivation, master teachers must also possess broad knowledge.
The format of discourse duel is similar to Pill Discourse. Both parties would pose questions to one another, and the side that failed to answer correctly first would be deemed the loser.
To ensure greater equity, the duel consisted of a total of three rounds, and the side that won two rounds was the overall winner.
In the discourse duel, the other master teacher from Fleeting Cloud Sect achieved victory.
After realizing that there were actually minimal differences among the different dueling formats, Zhang Xuan quickly lost his interest. Sometime later, Hong shi’s voice sounded.
“Alright, since we’ve decided on the top sixteen, we’ll take an hour of rest before proceeding on to the next round to determine the top eight!”
“The results of the top sixteen are out?”
Just as Zhang Xuan was curious to see who was in the top sixteen, he suddenly noticed Ruohuan gongzi walking over with a worried expression.
