The long-awaited opponent was none other than an old acquaintance, Chen Xing.
Chen Xing bounded forward, leaping high into the air and landing on the arena platform to face Hong Yu.
After several months, Chen Xing had also undergone a subtle change.
His cultivation aura showed that he had broken through the Mid-stage Earth Soul Realm, reaching the Late-stage Earth Soul Realm in a single leap. His strength had increased significantly.
"Hong Yu, long ti no see. I've missed you so much!"
Licking the corner of his mouth with a scarlet tongue, an excited look spread across Chen Xing's face. The undisguised desire for revenge and venomous hatred flickered in his eyes.
For the past few months, he hadn't slept soundly for a single mont.
And the root of it all was the young man before him, Hong Yu!
For more than a hundred days and nights over these five months, Chen Xing had constantly fantasized about the sweet mont he would defeat Hong Yu and avenge his past humiliation.
Driven by this deep-seated hatred, his cultivation broke through a bottleneck that had plagued him for years, reaching the Late-stage Earth Soul Realm. With his current strength, returning to the inner sect wouldn't be a problem, but what he looked forward to most was crushing Hong Yu in front of everyone and avenging his sha!
Hong Yu rubbed his nose. He could physically feel the coldness of Chen Xing's gaze. He smiled. "Senior Brother Chen, you look like you've recovered well!"
"You..."
Chen Xing's gaze turned frigid. He snorted coldly. "Still running your mouth. Today, I will wash away my past humiliation!"
"Senior Brother Chen, please!"
Hong Yu spread his hands.
Chen Xing's fury intensified. With a cold shout, he charged.
Although only a fine line separated the Mid-stage and Late-stage Earth Soul Realm, the difference between them was enormous.
Chen Xing's current speed, for instance, was on a completely different level compared to a few months ago.
"Star Domination Fist!"
He thrust his fists forward, like the tyrannical ruler of the starry sky.
His fists were like burning teors in the night sky, streaking through the air in two brilliant flashes of light with a sizzling HISS. The Fist Force, powerful enough to make one's scalp tingle and bones tremble, could shatter an ordinary expert's internal organs from a distance. This was the very finishing move that had made Chen Xing famous.
His fight with Hong Yu months ago had ended too quickly, too abruptly.
So much so that Chen Xing hadn't even had a chance to use this move before Hong Yu had brutally beaten and severely injured him.
Now, unleashing it, his montum was unstoppable.
The sheer power of the attack made the faces of the many disciples watching below the stage change slightly.
"Senior Brother Chen is so strong!"
"By my estimation, the power of that punch is comparable to an expert in the top five hundred of the inner sect's Celestial List!"
"What move do you guys think Hong Yu will use to defend himself this ti?"
"He'll have to use a Mortal-Level Martial Skill, right?"
Amidst the crowd's speculation, Hong Yu remained as calm and composed as he had been during his fight with Yuu Chenfei, standing quietly with his legs slightly apart.
He didn't move his feet until Chen Xing was right in front of him.
He moved his legs into a front-and-back stance, the most basic horse stance.
He held his hands at his waist, gathering power to strike.
This incredibly familiar motion once again drew a wave of gasps...
"Holy crap, is he using the Basic Boxing Technique again?"
"He's still using the Basic Boxing Technique against a Late-stage Earth Soul Realm Senior Brother Chen? Is he trying to get himself killed?"
"Hong Yu, you're taking this too far!"
Chen Xing flew into a rage. He pushed his Profound Skill to its absolute limit, concentrating all his Power of Primordial Spirit into his fists, doubling their might once more.
Facing such an attack, Hong Yu's stance remained unchanged—still the Basic Boxing Technique!
"Break!"
A sudden explosive shout, like a clap of thunder, erupted from his mouth.
One punch. He threw a single, simple punch.
BANG!
The punch landed squarely on Chen Xing's own fist.
Under the impact of Hong Yu's ordinary, fleshy fist, Chen Xing's overwhelmingly powerful punch suddenly collapsed. It lacked all the might of a Mortal-Level Martial Skill, proving as fragile as a paper tiger.
The ferocious look on Chen Xing's face froze. An expression of utter disbelief crawled across his face like maggots. He was both shocked and enraged. "Impossible! How is this possible?"
"Star Domination Fist, explode!"
Chen Xing roared hysterically.
Surging Power of Primordial Spirit gathered in his fists, layer upon layer, like crashing ocean waves, one after another.
But.
No matter how hard he tried to mobilize his Power of Primordial Spirit to strengthen his attack, he still couldn't stop that seemingly ordinary fist of flesh and blood.
BANG!
Hong Yu's Basic Boxing Technique forcibly shattered the Power of Primordial Spirit gathered on Chen Xing's fist. His own flesh-and-blood fist, as hard as steel, shattered the bones in Chen Xing's right arm. Chen Xing grunted, his arm dropping limply. Hong Yu's punch then shot forward with a WHOOSH, stopping right in front of his face.
"No..."
Chen Xing roared in shock and anger.
VMMM!
The punch stopped just short of the tip of his nose. Although it didn't hit him, the powerful fist wind still left Chen Xing dizzy and disoriented.
"Give up. You're no match for ," Hong Yu said lightly.
The *Eight Desolates Saint Slaying Technique* didn't just enhance his physical toughness, but also his strength, speed, and more.
Right now, Hong Yu's physical toughness alone was comparable to a Mortal-level High-Grade Primordial Weapon. As for his strength, his physical power was equivalent to the Middle Stage of the Earth Soul Realm. If he were to supplent a powerful Martial Skill with his Nine Great Vortices, he was confident he could even defeat Guo Fei!
"Give up?"
Chen Xing froze. His face instantly turned deathly pale, his mind going completely blank.
'I failed!'
'I failed again!'
'I just had a breakthrough! I was so confident I'd finally get my revenge, but I still lost!'
'And this ti, my defeat was even more thorough, more complete. Last ti, at least I forced Hong Yu to use a Martial Skill. This ti, he beat with just the Basic Boxing Technique.' This realization completely shattered Chen Xing's confidence, leaving him utterly lost.
Seeing his crestfallen appearance, Hong Yu let out a soft sigh. He didn't press him further and turned to leave.
Even though Chen Xing had provoked him ti and again, Hong Yu's principle was to be rciful whenever possible.
"How could I lose? Why did it turn out like this..."
Chen Xing staggered back several steps, dejected. A layer of ashen despair clouded his eyes.
Inside the pavilion, Guo Fei, who had been watching the match the entire ti, felt his gaze turn cold. He cursed under his breath, "What a useless piece of trash. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." With a cold snort, Guo Fei focused his voice and used a Secret Technique to transmit his thoughts directly into Chen Xing's mind. 'When are you going to use the thing I gave you?'
This Secret Technique wasn't particularly profound, and it wasn't difficult to learn.
BOOM!
Chen Xing's whole body jolted. The daze in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a bloody, venomous ferocity. He gritted his teeth. "Hong Yu, you forced my hand... you forced to do this..."
He flipped his hand over, took out a red pill, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chen Xing's face imdiately turned crimson. His eyes filled with a thick, bloody light, and streams of blood even began to trickle from his seven orifices, but he seed not to notice. A short dagger slid from his sleeve into his hand, glinting with a sinister cold light. The sharp blade was coated with a most potent poison.
It was a "throat-sealing" poison that killed on contact with blood. Even a Celestial Soul Realm expert would risk death if struck by it.
"Go to hell, Hong Yu!"
In an instant, Chen Xing caught up to Hong Yu, viciously stabbing the dagger toward the center of his back.
SHING!
This sudden change happened so fast that even the crowd below the stage didn't have ti to react.
As the dagger was about to pierce Hong Yu's body, the corners of Chen Xing's blood-red eyes lifted into a vicious, gleeful smile, like that of an Evil Ghost.
"Hong Yu, watch out!"
"Chen Xing, you despicable coward! A sneak attack?"
The crowd finally reacted, shouting out warnings.
But it was too late.
The dagger had already struck Hong Yu, who hadn't even had ti to turn around.
Inside the pavilion, Guo Fei let out a long sigh of relief. 'Did he finally succeed? Tsk tsk, Hong Yu, oh, Hong Yu, I have to admit, if you were allowed to reach the Earth Soul Realm, you would beco a formidable rival. What a pity you'll no longer have the chance!'
"I... I did it? Hahaha, I killed Hong Yu! I won this fight! Hahaha..."
Chen Xing began to laugh hysterically.
However...
Just as he was reveling in his excitent and hysteria, finally having avenged his sha, a soft sigh trampled through his heart like ten thousand alpacas.
The triumph and madness on Chen Xing's face slowly morphed into thick shock and disbelief.
Before his blood-red eyes, Hong Yu slowly turned around. The dagger had only traced an arc across his back, tearing his clothes and revealing skin that glowed with a faint golden light. But strangely, despite being cut by a blade sharp enough to slice a falling hair, not a single scratch was left on Hong Yu's body.
Facing Chen Xing, Hong Yu let out another soft sigh. He slowly raised his right hand and gently pinched the dagger between his index and middle fingers.
With a twist of his fingers, there was a crisp SNAP, and the sharp dagger broke in two.
The sharp tip flew high into the air. With a flick of his fingers, Hong Yu caught it between his fingertips, reached out, and gently swiped it across the dumbfounded Chen Xing's neck. A spray of blood erupted. The "throat-sealing" poison instantly eroded Chen Xing's consciousness. With a look of disbelief, he slowly fell backward.
Staring at the sky, which seed to grow ever higher, and feeling his vision blur, Chen Xing felt his body growing colder and colder.
THUD!
He crashed heavily onto the arena platform.
'This dagger is so sharp... I didn't even feel any pain when it cut my throat. Why couldn't it even break Hong Yu's skin?'
With this final trace of resentnt and confusion, Chen Xing's life faded away completely, his wide-open, blood-red eyes still vacant.
"If you don't court death, you won't die. I had intended to spare you, but unfortunately, you didn't cherish the chance. If there's a next life, rember not to be soone else's cannon fodder. Live and let live."
Hong Yu sighed softly. His gaze was cold and clear as he tilted his head slightly, looking toward the pavilion.
A green light flickered in his left eye, seeming to pierce through the thick walls of the pavilion to see Guo Fei inside. A cold, grim smile appeared on his lips as he mouthed a ssage to the person in the pavilion: *You're next!*
BOOM!
Inside the pavilion, Guo Fei's aura exploded. The table and chairs behind him shattered into pieces. His gaze was utterly grim. "Good, good, good! What a Hong Yu! You will pay the price for your arrogance!"
Aside from the two individuals at the top of the high tower, no one else in the Martial Arts Arena knew about the silent confrontation between Hong Yu and Guo Fei in the pavilion.
At this mont, everyone was still reeling from the shock of the battle that had just concluded.
"This Hong Yu is just too badass, isn't he?"
"Holy shit! Did you guys see that? Not even Chen Xing with a dagger could hurt him in the slightest! That guy must have cultivated so Body Refining Divine Techniques!"
"So domineering! From now on, Hong Yu is my idol!"
Hearing the fervent discussion from the crowd below, Hong Yu's expression was calm as he looked toward the Steward...
"Next fight. Who is my opponent?"
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