24 Ruthless

For these few tens of days, Zhong Yue had been dwelling in his cultivation. As such, he was cut off from the affairs of the upper house. He only returned to the upper house the day that the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion was to reopen and the upper house disciples he encountered were all conversing about the annual Lawless Battles held at years end.

I've only entered the upper house for a short period time. I didn't know that they actually placed such importance on the battles!

As he walked toward the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion, he could feel the solemn atmosphere that permeated all around the upper house disciples. He inwardly thought, But it is natural for them as it's irrelevant whether they are from the poor, rich or the noble families. They would still be kicked out if they couldn't manifest their own spirit by sixteen years old. Therefore, this battle must be the hope of all upper house disciples! Of course, if I could reach the requirement stipulated by Xin Huo, I wouldn't even need to get into Ethereal Palace. But his condition is so exorbitant that it could be considered impossible. With my standard now, I am still far from fitting his requirements.

Outside of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion, there were already some disciples who decided to compete with each other. The aspects they competed in were not only limited to themselves but also their totem pillars, soul weapons, and other precious items.

Hundreds upon hundreds of upper house disciples would form a makeshift stage as they surrounded two disciples competing with each other in a circle as they employed various methods and means to defeat their foes.

Zhong Yue even saw some forming feathery wings with their psyche and bringing the battle to the air. Soul weapons were flying everywhere, and their owners were also using all sorts of skills to best their opponents.

"What is this? Why are there so many new faces in the upper house suddenly?"

Zhong Yue looked carefully, and he realized that the two sides that were competing were the upper house disciples and some new faces. Suddenly, one upper house disciple fighting in the air was struck down and fell very hard onto the ground. Luckily, he only suffered injuries instead of losing his life.

This was not just pure competition at all, as those from the upper house disciples wouldn't be so cruel to injure each other severely. These new faces didn't even show any sign of holding back at all!

Pu——

Suddenly, Zhong Yue saw one familiar figure being hurled away from the competition, falling onto the ground helplessly.

Zhong Yue materialized the lightning dragon with his psyche and prevented that person from falling to the ground. He walked toward him and asked, "Senior Martial Brother He, what happened? Who are these people?"

The person who was hurled away was He Chengchuan! He wiped away the blood trickling out from his mouth and barked, "These guys are those outer disciples who were training in the inner hall, they are here to ask for a fight!"

"The outer disciples who trained in the inner hall?"

Zhong Yue was confused for a moment, but he immediately understood the meaning of what He Chengchuan said. In order to become an inner hall disciple and to train under the hall masters or elders, one would have had to cultivate out a spirit, thereby becoming a Qi Practitioner. The more prominent clans, however, reserve the privilege of being able to send some of its core disciples from the clan to train under these Qi Practitioners.

For example, Yu Feiyan from the You Yu Clan is one of them. She could seek advice from the Qi Practitioners of the You Yu Clan to aid her in her cultivation at her leisure. However, she didn't like to stay in the inner hall as opposed to the core disciples that hailed from the other clans and so in turn they had little to no contact with the upper house disciples.

Although these people trained in the inner hall, they are still considered as outer disciples. Many of these people would usually rush here to participate in the annual Lawless Battles at the end of every year.

As for why they challenged the upper house disciples, it was because they wanted to understand the strength of the hidden aces among the upper house disciples as they knew nothing about them.

There has always been a saying that said, "Only by knowing yourself and your enemy, would you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

"These people are the core disciples from the Shui Tu Clan and Li Shan Clan of the top ten clans. Not only was I beaten up, but Senior Martial Sister Ting was also beaten!"

He Chengchuan spat out the blood in his mouth, and he seethed, "They have crossed the line! We agreed not to injure anyone, but they severely injured Senior Martial Sister Ting!"

"Shui Tu Clan?"

Zhong Yue could feel the anger threatening to overwhelm him from the inside, but he continued to maintain his veneer of tranquility, Shui Tu Clan! Qi Practitioners from Shui Tu Clan fraternized with the demons, and they helped Tian Myriad Mother to escape. The higher-ups from the Shui Tu Clan summoned Shui Qingyan and cost her her life and soul as Tian Myriad Mother possessed her! Hahaha….

"You seem to be very skillful. Interested in dueling with me?"

The disciple who injured He Chengchuan looked at Zhong Yue as he laughed and said, "Judging from the realistic Jiao Dragon and the roaring thunder totem with traces of [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] hidden it, I assume you must be a disciple under Elder Pu? I've sought instruction from the disciples under Elder Pu, and so far they failed to live up to expectations. I can see that you are quite different from them, seeing that you are able to combine the Jiao Dragon totem and thunder totem patterns together. You must be one who has understood its true quintessence … you must have some capability."

As an experienced disciple who trained under a Qi Practitioner, it could be said that he could see things that the others could not.

Zhong Yue remained expressionless, and he said softly, "Which are you? Shui Tu Clan or Li Shan Clan?"

That disciple laughed and said, "Shui Tu Clan's Shui Lingshan."

Zhong Yue nodded and walked forward. He Chengchuan endured his pain and quickly grabbed his hand and said, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, don't be too serious. The Shui Tu Clan is one of the top ten clans in the Great Wilderness. You've already offended the Tian Feng Clan, try not to pile on another enmity with another major clan…"

Zhong Yue gently shook off his hands and smiled at him, "Senior Martial Brother He, don't worry, I know what to do."

"Don't be too serious?"

That Shui Lingshan from Shui Tu Clan could not hold back his laughter and said, "Perhaps you should ask me to go softer on him? To be honest, while I dueled with him, I only used about seventy percent of my strength. My junior martial brother, you could just use your full strength without holding back. I hope you could live up to my expectations."

"Alright."

When they were around ten feet apart, Zhong Yue squinted his eyes and whispered, "Shui Tu Clan…."

BOOM!

The quartz slabs under his legs suddenly cracked into thousand pieces and flew in every direction. The ground Zhong Yue stood on suddenly sank and a footprint faintly resembling the mark of a Jiao Dragon's claw appeared. It looked like a fierce Jiao Dragon unleashed its strength and cracked open the ground asunder!

Zhong Yue's body shot out, and as he dashed forward, a dragon roared so loud as if it could reach up into the skies as if signaling the end of the world. Meanwhile, around his body, a Jiao Dragon could be seen winding up around him quickly!

Shui Lingshan blinked, and as he opened his eyes again, Zhong Yue could be seen standing in front of him with his arms raised up with a dragon claw fiercely slamming on his chest!

Dong!

A loud sound like the sound of a drum resounded and followed which was the unmistakable sound of cracking bone. Shui Lingshan's body could then be seen bending unnaturally as he flew toward the back before crashing into a thick pillar in front of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion. He did not stop flying toward the end after slamming into the pillar. Instead, he continued rolling on the ground for another few hundred feet like a ragdoll cut from its string—the kinetic energy of Zhong Yue's attack seemingly refusing to disperse!

The other battles that were still ongoing in front of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion suddenly stopped because of Zhong Yue's attack that was shocking to the extreme.

The terrifying strength erupted in that split second was just simply inconceivable!

At that moment, all the battles stopped, and all the disciples looked over toward them.

"Brother Lingshan!"

Two Shui Tu Clan disciples shouted in shock and quickly rushed toward Shui Lingshan and helped him to get up. Shui Lingshan could not even move, and there was a crater on his chest as a few bones of his rib cage were shattered.

"Such heavy injuries?"

The two Shui Tu Clan disciple face changed and stared at Zhong Yue fiercely while shouting, "Was this even necessary?"

"I've already gone soft on him. I did not even use my full strength."

Zhong Yue remained calm and expressionless as he continued, "I only used seventy percent of my strength, he would've died if I used my full strength."

In his psyche ocean, Xin Huo was lecturing him, "Your strength is still not swift enough, if it is, the moment it strikes your opponent, it will shatter him into pieces! Don't talk about seventy percent, even fifty percent of your strength could've killed that brat! You need more practice. You are not swift enough!"

"Seventy percent of your strength?"

One of the two Shui Tu Clan disciples helped Shui Lingshan to get some medical care while the other one walked up. He then said coldly, "You are a disciple under Elder Pu? You cultivate the physique-refining arts? No wonder you are that fast, pure body-refining arts could train one's body to be far stronger than anyone else, and in close quarter combat, Brother Lingshan was not aware of your cunning and let you have your chance. If he had been more aware of that, how would you be able to win that easily?"

He raised his hands, and a totem pillar flew out. Waves could be seen emitting from the totem pillar, and the waves quickly surrounded them. As the ripples spread everywhere, the upper disciples in the totem pillar's area of effect could feel an immense pressure on them, rendering them immobile.

An ordinary totem pillar could only cover a radius of two to three feet, but this totem pillar could cover a radius of a few ten feet, and it was self-evident that this was not something an ordinary disciple could get his hands on!

"Those who only focus on body-refining arts have veered away from the true path, and they will only end up being useless in the end. With just a little bit of help from my beloved totem pillar, I could easily suppress a person who only focuses on the body-refining techniques!"

The Shui Tu Clan disciple looked at the Jiao Dragon winding around Zhong Yue's body, he smirked and said, "Besides, your Jiao Dragon is only form and devoid of substance—no flesh, no bone, and no soul. It is still far from being a real Jiao Dragon! Come on, show me your so-called seventy percent strength!"

Zhong Yue stomped, and suddenly, everything stopped. The waves initially instigated by the totem pillar suddenly flew away as if a huge tsunami slammed into it and the pressure exerted on everyone around it was lifted instantly!

The Shui Tu Clan disciple was stunned by Zhong Yue's strength, and the next thing he saw was Zhong Yue's fists only a few inches away from his face. He quickly tried to visualize his skills but how could he have made it in time when Zhong Yue was literally only a few inches away from him?

"Seventy percent of my strength."

Zhong Yue said calmly, and his fist mercilessly slammed on the specter created by the Shui Tu Clan disciples. The disciple flew to the back as if he were rammed by a huge rhino traveling at immense speed. He flew and rolled on the ground for a few tens of feet until the force Zhong Yue applied on him finally dispersed!

"I didn't even have the time to visualize! How is he moving that fast?"

The Shui Tu Clan disciple was slammed with great shock and blood flowed out from his mouth like a fountain. He tried to get up but to no avail, and he said in anger, "How could his explosive force be that terrifyingly strong?"

"Any other Shui Tu Clan disciples?"

Zhong Yue looked around as the hundreds of disciples remained silent in front of the Knowledge Teaching Pavilion. His voice could then sounded out again, "I want to fight ten of them.