While the two of them leisurely engaged in their friendly combat, thousands of outer sect disciples were scattered throughout the mountain range. Most of them were continuously hunting various ferocious beasts to accumulate points for the sect's grand competition.
In a certain part of the mountain's flank, a burly and ugly-looking young man named Qi peng walked along a mountain path. Following closely behind him was a young man with an honest face, carrying a package filled with their spoils.
At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed, and a massive ferocious beast, several meters tall, leaped out from the nearby jungle. It charged straight toward Qipeng, descending like a small mountain with terrifying momentum.
Qi peng remained calm, gripping his longsword tightly, refusing to evade. His blood surged, and his clothes billowed. He executed the advanced Meteor Sword Art, meeting the descending ferocious beast head-on.
With a deafening crash, his powerful strike directly severed one of the beast's gigantic claws and plunged into its chest, causing blood to spurt out.
Before the beast's blood could splash onto him, Qipeng swiftly shifted his position, withdrawing his sword and repositioning himself behind the wounded creature.
The beast let out a howl of agony as it instinctively flailed wildly. Its movements became extremely violent, and it swung its intact claw towards its back with tremendous force, generating a howling gust of wind.
Unfazed, Qi peng swiftly dodged the attack and thrust his sword into the beast's waist. He then evaded once more.
The creature's tenacity far exceeded that of human beings at the same level. Being a several meters tall ferocious beast, it was among the stronger ones in the body refining realm. Even though Qipeng's strength was at the pinnacle of the body refining realm, it wasn't an easy task to kill such a beast.
The battle between man and beast was intense and chaotic, causing the surrounding terrain to be utterly destroyed.
One minute later, the beast, covered in wounds, finally collapsed with a resounding crash, raising a cloud of dust into the air.
Qi peng showed no signs of exhaustion, calmly severed the left ear of the fallen beast, and tossed it to the young man accompanying him before continuing on his way.
It wasn't only Qi peng; many other powerful outer sect disciples were also hunting within the trial area.
As for the less formidable outer sect disciples, they either cooperated in small groups or cautiously searched the mountain range for less powerful prey.
On the other side, after leaving the cave, Su Li began cautiously searching the forested area. According to his employer, Lei Song, he would secretly tail the target and leave special marks on the tree trunks at a specific height to indicate the direction.
"Five meters high, half-moon mark..."
As he moved carefully, his gaze scanned one tree trunk after another. Suddenly, his expression changed.
On a stout tree trunk, he spotted an inconspicuous half-moon-shaped mark, thicker at the top and narrower at the bottom. The direction indicated by the lower end was the path the target had taken.
Su Li immediately turned around and continued to move cautiously.
...
"You can't rely on your robust physique to charge recklessly into battle. If I manage to hit your vital points three times, you lose. Otherwise, you won't gain any combat experience. Furthermore, you can't strike too heavily, no face hits, and definitely no hits to sensitive areas," Bu Hanyi earnestly said to Jiang Heng.
She wouldn't have needed to make such demands if her opponent were an ordinary person. However, she had noticed that Jiang Heng was evidently an unscrupulous young man who wouldn't consider her female status during their duel.
Indeed, after repeated requests from Jiang Heng, Bu Hanyi had ultimately agreed to the duel.
"Alright, I agree!" Jiang Heng decisively nodded.
With his overpowering physique, there was no way he could lose, so what harm was there in making some concessions?
The two of them returned to the open space on the side and stood facing each other once more.
Once they entered the combat state, they cast aside all distractions and focused intently.
Suddenly,
"Swish!"
Both of them moved simultaneously, like arrows cutting through the air at lightning speed.
Just before they were about to make contact, a silver-like streak of light flashed between them without warning.
It was Bu Hanyi's sword!
Her perfected Radiant Pursuit Sword Technique executed like lightning!
Jiang Heng had already been on alert and had prepared for this strike.
However, this move was just too fast!
He could only shift his body slightly in time to allow the sword to pierce into his lower right abdomen.
"One strike," they both silently counted in their hearts.
As Jiang Heng evaded, he lowered his right hand to grip the blade and simultaneously used his left hand to strike towards Bu Hanyi's head.
Bu Hanyi, on the other hand, had already initiated her move the moment she thrust her first sword.
She knew very well that whether her initial strike hit or not, she would face Jiang Heng's counterattack.
So.
As the sword tip pierced Jiang Heng's body, Bu Hanyi immediately shifted her body to the side, perfectly evading Jiang Heng's incoming palm strike.
In response, Jiang Heng curled his lips into a sly smile. As long as he withstood the first strike, he, with his faster movement speed, would have complete control of the situation.
Without any warning, he charged horizontally like a wild bull, heading straight for the moving Bu Hanyi.
His perfected Profound-Level Gale Step was incredibly powerful!
His footwork almost completely disregarded the inertia of movement, allowing him to change direction without any warning, and his speed was astonishing.
"Crash!"
Jiang Heng's shoulder forcefully collided with Bu Hanyi's body.
Under the tremendous force, Bu Hanyi's face changed dramatically, and her body involuntarily veered to the side.
Jiang Heng's steps didn't pause for a moment, and he quickly caught up to her, reaching out with a big hand.
In the midst of Bu Hanyi's panicked gaze, he grabbed her wrist, stopping her retreat.
"You lose."
"Ding! Victory in a cross-level battle, gaining 5,000 potential points!" the announcement rang out.
Jiang Heng's expression froze.
"Potential points are halved?"
"Is it because of consecutive battles, or is the battle not intense enough?" he pondered.
"Let's go again!" Bu Hanyi gritted her teeth, feeling somewhat unwilling.
She was also one of the top geniuses within the sect and had her own pride. In the previous sect competition last year, at the age of only 16, she had achieved 29th place, causing a sensation throughout the outer sect and even drawing the attention of some higher-ups within the sect.
After a year of cultivation, she had made significant progress in both her cultivation and various martial arts techniques.
Although she hadn't said it aloud, in her heart, she was determined to win the championship in this year's sect competition.
However, now, she had been easily defeated by the newly emerging genius Jiang Heng. Moreover, she had broken through to become a True Qi realm martial artist while he had intentionally limited his physique.
With this combination of factors, she found herself without any means to fight back.
She couldn't tolerate this kind of failure!