Shen Xiang walked onto the martial arts stage, appearing relaxed. He did not feel anxious about facing four adults, and this calmness and confidence garnered respect from others.
The four young men standing with Shen Xiang on the martial arts stage were all about twenty years old, but they were slightly shorter than Shen Xiang, and their builds were not as robust. In contrast, Shen Xiang appeared much sturdier than them.
On the sidelines, Leng Youlan watched Shen Xiang intently, her beautiful, icy eyes sizing him up, trying to see through him. Yet, to her confusion, she sensed nothing from Shen Xiang.
"Begin!"
As soon as the command was given, the four young men simultaneously charged at Shen Xiang with incredible speed, each launching a punch. Their fists were infused with rich true qi, and everyone could clearly see the terrifying energy emanating from those four fists, as if they could smash a mountain.
Shen Xiang stood still with his hands behind his back, his expression calm. The four fists collided violently against his body, producing a shockwave that stirred a fierce wind, causing the entire martial arts stage to shake violently, nearly collapsing. In that instant, it felt like everyone's heart had stopped. Such a terrifying attack from four people at once aimed at one target—if it were a human, even a block of iron would be shattered.
Yet Shen Xiang remained unfazed. The four fists struck his chest and back, and he didn't even furrow his brow, standing there relaxed. This left the entire square silent, with everyone dumbfounded, their faces full of disbelief.
Leng Youlan furrowed her brows tightly, her gaze fixed on Shen Xiang. Even she, despite her strength, could barely withstand those simultaneous attacks from four fists using her true qi. Yet Shen Xiang hadn't even prepared; he casually endured the blows.
With his advancement to the eighth level of the Ordinary Martial Realm, Shen Xiang's body, tempered by the celestial and demonic forces, had become even stronger. The attacks from the sixth level of the Ordinary Martial Realm were merely trivial to him.
The most shocked were undoubtedly the four young men who attacked Shen Xiang. Their terrifying blows landed on Shen Xiang like stones sinking into the ocean, vanishing without a sound, making them doubt their own strength as they realized that Shen Xiang had withstood their assault with nothing but his physical body!
They all instinctively retreated. The mere fact that Shen Xiang could casually endure their simultaneous attacks spoke volumes about his formidable power.
Suddenly, Shen Xiang's eyes gleamed, and an invisible aura of murderous intent burst forth from him, causing the four young men to feel a chill run down their spines, as if they had fallen into a hell of slaughter, with Shen Xiang being a god of death capable of easily slaying them.
"Will you leave on your own, or should I send you down myself?" A hint of killing intent flashed across Shen Xiang's lips, chilling the air. This was the aura of "Heart of Slaughter," a technique he learned from the White Tiger Divine Skill, capable of instilling mental pressure in others.
As soon as Shen Xiang spoke, the four young men fled in panic. Under the overwhelming influence of Shen Xiang's terrifying murderous aura, they were already mentally broken down and had no thought of resistance.
From the start, Shen Xiang hadn't even lifted a finger, and he scared off the four young men, advancing to the top eight! This outcome shocked everyone, and the pressure on those who made it to the top eight increased significantly. Faced with a monster like Shen Xiang, their chances of victory had shrunk.
Next, the groupings for the next round were decided, still controlled by the Yao family. Shen Xiang didn't comment, as he felt that it didn't matter who he fought; regardless of how the Yao family tried to manipulate things, it would not affect him in the slightest.
To his surprise, his opponent turned out to be a disciple of the Yao family, apparently the older brother of Yao Tianhua, named Yao Cong, who was at the sixth level of the Ordinary Martial Realm.
This took Shen Xiang by surprise, but he suspected things wouldn't be that simple. The Yao family knew his strength all too well; arranging one of their own family members to fight him surely had ulterior motives.
Most disciples of the Yao family focused on planting spiritual herbs or learning alchemy, which caused them to lag behind in terms of strength initially. Yao Tianhua had decent abilities in alchemy and was not bad in cultivation, but since he had gone missing, the Yao family could barely produce any outstanding disciples.
The Yao family primarily relied on pills to enhance their strength against other families, recruiting many warriors into their ranks.
Shen Xiang was the last to compete, with only two matches scheduled for the morning and afternoon of the next day. He had no plans to watch, preferring to focus on alchemy and cultivation instead.
Two days later, after having lunch, Shen Xiang headed to the Yao family. Although he hadn't watched the matches from the previous day and the morning, he learned that both the crown prince and Leng Youlan had won, and they would be paired against each other in the next match tomorrow morning.
"This match between the crown prince and the general's daughter should be interesting. I'll have to come and watch tomorrow," Shen Xiang thought as he ascended the martial arts stage, waiting for Yao Cong to arrive.
Though the Southern Martial Nation had many martial arts families, it still maintained an army, as the borders frequently faced incursions from barbaric tribes.
For the match between Shen Xiang and Yao Cong, everyone expected Shen Xiang to win, but they were puzzled as to why the Yao family would let Yao Cong fight against him, seeing it as a thankless task.
"Truly impressive that you could defeat Tianhua so thoroughly. I hope Brother Shen can go easy on me later," Yao Cong approached Shen Xiang with a smile.
Yao Cong bore some resemblance to Yao Tianhua, with a hint of arrogance in his demeanor, though he appeared more composed than Yao Tianhua.
Shen Xiang was surprised that a disciple of the Yao family would act so polite, and he smiled back, saying, "Then let's have a friendly spar."
As they exchanged words, the two stepped back.
"Begin!"
At that moment, Shen Xiang suddenly caught a glimpse of a ruthless and cunning glint in Yao Cong's eyes. His heart sank, realizing that something was amiss.
Yao Cong was the first to attack, stepping forward to confront Shen Xiang, his fists enveloped in blazing flames, emanating a thick and intense heat.
As Yao Cong's fists came crashing down, Shen Xiang immediately dodged. However, in that instant, he felt a wave of weakness wash over him, rendering him unable to exert any strength, not even able to channel his true qi. This left him horrified.
Yao Cong's face twisted into a cruel grin as he said, "Shen Xiang, you're finished." As he spoke, his fiery fists fell upon Shen Xiang like raindrops, striking him violently. Within moments, Shen Xiang's upper body and head were bombarded by the frenzied punches.
"What the hell, he's actually at the seventh level of the Ordinary Martial Realm!" Shen Xiang was shocked to discover that Yao Cong had been hiding his true strength. What enraged him the most was that Yao Cong had used underhanded tactics to incapacitate him, rendering him powerless.
Shen Xiang's physique was remarkably resilient; although he had endured the heavy blows from Yao Cong, he wasn't severely injured, which startled Yao Cong as well.
"You sprayed an invisible poison while you were speaking, didn't you? It paralyzed my meridians, preventing my true qi from circulating, right?" Shen Xiang said quietly, his clear and steady gaze fixed on Yao Cong.
Yao Cong hadn't expected Shen Xiang to realize his trick so quickly, but he didn't answer and continued to rain punches down on Shen Xiang!