Chapter 22: Rewriting Defeat

Furthermore, Yang Kai looked battered right now, clearly having just endured some hardship. How could he have any strength left to fight? Coupled with his scrawny, malnourished frame, it was extremely easy for others to underestimate him. Almost everyone believed that Yang Kai was doomed today. Even Xia Ningshang, who was standing in a nearby tree, thought the same.

As a disciple of the Dark Hall, Xia Ningshang had shown up uninvited once again to record Yang Kai’s battle results.

"That doesn’t seem right. How can I let a junior brother yield to me?" Yang Kai hesitated.

"There’s nothing wrong with it," Zhao Hu insisted. "As your junior brother, letting you have three moves is only proper! Haha!"

"Alright then." Yang Kai looked somewhat reluctant. "Since Junior Brother Zhao insists, then your senior brother won’t hold back."

"Bring it on!" Zhao Hu let out a muffled shout, planting his feet firmly like a boulder. His muscles bulged, veins popping beneath his skin.

Watching the scrawny-limbed Yang Kai walk toward him step by step, Zhao Hu sneered inwardly. He thought, "With a tiny frame like yours, I could blow you away with a single breath. What kind of Power Dao could you possibly muster?"

Yang Kai slowly ambled up to Zhao Hu, raised a fist, and deliberately waved it in front of his eyes. "Junior Brother Zhao, your senior brother is really going to hit you now," he said with a smile.

"Come on!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Yang Kai’s fist had already smashed into Zhao Hu’s chest.

With a muffled THUD, the onlookers didn’t even see a trace of Yang Kai moving. This punch had somehow landed in a completely bizarre fashion.

Zhao Hu’s face went pale, his chest involuntarily caving inward.

THUD! A second punch arrived, striking Zhao Hu in the abdomen. Zhao Hu’s body violently hunched over as he felt a surge of stomach acid churning upward.

SMACK! Yang Kai snapped out a kick, whipping it right under Zhao Hu’s chin. Zhao Hu was sent flying, crashing to the ground and lying motionless.

He had won!

The entire venue was dead silent; one could hear a pin drop. Everyone stared at Yang Kai in shock, their eyes filled with disbelief. Su Mu’s eyes were especially wide, nearly bulging out of their sockets.

Two punches and one kick. Zhao Hu, someone at the Fifth Level of Body Tempering Realm, had been sent flying. Was this really something someone at the Third Level of Body Tempering could pull off?

Even though Zhao Hu hadn’t fought back from start to finish, this Power Dao was simply too massive. How could someone send a hundred-plus-pound man flying over a dozen feet away without significant strength? Furthermore, the speed was incredibly fast. One moment Zhao Hu was wearing a contemptuous smile, and the next, he was knocked completely unconscious.

Not only did the crowd gathered in front of the small hut refuse to believe their eyes, but even Xia Ningshang, who was observing and recording from the treetops, felt the same. Her small notebook clearly recorded Yang Kai’s battle history: for over two years, he had suffered one hundred and forty-seven defeats without a single victory. Yet, that record was actually rewritten today!

And he had won so cleanly and decisively. Xia Ningshang had been standing lightly on a branch, her posture graceful and elegant, but in her shock, she failed to catch her breath and circulate her Primordial Qi. Her Light Body Technique was instantly interrupted, and her body plummeted downward.

With a soft RUSTLE, the veiled woman tumbled all the way down from the thirty-foot-high branch. She landed firmly on her rear, unable to stop herself from crying out, "Ah!"

Fortunately, she was agile and possessed quick reflexes, managing to redirect some of her momentum at the last moment. Otherwise, the consequences of this fall would have been quite severe. Even so, her perky buttocks stung with a burning pain. She pressed her rosy lips tightly together as a layer of mist welled up in her limpid eyes.

Enduring the pain, she slowly stood up, her long, beautiful legs trembling slightly. Xia Ningshang nervously looked around and let out a sigh of relief when she realized no one had seen her. If anyone had seen her in such a state, it would have been a massive humiliation.

Circulating her Primordial Qi to soothe the pain in her backside, a light flashed in Xia Ningshang’s eyes. She simply couldn’t figure it out. How had Yang Kai’s strength increased by so much when she hadn’t seen him for just a few days?

The onlookers had low cultivation and couldn’t discern anything profound, but how could Xia Ningshang’s eye for detail be compared to that of ordinary people? In the split second Yang Kai made his move, Xia Ningshang clearly sensed the thrum of Qi Sensing within his Meridians. Being able to cultivate Qi Sensing meant he had clearly reached the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm. Moreover, from the looks of it, Yang Kai’s strength seemed to exceed the fourth level.

But wasn’t he only at the Third Level of Body Tempering just a few days ago?

She thought indignantly, "This stinky junior brother! He actually hid his strength. Not only did he startle those people, but he also shocked me into falling out of a tree. How absolutely detestable!" Faintly, Xia Ningshang had already blamed the pain in her rear entirely on Yang Kai.

Yang Kai glanced in the direction where Xia Ningshang was hiding. Although her miserable yelp just now had been brief, he had heard it. However, because she was quite far away, he didn’t notice anything unusual and decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he furrowed his brows and looked at his own fist, seemingly a bit dissatisfied.

Yang Kai was indeed dissatisfied. After all, this was his first time sparring with someone since acquiring the Proud Bone Golden Form. He hadn’t controlled his Power Dao well in the heat of the moment and had actually sent Zhao Hu flying. Originally, he had only intended to make the opponent stumble a bit. It seemed his Power Dao was greater than he had anticipated.

In the clearing, Su Mu was the first to recover from the shock. Pointing at Yang Kai, he shouted loudly, "You cheated!"

Yang Kai looked at him leisurely. "Junior Brother Su, you can eat whatever you want, but you shouldn’t speak nonsense. How did I cheat?"

Su Mu was momentarily at a loss for words. Indeed, how had he cheated? Zhao Hu had stood there motionless, arrogantly boasting that he would let Yang Kai have three free moves. As a result, the guy really finished him off in three moves. How could something that happened right in front of everyone’s eyes be considered cheating? And how could he possibly have cheated?

"Young Master Su, it looks like our intel was wrong. This kid’s strength is beyond the Third Level of Body Tempering! I’m afraid he’s already advanced; otherwise, how could he move Zhao Hu?" someone with a sharp eye who noticed some clues whispered to Su Mu.

"So that’s how it is." Su Mu nodded, his expression dark. "Zhao Hu was too careless. If they had really fought, how could he have been defeated by him?"

In Su Mu’s mind, Zhao Hu’s defeat this time was purely due to carelessness. After all, even if Yang Kai had advanced, he would only be at the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm. There was still a gap between him and Zhao Hu. If they had actually fought, Yang Kai would have undoubtedly lost.

"Senior Brother Yang, you hid your strength quite well!" Su Mu glared at Yang Kai coldly. He hadn’t been able to vent his frustrations today, and holding it all in his chest was truly unbearable.

Yang Kai shrugged noncommittally.

"We have plenty of time ahead of us. You won’t be so lucky next time!" Su Mu snorted coldly and led his group back the way they came. One of his lackeys stepped forward to carry the unconscious Zhao Hu on his back, glaring fiercely at Yang Kai before leaving.

The feud had truly been forged. Yang Kai, however, didn’t mind. In any case, the Sect had its own rules. If they wanted to cause trouble for him, they would have to challenge him properly.

Furthermore, he needed someone to test out his Cultivation; otherwise, he wouldn’t know how much he had grown. With this thought in mind, Yang Kai felt that making an enemy of Su Mu was actually a fortunate thing.

Today’s battle had truly been a bit unsatisfying. With a heavy sigh, Yang Kai felt somewhat unfulfilled.

Su Mu left, and the spectacle came to an end. Naturally, the crowd of onlookers dispersed. However, many people still felt as if they were in a dream. That Trial Disciple, Yang Kai, who hadn’t tasted a single victory in over two years, had actually won a match today. Although there was an element of trickery involved, a win was still a win.