Ling Yixue finally struck back.
With both palms thrusting out, the air instantly froze, and patches of ice flowers formed on Ling Tieshou’s body.
Ling Tieshou’s expression changed drastically as he hurriedly retreated.
But it was futile. Though Ling Yixue’s movement skills weren’t as good as Ling Xiao’s, they surpassed Ling Tieshou’s. A palm landed squarely on his chest.
The upper half of Ling Tieshou’s body froze solid in an instant.
“Ling Yixue wins!”
The referee promptly announced the result, which was already obvious.
Hearing the referee’s voice, Ling Yixue withdrew her delicate hands, and the ice layer shattered instantly.
Ling Tieshou broke out in a cold sweat behind his back, looking at Ling Yixue in terror, “I’m no match for you!”
He knew deep down that if Ling Yixue had gone all out from the start, he might not have lasted three moves.
“Senior Sister Yixue’s strength is incredible, she defeated Ling Tieshou, ranked fourth, so easily!”
The elite hall experts all wore looks of astonishment.
They knew Ling Yixue was strong, but they hadn’t expected her to be this strong.
They clearly remembered that just a month ago, Ling Yixue had fought Ling Tieshou.
Back then, though she won, it was a hard-fought victory.
But today, she won with such ease and grace.
“I’m afraid only Ling Yihang and Ling Feng in the elite hall are worthy of challenging Ling Yixue.”
“No, Ling Yixue is definitely no match for Ling Yihang, that monster has already broken through to the fourth level of martial veins, but Ling Feng might give her a run for her money.”
Regardless, the top three in the elite hall remained the top three.
Up to now, Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, and Ling Feng were undefeated, with no one able to challenge their positions.
Naturally, these three became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Whether they could challenge the dominance of the genius hall depended on them.
As for Ling Xiao.
Though he performed brilliantly, most people still didn’t think he could compare to the top three.
After watching the match between Ling Yixue and Ling Tieshou, Ling Xiao returned to the sparring platform.
Because he was about to face his next opponent.
A relatively strong one, at that.
This opponent was Ling Cheng, who had dropped from his original ranking to fifth after losing to Ling Feng.
Even so, he remained a standout among the elite hall’s top ten.
What made this guy terrifying was his mastery of body-tempering skills. If you couldn’t break his defence, you’d just be waiting to get crushed.
So far, Ling Cheng had only lost twice—once to Ling Yihang and once to Ling Yixue, both times conceding outright.
He hadn’t yet faced Ling Feng or Ling Tieshou, so his record was still impressive.
“Ling Xiao, you’d better surrender now, I don’t want to waste energy on you, I need to save my true qi for Ling Feng!”
Having lost to Ling Feng before, Ling Cheng was obsessed with revenge.
He didn’t even take Ling Xiao seriously, his eyes fixed solely on Ling Feng.
Below the stage, those who disliked Ling Xiao smirked with schadenfreude.
Serves you right for being so cocky, now you’ve met a real tough guy!
To be fair, their gloating wasn’t entirely baseless.
After all, up to this point, Ling Cheng was the strongest opponent Ling Xiao had faced.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother Ling Cheng, I’ll take care of Ling Feng for you!”
Ling Xiao said lightly.
“You arrogant brat! As if you could beat Ling Feng! You don’t know when to quit, fine, I’ll finish you in three moves to save my strength.”
Ling Xiao smiled, “I hear Senior Brother Ling Cheng’s body-tempering skills are impressive, well, my Barbaric Bull Strength can double as a body-tempering skill too, why don’t you try three moves, Senior Brother? If I lose, I’ll concede.”
This was pure tit-for-tat.
You look down on me? Well, I look down on you too.
“You!”
Ling Cheng gritted his teeth in anger. He’d always held himself in high regard, yet now even random nobodies dared to belittle him.
“You asked for it, don’t blame me!”
Ling Xiao said nothing more, standing there as he activated the basic martial art Barbaric Bull Strength.
But this time, it wasn’t for offence—it was for defence.
True qi coated his body, forming a thin membrane almost visible to the naked eye.
Though it was just a membrane, its defensive power was astonishing.
“This kid has practically brought Barbaric Bull Strength to life!”
An elder in the referee’s stand sighed, “To use Barbaric Bull Strength for defence, that’s something only possible after reaching the transformation realm, I’m afraid he’s the only one in the Ling family who can pull it off.”
“Hmph, just showing off!”
Ling Cheng clenched his fists, a layer of golden true qi wrapping around them, making them look like they were forged from gold.
That terrifying power was no less than an attack with a weapon.
“Such formidable strength!”
“Yeah, that’s probably the advanced fist technique Diamond Fist, paired with the body-tempering skill Diamond Skill, it’s even more powerful!”
“Heh, everyone knows Ling Cheng’s defence is incredible, but what many don’t realise is he’s the only genius who can use body-tempering skills offensively, even Ling Feng and Ling Yixue wouldn’t dare take this attack head-on.”
“Ling Xiao’s too full of himself!”
The crowd’s chatter said it all—nobody was betting on Ling Xiao, they all thought his winning streak had made him arrogant.
It didn’t matter against weaker opponents, but facing the fifth-ranked Ling Cheng with this attitude was practically suicide.
Hearing the crowd, Ling Xiao just smiled faintly.
His Mountain and River Martial Soul had already analysed Ling Cheng’s level thoroughly—he wasn’t much stronger than Ling Ziran, ranked twentieth.
Both were peak third-level martial vein practitioners using advanced martial arts.
The difference, if any, lay in the power of their techniques and combat skills.
In Ling Xiao’s view, aside from the top three, everyone else in the elite hall could potentially challenge each other.
Boom—!
Ling Cheng’s fists slammed into Ling Xiao’s body, producing a deafening sound that shook the entire platform a few times.
Yet, shockingly, Ling Xiao stood there with a faint smile, not even furrowing his brow.
“No way, is Barbaric Bull Strength’s defence that terrifying?”
Ling Cheng’s heart reeled, as if ten thousand bulls had stampeded through it—he was utterly stunned.
After one move, the difference between them was already clear.
One stood motionless, while the attacker was forced back two steps by the recoil before steadying himself.
The crowd below was even more dumbfounded, waves of shock surging through their minds.
Truth be told, before Ling Xiao, no one had paid much attention to a basic martial art like Barbaric Bull Strength.
It was seen as a stepping stone, discarded once better techniques were learned.
Who could’ve thought that in Ling Xiao’s hands, Barbaric Bull Strength would become so formidable?
Ling Cheng stabilised himself, staring at Ling Xiao in horror—this monster!
This guy’s defence was impenetrable!
Ling Xiao just smiled lightly, standing there still, with no intention of attacking.
After analysis by his Mountain and River Martial Soul, Barbaric Bull Strength’s defence had reached a conclusion: as long as the opponent was below peak third-level martial veins and didn’t use gang qi, they couldn’t break through.
And this was just Barbaric Bull Strength at the transformation realm.
Ling Xiao hadn’t even used the upgraded Bull Demon Technique: Barbaric Bull Transformation yet.
Not to mention, he had the Bull Demon Technique: Explosive Qi Technique to pair with it.
Plus, he hadn’t touched his gang qi at all so far.
Who knew what it would take to force him to reveal all his cards?
Could Ling Yihang do it?
Or perhaps the top ten from the genius hall?
