Chapter 47: Indestructible

At this moment, a brief pause occurred on the stage, but there was no doubt that the battle between Ling Xiao and Ling Cheng had become the focal point of all the martial arenas.

Just like the battle between Ling Yixue and Ling Tieshou earlier.

"I feel like Ling Xiao's defense might even be stronger than Ling Cheng's!" Ling Yixue, who had previously fought Ling Cheng, murmured to herself.

"That can't be right, Senior Sister Yixue. The 'Bull Strength' isn't a specialized defensive technique, and it's merely a basic martial art. How could it possibly compare to Senior Brother Ling Cheng's high-level defensive technique, the 'Vajra Skill'?"

"Ling Xiao, I admire your courage, but if this is the extent of your defense, then you are destined to lose today!" Ling Cheng roared in anger.

In that previous punch, he indeed hadn't exerted his full strength, using only seventy percent of his power because he wanted to save more true qi to deal with Ling Feng.

But this time, he did not intend to hold back.

"Ten percent power—Vajra Punch!"

*Hmm?*

Ling Xiao frowned. This punch from Ling Cheng was clearly much more powerful than the last one!

"Then I shall use ten percent power to block it as well!"

His casual remark nearly made Ling Cheng spit blood in rage.

After all that, he hadn't even used his full strength to defend; he was truly something else.

*Boom!*

Another massive explosion of sound erupted.

Ling Xiao remained as steady as a mountain.

Ling Cheng, however, was sent flying backward by the recoil, struggling to stabilize his stance.

The greater the power of the attack, the greater the counter-shock.

"Too terrifying!"

"Who can break through Ling Xiao's defense!"

"I don't believe in this nonsense!"

Ling Cheng pulled a pair of gloves from a close-fitting pocket; the gloves were clearly made of a special material.

"Those are Mortal-grade Treasure Tools. They provide a bonus to attacks; generally, they can increase power by twenty percent."

In the referee stands, someone had already recognized that the gloves in Ling Cheng's hands were no ordinary objects.

Beyond secular weapons, this world also possessed Treasure Tools, Spirit Tools, True Tools, Immortal Tools, and Divine Tools!

And even among Treasure Tools, there were five grades: Mortal, Fine, Rare, Immortal, and Divine.

Few disciples of the Ling family had ever seen a Treasure Tool, let alone a Spirit Tool.

It was only because the martial artists in the referee stands were well-traveled that they recognized the gloves at a glance.

"Hahaha! This is a Mortal-grade Treasure Tool. Let's see if you still dare to block!" Ling Cheng laughed maniacally.

He felt that failing to even break through Ling Xiao's defense was somewhat humiliating, so he did not intend to hold back this time.

With ten percent power plus a Mortal-grade Treasure Tool, he refused to believe Ling Xiao could withstand it—unless Ling Xiao also possessed a defensive Treasure Tool.

"So what if it is? Bring it on!"

Ling Xiao knew that relying solely on "Bull Strength" would certainly not be enough. This time, he had to use the "Qi Bursting Art" to enhance the defensive effects of "Bull Strength," otherwise, it would truly become troublesome.

The opponent was, after all, the fifth-ranked expert of the Elite Hall, and he was more formidable than Ling Xiao had imagined.

"Ya!"

Amidst Ling Cheng's roar, his fists struck out once more.

In that instant, Ling Xiao activated the "Qi Bursting Art." The thin film around his body visibly thickened and even emitted a faint luster.

"Ah—!"

With a scream of agony, Ling Cheng was once again sent flying. This time, he failed to stand up and collapsed directly onto the ground, unconscious.

Ling Cheng, ranked fifth in the Elite Hall, had actually been defeated by Ling Xiao without Ling Xiao even having to land a single blow.

Everyone on the field was dumbstruck.

They had originally thought that Ling Xiao's strength would easily place him in the top twenty. They even thought a top ten placement was possible.

After all, the twentieth-ranked Ling Ziran had been able to defeat the eleventh-ranked disciple in the Great Ten-Thousand-Man Competition.

Since Ling Xiao had defeated Ling Ziran, while breaking into the top ten might be pressured, it was expected to be manageable.

But they still hadn't expected that facing the fifth-ranked Ling Cheng, Ling Xiao would win without breaking a sweat.

Ling Xiao's performance was simply too shocking, too eye-catching.

Now, people finally began to group him together with Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, and Ling Feng.

"This boy is truly terrifying. He is actually practicing both the secret 'Qi Bursting Art' and the 'Qi Recovery Art' simultaneously. A martial artist at his level usually cannot balance two secret arts."

"Indeed. Just how many secrets is he hiding? First that exquisite movement technique, and now two secret arts. It's truly something to look forward to."

"However, he must have reached his limit. He has used everything he can. He's probably just slightly stronger than Ling Tieshou; challenging the top three is likely still out of reach."

"I think so too, unless he has other means he hasn't revealed yet!"

In the stands, many mid-to-high-level members of the Ling family and various martial artists sat watching, offering their judgments and analyses of Ling Xiao.

They were all inwardly astonished, yet they did not seem very optimistic about Ling Xiao surpassing Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, or Ling Feng.

However, the reality was that Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, Ling Feng, and Ling Xiao were currently the four disciples maintaining perfect winning streaks.

Although this was because they had not yet faced each other, even so, Ling Xiao's defeat of Ling Cheng had already demonstrated his terror.

Among these four, Ling Xiao was undoubtedly a true dark horse.

And many people actually loved such disruptors.

Consequently, Ling Xiao's popularity showed signs of approaching the top three, making him the fourth most popular person in this elimination round.

From a bullied little beggar to a martial artist with skyrocketing popularity today.

Aside from Ling Xiao's hard work, the greatest thanks belonged to the Mountain and River Martial Soul.

If he hadn't awakened the Mountain and River Martial Soul, he likely wouldn't have achieved such glory today.

"Ling Xiao! Ling Xiao!"

Every time Ling Xiao stepped onto the stage, many people would shout his name, including several quite beautiful female disciples.

This made Ling Xiao feel somewhat happy in his heart.

After all, what young man doesn't harbor romantic feelings?

After this year, he would be fourteen, and he had begun to develop a vague understanding of romance.

Of course, he repaid the audience's cheers with excellent combat results.

He continued his winning streak.

More and more people surrendered immediately upon seeing him.

As for those who refused to surrender, unless they were ranked in the top ten, they still could not last a single move against him.

Even those in the top ten could not last three moves.

Naturally, he still had not encountered Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, or Ling Feng.

During this process, Ling Xiao encountered several interesting opponents.

For example, Ling Chong.

This fellow, who used to bully him but was now constantly being bullied by him, surrendered immediately upon seeing him.

Ling Chong did not want to have more ribs broken.

Then there was Ling Fei.

The man who had once competed with Ling Xiao in lightness skills also surrendered immediately upon stepping up.

During the previous thousand-man melee, Ling Fei had witnessed Ling Xiao's lightness skills.

He knew he couldn't win, so he might as well save his strength.

What most astonished everyone was that when Ling Tieshou met Ling Xiao, he also chose to surrender.

Some thought Ling Tieshou had been beaten into submission by Ling Yixue.

But Ling Xiao knew best.

Although this Ling Tieshou was sinister and ruthless, he was not stupid. He had likely seen Ling Xiao's prowess and wanted to preserve his combat effectiveness to deal with others.

After all, this was a points-based system. Losing one or even three or four matches was fine; what one feared was losing to someone they shouldn't lose to because of excessive exhaustion or injury. That would be truly tragic.

(End of Chapter)