CHAPTER 42: WHY ZHIRAN IS SO RUTHLESS?

"Mo Zhiran, you are indeed Tianyu’s brother. You both never fail to surprise me."

Seeing Zhiran remain silent, his gaze steady and calm, Wu Zhen smirked. He finally felt a little interested in the fellow before him.

Maybe that was why he decided to honor his opponent with his full power. Of course, he still planned to severely injure him, just... with a little respect this time.

"You are quite strong, but... if you think you can beat me just because of your realm, you’re gravely mistaken."

Wu Zhen said this with a smile, then suddenly lifted his thick, burly legs up and slammed them forcefully into the floor below with explosive force.

"Tremor Step!"

As soon as his foot touched the floor, the ground instantly trembled beneath him, jagged cracks racing outward.

Dust and small stones shot into the air like shrapnel, and the shockwave rushed toward Zhiran with crushing force, threatening to knock him off his feet before he could react.

The attack was so fast and destructive that Zhiran couldn’t help but lose his balance.

"Hah... let’s see how you handle my Earth Qi."

Seeing Zhiran surrounded and on the verge of losing his footing, Wu Zhen smiled coldly and advanced again, readying his Obsidian Strike.

But this time, his fist wasn’t merely cloaked in his usual Qi. A thick, brown aura shimmered around it, the unmistakable mark of the Earth Qi he had cultivated.

Just like Zhiran’s Flame Qi or Liang Feng’s Sword Qi, Wu Zhen could channel the power of Qi into devastating attacks.

But his Earth Qi was even more formidable, combining immense strength with unyielding defense.

With it, he was nearly invincible in close combat; no one could ever breach his guard.

"Swoosh!"

"Boom!"

"Crack!"......

"AHHHHH!"

Well, it seemed Wu Zhen boasted at the wrong time, as his Earth Qi didn’t seem that invincible after all, evidenced by the solid kick that managed to breach his defense in his groin, shattering those delicate balls.

"White Crane Kick!"

"Ahhhh! Bastard, do you have no shame?"

Pain!

Excruciating pain!

Wu Zhen was experiencing agony no man should ever endure.

His Earth Qi was indeed formidable, and his Tremor Step had indeed managed to destabilize Zhiran’s footing, but he never expected Zhiran to have more than movement techniques at his disposal.

Heck, this guy was so perverted, he even managed to learn a seemingly useless technique like Heavenly Drift to the proficient realm, allowing him to levitate from the ground and escape the influence of Earth Qi and Tremor Step.

Of course, he was caught off guard.

Then he was caught off guard even more by another late Yellow Rank technique, also at the realm of Skilled Proficiency.

---

[White Crane Kick (Late Yellow Rank) — A precise and elegant kicking technique inspired by the crane’s soaring movements, combining speed, balance, and power; each strike carries both grace and lethal impact, capable of striking multiple targets with fluid motion.]

---

Well, looking at where that kick landed and what it broke, there was no elegance or grace left, it seemed.

"Shame? Why should I feel shame? Wu Zhen, don’t you realize we are fighting right now?"

Zhiran slowly lowered his leg gracefully while still hovering above the arena, right beside Wu Zhen.

The poor guy’s balls seemed completely destroyed as he clutched them with his hands, crying in pain while giving Zhiran a murderous look with his red eyes.

But Zhiran didn’t care. Instead, he stepped a little closer and said lightly,

"Bro, you can’t blame me. Your Earth Qi is too strong, and I cannot break it with my power alone. It was you who didn’t guard that part. Why are you blaming me now?"

He asked as if he were the one wronged, leaving everyone watching speechless.

Ruthless. This guy was more ruthless than Wu Zhen.

Nobody thought this fight would take such a sudden turn.

To be honest, Zhiran was too fast and too precise while attacking Wu Zhen.

First, he levitated off the ground, then used some strange movement technique to accelerate to Wu Zhen’s side, and then used another technique to directly blast those balls off.

Despite being in the same realm, Wu Zhen didn’t even manage to defend before suffering terribly.

After all, Zhiran had used his Qi to strike the groin directly, destroying those delicate balls completely.

Without an advanced-rank healing pill, Wu Zhen would never recover that area. Not to mention, his overall ability might decline because of this injury, leaving him weaker.

To be honest, every man in the crowd was now clutching their legs unconsciously, feeling dread.

Their eyes on Zhiran were already filled with fear; they didn’t dare to shout.

Even Wu Kang didn’t say a thing for his brother; this guy was a traitor, all right.

"Shsss... Mo Zhiran... I will kill you."

How could Wu Zhen not see the mocking look on Zhiran’s face?

He was in so much pain from the broken balls that his murderous intent soared to its peak. He had never been humiliated like this in his entire life.

This was the first, and this would also be the last.

Wu Zhen didn’t care about the rules of the arena anymore and wanted to use every ounce of power in his body to kill Zhiran when...

"Bang!"

"Mo Zhiran, STOP!"

"Ugh..."

A solid punch suddenly landed in his dantian, directly breaking it from within.

Mountain Splitter Strike, another Skilled-level technique.

How could Wu Zhen’s Earth Qi possibly withstand such a full-strength blow of Mo Zhiran from so close?

His Earth Qi barrier was directly shattered, and his fragile dantian was broken apart by the full-force punch, sending a shock of pain through his entire body.

Poor guy didn’t even manage to stand before he was directly crippled.

"You... what the h-hell did you do?"

Wu Zhen asked, totally shocked by Zhiran’s ruthless blow, not believing what had just happened in front of the whole sect.

No one, not even Wu Zhen, thought Zhiran would act like this all of a sudden. After all, no matter what, they were just fighting in a competition.

Even Wu Zhen had only thought of severely injuring Zhiran before, nothing more. But...

"Sigh... young man, you are too ruthless. Didn’t you hear my order?"