Soon, the two were on the arena, standing opposite each other. "The match begins!" The steward referee announced from the side.
Across from him, Wang Kui said coldly, "Lin Xuan, I don’t know how you’ve managed to fool everyone, including the Grand Elder. But now, you can’t keep hiding, can you? Just lose already!"
Having never seen Lin Xuan fight, many disciples remained skeptical of his strength. A small few outright refused to believe that a new disciple like Lin Xuan could possess such formidable power. Wang Kui was one of them.
With his words, Wang Kui struck. "Crushing Rock Fist!"
A single punch shot out, its force surging, capable of splitting mountains and shattering stones—an impressive display of power. The onlookers’ eyes lit up. Just from that punch, it was clear Wang Kui had the strength to rank in the top twenty.
Then, everyone turned to Lin Xuan, curious to see how he would respond.
"Heh!" Lin Xuan let out a cold laugh, too lazy to waste words. If someone’s vision was too narrow, they’d call it deception by others. Truly self-deceiving. Perfect—let him recognize what reality and true strength meant. And while he was at it, he’d earn some energy points.
With that, Lin Xuan struck out with a palm. "Raging Wave Palm!"
The palm wind stirred, carrying surging waves of force. Its momentum was in no way inferior to Wang Kui’s punch.
Then, under the gaze of everyone present, palm met fist.
In that instant, Wang Kui’s expression shifted dramatically. He felt as if countless waves were crashing toward him, their power so immense it seemed capable of shaking the heavens—terrifying beyond measure. How could someone at his Qi Condensation stage withstand this?
In that moment, Wang Kui realized that everything that had happened in the Puppet Tower might very well have been Lin Xuan’s doing. Lin Xuan’s strength was genuinely overwhelming; there was no deception. But Wang Kui, unable to accept it, had subconsciously refused to believe, and so he had initiated this challenge. He had hoped to expose Lin Xuan while also breaking into the top twenty.
Now, it was clear he had been wrong—terribly wrong. Even setting everything else aside, the sheer power of that palm strike was far beyond his ability to withstand.
A flicker of regret surged in his heart. But it was too late.
Palm and fist collided. In a split second, a crisp sound rang out, and the fist went limp, dropping powerlessly. The palm print pressed forward, landing on Wang Kui’s chest.
Crack! The sound of bones breaking echoed. Wang Kui’s chest instantly caved in.
Then, with an explosive bang, as if struck by a cannonball, he was sent flying backward, crashing onto the ground.
Now, Wang Kui was covered in wounds, blood streaming like a river, nearly a blood-soaked figure. His breathing was faint, and he was gravely injured.
Whoosh! Watching this scene, the arena fell silent for a moment before erupting into chaos.
"Holy crap, Wang Kui had top-twenty strength, and he got one-shot? Am I seeing things?" "And he’s seriously injured—looks like he’ll be laid up for months, right?" "Serves him right for being so arrogant. He probably pissed off Lin Xuan—no, Senior Brother Lin—got him angry, huh?" "Seems like Senior Brother Lin is really strong. I guess among the outer disciples, only the top three could fight him now?" "Yeah, probably." "...
The disciples were all shaken. They hadn’t expected that Wang Kui, who clearly had the strength to rank in the top twenty, would be one-shot by Lin Xuan, who had only been a disciple for a month.
That meant that a month ago, when Lin Xuan was still at the early stage of the Meridian Opening realm, he now had strength surpassing most Qi Condensation peak cultivators. Such progress left the disciples in awe.
No one in the outer sect could compare to Lin Xuan. No—not even in the inner sect. Even among the core true disciples of the sect, only a handful could match him.
No wonder the Third Elder had personally praised him as having the potential to become a true disciple—his talent was monstrous.
At the same time, most of the doubts about Lin Xuan’s performance in the Puppet Tower had been dispelled. After all, he had already displayed strength comparable to the top three of the outer sect, making it possible.
But not all doubts were erased. Because the feat of clearing the Puppet Tower from the first to the sixth floor, destroying even the final iron giant, and doing it in under a minute—was beyond what any outer disciple could achieve. Even Chen Yuze, who was at the Qi Transformation stage, had taken three minutes, which showed how extraordinary it was.
Though Lin Xuan’s talent was incredibly exceptional, rare even among true disciples, he hadn’t fully grown yet. Breaking through to the Qi Condensation stage in a month was already impressive.
In the disciples’ eyes, there was no way he could possess such terrifying strength.
Meanwhile, among the crowd of disciples, Zhang Tao and Zhang Mingliang, the two cousins, were utterly terrified. They stood frozen for a long time before snapping out of it.
Exchanging glances, they could see deep shock in each other’s eyes. And also, immense relief.
They hadn’t expected Lin Xuan’s talent to far exceed their predictions. In just one month, he had reached a level where he could crush Qi Condensation peak cultivators, ranking in the outer sect’s top twenty, or even top ten, or higher.
Such a rate of progress was unheard of—unimaginable!
Fortunately, they had recognized Lin Xuan’s exceptional talent early on and had taken the initiative to spend some resources to resolve their conflict with him. Otherwise, if Lin Xuan had reached this level in just a month, what about a few months from now?
How terrifying would he become then? They couldn’t even fathom it—it was beyond their comprehension.
And by then, if Lin Xuan sought revenge, not even they, nor the families and forces behind them, would be able to withstand it. That would be a true fall into the abyss, with no hope of recovery.
Thankfully, they had resolved the conflict in time, avoiding such disastrous consequences.
At the same time, they silently resolved never to provoke such a monster again. No—they would actively seek to build a good relationship.
If they could curry favor and latch onto him, it would bring great benefits to them and their families. Though the chances were slim, it was worth a try.
The other new disciples watching also had complex expressions, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.
None of them had passed the Puppet Tower elimination round. No—not a single one had even reached the Qi Condensation stage.
Yet Lin Xuan had just one-shot a Qi Condensation peak cultivator, entered the top twenty, and had a strong chance of climbing even higher.
Such a gap was like heaven and earth. They could hardly believe they had joined the sect alongside Lin Xuan just a month ago.
But the facts were right before their eyes, leaving them no choice but to accept.
In the end, all they could do was force a bitter smile.
Every generation of disciples had one freak. And they had hit the jackpot with Lin Xuan.
With Lin Xuan around, their generation would be remembered. But because of him, when others spoke of their generation, they would only mention Lin Xuan, ignoring everyone else.
There was no helping it—he had surpassed them by too much. Like the bright moon compared to dust.
All they could do was silently look up from behind.