Chapter Thirty-Three: Against the Fist

  Thanks for the support from San Niu, Yun Yan Mei Zi, Nan Yang Brothers, Dong Fang Jie, Ci Yu and Yang Guang Mei Mei!!!

  Zong Yin leaned against the wall of Ding Sheng's soul school, slowly waiting for the aftereffects of his return to the ancestors to pass. Fortunately, the second round of the 1,500-man competition would not end for a while, otherwise he could have directly conceded.

  While recovering his spiritual energy, Zong Yin was also observing the remaining matches on the 28th martial arts stage, remembering those with strong abilities in his mind and thinking about how to defeat them.

  Three hours later, the elimination match of more than 1,500 people ended smoothly, leaving only more than 700 people with the qualification to continue the competition. Zong Yin received a new competition notice again, just as he had guessed, the 28th martial arts stage, the second round.

  Zong Yiming stared intently at the two players in the first match, and if one of them won, that person would be his next opponent.

  Zong Xian already had the confidence to win his own match, because in the previous match, he won miserably and both arms were severely injured by sharp blades. Even after three hours of treatment, Zong Xian did not believe that he could recover his full strength.

  The two on the field were Soul Apprentice Fifth Level and Soul Apprentice Sixth Level. The Soul Apprentice Fifth Level was a large man with long arms, his fists only slightly smaller than Zongheng's head. His previous opponent had been beaten until he spat blood and admitted defeat. After two matches, he hadn't revealed any soul techniques, it wasn't clear if he didn't have any or just didn't deign to use them, but Zongheng was more inclined towards the latter speculation.

  And his opponent was not a fuel-efficient lamp, a big knife dancing with vigor, the martial soul technique was even more powerful and shocking. If it weren't for the referee's quick intervention to block his martial soul technique, his previous opponent would have been cut in half at the waist.

  What made Zong Yin feel helpless was that both of them were tiger-backed and bear-waisted, muscular Soul Masters, whose bodies had been tempered by years of soul power refinement. With his current attack, neither of the two could inflict effective damage on each other.

  Zong Yin was still calculating the gap between himself and the two of them, when the two on stage had already started fighting. The robust man with the large knife launched a full-force attack as soon as he came on stage, relying on his sixth-level soul power. Every knife strike produced a sharp whistling sound, while the burly man who was using his fists only defended and didn't counterattack, completely on the defensive. What made Zong Yin feel astonished was that his fists were actually able to contend against the opponent's large knife head-on, with the knife only leaving a white mark on his fist that didn't even bleed.

  The powerful man with the sword, having been attacking for a long time without success, was getting annoyed. He suddenly let out a loud roar and used his ultimate technique. One sword slash turned into thousands of swords, and the illusion of a fierce tiger appeared among them, waiting for an opportunity to strike. As soon as the opponent showed any weakness, the tiger would leap out and attack.

  The burly man was not to be underestimated, and with a loud laugh, his fists were instantly covered in blue floral patterns. His already enormous fists, which were almost as big as a human head, suddenly grew even larger. A flurry of fist prints rained down, shattering the opponent's slashing knife shadows, and one particularly vicious punch landed squarely on the tiger's illusory skull.

  "Bang!" The rolling air waves caused both of their bodies to shake simultaneously, stumbling backward one step each. Only then did they see that the big knife in the hand of the burly man with a knife had already appeared a thread of deficiency, and the back of the hand of the burly man with a fist was covered with a deep wound that could be seen to the bone.

  Although it seemed that the two were evenly matched in their skills, Zong Yin knew that the man who used his fists was already at a disadvantage, after all, the big man with the knife had not suffered any substantial injuries.

  "Haha! Refreshing! Another round!"

  The boxing man burst into loud laughter, waving his bloody fist and charging forward again. What was puzzling was that the sword-wielding big man did not draw his sword, but instead retreated with a serious expression, eventually dodging too late and being hit by the opponent's punch, knocking him off the martial arts platform.

  Zong Yin looked at the muscular man with a puzzled expression, somewhat bewildered. However, when the Soul Doctor went up to treat him and tapped his arm a few times, he vaguely understood what was written. With a thoughtful gaze at the muscular man's fist, Zong Yin had already roughly guessed which soul technique he was using. He couldn't believe that such a difficult-to-practice, nearly lost soul technique could be successfully cultivated by someone.

  When it was Zong Yin's turn to compete, it turned out to be almost the same as he had guessed. The opponent's arm, which had been almost severed and had not yet healed, could not use its most powerful soul technique, and only entered the competition with the idea of seeing if Zong Yin was a novice. When Zong Yin activated his Rebirth and revealed his stone arm, which was just as high as everyone else's, the opponent immediately surrendered with a bitter smile.

  He smoothly took down another point. As Zong Xiong walked off the stage, the man who had been defeated by him earlier flashed a smile with his two rows of white teeth, looking very satisfied.

  Zong Yinhao stepped back with a gentle smile, having dispelled his Returning Ancestor technique. He quietly watched the continuation of the match. Although he appeared calm on the surface, his mind was constantly thinking of ways to counterattack. The opponent's soul technique was very tricky, and their attack intensity and physical strength were also above his own. Wanting to win would be difficult!

  After another hour of elimination, the new life of three thousand people was left with only over three hundred people having the qualification to continue fighting, and only one in ten survived. The later it got, the stronger the crowd's strength became, and the newcomers who relied on luck were almost eliminated.

  This time, Zong Yin's first opponent was that burly man who used his fists. Until now, Zong Yin still hadn't thought of a good way to counter him.

  "Haha! I'm Iron Fist! I like your punching skills, they're solid! Let's have a match! My soul technique is incomplete and can only last for 50 seconds at my current strength. If you don't lose before my soul technique wears off, then you win! How about it?"

  As soon as he came on stage, the burly man showed a silly smile and made a fist at Zong Yin, his head about the same size.

  Zong's eyebrows first raised in a challenge, after using the "Return to Ancestors" technique, he persisted for 50 seconds. Feeling feasible, just right as he hadn't thought of how to defeat Iron Fist yet. Immediately, another wrinkle appeared, instinctively sensing a hint of conspiracy, but the opponent's silly appearance didn't seem fake, and for a moment, he didn't know whether to agree or not.

  "My sister said, a man should be like a real man, not dodging or evading, with every punch landing on the flesh. The first few rounds were really not enough! None of them are real men because none of them can withstand ten punches! Now I see that only your fists are big and hard enough! Don't tell me you're afraid! Come on! Let's fight like real men!"

  Iron Fist seemed to be afraid that Zong Xian would not agree, and his fists kept colliding in front of him, shouting loudly at everyone. His voice was infectious, and the crowd below actually started cheering too.

  "Hey, bro! Everyone's saying it, you're still not daring to go up? Don't make me look down on you! Go up! Go up! Go up!"

  "Up! Up! Up!" With someone taking the lead, the originally quiet crowd suddenly began to shout in unison.

  "Bring it on! Screw you! Screw your whole family! If you've got the guts, come and try! Standing there talking isn't going to hurt your waist!"

  Zong Yin's heart had already cursed the crowd below to death, glaring fiercely at the ringleader, too lazy to waste more words. He directly activated his Return to Ancestors technique, a stone arm as tall as a person smashing heavily onto the black martial stage, his iron fist clenched tightly as he stared fixedly. "Come on!"

  Haha! Refreshing!

  Iron Fist's hands quickly covered in blue stripes, with an excited smile rushing towards Zong Xian.

  It has to be said that face is something that often gets people into trouble. The first punch of the iron fist directly collided with Zong Yin's stone arm, and instantly, stone chips flew everywhere. Zong Yin felt a surge of power transmitted from his stone arm into his body, and half of his body went numb, with his arm muscles aching faintly.

  Zong Yin was also furious at this time, and with the force of the counter-shock, he vigorously swung his fist out. The stone fist, which had become as hard as an iron fist, slammed into his opponent's fist with a whistling sound.

  If someone else had been hit by this punch, even if they weren't injured, they would have been knocked back. But Iron Fist's body merely shook slightly before steadily catching the other man's fist.

  "Haha! What a hard punch, what great strength! Mother was right after all! I deserved it! Take my punch!"

  Iron Fist's face was filled with excitement, his eyes even turned crimson red. His right fist swung back in a circle, the five fingers issuing a string of explosive sounds as he charged towards Zong Yin.

  Zong Yin didn't dare to slack off, Shi Zhou's elbow made a loud cracking sound as he met Tie Quan's fist with another punch.

  "Boom!" A white air burst exploded with the fists of the two as its center.

  This was the first formal exchange of blows between the two, and with one strike, Iron Fist took a step back, his mouth corner bleeding. Zong Yin also retreated several steps before stabilizing himself. The muscles and blood vessels in Shi Bi's arm that had not yet fully petrified were sending out waves of stinging pain; if most of his flesh and blood hadn't already turned into solid rock, he had no doubt that his arm would have exploded into a mist of blood by now.

  This is the terrifying aspect of Iron Fist Soul Technique. When Old Man Fan explained that different people using the same soul technique would have different effects, and many soul techniques require special conditions to cultivate, Zong Yin had been paying attention to books on this aspect. The Iron Fist's soul technique just happens to be one with written records.

  "Shockwave" is the name of his soul skill, although it doesn't look impressive, its power is extremely terrifying, far surpassing those low-level soul skills like Gray Star, White Star, and Green Star. The strongest aspect of Shockwave lies in its ability to directly apply the impact force inside the human body, leaving the surface unscathed, but turning the internal organs into mush. This was also why his opponent in the previous match couldn't lift his arm after being punched by him once, as the blood vessels and muscles in his arm had already been shattered.

  Even if a soul master's physical body is tempered to be extremely powerful, the blood vessels and internal organs within their body cannot be refined to be more delicate in front of a soul master.

  Although the power of "Seismic Strike" is formidable, it also has some extremely harsh training conditions. One is the requirement for the arm and fist, and the other is the requirement for the body. Seismic Strike is a typical soul technique that damages both parties, causing damage to one's own body while severely injuring others, and if the opponent's physical strength far exceeds his own, all the recoil force will be borne by himself.