"The second round is about to begin, do you two need a rest?" The referee asked Lin Ming and Ling Sen symbolically, but in his opinion, the two had not exerted much energy at all, and probably didn't need a rest.

  As expected, Ling Sen and Lin Ming shook their heads together.

  "Alright, let's start the second round then." The chief elder took over the lottery box, which actually only had two lots inside - one for battle and one for a bye. Ta Ke had already taken his bye, so he defaulted to battle. The lottery was conducted by Ling Sen and Lin Ming.

  At this time, Takashi said: "No need to draw lots, there are only three people left. I can't beat anyone, but I still want to have a match with Lin Ming. This is a pre-arranged duel," Takashi said, looking at Lin Ming, "How about it, Lin junior brother? Are you going on stage? Your Bi Ling Dan can only be taken if you defeat me!"

  Lin Ming burst out laughing and said: "What's wrong with that?"

  "Alright, let's do this!" Tuo Ku said, jumping onto the martial arts stage while drawing out his own eight-foot staff. The staff was made of purple-black iron and was as thick as an egg, with golden hoops on both ends that could prevent opponents' weapons from slipping in and injuring his fingers.

  Lin Ming took a look, hesitated for a moment, and drew out the Guan Hong spear from the Su Mei ring. Since he had obtained the Chongxuan Soft Silver Spear, he hadn't used the Guan Hong spear in a long time. This time, he drew it out because he didn't want to take advantage of his opponent's weakness in terms of weapons.

  The treasure of Tonfa is too hard to find, especially when ensuring elasticity. After years of searching, I still use the Purple Black Iron Tonfa.

  Tuo Ku saw Lin Ming change his gun and laughed: "Lin Shidi, don't hold back on the weapon, to be honest. Today I came up here without preparing to compete with you."

  "Huh?" Lin Ming was taken aback, "If not martial arts, then what?"

  "Ha ha, let's see who's stronger!"

  His voice was loud and clear, and everyone in the room heard it clearly. Murong Zi listened to it and couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. This wasn't obviously Lin Ming being at a disadvantage? Taohu Tian was born with divine strength, and he had also been cultivating a powerful type of martial art, he had always been the strongest disciple in the Seven Profound Martial House in terms of physical strength.

  Although Lin Ming's strength was not small, how could he compare to Tuo Ku? She couldn't help but say to Bai Jingyun: "Tuo Ku this big ape, usually looks quite honest. Didn't expect it to be so treacherous, Lin Ming is a beast of burden, but a beast of burden can't compare to an ape in terms of strength..."

  Bai Jingyun glared at Murong Zi with a hint of annoyance, and smiled: "Since Taohu said so, he must have already given up on this martial arts competition. He just wants to engage in a test of strength with Lin Ming."

  As expected, Takashi said, "Lin Shidi, in terms of strength, I am far inferior to you, so I concede defeat in this match."

  "My speed is not good. My attack power is not good, my cultivation is not good, but the only thing I can rely on is **strength**, and I know that you, Lin Shi Di, are also skilled in this area. When you first entered the Seven Xuan Wu Sect, you were considered to be born with divine strength. Later, your fighting style was mostly about head-on collisions. At that time, I thought to myself, when you reach my level of cultivation, let's have a serious competition to see who is the strongest in the Seven Xuan Wu Sect! How about it?"

  Tuo Ku said, casually bending the eight-foot staff in his hand a few times. The egg-sized purple iron rod was as flexible as a willow branch in his hands, changing shape at will.

  Lin Ming saw this and burst out laughing: "Alright, let's compare our strength then! But I won't take advantage of you, this match will be decided by who has the greater strength, whoever wins is the winner!"

  He was taken aback for a moment, then said: "This is not necessary, I am still looking forward to your duel with Ling Sen. If I were to fight him, it would be meaningless. I don't know how many times he has abused me, and I don't want to be abused by him again in public."

  Tuo Ku said with a loud laugh, Lin Ming also laughed and said: "You say this, do you think that in terms of strength, I will definitely lose to you?"

  "I didn't say you'd lose, but... " Tuo Ku said with a sly smile, revealing a row of neat white teeth. "But the possibility of me winning is higher."

  "Haha, talking too much is useless, let's compare then!" Lin Ming said, shaking the Guan Yu Gun in his hand. The eight-foot-long Guan Yu Gun quivered violently like a spring.

  "Hao" burst forth in a loud voice, accompanied by the sound of ripping fabric, his upper body's clothing was instantly shattered into fragments and scattered everywhere, revealing a physique as solid as granite.

  Tuokesi's height was nearly nine feet, standing in front of people, sunlight could be blocked out, like an iron tower. Generally, a man from Tianyun country with a height of seven feet can proudly call himself a tall and handsome man, which is considered to be quite tall. However, such a person standing in front of Tuokesi would only barely reach his shoulder.

  As he flexed his muscles, his entire body emitted a loud cracking sound. His chest was as thick as a water barrel and his thighs were as thick as a bucket. The veins on his skin twisted and turned like earthworms. Such an exaggerated physique made the audience gasp in shock, it was simply like looking at a bear!

  "Come!"

  Tuo Ku stepped out with one foot and stomped down, forming a horse stance. With a loud rumble, his foot directly crushed the brick into fragments.

  Lin Ming couldn't help but sigh in admiration, the floor tiles of this martial arts arena had undergone special processing and were extremely hard, yet Tuo Ku's casual stomp had shattered them with just brute force, truly a heaven-defying strength!

  He also took off his shirt, revealing a well-proportioned and sturdy physique. Compared to Takashi's granite-like rough skin, Lin Ming's body seemed somewhat delicate.

  Four years of martial arts training, withstanding the wind and sun, rain and snow, plus countless times of punching and bone-setting, Lin Ming's body and hands also had many rough skin, but after absorbing a large amount of Qi and blood power, and after several times of washing his tendons and marrow, these rough skin slowly fell off, now Lin Ming looks like a young master who has never done any hard work.

  Lin Ming was about to turn sixteen, and his height had already grown up. The childishness on his face gradually disappeared, and with this well-proportioned muscle, it was easy for people to overlook his age. Moreover, Lin Ming's appearance was not extraordinary, but he stood out from the crowd, causing some of the girls present to scream uncontrollably.

  "A bunch of idiots!" Murong Zi disdainfully curled her lips, in her opinion being a fan of Lin Ming was a losing deal, because he couldn't possibly marry the girls present, and yet they still fawned all over him despite knowing they didn't even have a chance at becoming his concubine - what else could you call it but infatuation?

  Bai Jingyun smiled but didn't speak, however she also agreed with Murong Zi's point of view. Tianyung Country was not a place where Lin Ming could stay, he would eventually have to leave this place.

  Lin Ming and Taokou on the field were completely disproportionate in build, which made many people present worry whether Lin Ming could surpass the big bear in front of him in terms of strength?

  Lin Ming held the gun in his right hand, with his forearm resting on the stock and his elbow pressing against the butt of the gun. The gun was stretched out horizontally, assuming the starting position of Iron Bridge Blocking the River.

  "Be careful!" Takashi's feet stomped the ground fiercely, causing the rocks to shatter, and his body charged forward like a war chariot.

  "Drink!" With both hands gripping the purple iron rod tightly, he suddenly smashed it down towards Lin Ming.

  Lin Ming stepped forward with his horse, horizontally holding the Gun of Guan Hong, and welcomed Tu Ku's attack without any fancy moves!

  "Boom!"

  The huge impact force made Lin Ming's feet directly crush the ground, sinking into the brick floor. Neither of them used any martial arts skills or techniques, completely relying on brute strength to fight!

  "Rustle rustle——"

  The iron rod and the Guan Hong spear emitted a metallic creaking sound, their handles bent into an arc, as if they were about to break under the strain.

  A powerful collision caused the ground beneath their feet to crack like a spider's web, and the audience in the stands watched with bated breath, wondering if this was still human strength.

  Lin Ming felt the situation of the gun in his hand, but he couldn't bear to use force. He was clear that if all his strength burst out, it would inevitably cause permanent damage to the gun. This gun had followed him for so long, and he really couldn't bear to break it like this.

  "Let's change our approach, this way is unbearable for both of our weapons." Amidst such intense competition, Lin Ming was still able to speak calmly, clearly holding back.

  "Just as I wanted, how about you?"

  "Let's settle this with a fistfight, no need for weapons."

  Tuokuo thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "My head is bigger than yours, if we have a direct confrontation, you won't be at an advantage. Why don't we use the Force Measuring Stone Stele instead, it's more straightforward!"

  "Strength Measuring Monument? Alright!" Takashi said, starting up the Strength Measuring Monument. Lin Ming also wanted to know what his maximum strength was, he hadn't used a Strength Measuring Monument in ages.

  A martial arts competition, a strange twist to use the testing stone stele for comparison, the audience on site couldn't help but look forward to it, they were also curious, what was the limit of strength between these two people.

  "Elder Judge, can you prepare the trial stone monument for us?"

  Lin Ming asked.

  "Of course." The weighing room of the Seventh Xuanwu Prefecture was not far away, and with a single order from the presiding elder, two martial artists ran over to move it.

  "Haha, the Strength Measuring Stone Stele! I remember that Tuo Ku was able to exert a strength of 8,000 jin last year when he had just entered the Bone Forging Stage and his cultivation was unstable. His True Yuan Bone Forging had only just begun. Now that he's in the middle stage of Bone Forging and has achieved great success with his True Yuan Bone Forging, this time he'll probably be able to exert a strength of over 9,000 jin! 9,000 jin, tsk tsk... even a top-notch warrior at the peak of the Condensing Pulse Stage would only have a strength of around 8,000 jin. Lin Ming has fallen into Tuo Ku's trap this time!" Sun Youdao chuckled and stroked his beard.

  The power boost is not easy, from the initial stage of tempering bones to the middle stage of tempering bones, the true yuan force will increase several times, but the growth of strength will be much less. Therefore, the advantage of innate divine power becomes less and less obvious as time goes on.

  Qinzi smiled but didn't speak. For Tuo Ku, the outcome of the battle was no longer important; what he wanted was only the title of being the strongest in the Seven Xuanwu Sect.

  He wants to argue for the sake of argument.

  "Lin Ming's strength is also considerable, I'm looking forward to seeing how much he can hit."

  The measuring stone stele was quickly moved to the scene, fixed on the arena with a bundling array method. The black measuring stone stele stood quietly in the center of the field, and the crystal pillar inside the stele was one foot two inches high, with one inch representing one thousand catties.

  Tuo Ku smiled and walked onto the stage, "Lin Shidi, I'm here first."

  "Alright, you go first."