Chapter 58: No One Present Is My Opponent

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: No One Present Is My Opponent

Southern Emperor Duan Zhixing saw that Chen Sha had merely used a Qi Wall to send the other experts flying, so he offered a well-intentioned warning.

Chen Sha simply smiled. "Please, by all means."

Duan Zhixing’s brow furrowed. As the Emperor of a powerful nation, he was accustomed to giving commands and having them obeyed. When had anyone ever treated him with such disdain?

His expression darkened. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, making no move to approach. From about ten feet away, he slowly raised a hand.

Duan Zhixing made no other move.

WHOOSH—

Instantly, a warmth like the midday sun spread across the bitterly Cold Land of Hua Mountain Peak. To the naked eye, every snowflake in Duan Zhixing’s vicinity evaporated completely, turning into wisps of rising steam.

Amidst the steam, with no further warning, the Emperor of Dali extended a finger and pointed it at Chen Sha from across the distance!

TCHHH!

As he pointed, the air tore like paper, making the sound of ripping silk.

It shot forward with the force of a whistling Crossbow Arrow!

It crossed the ten-foot distance in less than a breath, arriving right before Chen Sha!

To Chen Sha’s eyes, in just a tenth of a breath, it felt as if a bolt of lightning had descended from the heavens. It carried an incredibly intense Pure Yang Power, capable of purging all evil.

’This is the One Yang Finger.’

In that instant, he understood how the One Yang Finger could save lives.

It seemed that practitioners of the One Yang Finger used the technique of Refining Essence and Qi to transform their body’s Pure Yang Essence Qi into a lifetime’s worth of Power and True Qi. This Power contained pure Life Essence Qi, which was why it could not only kill but also heal—especially those suffering from internal injuries.

But Duan Zhixing’s expression changed drastically.

His Finger Power reached Chen Sha in an instant. But as soon as it came within three feet of the young Daoist, it seemed to hit an incredibly soft yet impossibly hard barrier. HISS... HISS... HISS... It managed to push forward another foot, closing the distance to two feet, but it could not advance any further. The Finger Power dissipated without a trace, though it didn’t rebound back at him.

"How is this possible?"

Hong Qigong’s face paled in shock. As the leader of the Beggar Gang, he knew better than anyone how formidable the One Yang Finger was.

’Lord Duan is already in the Grandmaster Realm, and his One Yang Finger Power has reached the Upper Grade Realm, yet he could only penetrate to within two feet of that Daoist...’

That it went from three feet to two feet demonstrated the difference between Duan Zhixing and the other First-class Experts.

He hadn’t been blasted away. The power of his One Yang Finger had broken through a third of Chen Sha’s defense, but only a third...

This was unbelievable to Hong Qigong and the others.

Their own Power was comparable to Duan Zhixing’s. If he could only get his One Yang Finger within two feet of Chen Sha...

...didn’t that mean they could do no better?

In other words...

’Did this mean the Power Realm of this young Daoist, who looked to be in his twenties, far surpassed their own Grandmaster Realm?’

’Could he be above the Grandmaster Realm?’ Huang Yaoshi was dazed. "What Realm is that?"

In an instant, these young Grandmasters, all of whom were obsessed with Martial Arts, stared at Chen Sha with undisguised fervor in their eyes.

"Just what Realm have you reached?"

"You want to know?"

Chen Sha gave a slight smile.

"Why don’t you all come and find out for yourselves?"

Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi glanced at each other, then spoke in unison:

"You first?"

"Can’t you see the situation clearly?"

Chen Sha shook his head.

"In a one-on-one fight, none of you here on Hua Mountain Peak are my opponent, save for Chongyang Master. Why don’t you try attacking together? Several Grandmasters at once might stand a chance... of breaking my Qi Wall and forcing me to actually make a move."

Chen Sha’s words were the very definition of arrogance.

Everyone understood. He was saying that only Wang Chongyang was worthy of being his opponent.

And that several Grandmasters attacking together would only have a *chance* to break through his Qi Wall?

The disrespect was staggering!

The experts present had all been invited to contend for the title of the world’s greatest.

Was there a single one among them who wasn’t proud and ambitious?

Chen Sha’s words were tantamount to saying:

"’Wang Chongyang, you can stand. The rest of you are worthless.’"

How could Hong Qigong stand being dismissed so completely?

If he had thought himself no match for Wang Chongyang before coming to Hua Mountain, what would have been the point of coming at all?

Seeing them still hesitate, Chen Sha’s patience began to wear thin. Now that he had witnessed the Duan Family’s One Yang Finger, his only remaining target on Hua Mountain Peak was Wang Chongyang.

’They’re unwilling to attack together.’

Chen Sha clasped his hands behind his back and looked toward Wang Chongyang.

"Sect Leader Wang, let’s save some time. We can decide who is the world’s greatest right here and now, just between the two of us."

Hearing this, Hong Qigong could no longer contain himself.

The future Five Extremes were all in the prime of their youth, proud men in their twenties. How could they tolerate such disdain from Chen Sha?

Just as Hong Qigong was about to roar in anger and strike, someone else moved even faster, his fury even greater:

"I, Huang, have always thought my pride and wild temperament were rare in this Mortal Realm. I never imagined I would meet my equal in arrogance today. Good, good! Very good! Now, prepare to receive a palm from me!"

The words had barely left his lips when Huang Yaoshi shot forward like an arrow from a bow. As he raised his palm, the snow on the ground swirled up around him. It was the Luoying Divine Sword Palm.

At the same time, Lord Duan, whose pride had been severely checked by his failed attack, thought to himself:

’My finger could only penetrate to within two feet of him. Now, with the addition of this Cyan Robe Grandmaster, let’s see if he can still withstand it.’

Without a word, he angled his body, raised his arm, and thrust another finger toward Chen Sha!

In a flash, the two Grandmasters attacked with their full Power. Their combined might stirred the wind and snow on Hua Mountain Peak into a howling gale. Many of the onlookers couldn’t even keep their footing, nearly getting blown off the sheer cliffs.

Just as the crowd was gasping in awe at the sheer power of the two Grandmasters’ attacks...

...they saw it all happen. Everyone watched with bated breath as the two Grandmasters’ full-powered attacks struck the same spot—two feet in front of Chen Sha. The terrifying True Qi of the Grandmasters could not advance another inch!

Huang Yaoshi and Lord Duan, having given it their all, wore expressions of utter disbelief. They mustered their Power again, unleashing ferocious blasts of Finger Power and Palm Wind.

WHOOSH~~~

Instantly, two visible, distorted arcs of force appeared in the air two feet in front of Chen Sha. They tore at the air in a furious stalemate, completely unable to break through and touch his clothes.

’Is he really that powerful?’

Hong Qigong watched from the side, aghast.

Ouyang Feng was also inexplicably shaken.

He looked at Lord Duan with extreme wariness.

’This man’s Martial Arts... it’s a counter to my own?’

When Lord Duan first attacked, he had sensed that the Emperor of Dali’s One Yang Finger was a powerful counter to his own Toad Skill.

And now he was witnessing Chen Sha casually fend off two such masters at once.

’How can an expert so much more powerful than me exist in this world?’

He had believed himself to be invincible, but upon arriving at Hua Mountain, he discovered one master more formidable than the next.

Ouyang Feng watched Chen Sha, a cold thought forming in his mind. ’An expert like this shouldn’t exist. The title of world’s greatest can only be mine! I’ll ’lend them a hand’ and kill him right here!’

CROAK—

A long, drawn-out croak echoed from his body as he sucked in a huge gulp of the cold air, his chest swelling to an enormous size. Then, he shot toward Chen Sha like a loaded spring, launching a punch straight at his back!

The force of the blow left a long, vaporous trail in the air.

At the exact moment Ouyang Feng struck, Hong Qigong also made his move. He, however, attacked from the front. Awed by Chen Sha’s immense True Qi, he had decided to add his own strength to the assault, to see if three Grandmasters could breach the young Daoist’s defense.

But he hadn’t expected Ouyang Feng to attack simultaneously, much less with a sneak attack from behind.

Hong Qigong unleashed a strike from the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. The Palm Wind billowed out, covering an area dozens of feet wide as it swept toward Chen Sha. But then he saw Ouyang Feng’s sneak attack, and his heart filled with regret.

’This is bad! The young Daoist might already be at his limit against three Grandmasters. I shouldn’t have been so hasty. Now I’ve given the Manor Master of White Camel Manor an opening to land a fatal blow. With the four of us attacking together, I doubt anyone in the world could survive. I’m about to be complicit in killing an innocent man!’

Though only twenty-five or six at the time, Hong Qigong prided himself on having never wrongly killed anyone in all his years in the Jianghu. Yet now, in his desire to prove his strength, he had joined forces with three other masters to kill such an astonishingly talented figure from the Martial Arts world.

His heart was filled with immense regret, but his Palm Power was already unleashed, and it was too late to pull it back.