Chapter 499 - 498: Show Of StrengthWhy did Tang Zichen believe Fenric was a Martial Sage?

The reason was simple.

She could not see through him.

As a Great Grandmaster, Tang Zichen’s perception was razor sharp. Normally, no opponent could conceal their depth from her eyes. And yet, Fenric stood before her like an unfathomable abyss. She could only conclude one thing—he was stronger than her.

So strong, in fact, that she mistook him for a Martial Sage.

Her words had been sincere, but she had no idea how much of a storm they would cause among the tens of thousands of spectators.

"What?! What did Fairy Tang just say!?"

"She said that the so-called fake match fighter... is actually a Martial Sage?!"

"Martial Sage!? Did I hear that right?"

"Holy sh*t, this is big news!"

"Look at Master Lu at the VIP table—he doesn’t even look surprised. That means he must have known all along!"

"Wait, isn’t Master Lu himself a Great Grandmaster? If even he accepts it, then Fenric must really be a Martial Sage."

"That ’fake match’ guy is actually Martial Sage? This is insane!"

"Bullsh*t! A Martial Sage at such a young age? Are you kidding me?!"

"No, think about it. That’s the only explanation for why he defeated Sun Zhengying with a single finger strike!"

"Exactly! Sun Zhengying was an innate master, armed with a sword, and still couldn’t withstand one finger. Not even a Great Grandmaster could do that. Only Martial Sage could."

"So you’re saying the rumors of fake matches were nonsense all along?"

"Whether there was shady business or not, it doesn’t matter. If Fenric is truly a Martial Sage, then every victory makes perfect sense."

"Incredible... simply incredible!"

"Damn it, we’ve been mocking a Martial Sage all this time!?"

"Yeah! Thank heavens he’s got a good temper. Otherwise, who knows what might’ve happened."

"Speak for yourselves—I never mocked him. Don’t lump me in!"

"I still don’t buy it. Maybe Fairy Tang misjudged him..."

The entire Bird’s Nest roared with disbelief.

Martial Sage. The title carried the character "Sage."

To be called such was not for the ordinary. Only those who had transcended, who possessed both unparalleled comprehension and world-shaking ability, were worthy of the name.

Most struggled to believe Tang Zichen’s words. After all, Fenric looked far too young.

Every known Martial Sage in the world was a towering figure of influence, most well past forty, their power enough to make governments tremble.

Fenric, by appearance, looked barely twenty.

A twenty-year-old Martial Sage? Unheard of. Only once in the last century had such a prodigy appeared.

On stage, Fenric looked at Tang Zichen and smiled.

"Alright," he said calmly.

He did not explain, nor deny.

"I’ll show you my true strength. I hope you can withstand it."

The moment his voice fell, a shift rippled across the arena.

The relaxed young man vanished. In his place stood a being radiating a suffocating, primal aura.

The crowd fell silent.

That pressure was unlike anything ordinary people could endure.

Yet Tang Zichen’s eyes only grew brighter. Her beautiful face turned solemn, her will sharpening like steel.

"Match, begin!"

The bell rang.

Even before the echo faded, Tang Zichen moved.

Her body blurred like a phantom, shrinking the ground to inches as she appeared before Fenric in an instant.

With a sharp twist, she clenched her fists and struck, her body spinning like a top, power erupting in a sudden storm.

Move and beat!

One of Supreme Ultimate Fist’s most ferocious techniques.

Fenric raised his arm just in time.

"BOOM—!"

The impact thundered across the ring like a war drum.

Fenric slid backward, boots scraping along the floor, until he reached the edge of the stage.

The sheer force of her blow was undeniable.

But what intrigued him wasn’t the raw strength.

Inside his body, he felt something else—a hidden power invading his meridians, gnawing at him from within.

"Hm? So this is the force of a Great Grandmaster... penetrating power that strikes from the inside. Interesting."

Although Fenric was no martial artist by origin, the memories in his body told him enough.

This was Gang Jin(*Forceful Strength)—the essence of a Great Grandmaster. Unlike ordinary inner strength, Gang Jin bypassed the body’s surface, attacking directly from within. A single touch could make a man cough blood and collapse, with no external wounds to show.

This was why Great Grandmasters were feared.

Of course, against Fenric, such power was limited.

His body was monstrously resilient, nearly unbreakable. And even if wounded, his self-healing would erase the damage in moments.

In truth, his regenerative ability was the natural nemesis of Gang Jin.

Still, he couldn’t help but respect it.

So this is the strength of a Great Grandmaster. Not bad... but it won’t be enough.

"Your energy is not bad, Tang Zichen. Now, take my move as well!"

As Fenric’s voice fell, a sudden flame ignited in his palm.

He unleashed a blazing surge of power.

The entire stadium fell into stunned silence. Spectators in the Bird’s Nest, viewers in front of televisions, and netizens glued to their screens all gaped in shock.

At first glance, Fenric’s technique looked like the legendary Gang Qi(*Burst Energy) release.

In this martial-arts-thriving world, even those who had never trained knew that releasing Gang Qi was an ability reserved for senior innate masters at the very least.

Yet Fenric had gone further—his Gang Qi was shaped into pure flames. That was no feat an innate master could ever hope to accomplish.

With that display alone, the truth was undeniable.

The so-called "counterfeit fighter" was in fact an unfathomable powerhouse.

Perhaps... he really was a Martial Sage.

Fenric thrust out his palm.

A colossal flame imprint materialized before him.

Buddha Palm—infused with fire!

"Whoosh!"

The massive flame palm roared through the air, speeding straight toward Tang Zichen’s strike.

Her pupils shrank as dread seized her heart. She instinctively darted aside, unwilling to take the attack head-on.

The force behind it was overwhelming—if she resisted directly, she would be grievously injured.

BOOM—!

The blazing palm smashed through the broadcast station’s guardrail, tearing past the ring entirely.

And then—it hurtled toward the packed audience.

For an instant, sheer terror gripped the stadium.

The spectators closest to the trajectory nearly collapsed in fright. If that strike landed, there would be nothing left but ashes.

Tang Zichen’s expression changed drastically. She had evaded, but the palm’s speed far surpassed sound. It was too late to intercept it again.

Even Fenric himself hadn’t expected her dodge to be so swift. At this point, even he couldn’t retract the palm.

The audience in its path had no chance of escape.

A tragedy loomed—

Until, finally, someone stood up.

From the VIP section, a figure shot into the air, wrapped in a burst of white Gang Qi.

He hurled himself directly at the flaming Buddha Palm.

It was Elder Lu.

Vice president of the country branch of the Martial Association, a renowned grandmaster, a living pillar of the martial world—he had moved without hesitation.

Boom—!

The impact detonated midair.

A fiery explosion blazed like a missile blast inside the Bird’s Nest arena.

When the flames cleared, a scorched figure plummeted from the sky.

He landed heavily, coughing up blood.

It was Elder Lu.

Though gravely injured, he had successfully intercepted Fenric’s strike, preventing disaster.

"Elder Lu!!"

From the VIP section, several big names rushed forward in alarm.

The sight was harrowing—his body was charred black, his clothes torn, his once-thick hair burned down to a pathetic "Mediterranean" baldness.

He looked worse than a beggar.

"Elder Lu, are you alright!?"

A master rushed to support him, but Lu weakly raised his hand. "Don’t... move me. Something’s broken..."

Faces paled. Urgent shouts rang out.

"Medical team! Bring a stretcher, now!"

Doctors rushed forward at once.

Watching the old man, who had sacrificed himself to shield innocent lives from his own palm, Fenric felt an unfamiliar heaviness in his chest.

Yet Elder Lu’s face carried not pain, but joy.

Before being carried away, he spoke solemnly to the leading figures:

"My injuries... are nothing serious. Half a year of rest will be enough. You must not blame Fenric for this. On the contrary... I am honored to be wounded by such a superlative talent. What matters most is this—our country has produced such a genius. Remember my words... he is the hope of our martial world!"

Elder Lu was then taken away.

And once more—the Bird’s Nest fell silent.

Silent enough to hear a pin drop.

No one had expected such a scene.

A leading authority of the martial world, a peak grandmaster, had been blasted off the stage by a single casual move from a contestant.

If this hadn’t been witnessed with their own eyes, no novelist would dare to write such a thing.

One fact was now beyond doubt: the young man on the stage... was indeed Martial Sage.

Fenric’s Buddha Palm had gravely injured Elder Lu without effort. The proof was ironclad.

A stone hammer.

Only a Martial Sage could wield such destructive might. Only a Martial Sage could cripple a Great Grandmaster with a single strike.

All eyes, filled with awe, envy, disbelief, and even fear, converged on Fenric.

Martial Sage.

The pinnacle of the world’s martial power.

A sovereign existence rarely glimpsed by ordinary people, now standing plainly before them.

In that moment, Fenric became famous.

After a long hush, the host finally announced the match would continue—under strict rules.

From here forward, contestants were forbidden from using techniques that released energy outward, to prevent a repeat of the near-tragedy.

On the stage, however, neither combatant moved.

Tang Zichen stared intently at Fenric.

"What martial art was that just now?"

Fenric answered honestly: "Buddha Palm."

It was the only true martial art he possessed. Everything else he wielded came from beyond the martial path.

"One palm..."

Tang Zichen clenched her fists. With just one palm, Fenric had crippled Elder Lu. She knew well she could not do better—after all, Elder Lu’s fame was established before she had even been born.

"Is the gap between a Great Grandmaster and a Martial Sage truly this vast?" she murmured, her expression shadowed. "A Martial Sage... truly terrifying."

Yet even as the words left her lips, the loneliness in her eyes faded, replaced by renewed determination.

She drew a steadying breath, her voice ringing clear across the stadium:

"I concede!"

Once, a grandmaster’s surrender would have shocked the crowd.

But now, no one was surprised. It was only natural.

Who could hope to defeat the Martial Sage?

Had they not just seen Elder Lu nearly perish trying to block a single palm?

After yielding, Tang Zichen looked once more at Fenric.

"Fenric... I hope that next time, I’ll have the chance to fight you again."

Her eyes burned with defiance. Though she had lost, she had chosen him as her lifelong rival.

One day, after training tirelessly, she intended to challenge him again—that time, as a Martial Sage herself!