86: A novice can kill a master with a flurry of punches

Xie Ning only took a glance before continuing his climb.

After this period of Cultivation, his Ancient Martial Arts Rank had reached Advanced Black Iron. Even against a Bronze Rank Yao Beast, without using Elemental Sharing, he could remain undefeated even if he couldn't win. As for other students of the same Rank who hadn't cultivated a Cultivation Technique?

With a flash, Xie Ning easily dodged the attack of a Rank 9 Black Iron Black Mountain Wolf. He grabbed its tail and gave it a violent swing, using the wolf to whip its master away. The master's figure faded amidst screams and disappeared from the Secret Realm. Repeating this, he easily dealt with three students who appeared to block his path.

Not far ahead of Xie Ning were the previous quintuplets, who were using a shameless tactic.

The five of them blocked a mandatory intersection on the way up the mountain. Their five Demon Tamers Beasts stood together, and no matter who came, they would swarm them. Five against one to pin down the opponent's Demon Tamers Beast, then all five of them would charge together to beat the opponent into surrendering, regardless of gender. This behavior made many trial-takers grit their teeth in anger.

No one could break through the combination of the five for a while, and those students were also wary of each other, not easily forming teams. In the end, many people had to take a long detour, bypassing through the side paths.

They also saw Xie Ning coming but didn't care at all. Guarding the easily defensible but hard-to-attack spot, they smiled with ill intent and curled their fingers at Xie Ning in a beckoning gesture.

Xie Ning also smiled and said, "Little Mantis, hit them hard."

Just as elements like ice rain, flames, and thunder were released from the five Demon Tamers Beasts, a ripple wavered in the air. The five Demon Tamers Beasts immediately screamed and fell to the ground one after another.

Ignoring their shock and fear, Xie Ning bypassed the fallen Demon Tamers Beasts, his fists as large as casseroles enlarging before their eyes.

A few seconds later, the figures of the quintuplets gradually faded. As Xie Ning turned to continue forward, the sound of something breaking through the air struck.

Meow!

Clang~

The dagger flying through the air was blocked by a somewhat familiar Light Cat.

"Thanks~" Xie Ning turned back and said to the frail youth standing not far away, who was panting heavily and exhausted. After the other party nodded, he also rushed in the direction the dagger had come from.

Another flurry of punches rained down.

After two seconds, the wailing stopped. Xie Ning continued forward. For the rest of the way, he didn't encounter anyone else bold enough to attack him.

Ten minutes later, Xie Ning arrived near the mountain peak. The only one left in front of him was a youth with dreadlocks who had left early and avoided most people's routes.

This person clearly noticed Xie Ning as well. Instead of moving forward, he stood his ground, striking a pose to wait for Xie Ning.

Seeing this, Xie Ning narrowed his eyes.

This was the first person he had encountered using Ancient Martial Arts since he started cultivating them himself.

The two who were running just a second ago were now like tigers gathering strength, motionless, with every muscle in their bodies tensed.

As a gust of wind passed, the two erupted, their speed no slower than ordinary Yao Beasts. Xie Ning raised a punch and slammed it toward the other's face, while the other raised a foot and kicked straight at his chest.

With a 'bang', both hits landed, and they charged at each other again.

The dreadlocked boy was clearly no novice. Although his strength was on par with Xie Ning's, his Martial Skills were very skillful. He parried every Move and used the opponent's strength against them with great poise. Xie Ning was the opposite; he only had the Cultivation Technique but no specific Moves. He fought with a flurry of random punches, completely without order, but he had the advantage of being faster. During the fight, he constantly adapted to the opponent's combat rhythm, gradually gaining the upper hand.

The Rift Blade War Mantis wanted to intervene several times, but Xie Ning held it back. Instead, when he accidentally saw the young boy in trouble, he told the Rift Blade War Mantis to go help.

After a clash of fists, the two separated briefly, both panting heavily with chests heaving. The dreadlocked youth's eyes held a trace of impatience and anger, while Xie Ning grinned, looking like he hadn't had enough.

So this is what a fight between practitioners of Ancient Martial Arts is like. How exhilarating!

No wonder many Demon Tamers, despite having Demon Tamers Beasts to fight for them, would still risk going forward themselves.

"Where did this idiot come from, daring to oppose my Zhao Family in Lingnan City? You're really looking for death!" After saying that, the dreadlocked youth summoned his Demon Tamers Beast—a vine intertwined into the shape of an azure tiger.

"Green Tiger Vine? That's quite rare, but my partner isn't bad either." Saying that, Xie Ning summoned the Rank 5 Bronze Poison Flame White Wolf. "Let's keep fighting!"

After speaking, Xie Ning charged forward again, with the Poison Flame White Wolf following closely behind, rushing toward the equally massive Green Tiger Vine.

"Courting death." Seeing it was a giant snow-white wolf, the dreadlocked youth, Tiger Zhao, smiled disdainfully, but he couldn't dodge in time and took a kick from Xie Ning.

"It's enough to deal with you!"

It could be said that a flurry of punches kills the master. As Xie Ning became more and more comfortable using his 'random punch' skills, he became happier and more at ease the more he fought.

From the initial one-on-one draw, to gradually landing two punches for every one taken, then to three-to-one and four-to-one, the scales of battle didn't just tilt; they were slammed down on Xie Ning's side.

"Damn it! I'm warning you! Our Zhao Family is determined to get the first-place reward. You'd better not interfere! Otherwise, there will be consequences!" Falling into a disadvantage, the dreadlocked youth shouted in exasperation.

Xie Ning grinned: "Then let's see!"

As the third set of Random Punch Exercises ended, Tiger Zhao hurriedly shouted during a gap: "Come help me!"

To his surprise, there was no response. He turned his head and saw the Green Tiger Vine being chased around by the white wolf covered in purple-red flames.

"Why can the white wolf breathe fire..."

This question went unanswered as he was struck in the head by Xie Ning's punch and knocked unconscious.

"That was refreshing." Xie Ning let out a long breath, then withdrew the Poison Flame White Wolf. The Rift Blade War Mantis had also finished helping the young boy with his trouble and returned to his side, remaining invisible.

The Talent [Void Rend] could tear through space. It was under this Talent that the Rift Blade War Mantis had researched a way to hide in the spatial layers.

After the battle with Tiger Zhao, Xie Ning had a deeper understanding of Ancient Martial Arts, and his combat skills had improved. Although more insights would need to be pondered slowly after returning, at this moment, he still felt he had made progress.

Seeing the others around him looking at him with wariness and fear, Xie Ning didn't waste time and turned to run quickly toward the mountain top.

He encountered no more difficulties along the way. Upon reaching the summit, there were five Triangular Tokens: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron, and Wood, corresponding to different rankings. Xie Ning directly took the Golden one from the highest point and placed his identification on it.

Outside the Secret Realm, the groups of students gathered there were waiting. They saw people constantly being ejected from the Secret Realm, either covered in wounds, unconscious, or in a sorry state, yet there was still no information on the area above the Round Mirror.

Just as everyone was discussing animatedly, the top of the Round Mirror changed.

A burst of golden light, like silk, wove together several words.

[Gold Token Recipient: Xie Ning]

Before the others could react, an excited Xiao Ya was the first to jump up.

"Yes! Xie Ning is the best! Haha~ So excellent! He's so damn excellent!"

Seeing the people around looking over, Lu Bingyun glared at Xiao Ya, signaling her to restrain herself, but she also nodded slightly, affirming her words.

Lan Yu, on the other hand, blinked her big eyes: "His Little Mantis was already strong, and it's even more powerful after evolving into the Rift Blade War Mantis. Logically, with it taking action, it should have been like a hot knife through butter, effortless. How did it still take half an hour?"

"This..." Lu Bingyun and Xiao Ya looked at each other, seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.

"Yeah, why is that?"