Chapter 159: It's Your Turn!

Mukai Sato called out with his lips that the duel should end at the first sign of contact and that taking lives was strictly forbidden.

Yet, beneath the surface, he was secretly executing a lethal technique! Completely unnoticeable!

This surge of latent energy had likely been brewing ever since Yuan Honggang and Qin Mu began their confrontation!

Furthermore, the timing of his strike was unimaginably insidious! He deliberately chose the exact fraction of a second when Qin Mu was committed to his attack, aiming straight for the center of Qin Mu's brow!

If Qin Mu were to forcefully dodge, his momentum would be abruptly interrupted, leaving him vulnerable to a fierce backlash—he would either die or be crippled on the spot.

And if he chose not to dodge, even a peak practitioner of internal energy would meet their doom right then and there under Mukai Sato's strike!

Utterly malicious and ruthless to the extreme!!

That condensed razor-sharp energy spanned tens of meters across the platform, carrying an overwhelming aura of slaughter as it tore through the air straight toward its target!

Seeing this, Mukai Sato's lips already curled into a premature smile.

"That treasure is mine now!"

Ever since Qin Mu had stepped into the arena, Sato's eyes had been locked onto the jade pendant hanging around Qin Mu's neck.

The nourishing aura radiating from that jade pendant was countless times purer and more potent than the Qing Dynasty artifact Yuan Honggang had presented to him!

Such a priceless treasure was a once-in-a-lifetime find; he was determined to get his hands on it by any means necessary!

"Vile, lowly Huaxia dog! You are unworthy of wearing such a treasure! Go to hell!!"

Mukai Sato laughed maniacally, but before his words could even fade, Qin Mu abruptly shifted the trajectory of the fist he was hurling at Yuan Honggang, turning directly to meet the incoming blast of energy, and threw a devastating punch forward!!!

"Hahaha! How utterly foolish! To think he'd try to catch my energy blast with his bare fist! You are dead for sure!!"

Mukai Sato was brimming with supreme confidence. Relying on this very energy technique—which required significant time to charge—he had once instantly slain a peak internal energy master who specialized in external physical training!

Boom, boom, boom!!

A thunderous explosion echoed through the space!

A cloud of dust and debris billowed into the air, and the solid stone stage was smashed into countless shattered pieces under the shockwaves!

Everyone instinctively clamped their hands over their ears. The deafening collision between the flesh and the surging energy was terrifyingly loud; had they not been protecting themselves with a sliver of their own internal energy, their eardrums would have been ruptured on the spot!

Mukai Sato craned his neck, eager to see the pathetic state of Qin Mu's corpse buried beneath the smoke and dust.

Yet, the very instant he stretched his neck forward, a silent, imperceptible wave of energy erupted from the heart of the swirling dust!!

*Swish—*

Moving at countless times the speed of its initial approach, the energy zipped past Mukai Sato’s cheek before he even had the slightest chance to react!

It then pierced straight through a solid wall several meters behind him, shattering it with a web of spider-web cracks!

Mukai Sato’s eyes trembled as he jerked his head to the side to look at the shattered wall, his pupils contracting violently while his soul shook to its core!

This was the very same concentrated bolt of energy he had unleashed just moments ago!

It had been deflected right back at him by Qin Mu!!!

Had it deviated inward by even a single millimeter, it would have cleanly pierced straight through his entire neck!

"Baka!! How is this possible?!"

Mukai Sato screamed hysterically as the dust and smoke on the platform gradually began to disperse.

Qin Mu stood there completely unscathed, not even a single thread of his clothing torn or out of place.

Mukai Sato’s eyes bulged to their absolute limits.

"How dare you attack Lord Sato!"

Seeing the energy wave Qin Mu had deflected come within a hair's breadth of executing Mukai Sato, Yuan Honggang flew into a rage and roared furiously at Qin Mu.

"What did you just call him?" Qin Mu gazed at him, his eyes turning glacial in an instant.

Addressing a peer-level martial artist from the island nation as "Lord"?

Yuan Honggang’s mouth twitched involuntarily. He was actually frightened by that single look from Qin Mu.

He retreated in a flash, rapidly putting distance between himself and Qin Mu, while stealthily pulling a microscopic syringe from his pocket and plunging it directly into his veins.

"You have violated the spirit of martial arts, broken the rules of the duel, and actually dared to raise a hand against the referee! No matter what, I, Yuan Honggang, will execute you today!"

Yuan Honggang straightened up, acting as though the injuries inflicted on him by Qin Mu moments ago had never existed, radiating an overwhelming aura of bravado.

"And using a forbidden drug—is that considered respecting the spirit of martial arts, then?" A look of utter contempt crossed Qin Mu's face.

He had originally assumed that no matter how despicable Yuan Honggang's character was, he would at least maintain a shred of martial dignity.

Yet, in order to win this match, this man had discarded every last ounce of self-respect.

No doubt he had groveled and lowered himself significantly, committing countless acts shameful to his own country just to acquire this banned syringe from Mukai Sato.

"What forbidden drug? Do you have any proof?!"

Feeling a torrential flood of power surging through every limb and bone in his body, Yuan Honggang felt his blood boiling with frantic momentum. His entire body flushed crimson, and his eyes shone with a brilliance never seen before.

He felt as though a single punch from him right now could shatter a dozen-meter-thick slab of steel with ease!

With a deafening "bang," the surrounding atmospheric energy seemed to reach a critical threshold, condensing into thick billows of white mist.

Witnessing the terrifying physical transformation taking place within Yuan Honggang’s body, the crowd gasped in unprecedented shock.

"Internal energy projecting outward, condensing into mist?"

"C-Could this be the Transformation Realm?!"

The moment the title of the Transformation Realm was spoken, even the martial practitioners who had been struggling to understand the situation were jolted into awe.

To step across the threshold and become a renowned Grandmaster.

With Yuan Honggang anchoring the family from now on, who in Jiangcheng would ever dare stand against the Yuan family?

Standing atop the stage, Yuan Honggang raised both hands high into the air, basking in the boundless, overwhelming power coursing through his veins, and burst into wild laughter.

"Lord Sato is truly magnificent!"

"Although this potion can only force me temporarily into the pseudo-Transformation Realm, crushing a mere internal energy practitioner takes nothing more than a wave of my hand!"

With these thoughts racing through his mind, Yuan Honggang locked his burning gaze onto Qin Mu.

"You arrogant brat! Taste my fist!"

Yuan Honggang slammed his foot down hard, instantly cratering the stone floor beneath him. His body transformed into a streak of light, and the moment he initiated his punch, thunderous shockwaves of compressed air blasted through the swirling white mist!

Boom, boom, boom!!!

To Yuan Honggang's utter shock, however, Qin Mu's expression remained completely unchanged. Refusing to dodge or evade, Qin Mu simply raised his right hand once more, stirring the sea of white mist as he threw a ferocious punch to meet the attack head-on!

"You dare lock fists with me? You're courting death!"

When the two strikes collided, it was as if two massive mountains had crashed into each other. In a single instant, the ground outside the arena shattered completely into dust!!