What?
A sound like a thunderclap erupted. Liu Feiyang turned his head with difficulty, and a detestable smiling face appeared less than a foot from his side.
Without any suspense, Liu Feiyang was sent crashing off the battle stage by a solid punch from Zhang Er Gou.
When Liu Feiyang fell from the stage, the scene plunged into silence, a terrifying silence!
It was too frightening. Zhang Er Gou had inexplicably vanished and then reappeared. How many people present could detect such an ability?
Not only the surrounding inner disciples, but even the experts on the inner disciple ranking list, hidden in the shadows, wore grim expressions.
If Zhang Er Gou hadn't revealed himself, they wouldn't have detected his presence.
How could they possibly fight? Zhang Er Gou had too many tricks up his sleeve.
He already possessed a bizarre fist technique that specifically countered the spiritual energy shields of the Golden Core stage.
And the kid's speed was astonishingly fast; only cultivators with wind spirit roots could have an edge over him in speed.
Now, what was even more terrifying was that the fellow had added a skill for concealing himself.
These experts on the inner disciple ranking list exchanged glances, none of them speaking.
At this moment, words were the palest force. Nothing they could say could hide the increasingly mysterious nature of Zhang Er Gou.
Every time they thought Zhang Er Gou had been pushed to his absolute limit.
But each time, reality slapped them hard across the face.
...
Following this, several disciples who stepped onto the stage became somewhat timid about fighting. Although their rankings were all ahead of Liu Feiyang, Zhang Er Gou's strange, sudden vanishing skill had left them with a massive psychological shadow.
After stepping onto the stage, these disciples became hesitant and fearful, constantly worried that Zhang Er Gou would suddenly disappear.
In the subsequent battles, Zhang Er Gou found it much easier.
The experts on the inner disciple ranking list kept their attention fixed on Zhang Er Gou, guarding against his sudden disappearance.
This left many openings when they attacked, and Zhang Er Gou naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.
One by one, the experts on the inner disciple ranking list were inexplicably defeated by Zhang Er Gou.
As the sky began to darken, along with the inner disciple experts defeated by Zuo Tian, Zhang Er Gou had defeated nineteen experts from the inner disciple ranking list.
Now, Zhang Er Gou's name ranked eighty-first on the inner disciple list!
With one more victory, Zhang Er Gou would become the eightieth on the inner disciple list.
Chi Yu had told him that he was not allowed to use spiritual energy until he entered the top eighty of the inner disciple list.
Zhang Er Gou had always remembered Chi Yu's words, and thus, he had relied solely on his physical strength and the close-combat skills he had cultivated.
Each time he needed to defeat an enemy, he had to get close to them, risking being hit by their spells and techniques.
In the beginning, Zhang Er Gou had repeatedly endured the attacks of those inner disciple experts with his agile footwork and resilient body, making them pay the price.
However, this method of attack naturally had its drawbacks. Facing cultivators with similar strength, Zhang Er Gou might be able to endure it with his tough physique.
But as the opponents' strength grew, and the gap in their cultivation widened, this method of "hurting a thousand enemies by losing eight hundred" was not an ideal approach.
Being attacked by one person might be manageable, but the continuous attacks from over a dozen people had already caused widespread hidden injuries throughout Zhang Er Gou's body.
Without spiritual energy to heal, every part of him ached faintly.
Zhang Er Gou couldn't understand why Chi Yu insisted he persist until he reached the top eighty of the inner disciple list before using spiritual energy.
Yet, he followed without question.
No matter how difficult it was, he suppressed the urge to use spiritual energy and cast spells and techniques.
During this process, Zhang Er Gou faced opponents that others deemed impossible to defeat, relying solely on his physical strength, unique close-combat skills.
And that terrifying fist technique that injured enemies even through their spiritual energy shields.
After two days and one night of fierce battles, Zhang Er Gou's movements became increasingly proficient, and he wielded the unique punching method he had discovered with even greater ease.
This was the greatest gain Zhang Er Gou felt so far, and perhaps it was the reason Chi Yu didn't allow him to use spiritual energy and spells too early against his enemies.
In the six months since entering the inner sect, Chi Yu had never taught him a single spell or technique, nor had he allowed him to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Chaos Art he had practiced in the outer sect.
He was only made to train his foundational abilities daily, with added weight, which not only brought a qualitative leap in his strength but also greatly enhanced his speed.
With Zhang Er Gou's current strength and speed, his "Lion's Heart's Fury" technique was now far more powerful than before.
However, after entering the inner sect, his opponents had also become stronger, no longer the arrogant and weak beginners from the outer sect.
After so many battles, Zhang Er Gou naturally gained some insights, desperately suppressing the spiritual energy within him that yearned to break free.
With the battles of these past few days, Zhang Er Gou felt his internal spiritual energy becoming more and more active. It was no longer like a stagnant pool with no movement when he didn't actively mobilize it, as it had been when he first entered the inner sect.
Suppressing the spiritual energy that was trying to break through his Dantian sea and rush out of his body once more, Zhang Er Gou looked up at the burly man standing opposite him.
This man was the eighty-first on the inner disciple list, Xiao Yanfeng!
Xiao Yanfeng not only shared the same surname as Xiao Qingyu but also his weapon choice was comparable to Xiao Qingyu's.
Xiao Yanfeng also wielded a pair of giant hammers, but his were silver-white, and the hammerheads were slightly smaller than Xiao Qingyu's.
"Zhang Er Gou? I am Xiao Yanfeng, eighty-first on the inner disciple list. I'll teach you how to behave!"
"In half an hour, you won't be!"
Hearing the other party's boast, Zhang Er Gou retorted with annoyance.
Looking at the other man's massive physique, he had thought the opponent might be a low-key person, truly judging a book by its cover.
If he was arrogant, Zhang Er Gou was even more so!
"Haha, kid, this is the first time someone has been so arrogant in front of me!"
"That's because others don't bother with you."
Zhang Er Gou mercilessly exposed the truth.
"You!" Xiao Yanfeng's face turned dark. "Stop your glib tongue and take a hammer from me!"
As he spoke, Xiao Yanfeng hurled one of the giant hammers he held towards Zhang Er Gou. The hammer, carrying a fierce gale, swept towards him.
It ruffled the young man's scattered black hair.
Hmm?
Zhang Er Gou focused his gaze and realized that Xiao Yanfeng's pair of giant hammers had a hidden secret. His two hammers were connected by an iron chain.
This allowed him more attack methods when fighting opponents; it was both capable of ranged attacks and close-quarters defense.
Zhang Er Gou dared not underestimate the attack. Though he spoke dismissively, the gale blowing towards him made him feel that the opponent's strike was not simple.
Holding the Ghost Spear Tianwen in his hand, Zhang Er Gou did not dodge. Instead, he charged towards the opponent.