Chapter 87

Huaxia Jiu saw clearly that the invisible barrier that had blocked his departure did not appear when the young woman leaped up. He immediately understood that this invisible restriction was likely aimed at him alone.

The young woman appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, almost as tall as Huaxia Jiu, and had a robust build. She moved with a masculine vigor, and if one didn't look at her physique and face, they might have mistaken her for a man. She was precisely the legendary "tough woman" ——

"Hey—Junior Brother! Take this!" Just as Huaxia Jiu was lost in thought, the "tough woman" shouted as she stepped onto the stage, and like a meteor, she punched towards Huaxia Jiu.

Before the "tough woman's" fist arrived, a thunderous air explosion sounded, rushing towards Huaxia Jiu. Seeing Huaxia Jiu's surprised expression, the "tough woman" felt a surge of joy.

This "tough woman" was named Mulan Ying. She looked relatively young but was actually over thirty years old. She was a well-known and extremely rare female physical cultivator among the outer disciples.

Seeing the young and handsome man across from her, who seemed to be preparing to clash with her in a physical confrontation, Mulan Ying was secretly delighted at the easy victory and the hundred contribution points she would win. However, she also worried that if she injured him too severely, and since he was an inner disciple, it might cause some trouble. With this thought, she reduced her strength by one-tenth.

Huaxia Jiu didn't expect the "tough woman" to attack so suddenly, but he remained calm and punched back, meeting her fist head-on.

With a loud bang, the "tough woman" screamed and flew backward, quickly returning to her original position. However, she was now staggering, her body weak, her face pale as paper, her eyes filled with shock, and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

The crowd of several hundred people below was in an uproar. Wu Jiu, seeing this, finally relaxed a bit.

"You're a physical cultivator too? How is that possible? Your physical strength at your age is so formidable." Mulan Ying's expression was a mix of anger and frustration, especially when she remembered that she had been worried about injuring him and had reduced her strength by one-tenth at the last moment, which made her even more annoyed.

Huaxia Jiu, seeing his physical strength was indeed stronger than other cultivators at the same level, as he had expected, didn't know that Mulan Ying was a physical cultivator.

Huaxia Jiu was on guard while looking at Mulan Ying, secretly delighted that he had injured her with one move. Hearing her words, he was momentarily stunned and said with some doubt, "Physical cultivator— I'm not a physical cultivator!"

Hearing Huaxia Jiu deny being a physical cultivator, Mulan Ying thought he was deliberately teasing her and, in a fit of anger, shouted and charged again. She was truly a "tough woman," full of vigor!

Huaxia Jiu wanted to experience his physical strength, so he didn't use any spells and, like Mulan Ying, punched straight ahead.

For a moment, the two exchanged punches, the sound of their fists colliding echoing.

On the third collision, Mulan Ying let out another scream and was thrown far away.

Bang—

Mulan Ying fell off the stone platform and landed in front of the crowd.

With a spurt, Mulan Ying spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, her face deathly pale, severely injured and temporarily out of combat. Her expression was filled with shock and confusion.

In the first punch, Mulan Ying used her full physical strength. In the second punch, she added fifty percent of her true essence. In the third punch, she used her full physical strength and true essence. Yet, she was cleanly and decisively punched away by Huaxia Jiu on the third punch.

This was because after the three punches, Huaxia Jiu had gauged his and Mulan Ying's physical strength and no longer held back, aiming to incapacitate her and defeat her in one move.

A familiar figure from the crowd stepped forward, gave Mulan Ying a healing pill, and then helped her to the white jade stone to leave ten contribution points.

Without a word, he supported Mulan Ying and flew away.

"Earlier, he pretended not to know about the stone platform. Could he be playing the fool to catch the tiger?" An inner disciple in the crowd, seeing Mulan Ying's complete defeat, said with some suspicion.

"Hmph! As far as I know, among the dozen or so new inner disciples recently recruited by the sect, only Ren Xian'er of the Five Elements Hall succeeded in forming a core a few days ago. This boy is clearly already at the initial stage of core formation, so he must be at least from the previous batch of disciples, meaning he has been with our Ziyu Sect for at least five years. How could he not know about the stone platform?" Another inner disciple snorted, looking at Huaxia Jiu with disdain and said loudly.

"Indeed, Senior Brother Li's insight is sharp, seeing through this person's true nature," an outer disciple agreed.

"Exactly! This boy is clearly a physical cultivator, and a physical cultivator wouldn't have such strength without at least ten years of cultivation—"

For a moment, the crowd was filled with agreement, and except for Wu Jiu, everyone believed that Huaxia Jiu had been playing the fool.

Although Huaxia Jiu heard the crowd's discussions, he didn't take them to heart. To him, these discussions had no substantial meaning.

At that moment, another challenger appeared on the stone platform.

This was a man in his twenties, wearing a black robe, an inner disciple.

"Junior Brother! I am He Shengliang of the Five Elements lineage. May I ask your name?" He Shengliang gave Huaxia Jiu a deep look, smiled kindly, and bowed slightly, asking.

Huaxia Jiu returned the bow seriously and said, "I am Huaxia Jiu of Yuming Mountain. Nice to meet you, Senior Brother He!"

He Shengliang thought for a moment, feeling the name was familiar, as if he had heard it recently, but couldn't quite place it. The current situation didn't allow him to think further, so he said, "Junior Brother Hu! Whether you truly didn't know about the stone platform or were pretending, you should know that the ten people who accepted the challenge will each fight you. For each victory, you will receive a hundred contribution points and continue to fight. If you lose, you will have to pay a thousand contribution points to the winner."

"The previous Junior Sister Mu has already lost a hundred contribution points to you. There are only two ways to leave this stone: either win a thousand contribution points or lose a hundred contribution points, and the restriction on the platform will disappear, allowing you to leave. However, Junior Brother Hu, don't worry. According to the sect's rules, challenges on the stone platform are generally only between cultivators of the same realm. Today, all ten people are below the Soul Separation realm, and it is not allowed to injure anyone to the point of death."

At this point, Huaxia Jiu finally understood the entire misunderstanding. While feeling speechless, he was also eager to try. Especially hearing about the thousand contribution points, his fighting spirit soared.

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