Qingling Fairy slowly raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping over Lin Hao and Hu Nan not far away, then at the ten thousand spirit stones before her. Her expression remained calm and unwavering: "I can witness your duel, but remember, stop when you've made your point; do not kill. Head to the training grounds; the space there is spacious and suitable for your contest."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Hao abruptly shook his head, a hint of disdain and arrogance on his face. His tone was boastful: "No need to go to the training grounds!"
He turned to Hu Nan, his eyes filled with mockery. "With a mere Foundation Establishment stage cultivator like him, I only need three moves to defeat him. Such an ant-like opponent is not worthy of my going to the training grounds. Here, I can finish him off!"
These words silenced the hall once more, everyone's faces filled with disbelief.
However, they quickly came to accept Lin Hao's assessment.
After all, Lin Hao was Lin Zhentian's son, had been at Foundation Establishment for several months, and possessed many magical artifacts.
Defeating Hu Nan would be incredibly easy.
Qingling Fairy frowned, then looked at Hu Nan: "Hu Nan, what do you think?"
"Right here. One move is enough to deal with Lin Hao; there's no need to go to the training grounds," Hu Nan said.
Hu Nan's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
These words were like a thunderclap, instantly shattering all other sounds in the hall.
The cultivators who had been murmuring in amazement fell silent instantly, their faces showing disbelief several times more intense than when they heard Lin Hao say he would win in three moves.
They all stared wide-eyed, their gazes fixed on Hu Nan, as if they were seeing this person for the first time, their faces filled with astonishment and bewilderment.
"Did I hear that right? Uncle Hu said he could defeat Lin Hao in one move?"
"This guy just reached Foundation Establishment and he's already spouting such nonsense?"
"Lin Hao has so many magical artifacts!"
"Uncle Hu is being incredibly arrogant!"
"Back then, Lin Hao was just caught off guard in the outer sect competition!"
Inside the hall, murmurs rippled through the room again. All eyes were on Hu Nan, some in astonishment, others skepticism.
They all believed Hu Nan was exaggerating.
After all, Lin Hao had already reached Foundation Establishment and possessed magical treasures.
Hu Nan had only just reached Foundation Establishment; there was no way he could defeat Lin Hao in one move.
Lin Hao, upon hearing Hu Nan's words, instantly changed color, his face shifting like a palette of hues, from ashen to crimson, then deathly pale, and finally, contorted into a terrifying grimace.
His spiritual energy instantly became incredibly violent, several times more so than when Hu Nan had mentioned his defeated opponent.
"You're courting death!" Lin Hao could no longer suppress his killing intent. He stomped his feet on the ground, creating two deep cracks in the bluestone. His figure shot forward like an arrow, carrying a surge of violent fire-attribute spiritual energy, charging straight towards Hu Nan.
Golden light surged around him, his golden robe fluttering wildly. His right hand clenched into a fist, flames swirling around it, interspersed with dense spiritual energy fluctuations—the Blazing Fist, a basic fire-attribute technique he had painstakingly cultivated.
This punch was delivered with all his might, containing not only the full spiritual power of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator but also the resentment and humiliation he had accumulated over the past three years. He was determined to severely injure Hu Nan and wash away all his shame.
The surrounding cultivators gasped in shock, instinctively retreating to avoid him, their faces filled with horror and disbelief.
No one had expected Lin Hao to act so impulsively, launching a furious attack in public with such overwhelming force, clearly intending to kill Hu Nan!
Some looked at Hu Nan with worry, believing that even with his considerable strength, he might not be able to withstand Lin Hao's hate-filled blow;
Others watched coldly, anticipating a spectacle of mutual destruction;
Even more secretly mocked Hu Nan's arrogance, convinced he was doomed to die today for daring to provoke Lin Hao so deeply.
In contrast, Hu Nan remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic or even a flicker of emotion, despite Lin Hao's unstoppable attack, which was imbued with raging fury and violent spiritual power.
Qin Changsheng, watching from the courtyard, had already seen through the flaw in Lin Hao's punch.
His agitated mind and flustered energy, though powerful, were chaotic and disorganized, and his spiritual power was hastily channeled, making him utterly vulnerable.
Just as Lin Hao's Fiery Fist was about to strike Hu Nan's chest, Hu Nan finally moved.
He slightly shifted his body, his movement as light as a gentle breeze, effortlessly dodging Lin Hao's full-force attack without using any powerful spiritual power.
This dodge, seemingly casual, was incredibly precise, perfectly avoiding the attack range of the Fiery Fist. The raging flames on Lin Hao's fist grazed Hu Nan's purple robe, sizzling as they burned, yet not even a scratch on Hu Nan's garment.
Lin Hao was startled; his rage instantly turned to astonishment. He never expected that his all-out attack would be so easily dodged by Hu Nan!
Before his astonishment subsided, his momentum caused him to stumble forward a few steps, unable to maintain his balance.
Just then, Hu Nan slowly raised his right hand.
The next second, more than ten fist-sized fireballs instantly condensed in his hand. These fireballs were surrounded by dense fire-attribute spiritual energy, burning fiercely, their scorching heat several times stronger than the flames on Lin Hao's fist.
"Go." Hu Nan uttered a single word casually, and with a flick of his right hand, more than ten fireballs shot out like arrows, whistling through the air, directly towards the staggering Lin Hao.
The fireballs were incredibly fast, closing in on Lin Hao in an instant, giving him no time to react.
Lin Hao was terrified. He instinctively tried to circulate his spiritual energy to defend himself and avoid the fireballs, but he was staggering, his spiritual energy circulation was rushed, and his rhythm had been disrupted by Hu Nan's earlier dodge. Caught off guard, he had no time to make any defensive movements.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A series of violent impacts rang out as more than ten fireballs rained down on Lin Hao's body.
A burst of violent fire-attribute spiritual energy erupted instantly, engulfing Lin Hao in flames. His golden brocade robe was ignited and quickly turned to ashes, burning him until he let out a piercing scream.
The powerful impact sent Lin Hao flying backward like a kite with a broken string, tracing a clumsy arc in the air before crashing heavily onto the bluestone floor with a dull thud.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining the bluestone floor before him. The flames around him continued to burn, searing his skin, causing him to convulse in excruciating pain, too weak even to struggle to his feet.
His previously raging spiritual energy instantly dissipated. No trace of the early Foundation Establishment stage spiritual energy fluctuations could be felt around Lin Hao anymore; only a faint aura remained. Clearly, he had been severely injured by the dozen or so fireballs and would not recover in the short term.
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
All the cultivators stared wide-eyed, their mouths agape, their faces filled with utter astonishment and bewilderment. Their gazes were fixed on Lin Hao, who lay sprawled on the ground, coughing up blood, and Hu Nan, who remained calmly standing, his expression serene. They seemed frozen in place, even forgetting to breathe.
Silence, a deathly silence, broken only by Lin Hao's painful groans, echoing slowly and jarringly in the hall.
"I...I didn't see wrong, did I? Uncle Hu...he really defeated Uncle Lin with just one move?"
"Uncle Hu is actually that powerful?"
"Summoning over ten fireballs at once, that's incredible strength!"
"I didn't expect Uncle Hu to be this strong even after Foundation Establishment!"
"He really defeated Lin Hao in one move!"
"Lin Hao, how arrogant!"
"It's laughable that he just said he'd defeat Uncle Hu in three moves, and then he was defeated in one?"
A long while passed before the disciples finally spoke up.
They originally thought Lin Hao would defeat Hu Nan very easily.
But unexpectedly, in the next instant, Hu Nan defeated Lin Hao so easily.
And in just one move.