Watching Senior Zhu Ba, the eighth-ranked figure of the Fourth Inner City, coughing up blood at the hands of a mere newcomer — the sight overturned many people's imaginations!
But Zhu Ba was, after all, a seasoned veteran. He suddenly let out a wild roar, extended both arms, and firmly wrapped them around Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan felt as though he had sunk into a mass of cotton. Fat pressed down from every direction, leaving him unable to move.
He unleashed punches and kicks, each one striking flesh. Zhu Ba's bones — who knew how many were broken — and the fat all over his body was pounded into minced meat, festering beneath his skin.
But Zhu Ba clenched his teeth and fought with all his might to keep Fang Yuan pinned down. He had already been beaten so badly that his mind was nearly blank, yet the last shred of clarity within warned him — if he let this tiger Fang Yuan loose, he would truly be finished.
The space compressed around them. Fang Yuan let out a cold snort, entirely unafraid, and activated his All-Out Strike Gu.
The phantom of a green ox rose into midair.
"Another new strength path phantom!" Bai Ningbing's pupils contracted slightly at the sight.
"Has Fang Yuan grown this strong without making a sound? If I were to face him, with only the Gu I have on hand, I'm afraid..." Bai Ningbing's heart sank lower and lower.
The ox's strength was tenacious and enduring. Fang Yuan spread his arms and slowly pried apart Zhu Ba's constricting grip.
In terms of raw strength, Zhu Ba was no match for Fang Yuan.
Zhu Ba exhausted every ounce of power, his arms trembling, sweat pouring off his body like rain — yet he still could not stop Fang Yuan.
"Damn it, damn it — if I really let him break free, I'm done for!" An intensely ominous premonition surged through Zhu Ba's heart, and the thick aura of death left him trembling with terror.
"I... I surrender!" he roared.
Compared to his own life, what did a mere hollow reputation matter?
The presiding Gu Master immediately activated the arena's mechanisms and forcibly separated the two.
"The winner has been decided — Fang Zheng wins! Zhu Ba loses!" the presiding Gu Master declared.
The entire arena erupted.
"He actually won!"
"Who would've thought Zhu Ba was just a paper tiger. Fierce on the outside, weak within — he had everyone fooled all this time."
"Zhu Ba can't even handle a newcomer, and he calls himself the eighth-ranked figure? He's nothing but a disgrace to our Fourth Arena..."
Zhu Ba's wretched defeat shattered the image he had painstakingly built in people's minds over many long years.
Bai Ningbing listened to the clamor around him and silently shook his head. "Zhu Ba has been famous for many years and is undeniably strong, but he ran into Fang Yuan. Zhu Ba's fighting style is defense-counterattack — he uses defense first to deplete his opponent's True Essence and stamina, then counterattacks to secure victory. But this time he ran into the freak that is Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan is a strength cultivator with the Heavenly Origin Treasure Lotus — his True Essence is practically inexhaustible. And in terms of stamina, strength cultivators are especially gifted... The two actually counter each other perfectly, and when they clash, the braver one wins!"
Come to think of it, it was almost funny.
Bai Ningbing had changed from his previous style, becoming cunning and devious. Fang Yuan was also changing — sweeping away his earlier calculating, scheming manner, becoming bold and open, charging forward with unstoppable ferocity.
The two of them seemed to have swapped places.
Zhu Ba fell. He voluntarily surrendered, defeated by Fang Yuan's hand. His reputation was virtually destroyed.
"Nice fight." Back on the sidelines, Wei Yang said to Fang Yuan with a smile.
This was Fang Yuan's first battle since advancing to the Fourth Inner City, and Wei Yang had come to watch.
Fang Yuan's performance, truth be told, had exceeded Wei Yang's previous expectations.
Wei Yang cared about Fang Yuan, partly because of the task entrusted to him by the patriarch, and partly out of genuine friendship.
"Perhaps you were simply born for the strength path." At the drinking banquet afterward, Wei Yang remarked with feeling.
He patted Fang Yuan on the shoulder. "I once walked the strength path myself, but I couldn't make it work. But now, I see hope in you. Do you know? Many eyes are watching you right now. Just keep going down this road!"
Fang Yuan nodded.
He knew his situation.
He had just advanced to the Fourth Inner City and immediately encountered Zhu Ba, whom he defeated. In one stroke, he had made a name for himself, leaving many people stunned.
The battle had barely ended before he had already received numerous forced challenges.
Among them, many were strength path Gu Masters, all targeting his All-Out Strike Gu.
The better Fang Yuan performed, the greater the value of his All-Out Strike Gu, and the more it would attract others' covetous eyes. And the ones drawn in now were the strongest fighters of the Fourth Inner City.
From now on, his situation would only grow more difficult.
But the more things were like this, the more his fighting spirit surged and soared.
What were mere risks and such difficulties? How could they possibly stop Fang Yuan's steps!
"In this world, no one can stop my heart!"
Eight days later, he fought Jin Bianyuan. After a brief stalemate, he unleashed all his beast force and shattered Jin Bianyuan's core defensive Gu, killing him on the spot.
Ten days later, Liao Huadong, renowned for his ferocious offense, became Fang Yuan's opponent. Fang Yuan met offense with offense, defeating him head-on. Had the presiding Gu Master not reacted quickly, Liao Huadong would have lost his life.
Seventeen days later, Zhong De, who possessed the strength of five tigers, engaged Fang Yuan in a spectacular showdown, only to be knocked down in the end, lying motionless on the ground like a dead dog.
……
Time continued to flow, and Fang Yuan's victories kept coming, one after another.
The Fourth Inner City had many strong fighters, but Fang Yuan's progress was nothing short of godlike.