The giant lumberman refused to appear weak. He caught the huge cauldron with one hand as easily as catching a toy. He even weighed it in his hand to show off his great strength. After that, he tossed it back to Li Qingshan.
Hua Chengzan warned, “Be careful!” The cauldron enlarged in the air.
Li Qingshan caught it, and sure enough, it was much heavier, but he did not care. He tossed it back to the giant lumberman, and it expanded in the air once again.
The cauldron was tossed between the two of them, growing in size. Even Li Qingshan had to catch it with both arms now. Many Qi Practitioners were dumbfounded by this. Was he still human with this kind of strength?
Even if they used various techniques or talismans like the Divine Strength talismans, they still would not have been able to lift it up so easily.
Only Body Practitioners could understand what was going on, and they showed admiration. They had never thought this young man would be so impressive as a Body Practitioner that he could actually challenge a giant lumberman to a match of physical strength.
Qiu Haitang frowned slightly. Just where did this kid come from? Why was he so strong as a Body Practitioner?
Body Practitioners could not be made with just a secret manual or two and hiding and training deep in the mountains. Their demand for pills would only exceed Qi Practitioners.
She was actually no longer so confident in this match of physical strength that she originally thought to be predetermined.
The Qi Practitioners in the surroundings all held their breaths and watched nervously as the huge cauldron flew back and forth. The giant lumberman had already lost a match. If he lost another, then they had essentially thrown their spiritual stones down a drain.
The giant lumberman caught the huge cauldron again. His face was flushed, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was drenched in sweat. He had completely sobered up now. The cauldron had already grown to three times its size, weighing heavily on his shoulder. He heaved for breath. Even he began to find this rather cumbersome.
On the other hand, Li Qingshan had already taken off his upper garment. His bronze body did not have any excess flab, but it was unlike the giant lumber’s bulging muscles. Instead, he was perfectly streamline, like he was forged from metal. If the strength he had gained from the ox demon was a piece of ironstone, then the tiger demon had forged the ironstone into a steel blade.
He did not perspire at all. It did not seem arduous to him at all. He might not have been greater than the giant lumberman in terms of pure strength, but there were no Body Practitioners that could rival his endurance and tenacity.
The outcome of the gamble was near.
The giant lumberman made up his mind, roared out, and exerted his full strength, throwing out the huge cauldron.
The huge cauldron whistled towards Li Qingshan like a mountain.
“Dodge it!” Han Qiongzhi cried out.
Hua Chengzan’s expression changed slightly, but the cauldron still swelled in size. If he did not do that, the match would be unfair. All he could do now was let Li Qingshan give up on this match.
“If the cauldron touches the ground, then it’s a loss. You’d better catch it well, fellow Li.” Qiu Haitang smiled charmingly. She could tell the two of them had already reached their limits. If Li Qingshan did not catch it, it would be his loss, but if he tried to catch it, it would be even better. Even if he survived, he would be heavily injured, which would only guarantee his defeat in the third match.
Li Qingshan ignored these people. His eyes narrowed, his true qi sunk in his dantian, and he extended both hands towards the whistling cauldron.
The cauldron slammed into Li Qingshan, leading to a series of cries in the surroundings.
Li Qingshan could sense the tremendous force in the cauldron. If he could transform, this would have been nothing, but it was rather tough on him in human form. However, he gritted his teeth, and the sea of qi in his dantian began to circulate, gushing out with strands of true qi that flowed through his entire body. It turned into a softening force to nullify the force in the incoming cauldron.
Li Qingshan staggered back over a dozen steps with the cauldron, dragging out two long tracks in the ground. He kicked down with his right foot and suddenly came to a halt. There was a crack, and the sole of his foot sank into the floor.
Li Qingshan held the cauldron firmly and let out a toothy grin. He called out, “Back to you!” He suddenly took a step forward, unleashing all of his strength to twist his body, throwing out the cauldron.
The cauldron directly flew out with even greater force than when it first arrived. The giant lumberman was frightened. He glanced at Qiu Haitang, let out a furious roar, and extended his arms. He was prepared to die.
The moment his hands touched the cauldron, he knew that he was unable to stop this force. He knew his body was about to be crushed, so he closed his eyes as he waited for death.
The gust of wind slammed into his face, but he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw how the cauldron had suddenly stopped before him, only inches away.
The giant lumberman blinked his eyes, as if he was wondering what was going on. He lowered his head and saw a young man in black. He had caught the cauldron.
The young man in black turned around, revealing a handsome face with straight, slanted eyebrows and twinkling eyes. However, his face seemed like it was forged from metal before being sealed in ice, radiating with coldness.
He said coldly, “It ends here. You’ve already lost.”
The giant lumberman became dejected, but he glanced at the young man in black gratefully. If it were not for him, he might have been dead already.
The young man in black tossed the cauldron back at Hua Chengzan. The cauldron flew into Hua Chengzan’s hand, having already returned to the size of a palm. With a spurt of true qi, it was sent into the hundred treasures pouch. Hua Chengzan said to the young man in black who had suddenly appeared, “Tieyi, what brings you here?”
Han Qiongzhi waved at him. “Yo, li’l bro!”
The young man in black did not seem to see them. He turned around and stared straight at Li Qingshan, saying coldly, “Impressive skills as a Body Practitioner.”
“Right back at you!” Li Qingshan saw it all unfold extremely clearly. The young man in black had only darted out from the side after he had thrown the cauldron. He was like an agile panther, arriving in the blink of an eye and catching the cauldron. His body was so powerful that even Li Qingshan was rather surprised. Was he a legendary Body Practitioner?
When the young man in black received the cauldron, he did not catch it forcefully. Instead, he twisted the cauldron slightly, catching it cleverly and demonstrating his extremely great martial arts.
As if he was already used to the young man in black’s coldness, Hua Chengzan introduced, “The primary disciple of the school of the Military, Han Tieyi. Those who say I’m the greatest below Foundation Establishment must have never met him.”
Li Qingshan nodded, agreeing with Hua Chengzan’s words. Not only did Han Tieyi have a powerful body, but he was also at the tenth layer as a Qi Practitioner. He practised both qi and the body. He would probably struggle to find any even opponents among Qi Practitioners. Li Qingshan clasped his hands. “Li Qingshan!”
Han Tieyi ignored him. He turned around and faced Qiu Haitang, who had her brows furrowed. “How many spiritual stones for this otherfolk? I’ll buy him!”
Hua Chengzan sighed gently. “Haitang, you’ve lost.”
Qiu Haitang clenched her fist for a while before loosening it again, as if she refused to accept this outcome. In the end, she sighed. “So be it. Li Qingshan, the Sect of Clouds and Rain cleans its slate with you. You best not appear before me again either.”
If she insisted that Han Tieyi had interfered with the match, she could make it to the third round, but she was not an unreasonable, pestering woman. And, with Li Qingshan’s performance earlier, it would be difficult for her to emerge victorious even if she made it to the third match. Instead of that, she might as well just admit defeat now. However, the Virtue Accumulation pill truly did pain her. She gritted her teeth in hatred for Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan smiled. “Let’s hope that comes true!” With several thousand additional spiritual stones to his name and the Virtue Accumulation pill in hand, he could probably go knock on that door that led to the Daemon General realm now! As for whether he would appear before her again, that would not be for her to decide anymore.
“Nice one, kid. Nicely done!” Han Qiongzhi came over and slapped Li Qingshan’s shoulder.
The contempt in the eyes of the legalist disciples completely vanished. Just from how his strength of lifting the cauldron alone, not a lot among them could match him, and it was even rarer for him to earn a word of praise from Han Tieyi. After all, that fellow was cold to the bones. No wonder Hua Chengzan valued him so much.
Even Wu Gen could not help but admit that this countryside kid was extraordinary. He glanced at Qian Rongzhi with mixed emotion and only saw her smiling. She was not particularly overjoyed at all. Her demeanour only made him even more interested in her.
With some delighted, others would obviously be concerned. With Qiu Haitang’s forfeit, the entire building was thrown into an uproar.
They had actually lost a bet that they were certain they would win, and they had lost it in such an absolute fashion. There was not even the need for a third match.
“No, this is rigged! Refund the spiritual stones!” Someone called out.
That immediately led to a chain of similar responses. Everyone demanded for the Parlour of Clouds and Rain to refund the spiritual stones. There were quite a few Qi Practitioners who threw several hundred spiritual stones into the bet. To many Qi Practitioners, this was all that they had, and it had all evaporated in an instant, so how could they accept this?
“Does anyone doubt my oversight?” Hua Chengzan’s smiled vanished. He raised his head and looked around. Wherever his gaze passed by, the ruckus immediately settled down.
……
“Brother Tian, we’ve lost.”
“Whatever. It’s just a thousand spiritual stones, right? It’s nothing at all.” The young man in white behaved like he did not care, but he bled inside. He had not brought a lot of spiritual stones with him this time to enter the Academy of the Hundred Schools. He had basically lost half of it all of a sudden. He muttered under his breath, “Li Qingshan.” before turning around and leaving furiously.
“How many spiritual stones?” Han Tieyi asked Qiu Haitang again. He was determined to purchase the otherfolk.
“Since you want him, how can I accept your spiritual stones, Tieyi? Just take him!” Qiu Haitang casually tossed out a deed.
The giant lumberman stared straight at the thin piece of paper. He was almost tempted to snatch it over, but even if he snatched it and destroyed it, it would be useless. He could not help but become dejected.
Hua Chengzan said, “Forget about my winnings. Just treat it as the payment for the otherfolk.”
Li Qingshan thought, Brother Hua sure is extravagant. A few thousand spiritual stones doesn’t even mean anything to him. Li Qingshan also saw how close he was with Han Tieyi.
Qiu Haitan shot Hua Chengzan a vicious glance. “If I said I’m giving him to Tieyi, then I’m giving it to Tieyi. As for your winnings, I wouldn’t give it to you even if you want it.”
Han Tieyi caught the deed. He remained as cold as ever, and he did not thank Hua Chengzan and Qiu Haitang either. With just a wave of his hand, the deed was immediately reduced to powder.
He said to the giant lumberman, “You’re free now. Come to the Academy of the Hundred Schools the day after tomorrow and join my school of the Military.” He said it like it was an order, cold and leaving no room for negotiation.
He glanced at Li Qingshan again and then at Hua Chengzan, but he said nothing. He strode away.
Hua Chengzan rubbed his nose and smiled bitterly. “He has acknowledged me a little. At least he hasn’t directly taken advantage of me.”
You call that acknowledgement? Only then did Li Qingshan understand that it was not that Han Tieyi did not acknowledge him, but rather he was born with a stiff face and never acknowledged anyone. Li Qingshan then noticed that his strides and rhythm remained the same the entire time, without any variations at all. He was as precise and monotonous as a clock. Was this the demeanour of a military disciple?
The school of the Military might be a decent choice too.
