"Hah—!"

Xie Yun roared, his body shooting forward like a keenly drawn sword, his whole being suffused with potent inner energy. His eyes were crimson, and his fists struck out like lightning. Bang! Bang! Bang! Over ten blows landed on the face and arms of the red-faced brute facing him, landing and immediately withdrawing, the final punch slamming heavily into the man's chest.

The blue-robed brute’s entire face was distorted from the assault. The final blow sent him flying off the platform like a broken kite, crashing heavily onto the muddy ground outside the ring; even if he wasn't dead, he was certainly gravely wounded.

In the blink of an eye, victory and defeat were decided.

"Match ** Cycle, the forty-eighth challenger, the Red-Faced Swordsman Mao Zhifeng, is defeated!"

The thousands of martial arts onlookers beneath the stage recoiled in shock, glancing nervously at one another. The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence. He had gone mad—this young master from the Medicine King Sect’s Herb Gathering Hall had truly fought like a maniac.

This entire affair dated back to that morning.

That morning, Ma Yu, one of the ten most brilliant young masters of the illustrious Treasure Trove Gang, had consecutively defeated thirty-nine young experts, successfully defending the ring for three full rounds of challenges, causing quite a stir. Many in the martial world eagerly anticipated even stronger displays from him.

However, just as Ma Yu was about to break through to the forty-** round, he made a fatal error. He should never have publicly challenged Xie Yun on the stage—the Chief Disciplinary Disciple of the Herb Gathering Hall, hailed as the foremost master among the younger generation.

Everyone knew that disciples of the Herb Gathering Hall were present to maintain order and did not participate in the fighting tournaments. Yet, Ma Yu had used an exceptionally arrogant tone to mock the entire Herb Gathering Hall.

Normally, Xie Yun would have merely offered a cold sneer and perhaps not accepted the challenge. But today, he had been provoked in the Herb Gathering Hall's small kitchen courtyard, having been defeated twice in a row by an obscure disciple. He was brimming with pent-up rage and nowhere to vent it.

Xie Yun accepted the challenge without hesitation and ascended the stage.

A truly appalling scene unfolded.

Ma Yu was, after all, one of the Treasure Trove Gang's ten premier young masters, a well-regarded figure among the younger martial artists of Pingzhou. His Blazing Sun Palm technique was also a rare, supreme martial art. Even if he wasn't Xie Yun's equal, he should logically have been able to withstand twenty or thirty exchanges.

But Xie Yun, consumed by fury, was not to be trifled with. Three rapid strikes of the Azure Cloud Sword technique sealed off Ma Yu’s avenues of retreat on both sides, forcefully pushing him to the edge of the platform. Cornered, Ma Yu dared not hold back, unleashing a palm strike toward Xie Yun’s chest. Xie Yun, astonishingly, ignored it completely and unleashed his final, furious sword thrust—its speed as swift as a flash of lightning, aimed directly at Ma Yu's heart. Ma Yu was shocked and enraged. This was a spar, not a fight to the death! Seeing the situation turn disastrous, he immediately flipped and jumped off the platform. Ma Yu’s wheel-defending challenge ended abruptly.

The numerous martial arts masters surrounding the arena were momentarily stunned into silence after watching Ma Yu forced off the stage by Xie Yun’s four sword moves.

Subsequently, numerous young experts from below the stage eagerly stepped up to challenge Xie Yun, but almost none lasted more than three or five moves.

Xie Yun’s fighting on the stage was frenetic. He accepted every challenge from a qualified young martial arts expert, and he didn't just use his favored swordsmanship. He employed almost every skill he knew. In the nearly twenty years he spent in seclusion in the Herb Gathering Hall’s library, he had devoured thousands of manuals covering low, intermediate, and high-level martial arts secrets.

Moreover, he hadn't simply memorized them; as the Eldest Brother, he had to test the martial progress of the other core disciples of the Herb Gathering Hall every few days, granting him exceptionally rich combat experience. His attack patterns were eclectic, encompassing leg techniques, fist styles, palm forms, and dozens of different weapon usages. From the most basic foundational techniques to the highest-tier supreme arts, he had exposure to everything. Coupled with his profound and solid internal energy foundation, many famous young masters of the martial world often couldn't last more than a few exchanges before being miserably defeated and forced off the stage.

"Good! Incredible, Eldest Brother!"

"Eldest Brother Xie Yun, you’re amazing! Forty-eighth one down, only two more to break through to the fifth round!"

The hundred-plus enforcement squad members, along with the inner and outer disciples of the Herb Gathering Hall beneath the stage, cheered wildly and roared their encouragement as Xie Yun secured another victory, defeating the Red-Faced Swordsman in a single move. Xie Yun's prestige was their prestige; the more opponents Xie Yun defeated, the more face they felt they gained.

Outside the training ground, in a nearby tavern.

Three middle-aged men sat at a window table on the third floor of the tavern, looking down to observe the duels taking place in the arena not far away.

One of them, a short, prosperous-looking man who appeared to be a merchant, smiled and remarked, "Hall Master, your disciple, after nearly twenty years of rigorous training, has finally learned to break free from the constraints of rigid forms and is beginning to integrate the strengths of various schools. Look at those few punches he just threw—swift and sharp. The fist touches the enemy and immediately stops, the internal force penetrating the body to seal the enemy's vital channels. This type of fist work must have been derived from the essence of the Meridian-Severing Finger, modified slightly—losing three parts nimbleness but gaining seven parts dominance."

"Haha, Deputy Hall Master Ma, you flatter me. This lad Xie Yun has diligence, certainly, but sometimes he is too rigid and lacks adaptability. It's surprising, though, what has gotten into him today that he’s suddenly applying all the martial arts he has studied in a living, practical manner," replied the man in his fifties, Elder Li, nodding with a slight smile of approval toward Xie Yun on the stage.

This figure, rumored to be the foremost bully and powerhouse in Zhuqi County, was about fifty or sixty years old, of average height. There was none of the cunning cruelty in his expression; rather, he possessed a gentle air typical of old age, making it impossible to guess that he had once been a desperate fugitive whose hands were stained with countless murders in his youth.

"All martial arts under heaven lead to the same destination. Xie Yun has broken through the most crucial mental hurdle; he is no longer fixated on single movements and forms but is beginning to synthesize the strengths of many schools. Given time, he will become another supreme master of the martial world, the pillar of our Herb Gathering Hall."

Seated with the other two was a lean man in his forties or fifties, clad in a dark green robe—the Deputy Hall Master of the Outer Hall, Ji. Though seemingly silent, his casual, flattering commentary was no less skillful than Deputy Hall Master Ma’s.

The waiter from the Anfu Tavern, trembling slightly, brought the trio their wine and dishes. After setting out the banquet table, he stood respectfully at a distance, awaiting orders, daring not to listen too closely to their conversation.

Elder Li laughed heartily upon hearing both Ma and Ji praise his disciple so highly; he felt exceptionally pleased.

"The preliminary preparations for our Medicine King Gang's medicinal and pharmaceutical trade convention are almost complete. The Young Master of our Medicine King Gang will lead a contingent of elite personnel to arrive at this county early from Wan'an Prefecture to inspect the preparations. They should arrive within a day or two. Deputy Hall Master Ma and Deputy Hall Master Ji, I will need both of you to continue working diligently and ensure that no mistakes occur in our initial preparations."

"The Young Master arrives in the next few days?" Deputy Hall Master Ma was startled, quickly replying, "Certainly not, certainly not! This is merely our duty; we will ensure this convention is executed flawlessly!"

In the dozen or so taverns surrounding the training ground, experts from the other ten major gangs of Pingzhou were also watching the ring competition, observing the bouts, and discussing the newly emerged heroes of the martial world.

Inside a private compartment in one of the more luxurious taverns, Elder Huang of the Treasure Trove Gang, his disciple Ma Yu, and a young woman in red were gloomily drinking.

Elder Huang downed a mouthful of fragrant, fine wine, slammed his cup heavily onto the table, and reprimanded Ma Yu: "Ma Yu, do you finally know that there is always someone better, and heavens beyond the heavens? You guarded the ring for three rounds of challenges and thought you were something special, didn't you? The ten major gangs of Pingzhou hold countless hidden masters; there is no shortage of men like Xie Yun. Look how utterly disgraced you are today—forced off the stage by him in just three or four moves! If people didn't know better, they’d think all ten disciples of the Treasure Trove Gang were useless cowards."

Ma Yu shot a resentful glance at Xie Yun, who was still standing on the stage, and retorted angrily, "Master, it is not that your disciple was incompetent; it is that Xie Yun was utterly shameless. His skill level is not significantly higher than mine, but he didn't bother dodging my palm strikes, trading a sword strike for a palm strike, fighting me with his life on the line. With his profound inner energy, if he took one of my palm strikes, he’d cough up a bit of blood and recover in a month, but if he hit my heart with one of his swords, I would likely be impaled and die on the spot. How could I risk my life to trade a palm for his sword? I had no choice but to retreat, and then... then I let my guard down behind me and was forced off the platform."

"Senior Brother Ma, you let your guard down behind you? How is it, Little Sister wonders, that your reaction seemed quite fast at the time? The moment the situation turned critical, you jumped off the platform, avoiding Senior Brother Xie Yun's fatal sword strike by a hair's breadth." The woman in red let out a small chuckle.

Ma Yu looked away awkwardly, gave a dissatisfied hum, and refused to look at the woman in red.