Yet, a faint smile played on Ye Jingyu's lips. This was his first physical contact with the Crimson Flame Leopard, and this single punch had allowed him to gauge its strength—mere hundreds of jin at most. How could that possibly compare to his own strength, measured in thousands?
His own fist striking his arm had only caused a slight ache. It seemed that since cultivating the Bayan Jue, his physical body had grown infinitely stronger...
Seeing the Crimson Flame Leopard lunge at him again, a cold smirk flashed across Ye Jingyu's face. He stopped retreating, stopped evading. His frame, barely over a meter and seventy tall, charged directly toward the leopard, which stood half a head taller than him...
Seeing Ye Jingyu charge toward him with such uncharacteristic aggression, a savage glint flickered in the Crimson Flame Leopard’s eyes, swiftly followed by contempt—a deep, profound disdain. This fool was courting death; since he refused to dodge, he would simply die...
“Roar...” The Crimson Flame Leopard suddenly let out a massive roar, instantly gathering all its strength into its right fist, smashing it fiercely toward Ye Jingyu’s head...
If this had been a clansman fighting over a woman, the outcome would, at most, have been a decisive defeat. But since this was an outsider, killing him was acceptable. Raised in this brutal environment since childhood, he knew nothing of mercy...
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...” The fist cut through the air with a howling sound, arriving inches from Ye Jingyu’s nose...
“Ah!” Jiufeng couldn't help but shriek, instinctively covering her eyes with both hands. She truly could not bear to watch the first man who had stood up for her be smashed into pulp...
The rest of the onlookers erupted into a frenzy. In their eyes, even if Ye Jingyu survived the blow, he would certainly be knocked unconscious by this punch...
This was a fight without suspense. How could an outsider possibly stand against a warrior of the Crimson Tribe?
Only Ye Jingyu maintained his faint, cold smile. Facing the fist, large as a clay vat, he merely tilted his head slightly, effortlessly evading the swift and mighty blow. Then, under the astonished gaze of the Crimson Flame Leopard, he landed a simple punch upon its body...
For this strike, he used only a tenth of his power. After all, this was the territory of the Crimson Tribe; even if his opponent intended to kill him, he could not resort to murder here, could he?
With a dull boom, the seemingly gentle punch sent the massive body of the Crimson Flame Leopard staggering backward. A trickle of blood even seeped from the corner of its mouth...
The crowd erupted in an uproar...
What... how was this possible? He had actually forced the Crimson Flame Leopard back and injured it! This... this was completely unbelievable...
This fellow looked so thin, so weak; how could he possess such terrifying strength?
The Crimson Flame Leopard stared dumbfounded at the scene. He would never have believed that this weakling, whom he considered beneath contempt, could wound him? And with such a casual, utterly simple punch...
Hearing the gasps of the crowd, Jiufeng finally lowered her hands. When she saw Ye Jingyu still standing there unharmed while a streak of blood stained the Crimson Flame Leopard’s lip, her mind went utterly blank. What... what had just happened?
“Aaaahhh!” Suddenly, the stunned Crimson Flame Leopard exploded in rage. To be wounded by someone shorter, someone much leaner than himself—this was an unforgivable transgression, absolutely unforgivable...
In his great fury, the Leopard's eyes instantly flushed blood-red. If his earlier intent to kill Ye Jingyu was casual, now he was fully intent on murder. He had to eliminate this one who had wounded him; only then could he wash away his shame...
He was a noble warrior of the Crimson Tribe; how could he lose to this outsider?
Enraged, the Crimson Flame Leopard’s speed increased more than threefold compared to before. In the blink of an eye, he was before Ye Jingyu and, without hesitation, hurled another punch toward him. This strike was as fast as lightning, so swift that even the sound of air rushing was lost...
Facing this terrifying punch, Ye Jingyu made no move to dodge. His icy eyes shimmered with a fierce, burning light. Since the Crimson Tribe revered strength above all else, he would show them what his strength truly was...
His body remained rooted, but he rapidly raised his arm, meeting the Leopard’s incoming fist with an equally brutal counter-punch. This time, he channeled the full force of his strength—ten-tenths of his power...
“KRA-KOOM!” A colossal impact echoed as Ye Jingyu’s fist slammed directly onto the Leopard’s knuckles. Immediately, a sound of “kacha, kacha...” followed—the sound of bones shattering...
Ye Jingyu’s punch completely caved in the Crimson Flame Leopard’s fist. The finger bones were pulverized, and the wrist snapped. Bone shards, stark white, pierced the flesh, emerging accompanied by shreds of meat and vivid streaks of blood...
Before the Crimson Flame Leopard could even cry out, Ye Jingyu pivoted, delivering a flawless spinning kick directly to the center of the Leopard’s chest, sending his massive body flying backward. Blood poured uncontrollably from his mouth...
The scene fell into immediate silence...
Everyone—the burly men who had been shouting for Ye Jingyu’s death, the frenzied "female beasts," and even the still-confused Jiufeng—stared at the unfolding scene with frozen shock. Their mouths gaped wide, eyes bulged, and their faces were etched with disbelief...
Was... was this a dream?
If Ye Jingyu driving the Crimson Flame Leopard back earlier could be attributed to mere agility, what about this? There was no trickery this time—it was a direct, head-on collision...
That single punch had pulverized the Crimson Flame Leopard’s entire arm, stripping him of any ability to continue fighting...
How terrifying must that force be? How many people present could achieve such a feat?
Perhaps not even the leader of this group, the son of the Crimson Chief, Jiufeng’s father—Crimson Wolf—possessed such strength?
Yet this youth, this short, small figure, had accomplished it. How could such immense power be hidden within his slender frame?
Everyone stared at the scene, utterly bewildered, preferring to believe it was a dream rather than accepting it as reality...
“Outsider... I challenge you...” At that moment, from the crowd, a massive man nearly ten feet tall pushed aside the others and stepped forward. His large, brown eyes shone with fierce intensity...
Jiufeng’s eyes widened in astonishment. Crimson Xiu, the foremost warrior of the Crimson Tribe, was challenging someone for the very first time since establishing his renown—and the target was Ye Jingyu...