The surrounding crowd was utterly astounded. Was this person’s mental fortitude incredible after thirty-six hours, or was it sheer overconfidence? He was facing a five-star Martial Artist!

Qin Fen remained silent, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill circulating silently through his entire body, releasing and re-releasing his true qi again and again. As the qi expanded, his body began to swell, revealing muscles almost like tempered steel, and his height even shot up nearly ten centimeters, leaving him only about ten centimeters shorter than Robert.

The onlookers collectively gasped, the visual impact of this transformation was too immense! Even Robert’s eyes twitched several times; had he not seen this change in a video beforehand, he would have been genuinely startled.

Qin Fen slowly settled into a stance, gently raising his forearm, and stated faintly, "Alright, you may make your move."

The crowd was shocked once more. This thirty-six hour ordeal was truly tempting fate, inviting death! A four-star Martial Artist was letting a five-star Martial Artist seize the initiative?

Robert also said nothing and directly assumed his stance. Western values were much more direct; securing the greater benefit was paramount, without sparing a thought for the perceived unfairness of a five-star fighting a four-star.

"Good!"

The word burst from Robert’s mouth, and his body moved. He surged forward like a dragon bursting from a still lake, covering six meters in a single stride, arriving before Qin Fen, his five fingers transforming into dragon claws aimed at Qin Fen’s throat.

The sound of his body slicing through the air resembled the churning water as a divine dragon emerges, the resulting gust feeling strong enough to lift Qin Fen clear off his feet.

"The Azure Dragon Fist from the Dragon Form style!" Qin Fen instantly grew wary upon seeing this. The Azure Dragon Fist was based on fluid footwork, often practiced on mountain paths, in mud (or swamps), and on beaches. Thus, it was excellent for strengthening the lower limbs; the grappling aspect was merely superficial—the true attack resided in the legs.

In front of everyone, Qin Fen did not wish to expose his Furious Tidal Surge. He simply delivered a Squeezing Hand Cannon strike towards the dragon claws!

Robert had not anticipated that a four-star fighting a five-star would choose to meet force with force. He hastily pulled back the strength he had intended to use in his arm, but it was still half a beat too slow. Before his power reached its peak, it collided head-on with Qin Fen’s charge, accelerated by the recoil from Qin Fen’s stance.

As fist met claw, Qin Fen’s entire body shuddered violently. He planted his feet, adopting a rock-solid horse stance, his footing constantly shifting. His arms whipped out from his waist like a madman, transforming the Shunbu Single Whip from the Arhat Fist into a staggered, chaotic whip. The whistling sounds suggested steel whips from an ancient battlefield, not mere arms.

Robert had completely underestimated Qin Fen’s choice of such a rigid fighting style. He gained absolutely no advantage from the initial exchange; the tactics he had calculated moments before became instantly unusable. He saw Qin Fen’s two steel-whip-like arms lash out.

Facing this onslaught, Robert unleashed explosive power from his legs, quickly retreating six meters away. The instant his ankle touched the ground, he pivoted again, his body following through in a rotation, kicking his raised right leg out in a sweeping Azure Dragon Tail Sweep, meeting Qin Fen’s steel whips head-on. The leg techniques of the Azure Dragon Fist were equally fierce; utilizing the power of a five-star through the legs, which were stronger than the arms, the resulting force was even greater.

"Indeed, genuine five-star strength! Meteor-level martial artists cannot compare to four-star ones." After colliding with the strike, Qin Fen felt his blood and qi churning. His rooted horse stance felt unsteady, and he swiftly shifted his movement technique to Dragon Concealment Flash to evade.

However, Robert’s reaction was equally swift. The sensory perception of a five-star Martial Artist was vastly superior to that of a four-star. His feet stepped rapidly in the Heavenly Cauldron Step pattern of the Azure Dragon Fist, intercepting Qin Fen’s evasive position from the Dragon Concealment Flash.

The Azure Dragon Probing Claw, which had been scattered by Qin Fen’s Cannon Fist earlier, once again pursued stubbornly!

Robert was now genuinely agitated. He was determined to capture Qin Fen with this move that had just been dispersed! Only by doing so could he salvage the reputation lost when his five-star status was disrupted by a single punch from a four-star.

"Hah!"

Qin Fen roared, and his entire state instantly transformed. He violently twisted his waist and spun his body, using his shoulder as the target for Robert’s dragon claw. In an instant, his right shoulder pulled inward, his fist retracted to his chest, accumulating qi to its limit. As his horse stance swayed side-to-side, his arm shot out like a cannonball from its chamber, smashing directly into the center of the Azure Dragon Probing Claw.

This technique, Qin Fen’s Sky-Rending Cannon, operating under intense pressure, reached a realm he had never attained before.

The body served as the mount, the fist as the cannon! A second great cannon, conquering the globe, one mount, one barrel, bombarding the mountaintop—wherever the shell landed, the heavens would split and the earth would crack.

How supremely dominant and fierce!

Having just unleashed the true power of the cannon, Qin Fen possessed an intimate understanding of its mechanics. This punch displayed an essence he had never before achieved.

Bang! The collision of fist and palm echoed like the collapse of a massive building. The clothing on both their arms could not withstand the torsional force of their power and ripped apart simultaneously with a sharp shhhht, turning into tattered rags.

Robert’s Azure Dragon Probing Claw, struck by Qin Fen’s Sky-Rending Cannon, visibly trembled in its five fingers. Then, it rapidly contracted, the hand that had formed a claw clenching into a fist, causing the air around it to snap and pop explosively.

Qin Fen retreated two steps and stabilized himself, a faint smile on his face as he suppressed the surging blood and qi in his chest, lightly shaking the fist that had escaped Robert’s dragon grip.

The onlookers were stunned speechless. After only three exchanges, the final result was that Robert had not won, and the thirty-six-hour man had not lost.

Robert’s astonishment was greater than anyone else’s. He had effectively lost this match! The first strike, the Azure Dragon Probing Claw, had been scattered. The second, the Azure Dragon Tail Sweep, had gained him some advantage. But the third, the Azure Dragon Probing Claw which should have secured victory by gripping Qin Fen’s fist tightly, had allowed itself to be struck by Qin Fen’s punch and still allowed the target to escape.

If this had been a five-star versus a five-star fight, Robert could have called it a draw. But his opponent was clearly a four-star Martial Artist, and in that final punch, the opponent had openly given him the chance to be seized, yet he still failed to capitalize—this was a defeat.

Qin Fen managed the roiling qi in his chest, silently comparing. Without the amplified Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill qi or the Furious Tidal Surge, he could withstand the attack of a five-star martial artist. The effect of using the Vajra Dragon Dance as a cannon mount in that final strike was far superior to an actual Sky-Rending Cannon.

If he had used the amplified Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill qi? Qin Fen smiled at the thought; the outcome would clearly not have been him retreating.

Of course, Robert would not have retreated either, because he would have taken to the air! Flying away just like Instructor Butcher!

If he had used the Furious Tidal Surge? Qin Fen gripped his fists excitedly. The result of the exchange should have been Robert being beaten to death on the spot.

A four-star could kill a five-star? Qin Fen found it incredible himself, thrilling at the thought of challenging the King of Sleaze, Zeng Yicheng, again. To see if he could still knock Qin Fen down using only one-star strength.

Robert stood rooted for a long time before finally speaking, "Your control over power exceeds my imagination. It’s almost a strange qualitative change. Many five-star Martial Artists, in the specific aspect of purely focusing power to a single point, are inferior to you, a four-star martial artist."

Qin Fen nodded. The fundamental reason he could fight a five-star to a draw this time without resorting to ultimate techniques was the guidance on power control from the King of Sleaze.

Without that precise, explosive control of power, the impact of the final Sky-Rending Cannon would not have been so immense.

These past days, every waking second—whether eating or training—had been devoted to intense practice, and finally, there was a result.

Thinking of this, Qin Fen’s mood became excited again. He lightly stretched his body and asked Robert, "Now, can you leave?"

"Alas..." Robert let out a long sigh to the sky, "I intended to bring you into my Qitian Pagoda to build my reputation, but unexpectedly, this bout has turned me into your stepping stone instead."

Qin Fen smiled. In a public display like this, someone would surely pay to record the video. Once uploaded to the forums with an eye-catching title, the Dragon Hall would have an entirely different market value tomorrow.

"Kid, I’ll be back tomorrow," Robert threw out the line, turned, and led his entourage toward the street corner.

Some of the disciples from other sects watching shook their heads repeatedly. "Truly poor form. When fighting, he explicitly said he would turn around and leave immediately."

Robert stopped his departure, turned back with a cunning smile, "What I said was that today, without another word, I would turn around and leave. I never said I wouldn’t come back."

Qin Fen couldn't be bothered to play word games with the man; that was the kind of petty trick Squad Leader Hao had long grown out of. It was better if he returned tomorrow; after a night of settling things, Qin Fen might achieve new insights and improvements. Perhaps then, without using secret techniques, he could directly surpass and kill certain experts among the five-star martial artists.

The conclusion of an annihilation battle left everyone in the Dragon Hall, except for Qin Fen, busy cleaning up the battlefield and absorbing new members.

In a very short time, over seventy people had applied to join the Dragon Hall, and none of them complained about paying the membership fee.

As the Deputy Hall Master, Zhang Xiangyang knew that the video of Qin Fen’s previous counter-annihilation battle must have already spread across the forums.

That heroic display of challenging hundreds of people alone, the spirit of daring to fight armored vehicles with an M134 machine gun in hand—scenes that only existed in fantasy movies had actually been realized by someone!

When a hero who existed only as an illusion suddenly became real, those with heroic sentiments naturally wished to be closer to that hero.

Watching the continually increasing number of registration applications, Zhang Xiangyang smiled even more happily. "I imagine once the video of Qin Fen, a four-star martial artist, fighting a Meteor-level expert to a draw hits the forums, the Dragon Hall's application rate will become even more explosive."

Qin Fen exited the Sky Combat Network, choosing not to check the forum posts.

After several incidents, Qin Fen knew without looking that the post about him challenging hundreds of people alone must already be the talk of the town.

As for the post regarding the four-star fighting a Meteor-level expert to a draw, Qin Fen suspected it would remain permanently pinned at the top of the four-star Martial Artist forums for a very long time.