The four great commanders stood up simultaneously, staring at the scene in shock.

"How is this possible? The Raging Waves Stance of the Cangjiang Sword Art was broken just like that?" the silver-haired, black-robed elder exclaimed in astonishment, while the tallest and burliest among the four commanders’ expressions drastically changed: "What powerful defense, what an ability to divert force in a spear technique! This spear art is nearly at the stage of returning to simplicity."

"That defensive spear thrust…" Zang Feng was completely stunned too.

"Teng Qingshan…" The only woman among the four commanders showed a look of horror.

The four great commanders were utterly shaken by Teng Qingshan’s ‘Primordial Unity’ spear technique, unable to help but stand up.

"Master, Teng Qingshan just now, what spear technique was that?" the woman turned to look at her master in the center, 'Zhuge Yuanhong'.

Among the five on the high platform, only Zhuge Yuanhong remained seated calmly, his expression still placid, though his eyes brightened. He carefully scrutinized Teng Qingshan standing on the platform, a smile gradually blooming on his face: "Teng Qingshan, well done, Teng Qingshan!"

The entire drill ground fell silent, immediately followed by an uproar.

"Did you see that spear technique clearly? How did he block that thrust?"

"With a hush, Yue Song's heavy sword was thrown from his grasp. I don't know what happened."

...

The more than six thousand martial artists on the drill ground discussed animatedly. They were all martial artists, and although they didn't fully understand the Raging Waves Stance of Yue Song's Cangjiang Sword Art, they could clearly perceive its terrifying power. Teng Qingshan's defensive move was too fast; they hadn't seen it clearly at all.

"Qingshan. Well done!" Teng Qinghu shouted excitedly.

"Is this Teng Qingshan yours?" The Black Armored Army soldiers and martial artists beside Teng Qinghu couldn't help but inquire.

"That's my cousin!" Teng Qinghu said proudly.

On the land of Kyushu, people revered martial artists. Hearing Teng Qinghu say this, those around him began to look at him with newfound respect. They immediately started conversing with Teng Qinghu, inquiring about some of Teng Qingshan's famous past deeds.

On the ring!

"H-how could this be? My Raging Waves Stance… No. No…" Yue Song stared at his right hand, shaking his head involuntarily.

"Brother Yue!" Seeing this, Teng Qingshan couldn't help but frown and shout. But Yue Song seemed not to hear him at all.

"Did my move just now strike Yue Song too hard? His will isn't this fragile, is it?" While Teng Qingshan was contemplating, he flicked his right hand, and the Reincarnation Spear in his grip shot out, directly stabbing into a stone pit not far away. With a flick of the spear, he hooked the black heavy sword, sending it flying. It then landed in front of Yue Song.

Clang!

The heavy sword struck the stone with a crisp sound.

Yue Song snapped out of his trance, his gaze instantly regaining clarity. He immediately picked up the black heavy sword, cupped his hands, and said with shame, "Brother Qingshan, I was just recalling your spear technique, thinking about how to break it. For a moment, I became utterly absorbed. Shameful. Shameful."

Teng Qingshan was astonished.

It turned out he wasn't struck down by defeat, but rather lost in thought trying to decipher his spear technique.

"Brother Yue's Cangjiang Sword Art is quite extraordinary. If Brother Yue could master the Raging Waves Stance, I wouldn't have won so easily," Teng Qingshan said with a faint smile.

"Through this battle today, I’ve gained much deeper understanding of the Raging Waves Stance. I truly must thank Brother Qingshan," Yue Song said, his face full of smiles. "Brother Qingshan, in the future, we’ll both be in the Black Armored Army, so we’ll have plenty of time to meet and spar. I’ll step down now so others aren't prevented from challenging you."

Yue Song chuckled and left the ring, shouting to the crowd as he went, "Everyone who wants to challenge Teng Qingshan, don't miss this fine opportunity today!"

...

Challenge Teng Qingshan?

Knowing they are no match, why would someone challenge him? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

"Fang Zong. Let's have a match!" With a loud roar, another first-rate martial artist jumped onto the ring.

Everyone had two chances to challenge. The first-rate martial artists below began to take their turns one after another. Wu Man, Niu Zhan, Xia Shuo, and others also began their challenges, and the battles were fierce. The surrounding Black Armored Army soldiers watched with great excitement.

However...

No one came to challenge Teng Qingshan!

"I didn't expect that even controlling my strength to just ten thousand jin, none of these people can defeat me," Teng Qingshan mused to himself. "If Yue Song could truly master the 'Raging Waves Stance,' perhaps he could force me to use stronger force!"

Teng Qingshan's greatest trump card was not the Tianya Xing movement technique, but his terrifying monstrous strength.

When he fought the Flood Dragon beast in the 'Bihan Pool' after practicing the Tiger Form Divine Technique for a month at the age of sixteen, Teng Qingshan already possessed a giant strength of around one hundred and fifty thousand jin. After staying at Teng Family Village for another half a year, he had continuously practiced the Tiger Form Divine Technique during that time.

Although progress was slow, and it ceased to improve after half a year.

However, when Teng Qingshan left his hometown with Teng Qinghu and headed toward Jiangning Commandery, as a supreme expert, Teng Qingshan also had very precise control over his power, estimating his two arms held a colossal force of one hundred and eighty thousand jin.

As the saying goes, 'One force conquers all skills!'

Teng Qingshan's terrifying giant strength meant a simple smash could kill Yue Song.

If this terrifying giant strength were combined with Teng Qingshan's exquisite spear techniques, Teng Qingshan would simply be an incarnation of death.

"In this Guiyuan Sect, I should be able to learn internal energy manuals, right? I wonder how much my strength will increase if I practice internal energy manuals." Teng Qingshan wasn't arrogant enough to believe he was invincible based solely on his giant strength.

After all, the legendary Emperor Yu could cleave an imposing, towering mountain with five axe strikes.

The legendary Heavenly Emperor of Qinling could cause the water of the vast Yan River, a hundred zhang wide, to cease flowing with a single palm strike.

Thinking of this, Teng Qingshan shuddered. To make a river a hundred zhang wide stop flowing, to make a towering mountain collapse—these feats surpassed him by thousands upon thousands of times. Those individuals could probably crush him easily with one palm strike.

"It's not that there's no one stronger than me in this land of Kyushu. It’s just that everyone I've encountered are experts of the younger generation. Perhaps even Yue Song's master, the so-called 'Cangjiang Sword Saint,' is stronger than me," Teng Qingshan felt a strange excitement stirring in his heart.

Excited to have rivals!

...

The challenges continued one after another. With seventeen people each having two chances to challenge, as time wore on, the challenges reached their final moments.

"This is the last match. Haha, everyone else is too scared to challenge Teng Qingshan," the tall, burly commander said with a laugh.

"Teng Qingshan's mastery of spear techniques can be said to have reached the stage of returning to simplicity. Others aren't fools; of course, they won't challenge him," the silver-haired, black-robed elder commented.

"Returning to simplicity? He hasn't reached that stage yet," Zhuge Yuanhong said with a light smile.

"Sect Master?"

"Master?"

The four great commanders all looked toward Zhuge Yuanhong.

Zhuge Yuanhong praised, "However, he is only sixteen years old, merely sixteen! A young man of sixteen possessing such remarkable spear skills, not inferior to some of the great spear masters across the land of Kyushu. There are only two possibilities. First, he is the reincarnation of a Buddhist master, a Living Buddha of the Buddhist Sect."

Across the land of Kyushu, the most famous and deeply rooted power were the Eight Great Sects.

Among the Eight Great Sects, the strongest was the 'Manichaean Temple,' the other seven sects controlled one prefecture each, while only the Manichaean Temple controlled two prefectures. The Manichaean Temple was located in the western region of Kyushu, its sphere of influence covering the southwestern Rongzhou and the western 'Liangzhou.'

The Manichaean Temple was also the only Buddhist Sect among the Eight Great Sects, boasting a history spanning several thousand years.

The Buddhist Sect held absolute authority in Rongzhou and Liangzhou.

Among the Eight Great Sects of Kyushu, the other seven sects practiced refining Jing into Qi, harmonizing spirit and energy, to reach the realm of 'Refining Qi into Spirit,' stepping into the Innate realm. This was also the most widespread cultivation method across the whole of Kyushu.

But the Buddhist Sect's cultivation was entirely different. They cultivated the Three Channels and Seven Wheels, seeking to comprehend the mind and see true nature, striving to form a 'Sarira' and achieve the Arhat Fruition. Any Buddhist master capable of forming a Sarira was called a Buddhist Arhat, equivalent to an Innate expert.

The Buddhist Sect had its own unique cultivation path.

Because the human body is limited by heaven and earth, lifespan has an end. However, some Buddhist masters who reached an inconceivable realm could, before death, maintain their soul without fading, allowing for reincarnation. They become Living Buddhas, possessing all memories of their previous life.

If such a Living Buddha could unleash that spear technique, it would not be surprising.

"If he were a reincarnated Living Buddha, he would have long been taken away by the monks of the Manichaean Temple. How could he be here with us?" the silver-haired, black-robed elder remarked.

"The possibility of a reincarnated Living Buddha is very low," Zhuge Yuanhong conceded with a nod. In truth, none of them suspected... although Teng Qingshan was not a reincarnated Living Buddha, he was, in fact, a reincarnation of an internal martial arts grandmaster from another world.

"Master, what is the second possibility?" Zang Feng inquired.

Zhuge Yuanhong sighed, "The second possibility is that he possesses an innocent heart capable of sensing heaven and earth! Having lived in the mountains and forests since childhood, following the natural way of heaven, taking heaven and earth as his teacher, only then could he comprehend a spear technique that appears simple yet contains endless profound mysteries! An innocent heart!"

Once one enters the mundane world, the human heart becomes chaotic.

Across the land of Kyushu, there were geniuses with pure temperaments who possessed an innocent heart, capable of sensing nature and taking heaven and earth as their teacher. The spear techniques or saber techniques they comprehended, while seemingly simple in every move, contained unfathomable profoundness.

"However, Feng'er, you don't need to be disheartened," Zhuge Yuanhong continued. "There are both advantages and disadvantages to creating such a spear technique!"

"Advantages and disadvantages?" The four great commanders looked at him.

Zhuge Yuanhong nodded. "Most people practicing sword arts, saber arts, and so on, start by practicing basic routines step-by-step, learning increasingly profound and complex sword arts. From simple to complex, this is a necessary process! In successive battles, experts discover the weaknesses in their sword or saber techniques, gradually improve them, begin simplifying the complex, until they finally reach the stage of returning to simplicity."

From simple to complex, and then from complex to simple, until every move and every strike possesses infinite power.

"Repeated setbacks, repeated comprehension, repeated improvement, until the final enlightenment. This is far superior to creating simple yet immensely powerful moves from the start by taking heaven and earth as one's teacher," Zhuge Yuanhong explained.

"I understand," Zang Feng nodded.

Only through tempering in the mortal world can one achieve higher accomplishments.

"A genius like Teng Qingshan is too young. Although he has comprehended such a formidable spear technique now, he hasn't experienced many setbacks. To advance further, he must undergo tempering," Zhuge Yuanhong said with a faint smile. "Of course, once such a genius breaks through after tempering, his achievements will be limitless!"

The four great commanders nodded.

Yet, they did not know... the tempering Teng Qingshan had endured was far more extensive than they could imagine!

"Sect Master, the contest for the Centurion position is over," the silver-haired, black-robed elder stated.

"Good. Commence the awarding of heavy armor and warhorses!" Zhuge Yuanhong commanded.