A junior disciple, a young man with only the White Spirit Bone as his talent.
Relying solely on a martial technique that doesn't even qualify as a high-level skill, he managed to kill Gongsun Sheng, who had mastered magical techniques, possessed a decent constitution, and was once a formal disciple of the mountain. This left many of the senior disciples present momentarily unable to accept it.
In their eyes, it was as if a child had killed an adult with just a stick.
"Brother, how much effort must it have taken to deliver such a shocking punch?"
On the Yunlou, Zhao Linglong stood there in a daze, muttering to herself.
"It must have been ten times, even a hundred times more effort and dedication than the average person. After all, there are no shortcuts in the path of a martial artist, no matter how good your talent. You must practice day and night, one punch at a time."
Dugu Qingxiao responded with a frown.
Unlike the others who were shocked by Xu Taiping's powerful punch, these two were more focused on the effort and dedication behind it.
And Jin Hezhi, sitting in front of them, had a hint of malice in his eyes.
"Xu Taiping wins this round!"
At this moment, the examiner on the scene announced Xu Taiping's victory.
"Brother, Taiping only has one more match left!"
Hearing this, Zhao Linglong looked at Dugu Qingxiao with excitement.
"Besides the last match, he still needs to challenge the disciples of the Seven Peaks."
"Challenging the Seven Peaks, isn't that just a formality? When the time comes, you can go down and guide Xu Taiping."
Zhao Linglong was quite optimistic.
"Challenging the Seven Peaks is done in the order of the peaks."
Qingxiao shook his head and continued:
"Talking about this now is premature. We need to see who Taiping's next opponent will be, whether it's Ji Wuyou or Qi Baily."
According to the match schedule, Xu Taiping's next opponent would be chosen from among these two.
"Hopefully it's not Ji Wuyou."
Based on his prior investigation, although Ji Wuyou was not the strongest among them, he was the most dangerous.
Xu Taiping let out a long sigh.
This match was not easy for him.
During the fight with Gongsun Sheng, he could clearly sense that his opponent had held back.
If he hadn't taken the initiative with the Charging Ox Formation at the beginning, forcing Gongsun Sheng to use the Golden Bell Cover; if he hadn't broken the Golden Bell Cover with the Thousand Layers of Force, forcing Gongsun Sheng to be unable to use his techniques, the one lying on the ground now might very well have been him.
"After this match, it will be very difficult for you to take the initiative, Taiping. Once the match starts, they will likely seal off your punching routes immediately, not allowing you the chance to use the Charging Ox Formation."
At this moment, Lingyue Fairy's voice echoed in Xu Taiping's mind.
Xu Taiping glanced at the audience and saw the disciples about to enter the stage looking at him with wary eyes. He nodded silently, saying, "It's very similar to what we had predicted."
After all, they had prepared for this match for three years, and he and Lingyue had already simulated various possibilities.
"When it comes to that, you can consider taking off what you have on you."
Lingyue Fairy reminded Xu Taiping.
In the previous match, Xu Taiping had almost reached the limit of the Green Ox Fist's power without using the power of the Wanyou Realm.
He even used a bit of the Thousand Layers of Force.
This was almost all he had.
"I want to try again, to see where the limit you mentioned is."
Xu Taiping shook his head.
When guiding him in his training, Lingyue Fairy had mentioned the term "limit."
The so-called limit, as the name suggests, is the point at which a certain ability is pushed to the maximum of your current strength.
According to Lingyue Fairy, ordinary bones should strive for the limit, even if only experienced once, it would bring endless benefits to future cultivation.
"Up until this match, my victories have mostly been due to the opponent's underestimation and the unexpected nature of the Green Ox Fist and the Seven Killings Blade, allowing me to take the initiative."
"So in the next match, I want to set aside these two factors and see if I can find a way to take the initiative in the match, and also see if I can push myself to the limit."
He explained seriously to Lingyue Fairy.
Lingyue Fairy was pleased that Xu Taiping hadn't been blinded by his victory.
"This Seven Peaks selection is indeed a rare opportunity for you to hone your skills. In the future, it might be difficult to find an opponent as evenly matched as today."
She approved of Xu Taiping's suggestion.
Just as Xu Taiping was about to leave the stage, he faintly heard a shout.
He turned his head to look.
He saw Zhao Linglong on the Yunlou stand, waving at him excitedly.
Seeing this, Xu Taiping smiled and waved back at Zhao Linglong.
At this moment, a young man in white, carrying a sword, passed by Xu Taiping.
"Kid, you dared to kill someone from the Yunlou Society. Clean your neck and wait for me properly."
The man didn't even look at Xu Taiping, coldly throwing these words before his long sword "zing" flew out of the scabbard, carrying him to the stage.
Immediately, the examiner's voice echoed on the stage—
"This match, Ji Wuyou versus Qi Baily."
"Yunlou Society, Ji Wuyou..."
Xu Taiping looked at the stage, then at the large notice board, and saw that his next opponent would be either Ji Wuyou or Qi Baily.
"Ji Wuyou and the previous Gongsun Sheng are both from the Yunlou Society, no wonder one could obtain the Golden Bell Cover technique and the other can control a flying sword."
Xu Taiping muttered, looking at the flying sword circling around Ji Wuyou.
"This is not true sword control, just a common technique of controlling a sword with qi, which lies between martial techniques and magical techniques, and is far less powerful than true sword control."
Lingyue Fairy corrected Xu Taiping.
Thanks to Lingyue Fairy's reminder, Xu Taiping indeed saw a thread of swirling true qi around Ji Wuyou.
The long sword was being guided by this swirling true qi, circling around Ji Wuyou.
"Even so, you cannot underestimate it. Even controlling a sword with qi has far more destructive power than ordinary magical techniques."
Lingyue Fairy reminded Xu Taiping again.
Xu Taiping nodded silently and muttered:
"I need to watch this match carefully."