Peng Fox was forced to step back three steps. On the fourth step, he stomped down with force, just managing to brace himself against a protruding rock, finally stopping his retreat.

The two stood in confrontation, neither giving an inch. Peng Fox gathered his spirits and once again engaged in a fierce Qi battle.

His Qi condensed like steel, seemingly tempered hundreds of times, extremely refined, with a dark sheen flickering at the edge of his palm.

At this moment, it was all a contest of internal Qi, and neither could disengage.

In a Martial Artist duel, momentum is crucial. At crucial junctions, whoever retreats or shows fear is not far from a complete defeat.

"Kid, who are you!? Where did you come from!" shouted Peng Fox in anger.

Li Xian threatened, "Yihetang Manor! These people are the lady's tenant farmers. Do you dare to touch the lady's property? Can you bear the consequences of any losses?"

"Yihetang Manor?" Peng Fox was stunned. He had recently heard rumors that Zheng Xuezhang of the Black Water Gang had clashed with Yihetang Manor and suffered a huge loss, leaving him in a sorry state.

But…

Without evidence, the naturally suspicious Peng Fox did not believe it. Nonetheless, he began to pay more attention to his not-so-distant neighbors.

"Don't wave the flag at your grandfather."

"This Black River Village, I've bullied them often, never seen any of your manor's people intervene."

"Heh, heh, if your manor really has the capability, then compensate and be done with it. The lives of these peasants, I've made up my mind to take them!"

Peng Fox laughed loudly, sly as a fox, not easily deceived. He forcefully pushed both palms, the power even more violent.

Li Xian stopped speaking, focusing solely on his Qi battle.

Since he began practicing martial arts, Li Xian had experienced dozens of battles, sometimes overcoming the strong while being weak, and sometimes overpowering the weak with strength; he had also met equals in battle...

He had even faced someone practicing "Food Essence."

Yet, never had a fight been as tense as today's. This contest was not about moves or adaptability but rather the abundance of each other's internal Qi.

Peng Fox was a skilled practitioner of "Qi Circulation" and "Blood Solidification and Aperture Closure." He had achieved great success in martial arts such as [Extreme Iron Palm], [Mountain Wind Fist], and [Hard Body Technique].

Additionally, he mastered two minor fist techniques and three minor leg techniques, with six basic martial arts mastered to proficiency.

His decades in martial arts had built an incredibly solid foundation.

Each form of martial arts breeds substantial Qi through repeated practice and consumption. Over time, a small stream becomes a lake and then an ocean, creating today's immense "Qi amount."

It surged forth relentlessly.

On the other hand, there was Li Xian.

Having practiced martial arts for only a few months, he naturally didn't know many martial arts styles. But one [Four Directions Fist] reached perfection, and one [Clear Wind Leg] had also reached perfection; his martial arts insight was remarkably high!

The internal Qi from these two alone rivaled four or even five great success martial arts.

In addition, the Entry Martial Arts [Jade Palm] mastery added another layer of internal Qi.

Converging in the Dantian…

In terms of "Qi amount," it was surprisingly on par with an old hand like Peng Fox.

The two remained locked in a palm-to-palm standoff for a moment. Despite Peng Fox giving his all, he could hardly withstand it.

Their internal Qi was comparable, but the palm techniques they each used were fundamentally different.

[Extreme Iron Palm] is a fierce, deadly move, seeking to kill the enemy with one strike, the palm force straight and unyielding, with a killing intent executed at the moment of release.

[Jade Palm], however, combines gentleness with grandeur.

The force manifests later, one wave settling down while the next grows larger. The palm force flows seamlessly, leaving no gaps. [Extreme Iron Palm] failing to take him down immediately equated to a loss. The longer the stalemate lasted, the greater the loss.

"Hmph!"

Li Xian pushed forcefully.

With a "bang," the stone under Peng Fox's feet shattered. He was driven back several meters by the palm force, collapsing on the ground.

Seizing the advantage, Li Xian launched into the Four Directions Fist, delivering several fist shadows. With three solid "bam," "bam," "bam" sounds, they struck Peng Fox.

"Ah!"

Peng Fox cried out multiple times, saved by "Hard Qi Skill," but unable to block all the injuries due to insufficient internal Qi. By this time, he was severely injured.

In panic, he fled in disarray.

Li Xian aimed his bow, intending to end it.

Suddenly, there was a shriek, and Peng Fox's brown horse abruptly charged at Li Xian. Unfazed, Li Xian rolled on the snow, avoiding the attack.

Peng Fox seized the opportunity, grabbed the saddle, and weakly lay across the horse's back, muttering, "Run!"

The brown horse proved to be extraordinary, loyal to its master, speeding off at great speed. Li Xian sneered, reloaded his bow, and shot an arrow into Peng Fox's shoulder.

"This arrow has Blood Seal Throat poison. It should be enough to claim his life!"

Li Xian considered pursuing further but, having drained his internal Qi in the previous battle, feared another enemy encounter could end poorly.

"Thank you, lord, for saving our lives!"

The rescued citizens celebrated with joy. Women hugged their children, and men comforted the women.

"Don't celebrate too early, return to the village quickly." Li Xian's face was solemn. Although it had gone mostly as expected, there were still oversights.

"If not for the beast's interference, that mountain bandit would've died by my arrow."

"Now that he's poisoned, if he returns to Mountain Wind Stronghold, it will surely alert them. They'll send someone for revenge."

"Fortunately, from his earlier conversation, it sounds like the stronghold's forces aren't complete, and their manpower is limited?"

Li Xian weighed the pros and cons and instructed the crowd, "Mountain Wind Stronghold's pursuers will arrive soon."

"Quickly, return to the village. Remember, it's best to travel in pairs or threes, scatter and flee."

"Don't group together; it makes too big a target and you'll be caught quickly!"

The group, hearing this, understood the urgency and took the trail back to the village.

Li Xian followed slowly, setting traps and ambushes along the way to disrupt the pursuers, buying more time for the villagers.

With the [Clear Wind Leg], he was as fast as a horse in the forest but more agile. He couldn't boast freedom of movement but was confident in advancing and retreating.

"It seems specializing in the Clear Wind Leg was the correct choice."

Li Xian felt immensely grateful.

Though a basic martial art, the Clear Wind Leg proved far more effective than [Four Directions Fist] or [Jade Palm].

"Four Directions Fist confronts the enemy head-on, Clear Wind Leg is for escape tactics. Now the skill level of Four Directions Fist has reached over seven thousand, not far from peak!"

"Jade Palm is indeed formidable. I really want to see what makes this martial art so unique!"

...

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Pain shot through Peng Fox's shoulder, knowing he was hit by an arrow. With injuries from both palm and fist, and now an arrow wound, he hadn't been this miserable in over a decade.

Running for a moment.

He suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his heart, dizziness clouding his vision, an alarming thought crossed his mind:

"Could the arrow be poisoned!"

He pulled out the arrow and sniffed it, detecting a tree sap odor.

"Not good!"

Though Peng Fox didn't know what poison it was, he was aware it wouldn't be simple. Immediately, he used "Blood Solidification and Aperture Closure" to slow the poison's spread through his body.

But with the poison already in his system, even though his blood flow was slowed, it kept spreading gradually, deepening his stupor as the toxin's effect grew.

Since becoming the third-in-command, he seldom had been this wretched. Now, fear overwhelmed anger, wishing only to quickly take an antitoxic pill.

Mountain Wind Stronghold's terrain was treacherous, easy to defend, hard to attack.

But fortunately, the brown horse knew its way back and returned to the entrance of the stronghold. Peng Fox's mind slackened, spitting up a mouthful of foul blood, then fell unconscious, his breathing faint.

"Fourth leader, come quickly! Third leader is going to die!"

The mountain bandits guarding the stronghold shouted.

The entire stronghold fell into chaos.

The fourth leader, Niu Liang, upon hearing this, rushed down in shock, "Third brother! Who? Who did this to you?"

"Fourth leader, third leader's poisoned and has an arrow wound!" a mountain bandit exclaimed.

"Quick, help third brother detoxify."

Niu Liang was a brute, impulsive and lacking in smart plans. He didn't know how to organize.

"Fourth leader, look."

The mountain bandit handed the arrow to Niu Liang.

Fourth leader Niu Liang looked at it, seeing the words "Black Water Gang" carved on the arrow shaft.

While setting up his ambush, Li Xian, out of boredom, had carved those words into the arrow, hoping to create confusion.

He didn't actually expect it to work, as the attempt at framing was too blatant; only a fool would believe it.

However…

The fourth leader was not clever or resourceful. Seeing Peng Fox poisoned and near death, he had long lost his composure, having no time to ponder the situation's logic.

With a history of feuds with the Black Water Gang, he immediately cursed in anger:

"Damn it."

"You take care of third master. Brothers, grab your gear, we're going to the Black Water Gang to demand an explanation!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.