Such an intense second clash in such a short moment left Gu Lianni stunned. She even doubted whether the masked person was actually Shi Chun—how could Shi Chun, with his level of cultivation, possibly take a direct hit from Jin Hao?

Not to mention Shi Chun—even someone of the same realm would find it unbearable to take such a blow head-on.

The crucial point was that Jin Hao's distant palm strike didn't even shake Shi Chun's figure.

If it weren't for having spoken face-to-face with Shi Chun earlier, she would undoubtedly suspect the true identity of this masked individual.

At this moment, Shi Chun himself was reluctant to directly match palms with Jin Hao. He wanted his palm strike to land squarely on the opponent's body for fast, decisive impact.

He intended to trade a blow, testing who would suffer more misfortune. With Demon Power Protection on the outside and Treasure Robe protection within, he was daring and ready to fight.

But Jin Hao wasn't playing his game, and his striking speed was indeed a little slower than Jin Hao's, leaving the initiative in Jin Hao's hands.

Jin Hao wanted to exchange palms with him. Given the situation, Shi Chun had no time to evade any longer.

Boom!

Another blast-like explosion echoed.

In that split second, Jin Hao's eyes flickered with confusion and doubt. This time, she felt it clearly—before her palm could touch the masked individual's palm, a force emanating from the opponent's palm blasted away the power gathered on her own hand.

That external force felt peculiar, not fully resembling external emanation—it carried an overwhelming, forceful rebounding sensation.

In that instant, she couldn't dwell on what it truly was; it was just an instantaneous feeling.

Yet for such a distant force to shatter her own—it wouldn't be something achievable by mere Upper Realm cultivators of High Martial. She became increasingly suspicious about the identity of this person, doubting it was Shi Chun.

However, she didn't let the doubts bother her much. Instead, a glint of ruthlessness flashed in her eyes, which seemed to twist her lips into a sinister sneer.

The slightly disrupted momentum of her palm strike revived and plunged forward once more.

At the very instant their palms made direct contact, she suddenly transformed her palm into a claw, and the claw tips radiated a chilling sharpness, shrouded by wispy black energy that the wind couldn't dispel.

It was the 'Demon Claw,' a technique she would never dare to use in broad daylight under good lighting conditions. With the dim environment here, she trusted no one would notice this subtle change.

This was precisely the reason she insisted on engaging Shi Chun in palm-to-palm combat. Without resorting to vicious moves in typical dueling exchanges, based on the immediate interaction, she didn't seem able to gain an advantage. Thus, she prepared to use her Demon Skill to cripple him in one move.

Yet soon, her pupils widened in disbelief and horror.

Bang! As the two palms collided, the moment her palm strength transitioned into claw force to grip the masked man's hand, an abrupt penetrating force emerged from the opponent's hand—a strange and peculiar power.

Though not overwhelmingly strong, her own cultivation and mana failed to suppress this penetrating force.

The more terrifying part was that as this palm force entered her hand, flooding into her arm, it displayed a myriad of changes.

Initially, it felt like a single stream of energy. When she cast spells to contain it, it instantly split into two streams, then three shortly thereafter.

One became two, two became three, three turned into countless—every attempt to block the force led to further division.

She had no choice but to intercept it, as she couldn't possibly allow such a strange attack to invade her body unimpeded.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't suppress it. She quickly mobilized her Demon Skill internally to fend it off, yet it was futile—this was a terrifying reverse flow force.

In that instant, she felt as though a vast school of fish had surged into her body, and her resistance was akin to a waterfall pressing against them. Yet these fish showed unwavering tenacity, swimming upstream toward the rapids. The stronger the flow, the more jubilant they seemed.

There was no stopping it!

The fear this moment instilled in her was indescribable, and outsiders could hardly fathom the feeling.

Shi Chun, whose palm had made contact, let out a cold snort.

Since he had mastered 'Demon Dispel Hand,' of those struck by it, none except Mulan Qingqing had managed to survive.

Mulan Qingqing had only managed to escape with her life because she had been wearing a unique treasure armor.

Once struck by Demon Dispel Hand, Shi Chun knew he had her nailed—this woman was as good as crippled. Her wide-eyed expression confirmed it.

People observed both of them clashing head-on in a palm strike. Jin Hao's cultivation was no match, as the masked man sent her flying with one strike, forcing her to descend obliquely toward the ground.

However, Shi Chun wasn't about to let her off. After all, Jin Hao practiced Demon Skills, and unexpected variables were always a risk. He wouldn't give her a chance to recover, seizing the opportunity to press his advantage further.

Besides, it was convenient since Jin Hao—his current opponent—was falling backward diagonally while he moved forward to kill Wu Shanshan.

So, capitalizing on the momentum, Shi Chun kicked mid-air. Each leg strike, booming like thunder, landed squarely on Jin Hao's chest five or six times, each kick a heavy blow with explosive sounds to match. There was no sentimentality, only relentless brutality aimed at taking her life.

The spectators were shaken, wondering why Jin Hao didn't evade and instead endured consecutive heavy strikes with her chest. The explosive sound of each kick was enough to make it clear—these weren't soft blows.

The keen-eyed could tell Jin Hao had lost all ability to counterattack after clashing palms with the masked man. If she could retaliate, which woman would willingly take such attacks on her chest? She simply couldn't avoid it and had no other choice.

Many spectators felt the masked man's strikes were somewhat despicable.

Too ruthless—so much so that even Gu Lianni subconsciously crossed her arms over her chest.

To Shi Chun, it mattered little whether it was considered despicable or not. Coming from the Land of Exile, when lives were on the line, who cared about morality?

Anyone who wanted to talk morals could do so—during fleeting moments like these, all Shi Chun cared about was chaining attacks to render his opponent completely incapacitated, never giving them a chance to catch their breath.

Blood was already trickling from Jin Hao's mouth. The booming impacts against her chest left her staggering as she landed. The moment she hit the ground, another deafening crack sounded—her chest bones were audibly breaking.

This showed she was already in dire straits, unable to summon enough cultivation power for protection.

She hadn't wanted to take those chain kicks with her body, but she had no choice. The strange palm force invading her body was threatening her life, and she was using every last ounce of her cultivation to keep herself alive. She had no strength left to perform agile evasive techniques to avoid those swift kicks, leaving her body to bear the brunt instead.

The events unfolded quickly—far faster than they seemed in recounting.

Witnessing the masked man's sudden ambush, Li Hongjiu initially appeared utterly surprised.

Even after seeing Jin Hao retreating from the masked man's palm strike, Li Hongjiu didn't think much of it, still standing in stunned observation.

But upon seeing the masked man's aerial chain kicks, a different reaction surfaced in his demeanor, and a flash of astonishment lit up his eyes.

Executing a chain kick mid-air appeared simple but was incredibly difficult to perform effectively.

Doing so as mere showmanship mid-air might be fine, but the opponent here was no ordinary person. Jin Hao boasted cultivation and mana defenses and was capable of fighting the masked man. For someone in mid-air, with no support to leverage, to deliver multiple seamless, energy-packed kicks without succumbing to any backlash—how was this possible?

Did the masked man's cultivation already reach the Human Immortal Realm, allowing true flight capability?

Participants in the Divine Fire Domain who had reached the Human Immortal Realm were unheard of—no regular monk could conceal the difference between a flesh-and-blood body and an advanced Immortal Body.

Could it be that a senior-level elder from one of the sects was intervening discreetly?

One thing Li Hongjiu didn't know was that Shi Chun was wearing the magical treasure Cloud Stepping Boots, which allowed him to tread air as if it were solid ground. Forget chaining aerial kicks—he could climb the heavens with ease wearing these.

It was precisely for perks like these that Shi Chun had tricked Zhener into giving up her treasured footwear.

Regardless, Li Hongjiu, who had been blinking in disbelief, now showed clear signs of interest in the masked man. His hands hanging at his sides twitched slightly, and his fingers shifted as he stole a glance at the hovering magical treasure Black Lotus, which had manifested above the dueling pairs. One hand subtly moved two fingers, slicing them through the air with a quiet gesture.

Meanwhile, Shi Chun wasn't done with Jin Hao, despite delivering devastating blows. He charged toward Wu Shanshan, his figure passing over Jin Hao's head as a blade illuminated by starlight descended along the way.

Seeing Jin Hao already reduced to a near-immobile state, he wanted to casually finish her off by taking her head in one swing.

Shi Chun had heard of the sinister nature of Demon Path practitioners back in the Land of Exile, so there was no room for hesitation when confirming a kill.

However, Lin Yuefang had stabilized herself and launched an attack once more. She braved the loss of her sword, which had been knocked away earlier, now wielding another blade born of her split palm despite the cracks bleeding on her hands. She charged just as she caught sight of Jin Hao's dire state, visibly horrified.

From her vantage, she caught a glimpse of Jin Hao's back, noticing large bulging movements writhing beneath her skin.

In this instant, Lin Yuefang also realized this wasn't Shi Chun. It was almost unbelievable—this masked man had incapacitated Jin Hao with barely a single exchange. How could Shi Chun, with his level of cultivation, accomplish this?

Even if Shi Chun could leap ranks to defeat a superior opponent, Jin Hao wouldn't have fallen so quickly. Moreover, the direct collision of powers would require a genuine test of cultivation—an area where Jin Hao shouldn't fail utterly.

Even Yan Ketao, cloaked among the crowd, was dumbfounded, questioning his own judgment. Could this really be Shi Chun?

He began to suspect someone else was wielding Shi Chun's two magical treasures.

Wu Shanshan, entangled in the Immortal Strangling Silk, turned her head at the commotion, similarly shocked. She cried out angrily, "Who are you?"

She too was convinced this wasn't Shi Chun.

Indeed, she had considered that Wu Jinliang might have concealed his strength. If that were the case, it was also a possibility for Shi Chun. But Wu Shanshan had observed Shi Chun in battle and seen the vast difference between him and Wu Jinliang. Wu Jinliang could launch a fierce counterattack, whereas Shi Chun had failed to fend off Black Tiger's residual attack and ended up severely wounded.

The scene of Shi Chun coughing up blood from severe injuries had been etched in her memory—how could he recover so fast? From heavy injury to suddenly demonstrating overwhelming might in such a short time?

Of course, it was possible that Shi Chun had feigned injury earlier, but thinking back to the circumstances back then—it made no sense to pretend.

Wu Shanshan's immediate concern, however, was her own perilous state. Under the Immortal Strangling Silk's powerful constrictive force, the protective triangular metallic frame encasing her had begun emitting piercing creaks. The fine threads of the silk were steadily slicing into the metallic structure, resembling the motion of a saw cutting into wood.

The silk continued to tighten bit by bit.

The immense constrictive power of this fifth-grade magical treasure was evident. The triangular metallic frame clearly wouldn't last much longer.

Among the larger crowd, four Forget Love Valley disciples snapped back from their daze, returning to reality. Unlike others casually watching, they couldn't afford to sit idle, rushing forward in unison.

Among them, two women with Demon Essence activated their magical treasures.

One woman unfurled a silver blanket mid-air, extending it toward a fellow disciple imbued with Divine Fire. She grabbed hold of the glowing comrade and pushed them back while shouting, "Get back!"

This woman had been keeping close watch over the other to offer protection, knowing that her comrade's artifact-refining abilities were crucial to their contest.

As she pushed her disciple backward, she simultaneously wrapped herself in the silver blanket, vanishing from sight before everyone's stunned eyes. She had disappeared entirely.

Another woman with Demon Essence conjured a bronze mirror from thin air, shaking it in her grip to unleash a black beam straight at Shi Chun.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuefang, charging with her blade, snatched a bell from her other hand and shook it furiously. The sharp ringing sound caused immediate dizziness and confusion, making the surroundings spin wildly.

Lin Yuefang wasn't showing any strength superior to Jin Hao herself, but the masked man's revealed power was intimidating. Without magical treasures in hand, she wouldn't have dared to approach him.

Her actions caused everyone present to channel their defensive spells against the disorienting sound.

Many were secretly stunned, marveling at the assortment of magical treasures Forget Love Valley had brought to the scene. Which family even owned such rare artifacts, let alone fashioned them? Was Forget Love Valley truly responsible for refining all these diverse treasures?

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