Chapter 488 - 463: 1 Punch Through the Mountain Peak

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A glimmer flashed in Zhaang Ye’s eyes as he said, "It seems Senior Brother Pang is exceptionally skilled in Fist Techniques. Good. I’d like to see that for myself today."

Pang Dashuang inwardly sighed in relief. Zhaang Ye had defeated Xia Changye, Bao Jinglei, and Ning Qingfeng one after another, and the combat prowess he displayed was absolutely formidable. Pang Dashuang knew that with this level of strength, Zhaang Ye was already qualified to challenge the top thirty disciples of the Inner Sect. Although his own combat power was formidable, his chances of winning a fight against Zhaang Ye were slim.

The Fist Technique Pang Dashuang cultivated was called "Poison Dragon Drill." This technique was direct and straightforward, containing absolutely immense power capable of easily blasting through a large mountain. Upon discovering how formidable Zhaang Ye’s combat strength was, Pang Dashuang had a flash of inspiration. He decided to rely on his hard-cultivated "Poison Dragon Drill" to defeat Zhaang Ye in one fell swoop.

Arriving before the sheer cliff, a trace of a confident smile appeared on Pang Dashuang’s lips. He called out, "Zhaang Ye, watch closely! I’m about to strike!"

SWOOSH!

A bizarre and unpredictable black dragon suddenly appeared in front of Pang Dashuang. Seeing this black dragon, Zhaang Ye raised an eyebrow. His Spiritual Sense could clearly perceive that this black dragon, only the size of a bowl, contained heaven-and-earth-shaking power. This power was bound by some wondrous technique of Pang Dashuang’s; if released, it could easily flatten a mountain peak!

WOOO—

The moment the black dragon appeared, the sky and earth changed color, and Heaven and Earth Essence Qi came whistling over. A certain power between heaven and earth seemed to be drawn out by the black dragon, and an immense Suppression descended upon the scene.

’Inner Sect Disciples are truly on another level. Worthy of being one-in-a-billion peerless geniuses, each with their own unique skill. Not a single one of them is simple!’ Zhaang Ye was secretly impressed. These Inner Sect Disciples entered the sect in their thirties or forties, and before even reaching sixty, they had cultivated to the True Dao Second Layer, or even the True Dao Third Layer. Their talent was truly exceptional.

The most powerful experts in the Land of Divine Abandonment were the True Hall Masters. But the True Hall Masters had cultivated bitterly for two or three hundred years, and their Cultivation was only at the True Dao Second or Third Layer. Any randomly chosen Inner Sect Disciple wouldn’t be much inferior to a True Hall Master. Some Inner Sect Disciples even possessed combat strength that was even more formidable than that of the True Hall Masters.

AHAHAHAHA!

Pang Dashuang let out a loud laugh. The black dragon before him gave a long cry, instantly straightened out, and transformed into a streak of black light, drilling straight into the sheer cliff!

BOOM!

The sheer cliff trembled violently. On its smooth face, a cave about one zhang wide suddenly appeared. The walls of the cave were as smooth as a mirror, stretching into the pitch-black darkness, its depth impossible to see.

A trace of paleness appeared on Pang Dashuang’s face. Clearly, the punch he had just thrown had consumed a great deal of his power. Pang Dashuang swallowed a Gathering Far True Pill, then laughed and turned around. "Junior Brother Zhaang, everyone, come over here and help me see how deep this cave is."

After entering the True Dao, everyone possessed their own Spiritual Sense, so measuring the depth of a cave was an exceedingly simple matter. An Inner Sect Disciple probed it with his Spiritual Sense and said in admiration, "Four thousand five hundred and seventeen zhang. For Senior Brother Pang to be able to punch such a cave into this extremely hard cliff, his Fist Technique is truly extraordinary."

"Hehe, Senior Brother Pang’s Poison Dragon Drill is so powerful."

"Indeed. The mountains in the Inner Sect of the Green Cloud Sect are nourished by Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, making them much harder than ordinary mountains. For Senior Brother Pang to create a four-thousand-five-hundred-zhang-deep cave with a single punch is truly admirable."

"Heh, this mountain peak is about six thousand zhang high. Senior Brother Pang was only one thousand five hundred zhang away from punching straight through it. Amazing."

After probing the cave’s depth, the several Inner Sect Disciples were full of praise.

Hearing the praise from his fellow disciples, Pang Dashuang smiled smugly and said, "Zhaang Ye, let’s just count the cave I made as four thousand five hundred and seventeen zhang. What do you think?"

Zhaang Ye nodded in agreement.

Pang Dashuang laughed loudly and said, "Very good. Junior Brother Zhaang, now it’s your turn. I’ve heard your strength is astounding. I’d like to see just what kind of hole you can make."

For a True Dao Expert, destroying a mountain peak was not difficult. They could channel the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi; a casual strike that channeled its great power could collapse a thousand-zhang-tall peak. However, to punch a cave as deep as possible into a hard cliff face required a certain level of skill.

First, one needed to possess abundant Innate True Qi. Innate True Qi was the foundation of everything; if one’s Innate True Qi wasn’t abundant enough, the resulting cave would certainly not be deep. Second, it required formidable control to precisely command the Innate True Qi in one’s body and condense it into a single point. Otherwise, if the Innate True Qi dispersed, the resulting cave would inevitably be shallow.

Beyond that, one also needed to know how to accumulate power. For example, Pang Dashuang’s "Poison Dragon Drill" Fist Technique was an extremely miraculous method for accumulating power, capable of gathering all the Innate True Qi in his body into a single punch. This allowed him to unleash world-shaking might, creating a hole over four thousand five hundred zhang deep with just one strike.

Pang Dashuang was very satisfied with his own result. He absolutely refused to believe that Zhaang Ye could punch an even deeper cave into this cliff.

Under everyone’s gaze, a thick ring of golden light surged from Zhaang Ye’s body. The dense golden light, like a mountain, converged upon his fist. When the power had condensed to its peak, Zhaang Ye’s fist suddenly moved, striking out toward the cliff face!

This punch from Zhaang Ye was a variation of the Cloud-Breaking Slash. With this one punch, the crowd only saw a flash of golden light. The cliff then trembled slightly, and a hole the size of a water bucket appeared on its face.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Zhaang Ye’s Celestial River Righteous Qi advanced through the small cave like a bolt of lightning. The hard rock was instantly shattered upon contact with Zhaang Ye’s tyrannical power and then compressed to the sides. The collision of the rock and the Celestial River Righteous Qi produced dazzling flashes of light, making the entire cave entrance glow with a golden radiance, as if some great Treasure had appeared.

After a long moment, Zhaang Ye withdrew his fist. Pang Dashuang and the other Inner Sect Disciples immediately walked over and used their own Spiritual Sense to probe the depth of the cave.

HISS!

Upon probing, Pang Dashuang and the other Inner Sect Disciples all sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. They discovered that Zhaang Ye’s punch, which had seemed to lack great momentum, was in fact astonishingly powerful. A single, simple punch had actually bored straight through the six-thousand-plus-zhang-high mountain!

"To punch through a six-thousand-zhang mountain in one blow! What kind of power is that?!"

Pang Dashuang and the other Inner Sect Disciples were all stunned. This mountain had been nourished by Heaven and Earth Essence Qi for a long time. Although its hardness couldn’t compare to iron, it was far tougher than ordinary rock. The power Zhaang Ye displayed by punching through this six-thousand-plus-zhang mountain with one blow had far surpassed Pang Dashuang’s, leaving them with no choice but to admit defeat.

After a long while, Pang Dashuang finally came to his senses and said with a bitter smile, "Junior Brother Zhaang, what terrifying power! I, Pang Dashuang, admit defeat. Here are ten thousand low-grade Essence Stones."

As he spoke, Pang Dashuang took ten thousand low-grade Essence Stones from his Storage Pouch. Zhaang Ye didn’t stand on ceremony and casually collected the ten thousand Essence Stones into his Small Space.

After handing over the Essence Stones, Pang Dashuang had no desire to linger. He executed a Body Technique and vanished in the blink of an eye.

After stowing the Essence Stones, Zhaang Ye turned his gaze to the three remaining Inner Sect Disciples and said slowly, "Senior Brothers, I will now issue my challenge to you."

A bitter smile appeared on the lips of all three Inner Sect Disciples. Although they each had their own unique skills, they had not a single shred of confidence when facing an unfathomable opponent like Zhaang Ye.

A bare-chested Inner Sect Disciple took ten thousand low-grade Essence Stones from his Storage Pouch, handed them to Zhaang Ye, and left without a word.

The two remaining Inner Sect Disciples also took out their Essence Stones, gave them to Zhaang Ye, and left in frustration.

Zhaang Ye inspected the Essence Stones and muttered, "Good, very good! I’ve gained eighty thousand low-grade Essence Stones in one go. Now I can condense my Three Flowers in peace. By challenging several Inner Sect Disciples in a row, it seems I’ve already attracted some attention. I’ll return to Rising Sun Peak now and focus on condensing the Three Flowers."

Zhaang Ye gave a casual wave of his hand, sweeping aside the nearby debris. He then executed the Thunderbolt Body Technique, transforming into a streak of golden light and heading straight back to Rising Sun Peak.

...

Not long after Zhaang Ye left, more than a dozen figures suddenly appeared at the base of the cliff. They glanced at the deep hole Zhaang Ye had created, a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"This Zhaang Ye kid’s strength is truly astonishing. He just entered the True Dao, yet he can already punch through a mountain. With this kind of power, he could probably rank in the top thirty of the Inner Sect."

"Heheheh, interesting, very interesting! I didn’t expect this Zhaang Ye fellow to improve so quickly. I really hope he challenges me so I can witness his peculiar power for myself."

"Hmph! Zhaang Ye is just a newly-entered kid, what’s there to witness? The ones he’s challenging now are all disciples ranked below thirty in the Inner Sect. He wouldn’t dare challenge anyone in the top thirty."

"Heh, the kid has some sense, at least. If he dares to challenge my Cold Cloud Peak, I’ll definitely pin him down and give him a good thrashing to teach him a lesson."

"Heheh, well said. This Zhaang Ye kid is pretty discerning after all. Every disciple in the top thirty has a Cultivation at the True Dao Third Layer. He knows how strong we are, so he wouldn’t dare to challenge us."

These dozen or so people surveyed their surroundings. Although there was some surprise in their eyes, they all wore confident expressions, not fearing Zhaang Ye in the slightest. After looking around for a while, they each executed their Body Techniques and vanished from the spot. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)