Mortal Bones

"I, Sun Hu, am here!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Hu shouted loudly, then leaped straight up from where he stood, like a fierce tiger, directly jumping onto the stage, which was at least ten feet high. His leap was filled with momentum.

"Good!"

"Tiger Brother, you better set a good example for us!"

Sun Hu's brothers cheered loudly, excited. In their eyes, Sun Hu's victory in this round was a sure thing.

"Xu Taiping, where are you?"

At this moment, the examiner called out Xu Taiping's name again.

"Here."

Just as Xu Taiping was about to step onto the platform, he raised his hand in response.

"You're going that way?"

The examiner was stunned for a moment.

"Isn't it okay?"

Xu Taiping was a bit confused, thinking to himself, if it wasn't allowed to walk this way, why did you even bother setting up steps?

"Go ahead, go ahead."

The examiner waved his hand impatiently.

It was naturally fine to walk up the steps, but since the match had started, no one had properly used the steps until now. The examiner was caught off guard by such a straightforward contestant.

Down below, Sun Hu's brothers began laughing at this.

"Kid, be careful when stepping onto the stage, don't fall!"

"How about we help you up?"

The harsh environment for outer sect disciples below the mountain had fostered a habit of bullying the weak and worshipping the strong. Now that they saw Xu Taiping walking up the platform in such a normal way, how could they not mock him?

"Why make such a fuss about climbing the stage?"

Xu Taiping didn't understand this at all.

In his eyes, those who jumped onto the stage from the side were like people eating without chopsticks and using their feet instead.

"Little brat, tired yet? How about we take a break and catch our breath first?"

Seeing Xu Taiping step onto the stage, Sun Hu crossed his arms, grinning and asked.

Although his tone didn't seem overtly sarcastic, the look in his eyes clearly carried contempt and arrogance.

"No need."

Xu Taiping shook his head seriously.

He wasn't angry at Sun Hu's contempt, nor did he look down on him.

Before coming here, he had already warned himself that, until he officially became a disciple of Seven Peaks, every battle would be a life-or-death contest, and he must give it his all.

After saying this, Xu Taiping, in the midst of Sun Hu's sneering smile and the laughter from below, seriously took his stance in the Qingniu Fist.

"Eh, is this little guy getting serious?"

Sun Hu, still with a playful grin, but with a somewhat more serious look in his eyes, observed Xu Taiping.

Although he didn't want to admit it, after Xu Taiping assumed his stance, Sun Hu inexplicably felt a sense of pressure.

"Pressure? A mere child can give me pressure? Sun Hu, you should change your name to Sun Cat,"

Sun Hu couldn't help but feel a little amused and sarcastic. He thought it was just his imagination.

However, if Sun Hu knew that this young man had once killed a demon tiger with his bare hands, he might have thought differently.

"Are both sides ready?"

At this moment, the examiner, who was standing on the stage, asked aloud.

"I'm ready."

Xu Taiping immediately responded, his gaze still fixed firmly on Sun Hu.

"I'm ready too!"

Sun Hu shook his arm, which was thicker than Xu Taiping's thigh, and grinned at the examiner.

"Well then, let the match begin!"

Seeing that both sides were ready, the examiner struck the bronze gong with a loud "clang."

"Little brat, come, Uncle will let you have one punch!"

Sun Hu stepped forward with a loud "bang," then stood firm on the stage and waved at Xu Taiping.

"That's a bit too much, but I'll take it," Xu Taiping nodded and said.

"Boom!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Taiping stepped forward. With a burst of wind, he used the Wind Shadow Step, his body making a sound like a violent wind, and rushed across the stage towards Sun Hu.

"Whoosh!"

Before Sun Hu could react, Xu Taiping's fist was already in front of him.

"Boom!"

Despite Sun Hu's protective aura being activated, it couldn't stop Xu Taiping's Bulls Horn Smash.

With a cracking sound, it shattered.

"Bang!"

Even after the aura was shattered, Xu Taiping's punch continued, landing heavily on Sun Hu's raised arms in defense.

"Crack!"

The sound of broken bones rang out, and Sun Hu's massive body was sent flying backward.

He flew off the stage and crashed more than ten feet away with a loud thud.

The whole arena was silent.

No one cared about Sun Hu, who was lying unconscious on the ground. All eyes were on the young man on the stage.

With just one punch, Xu Taiping had defeated the well-known Sun Hu. The expressions of everyone present were filled with disbelief.

"Thank you for the lesson."

Xu Taiping's face remained calm as he cupped his hands towards the direction where Sun Hu had fallen. He then walked directly toward the examiner.

"Sir, my opponent has fallen off the stage. I've won this round, right?"

Xu Taiping asked politely.

"Yes, yes!"

The examiner was stunned for a moment, then nodded and announced loudly:

"Xu Taiping wins over Sun Hu and advances to the rank of 112th."

As soon as these words were spoken, the arena erupted in noise. Sun Hu's close friends exchanged looks, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Tiger Brother? Just like that?"

...

Meanwhile, the commotion on the stage had caught the attention of the West Wind Pavilion.

"What's going on? Why is there such a disturbance at that stage?"

Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu, who were patrolling, looked in surprise towards the Xuan Zi arena.

Because of their past conflict with Old Jiu, they had been removed from their comfortable duties in the Fierce Wind Hall and reassigned to the West Wind Pavilion as regular guards. They had begged the pavilion leader for some time before they managed to get the job of patrolling the Four Mountains Conference.

"Zuo and Zhou, you two don't know yet, do you?"

A familiar examiner approached them.

"A dark horse appeared at the Xuan Zi arena just now. A fifteen-year-old kid, Xu Taiping, actually sent Sun Hu from Chi Yan Village flying off the stage with a single punch, and he was seriously injured and carried away."

The examiner vividly described the event.

"One punch to seriously injure Sun Hu from Chi Yan Village?"

Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu exchanged a glance.

Sun Hu was somewhat well-known among the outer sect disciples, so they had heard of him. To hear that a fifteen-year-old kid could send him flying with one punch was hard for them to accept.

"Sun Hu, didn't he break through to the Opening Gate Realm last year?"

Zuo Ju asked Zhou Gu.

"Right."

Zhou Gu furrowed his brows. "Though Sun Hu has White Spirit Bones, his cross-training skills are amazing, and he's already reached the Iron Skin level. How could a kid beat him with one punch? Could it be that we have a genius among our outer sect disciples?"

"Liu, do you know that kid's name?"

Zuo Ju quickly asked the examiner.

"His name is… His name is Xu Taiping, I think."

The examiner thought carefully for a moment before answering.