บท 87: Weak, Too Weak

At that moment, Jiang Heng slightly raised his eyebrows, shaking his head in a seemingly regretful manner.

"Weak, too weak!"

Bai Shixiong suddenly snapped back to reality. In his shock and anger, he quickly retreated.

But in the next instant...

The figure of Jiang Heng, who had been right in front of him, suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Almost simultaneously, a hand gently pressed against his back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

A voice eerily echoed from behind.

Bai Shixiong shuddered, goosebumps covering his entire body, and an overwhelming chill surged in his heart.

Before he could react, the hand behind him vanished, and Jiang Heng's figure reappeared in front of him.

With a swift motion, he struck out with his palm!

"Boom!"

The protective qi around Bai Shixiong shattered instantly, and a massive force surged into his body.

Every organ, every piece of flesh, every bone felt as if it had been simultaneously struck by a heavy object.

"Puh!"

Bai Shixiong spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body sent flying backward.

Elder Zhu quickly flew forward, catching Bai Shixiong's body in mid-air. He hurriedly took out a pill from his pocket and fed it to him.

"You... who exactly are you?"

Struggling free from Elder Zhu's support, Bai Shixiong took a shaky step forward, his gaze fixed intently on Jiang Heng. After spitting out another mouthful of blood, he hoarsely asked.

"My name is Jiang Heng."

With that, Jiang Heng turned and began walking towards his residence.

"Wen Shimai, come, let's sit in my courtyard!"

"Sure!"

Wen Qingxue smiled sweetly, following Jiang Heng's steps, leaving as if nothing had happened.

Behind them, Bai Shixiong's face was filled with disbelief.

"Jiang Heng?"

"Is that the Jiang Heng? The one who's only sixteen? Didn't he just break through to the Xiantian realm? Why is he so powerful?"

Shi Junchen, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, was even more shocked.

Unlike Bai Shixiong, who was in his twenties, he and Jiang Heng were of the same generation. Having both been briefly ranked on the Hidden Dragon List, they were considered peers.

Having dominated the Hidden Dragon List for a year, he was widely recognized as the strongest among his peers, and he himself held that belief.

But now, an emerging genius had completely overshadowed him, making him lose all courage to even compare himself.

"Indeed, every generation has its own talents."

Shi Junchen sighed deeply.

...

Inside the courtyard.

Wen Qingxue suddenly covered her mouth and chuckled.

"You deliberately demeaned him like that, aren't you afraid of retaliation?"

"After all, he's from the sacred land. You don't even know to leave some face for people. Look at me, I just injured him and left it at that. But you, you even had to insult him a few times."

Jiang Heng nonchalantly waved his hand.

"People from the sacred land are all unparalleled geniuses, very proud. Being defeated by a youngster and having it known would be his own embarrassment."

"In this world, fair battles at the same level are permitted in any power."

"So, no one will stand up for him."

Neither of them took the envoy from outside too seriously. After casually chatting for a bit, they put the matter behind them.

Wen Qingxue, her eyes shimmering, looked at Jiang Heng.

"It seems that your strength is growing even faster than mine! Do you feel confident about the joint martial arts meeting in a few days?"

Jiang Heng grinned, "Of course, I used about 80% of my strength just now. I just don't know which level of Linghai Realm that envoy is at, so I can't accurately determine my strength for now."

"But what can be certain is that even within the Linghai Realm, my strength is definitely not weak, at least I can protect myself."

Wen Qingxue shook her head regretfully, "It's a pity that I can only miss such a grand event."

After chatting leisurely in the courtyard for a while, Wen Qingxue bid farewell and left.

That evening.

The sect distributed information related to the joint martial arts meeting, which recorded the competition system of previous years and several hot favorites for the championship this year.

Murong Yuhao, Linghai Realm Ninth Level, proficient in three heavenly martial arts, of which the heavenly sword technique is likely to be perfected, once killed a Linghai Realm Tenth Level expert proficient in two heavenly martial arts in a second.

Zuo Yueru, Linghai Realm Tenth Level, proficient in three heavenly martial arts, once killed five Linghai Realm Tenth Level experts alone.

Fu Xinyi, Linghai Realm Tenth Level, proficient in three heavenly martial arts...

Shen Feixiang, Linghai Realm Tenth Level, proficient in three heavenly martial arts...

Leng Boyan, Linghai Realm Ninth Level, proficient in three heavenly martial arts...

For any true disciple of a sect, heavenly martial arts are considered top-notch martial arts techniques.

But heavenly martial arts are too profound, even for peerless geniuses like true disciples, they are not so easy to fully master.

And only when one reaches the proficient level can the strength of a martial art truly begin to show.

Therefore, to measure combat power at the same realm, most use proficient-level heavenly martial arts for rough comparison.

Ordinary true disciples, while advancing their cultivation, can slowly cultivate a heavenly martial art to proficiency with a certain amount of effort.

But to reach perfection, even the most outstanding geniuses among the true disciples only have a certain possibility of achieving it.

Or, if one wants to master several proficient-level heavenly martial arts, it also requires a lot of effort, but it is not worth it if it delays the advancement of cultivation too much.

So, being able to master two proficient-level heavenly martial arts, and also reaching above the Eighth Level of the Linghai Realm, is already considered absolutely outstanding among true disciples.

And mastering three, with cultivation also above the Eighth Level of the Linghai Realm, is absolutely the top tier among true disciples.

It's worth mentioning that the disciples reported in advance to the sacred land by the sect for the competition can only be under 40 years old.

This also prevents the possibility of sects deliberately allowing disciples to stay in the Linghai Realm for too long.

"Looking at it this way, I'm even more confident!"

Jiang Heng smiled confidently.

Although he was only at the Second Level of the Golden Body Realm, equivalent to the Second Level of the Linghai Realm, his martial arts level was too high! Attack martial arts, movement martial arts, defensive secrets, all were of god-level.

Far surpassing others.

This can definitely make up for the gap in cultivation.

"Right! There's also the gap in the main cultivation technique."

"My physical main cultivation technique is currently only of the earth level, while others are of the heavenly [Yuan Shi Zao Hua Gong]. According to previous estimates, my growth rate is somewhat lower than others, further widening the gap in cultivation."

"However, I cultivate both qi and physical body, and the combat power of the two can be superimposed. Although the cultivation of qi is only at the Xiantian Realm, under the god-level [Swallowing Heaven and Earth Technique], the combat power of qi is not to be underestimated."

"With one gain and one loss, my strength should still be considered top-tier in the Linghai Realm."

Jiang Heng pondered while continuing to look through the information in his hand.

He turned another page.

At the end of the information, it read: "The above information is for reference only."

"Most true disciples spend most of their time in secluded cultivation, so the information can only record those top experts who have publicly demonstrated strong strength."

"In fact, anyone who can become a true disciple is a top genius and may hide extremely strong strength."

"Never be careless!"

Jiang Heng closed the pages.