“Haha, relax! If you can help that girl get this ‘Immortal Trapping Cage’… heh, I’ll naturally agree to your request.” Qingxian said with a kindly smile.

Hearing that, Feng Zhen finally smiled, then strolled into the arena, unhurried. He stopped in front of Yuanhui.

He lowered his head, straightened his sleeves, and said lightly, “I never go easy on someone sparring with me. If you’re not ready, leaving early might be best for both of us.”

“Thanks for the reminder.”

Yuanhui cupped his fists with a smile, but he didn’t step back. Instead, he stretched out his hand. “Please.”

Feng Zhen lifted his head and gave Yuanhui a disdainful glance.

“You’d better not be too confident. Or you’ll regret it before you even know what happened.”

With a slightly strange look in his eyes, Feng Zhen let out a soft sigh, then slowly extended that pair of eerie-looking palms.

“That line…” Yuanhui suddenly spoke slowly, “I’ll return it to you word for word.”

“Hmph, since that’s how you want it… don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Hearing Yuanhui’s quiet murmur, Juxi’s pupils suddenly shrank. At the same time, several of Feng Zhen’s fingers shot out like needle‑thin tendrils, fast as beams of light, stabbing toward Yuanhui’s throat.

On those strange palms, surging Chi was gathering to an extreme. Tiny, almost invisible Chi whirlwinds spun rapidly at his fingertips.

“The power in that finger is enough to rival a peak Boundless expert. Even if he met a true peak Boundless cultivator, he’d have the strength to pierce right through!” Grand Elder Hanyu muttered, face grave.

“What a vicious finger wind.” Seeing that kid’s attack, Yuanhui couldn’t help being a little surprised.

Facing Feng Zhen’s barrage, his gaze locked tightly onto the incoming finger winds. Only when they were less than a zhang from his body did he, like a leopard that had been coiling to spring, suddenly let his Chi erupt in a rush.

Yuanhui’s cheek almost brushed past Feng Zhen’s fingers as he slipped by. At the same time, his Dragon‑Return Fist slammed heavily onto Feng Zhen’s arm, a hidden force dispersing the attack on the spot.

With his Chi boosted, he could clearly catch the shifts in Feng Zhen’s finger techniques. That was the only reason he could break the attack so easily.

“Empty! Empty!”

But Feng Zhen was clearly no ordinary opponent. One move was broken, yet instead of retreating he pressed forward.

His palms danced, and sharp gusts rained down like a storm, crashing against the Chi that shielded Yuanhui’s body.

“Smack!”

Under Feng Zhen’s sudden, ferocious assault, Yuanhui still didn’t back away. His fist form changed, and crisp impacts rang out at once.

In cultivating Dragon‑Return Fist, Yuanhui had almost reached perfection. This martial art was what Wuxian had first taught him, and only now had he finally trained it to its peak.

His fist wind rolled and surged. On the surface it looked plain and simple, but faintly, it carried a pressure that would make even peak Nine Hearts experts shudder.

Seeing that, Su Rou and the others all showed looks of surprise. Dragon‑Return Fist might only be an ordinary Chi‑realm martial art, but in Yuanhui’s hands, trained to this level, it was enough to fight on par with peak Profound‑realm techniques.

His fists working together with the Ghost‑Shadow Steps he’d obtained earlier were like a waking nightmare, weaving a net with no gaps. No matter how sinister and tricky Feng Zhen’s fingers were, he couldn’t gain the slightest advantage.

“Father, Brother Feng Zhen doesn’t seem to have the upper hand at all, does he?”

Watching the battle in the arena, Feng Jingtian frowned and spoke quietly by Qingxian’s ear.

He really didn’t get why they had such confidence in this guy.

“Just keep watching.” Qingxian smirked, not worried at all. It seemed he had plenty of faith in Feng Zhen’s strength.

“Screeech—!”

Feng Zhen’s sharp finger wind scraped across Yuanhui’s fist, raising an ear‑piercing screech. It left only a shallow blood mark, and Feng Zhen himself didn’t suffer a scratch.

Luckily, as Feng Zhen’s fingertips brushed past, Yuanhui’s Dragon‑Return Fist also slammed into Feng Zhen’s chest. Though much of the force was blocked by the latter’s Star‑Cloud Chi, it still forced Feng Zhen half a step back.

“Empty! Empty! Empty! Empty!”

Feng Zhen’s body steadied right after. He looked at Yuanhui, who also flicked some blood from his hand, and licked his lips. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

“As expected, your strength is way beyond ordinary.”

“Hmph, you’re not bad either…”

“No… that kid’s eyes don’t look like a man in his early twenties. They feel more like someone over a hundred.” Wuxian suddenly spoke in doubt, his hand unconsciously stroking downward, trying to find something off.

“What?! ” Yuanhui was shocked inside.

“Looks like we’ve run into a tricky one this time.” Wuxian sighed. “He probably used some kind of disguise technique to get a spot in this competition. Or maybe… no, that thing should only be rumor. It can’t really exist, can it?”

“What is… uh—”

Just as Yuanhui’s eyes showed surprise, a wave of Chi that seemed suppressed for a long time suddenly burst out of Feng Zhen’s body. That aura and pressure was now no weaker than Pavilion Master Han and the other peak experts.

“What’s going on?” Grand Elder Hanyu shot up and shouted. “This guy’s actually… late Boundless?!”

Seeing Feng Zhen’s strength spike, the Xizhou side all went pale. Quite a few weaker cultivators even screamed outright.

“So he really was hiding his strength.” The Third Elder’s brows were tightly furrowed; this was the last thing he wanted to see. “I originally thought Feng Jingtian was the brightest of Qingxian Pavilion’s younger generation. Who knew they’d somehow dig up a monster like this… Sigh, looks like we’re doomed this time.”

Su Rou and the others clenched their fists at this sudden turn. Their hearts sank.

“Late Boundless, huh?”

Yuanhui’s eyes flickered a little, but he didn’t seem surprised.

He stepped out a few quick paces. A sharp Chi condensed between his fingers like a sword tip, and in a blink he thrust toward Feng Zhen’s brow, now blazing with power.

“Bang!”

Facing Yuanhui’s strike, Feng Zhen only let out a cold laugh. He didn’t retreat at all. Boundless Chi gathered into two fingers and stabbed straight at Yuanhui’s forehead.

The two streams of Chi collided, and a violent shockwave exploded almost instantly.

“Rumble—!”

At the instant their four fingers met, Feng Zhen had just begun to push his Chi when he suddenly saw Yuanhui’s figure blur like a ghost. An invisible wave shot forward, fast as a specter.

“This is our Star‑Emperor Nation’s Ghost Shadows upon Ghost Shadows?! Who… who are you really?”

Feeling that familiar ripple, Feng Zhen’s heart jolted. He hurriedly pushed his Chi, forming armor‑like protection across his skin.

“You don’t need to know.” Yuanhui chuckled.

A piercing pain exploded in Feng Zhen’s mind, making him both shocked and furious. Only now did he realize that he wasn’t the only one hiding his true strength. This kid called Yuanhui… had also been holding back.

“He really is a Son of the Yin Grave. Disciple, this guy is an aberration born in corpses!” Wuxian cried in alarm. “A Son of the Yin Grave, born in a century‑old tomb, a terrifying secret art that makes one step into Boundless from birth!”

“Son of the Yin Grave?!”

Yuanhui didn’t understand, but seeing Feng Zhen clutching his head in agony, he kind of got the idea.

“That physique is pure yin. What he fears most is fire.”

“So that’s it…”

Thinking of his own fire‑attribute techniques, Yuanhui instantly understood why he could hurt Feng Zhen so badly.

“Only now you get it? What did you think? That with your barely mid‑late Boundless‑level strength you could handle a late Boundless great cultivator who’s a Son of the Yin Grave?” Wuxian mocked.

As Feng Zhen’s head throbbed and his just‑gathered attack fell apart, Yuanhui’s flaming fist wind seized that brief opening.

Dragon‑Return Fist… Returning Strike!

The first punch missed. Yuanhui immediately drove out a second.

Crack!

Chi surged in like a tide. Feng Zhen’s star core instantly bent slightly. In this head‑on clash, his extreme‑yin physique caused his late Boundless attack to shatter instead.

The heavy blow sent Feng Zhen flying, slamming him into the cliff wall. The force was so great that the rocky face shattered.

“This Xizhou clan… *cough, cough*, two out of three, match over!” The referee stared in a daze for a while before shouting.

Seeing this sudden reversal, the Xizhou crowd erupted into cheers. Su Rou’s pretty face bloomed with a bright smile.

“Uh… it’s… not over yet!”

Hearing Feng Zhen’s words, Su Rou and the others jumped and hurriedly looked over at the battered Feng Zhen. He was slowly getting up, and a thick blood mist was seeping out from under his cloak, carrying a biting chill.

Feng Zhen rose bit by bit, his gaze gloomy as he stared at Yuanhui, whose brows were slightly furrowed not far away. His voice was hoarse with a cold laugh. “To force this old man this far, you’ve got some skill, boy. But… this is where it ends!”

“Old man?!” Grand Elder Hanyu was stunned, then turned and snapped at Qingxian, “Qingxian brat, we clearly agreed this fight would be between juniors. And yet you—”

“Hey, hey, hey, but Feng Zhen does meet the requirements.” Qingxian shrugged, interrupting him with a playful grin.

“You—!” Hanyu bit his lip slightly, anger edging his tone.

“Don’t be so sore. Never heard of the Son of the Yin Grave?”

“Son of the Yin Grave? You… sigh.”

Grand Elder Hanyu could only sigh and sit back down, his expression dark.

“Jie jie jie jie!”

Blood‑red mist kept gushing from Feng Zhen’s body as he laughed coldly. Then the blood mist slowly shrank back, condensing on his skin into a thin layer of Chi armor. His palms were also wrapped in Chi, his fingertips gleaming with a sinister cold light.

All these changes happened in just a few breaths. His Chi was literally turning solid.

Under countless stunned gazes, Feng Zhen’s aura climbed even higher, edging right up against the peak of Boundless.