Master Zhenchang's eyes burned like torches, his voice deep and commanding:"Sima Lun, our Huashan Sect has never wronged you. Why then do you persist in making yourself our enemy and challenging the authority of our sect leader?"
The Black-Eater King Sima Lun threw back his head with a booming laugh, his voice resounding like a great bell:"Daoist Chongxu is my sworn friend in the jianghu. Now he has been humiliated by your Zhu Feng of Huashan—how could I stand idly by? Since these are the rules of the martial world, I will test this so-called new sect leader myself, and see just how much true skill he possesses!"
Before his words had even died away, Chongxu's allies in the crowd were already roaring in outrage."Enough talk—avenge him!""Teach him a lesson!""Strike! Strike!""Spare us the empty words!"
Zhu Feng of Huashan remained silent, his hesitation drawing Sima Lun's scorn. With an impatient sneer he said,"If Sect Leader Zhu lacks the courage to fight, then leave the heroes here only one answer: declare with your own mouth that you are nothing but a fraud and a charlatan. Then we, friends of Daoist Chongxu, will leave in peace and trouble you no more."
At this insult, Zhu Feng's face darkened, his gaze turning cold as steel. Such humiliation, if left unanswered, would ruin Huashan's name. He was the sect leader—how could he bow his head? With a furious voice he shouted,"Sima Lun, you go too far! Huashan is a righteous sect, not one to be trampled underfoot. Since this is the way of the jianghu, let us settle it by force of arms!"
The crowd erupted in a storm of cheers and jeers:"Less talk!""Win, and prove yourself a hero!""Fight already!""What are you waiting for? Duel!""Refuse to fight, and you're no better than a cowardly dog!"
The plaza shook with their shouts. The tension was like a drawn bowstring, ready to snap. Neither man could retreat now. They both spread their stances, prepared for combat, as the onlookers hastily cleared the center of the square. The cold wind swept across the ground; killing intent filled the air.
Sima Lun's eyes gleamed fiercely as he stepped forward. His tone was menacing:"Sect Leader Zhu of Huashan—beating your own senior brother shows great skill indeed! Today, I, the Black-Eater King, shall test a few of your so-called techniques."
Zhu Feng gave a disdainful snort."Huashan is a righteous school. We will not allow the likes of you demonic rogues to behave with impunity here. Make your move!"
Sima Lun laughed thunderously."Those are your words! Then I won't be polite!"
Before the last syllable faded, his body blurred into motion. His palms shifted suddenly—winds howled as he unleashed the fearsome Sixteen Whirlwind Palms. The opening strike, Swift as the Wind, blasted forth with lightning speed, palms flying in rapid succession like thunderbolts, a storm of blows fierce and unstoppable!
Zhu Feng, battle-hardened and shrewd, knew that if he allowed his opponent to seize the tempo, he would be forced into passivity. He steadied his stance, qi gathering, and with a sidestep unleashed Huashan's supreme technique—the Jade-Breaking Fist!
As Sima Lun's sweeping palms closed in, Zhu Feng sneered, bursting forth with a sudden Unexpected Strike! The attack blazed toward Sima Lun's face, brutal and irresistible, palms roaring in quick succession, fast as lightning.
Even Sima Lun, a veteran famed across the jianghu, felt a tremor in his heart at the ferocity. He hastily pulled back, dissolving the attack, then dropped low, darting with his body-art Hidden Trace. His steps blurred—low, high, feints and sudden leaps—ghostlike, he slipped around Zhu Feng's assault. But he was no coward; at once he counterattacked, his shout splitting the air as he turned his palms into blades, launching the killing strike of the Sixteen Whirlwind Palms—The Thousand-Cutting Gale!
The storm descended—palms like countless blades, slashing down in a torrent, fierce and unrelenting, covering Zhu Feng like a crashing tempest.
Zhu Feng recognized the lethal power and knew that a hard clash would cripple him. He retreated half a step, inner energy surging, and answered with Huashan's secret art—Floating and Sinking! His movements bent with the storm, yielding to each strike, drifting like willow catkins in the wind. With flowing softness he neutralized the savage power, dispersing Sima Lun's ferocity blow by blow.
The crowd gasped in awe. Every strike was a pinnacle of martial mastery, palm winds shrieking, inner force shaking the square. None dared to even breathe too loudly as the duel raged, tension mounting with every exchange.
Dozens more moves flashed past in an instant. The plaza churned with qi currents like crashing waves.
Sima Lun suddenly spun into his move Heaven and Earth Reversed, body whirling like a top, palms crossing mid-air, his form rising high and plunging down again. From the dry position he attacked toward the kun, palms crashing down with mountain-crushing force!
Zhu Feng's fists tightened. With a tiger-like roar, he launched Huashan's Subduing Tiger Palm! His steps leapt like a predator, palms roaring with wind, power surging to meet the blow head-on.
Sima Lun split his palms, diverting one strike, then thrusting the other fiercely forward, stepping in with a sharp kick. The two men's fists and legs clashed furiously, neither yielding, moves blurring in a storm of violence.
Then, with a sudden push of his feet, Sima Lun spun, unleashing Autumn Leaves on the Wind. His figure flickered like drifting leaves, slipping past Zhu Feng's strike, causing it to miss completely. Zhu Feng frowned and shifted instantly, launching the graceful yet deadly Stars Before the Moon. This ethereal move shimmered like starlight, its elegance hiding a killing edge. In moments, Sima Lun was forced back step after step, nearly stumbling!
Gritting his teeth, he countered with the second form of Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain—Still as the Forest! His palms slowed, steady as mountains, his footwork weaving the Eight Trigrams, until he suddenly pivoted to the west, striking straight toward the east!
Zhu Feng recoiled, but Sima Lun pressed with the third form—Fierce as Fire! Palm winds roared like an inferno, burning through the air. Zhu Feng staggered, his footing disordered, his momentum broken—defeat loomed!
Seizing the moment, Sima Lun cried out and unleashed the first form once more—Swift as the Wind! His figure blurred forward like lightning, striking for the kill.
Just then, in the critical instant, Zhu Feng unleashed Huashan's forbidden art—the Iron Finger Technique! A piercing finger thrust shot toward Sima Lun's chest, aimed directly at his vital Shanzhong acupoint!
The strike was so sudden that even Sima Lun, seasoned and cautious, was caught unprepared. His mind faltered, his guard a step too slow. With a dull thud, Zhu Feng's finger stabbed into his palm, inner energy surging through. Sima Lun's face blanched; blood spewed from his lips as his footing failed and he staggered back.
The gathered heroes gasped in shock. Victory had seemed within Sima Lun's grasp, yet Zhu Feng had lured him deep, concealing his killing move until the final moment, snatching triumph from certain defeat.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd:"No wonder Chongxu fell to him—his schemes run deeper than the sea. Truly chilling…"
All had witnessed it: both Daoist Chongxu and Sima Lun had seemed sure to win, yet each had been undone by Zhu Feng's cunning. The Huashan leader's heart was dark and calculating, his victories owed as much to guile as to skill. No wonder Chongxu's friends seethed with fury.
At that moment, True God Palace's Elder Qin Wei and Elder Wang Tao rushed forward, catching Sima Lun as he collapsed. Qin Wei's eyes blazed with grief and fury as he roared,"So this is Huashan! To choose such a deceitful, scheming villain as leader!"
Wang Tao too was trembling with rage, his voice thunderous:"Qin Wei—our brother has been struck down! How can we endure this?"
Qin Wei's fists clenched, his gaze sharp as steel."Endure? This Zhu of Huashan is ruthless, cunning beyond measure. Our two brothers have fallen in turn—how can such a blood-debt be left unavenged? No… now it is True God Palace's turn to repay this enmity!"
At his words, the crowd shifted uneasily. The air grew heavy. Would today's duels erupt into an even greater storm? And could Zhu Feng of Huashan face yet another challenge?