The Long Family's training grounds were utterly silent.
"Impossible. This is impossible. How could you possibly defeat me?"
Staring blankly at the young man before her, Long Ziyou wore a look of utter disbelief, completely unwilling to accept this outcome. She struggled to get up, but with a THUD, she collapsed back onto the ground.
An uproar erupted.
Seeing Long Ziyou collapsed on the ground, unable to rise, everyone in the training grounds was dumbfounded. They stared in shock at the youth standing proudly on the stone stage with a cold gaze. 'Is that really the same piece of trash?'
Long Ao snorted coldly.
"You kept calling me trash, so what does that make you? You couldn't even take one move from this 'trash.' Doesn't that make you worse than trash? I'll say it again: those who humiliate others will themselves be humiliated. I suggest you watch yourself in the future."
"Long Ao, I will get my revenge!"
Hearing her words, Long Ao's face showed a trace of disdain. He shook his head contemptuously and said, "You only know how to bully your own family. A person like you will never comprehend the true meaning of the Martial Arts."
"Ying'Er, go up and spar with your Seventh Brother. Remember, pull your punches."
At the old master's words, the crowd was once again in an uproar. No one understood what he meant. Even if Long Ao could defeat Long Ziyou, that didn't mean he was a match for Long Ying.
Long Ying. He was the undisputed number one of the Long Family's third generation. At the Peak of the Inner Strength Eighth Heaven, he could break through to the Inner Strength Ninth Heaven Realm at any moment. Among the third generation, who could possibly be his match?
After that stunning upset, no one looked down on Long Ao anymore. Trash? Who had ever seen a so-called piece of trash defeat an Inner Strength Seventh Heaven master in a single move? If that was what being trash meant, everyone would want to be trash.
Even so, no one was betting on Long Ao.
To stage an upset against Long Ying and win was simply an impossible feat. And for that very reason, everyone was even more confused about why their grandfather, Long Haoshi, had made such a decision.
Long Li also seemed surprised and asked tentatively, "Father, with Long Ao's strength, how can he possibly be a match for Long Ying?"
Long Haoshi gave a faint, unreadable smile. "It's fine. Ao'Er's talent and potential are right there for all to see. If he fights under pressure from Ying'Er, he might just achieve a breakthrough."
'Can he really do it?'
By now, Long Ziyou had been carried away, and replacing her on the stage was the number one of the Long Family's third generation: Long Ying.
"Seventh Brother, you're truly impressive."
"Eldest Brother, please go easy on me."
"Hahaha, here I come!" Though Long Ying's voice was relaxed, his expression turned solemn the moment he struck. He knew the Seventh Brother before him was no longer the trash everyone laughed at. It was as if the peerless super-genius from ten years ago had returned.
Facing an Inner Strength Eighth Heaven opponent, Long Ao was certainly not arrogant enough to think he could win with his strength suppressed to the Inner Strength Seventh Heaven. His aura instantly soared, erupting from the level of the Inner Strength Seventh Heaven to that of the Inner Strength Eighth Heaven.
"The Inner Strength Eighth Heaven Realm... When did Ao'Er break through?"
Hearing Long Haoshi's exclamation, the rest of the crowd was already too shocked for words. None of them could believe it. How had the person they'd all considered trash suddenly become an Inner Strength Eighth Heaven Martial Artist? What on earth had happened?
Long Haoshi and Long Li stared intently at the two youths battling on the stone stage. Neither of them had ever imagined that in just one short month, their grandson and nephew would actually break through to the Inner Strength Eighth Heaven.
On the stone stage.
Now locked in combat, Long Ao wasn't holding back in the slightest. For him, this was a rare and golden opportunity to use the fight against his Eldest Brother to better comprehend the realm he had just entered.
A Ghostly Wail and Wolf Howl echoed, ear-piercing and grating, assailing his opponent's mind. Long Ao then unleashed the Celestial Profound Finger. The terrifying Finger Force seemed capable of piercing the heavens, concentrating all the surrounding power into a single point.
Heart-Locking Palm and Gale Step. Though they were all Martial Arts, the gap between those two skills and the Celestial Profound Finger was immense. Seeing the technique Long Ao unleashed, Long Haoshi shot to his feet, his face a mask of shock.
"Father, what is it?" Long Li asked, surprised. He didn't know what was wrong with his father today; it seemed to be the first time he had ever done something so discourteous.
Waving his hand, Long Haoshi said nothing more, but inwardly he was shocked to his core. He just couldn't fathom it. 'Why is my grandson able to use an Innate Martial Skill?'
'An Innate Martial Skill...' Of course, Long Haoshi knew exactly what that implied.
After all, an Innate Martial Skill was a Super Martial Skill that ranked above Postnatal Martial Skills. Normally, only an Innate Martial Artist could execute one, as Innate Martial Skills relied on the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi for power.
And to top it off, there wasn't a single Innate Martial Skill in all of Red Fire Town.
Profound Celestial Finger.
The powerful Finger Force pierced through layers of space, descending like a ferocious tiger as it converged from all directions onto a single point.
At that moment, Long Ying felt as if his body had been frozen in place. He could only watch helplessly as his Seventh Brother's attack closed in, powerless to resist. In that instant, Long Ying knew with absolute certainty that he had lost.
But just then, Long Ao came to an abrupt halt. With a smile, he said, "Eldest Brother, what say we call it a draw?"
'A draw?'
A wry smile touched Long Ying's lips. He shook his head in resignation and said, "Seventh Brother, you don't have to do this. A loss is a loss. I won't deny it. I lost."
I lost.
Hearing Long Ying personally admit defeat from the stage, the crowd was utterly dumbfounded. No one seemed willing to accept this outcome. 'Their idol, the number one expert of the Long Family's third generation, was actually defeated by that piece of trash?'
'What in the world just happened? What is this situation?'
"Today's family assessment concludes here. I expect everyone to continue to work hard," Long Haoshi announced. With that, he led Long Ao and Long Li away from the training grounds.
The training grounds remained deathly quiet, everyone still reeling from the events that had just unfolded. The Long Family's piece of trash had consecutively defeated Long Ziyou and Long Ying, the number one expert of the third generation.
"What in the world just happened? Am I dreaming?"
"That piece of trash actually defeated Eldest Brother. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I'd never have believed it."
"Trash? You still dare to call Seventh Brother trash?"
In that moment, Long Ao's status within the Long Family underwent an earth-shattering transformation. After this assessment, no one would ever see Long Ao as trash again. Everyone knew that the peerless, world-defying genius from ten years ago had finally returned. A genius reborn, a "failure" triumphant. When a person reaches a certain level of greatness, they are no longer an object of jealousy, but only of admiration.