BOOM!
Before anyone else could react, Li Mao also threw a punch. The Power of Heaven and Earth gathered overhead condensed into dozens of Fist Seals that shot toward those still on their feet.
BANG!
In that instant, over ninety percent of the contestants were sent flying.
Chu Lingguang activated his Black Tortoise Divine Power, condensing his six-layered Dharma Aspect and Qi Power Gang Shield to the Perfection state. At the same time, his powerful Sea of Consciousness Power constantly tracked the trajectory of the Power of Heaven and Earth.
The Mental Realm evolution technique he cultivated had already reached Perfection at one hundred thousand points. If not for the forty-six responses that had yet to be awakened, his Mental Realm might have already advanced to the fourth layer, achieving the state of Unity of Heart and Will.
He was trying to discover the secret of how Zhang Xuan and Li Mao resonated with heaven and earth, which allowed them to manipulate multiple streams of Potential Power simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the gap between them was too great. Even though Chu Lingguang’s Sea of Consciousness Power surpassed Yun Hong’s, grasping the secret in that brief instant was still too difficult for him.
BOOM!
The Fist Seal slammed into his chest.
His six-layered Dharma Aspect and Qi Power Gang Shield shattered completely.
His Primitive Power was also suppressed. Only his Black Tortoise Divine Power desperately held on, the black patterns upon it flashing with lightning as tendrils of electricity emerged, attempting to seize the Fist Seal on his chest.
"ARGH!"
Chu Lingguang roared, his feet sliding backward as he gathered his Black Tortoise Divine Power, using all his might to resist the Fist Seal that was trying to seep into his body.
He had intended to activate his Potential Power to counter the Wind and Wave Power and Potential Energy, and even planned to form a Spear Stance to create his own small domain.
But he discovered that in this Beast Taming Garden, the only ones who could manipulate Potential Power were Zhang Xuan and Li Mao. They seemed to have become the masters of this domain.
Even his Spear Stance would be instantly crushed by them.
Even Yan Zhen and Qin Yu didn’t dare to resist with their Sword Momentum.
They could only rely on their Dharma Aspects, Qi Power, and Divine Abilities to fight back.
Yan Zhen and Qin Yu had both reached the True Martial Realm, but this second punch still forced them back five or six steps.
Chu Lingguang, on the other hand, slid back more than ten steps. As he watched the Fist Seal sink into his chest, a relatively strong resonance emerged from within his body. In his third-layer Mental Realm, a unique tremor ran through the forty-six unawakened responses in his Mental Realm diagram.
Chu Lingguang was inwardly ecstatic.
’Could the forty-six responses be awakening right now?’
’Once they awaken, I’ll gain a power even more terrifying than the Black Tortoise Divine Power! My cultivation will also break through to the True Martial Realm, and maybe then I can compete with Yan Zhen and the others for this year’s title of Martial Champion Scholar!’
Unfortunately, the tremor lasted for only a moment.
When the Fist Seal fully entered his body and its power was absorbed, the synchronized trembling of the forty-six responses vanished without a trace.
Chu Lingguang’s backward slide came to a stop.
He looked around.
He saw that, including himself, only thirteen people remained standing. Meng Xiaochuan, Pu Shiyi, and Tuoba Yunhong were among them.
Xuanyuan Jinkang was squatting on the ground, looking at him listlessly.
Xia Tianzhong, Xu Kanghui, and Long Xin were also sitting on the ground, their faces etched with disappointment.
Aside from those still standing, most of the others were either lying on the ground, squatting while clutching their chests, or even kneeling and coughing up blood. Some had fainted and were being carried out of the Beast Taming Garden for medical treatment.
Li Mao’s second punch had condensed all his remaining strength, making it far more terrifying than Zhang Xuan’s. Very few had been able to withstand it.
Chu Lingguang took the opportunity to examine the marks the others had left on the ground.
’The first punch, I retreated half a step.’
’The second punch sent me sliding back a dozen or so steps. My Dharma Aspect and Qi Power Gang Shield shattered, and my aura is in disarray.’
He looked at Yan Zhen and Qin Yu first.
As expected of True Martial Realm experts, after withstanding both punches from Zhang Xuan and Li Mao, they had only retreated four or five steps. Although each step left a deep footprint, their auras were long and steady, and neither their Dharma Aspects nor their Qi Power Gang Shields had collapsed.
’Hm? And he is...’
Just then, Chu Lingguang noticed a man in black robes. His feet were rooted to the ground, having shattered the stone tiles beneath them, yet he stood firm in his original spot, not having retreated even half a step.
Furthermore, his Dharma Aspect and Qi Power Gang Shield were both still active. It seemed he had blocked the attacks from Zhang Xuan and Li Mao using only his Dharma Aspect and Qi Power Gang Shield.
"It’s him!"
"Hu Yanlin."
"I heard he almost placed in the top three in the last Imperial Examination."
"What a powerful aura! He’s a True Martial Realm expert!"
It wasn’t just Chu Lingguang who noticed the man in black; Yan Zhen and Qin Yu’s attention was also drawn to him.
From the crowd’s conversation, Chu Lingguang learned the man’s identity: he was a Martial Scholar from the previous examination, a formidable character who had almost placed in the top three. ’To think this guy had the patience to wait three more years to take the Palace Examination.’
One had to understand that the earlier a person served the Court, the greater their advantage for future promotions. Once a person passed a certain age and their Qi Blood began to decline, advancement became fraught with difficulties.
Therefore, not everyone had the patience to wait three years to retake the Palace Examination.
They would only do so if they had absolute confidence in achieving a top-tier result in the next one.
Clearly, the man in black, Hu Yanlin, was such an individual. Otherwise, with his abilities, even if he couldn’t have placed at the very top of the last Palace Examination, obtaining the title of Military Scholar would have been quite easy.
These three years of lying low had allowed him to become a True Martial Realm expert, posing a huge threat to both Yan Zhen and Qin Yu.
Chu Lingguang glanced again at the marks beneath the man’s feet.
The stone tiles were pulverized, his feet sunk deep into the ground. ’He must have used a Force Dissipation Technique,’ Chu Lingguang deduced, ’absorbing the power while redirecting the impact.’