The bearded man did not bother hiding his killing intent as he cast a cold gaze upon Lu Tianzi. "How dare you poison him?"

"So what if he did?" Young Master Xuan Hao stepped forward to face the bearded man. "Or is he supposed to just stand there and get hit?"

"Perhaps he expected us to cut them some slack so that they can pretend like they are actually strong," Ruan Ling chimed in from behind.

But while the two of them certainly felt good about Lu Tianzi beating the other party, they actually started to feel slightly apprehensive of Lu Tianzi.

After all, they had never realised that Lu Tianzi was actually a user of the poison arts!

"Good, very good! You will regret this, mark my words," the bearded man warned. "Bring him away!"

After shooting a final glare at Lu Tianzi, the bearded man turned and returned to their previous spot on the grass field.

The others in his group hurried forward to support the poisoned short plump man, bringing him away with them.

No matter how enraged they were, they understood that treating the short plump man was still the most urgent task at hand.

"Thank you for the help, Brother Tianzi," Ruan Ling clapsed her fists towards Lu Tianzi in gratitude.

"That's right," Young Master Xuan Hao agreed. "Things would have gotten tricky without Brother Tianzi's timely assistance."

If Lu Tianzi had not stepped forward, they would have been forced to either go back on their word or let Ruan Ling suffer a loss.

"Don't worry about it," Lu Tianzi shook his head with a smile. "However, I suggest that we don't join in the fight for the spot under the cliff wall."

As he spoke, Lu Tianzi's gaze trailed off to scan across the crowds.

Young Master Xuan Hao and Ruan Ling followed suit, and immediately understood what Lu Tianzi was trying to say.

The bearded man's group might have been forced back by Lu Tianzi, but there were still countless others who were not intimidated. If Lu Tianzi's group wanted to obtain that coveted spot under the cliff wall, they would be forced to face many others before they would be able to do so.

"Brother Tianzi is right. I'm sorry for acting without having taught things through," Ruan Ling lowered her head in guilt.

"No, it's not your fault," Young Master Xuan Hao gently patted her on the head. "I know that you only did it because you wanted to help me. It is my fault for not having the ability to support you accordingly."

The advantage of being directly under the cliff wall was that the pressure would be the strongest, allowing martial artists to hone themselves even further.

With Ruan Ling's current strength, she was unable to reach the indentation on the cliff wall with her perception in the first place. Whether or not they could get a spot directly under the cliff wall would have no impact whatsoever on her.

Since that was the case, she could only have done so because she thought it would be helpful for Young Master Xuan Hao.

Having agreed among themselves, Lu Tianzi's group voluntarily withdrew from the competition for the coveted spot and returned to where they were before.

Seeing that they had given up, the rest of the martial artists present no longer paid much attention to them, choosing to focus on the huge fight that was about to break out instead.

Of course, there were still exceptions among them.

Interesting...

Snake Fist Luo licked his lips as his gaze followed Lu Tianzi's group back to their original spot.

By now, he had completely lost interest in testing his strength against the other Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artists.

Instead, he sent out a message using his communication ring before silently leaving the area, much to the relief of the other martial artists present.

As expected, a fight quickly broke out over the spot that Snake Fist Luo had vacated.

It was a messy battle with numerous teams participating, and every single participating team was no weaker than the bearded man's group.

Countless different techniques were being thrown out in this fight, the aftershocks reverberating across the entire grass field. Simply by watching, many of the bystanders were able to gain great insights into the path of cultivation and battle.

Even Lu Tianzi's group had their eyes glued onto the battle.

Ruan Ling subconsciously swallowed her saliva. The sheer scale of the fight once again reminded her of just how reckless her earlier actions had been.

There was only one person in the group who paid it absolutely no attention.

Instead of watching the fight, Lu Tianzi's attention was fixed upon another spot on the grass field – where the bearded man's group were.

Just like Lu Tianzi, their attention was not on the ongoing fight.

However, that was because they had a far more urgent matter to deal with.

The short plump man sat cross legged with his eyes closed, his face as white as a sheet. At the same time, four others sat in a circle around him, their hands extended out towards him as they channelled Origin Force into his body.

Behind them, their bearded leader stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his brows furrowed in all seriousness.

They had tried feeding some rare medicinal pills to the short plump man earlier, but there did not seem to be any form of improvement.

Because of that, they had no choice but to forcibly suppress the poison with their combined strength.

The bearded leader could not help but grind his teeth in frustration when he thought back to what happened earlier.

Not only was he played by a mere Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist, he was even unable to resolve the poison that remained in his junior's body.

This was a humiliation that he would remember till the end of his life!

From afar, Lu Tianzi might not be able to read the bearded man's thoughts, but he certainly could see the rage in his eyes.

Of course, Lu Tianzi did not care one bit.

All he was interested in was how the bearded man's group would fare against the poison of the Palm of Thousand Venoms.

And from the looks of it, they seemed to be struggling to get rid of the poison.

Lu Tianzi nodded to himself in satisfaction.

After all, the Palm of Thousand Venoms was the signature technique of Lord Er, someone who had once been able to kill Overlords like flies.

Even though there was surely a huge disparity between Lu Tianzi's cultivation level and that of Lord Er, the bearded man's group was made up of Origin Core realm martial artists just like him.

Lu Tianzi would be sorely disappointed if its poison could be easily removed by them, for that would greatly reduce the value of the combat technique.

After watching them for a while longer and making sure that they were not having any progress, Lu Tianzi finally turned his attention back to the ongoing fight.

By now, the messy battle was almost about to come to an end.

In the end, a group of martial artists led by a powerful Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm expert managed to claim the coveted spot, their overwhelming strength rendering the others reluctant to fight any longer.

After all, there was no death grudge among them that they had to address no matter the cost.

Once a sufficiently strong party showed up, nobody would be willing to push themselves too far.

They understood that another spot would free up eventually, and they could always try again when that happened.

As the participating martial artists started backing off one by one, the tense atmosphere on the grass field began to ease. Eventually, everything returned to its original state, and the martial artists present wasted no time in returning to cultivation.

In his corner, Lu Tianzi returned to probing the indentation in the cliff wall with his perception.

Now that he had learnt from his earlier experience, Lu Tianzi no longer dared to push himself without restraint.

He certainly did not want to risk losing consciousness once again.

Instead, Lu Tianzi carefully extended his perception towards the indentation in the cliff wall, advancing in a slow but steady manner.

As time passed, not only did his perception became stronger and stronger, but his control over his Origin Force also gradually improved.

He calmly circulated his Origin Force within his inner world, counteracting the immense pressure from the War Intent Cliff. This in turn alleviated the sharp pain that was constantly being sent directly into his mind.

Under the constant pressure of the lingering battle intent, Lu Tianzi felt wisps of the mysterious energy from before continue to seep into his body.

Lu Tianzi still did not fully understand this new form of energy. But since it was able to help in clearing his thoughts and improving his comprehensions about combat, Lu Tianzi certainly would not mind gathering more of it.

The rate at which this mysterious energy seeped into his body might be extremely slow, but Lu Tianzi was not in a hurry.

Without realising it, two weeks passed in a flash.

By now, Lu Tianzi was already able to permanently maintain his perception at a spot just inside of the entrance of the indentation.

He had determined that this was where his limit lay. If he extended his perception any further into the indentation, he would have to start straining himself, which would also mean that he would have to eventually stop his meditation at some point just to recover.

That kind of disruptive meditation was not what Lu Tianzi wanted.

But on this day, Lu Tianzi was still forced to stop his meditation short. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see a few familiar figures standing before him.

By Lu Tianzi's side, Nanlan Qianxue, Young Master Xuan Hao, and Ruan Ling had all ended their meditation as well, all of them facing their visitors with caution.

It was the bearded man's group once again.

However, there were three new additions to the party this time.

A wrinkled old man with short white hair stood at the front of the group, staring down at Lu Tianzi and the others with disdain.

Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm...

Lu Tianzi could not help but frown when he saw this wrinkled old man.

Even if the four of them worked together, it would be extremely difficult to defeat a Ninth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist with their current strength!

"Are they the ones?" the wrinkled old man asked.

"Yes, Master," the bearded man from before answered respectfully. "They are the ones I told you about."

"I see," the wrinkled old man turned his attention back to Young Master Xuan Hao. "How do you intend to answer for your actions?"

Young Master Xuan Hao was the one with the highest cultivation level, so the wrinkled old man naturally treated him as the leader of the group.

"What did we do wrong?" Young Master Xuan Hao retorted in indignance. "There was an agreement between us, and we were acted according to it. Everyone here can be our witnesses."

Young Master Xuan Hao knew just as well as Lu Tianzi that they would not stand a chance in a fight. Therefore, he wanted to use the presence of the other martial artists to pressure the other party.

Unfortunately for him, the wrinkled old man did not seem to care.

"There is no need for your excuses," the wrinkled old man answered. "I don't like to waste time so I will just get straight to the point. Don't say that we of the Iron Body Sect are bullying you juniors – I shall give you two choices. You can either slap yourselves three times and kneel to my disciples in apology, or you can just scram from Mount Asui. Make your decision."

"And if we choose neither?" Young Master Xuan Hao furrowed his brows, rage welling up from within him.

The choices given would both end in humiliation for them!

"Of course, there is always a third option," The wrinkled old man snorted. "But do you really think the likes of you will be enough to beat me?"