Hu Yuanbo widened his eyes in shock when he sensed the aura that Lu Tianzi was giving off.

Primary Essence Condensation realm!

Generally speaking, a mere Essence Condensation realm martial artist should not have been sufficient to intimidate Hu Yuanbo who was already at the Origin Core realm.

However, Hu Yuanbo recalled that the last time he saw Lu Tianzi, the latter was only at the Intermediate Essence Building realm!

Not even a month had passed and Lu Tianzi had already broken past two boundaries and then proceeded to break through to the next cultivation realm. This was a cultivation speed that far surpassed even Lu Tianzi's own monstrous record back when he was still in the Ivory Rock Martial Academy!

In a situation where Lu Tianzi was no longer receiving the aid and support of the martial academy, he actually managed to achieve such a feat.

Such a result was proof of both the talent and fortune that Lu Tianzi possessed, both of which were key factors that dictated a martial artist's growth.

At that instant, Hu Yuanbo realised that if Lu Tianzi was given the time to grow, he might even be able to become a character who could stand toe to toe with himself in the future!

The existence of a second powerhouse would definitely impact his firm rule over Ivory Rock City.

Such a situation must be prevented at all costs.

That was especially the case now that he had already made an enemy out of Lu Tianzi. Hu Yuanbo definitely could not afford to let him live!

Since the demons had failed to clean things up properly when Lu Tianzi was sent to them as a sacrifice, Hu Yuanbo would now have to act personally to finish the job!

"Insolent!" Hu Yuanbo roared in intimidation as he prepared to match Lu Tianzi's attack.

If Lu Tianzi thought that it was possible to take him down just by sneaking in a sudden sword attack, then Lu Tianzi was greatly mistaken!

Lu Tianzi might have broken through to the Essence Condensation realm, but Hu Yuanbo who was at the Origin Core realm did not even place him in his eyes.

In fact, the very fact that Lu Tianzi even thought of trying to fight him felt like nothing more than a joke to him.

After all, the gap between the Essence Condensation and Origin Core realms was not a small one at all!

There was simply no need for Hu Yuanbo to even get serious in order to resolve an attack by a mere Primary Essence Condensation realm martial artist.

Hu Yuanbo flipped his hand face up, driving his Spiritual Essence as he prepared to stop the sword with his bare hand.

However, when Hu Yuanbo tried to drive his Spiritual Essence, he immediately realised that something was amiss.

His Spiritual Essence actually failed to flow naturally through his meridians like it usually did!

"Hmm?" Hu Yuanbo frowned as he sank his perception into his inner world.

The perception of an Origin Core realm martial artist was extremely sharp. The moment he swept his perception through his inner world, Hu Yuanbo was able to find out exactly what was going on.

He had been poisoned!

And it was no mere poison either.

Unlike regular poison, this particular poison did not simply seek to harm his health and lifeforce. On top of that, the toxins even spread to dull his movements. But most importantly, it was choking up his meridians, drastically reducing the amount of Spiritual Essence that could flow through them.

Spiritual Essence was the basis of a martial artist's strength, while the meridians were the channels through which Spiritual Essence could flow to every part of the body.

If the flow of Spiritual Essence was obstructed, Hu Yuanbo would be able to tap on less Spiritual Essence with every move he made. Essentially, this also meant that Hu Yuanbo would be unable to display his full prowess.

But no matter what, he was still an Origin Core realm martial artist.

Even if he was temporarily shackled by such restrictions, just the small portion of his Spiritual Essence that was still available to him would suffice to deal with a mere Primary Essence Condensation realm martial artist like Lu Tianzi!

With a single thought, Hu Yuanbo's palm burst into flames, sending out a wave of heat as the bright flames completely lit up the room.

Lu Tianzi was familiar with this exact combat skill.

When he faced Hu Shenwei previously, the latter had imbued his sword with flames that surged forth even when the sword itself was blocked.

Considering that they were father and son, Lu Tianzi had no doubt that the flames on Hu Yuanbo's palm would be the same.

However, even though Hu Yuanbo was only able to display a fraction of his strength, the flames summoned by Hu Yuanbo were actually far brighter and more resplendent than that of Hu Shenwei's!

Back then in the cave, Hu Shenwei had concentrated all of his Spiritual Essence into one final strike at the end, only to fail to land the attack on Lu Tianzi. At that time, Lu Tianzi had been forced to avoid Hu Shenwei's attack and overcome his opponent with speed.

But even that brilliant attack failed to compare favourably against Hu Yuanbo's subdued strike right now.

As expected of a powerful Origin Core realm martial artist.

Even when poisoned, Hu Yuanbo was still able to display a level of strength far above that of an Intermediate Essence Condensation realm martial artist like Hu Shenwei.

Thankfully, Lu Tianzi was no longer the same as back then either.

His heart did not waver, and his sword continued on its path.

The deep blue blade swiftly cut through the air as it headed straight towards Hu Yuanbo's outstretched palm.

Before his blade met Hu Yuanbo's hand, the materialised Spiritual Essence that had enveloped around the two attacks had already impacted against each other.

It was a clash between energy of the water attribute and energy of the fire attribute, but neither seemed to gain the upper hand as the two sources of energy seemed to cancel each other out.

This was not a peaceful negation by any means.

The collision of materialised Spiritual Essence between Lu Tianzi and Hu Yuanbo resulted in an explosion of energy that sent a shockwave through the room.

Around the two of them, the door rattled and the windows shook. Every furniture was pushed to very edge of the room by the sheer force of the collision.

But even as the energy cancelled each other out, that was not going to stop Lu Tianzi's sword from slashing straight at Hu Yuanbo's palm!

"What?" Hu Yuanbo's eyebrows pressed together when he saw the strength behind Lu Tianzi's blade.

This was not the level of strength that a Primary Essence Condensation realm martial artist should possess!

His Spiritual Essence protection around his palm was actually completely negated by Lu Tianzi's own. Without that layer of protection, it would not be difficult to imagine just what would happen to his palm upon meeting Lu Tianzi's sword!

With that in mind, Hu Yuanbo pulled back his palm as he hurriedly retreated, unwilling to follow through with the clash.

But after getting this close, how would it be possible to retreat unscathed?

Slash-!

A stream of blood spurted out and dyed a red patch on the floor.

Hu Yuanbo had a deep frown on his face as he created some distance between him and Lu Tianzi. Looking downwards, he could see a deep gash on his right arm.

Even though he managed to avoid the worst possible outcome, Hu Yuanbo was still left with an injured arm after a single exchange.

And that was against a mere Primary Essence Condensation realm martial artist!

What a disgrace!

But when Hu Yuanbo mentally took one step back to think this through, he realised that Lu Tianzi must have known about the poison in his body beforehand. That was the only possible reason why Lu Tianzi would dare to make such a crazy move of challenging him!

Without a doubt, the toxins spreading throughout his body must be related to this Lu Tianzi!

Using poison to achieve his means?

But when did he manage to plant the poison?

Unless..

"You used Yan Caijie?" Hu Yuanbo was able to deduce as much.

"So what if I did?" Lu Tianzi confidently replied as he readied his battle stance once more.

"To maliciously manipulate an innocent young lady in such a way, what a despicable move this is! How far have you fallen, Tianzi? Are you not ashamed of your own actions?" Hu Yuanbo questioned Lu Tianzi in an upright manner as he drew out a sword from his own spatial ring.

Even though spatial rings were rare treasures, since his son was able to get hold of one, Hu Yuanbo would naturally have his own as well.

"You are saying that I am despicable?" Lu Tianzi almost laughed out upon hearing that.

"Did I say anything wrong? You schemed to assault the City Lord by making use of an innocent servant girl, tarnishing the good reputation of the esteemed Holy Guardians. What is this if not despicable?" Hu Yuanbo replied.

"What a good City Lord Hu! Even at this point, you are still acting as though you are on the righteous side. Who is the real despicable one here? Facing a person like you, I have no interest in fighting with words!" Lu Tianzi charged forward once again, slashing out with his sword.

Lu Tianzi had planned to deal a decisive blow to Hu Yuanbo with his first attack while Hu Yuanbo was still underestimating his strength.

However, that plan failed to materialise, and Hu Yuanbo managed to escape with just an arm injury.

Even though the deep gash on his arm was no light wound, it would not be able to greatly impact Hu Yuanbo's fighting capability in the short run.

He was already feeling regretful that his plan failed to materialise, so how would Lu Tianzi have the mood to engage Hu Yuanbo in a war of words?

If anything, Lu Tianzi had to keep up his assault so as to prevent giving Hu Yuanbo the time to refine the poison within his inner world!

"Hmph! Don't think you have already won just because you managed to gain the upper hand just now!" Hu Yuanbo scoffed as his sword burst into flames.

Hu Yuanbo clearly understood that he only lost the previous exchange because he had been caught off guard by the poison, as well as severely underestimating his opponent, attempting to stop Lu Tianzi's blade with his bare hands.

Now that he had his sword in hand, Hu Yuanbo was certain that with his superior cultivation realm and combat experience, he would be able to overwhelm Lu Tianzi in a frontal battle.

Even if Hu Yuanbo was unable to gain the upper hand, as long as he managed to draw out the battle, he would be able to slowly refine the poison within him, regaining his strength bit by bit.

As time passed, the odds would only start tilting in his favour!

Taking an even greater step back, the guards should have been alerted by the huge energy explosion from the collision just now. Every second that passed meant that help would be arriving that much sooner.

Although there was only a small number of guards in his City Lord Manor due to the lack of necessity, that did not mean there were none of them around!

Even though Lu Tianzi was ridiculously strong considering that he was a mere Primary Essence Condensation realm martial artist, Hu Yuanbo was still confident that as long as he had the help of his guards, Lu Tianzi would stand no chance whatsoever.

No matter how he thought about it, Hu Yuanbo could not see any way of him losing this battle!

Each with their own thoughts, the two figures charged at each other with their swords drawn.

Within the small confines of the room, it took no time at all before they covered the distance between them, slashing out with their swords.

But at this moment, Lu Tianzi's left hand suddenly flashed, and a small paper talisman flew into the air right in front of him.

Upon seeing the paper talisman, Hu Yuanbo's eyes widened in shock!

This paper talisman..

Before Hu Yuanbo could even complete his thoughts, Lu Tianzi pierced forward with his sword, channelling his Spiritual Essence into the paper talisman.

Right in front of Hu Yuanbo, the talisman hardened as it remained suspended in mid-air, giving off an aura of imposingness!

Without further warning, a stream of flames suddenly burst out from the floating paper talisman, forming into a huge ball of fire that surged towards Hu Yuanbo!