After some playful roughhousing, Yu Xian finally remembered the real business at hand.
He gathered everyone together, first explaining the concept of the Star Rank and the methods for advancing, before finally asking if they would be willing to spar with him.
Naturally, everyone present was more than happy to help; besides, the experience would benefit them as well.
"So, who goes first?" Gong Qian asked eagerly, her eyes fixed hungrily on Yu Xian as she cracked her knuckles with sharp pops.
A chill ran down Yu Xian's spine. Sensing that Gong Qian simply wanted an excuse to beat him to a pulp, he hurriedly got to his feet and said, "Xiong Da and I will warm up first. You two take a break for now."
"Proprietor, I'm fighting you?" Xiong Da pointed at his own snout in sheer horror, looking thoroughly aghast.
Yu Xian chuckled. "Don't worry. This time, I'm fighting you purely with physical arts—I won't use any other abilities."
"Alright then, that's a deal," Xiong Da said, breathing a sigh of relief before finally agreeing.
Qingniao glanced around and asked curiously, "Salty Fish, where do you plan on sparring? There's no arena here."
"In the ocean, of course!" Yu Xian smiled faintly, pointing toward the sea.
Then, invoking the Art of Blending All Phenomena, he drained the ocean's heat in an instant. The entire stretch of water ahead froze solid in the blink of an eye.
The sight was breathtaking. Zhang Shou and the others were left utterly dumbfounded. To freeze an entire sea on a whim was nothing short of godlike.
"Let's go!" Yu Xian called to Xiong Da.
Xiong Da emphasized once more, "We had a deal, Proprietor. You can only use physical arts."
"Relax. Truly just physical arts," Yu Xian said with a grin.
He was genuinely curious to know just how strong he was when relying solely on the raw might of his physical body.
The man and the bear stepped onto the frozen surface and walked several hundred meters out. Back on the shore, the remaining three settled into their chairs, pulling out an assortment of snacks and settling in to watch the show.
"Come on!" Standing on the ice, Yu Xian waved Xiong Da forward.
Xiong Da unleashed a mighty roar, raising a massive paw to swat straight at Yu Xian. With Yu Xian's reaction speed, he could easily have leaped back and dodged the strike with room to spare.
Yet he did not retreat. Instead, he met the blow with a palm strike of his own. Hand and paw collided in midair, instantly caving in the ice beneath them as webbed fractures burst outward in all directions.
Xiong Da sucked in a breath of cold air. He had never expected Yu Xian, who looked lean and delicate, to possess such staggering strength.
"Crazy Bear Flurry!"
In the next instant, Xiong Da bellowed, his paws lashing out in a wild frenzy toward Yu Xian.
Yu Xian stood his ground, countering with both hands at blinding speed. Their palms repeatedly clashed in the air, sending ice shards flying in every direction until a shroud of freezing mist enveloped them.
Suddenly, Xiong Da curled himself into a ball and kicked off the ice. His massive frame astonished everyone by launching ten meters into the air, before hurtling straight back down toward Yu Xian.
He already weighed more than ten tons, and by deliberately channeling demonic energy to drive himself downward, his impact force became truly terrifying—conservatively estimated to strike with dozens of times his own body weight.
Yu Xian still made no attempt to dodge. Watching Xiong Da plummet like a falling meteorite, he gritted his teeth, raised both hands, and felt the heart belonging to a perfect creature thud violently within his chest.
Allocate points: Super Skeleton!
In truth, he had accumulated enough energy long ago; he simply hadn't decided whether it was better to activate Super Skeleton or Super Nerves first.
Now, through this bout, he had his answer.
While Super Nerves could grant him even greater speed, he preferred to bolster his defenses first.
Clashing head-on was what a real man lived for.
In an instant, the bones throughout his body seemed to glow. With Dragon Bone, Python Sinew compounded by Super Skeleton, the hardness of his skeletal frame skyrocketed once more.
When Xiong Da's massive bulk crashed down like Mount Tai collapsing, Yu Xian caught him with both hands like the ancient Overlord hoisting a bronze cauldron. The muscles across his entire body bulged, and under the sheer crushing weight, the ice beneath them blew apart, cratering into a ten-meter-deep pit.
Yu Xian's clothes burst at the seams. Xiong Da's falling strike carried the weight of several hundred tons, coming perilously close to flattening him.
His actual raw strength was only around eighty tons; the sole reason he could hold up Xiong Da's descending slam was that his bones were exceptionally hard.
Just at that moment, however, Xiong Da twisted his body violently. His claws swung downward, swatting viciously at Yu Xian, who was still holding up his bulk. Yu Xian was blasted flying backward, while Xiong Da executed a midair flip to land on his feet with a smug, triumphant grin.
Far in the distance, Yu Xian slid several thousand meters across the ice before coming to a halt. Taking a deep breath, an identical smile broke across his face—this feeling was exhilarating.
With a sharp carp leap, he sprang back onto his feet. In the distance, Xiong Da called out, "Proprietor, I'm going to use spells now!"
"Bring it!" Yu Xian laughed.
In this spar, only Yu Xian was forbidden from using other abilities; Xiong Da was under no such constraint.
The V-shaped marking on Xiong Da's chest gradually flushed a burning red. With a low growl, sparks of flame flared beneath his feet, and his colossal form vanished, instantly reappearing right in front of Yu Xian to plant a roundhouse kick squarely into his midriff.
The moment the kick landed, a violent blast of flame erupted from the sole of Xiong Da's foot. Yu Xian was blown backward instantly, the fabric over his belly scorched clean through to leave the charred imprint of a bear paw.
However, Yu Xian possessed Super Skin.
His skin could withstand searing temperatures of five thousand degrees and freezing cold of minus one hundred and fifty degrees, alongside immense resistance to concussive impact. Thus, despite taking a direct hit to the stomach from Xiong Da, he felt only a dull pang of pain.
Far more than the pain, what shocked him was the technique Xiong Da had just displayed.
"Rocket Blazing Bear Art!"
While flying backward, Yu Xian dug one foot into the ice below, plowing a long furrow before coming to a stop. He looked down at his clothes, visibly surprised.
It had only been about a month since he redeemed the Rocket Blazing Bear Art for Xiong Da; he had never expected the bear to master it so quickly.
He had assumed Xiong Da would use the techniques from his spar against Nora, and had already thought of ways to deal with his black wind. Instead, Xiong Da had abandoned the black wind entirely in favor of rocket propulsion.
Despite Xiong Da's chubby build, his skeletal frame and musculature were more than capable of supporting nimble movements. His body fat hardly impeded him at all; if anything, it dramatically enhanced his defensive toughness.
Thus, being fat was truly all benefit and no drawback for him.
"Proprietor, take my Rocket Impact!"
Just then, flames enveloped Xiong Da's entire body. As the fire blasted rearward like jet thrusters, he leaped into the air, rocketing his titanic body straight at Yu Xian.
His speed was blistering.
Yet Yu Xian still chose not to dodge. Opening his mouth wide, he drew in a deep breath.
Then, aiming at the rapidly approaching bear, he expelled the air in a sudden blast.
Super Lungs—capable of compressing air.
The compressed air Yu Xian spat out was deadlier than the super armor-piercing rounds fired by sniper rifles to hunt transcendent beasts—and completely invisible to the naked eye.
The compressed air bullet struck the oncoming Xiong Da with pinpoint precision.
Xiong Da felt a sharp jolt of pain in his chest, instantly losing control over his flames. With his propulsion disrupted, he plunged headfirst into the ice, tumbling violently across the frozen surface before grinding to a halt. His scorching body heat rapidly melted the surrounding ice, sending plumes of thick steam billowing all around him.
"Proprietor, that's cheating! Didn't we agree no other abilities? How is that even physical arts?!" Xiong Da groaned, lying sprawled on the ice in misery.
Yu Xian retorted, "I just took a breath and blew it out. Is breathing against the rules now?"
"You really didn't use any superpowers?" Xiong Da hauled himself up from the ice, half-skeptical.
Yu Xian had no choice but to turn toward the frozen crests of the waves in the distance, take another deep breath, and let fly. The next instant, an air bullet punched straight through the frozen swells far away.
"Hiss..."
Xiong Da sucked in a breath of cold air at the sight.
There wasn't a trace of energy fluctuations; it truly was the product of pure physical might. Xiong Da suddenly realized he had been far too confident. Even restricted strictly to physical arts, the Proprietor was utterly terrifying.
Chapter 173