In the stands, everyone was dumbstruck.
The Martial Arts Arena, filled with thousands, fell silent in an instant.
"No... what just happened? Zhou Dingshan... was he just cleaved in two?"
Finally, someone spoke.
It was a young Martial Artist in black training gear. His face was ashen, and his eyes were glued to the corpse on the arena stage.
He couldn’t believe it.
Zhou Dingshan, Chief Disciple of the Five Elements Sect’s Thick Earth Peak, a Peak Gang Force Martial Artist who had mastered the Four-in-One Gang Strength.
An expert of his caliber, actually cleaved in two by an Embracing Pill Martial Artist with a single strike?
"That last strike... it didn’t seem all that special, so how could it have been so powerful? Not even Zhou Dingshan’s Four-in-One Gang Strength could withstand it, and he was cut down along with it."
Another Martial Artist chimed in.
His voice was filled with terror.
He carefully recalled the strike from just now.
That strike wasn’t fast; one could even say it was a bit slow.
There were no dazzling afterimages, no clap of thunder, no flashy techniques.
Just a simple, straightforward sword strike.
But it was this very strike that broke through the Gang Force Zhou Dingshan was so proud of, and split a Peak Gang Force Martial Artist in two.
"So that’s Zhang Su’s strongest strike? Truly terrifying..."
A Jianghu Cultivator’s voice also carried a trace of shock.
He had roamed the Jianghu for half his life and had seen all sorts of Martial Arts.
But that strike just now, he had never seen anything like it.
That wasn’t a level of Swordsmanship an Embracing Pill Martial Artist should be able to wield.
The crowd slowly began to recover from their shock.
Their hearts pounded with fear as they looked at Zhang Su.
Before, Zhang Su had said he had a strike he couldn’t control, and that Zhou Dingshan might die.
At the time, no one took Zhang Su’s words seriously.
Everyone thought Zhang Su was just bluffing.
An Embracing Pill Martial Artist—no matter how exquisite his Swordsmanship, how strong could he be?
Zhou Dingshan was a Peak Gang Force Martial Artist with his Four-in-One Gang Strength; his Defense Power had been tempered through countless battles.
For an Embracing Pill Martial Artist to break through his Gang Force was simply wishful thinking.
But now, they knew they were wrong.
Terribly wrong!
Zhang Su’s words weren’t an exaggeration at all.
He had even warned Zhou Dingshan in advance.
And yet, Zhou Dingshan still died.
It wasn’t as if Zhou Dingshan had underestimated him. In fact, he had been exceedingly cautious, yet he still couldn’t block Zhang Su’s strike.
Before Zhang Su even drew his sword, Zhou Dingshan had already pushed his Gang Force to its absolute limit.
That layer of Four-in-One Gang Strength covered his body like a tight shroud.
But so what?
One strike, and it was all reduced to nothing.
The Gang Force shattered, and the man died.
The people from the Five Elements Sect were in an uproar.
In the northern section of the stands, the Five Elements Sect Disciples in their black training gear all shot to their feet.
"Senior Brother Zhou... is dead?"
A young disciple mumbled in a low voice, as if he couldn’t believe it.
He was one of Zhou Dingshan’s Fellow Disciples, and usually practiced Martial Arts with him.
In his eyes, Zhou Dingshan was an insurmountable mountain, the pride of Thick Earth Peak, and the goal for all the junior brothers to pursue.
But now, that mountain had fallen.
"How is this possible? How could Senior Brother Zhou’s Gang Force be broken by an Embracing Pill Martial Artist?"
Another disciple’s eyes were red as he stared intently at Zhou Dingshan’s corpse on the arena stage.
"That sword strike... what kind of Swordsmanship was that? Why did it have such terrifying power?"
Someone asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
But no one had an answer.
The people from Medicine Valley were also incredibly shocked.
In the southern stands, the disciples from Medicine Valley, dressed in their moon-white Medicine Cauldron Robes, had also risen to their feet.
Their expressions were also grim.
Although Zhou Dingshan wasn’t from Medicine Valley, they were well aware of his strength.
He was an expert who could compete with Ye Ling, one of the biggest favorites to win this Three Sects Gathering of Heroes.
Yet a figure like him was killed by Zhang Su in a single strike.
Ye Ling’s eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe it.
She had originally thought Zhang Su had gone all out in their battle. She’d assumed he had relied on his profound Inner Strength to wear her down, and that this was the absolute limit of his abilities.
But now, it seemed she was wrong.
’So, he wasn’t even using his full strength when he fought me...’
Ye Ling murmured to herself.
A trace of bitterness flashed in her eyes.
’If Zhang Su had used this strike against me, could I have blocked it?’
’Without a doubt, I couldn’t.’
’Even Zhou Dingshan’s Four-in-One Gang Strength couldn’t stop it. What could I possibly use to defend against it?’
’My Gang Force also achieves a Unity of Inner and Outer, but compared to Zhou Dingshan’s Four-in-One Gang Strength, its Defense Power is far weaker.’
’A strike that even Zhou Dingshan couldn’t block... I would stand no chance at all.’
"Senior Sister Ye Ling..."
The female disciple beside her opened her mouth, but then hesitated to speak.
Ye Ling waved her hand, signaling for her to stay quiet.
Her gaze returned to the arena stage, landing on Zhang Su.
That figure in the green robe stood motionless in the center of the stage.
His expression was as calm as ever.
If you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, who would believe that such a person had just killed a Peak Gang Force Martial Artist with a single strike?
However, the one with the biggest reaction was the Five Elements Sect’s Sect Leader, Zhong Taiheng.
He shot to his feet.
His chair crashed to the floor.
His hands slammed onto the table, his gaze locked on the arena stage—on the corpse that had been split in two.
His expression was thunderous.
He couldn’t believe it. How could the exceedingly cautious Zhou Dingshan, with his Four-in-One Gang Strength, actually be dead?
Moreover, he had seen the whole process very clearly.
It was true that Zhang Su hadn’t intentionally killed Zhou Dingshan.
It was just that Zhang Su’s strike was too powerful.
So powerful that Zhang Su couldn’t control it at all.