"The Spiritual Movement Stage?"
Around the spectator stands, many people turned their gazes and cried out in surprise, their eyes locked onto Tan Qingshan with unconcealed astonishment. No wonder he had the courage to challenge Liu Yang; it turned out he had also reached the Spiritual Movement Stage.
"So impressive..."
Su Ling gasped in awe, looking at Tan Qingshan with envy. Previously, in the entire academy's Earth Division, only Mu Chen, Liu Yang, and Mu Yuan had reached the Initial Phase of the Spiritual Movement Stage. Now, Tan Qingshan was the fourth.
Mu Chen also nodded slightly. For Tan Qingshan to have previously become the number one in the East Division's Earth Class, his talent was naturally not low. More importantly, his family background was not very good, and all his achievements were earned through desperate, hard cultivation. Therefore, Mu Chen actually respected him quite a bit. A person who earned his pride through his own efforts deserved respect.
"Haha, no wonder you have such courage. It turns out you've broken through to the Spiritual Movement Stage."
Tan Qingshan's aura also surprised Liu Yang slightly, but the sneer at the corner of his mouth only grew more pronounced.
Tan Qingshan remained silent, his gaze fixed on Liu Yang, whose aura was gradually becoming sharper. Around his hands, dark yellow spiritual energy swirled and flared up intensely, radiating powerful fluctuations.
Liu Yang stared at Tan Qingshan with a cold, gloomy gaze, extending his hand and beckoning gently:
"Make your move. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."
"How arrogant!"
Seeing Liu Yang's actions, Su Ling and the others immediately cursed in anger.
"Boom!"
Just as Su Ling spoke up in anger, Tan Qingshan stomped hard on the ground, lunging forward as fast as a hunting leopard. Sharp spiritual energy surged across his hands, infused with a heavy force, as he struck directly at Liu Yang's chest.
"Hmph!"
Liu Yang focused on the incoming Tan Qingshan and snorted. Fiery red spiritual energy roared out from his hands. Without dodging in the slightest, he clenched his fingers into fists and blasted them violently against Tan Qingshan's palms.
"Crack!"
A sharp, ear-splitting sound of collision rang out. A wave of air swept across them, kicking up dust. Both of them trembled slightly, but Liu Yang remained completely unshaken, while Tan Qingshan was forced back a few steps.
With a grave expression, Tan Qingshan stabilized his stance. The dark yellow spiritual energy on his palms grew increasingly dense, turning his entire arms into a stone-like yellow color.
"Mountain Fist!"
Tan Qingshan lunged forward again. The speed of his fists was slower, but they carried a heavy, crushing force, like a mountain collapsing. This caused the expressions of many onlookers to tense up.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
His stone-like fists unleashed a fierce attack, a powerful offensive sweeping toward Liu Yang. However, the latter's face remained ice-cold. Fiery red spiritual energy, like blazing flames, wrapped around his hands as he suppressed Tan Qingshan's continuous onslaught.
The head-on clash of the two spiritual energies generated a blast of air that swept the stage completely clean. Some of those standing close by even felt the stinging wind lash against their faces.
"Tan Qingshan is truly impressive! He can actually fight Liu Yang to a standstill!"
Su Ling cheered excitedly as he watched the fierce battle in the arena.
"After all, Tan Qingshan has only just entered the Spiritual Movement Stage. It won't be easy for him to defeat Liu Yang."
Tang Qian'er, who was standing beside him, shook her head gently. Although she also disliked Liu Yang, she had to admit that he was indeed talented.
"Tan Qingshan is likely practicing the Mountain Art, a Mortal-Tier High-Rank Spiritual Art of the Northern Spiritual Academy. As for Liu Yang, he is probably practicing the Liu Territory's Blazing Sun Art, a Spiritual-Tier Low-Rank Spiritual Art..."
Mu Chen muttered as he stared intently at the center of the arena.
– Therefore, in terms of the sheer abundance of Spiritual Energy, Liu Yang has the upper hand. Looking at the current state of the match, it probably won't last much longer.
Hearing this, Su Ling let out a sigh of regret. He clearly hoped Tan Qingshan would win. If that happened, would that Liu Yang still dare to be so arrogant?
While they were still discussing, the battle in the arena had reached a fever pitch. Tan Qingshan's face was flushed red, as though he had pushed his strength to its absolute limit, his attacks growing increasingly fierce.
"Whoosh!"
A fist as hard as stone swept toward Liu Yang's midsection. But at that exact moment, the latter shifted his feet, taking a few steps back—just enough to evade the powerful, fully-charged punch Tan Qingshan had been preparing for so long.
Seeing his opponent dodge the blow, Tan Qingshan felt an instinctive wave of unease, only to catch the cold sneer playing on the corner of Liu Yang's lips.
– Blazing Sun Palm!
Liu Yang flattened his hand into a palm and struck. At that moment, crimson Spiritual Energy erupted like a blazing fire. A wave of scorching, powerful force pierced straight through Tan Qingshan's defense and slammed violently into his chest.
"Boom!"
The fiery Spiritual Energy exploded at the exact point of contact between Liu Yang's palm and Tan Qingshan's chest. The immense force sent Tan Qingshan flying. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd of disciples, he crashed heavily near the edge of the stage, unable to stop himself from spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
An uproar erupted.
The situation had reversed in the blink of an eye, leaving the crowd around the stage in stunned silence.
Tan Qingshan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gritting his teeth in frustration. Liu Yang's Spiritual Energy was overbearing and scorching, far more powerful than the one he cultivated.
"Thud."
Liu Yang cast a cold glance at the battered Tan Qingshan. With no intention of stopping, he lunged forward like an eagle swooping down on a rabbit, launching a kick straight at Tan Qingshan.
Tan Qingshan rolled away with great difficulty, narrowly dodging Liu Yang's kick. His face turned pale; he clearly hadn't expected Liu Yang to be so relentless even after gaining the upper hand.
However, he was stubborn by nature. The more aggressive Liu Yang became, the more Tan Qingshan refused to admit defeat, glaring fiercely back at him.
– Still trying to act tough, are we?
Seeing this, Liu Yang sneered and shook his head. A flash of cruelty crossed his eyes. With a sudden movement, he appeared to Tan Qingshan's right. A shadow of a kick flashed, and a blast of scorching Spiritual Energy slammed brutally into Tan Qingshan's chest.
"Bang!"
Tan Qingshan slid face-first across the ground for over ten meters. His throat convulsed as another mouthful of blood surged up, but he forced himself to swallow it back down.
– Damn it, you shameless bastard! He already lost, why are you still hitting him?
Seeing Liu Yang's brutality, the disciples of the East Branch grew furious and began to roar in anger.
– You absolute bastard!
Su Ling also cursed in sheer fury.
Hearing the curses of the East Branch students, Liu Yang's expression darkened even further. Instead of stopping, he stepped toward the struggling Tan Qingshan and threw another kick at him as he tried to scramble backward.
"Smack!"
A sharp smack echoed, but surprisingly, Tan Qingshan did not retreat even half a step. A slender figure had suddenly materialized in front of him, and Liu Yang's fierce kick was now firmly caught in the newcomer's hand.
– Mu Chen?
Tan Qingshan stared at the familiar figure, completely stunned.
– Are you alright?
Mu Chen turned his head and asked.
Tan Qingshan shook his head, though his eyes remained fixed on Liu Yang, filled with the ferocity of a wild wolf.
"You've only just entered the Spiritual Movement Stage, yet you were able to hold your ground against him for so long. That is already very impressive. With a bit more cultivation, surpassing him won't be difficult at all."
Mu Chen offered a comforting smile.
He knew that although Tan Qingshan appeared calm on the outside, he possessed a stubborn and proud nature. Thus, Mu Chen did not ask him to concede. Instead, framing it this way made it much easier for Tan Qingshan to accept.
"Thank you."
Tan Qingshan's heart softened slightly at Mu Chen's appearance. Looking at Mu Chen's handsome, bright, and smiling face, he spoke softly with gratitude:
"I'll leave this guy to you for now, but in the future, I will settle the score with him myself."
Pausing for a moment, he stared intently at Mu Chen:
"You are stronger than me, so... I'm counting on you to bring the first-place spot back to our East Branch!"
With that, he did not linger and leapt down from the stage.
Mu Chen watched Tan Qingshan jump down before turning back to look at the gloomy Liu Yang.
"I'll take over from here."
Liu Yang stared at Mu Chen, a smirk playing on his lips, his eyes filled with a fierce malice.
"I will entertain you thoroughly!"
On the stage, the two locked eyes. The atmosphere instantly grew tense, like a drawn bow. Most of the disciples from both branches had stopped what they were doing and cast their gazes over. This was, after all, the peak battle of the Northern Spiritual Academy's Earth Class!