“Alright,” Xu Ziyan nodded.

She didn’t need to say much; she was quite confident in Xu Taiping’s strength as a martial artist. After all, it was with that very strength that he had nearly shattered Ye Xuan of the Gazing Abyss Realm’s will to continue on the path of cultivation.

Then, Xu Ziyan turned to look at her fourth junior sister, Nangong Hui, and instructed:

“Junior sister, let’s keep moving.”

“Understood.”

Standing at the stern, Nangong Hui nodded and waved her large sleeve.

A gust of wind burst forth from her sleeve, propelling the small boat swiftly towards the entrance of the water fortress.

“Huh, they actually dare to come back? Interesting.”

The previously bored Oriole perked up upon seeing the defeated party daring to approach again, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“Little Black, sweep all those on that boat into the water for me,” he ordered the big black bear.

“Got it.”

The big black bear’s voice was deep as he nodded, lifting the thick log in his hands once more.

Once he confirmed that the boat was within range, he flexed his muscular arm and, holding the log, swept it across the lake with a “boom.”

The cultivators on several boats watched the scene unfold with sympathetic eyes, feeling certain that the people on the boat were doomed.

“Bang!”

Just like before, a loud noise spread across the water.

The big black bear’s log struck the dark-cloaked boat heavily.

To everyone’s surprise, though the boat rocked violently and the water beneath it dipped, not a single person fell overboard.

The log seemed to be stuck on the boat, motionless.

On closer inspection, it wasn’t stuck at all; it was being held back by the young man at the bow of the boat!

A boat and a bear, a man and a log, it was as if they were wrestling on the foggy lake surface, pushing and blocking each other, while the waves they stirred up spread out, rocking the surrounding boats.

“Boom!”

After a few moments of deadlock, the big black bear suddenly exerted more force and pulled the log back from Xu Taiping’s grasp.

Clearly, the bear had lost this round.

“Interesting, interesting. To think we’d encounter a martial artist who can match Little Black in strength,” Oriole said, his spirits lifted amidst the exclamations from the crowd.

“Little Black, keep at it!” he urged the bear while staring intently at the foggy water ahead.

The fog was so thick that it was impossible to see the faces of the people on the boat without looking closely.

“Alright!”

The big black bear nodded vigorously.

Having his strike countered had ignited the competitive spirit inherent in his beastly nature.

His round bear eyes suddenly gleamed sharply.

“Boom!” A violent surge of energy exploded around him.

His paws, clutching the thick log, sank into the wood.

Then, with a huge whooshing sound, the big black bear, holding the log, almost skimmed the water surface as he swept it towards Xu Taiping’s boat, the force of the impact causing the lake water to roll backwards.

This time, the bear had used almost all his strength.

Feeling the weight of the strike, Xu Taiping didn’t dare to be careless.

Standing at the bow, he crouched slightly and pushed off the boat with his feet.

As he leaped up, he smashed his “Bull Horn Mountain Crumble” punch towards the incoming log.

“Bang!” Xu Taiping’s fist solidly hit the log.

The collision of the two massive forces sent a shockwave across the water.

But this time, after only a moment of resistance, the log in the big black bear’s hands was blasted backwards by the force of Xu Taiping’s punch, flying out of its grasp and landing in the water with a “plop.”

Xu Taiping, after sliding a few steps on the water, steadied himself once more.

His punch won cheers from many cultivators around.

“This man is strong!”

The big black bear on the stake, meanwhile, looked at its palms in disbelief.

Its palms were now a bloody mess, the result of the thousand layers of force in Xu Taiping’s punch transmitted through the log.

“Which sect’s martial arts grandmaster is this?”

Seeing the injury on the big black bear’s hands, Oriole was equally shocked.

In terms of strength, his spirit pet rarely lost to humans, let alone got injured.

“Big Yellow, there’s one more strike, right?”

The big black bear suddenly turned to look at Oriole.

“Right, but since he has such strength, there’s no need to continue…”

“Step down.”

Before Oriole could finish, the big black bear shook its shoulder and flung Oriole off.

Then, it leaped from the stake, stepping on the water and thundering towards the figure ahead.

“Little Black, don’t be reckless!” Oriole, caught off guard, hurried after him.

“Boom,” but before he could catch up, he saw the bear already throwing a punch at the person at the bow.

“Bang!”

In the collision of fists, Xu Taiping engaged the big black bear.

Man and bear, matching strength for strength, fist against fist, the fight was full of vigor.

From a distance, it looked like two beasts clashing.

“Weren’t there supposed to be three strikes? Why did it join the fray directly? Since when did the Nine Mansions become so domineering? Taiping, don’t fight him, let’s go straight to the Nine Mansions for an explanation!” Xu Ziyan was first surprised, then angry, as the beast directly pursued them.

“Right, Taiping, stop fighting, the Nine Mansions are too unruly!” the other senior sisters echoed in unison.

Then, not just them, but other cultivators dissatisfied with the Nine Mansions also started to make a commotion.

Oriole was about to scold these people to keep them in line, but when the name Xu Taiping drifted from the foggy water to his ears, he immediately changed his expression.

“Ta… Taiping? Xu Taiping? It’s Xu Taiping!”

Connecting the dots with the punch from before, Oriole’s face went from confusion to certainty.

“Little Black, stop, you’re not…”

“Boom!…”

He was about to use the soul contract to stop the big black bear, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by an explosive sound.

Then, he saw countless fist shadows suddenly appear above the water.

The fierce punches cleared the fog from the water surface.

The scene on the river became clear to all.

A young man, not particularly burly, was pounding the enormous black bear with punch after punch, sending it retreating across the water surface without any chance to counter.

“Bang!” With the youth’s final punch, the big black bear’s massive body was sent flying backwards, soaring a good distance above the water.

Then, with a splash, it fell into the water.

Silence fell over the river.

“Little Black, you can’t beat him, this kid is more of a monster than a monster…”

Watching the big black bear slowly emerge from the water, Oriole sighed, finally saying what he hadn’t managed to before.

“Oriole, long time no see, how have you been?”

Just then, Xu Taiping’s voice broke the silence on the river.

“Good for nothing, if it weren’t for you, kid, why would I be assigned to a place like this,” Oriole muttered under his breath, but soon he put on a smile and said:

“Taiping, long time no see, your brother has missed you.”