A strike that missed?

Ye Xiao was instantly horrified, but before he could react, the masked old man just chuckled and said, "You might as well use your best move; otherwise, you won't last three moves against me."

Upon hearing the masked old man's words, Ye Xiao was once again shocked. He understood that the masked old man was certainly not joking with him.

With a thought, Ye Xiao immediately summoned the cry of an eagle, and an eagle swooped towards the masked old man. However, the man stood motionless, as if he hadn't even seen Ye Xiao's attack but instead smiled at him. Ye Xiao could see the smile because the old man's eyes were indeed smiling.

Looking at the smile on the masked old man, Ye Xiao felt even more displeased. He usually had that kind of smile when he looked at others; today, it was on the face of this man before him—mockery, disdain. Clearly, this old man wasn't taking Ye Xiao seriously at all.

The sharp eagle claw rushed towards the masked old man's face. For the first time, Ye Xiao felt somewhat unsure of himself; he did not know whether he could beat this man, but he was curious to know who the man was and what he looked like.

But…

The sharp eagle claw reached the masked old man's face in an instant, the ferocity of the attack causing the old man's clothes to stir.

Suddenly, the masked old man moved.

"Bang!"

As the sharp eagle claw contacted the masked old man's palm, in an instant, Ye Xiao was flung backwards, retreating four or five meters back to where he had been before.

"Kid, your ultimate move must be Fire Dragon Claw, right? Why not give Fire Dragon Claw a try? Maybe you'd last three or five rounds with me," the masked old man said, still smiling at Ye Xiao.

Hearing this, Ye Xiao was shocked once again. The man knew about his ultimate move, Fire Dragon Claw, which usually no one knew, and those who did were mostly dead. Yet, here this man stood.

"Who exactly are you?" Ye Xiao coldly stared at the masked old man, his face filled with anger.

The masked old man laughed heartily, looking at the agitated expression on Ye Xiao's face and said proudly, "Aren't you very arrogant? Don't you like conquering others with force? If you can conquer me, haha, then I won't teach you a lesson."

"You're really confident," Ye Xiao said through clenched teeth, coldly stating, "This is what you asked for."

Ye Xiao's mind shifted again, and the two eagle claws instantly turned into dragon claws, charging more swiftly at the masked old man.

Without entering the Mad God State, Fire Dragon Claw was Ye Xiao's strongest capability. Except when facing Xiong Daoliang, an early Earth Rank expert, Ye Xiao usually relied on just his Eagle Claw Skill without needing to enter the Mad God State to defeat his enemies.

At this moment, Ye Xiao was like a ferocious dragon, rushing forward with a speed and power that could be described as earth-shattering.

However, the masked old man did not use any special moves; instead, he simply stood in place with a smile in his eyes, watching Ye Xiao approach from afar.

'Bang'!

The Fire Dragon Claw contacted the masked old man's palm again, the two facing each other, palm against dragon claw.

At that moment, the two were clearly competing in the robustness of their Inner Power True Qi. At least, Ye Xiao was continuously increasing his output of Nine Yang True Qi, and it seemed he was also steadily closing in on the masked old man.

The masked man's hand was slowly bending, seemingly struggling to hold on.

Yet what puzzled Ye Xiao was why, if he was nearly unable to hold on, did the old man still have a smile on his face? Was he born with that smiling face?

As time passed by the second, Ye Xiao quickly engaged the masked old man at the peak state of his Nine Yang True Qi.

However, just when Ye Xiao felt he was on the verge of victory, the masked old man suddenly chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Ye Xiao couldn't fathom why, at this very moment, the masked old man had anything to laugh about.

The masked old man smiled at Ye Xiao and said, "Is this your strongest True Qi now? It barely qualifies as the Peak of Xuan Rank, but it's only just barely."

Ye Xiao, listening to the masked old man, felt like he was about to collapse. Was this old man mocking him? Was the Peak of Xuan Rank such a trashy level?

Ye Xiao looked at the masked old man and did not speak, but instead pushed forward with his powerful Nine Yang True Qi.

The smile on the masked old man's face remained unchanged, and he continued, "However, this Inner Strength is really low-grade!"

The masked old man did not spare Ye Xiao's feelings as he spoke these words.

Listening to the masked old man, Ye Xiao really wanted to slap this man to death right then and there. Was it necessary to mock someone like this? When had he ever been mocked like this?

"Are you not retreating step by step now? Today, I will let you see how 'low-grade' I am!" Ye Xiao glared angrily at the masked old man.

The masked old man laughed heartily and said, "Angry? I know you can enter the Mad God State, but entering the Mad God State casually is not good for you. It will only bring you lethal disaster. Although Martial Artists are rare and high-level Martial Artists are even rarer, no matter how rare they are, they do exist. The Mad God Skill is such a rare Cultivation Technique; even I, an old man, want it desperately, let alone those more greedy and powerful Martial Artists. Kid, don't think of yourself as too powerful, because that might just be the beginning of your downfall."

Hearing the words of the masked old man, Ye Xiao suddenly felt that there might be some truth in what he was saying, and he was also surprised. How could this old man understand him so well? And to know so clearly that he had cultivated the Mad God Skill? Was this man present when he fought Xiong Daoliang? But why hadn't he noticed at all?

Ye Xiao finally felt that this old man in front of him was truly terrifying. If he could not be subdued, he would inevitably become a great threat in the future.

But just then, the old man's previously bent arm suddenly straightened violently.

'Whoosh!'

Just as the old man's arm straightened, Ye Xiao felt a force of Inner Power True Qi emanating from the old man's body with such speed and volume that it sent Ye Xiao hurtling several meters backward.

Ye Xiao was no fool; from that single burst of powerful Inner Strength True Qi, he could completely sense that the masked old man's capabilities were not limited to this. However, just the intensity of that True Qi made Ye Xiao feel completely outmatched, too powerful to know how to counter!

Initially, he thought that if he still could not win, he would use the Mad God Skill, but now Ye Xiao had changed his mind.

Because, he understood that even using the Mad God Skill, he could not win.

Under the Mad God State, Ye Xiao had barely defeated Xiong Daoliang, but he deeply knew that Xiong Daoliang's strength was not on par with that of this masked old man.

Ye Xiao looked seriously at the masked old man, drew back all his Inner Power True Qi, and said, "Senior, I admit defeat."

"Admitting defeat shows that you still have a modest nature." The masked old man smiled and said, "A true strong man is not only about having powerful Inner Strength. You also need a power so overwhelming that no one can oppose you. Once in Yan Country, oh no, I should say the whole Blue Star, he was a very powerful Martial Artist, unrivaled in single combat, but what happened in the end? He still fell. A tiger, though the king of beasts, can be countered by ten wolves, and if not ten, then a hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? Do you think a tiger is stronger, or ten thousand wolves?"

For the wolves, the tiger is their king because it is much stronger than the wolves. But what if a tiger encounters a pack of wolves? Three or five wolves might be easily handled by the tiger, but what if there are hundreds or thousands? Not to mention one tiger, even ten tigers might not stand a chance.

There's a saying, "Two fists can't beat four hands," and even a strong tiger can't overcome the multitude of wolves.

Ye Xiao found the words of the masked old man truly made sense. Since coming to Bird City, although he had wanted to keep a low profile, his pride had also risen due to his growth from Yellow Rank Peak to Peak of Xuan Rank within just over a month.

He had started forgetting how to restrain himself because, in his view, it seemed like there was no one who could match him, at least among the enemies he had encountered so far.

"Senior, I have learned my lesson," Ye Xiao earnestly bowed to the masked old man, speaking with great respect.

The masked old man chuckled and said, "Kid, I guess the lesson for today is just about enough. I really dislike arrogant people. Today was just a little punishment. If you continue like this in the future, hehe, then I might have to increase the punishment."

"Thank you, Senior!" Ye Xiao said to the masked old man.

The masked old man smiled playfully, "I reprimand you, yet you thank me?"

"If it were not for the senior's lesson, I might soon perish amidst my own arrogance. I will definitely remember the senior's lesson." Ye Xiao faintly felt that this person was no ordinary man and seemed to harbor no malice towards him, although he had suffered setbacks several times, yet Ye Xiao had not really been injured.

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