One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Everyone present could see that he was also a master of external martial arts, and even more experienced and skilled than Ivan, with a more solid and powerful aura. Ivan's external martial arts were built on brute force, while Bald Bear's was truly honed in life-or-death battles—the difference between the two was like the difference between a steel plate and an iron ingot.

Nie Lingfeng remained silent.

He gently handed Xiaoyun, whom he was holding, to Chen Duo beside him. His movements were very light, as if he were afraid of waking a child who was dreaming. He also tucked Xiaoyun's blanket in, neatly tucking the corners in, and even gently put Xiaoyun's little hand that was sticking out of the blanket back under the covers.

The movements were gentle and natural, as if she were simply leaving her child in the care of a family member before going out for a walk.

"Baba & Go for it! Smash that bald bastard!"

Xiaoyun waved her little fists and shouted in her childish voice. Her little face was flushed red under the covers, and her eyes were bright and sparkling, as if she was going to participate in a fun game.

This almost made Zhang Chulan, who was watching the battle nervously, burst out laughing. He quickly covered his mouth, his shoulders trembling.

Nie Lingfeng's lips seemed to curve slightly—the curve was so small that it was almost imperceptible unless you looked closely—he nodded to Xiaoyun before turning around to look at Bald Bear.

He did not make any preparations.

They didn't even assume any starting stance.

He stood there casually, one hand hanging naturally at his side with slightly bent fingers, as if he could raise it at any moment; the other hand was loosely clenched into a fist and placed at his waist with the palm facing up, showing no sign of strength.

He looked loose and sloppy, like an ordinary person who had never practiced kung fu.

In stark contrast to the bald bear's menacing and aggressive demeanor—on one side, a storm is brewing, while on the other, he strolls leisurely, watching the flowers fall.

"Hmph, playing tricks!"

Bald Bear was even more enraged by Nie Lingfeng's arrogance. He felt slighted—not the kind of slight that comes from verbal insults, but the kind that comes from the other party not taking him seriously at all. This kind of slight hurt him more than being verbally abused.

He decided to strike first!

With a powerful stomp of his left foot, "crack!"—the concrete floor instantly split open in several places, sending rubble flying outwards! His massive body, like a human tank, roared towards Nie Lingfeng!

Unlike Ivan.

Ivan's charge was a straight line, brute force, and the unstoppable charge of a bull. Bald Bear's charge, however, was more varied—his speed might not be as fast as Zhang Chulan's, but the momentum of his charge was far more ferocious. His footsteps pounded the ground with a dull thud, like someone beating a giant war drum, shaking the entire hall!

Moreover, his charge route was not a straight line.

Instead, it carried a peculiar rhythm—three steps to the left, two steps to the right, shifting unpredictably. Each step landed precisely in the right place, sealing off Nie Lingfeng's space to dodge left or right. If you dodged to the left, his fist would land right there; if you dodged to the right, his body would block it.

Clearly, he had extensive combat experience and knew that one could not rely on brute force against an agile opponent.

"Dispelling Clouds Palm - Flowing Water and Drifting Clouds"

Nie Lingfeng finally moved.

But the movements remained unhurried and deliberate.

He opened his loosely clenched fist, transforming his palm into a blade, and gently slashed it towards the direction from which the bald bear charged—yes, just a "slash," like writing in the air or rowing a boat on water.

There was no earth-shattering noise, nor dazzling light. Only the air in front of him seemed to distort slightly, becoming a little more humid, as if a thin layer of mist had suddenly appeared between him and the bald bear.

A thin, almost invisible palm strike, flowing like water and clouds, silently met the attack.

The palm force spread out in the air, not forming a wall, but a net. A net woven from countless layers of fine Qi, each layer as thin as a cicada's wing, yet when stacked together, it was airtight.

Bald Bear sneered inwardly.

Does this weak palm force really think it can stop me?

He channeled his inner strength and hard power, his bronze skin suddenly glowing brighter, his muscles bulging as if inflated, and his veins throbbing beneath his skin. He was going to withstand the blow, and then use his iron fist, powerful enough to shatter stone tablets, to smash this pretentious brat into a bloody pulp!

The iron fist came crashing down with a whistling sound.

however--

His expression changed instantly when his fist collided with that seemingly harmless palm force!

That palm strike was not a direct, head-on block.

Instead... it's slippery.

It's incredibly slippery!

Like a loach, like flowing water, and like drifting clouds in the sky. When he punched, it felt like hitting a damp piece of silk. The silk sank down and then slid to the side, deflecting his fist.

His punch, which gathered all his strength and was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, felt like it had nowhere to strike—like hitting a ball of cotton, but cotton isn't that slippery; like hitting a pool of water, but water isn't that resilient.

At least 70% of the force was dissipated!

The remaining 30% of the force, like a clay ox entering the sea, was silently dissolved and guided away by the layers upon layers of ever-flowing palm force, dispersing and disappearing into the air.

Even more bizarrely...

While the palm strike dissipated his force, it also carried a viscous, pulling force. Like an invisible vortex, it involuntarily tilted his forward-moving body slightly to the left.

His previously sure-fire attack route deviated slightly – his fist grazed past Nie Lingfeng's right shoulder, missing by about two inches.

"What the hell is that?!"

Bald Bear was startled.

But the momentum had already begun, and the inertia was too great to stop immediately. His body was still surging forward, his feet were already off the ground, and he was like a truck that couldn't be braked.

However, he was experienced in combat and knew that he couldn't panic in this situation.

He decided to make the best of a bad situation—using that pulling force, he suddenly spun around!

His left leg, like a steel whip, swept towards Nie Lingfeng's waist and abdomen with a sharp, whistling sound.

This powerful, sharp-angled roundhouse kick was one of his signature moves, honed over many years. He once used it to kick an opponent who also practiced external martial arts, splitting him in two at the waist.

"Cloud-Dispelling Palm - Parting Clouds and Wearing the Moon"

Nie Lingfeng remained unmoved and did not dodge.

He simply flipped his outstretched palm slightly—the palm shadow instantly became hazy, as if several layers had appeared in an instant. One layer, two layers, three layers… like clouds and mist, or like several layers of light gauze stacked together, making it difficult to see clearly.

He raised his arm.

They came later but arrived first.

With a gentle, seemingly casual touch, the palm patted the bald bear's shinbone as it swept towards him.

"Smack."

The sound was not loud. It was even somewhat crisp. Like someone tapping a ripe watermelon.

Bald Bear felt a soft, dense, yet extremely penetrating force pierce through his body like a drill at the spot where his calf had been struck!

That force didn't drill in from the surface of the skin; it pierced directly through the skin, muscles, and tendons, striking the bone! His proudly displayed hard, masculine skills seemed to turn into a thin sheet of paper in the face of this soft, feminine force—not because they weren't hard enough, but because the opponent's strength simply didn't match his hardness; it bypassed, passed through, and seeped in.

A sharp pain shot through my calf! It felt like someone was taking a red-hot nail and twisting it in from the very center of my shinbone!

His entire leg went numb, from his knee to his toes, as if he'd been electrocuted, and he instantly lost all feeling. The force of his whip kick dissipated considerably, and his leg drooped limply, losing all strength halfway through the swing.

"not good!"

Alarm bells rang loudly in Bald Bear's mind.

He knew he had met his match—this guy's palm technique was too strange, specifically designed to break through external martial arts! It wasn't broken by brute force, but by skill, precision, and a profound understanding of the laws governing the flow of Qi.

He dared not fight any longer.

Using the momentum of the leg that hadn't yet touched the ground, he rolled sideways in a clumsy fashion, tumbling several meters away and creating distance. A trail of blood was left on the concrete ground where he had rolled—the spot on his calf where he had been hit, though the skin wasn't broken, had ruptured a patch of capillaries, and a bruise was slowly appearing.

He was on one leg, half-squatting, looking at Nie Lingfeng with suspicion and uncertainty. His right leg was still trembling slightly, not from pain—he could endure pain—but from the lingering effect of that soft, feminine strength, the muscles twitching uncontrollably.

"this one?"

Zhang Chulan, who was watching closely, couldn't help but mutter under his breath, his voice low but the schadenfreude in his tone obvious to everyone: "Wasn't he pretty fierce just now? How come he went so easily? Brother Nie's palm technique, tsk tsk, it's like Tai Chi, using minimal force to deflect a great weight!"

"No, it's not just about using minimal force to achieve maximum effect."

Master Wang Ye observed even more closely. He leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, eyes narrowed to slits like a lazy cat, but within his pupils, he could see hexagrams slowly shifting.

"Brother Nie's palm technique appears gentle, but it actually contains extremely strong penetrating power and control, and his grasp of timing is exquisite. That bald bear's external martial arts are not weak, but there are always gaps in the flow of his power—just like even the most turbulent river has eddies and calmer sections. Brother Nie's palm strikes precisely at the points where his power shifts, like striking a snake at its vital spot."

He paused, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, as if he had seen something unexpected.

"More importantly... Brother Nie seems to still have some energy left. And... he's observing, or rather, learning."

"study?"

Zhang Chulan was taken aback, tilting his head slightly like a puzzled Shiba Inu.

"Yes, learn the opponent's way of exerting force and the operating rules of the external training."

Wang Zhenqiu noticed it too. He leaned against the other pillar, and although he was injured, his eyes still shone like two stars, and nothing escaped his gaze.

"Brother Nie's Cloud-Dispelling Palm is all-encompassing, capable of both hard and soft techniques, with countless variations. Although Bald Bear's external martial arts are unorthodox—clearly self-taught and without proper training—they must have unique strengths to have reached this level. Those skills honed in actual combat are often more valuable than orthodox techniques. Brother Nie is using him as a training tool."

"Holy crap..."

Zhang Chulan was speechless.

He looked at Nie Lingfeng, who remained calm and composed in the arena—his clothes hadn't moved much, and not a single hair was out of place—and then at the bald bear opposite him, who looked as if facing a formidable enemy, his face ashen, and his legs still trembling. He silently lit a candle for the other man in his heart.

Of all people to mess with, he had to mess with Brother Nie, that fighting monster. He even offered himself up as a sparring partner.