Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

Just then, Lu Yunshi spoke up, his gaze fixed on a jade pendant with strange runes engraved on Xiaomei's waist, and he said in a surprised tone.

"Could this be a recording stone, a stone that can be used to record images? I've heard that many people now record their combat skills training insights in it."

"Judging from its shape and the runes on it, could this be a recording stone that captures combat techniques?"

As they spoke, Lu Yunshi exchanged a palm strike with him, and then the two of them quickly retreated.

Feeling the slight numbness in her forearm, Xiaomei's cold glint grew stronger. She glanced down at the jade pendant at her waist, then looked up at Lu Yunshi and smiled.

"Yes! You're so smart!"

"Wow~~~" Lu Yunshi's eyes widened, looking utterly envious. "With our abilities, it should be very difficult for us to afford something like this. At least for a beginner, it's practically impossible to buy a recording stone for recording combat techniques. Could this be...?"

Before Lu Yunshi could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Xiaomei.

“That’s right, of course it was given to me by my beloved Teacher Pang. Teacher Pang is the best teacher in the world. He is willing to spend his own money to teach his students. I’m afraid you’ve never experienced that, have you?” As Xiaomei spoke, her smile deepened as she thought of something.

"It seems you're quite interested in this. How about we add some more stakes to this competition?"

"What do you mean?" Lu Yunshi asked, seemingly puzzled.

"Take one of my moves. If you can withstand it, you win this battle, and this stone is yours too," Xiaomei said slowly, offering an enticing deal.

"Regardless, this stone is already quite valuable, and it contains a combat technique. It should be worthy of being our stake today."

"Is this true?" Lu Yunshi asked impatiently before Xiaomei could finish speaking.

Then, he seemed to calm down a bit and asked a question.

"But what if I lose? I have nothing to give you. But since you took the initiative to make this agreement, you must have already thought about what you want from me, right?"

"You don't need to give me anything. Besides, I don't care about what you have. All I need is that you don't blame me later." Xiaomei said, finally revealing her fangs. "If I accidentally interrupt your cultivation path or make you fall into a deep sleep, please don't do what your teacher did and go around complaining about me. I'm a girl, and I need to be careful that you don't do anything to me that would ruin my reputation."

Xiao Mei's words struck Mr. Li squarely in the heart, almost a sarcastic remark. The crab watching from the side was quite pleased, but Mr. Li didn't say a word, his gaze fixed on Lu Yunshi.

Although he didn't know Lu Yunshi very well, Lu Yunshi was unlikely to agree to such a treacherous bet...

"Okay! I agree." Like a gambler facing a huge temptation, Lu Yunshi immediately agreed to the terms without hesitation.

"Yunshi, stop!" Seeing Lu Yunshi's reckless and tempted appearance, Mr. Li immediately spoke up, trying to interrupt his thoughts.

But before he could make a move, he was stopped by the crab.

"Hey! This is all the students' own idea. Didn't we say before that we should let the students solve it themselves? Since this is their idea, how can we, as teachers, stop them? Or is Teacher Li just going to admit defeat?"

"Get out of the way!" Mr. Li stepped forward to push the crab away, but then he saw Lu Yunshi suddenly looking at him.

“Teacher, didn’t you say you believed in me? Why not let me give it a try? The path of cultivation is never smooth sailing. If I succeed, I might be able to go further on this path. If I fail... it just means I’m not suited for this path, and it’s only natural that I’ll be crippled. Besides…” Lu Yunshi said with a confident smile.

"Mr. Li, I remember your lesson today very clearly. The courage to burn one's boats, the perseverance to never give up, and the unbreakable determination—I also want to try and see if I, with my low talent, can also take flight."

"Yes! Teacher Li, let him give it a try. Students will eventually fly out into the world. How can they be protected by us teachers every day? Since Lu has this awareness, let him try it himself. Maybe he can really succeed?" Seeing that Lu Yunshi was ignorant of his own limitations, Crab chuckled inwardly.

Defeating Mr. Li's students in front of him would not only make these useless elementary school students realize the reality, but also allow him to mock Li Dazhu in his face. This seems to be more satisfying than beating him up.

Mr. Li's chest heaved several times, but he finally calmed down under Lu Yunshi's gaze and returned to his seat.

Seeing this, Lu Yunshi turned his gaze back. "Then it's settled, Junior Sister, don't regret it."

"Of course not, but you'd better catch it properly. But I think even if you wanted to escape, you probably wouldn't be able to."

Xiaomei replied coldly, took a deep breath, and stopped talking, focusing her attention on her body.

In an instant, a chilling aura suddenly emanated, and the blood and qi within his body became cold without the knowledge of outsiders.

Unlike the students around him, Mr. Li had a much higher perspective, and he exclaimed in surprise almost the instant Xiao Mei's aura changed.

"This is... the Heart-Shattering Palm!"

His angry gaze immediately swept towards the crab.

"You...you actually taught her this move?"

"Why not?" The crab shrugged, completely unconcerned.

"You..." Mr. Li was so angry that he couldn't speak, but his fiery eyes showed his rage.

"Why is Mr. Li so angry?" A student who didn't know the situation muttered with a puzzled look, but his dog overheard him.

The dog gave a cold smile and offered to answer his question.

"Heart-Shattering Palm, a high-level Yellow-rank combat skill, is on par with Tiger Fist, but its power is much greater than Tiger Fist. Moreover, its difficulty in cultivation is much lower than Tiger Fist. Based on this alone, this combat skill should be classified as a low-level Profound-rank skill. However, it has a side effect that cannot be ignored."

"What side effects?" a puzzled student asked instinctively.

"The process of cultivating the Heart-Shattering Palm requires the depletion of one's vital energy and blood."

"Qi and blood!" The student exclaimed in shock.

It's no wonder he behaved this way. Cultivators in the Body Tempering Realm mainly cultivate their Qi and blood, constantly refining and purifying them to gain extraordinary strength.

However, strength is not the most important thing for Body Tempering cultivators. What is most important for Body Tempering cultivators is the body that is gradually changed during the cultivation process with the help of blood and qi. This changed body is the key container that can hold spiritual energy during future cultivation.

"Qi and blood are very precious to cultivators in the Body Tempering Realm. If they can replenish their Qi and blood with spiritual medicine during the cultivation process, it's not a big deal. But if they can't, then cultivating the Heart-Shattering Palm is obviously a self-destructive act." Dog was quite pleased with his classmate's surprise and showed off his knowledge.

"It's not just about cultivation; before you've mastered the Heart-Shattering Palm technique, every time you use it completely, it takes a lot of damage to yourself."

"Xiao Mei used the Heart-Shattering Palm so decisively, either because she was forced to the last moment, or... because she was confident that she would not be seriously injured."

After saying this, the dog glanced at the crab, a hint of disdain flashing in its eyes, before continuing to speak two seconds later.

"None of that matters. What's important now is that this woman used the Heart-Shattering Palm. She wants to kill someone, or at least she really wants to cripple Lao Lu."

Battles in the Body Tempering Realm are just so-so; it's like chickens fighting each other. Even if it's not a life-or-death battle, at most, they'll be lying down for ten days or half a month. Even if they use combat techniques, they'll just be lying down for even longer. It's hard to kill a fellow Body Tempering Realm cultivator without going all out.

However, things are different after using a combat skill like the Heart-Shattering Palm, which deals damage comparable to a Xuan-level combat skill. The Heart-Shattering Palm cannot be stopped until it is mastered.

Even without the enhancement of spiritual energy, its power would be more than enough to cripple Lu Yunshi.

As the dog spoke, Xiaomei's Heart-Shattering Palm was already poised to strike, its chilling aura covering a ten-meter radius around it.

At this moment, Xiaomei was clenching her teeth, clearly not feeling well either.

"Catch it right now, junior brother!"

With a cold shout, Xiao Mei strode forward, closing in on Lu Yunshi and slamming her palm down hard on his chest.

In an instant, Lu Yunshi felt the other party's cold aura envelop his entire body. His blood and qi seemed to turn cold instantly, and his scalding blood and qi were cooled down in an instant. This made Lu Yunshi slightly startled. Xiao Mei's Heart-Shattering Palm had really been cultivated to a good level.

"I won!" Seeing Lu Yunshi's stunned expression, Xiaomei was secretly delighted. She knew that Lu Yunshi would be unable to resist her move.

Unfortunately, if the opponent had admitted defeat earlier and hadn't acted so arrogantly, he wouldn't have ended up being crippled. But he insisted on going against him. Although the process was slightly unexpected, his fate was already sealed long ago.

It was your stubbornness that ruined you. No matter what tragic fate you may suffer later, just like them, please don't blame me. You promised me that.

While he was pondering, the palm strike that was unleashed was only inches away from Lu Yunshi's heart, disappearing in an instant.

But in that instant, Lu Yunshi, who Xiaomei thought was unable to move, suddenly dodged to the side.

The other person swiftly reached out with one hand and grabbed his forearm, while the other hand struck him under the armpit.

At this moment, Lu Yunshi was actually using the same counterattack he had launched when he first faced Lu Yunshi's attack.

"This is impossible!" Xiao Mei was shocked to see this, but her hands moved faster without her noticing, trying to defeat Lu Yunshi before he could.

However, she underestimated Lu Yunshi's speed. Lu Yunshi's figure had already left a faint afterimage, and then a terrifying force forcefully pierced through the cold aura created by the Heart-Shattering Palm and hit her armpit.

boom!

When Lu Yunshi's attack arrived, the power of the Heart-Shattering Palm had been greatly reduced. Although it did not completely break through Xiaomei's Heart-Shattering Palm, it paused for a moment, giving Lu Yunshi more time to react.

In that instant, Lu Yunshi had already circled behind Xiaomei and struck her hard on the back of the neck.

This time, however, Lu Yunshi's attack was ineffective. Xiao Mei once again forcefully used the Shadow Step to dodge the attack.

"Blocked!"

The audience below the stage was stunned. Lu Yunshi was able to block such a terrifying attack and even launch a counterattack.

More importantly, Lu Yunshi accomplished all of this in such a clever manner.

"It's not over yet!"

Before anyone could react, Xiaomei's voice rang out again. Unwilling to give up, she once again used her Shadow Step to accelerate and charge forward.

"Has this woman gone mad? According to the agreement, she has already lost."

Lu Yunshi seemed to have anticipated the current situation, or perhaps he hadn't thought things were so simple from the beginning. But for him, the outcome was already decided. Xiao Mei had no chance of turning the tide; her struggle was merely a last-ditch effort that would only exhaust her last bit of strength and serve no other purpose.

Even so, Lu Yunshi still looked flustered as he spoke to Xiaomei.

"Senior sister! You just said that if I could withstand your Heart-Shattering Palm, I would win this battle. Are you going back on your word?"

"Heh!" Xiao Mei sneered and launched a fierce attack, completely ignoring Lu Yunshi's words. At this moment, she had only one thought: to get rid of Lu Yunshi, otherwise, if she displeased him...

I've worked so hard to get everything I have now, and I've finally seen the light that allows me to reach even greater heights. I've given so much, and I absolutely... absolutely will not lose.

Absolutely not, losing to the bastard in front of me.

While pondering, Xiaomei looked up and revealed a sinister smile. The cold palm energy that had gathered because of the Heart-Shattering Palm was about to dissipate suddenly gathered again, and she activated the Heart-Shattering Palm once more in an instant.

Using the Heart-Shattering Palm twice in one day far exceeds the body's capacity and causes enormous damage. But as long as he can win, everything else will be fine; he will take care of it.

"This woman is insane!" Gouzi thought to himself as he watched the scene unfold, but he felt nothing but boredom.

He knew the outcome of this battle from the beginning, and was only interested in the process. Now that the process was almost over, he naturally found it boring.

"Such an aura, such footwork, seemingly fierce, yet utterly threatening. Once this attack is unleashed, you truly have no chance of retaliating."

On the stage, Lu Yunshi calmly analyzed Xiao Mei's approach. In his eyes, Xiao Mei's movements were undoubtedly much slower than before. Her depleted qi and blood were unable to support her speed, so she could only attack him step by step.

But how could he possibly hit his own moves now when he couldn't even do it before? It's just that his brain has been worn down by his previous failures.

With ease, Lu Yunshi dodged the Heart-Shattering Palm once again, appearing rather disheveled to outsiders.