“What arrogance! You…” One of the men was indignant.

But before he could finish his words, he suddenly recognized the black double-tipped spear. He remembered what it was, and became so scared that his face turned ashen. He took a deep breath and did not dare to say anything, rising resentfully and leaving Heaven Pavilion.

“Haha, leaving this place? Just as well, I’ve been finding this place a little too noisy. Better let those trashy fighters with weak strength bug off. Only true geniuses deserve to stay here.” Someone started to laugh loudly.

It was a young man with disheveled hair.

He was dressed in very ordinary robes, barefoot and looking a little unkempt. The ankle part of a trouser leg was worn out, showing a calf densely covered with black hair. He was bold and unrestrained, imbibing fine wine and devouring all the delicacies on the short gold table like a rampaging tornado. His hands and mouth were covered with grease, as he casually wiped them on his tattered clothes, stretching himself lazily.

“How dare you, a beggar, say something like that to me? You’re courting death…” Someone cursed furiously.

Before his voice died away…

Peng!

There was a soft noise—a snap.

A large area of the man’s chest had caved in. Clearly, his ribs were all broken. He flew out like a kite with a broken string and fell into the river below.

“This guy was unlucky, He didn’t recognize Ding Desheng, the Single Slaying Palm,” someone whispered, turning to leave as quickly as possible as if avoiding a devil.

After a series of continuous fights, Heaven Pavilion was in total chaos.

Yet no one from Miaoyu Bordello had come out to restrain them. That beautiful woman, Fangfei, stood on the golden stage not uttering a word, watching everything happening before her with a broad smile. Obviously, brawls were allowed at this stage.

Some geniuses, knowing that they were not powerful enough, stalked away resentfully in the end.

It did not matter if they had no chance to see the Moonlight Fairy. There was no need to take such risks.

Anyway, they had spent a lot of money purchasing their desired women at this festival. Although the Top Courtesans from the major brothel boats could not be compared with the Moonlight Fairy, they were still outstanding beauties. These men had not made a wasted trip.

In the blink of an eye, fewer than ten men were left in Heaven Pavilion.

Ding Hao did not leave.

The reason why he did not leave wasn’t that he wanted to see the Moonlight Fairy, but because Golden Cicada had not left either.

Ding Hao did not know what that meat-and-wine monk was up to, but he was willing to remain behind to observe.

“Well? It seems that there’re really a lot of conceited people around.” The unkempt young man with disheveled hair, Ding Desheng, the Single Slaying Palm, glanced around and surveyed the men who had not yet left. Finally, his eyes fell on Ding Hao.

He smiled and stared at Ding Hao. Looking sympathetic, he shook his head and said, “Young fellow, it’s a poor record dispatching a small fry like Sun Xing with one palm, sending him flying. It’s not a very convincing show of your prowess. Look at your fair and delicate skin. You’d better be good and scram, so your tendons and bones won’t get torn and fractured when I strike.”

It turned out that the black-haired young man who had earlier been defeated by Ding Hao was called Sun Xing.

Ding Hao stood up slowly. Without saying a word, he suddenly threw a punch.

Immediately, purple Qi permeated the air, and a purplish dragon-shaped flame shot out of Ding Hao’s fist.

Ding Desheng’s complexion changed, and his palms suddenly turned as red as blood. With a loud bellow, he struck out a palm.

A gigantic scarlet palm print, looking like it had been condensed from clots of blood, was unleashed ferociously.

The palm print collided with the purple-colored dragon-shaped flame, immediately exploding with a loud boom. Powerful Qi energy immediately erupted within Heaven Pavilion, as scarlet energy dissipated like a fog of blood.

Ding Desheng’s smile froze.

The purplish dragon-shaped fist had not diminished in power, directly bombarding him. Gales assaulted his face, and he felt a terrible aura crushing upon him like a great mountain, so potent that it could not be controlled. He immediately bellowed and unleashed several gigantic scarlet palm prints, but still could not ward off this punch. His body seemed hit by an iron hammer, and he was immediately sent flying away from the ground…

“Urgh… retch!” He tottered a dozen steps backwards before managing to steady himself. A saltish taste was in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ding Hao looked at him quietly and said word by word, “That punch just now was convincing, wasn’t it?”

Everyone exchanged horrified looks.

Ding Desheng, the Single Slaying Palm, was a recent young genius on the rise. No one knew where he had come from, yet his strength was exceedingly horrific. His palms were as powerful as divine weapons, and immensely brutal and tyrannical. He had defeated innumerable highly skilled masters, and had never been known to have been defeated before. He was regarded as one of the top 50 geniuses in the several dozen provinces around.

In Heaven Pavilion tonight, Ding Desheng would definitely count as one of the top ten. He was an extremely formidable opponent.

Who would have thought that this teal-robed youth would send Ding Desheng flying away, vomiting blood with just a casual punch?

Who was this youth?

Where did he come from?

The eyes of the white-robed swordsman and the scrawny young man in black were riveted on Ding Hao for some time. They looked astounded and their expressions had changed. No one knew what was on their minds.

On the distant golden stage, the lovely eyes of that gorgeous beauty, Fangfei, also lingered on Ding Hao for a long time. Clearly, she was also greatly shocked.

“What powerful strength! Where did this teal-robed youth come from? How can he be so powerful? This time, even the mistress has underestimated him. Ding Desheng is also one of the highly regarded candidates, yet he can’t withstand a single blow from this youth… This young man must certainly be valued. Maybe the organization can reap great benefits out of him.”

Fangfei was thoroughly shocked in her heart.

She quietly made a gesture to a female warrior standing outside the hall.

The female warrior quickly turned around and left, as though on her way to make a report.

In the hall.

“Bravo, bravo! I really didn’t expect to kick a steel plate today. I admit defeat. Scholar, leave me your name so I can know who has defeated me.” Ding Desheng’s vicious eyes were staring fixedly at Ding Hao.

“Ding Hao from the Northern Region,” he said in a clear voice.

Ding Desheng heard him and was stunned.

He had never heard of this name before.

But since this lad had come from the Northern Region, he could not be an expert of the Divine Central Continent. He sneered and said, “Well, I will remember this name. Green hills will never change, and green rivers will flow forever. We will meet again someday. Sooner or later, I will come back to exchange pointers with you.”

After that, his figure flashed, turning directly into a streak of flowing light as he departed.

Given his considerable reputation and status, he had lost the right to compete again since he was so thoroughly defeated by Ding Hao. Naturally, he was too ashamed to stay behind.

Ding Hao slowly sat back on his former seat and paid no attention to the rest.

The two female warriors beside him, Muying and Miaoyu, could not hide the astonishment on their faces at this moment.

In particular, the luscious red mouth of Muying, one of the female warrior leaders, opened into a wide “O”. It was difficult to describe the shock she felt inside.

She had underestimated Ding Hao before and committed a big mistake. She had thought it incredible for Ding Hao to defeat Sun Xing, yet now it seemed that that was just the tip of Ding Hao’s strength. The real prowess of this seemingly gentle and humble teal-robed youth was truly unfathomable.

“Luckily, he has already forgiven me. Otherwise, I would suffer a fate worse than death today.”

The two of them served Ding Hao even more carefully.

The eyes of the rest also moved away from Ding Hao.

After this fight, Ding Hao’s mighty prowess had won the approval of the others. No one was willing to provoke such a ruthless person.

By now, there were only nine men left in the hall. Four must be eliminated, with only the last five qualified to enter the back hall.

“Monk, you are staying behind too?” An expert in the Four-apertured Martial Emperor Realm asked in a hostile voice, glaring at Golden Cicada who was eating as ravenously as Ding Desheng, the Single Slaying Palm, did just now.

“Amitabha!” Golden Cicada chanted Buddha’s name and said, “All living beings are one. Women are no more than mere skeletons. If you can look at women, of course I can look at them too.”

As he said this, the Sanskrit characters all over his body glittered in a faintly discernible manner, and an indistinct golden manifestation of the Buddha appeared behind him. Instantly, everyone felt virtuous thoughts flooding their minds, and they could not help but reflect on their many past mistakes. They could not help feeling grieved, unable to control their emotions. To them now, the golden manifestation of Buddha was like a divinity, and they almost knelt down to worship him.

“Humph!” The swordsman in white snorted and woke up from the brink of the illusion.

The next moment, the Buddha had disappeared, and the golden Sanskrit characters also dissipated.

All the people present were shocked, looking at Golden Cicada with awe-filled eyes.

This handsome monk was like a demon, able to control their emotions with just a few words. This kind of magical power was too terrible.

No one dared to provoke this demonic monk anymore.

What happened next had nothing to do with Ding Hao.

After another few rounds of fighting, another four men departed.

In the end, the white-robed swordsman, the scrawny young man in black wielding the long spear, Ding Hao, Golden Cicada, and another young man in finery, waving a folding fan, were the final five left. The last young man mentioned was not tall, and even more handsome than Ding Hao and Golden Cicada, almost deserving of the adjective “pretty”. These were the final five who had the opportunity to enter the back hall.

“Young valiants, all of you are the elite amongst men. I believe the Moonlight Fairy will be most interested to meet you all. Please come with me.”

The gorgeous beauty Fangfei stepped down the golden stage, made a polite gesture to ask them to follow, and was about to lead them to the interior corridor behind Heaven Pavilion with a few followers…

… But Ding Hao remained seated by his short gold table and did not move.

“Hmmm? Is Young Master Ding still not full? Don’t worry, the food served at the banquet in the back hall is much more sumptuous than what you’re having here.” Noticing that Ding Hao was not moving, Fangfei at first startled, then cracked a little joke.

Ding Hao shook his head. “I’m here merely to accompany my friend. I don’t wish to enter the back hall.”

The others stared at Ding Hao as if he were a weird monster.

“Are you kidding? Since you’ve already reached this stage, why are you telling us you aren’t interested in going to the back hall? If that was the case, why did you maintain such a high profile just now? Isn’t it a little unfair to that last genius who lost to you in the fight? If you had told us this earlier, he would have gotten a chance that couldn’t be bought with a thousand taels of gold.”

Fangfei at first startled, then looked at Ding Hao with an amused yet thoughtful expression.

“Could this teal-robed young man be playing hard to get, pretending to let us go just so as to capture our attention?”