Chapter 3: Conflict (Part 1)

After being stunned for a while, the members of the West Symbol Gate finally came to their senses and began cursing violently. Guo Shier smiled and said, “They’re going crazy, hehe—really can’t stay calm.” He shouted again, “Grandpa Qinan, don’t hold back for me—hit hard!”
Guo Shier’s voice was shrill and high-pitched, and even the shouts of the West Symbol Gate members couldn’t drown it out.
Huo Bao and the others also cheered loudly, trying to boost Guo Shier’s morale at all costs. It wasn’t until Qi Nan Shan bent down, ready to confront his opponent, that the surrounding noise gradually subsided.
Qi Nan Shan calmed himself down. One must not get too emotional during battle, as it would affect performance. Having experienced countless battles, this lesson was deeply ingrained in his mind.
Xiong Ba roared, and a earth-yellow glow enveloped his body. In an instant, a phantom image of a Symbol Bear appeared on him. Soon after, his body began to grow taller, with bones creaking loudly, making him much larger and stronger than before. This was the West Symbol Gate’s ultimate technique: summoning a beast soul. As a Great Beast Martial Artist, Xiong Ba’s beast soul had taken shape, unlike those of ordinary Beast Martial Artists who could only create a beast armor.
Qi Nan Shan said, “Let Xiong Bei join in too!”
Xiong Bei growled, “Fine! If you want to die, we’ll make it happen!” He also roared, and a spirit of a Symbol Bear appeared. At this moment, the two of them were like two Symbol Bears. Though not as powerful as real Symbol Bears, they could still harness some of their strength.
Guo Shier had seen Symbol Bears in the secret realm, but the spirit forms of Xiong Ba and Xiong Bei were different from those he had seen there. He exclaimed, “Damn, two bears… Master, what kind of Symbol Bears are these?”
Luo Jie narrowed his eyes and said, “These aren’t the Symbol Bears from the secret realm. They might be local Symbol Bears from the great plains. I don’t know how powerful they are.”
Eagle Demon said, “One is a Black Symbol Bear, and the other is a Brown Symbol Bear. The Brown Symbol Bear has great strength and excellent defense, while the Black Symbol Bear is very fast… See the talismans on their hands? Those were made from the claws of Symbol Bears—probably quite powerful.”
Xiong Bei let out a fierce roar and charged first. With the spirit of a Brown Symbol Bear within him, he always took the lead in battles. As long as he could entangle Qi Nan Shan, Xiong Ba would have an opportunity to attack.
His feet struck the ground, causing a loud tremor. Even great Beast Martial Artists found it difficult to deal with real Symbol Bears. Indeed, Xiong Bei possessed the aura of a Symbol Bear.

Qi Nanshan did not draw his weapon; with empty hands, he waited quietly. As the bear approached, he bent his body slightly and stretched out his arms a bit. It was clear he was very calm. When it was about five or six meters away from Qi Nanshan, the bear suddenly let out a loud roar and charged at him. In that instant, Qi Nanshan seemed to smell a foul odor coming from the bear’s mouth. A bear hug! It was a bear hug—once caught, Qi Nanshan would be in danger. Bang! Bang! Two punches shattered the bear’s closed claws as Qi Nanshan sidestepped and struck. With a loud crash, the bear was as if hit by a steel ingot; his chest burned with pain, and he flew backward uncontrollably, still unable to withstand the force, before crashing to the ground. The bear lunged fiercely again. Qi Nanshan pushed the bear away, feeling extremely pleased, and let out a long howl before kicking at the bear’s head. If that kick landed, the bear might be completely finished. Just then, the bear charged again, and Qi Nanshan darted forward, swinging his claw at Qi Nanshan’s calf. Yellow light flashed on the claw—clearly, the bear was using all his strength. Qi Nanshan raised his eyebrows slightly, quickly retracted his kicking foot, and then delivered a punch to the back of the claw. The bear snarled, flipped his wrist, and five yellow lights shot upward—he was confident he could shatter Qi Nanshan’s fist. The bear’s eyes turned red as it surged to its feet and used a bear hug again. It believed that as long as it held Qi Nanshan, the fight would be over. Qi Nanshan wanted to see just how hard his fist was. Without changing his tactics, he snorted and suddenly sped up his punches, slamming them into the bear’s claw. Several talismans flashed across the skin of his fist, appearing instantly at the moment of contact before vanishing without a trace. Bang! Crack! The bear let out a deafening scream—not only was its claw destroyed, but all its fingers were also broken; that single punch dealt it a heavy blow. Qi Nanshan shattered the bear’s hand with one punch and then quickly stepped back. The bear’s vision blurred as it closed its arms tightly, only to realize it was hugging nothing. Before it could release its arms, Qi Nanshan suddenly appeared in front of it, swinging his arm like an iron rod at its head. The bear let out a strange cry and raised its thick arms to block.

Qi Nanshan’s arm swung like a steel whip. The bear-panda realized something was wrong the moment it made contact—he had never seen any great talisman martial artist with such immense strength and such rigid arms. With a crack, its arm broke. Even without one arm, it couldn’t block, so Qi Nanshan’s arm swung fiercely toward its head. The bear-panda thrust its chest forward, lifting its body invisibly, causing Qi Nanshan’s arm to strike its shoulder instead.

With a loud explosion, the bear-panda was flung aside, its shoulder bones completely shattered. It collapsed unconscious without uttering a sound. Seeing this, Xiong Ba panicked and charged at him with a roar. Qi Nanshan shook his head slightly and kicked him in the chest. Xiong Ba was knocked over and couldn’t catch his breath; he too lay motionless on the ground.

The fight lasted less than a minute, and both brothers of Xiong Ba could no longer hold on. Qi Nanshan’s attacks were simply too fierce—he was by far a superior opponent.

Qi Zirong shouted, “Stop! We surrender!” Of course, with only these two master-level followers, if they were disabled by Qi Nanshan, he would really cry.

Qi Nanshan felt he hadn’t fully demonstrated his strength and was slightly annoyed. He yelled, “Qi Nanshan from the Northern Talisman Sect challenges the experts of the Western Talisman Sect—who is willing to step forward?” Not satisfied yet, he dared to challenge everyone in the Western Talisman Sect, showing incredible boldness.

The bear-panda slowly regained consciousness. The two brothers were horrified and exchanged a glance before retreating together. This battle had stripped them of all confidence.

Guo Shier called out loudly, “Grandpa Nanshan, you’re the coolest!”

Luo Jie laughed, “You little sycophant.”

Qi Nanshan waved toward Guo Shier and asked again, “Is anyone willing to step forward?”

The experts of the Western Talisman Sect turned pale—unexpectedly, they were challenged in their own territory by a master from the Northern Talisman Sect, yet no one dared to fight back. It was utterly humiliating.

A burly man stepped into the training ground one by one. He had grayish beard, many wrinkles on his face, but sharp eyes. Holding a pure-steel talisman staff, he slowly approached Qi Nanshan.

The people of the Western Talisman Sect immediately became excited. Someone said, “It’s Liu Changfeng! Elder Liu has stepped in!”

Guo Shier asked softly, “Master, who is Liu Changfeng?”

Luo Jie replied, “He’s an expert from the Western Talisman Sect, a great beast martial artist. He’s one of the top three great beast martial artists in the inner sect, with astonishing combat skills. Heh, I didn’t expect Da Shan to provoke him into fighting.”

Liu Changfeng said, “Qi Nanshan, you’re indeed formidable, but in the West Talisman Gate, there’s no place for you to act recklessly!”
Qi Nanshan also knew well about Liu Changfeng. Without this advancement, their strengths would have been similar—both were advanced masters. But after going through the trials at the altar, Qi Nanshan had advanced, making Liu Changfeng the perfect opponent to test the effects of this advancement.
Qi Nanshan said, “Very well, Liu Changfeng, let’s go!” He didn’t want to waste words—action spoke louder. Yet he wasn’t careless either and took out a pure-steel talisman staff just like the other’s.
Liu Changfeng roared, his body glowing red as a phantom image of a fierce tiger appeared.
Luo Jie said, “Giant-Tooth Blood Talisman Tiger! Amazing—this is quite rare. You can no longer find such talisman beasts on the great plains. Maybe he acquired it when he was younger. The essence of this talisman beast is extremely rare, and what’s even rarer is that he seems not to rely on it.”
Guo Shier asked in confusion, “Why?”
Luo Jie replied, “Because he uses weapons instead of the skills of talisman beasts to attack.”
Guo Shier laughed, “Oh, I see. Use weapons first, and if that doesn’t work, use the skills of the talisman beast. Heh, Liu Changfeng isn’t bad at thinking.”
Luo Jie knew this disciple was extraordinary, so he wasn’t surprised. He smiled and said, “Observe more of these battles, and you’ll learn a lot.”
Qi Nanshan stood as steady as Mount Tai. Holding his talisman staff, he said, “Please!” His masterly demeanor was evident.
Liu Changfeng let out a tiger roar and charged like a beast. He shouted, “Take this staff!” His staff flashed as it was thrust straight at Qi Nanshan.
But Qi Nanshan was even faster. This time, he gathered all his strength and swung his staff horizontally. The staff cut through the air, producing a series of crackling sounds, followed by a piercing whoosh that made everyone’s hair stand on end. Liu Changfeng’s heart skipped a beat. He stopped abruptly, his staff just managing to block the opponent’s counterattack.
Bang!
Everyone present stepped back involuntarily—the deafening noise shook their very souls.
Liu Changfeng’s palms were split open, and he could no longer hold his staff. The pure-steel staff bent into a curve and flew into the sky with a whistling sound. Stunned, he realized he hadn’t even been able to parry a single strike. He quickly dodged to the side to avoid the second strike, only to see the third one coming down.

Liu Changfeng reached down to his waist and swept his hand, causing a massive talisman shield to appear. He didn’t dare block directly with the shield; instead, he used his body to push against it, combining the strength of his entire body with the power of the talisman beast’s spirit to drive hard at the shield. Qi Nanshan sneered and struck the shield with his staff.

Liu Changfeng trembled violently. Gritting his teeth, he roared and continued to push forward. Amidst loud laughter, Qi Nanshan struck the shield three times in a row, while Liu Changfeng spat out blood three times. He could no longer retreat and had no choice but to move forward. Then, with a loud shout from Qi Nanshan, his staff smashed down fiercely.

Boom!

The talisman shield shattered instantly. Liu Changfeng spat out a cloud of blood and took advantage of the shield’s destruction to launch himself at Qi Nanshan.

Qi Nanshan carelessly released his staff, waved his hands, and stepped forward to confront him unarmed.