How could the others possibly know that Zhang Xiaohua was so afraid of drinking alcohol? They only heard Wu Zhouxu say: “Naturally, it will be a martial contest!”

Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his nose and said: “Then please let Eldest Brother explain it.”

Wu Zhouxu pointed at Zou Shuming and said: “Junior Brother Zou is most skilled in Qinggong, and Junior Brother Ren exhausted himself excessively yesterday, so it is also unsuitable for a true blade-and-sword fight. Therefore, Boss Chen and I discussed it and thought it would be better to use Qinggong as the content of the contest. Junior Brother Ren, what do you think?”

Zou Shuming’s Qinggong was something Zhang Xiaohua had clearly witnessed yesterday, so he was extremely confident in his heart. Smiling, he said: “Many thanks to Eldest Brother for considering things for this little brother. This Qinggong competition is practically tailor-made for me. Then let it be as Eldest Brother says, but how shall we compete?”

Chen Fengxiao pointed toward the Tianmu Peak summit that pierced into the clouds in the distance and said: “Starting from this small courtyard, you and Junior Brother Zou will set out together and head toward the summit of Tianmu Peak. At the peak there is a gigantic stone screen. Elder Lei, along with representatives from the Herb Division and Pill Division, are already waiting there. Whichever of you reaches the stone screen at the summit first will be the victor!”

Zhang Xiaohua said with a smile: “It seems the two Bosses have already arranged everything. This little brother has nothing to say, so let us begin.”

Chen Fengxiao’s face reddened slightly, but Zhang Xiaohua had provoked the disciples of the entire Tianmu Peak this time, so they could only wrong him a little. Although Zou Shuming’s martial skill was inferior to Chen Fengxiao’s, in terms of inner energy, he had trained since childhood and surpassed Chen Fengxiao by quite a bit. In Chen Fengxiao’s heart, Zhang Xiaohua might not necessarily be able to defeat Zou Shuming. Besides, using twenty percent of the wager to calm public anger was also extremely worthwhile.

After hearing this, Zou Shuming smiled and said: “Junior Brother Ren was exhausted yesterday, and today I have already taken quite an advantage. Right now, I ask Junior Brother to go first.”

Zhang Xiaohua hurriedly waved his hands and said: “No, Senior Brother Zou, you carry upon your shoulders the heavy responsibility of countless disciples from the Herb Division and Pill Division of Tianmu Peak. If you were to show such courtesy, it would disappoint their trust. Let us start together.”

Zou Shuming’s heart trembled, and cupping his fists he said: “Junior Brother speaks correctly. Then let Boss Chen give the order, and we shall begin together!”

Chen Fengxiao glanced at Wu Zhouxu and said smilingly: “Then when I count to three, begin. The winds atop the mountain are strong, so let us not keep Elder Lei waiting too long.”

Then he said: “One… two… three!”

In an instant, Zou Shuming exerted force beneath his feet, and his figure shot out of the small courtyard like an arrow released from the bowstring. Behind him, a green shadow also closely followed, not slower in the slightest. Who else could it be but Zhang Xiaohua?

“Ah!!!” When Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu saw Zhang Xiaohua and Zou Shuming exert force at the same time, and that the speed with which he rushed out the door was not inferior in the slightest, they were both greatly shocked. Then they quickly used Qinggong to leap onto the surrounding wall and watched from afar as the two shadows, one before and one behind, sped toward the mountaintop. They exchanged another glance and both said: “It truly was tailor-made. Ren Xiaoyao’s martial skill is actually this high, not weaker than Zou Shuming’s at all. It seems this competition is not as we had previously imagined!”

Not to mention the two atop the wall lamenting their miscalculation, let us speak of Zou Shuming and Zhang Xiaohua. Both displayed Qinggong as they flew toward the summit of Tianmu Peak. Although in the eyes of the crowd, and even in Zou Shuming’s own mind, the two were evenly matched in Qinggong, tightly following one another head to tail, how could the Piaomiao Step Zhang Xiaohua displayed possibly be compared to what these Tuodan Hall disciples—who were not even considered outer sect disciples of the Incense-Spreading Sect—could achieve?

Actually, speaking of this, Zhang Xiaohua also deserved some criticism. These past two days, he had constantly been playing the trick of pretending to be weak to overpower others, truly bullying the disciples of Tuodan Hall. With his true level, it was far beyond what Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu could imagine. However, firstly, he wanted to quietly infiltrate Tuodan Hall and search for news of his second brother, so he could not expose his true strength. Secondly, he had been targeted by Wu Zhouxu and had no choice but to participate in the gambling matches. Thirdly, he did not want to lose his gold leaves to others and even wanted to earn some pills and medicinal herbs from them instead. Therefore, he had no choice but to repeatedly “toy” with these Tuodan Hall disciples.

As for Zou Shuming, he did not even know how many times he had run from the mountainside of Tianmu Peak to the summit. Thus, along the way, he adjusted his internal breathing to its optimal state. Yet no matter how he circulated his inner energy or exerted force beneath his feet, he seemed unable to shake off Zhang Xiaohua’s pursuit. And Zhang Xiaohua seemed to know this was the final match, so he no longer cared about conserving his inner energy and followed Zou Shuming with his full strength.

When they had passed more than half the journey, the two followed the rugged mountain path to an extremely steep section. Zou Shuming’s eyes shifted, and his figure flashed away from the mountain trail, directly rushing beneath a cliff face. Turning back to look at Zhang Xiaohua, who had also followed over, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes. Then, using both hands and feet, he began climbing up the precipitous cliff.

“This…” Following him to the cliff, Zhang Xiaohua paused slightly and looked at the nearly vertical mountain wall, unable to help hesitating a little. It was not that he feared being unable to climb it; rather, he feared Zou Shuming might encounter some accident. During this stretch of the Qinggong competition, he had already roughly gauged Zou Shuming’s Qinggong level and the depth of his inner energy. This steep cliff truly was somewhat difficult for Zou Shuming. But seeing that Zou Shuming had already begun climbing upward, Zhang Xiaohua no longer delayed. With a leap of his body, he pressed himself against the mountain wall, hands and feet also sticking to it as though gripping it. Yet as the inner energy in his hands rose and the Levitation Technique was displayed, he immediately rose another stretch upward. Before long, he once again caught up to Zou Shuming.

What Zhang Xiaohua thought was indeed correct. This section of cliff was a place Zou Shuming used to practice Qinggong. He had always only been able to climb to a height of fifty zhang; any higher and his inner energy would fail to support him. And in his imagination, if he himself could not climb beyond fifty zhang, then Zhang Xiaohua probably would not even make it past thirty zhang. Once Zhang Xiaohua slipped down the cliff face, hehe, would that not be the moment of his victory?

Unfortunately for him, when he had climbed ten zhang and looked downward, Zhang Xiaohua was beneath him, leisurely climbing upward. When he reached twenty zhang, Zhang Xiaohua was still the same. All the way until he reached his own limit of fifty zhang, Zhang Xiaohua still remained below him, continuing to climb slowly upward, seeming… mm, seeming somewhat unable to keep up.

Thinking of this, Zou Shuming raised his head to look at the still distant summit, and hesitation arose in his heart. Reaching fifty zhang was already his limit. If he slowly slid back down now, he probably would not suffer any injury. But if he continued upward, and his inner energy failed him, if any accident occurred, his life would be difficult to preserve. Yet… yet he had already chosen this path, and he also carried upon himself the trust of all the disciples. If he failed, then wouldn’t it… perhaps this was an opportunity for his Qinggong to break through?

Suddenly, a bright light flashed through Zou Shuming’s eyes. If even he himself was struggling, then the Zhang Xiaohua below him must be struggling even more. Perhaps in another half a quarter-hour, he would admit defeat!

At this point, Zou Shuming was like someone too ashamed to sheathe the blade after drawing it, and had no choice but to brace himself and continue upward. Thus he took a deep breath and continuously sent his inner energy through his meridians, placing all his hopes on Zhang Xiaohua surrendering earlier. However, after climbing nearly another twenty zhang upward, Zou Shuming’s internal energy could no longer sustain him. When he secretly glanced downward, Zhang Xiaohua’s tall and thin figure still had not fallen behind in the slightest. Zou Shuming could not help but be greatly astonished. And at that moment, his mind fluctuated slightly. His balance became unstable, and his inner energy immediately stagnated within his meridians. His body instantly sank, and he began falling downward.

Zou Shuming was horrified and involuntarily cried out: “Aiyo!”

Well, the moment he lost heart, he became even less capable of stabilizing himself. In the blink of an eye, he was about to crash directly onto Zhang Xiaohua.

Ever since climbing onto the cliff, Zhang Xiaohua had been paying close attention to Zou Shuming’s movements, both fearing he might play some dirty trick and fearing he might suffer some mishap. Zhang Xiaohua staying directly beneath Zou Shuming had precisely been for this reason. Thus, when he saw Zou Shuming fall, he was not surprised. His body shifted slightly to the side, giving way to the space of Zou Shuming’s descent. With a “shua,” Zou Shuming’s body was about to plummet past Zhang Xiaohua’s side.

At this moment, Zou Shuming’s eyes were filled entirely with terror. This was a cliff nearly one hundred zhang high. In less than a moment, he would smash onto the ground below. His inner energy was already insufficient, and while suspended in midair he had nowhere to borrow force from. It was clearly a hopeless dead end.

Just at that moment, Zhang Xiaohua extended his left hand and, swift as lightning, grabbed one of Zou Shuming’s arms. Meanwhile, in his panic, Zou Shuming was just about to exert force with that arm in an attempt to steady himself, while his other hand was also reaching toward Zhang Xiaohua, when he heard Zhang Xiaohua give a sharp shout beside his ear: “Don’t move! If you don’t want to die, then don’t use force, and don’t pull on me either. If I feel you trying to move, I’ll immediately let go!”

Zou Shuming froze for a moment, then instantly stopped moving. He did not even dare twitch a single finger. Zhang Xiaohua had once heard Li Jinfeng explain that when rescuing a drowning person, the first thing one must do is knock them unconscious. Otherwise, if they grabbed onto your hands and feet, even you would be dragged down and drowned. Just now, he had felt that Zou Shuming wanted to grab onto him as well. Although he himself was not afraid, it would expose his true strength, and that was something Zhang Xiaohua did not wish for.

With his left hand gripping Zou Shuming, Zhang Xiaohua still climbed upward in the same leisurely manner, slowly ascending. After some time, he finally reached the top of the cliff. Once he leaped up, he set Zou Shuming down. This was a protruding platform situated amid the clouds and mist, while ahead of them there still towered another extremely high stretch of mountain peak.

The moment Zou Shuming’s feet touched solid ground, the heart hanging in his chest finally settled. With a face full of shame, he bowed toward Zhang Xiaohua and said: “Junior Brother Ren, many thanks for saving my life. There is no need to continue this match. I have already lost.”

“Mm, alright.” Zhang Xiaohua neither declined nor modestly suggested Zou Shuming compete with him again. Instead, he smiled and said: “It is best that Senior Brother Zou admits defeat. A life-threatening cliff like that should never have been agreed to by Senior Brother in the first place.”

Hearing this, Zou Shuming became even more ashamed and said: “Junior Brother Ren, please do not blame me. That section was something I added on the spur of the moment after seeing I could not shake you off. In all of Tianmu Peak, probably no one can climb up from beneath that cliff.”

Then, pointing toward a distant mountain path, he said: “That over there is the real path up the mountain.”

Zhang Xiaohua glanced at it and said: “Senior Brother Zou is truly too… mischievous~”

Then, with a flash of his figure, he sped toward the mountain path, leaving behind a voice: “Senior Brother Zou, you should still follow behind me to the summit first. Elder Lei and the others are all waiting above.”

The words “follow behind” were stressed heavily, and presumably Zou Shuming understood clearly.