The moment Huang Quan stepped onto the ring, he attacked. Since he wasn't a cultivator focusing on speed, he decided to gain the initiative by striking first. He unleashed his prowess of a first-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator, releasing his domineering presence of an Emperor and surrounded Xiang Shaoyun with a gravity field formed of his earth energy.

He blasted Xiang Shaoyun with both his fists like a pair of cannons. He was extremely strong, as if he was an Emperor of Emperors capable of easily punching above his weight.

Mountain Bombardment!

His two fists formed an attack capable of instantly destroying two or three mountains. He had a valiant and dreadful strength. Xiang Shaoyun sensed a change in his surroundings, which caused his body to stop moving. The incoming fist pushed the air around him to envelop him, exerting heavy pressure on him.

"Power of earth? Sure, let me fight you with the same power," said Xiang Shaoyun as he activated his earth star, releasing boundless earth energy before facing the incoming attack head on.

Four fists collided, creating an oppressive sound. Both combatants remained rooted on the ground and exchanged punches repeatedly. The fists collided again and again. In the blink of an eye, they exchanged an uncountable number of punches. The crowd watched on in excitement, cheering every now and then.

For them, the reason for the battle did not matter. So long as there was an exciting battle to watch, it was something worthy of celebration. After a round of punches, Xiang Shaoyun felt his arms go numb. One ought to know that his flesh was comparable to a devil's, or even a demon's. Even when facing someone with a higher cultivation level, he rarely felt anything if it was a clash of pure physical strength.

And yet he was actually feeling pain when clashing with Huang Quan head on. It was apparent how strong Huang Quan was. In truth, Huang Quan wasn't feeling that well either, and only he himself knew that. He was already forced to use his gravity field. Even then, Xiang Shaoyun seemed completely unaffected, capable of matching him in terms of speed, making it impossible for him to gain the upper hand in the clash.

He had even used all his strength and activated the petrification ability he had to further harden his body. Even a second-stage Dragon Ascension Realm would find it hard to withstand his attacks in his current form. However, Xiang Shaoyun was able to withstand his punches and was even able to fight him to a draw. His confidence wavered.

"I refuse to believe I can't defeat you!" Huang Quan roared and activated the earth power in all seven of his stars, pushing his combat to a level comparable to a third-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator.

This was the true strength of a genius capable of joining the Dragon Phoenix Academy. Both his arms morphed into stone, and his physical strength reached a terrifying level. When he punched, his punches looked more like mountains than fists.

Furthermore, the gravity on the ring further increased, reaching a force several hundred times stronger than regular gravity. The crowd went into an uproar seeing the change. They were all genius disciples capable of punching above their weight, but it still wasn't easy to battle an opponent two stages above them.

Even Xiang Shaoyun was slightly impressed by this display of strength. If he used his full strength, he naturally wouldn't fear Huang Quan's strength. But if he relied only on his earth power, he wouldn't be a match.

Since he had already decided to face Huang Quan with the power of earth, his only choice was to brace himself and stir his earth power. He flooded his surroundings with ripples of brownish radiance as he met the incoming attack with his own punch.

Bang!

The fists connected, and one of them was sent flying away. It was none other than Xiang Shaoyun. Tang Longfei, Lady Shura, and the Han Clan sisters were filled with disbelief. They found it hard to believe that Xiang Shaoyun would be defeated so easily.

The others shared that thought as well. After all, Xiang Shaoyun had severed several geniuses' arms on his first day back. Someone like that wouldn't be defeated by Huang Quan so easily.

Instead of pressing on, Huang Quan looked at Xiang Shaoyun coldly and said, "I don't believe this is all you got. Use your full strength, or you will suffer a miserable defeat."

Huang Quan was currently in an optimal state, and he had strong faith in himself. Hovering behind him was the projection of a dragon that was 15 percent complete, representing the current level of his presence of an Emperor.

As for Xiang Shaoyun, he crashed at the edge of the ring, and blood dripped down the corners of his mouth. He looked quite sorry. He finally understood the difference between cultivating one power and multiple powers.

In the past, he had been able to punch above his weight with the powers of lightning, gold, and flame. However, that was because his lightning power had worked in tandem with his lightning bone, while his gold and flame powers were enhanced by his possession of unique powers of the respective elements.

As for his other stars, they had yet to be fully filled with energies of different elements. Thus, he could also draw on the power of those stars to support his first three powers, allowing him to increase his combat prowess.

Now, all nine of his stars were fully filled with the energies of nine different elements. Each power could only rely on the support of a single star. And no matter how powerful each of his stars were, it was still lacking compared to someone utilizing multiple stars.

If it wasn't for the fact that Xiang Shaoyun had constantly compressed his energies and that his stars were different from an ordinary person's, he would have long been crushed by Huang Quan's seven stars, relying on a single star.

That was the disadvantage of cultivating nine different powers with nine stars. Xiang Shaoyun finally understood that. If he insisted on using only a single power against Huang Quan, he wouldn't stand much chance.

"I refuse to believe a single power is not enough to deal with you!" Xiang Shaoyun turned stubborn, and after a roar, he erupted with his power of earth as he charged Huang Quan once more.

After turning both his arms into stone, Huang Quan had grown much stronger. He did not fear exchanging punches with Xiang Shaoyun. After exchanging several punches, Xiang Shaoyun was sent flying again. This kept repeating, and finally, even his face was bruised from being punched.

"Damn it! It is a taboo to hit the face! This young master still needs to rely on this face to make a living! You're dead for sure now!" Xiang Shaoyun roared in fury as he started using the ancient mantra with his earth energy, instantly entering a unique state of mind.

At this moment, he seemed capable of sensing the properties of the earth: its thickness, its expansiveness, its magnanimity, and its durability. His mind turned clear and tranquil. The state allowed him to sense the structure and the attributes of the gravity field around him, allowing him to sense the boundless power of earth beneath him.

Reflect gravity field!