All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

"Brother, aren't you going a bit too far? I think this Brother Yang has already lost. There's no need to kill him." The speaker was a middle-aged man dressed in black, with his chest half exposed.

"Cough cough, thank you for saving my life, senior." Yang Pan covered his chest and thanked the middle-aged man. Apart from being a bit disheveled, he didn't seem to have any injuries, but the faint pain in his internal organs made it difficult for him to speak.

The middle-aged man handed the long knife to Yang Pan, then stepped onto the stage.

Yang Pan took the long sword, and his gaze gradually shifted from the middle-aged man to the Western Region man as he walked onto the stage.

His eyes were calm, and aside from the initial anger at his opponent's unreasonable attack, he felt little emotion at this moment. After all, he had also been standing on the dueling platform, and being knocked down was simply a matter of being less skilled; he had no one to blame but himself.

But just because he is not as good as the other person today does not mean that he will never be as good as the other person in his life.

With the Dao Fruit of Longevity, his cultivation will inevitably reach the pinnacle of this world sooner or later; it's just a matter of time. By then, the grass on the other person's grave may be three feet high.

However, it is undeniable that this Western Region person is really strong, especially the palm strike that came from him, which made Yang Pan suspect that the other party had practiced a kind of Iron Palm technique. He wondered if the middle-aged man who saved him could be compared to the other party.

"My name is Yu Dongshan. May I ask your name, sir?" The middle-aged man, Yu Dongshan, was disgusted by the Western Region people's behavior, but he still introduced himself to them.

However, the Western Region man remained silent in the face of Yu Dongshan's question, only staring coldly at him. After Yu Dongshan finished speaking, he made his move directly.

Yang Pan only saw a black shadow flash across the dueling platform, and it reappeared in front of Yu Dongshan. This speed even exceeded Yang Pan's eyesight.

Whoosh!

With a palm strike, the Western Region man's hand, gleaming with the color of black iron, slapped towards Yu Dongshan amidst the ripples of air.

Compared to the palm that struck Yang Pan, the hand of this Western Region man was now not only more intensely black, but also emitted black, smoky-like waves of energy between his fingers, corroding the surrounding air.

"A poisonous palm strike?!"

Yu Dongshan's pupils contracted, and a hint of doubt flashed across his already serious eyes.

However, his hands moved swiftly, his powerful inner force enveloping his palms and isolating them from the black energy wave. His hands moved like butterflies flitting among flowers, avoiding direct confrontation with the Western Region man and instead reaching out to grab his arm.

With their sleeves fluttering, the two men each struck with their palms, yet the resulting impact was immense.

Even standing below the stage, Yang Pan could clearly see the two men's robes billowing as if blown by a gale, not to mention the whistling sound of the surrounding air currents, which were stirred up and seemed to emit muffled thunder. The air seemed to become much thicker during their fight.

"Just what are the strengths of these two? How can they make such a big fuss?" Yang Pan couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, as this was the first time he had ever witnessed such a commotion in a fight.

"Brother Yang, you're lucky. That Hero Yu is even stronger than Hero Ke in the city. Countless Mongols have died under his iron palms."

Those martial artists who were nearby heard Yang Pan's voice and offered their explanation.

Is he even a level stronger than Ke Zhen'e? Although Ke Zhen'e's strength wasn't considered particularly high, Yang Pan estimated that he wasn't weak among second-rate martial artists. This Master Yu is even stronger than Ke Zhen'e, could he be a first-rate master?

Just as Yang Pan was speculating, the two on the dueling platform had already exchanged more than ten blows.

The Western Region people's palm techniques were insidious and they also possessed remarkable lightness skills. Every time they made a move, their palm power, which was wrapped in poisonous waves, made Yu Dongshan very wary.

Although Yu Dongshan possessed formidable palm strike power, he did not want to rashly clash with the opponent's poisonous palm, lest he be poisoned if he was not careful.

Although he didn't want to take the blows head-on, he couldn't completely avoid them in their increasingly intense and fierce exchanges. When his opponent attacked again, Yu Dongshan could no longer dodge and could only use his internal energy to collide with the opponent's palm strike.

Bang!

The air churned and rumbled like thunder. The robes and hair of the two men flew backward and billowed at the moment of their clash, and the aftershocks blew the dust on the ground into ripples like water.

The contact was instantaneous. The man from the Western Regions possessed superb agility, his body moving lightly like a dragonfly skimming the water, using the force of his palm to glide several feet away before his toes touched the ground and he landed gracefully on the edge of the arena.

Yu Dongshan stepped back, sending ripples of air and flying stones flying from his feet.

"Hahaha, you surnamed Yu, not many people dare to take my poisonous palm head-on. Look at your hands." After regaining his footing, the Western Region man put his trembling hands behind his back and looked at Yu Dongshan, laughing loudly.

Poisonous palm?

Upon hearing this, the martial arts practitioners below the stage began to murmur amongst themselves. Some exclaimed that the other party was despicable, while others worried about whether Yu Dongshan was unharmed.

Yu Dongshan looked down at his right palm, which had just collided with his opponent's, and saw a faint black mark on the center. He could feel a strong, corrosive internal force trying to penetrate his body along the meridians of his palm.

However, due to his profound internal strength, he was able to barely manage to seal the poison within his palm.

Regardless of what the people around him were saying, Yang Pan's expression changed drastically when he heard the Western Region man mention the Poison Palm.

He had just taken a blow from that Westerner on stage; had he also been poisoned?

With this in mind, Yang Pan raised his arm, whose sleeves were already tattered, to examine it. He saw that the tan skin on both arms was still intact, but the three red marks on his left arm from the eagle claw hand were still very noticeable.

"If I wasn't poisoned, could it be that the other party held back and the palm that struck me earlier wasn't a poisonous one?" Yang Pan's mind raced with these thoughts. Thinking of the other party's palm, which had the exact same black iron color as when it clashed with Master Yu, he felt it was impossible.

This Westerner had even tried to kill me just now, so there was absolutely no way he would show any mercy, but the fact was that I wasn't poisoned at the moment.

Could it be...?

In an instant, Yang Pan thought of the Longevity Fruit.

When Yang Pan first fused with the Longevity Dao Fruit, the memories he received, which were like an inheritance, only included the two characteristics of longevity and immortality. Everything else was the same as that of an ordinary person. As for the subsequent repair of hidden injuries and acceleration of cultivation, these were all results he discovered through trial and error.

After years of trial and error, Yang Pan indeed discovered that apart from these points, he was no different from ordinary people. However, as a transmigrator who had changed worlds, he should have experienced some culture shock, but so far, Yang Pan had not even fallen ill.

At first, Yang Pan also thought that perhaps in addition to immortality, the Longevity Dao Fruit could also make him immune to all kinds of damage that could kill him instantly, including poisoning.

But testing the poison on himself? Yang Pan never had the courage to do that. After all, who would be so crazy as to experiment on themselves when it came to their own life?

But unexpectedly, the point that he had never had a chance to prove was now indirectly confirmed for him by that Western Regions person.

"That's great. It seems I'll have to thank him properly in the future." Yang Pan's gaze was icy as he stared at the Western Region man who still stood on the stage with his hands behind his back.

......

On the high platform, Huang Rong had already reached Guo Jing's side. Looking down at the audience, she asked, "Brother Jing, can you discern the origin of that Western Region person's martial arts technique?"

Guo Jing's face was tense, and his eyes were flashing with fire. If it weren't for the bad timing, he would have already gone down to the stage and interrogated the Western Region man for the antidote.

Yu Dongshan was the main force in the fight against the Mongols during this period, and also the strongest among the martial arts practitioners who came to help. For both emotional and rational reasons, Guo Jing could not simply stand by and watch him be poisoned.

Moreover, that Western Region man, relying on his profound cultivation, showed no mercy in his attacks, readily resorting to killing, which somewhat contradicted the original intention of his martial arts tournament.

"I can only tell that their martial arts style isn't from the Central Plains, but I don't know which school it belongs to. Rong'er, can you tell?"

Guo Jing spoke with concern. His years of wandering the martial world had given him a decent understanding of the various sects and factions in the Central Plains, but his knowledge of sects outside the Central Plains was truly lacking.

Huang Rong's gaze lingered on the Western Region people for a moment, her eyes flashing with a sharp light. After a moment, a calm smile appeared on her lips as she said:

"Hmm, I roughly understand his background. Does Brother Jing know anything about the Western Regions' Tantric Buddhism?"

"Esoteric Buddhism? It seems that Master Lingzhi came from Esoteric Buddhism. Could this person be a fellow disciple of Master Lingzhi?"

"I don't know if we're from the same sect, but this person is definitely from the Western Regions Tantric sect."

However, there are many branches of Tantric Buddhism, one of which is the Black Cult. The Black Cult is considered an evil sect, and its members practice a sinister technique called the Black Hand Seal. This technique is extremely insidious; when activated, the palms turn black and emit a potent poison, exactly like that person's palm technique.

Huang Rong spoke calmly, recounting everything she knew, before turning her gaze to Guo Jing and saying:

"The Black Sect is located in Tibetan territory, but now Tibet is within Mongolian territory, and its members are now serving Mongolia. This person is probably sent by Mongolia to disrupt this martial arts tournament. Jing-ge, I think you should capture him now and eliminate a major enemy of Mongolia."

Upon hearing this, Guo Jing hesitated for a moment, but still nodded in agreement.

He is kind and generous, but he only treats his own people well.

He never showed mercy to truly wicked people, especially since he had been stationed in Xiangyang and had killed countless Mongols in numerous battles. If capturing this man could cause the Mongols to lose a master, Guo Jing would naturally not hesitate.

At this moment, the man from the Western Regions was still laughing arrogantly on the stage. Before coming to Xiangyang, he had already inquired about the many experts in the city. Guo Jing was a given, and Yu Dongshan was considered a formidable foe.

He originally wanted to use this martial arts competition to cripple more Central Plains martial artists on stage, reduce the number of experts in the city, and also dampen the opponent's spirit. He did not expect to face Yu Dongshan right from the start.

Now that the opponent has been poisoned by his own palm strike, even if the opponent has profound internal strength and can suppress it for a while, he will eventually succumb to the poison attacking his heart without the antidote.

However, just as he was feeling happy, suddenly an overwhelming aura pressed down on him like a collapsing mountain.