Alex focused all his energy and concentration while staring intently at the Moon Worshiping Cult Leader standing before him.
The man's overwhelming strength was absolutely undeniable. If they truly engaged in a prolonged battle to the death he would never be able to match this opponent. However if he only needed to successfully withstand three of his moves without being defeated, Alex felt that he could still give it a reasonable try...
The Moon Worshiping Cult Leader also stared at Alex with intense focus and scrutiny. The fact that he had begun addressing Alex with the respectful title of "Mister" clearly demonstrated that Alex's impressive knowledge had earned at least his basic respect and acknowledgment.
Alex had specifically proposed the three move limit himself so the Moon Worshiping Cult Leader naturally assumed that since he made such a bold suggestion he must have something substantial to rely upon for his defense. However the Moon Worshiping Cult Leader was also tremendously confident in his own overwhelming strength and combat abilities.
There were only a mere handful of individuals in the entire world who could successfully withstand three consecutive moves from him at full power. Alex appeared so remarkably young that no matter how diligently he might have practiced his cultivation from childhood, he could not possibly be a true match for someone of his caliber right?
Having firmly made up his mind about his approach, the Moon Worshiping Cult Leader still did not dare to foolishly underestimate his opponent. He raised his right hand deliberately and a powerful surge of spiritual energy rapidly gathered and concentrated in his open palm. Then he gently thrust his palm forward toward Alex's position.
Using roughly sixty percent of his maximum strength, the pure spiritual energy transformed itself into a condensed sphere of raw power. It hurled itself directly toward Alex with tremendous momentum. This opening attack gave off an overwhelming sense of swift and unpredictable variation in its trajectory.
Facing the incoming energy attack head-on, Alex calmly raised his left hand with his open palm positioned like a miniature shield to block the strike.
His vibranium glove successfully intercepted the powerful energy sphere that had been transformed from the Moon Worshiper's spiritual power. The concentrated ball of energy landed squarely against Alex's protected palm but was completely absorbed and dispersed. It vanished harmlessly into thin air without causing any damage whatsoever.
"First move!" Alex shouted out clearly after successfully blocking the Moon Worshiper's initial attack with his vibranium glove providing perfect defense.
"Swoosh!"
The Moon Worshiper's movements were incredibly swift and practically inhuman in their speed. The very instant his first attack was blocked completely, he appeared directly behind Alex in a sudden flash of movement. He extended his index finger sharply and pointed it with lethal precision directly at the center of Alex's exposed back.
This gesture appeared completely unpretentious and simple but it possessed one critical quality. It was extraordinarily fast and executed with blinding speed!
"Block!" Alex immediately turned around and watched the Moon Worshiper's deadly finger pointing straight at his vulnerable position. A desperate command rang out urgently in his racing mind.
The magnificent Wushuang Sword instinctively leaped into Alex's waiting palm as if called by his will. He immediately held the blade horizontally across his chest to successfully block the Moon Worship Leader's lightning-fast finger strike.
As the Moon Worshiper's extended finger made contact with Alex's Wushuang Sword, he suddenly felt as though he had just struck an immovable mountain with his bare hand. Yet somehow Alex himself remained completely motionless and utterly unmoved by the tremendous force.
"His cultivation level is actually this impossibly high? How can that even be possible?" The Moon Worship Leader stared at Alex with absolute astonishment and disbelief written across his features.
First Alex's bare palm had effortlessly blocked a sixty percent energy attack and now his defensive sword work had stopped an eighty percent close combat strike. This was not merely a simple contest of martial technique or skill but rather a true and fundamental test of raw spiritual strength and power. If Alex was not genuinely as strong as himself then how could he have possibly blocked two consecutive attacks so easily?
After two successive attacks were blocked without apparent effort, the Moon Worship Leader focused his racing mind and completely abandoned his original thought of simply overpowering Alex through superior cultivation alone.
His strategic mind raced rapidly as a new dangerous thought formed within his consciousness. "With such an impossibly high level of physical cultivation at his young age, what about his soul's defenses against mental attacks?"
At this sudden realization the Moon Worshiper's eyes flashed with bright calculation and determination. Then he immediately began concentrating the full power of his spiritual soul and pressed this invisible force directly toward Alex's unprotected mind.
Physical cultivation was relatively easy to acquire through dedicated practice but true spiritual cultivation of the soul was extraordinarily hard to achieve. The Moon Worshiper understood perfectly well that cultivating and strengthening the soul was far more challenging and time-consuming than merely cultivating the physical body through martial training. While achieving such an exceptionally high level of physical cultivation at such a remarkably young age was truly astonishing and impressive, the Moon Worshiper absolutely did not believe that Alex's soul could possibly be as solid and impenetrable as stone...
Buzz!
As the Moon Worshiper's concentrated soul force pressed aggressively toward Alex's consciousness, the soul pendant that hung prominently from Alex's clothes suddenly began glowing with an intense orange-red light that pulsed with protective power.
The Moon Worshiper immediately felt as if his attacking soul had violently struck against a massive solid rock. It was exactly like throwing a fragile egg against an immovable boulder.
The devastating recoil sent a tremendous shudder through his entire mind. It felt as though he had been viciously struck directly on the head by a massive iron hammer. Even bright crimson blood began flowing steadily from both his nostrils as physical evidence of the internal damage.
The severe backlash of his own soul attack had actually injured the Moon Worshiper himself quite badly.
"Three moves have now been completed. Thank you very much for holding back..." Alex said while carefully observing the Moon Worshiper's somewhat flustered and disheveled appearance with concern.
The unexpected attack targeting his soul had truly startled Alex quite badly. If it were not for the Mind Pendant's automatic defensive power protecting his consciousness, Alex knew with absolute certainty that he would have been completely unable to withstand such a devastating psychic assault.
At this particular moment Alex felt an overwhelming surge of deep gratitude toward the Ancient One and her wisdom. She had personally crafted this pendant using the raw power of the Mind Stone itself. Not only did it allow him to meditate peacefully and continuously enhance his magical powers, but it also contained a sophisticated magical array that automatically protected the wearer from all psychic and mental attacks.
The Moon Worshiper looked at Alex with an expression full of profound doubt and confusion. As the old saying goes, a true expert can determine the outcome of an entire match from observing just the first move. Three consecutive moves had yielded absolutely no positive results for him and he had even suffered a painful injury in the process. This outcome was completely unbelievable and unacceptable to the Moon Worshiper.
He had originally come here to meet Alex and his companions simply to observe and evaluate the outstanding young talent that the Central Plains region was supposedly producing.
A simple analogy would be like a highly successful and accomplished person coming to casually assess the current abilities of the younger generation.
However the reality felt as though a mere member of the younger generation had somehow defeated him which was an experienced and successful master. This shocking reversal was extremely difficult for the Moon Worshiper to accept psychologically.
Alex was more than just a promising talent with potential. He was already a genuine threat.
In his first two attacks the Moon Worshiper had wanted to completely overpower his opponent through sheer brute force so he had openly displayed his tremendous cultivation power. After the first two moves were blocked so easily he became genuinely shocked by Alex's impossibly high cultivation level and chose to switch tactics by attacking directly with his soul.
However he absolutely did not expect that after launching his soul attack it would be like violently hitting an iron plate. The recoil had even injured himself quite severely in the process.
"Could it possibly be that both his physical cultivation and his soul strength are so tremendously powerful? How is any of this possible? Even if he had been practicing diligently since he was still in the womb he could not possibly reach this astronomical level."
Deeply shocked and mentally destabilized, the Moon Worshiper suddenly abandoned any intention of keeping his solemn promise. He deliberately took advantage of the precise moment when Alex announced that the three moves had been completed and his mental guard was naturally relaxed. Then he launched yet another attack without warning.
Moving as fast as a lightning bolt, this time the Moon Worshiper used absolutely all his available strength without any reservation. He thrust his palm directly toward Alex with lethal intent and devastating force...
"Hey! I clearly said three moves was the absolute limit and yet you are not keeping your word!" As the Moon Worshiper suddenly attacked again without honor, Li Xiaoyao and the others standing nearby were completely shocked and outraged. They obviously had not expected the Moon Worshiper to be so utterly shameless and dishonorable in his conduct.
Looking at the Moon Worshiper who rushed directly in front of him in a single instant, Alex was secretly surprised and alarmed by this treacherous betrayal.
If the Moon Worshiper truly decided to put aside his so-called dignity and honor while refusing to give up his goal, then Alex would absolutely not be his opponent in sustained combat.
Kick!
Although he was secretly shocked and caught off guard, Alex's physical reaction speed was still impressively fast. Seeing that the Moon Worshiper had now committed absolutely all his cultivation power to this attack, Alex immediately realized he could not hope to successfully block or stop such overwhelming force. With a low determined shout in his racing mind he executed a powerful kick aimed directly at the Moon Worshiper instead.
This kick was launched slightly after the palm strike began but somehow managed to connect with the Moon Worshiper's chest first due to superior reach.
With a tremendous bang and impact, the simple fact remained that legs are naturally longer than arms. Alex's well-timed kick struck the Moon Worshiper squarely in the center of his chest and directly sent him flying backward through the air. Naturally his attacking palm could not possibly reach Alex's body while he was being launched away.
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