"Why I didn"t go all out?" Duan Li pondered for a moment on how he should answer this. If he were to tell them that using a hundred percent of his physical strength would turn them into a mincemeat, would they accept it or fly into a rage?Hais! Why is this Patriarch w.a.n.g being so difficult to satisfy?
In his dilemma, he saw a small round stone pedestal of about a waist height at the corner of his eyes, and an idea suddenly sparked within his mind!
"Tell me, which among you eight boast the greatest physical strength?" Duan Li asked.
The patriarchs furrowed their brows a little upon hearing this question. After all, such topic was a little sensitive as there were two powerhouses when it came to physical strength, and they would always argue about who was the better one.
"For the greatest physical strength in offense, it would be Patriarch Shen. Patriarch w.a.n.g is unbeatable when it comes to defense!" Patriarch Jiu quickly replied. This was a safe answer and the rest couldn"t help but to nod in agreement.
Duan Li turned to look at both of the mentioned patriarchs and scanned them up and down, "Indeed, their physical strength should be about equal.."
Knowing that there will be no better example than these two, Duan Li gestured for them to follow him.
"Patriarch Shen and Patriarch w.a.n.g, let"s go to that stone pedestal over there." Duan Li said. The two patriarchs were confused as to what Duan Li was planning to do but they still tagged along behind him. The other patriarchs also followed and circled around them when they reached the stone pedestal.
"Let"s do an arm-wrestling match here." Duan Li casually declared, causing them to be takened aback.
"I see, so you want to show us the disparity between our physical strength and yours through an arm-wrestling match? You got guts!" Patriarch Shen chuckled as he realized Duan Li"s intention.
"This is fine by me. So which one of us will get to go first?" Patriarch w.a.n.g wasn"t really impressed with the method, but he still agreed nevertheless.
This time, it was Duan Li"s turn to chuckle.
You guys are belittling me too much, aren"t you?
"Neither. You both start at the same time!" he answered.
"What?!"
Hearing Duan Li"s answer, both Patriarch Shen and Patriarch w.a.n.g immediately narrowed their eyes in displeasure. If there was one thing they hated the most in this world, it was being underestimated by the younger generation!
Just any single one of them could shatter the peak of a mountain with a single fist, not to mention an arm-wrestling match, it wouldn"t even make them sweat!
To think that the day has come where they had to lower themselves like this, if not for the status of the young man in front of them, they would probably already fly into a rage and pummel Duan Li into a broken sack of bones!
Sensing their negative emotions, Duan Li then became a bit riled and said with a cold voice, "What is with those expression? Do you think that its appropriate to show such a thing to your Imperial Overseer? You doubt me?"
Knowing that they had just made a mistake, the two patriarchs immediately softened their expression, "Pardon us, it had been a long time for us to be challenged like this, so please don"t think too much into it." Patriarch Shen and Patriarch w.a.n.g lowered their head a little as a gesture of apology towards Duan Li.
No matter what, Duan Li was still their Imperial Overseer and proper etiquette must be shown even if they think that Duan Li was overestimating himself.
Meanwhile, Patriarch Jiu that was observing this nodded in approval, "Not too proudful against his seniors, but has enough pride to not allow others to snub him even the slightest. Quite fitting for his t.i.tle."
Without further ado, all three of them extended their arms over the stone pedestal. Patriarch Shen was using his dominant right hand against Duan Li while Patriarch w.a.n.g will fight against Duan Li"s left hand.
Almost immediately, the two patriarchs could feel Duan Li"s overwhelming strength when their hands gripped together!
"W-What in the world..?!"
A ferrocious sensation drenched their body. All their bodily cells was screaming in horror!
Whosshh!!
Looking at the young man with mask in front of them, they suddenly felt that their whole existence was infinitely small when compared to the person before them!
It was as if...
They were fighting against the Tian continent itself!
How could this be?!
Before the fight even began, their forehead was already filled with sweat! When the rest of the patriarchs saw the both of them like that, they instantly knew that...
This Imperial Overseer of theirs was insanely strong!
"Begin!" Patriarch Jiu declared.
CRACK!! CRACK!!
The ground of the caves behind Patriarch Shen and Patriarch w.a.n.g was promptly shattered like cobwebs from the immense weight they were putting on it. This was evidence that they were already going all out from the beginning!
On the other hand, Duan Li did not even show an ounce of difficulty. Both of his arms remain still like the unperturbed surface of a lake, such that no matter how much strength the two patriarchs used to pull his arms away, it did not budge the slightest!
"What"s wrong? Is this all there is to it?" Duan Li snorted.
Do you guys see now? This was only forty percent of my physical strength!
"d.a.m.n it!" both the patriarchs gritted their teeth and forcefully inhaled and exhaled a huge breath of air, causing their muscles to become bigger, increasing their strength!
Only then did they managed to pull Duan Li"s arms slightly.
"Hahaha! It works!" Seeing this result, both of them used the same technique again and was able to gain another distance in pulling Duan Li"s arm away.
"Don"t get too happy yet. Here you go!" Duan Li chuckled and increased his power to half of his full strength.
"AHHH!!"
The two patriarchs screamed as Duan Li"s pull was too unreal! It was just like when an adult lifted a small pebble from the ground, totally effortless!
Now, their arm position returned to how they were before, and the two patriarchs became indignant!
"HAAAA!!" both of them no longer tried to use just their physical strength against Duan Li, but instead infused their spiritual Qi into their muscles, making it stronger and heavy!
"Ohh? Not too bad!" Duan Li was a bit surprised to see that they were now gaining on him again!
Still, increasing his strength to sixty percent reverted their hard-earned pull back to the default position yet again.
"I refuse to lose.. like this!" Patriarch Shen then ignited his bloodline, turning his eyes red and his whole body crimson!
He looks like a miniature sp.a.w.n of demon from h.e.l.l!
"I refuse as well!" Patriarch w.a.n.g also felt the physical strength he put so much pride on with his big physique was taking a hit, and he thus ignited the spirit of the mountain within his body!
Wenggg!!
His bodily muscles seems to hardened and looked like the boulders from a mountain cliff!
"HAAAAA!!" with a loud bellow, they pulled Duan Li"s hands at the same time and managed to gain a significant distance!
"Ha!" Duan Li also felt the incredible sudden pull from the two patriarchs, and he finally went serious.
CRACK!
The ground behind him finally shattered.
"What?"
The patriarchs were in a state of disbelief! This meant that Duan Li was only defending his position before without striking even once!
"Heng!" Duan Li pulled their arms back and slowly gained momentum. He then used eighty percent of his strength to keep the position stable again like before.
"I don"t mind if you two used the both of your hands together."
This statement from Duan Li snapped the two patriarchs. Their pride was already broken before and it felt like someone had just rubbed salt on their wounds.
"Don"t regret this!"
Doing what Duan Li just said to them, Patriarch Shen and Patriarch w.a.n.g used both hands to pull Duan Li"s arms and they managed pull two-thirds of the distance. If they could pull just a third more, they will win the arm-wrestling match!
But against Duan Li, how could it be so easy?
"You guys are done?" with a single burst of spiritual Qi cycle inside his body, Duan Li finally used Super Mode 1!
CRACK!!
The instant his hair turned golden and blue sparks danced around him, Patriarch Shen and Patriarch w.a.n.g were no longer able to pull Duan Li"s hands even the slightest.
At this moment, they realized their predestined fate!
"HAA!!" with a single bellow, Duan Li pulled his hands all the way in, and the resulting unstoppable force lifted the two patriarchs off their feet from the ground, crashing their two huge bodies together before the impact made them ricochet off like two catapulted boulders!
BOOMMM!!
Just like that, two patriarchs of unparalleled existence in the Jiu Empire was planted deep into the walls of the cave like the murals of ancient civilization.
...