The title "Stealing Peach Immortal" is indeed a bit exaggerated. Shi Hou himself is extraordinarily sharp, and even if his foundation was zero, after such a long time watching the tournament, his martial skills had improved rapidly.

However, the move "Monkey Steals the Peach" has such a formidable deterrent effect on males that everyone entering the stage instinctively prioritizes defending against it. Later on, even though the Monkey achieved victories through martial arts, he couldn't shake off people's biased views.

In the finals, there were sixteen contestants left. They would face off in pairs to decide the ultimate champion.

Shi Hou, designated as number ten, was scheduled for the first match against number thirty-three in the finals. Just reaching the finals already guaranteed a significant prize, but Shi Hou's attention was entirely focused on sparring with stronger opponents. And in his eyes, contender thirty-three looked like a highly formidable challenger.

When the two arrived at the venue, they began preparing. Shi Hou curiously stared at opponent thirty-three's three eyes and casually asked, "Hey, Three-Eyes, make sure not to sic your dog on me during the match."

Number thirty-three was, in fact, Yang Jian in disguise. He didn't understand why Nezha had created this Dream World, though Nezha's bizarre antics no longer surprised those familiar with him.

To Yang Jian, this Monkey was just another passerby.

"Rest assured, my dog has been allowed to participate as a standalone contestant. It won't be joining me tonight."

Hearing this, the Monkey felt slightly relieved. To be honest, he was still a little afraid of that fierce dog.

After waiting for a moment, the two stepped onto the stage, and the match began.

Having observed for many days, Shi Hou naturally grasped the Monkey Fist skill and immediately launched an attack. But given his current level, how could he possibly contend with the battle-hardened Yang Jian?

A flurry of Monkey Fist techniques followed, yet he couldn't even touch Yang Jian. This made him doubt his life choices for a moment—could it be that Three-Eyes also knew Freedom Extreme Intent?

Of course, Yang Jian didn't know that technique. He had never been to Shuilian Cave. What enabled him to predict Shi Hou's movements was purely experience.

"Little guy, if this is all you've got, it's not going to cut it," he remarked.

With that, he thrust a punch straight at Shi Hou's forehead. Shi Hou, though growing proficient in his dream-learned Freedom Extreme Intent, instinctively dodged as the punch brushed past his face. Unfortunately, Yang Jian's punch was too fast—he could only dodge enough to reduce the impact, yet the wind from the punch still grazed his cheek.

Yang Jian was a bit surprised that the punch missed. After testing a few more moves, he had figured things out. He had observed a similar technique first-hand from Nezha but had never heard of Nezha having such a relative.

Having discerned his opponent's limits, Yang Jian switched gears from combat to partial mentorship.

If Yang Jian had delivered a single knock-out punch, Shi Hou might've felt better about himself. But turning the match into a lesson? That was pure torment. While delivering one blow after another, Yang Jian also explained martial arts essentials, turning Shi Hou's attempts to resist into purely futile efforts.

Concepts like sudden awakenings or desperate last-minute comebacks didn't exist when faced with an overwhelming difference in strength. Although Shi Hou's progress skyrocketed under Yang Jian's live combat instruction, it came at the cost of being thoroughly beaten to a pulp.

With one final punch, Yang Jian easily sent an exhausted Shi Hou flying off the stage. Casually, he said, "Kid, practice a bit more when you get back."

Shi Hou had never suffered such humiliation before!

He knew that this Three-Eyes had taught him a lot of useful things, but still—he was fuming! He silently vowed to himself that one day, he'd give Three-Eyes a proper beating!

Afterward, Shi Hou collected his prize money but didn't leave right away. He wanted to see just how many other amazing people there were. And sure enough, the supposedly ordinary martial arts tournament completely blew his mind in the later rounds.

It turned out that Three-Eyes' third eye could glow!

It turned out that someone could throw rocks with terrifying accuracy!

It turned out that someone could literally transform into a dragon!

The ultimate victor was actually the one who could transform into Huang Long. Surprisingly, it wasn't because he was the strongest, but because he dismantled the entire stage—and his opponent couldn't fly...

Shi Hou watched the 'World's Number One' standing in the center, surrounded by the crowd, and thought to himself, "This is what it means to be a great man!"

In the days that followed, Shi Hou devoted himself wholeheartedly to honing his martial arts. A year flew by in the blink of an eye, and when Shi Hou eventually came to his senses, he found himself back at his familiar Huaguo Mountain Water Curtain Cave.

Instinctively, he jumped up and surveyed his surroundings. The nearby monkeys were startled by his sudden movement.

"Great King, what's wrong, Great King?"

Shi Hou scratched his head. So, it was all just a dream?

He wandered to a clearing and began practicing the martial arts he had mastered in the dream. To his amazement, everything felt so natural and fluid. The other monkeys, seeing their Great King practicing with such vigor and might, immediately applauded and cheered.

Not long after, Ma General and Rice Debiao arrived to observe. After a long while, Rice Debiao couldn't help but remark with pride, "He has about seventy percent of my flair back in the day."

Ma General chimed in to ruin the moment: "Oh, please. With your pitiful skills, our Great King could take you down in two punches flat."

Infuriated, Rice Debiao adopted an aggressive stance, ready for a scrap.

"Weak or not, I can still deal with you. Come on, let's spar!"

Ma General also squared up: "Bring it on, then! What, you think I'm scared?"

Meanwhile, Shi Hou, trying out techniques he had learned in the dream, turned to see the two unreliable elders gesturing at each other aggressively. He couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Having advanced in his skills, he now fully understood that the crowning talent of these two old monkeys was posturing.

"Elders, both of you... What kind of place is the outside world?"

The elder monkeys, who were about to go at it, paused and put down their stances. They had lived long enough to sense that Shi Hou was no ordinary monkey. He was destined for something beyond their humble lives.

"Great King, the outside world is vast, but it is also dangerous."

"We are just ordinary monkeys and can only dwell on this mountain."

Ma General intentionally left the second part of his sentence unsaid: "But you are anything but ordinary." Long ago, two ferocious demons from the outside world had terrorized them. The outside world was beautiful yet perilous. Staying on the mountain and living as simple monkeys wasn't such a bad thing.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.