“Yao Country will not lose!” Su Rong stared at Ye Chu and declared, “They cannot win, and they cannot marry me!”
Hearing such confident words from Su Rong, Ye Chu neither agreed nor disagreed. “Perhaps. But is it true that whoever comes first in this contest gets to marry you?”
“What nonsense are you spouting!” Su Rong’s cheeks flushed faintly, a rosy glow spreading across them like peach blossoms in bloom, utterly captivating and alluring.
“Little Rong, has anyone ever told you that you are far more beautiful when you blush than when you are cool and distant?” Ye Chu gazed at her. “I am tempted to pluck a few peach blossoms to compare which is more enchanting, you or them.”
“…” Su Rong turned her head away, refusing to listen to his nonsense. The fellow was back to his frivolous, teasing ways. Engaging him would only bring trouble.
Her gaze fell on Ye Chao in the arena. Ye Chao lived up to his reputation as one of Yao City’s top ten younger generation. Though he had not reached the Intent Transformation Realm, his strikes were exceedingly sharp. Several Sha Country fighters fell to him in succession, sending waves of excitement through the Yao side. Cheers rose higher and higher.
The Sha Country camp looked grim. Ye Chao had taken down several of their strong contenders. After a brief discussion, they sent out another fighter.
This one said nothing, attacking Ye Chao directly. The strike was not swift, but the power was immense. A single blow forced Ye Chao back several steps, his arms trembling from the impact.
“Intent Transformation Realm!” Ye Chao’s brows knitted tightly, his expression turning grave. He had not expected them to deploy an Intent Transformation practitioner so soon. The contest had barely begun, not even a full round completed. Was Sha Country truly so impatient?
“Get down!” the Sha practitioner barked at Ye Chao, unleashing another fierce strike straight at his chest.
Ye Chao raised his arms to block. A terrifying force slammed into them, nearly snapping the bones. The impact surged through his body. Unable to resist, he was hurled backward, heels carving a deep furrow in the ground. He flew out of the arena entirely. His face drained of colour, clearly badly injured. He coughed several times, feeling his vital energy churning wildly.
No one was surprised by the outcome. For a True Qi Realm fighter to face an Intent Transformation practitioner and only suffer internal injuries proved Ye Chao’s strength. Of course, it also showed his opponent had not used full force.
“How strange! It has only been a few rounds, yet Sha Country is already bringing out Intent Transformation experts!” Zhang Su’er muttered.
“Yes! Sha Country challenges Yao every year when the weather turns cold, but they have never deployed Intent Transformation so early.”
“Using one now gives them no advantage!”
Amid the crowd’s murmurs, Su Zhengping and the others conferred briefly. He nodded toward a direction, and a figure stepped forward. It was Ding Kaiwei, who had not appeared in public for some time.
“Ding Kaiwei! Why is he going up?”
“Rumour said Ye Chu defeated him in one move, but it clearly is not true!”
“Of course not. Ding Kaiwei is Yao City’s third strongest. How could a waste like Ye Chu beat him?”
Ye Chu was mildly surprised to see Ding Kaiwei. Last time he had held back to avoid healing too quickly, yet the man recovered so soon? The fellow truly had thick skin. He should have hit harder.
Seeing Ye Chu stare at Ding Kaiwei with ill intent, Su Rong frowned. “Are you not going up? With your strength, you could change how people see you. Would that not be good?”
“No thanks. Keep cursing me!” Ye Chu shook his head with a laugh. “A bunch of children fighting. I have no interest in joining.”
“Children fighting?” Zhang Su’er and the others turned to Ye Chu, finding it amusing. He was boasting again! Intent Transformation battles were incredibly fierce. To call them children’s play! If they did not know who he was, they might think he had reached the Innate Realm.
As Ding Kaiwei faced his opponent, the Sha warrior remained calm and raised one finger. “One move is enough!”
The words sparked uproar among the Yao spectators. They erupted in condemnation, cursing the Sha warrior’s arrogance.
Ding Kaiwei was thoroughly enraged. Again with one move? Ye Chu had used the same attitude against him! Damn it! Did everyone think he was easy to bully? As Yao City’s third strongest, how could he endure constant contempt? One move, my foot!
The phrase “one move” was the one he hated most. Without another word, not even announcing his name, he struck fiercely. His intent formed a circular blade, carrying razor-sharp menace as it slashed toward the Sha warrior.
The attack revealed the full terror of Intent Transformation. Everyone felt the blade’s edge in the surging qi. Yao spectators grew excited. Such a strike would make the arrogant Sha warrior cry for mercy!
As his intent-blade neared the opponent, bloodlust flashed in Ding Kaiwei’s eyes. He accelerated, tracing a cunning arc toward the Sha warrior’s vital point.
“Too weak!”
Amid the crowd’s excitement, the Sha warrior thrust out a palm, carrying equally domineering force. Intent guided his qi into a vortex that crashed into Ding Kaiwei’s kick.
“Ah…”
With a thunderous clash, Ding Kaiwei was blasted away. He cried out in agony. His leg bent and fractured. He crashed to the ground, shaking the arena floor.
Compared to Ye Chu’s strike last time, Ding Kaiwei’s injuries were far worse.
Seeing Ding Kaiwei felled in one move, Su Zhengping and the others shot to their feet, disbelief in their eyes as they stared at the Sha warrior.
To defeat Ding Kaiwei so easily required at least Intent Transformation fifth layer! Such strength should belong to Sha Country’s strongest younger generation.
Yet intelligence from Yao Country showed their top young expert was not this man. They had records on him, listing only second-layer Intent Transformation. When had he surged to fifth layer?
“This contradicts our intelligence!” Ye Li frowned deeply, staring intently at the arena, his expression grave.
Su Zhengping nodded, recalling Ye Chu’s warning that Pang Shao had been beaten by a Sha practitioner. His face grew extremely solemn.
“Hahaha… Does no one from Yao Country dare step forward? Yao Country is nothing special after all! Hand over the city and the beauty!” Seeing no challenger, the Sha side laughed loudly and began mocking.
“Who will go?” Su Zhengping took a deep breath and looked at Ye Tian and Chen Bowen. Ding Kaiwei was no match, so it fell to them. Thinking of their strength eased his worry. Even if the opponent was strong, he could not surpass Chen Bowen and Ye Tian. Both had reached upper seventh-layer Intent Transformation! They were formidable enough to handle anyone. Though there were ripples now, Sha Country’s practitioners could not make waves against these two.
(Many friends have asked about the realm divisions. There are three major realms: cultivating one’s primal spirit, absorbing the essence of sun and moon, seizing the fortune of heaven and earth. The realms appearing so far: before martial cultivation, nine stages of muscle and bone refining! Cultivating one’s primal spirit has three layers: True Qi Realm! Intent Transformation Realm! Innate Realm! Each realm has nine layers! Upper, middle, and lower grades represent every three layers within the nine!)
