The martial arts field instantly quieted down. Those forbidden army soldiers who had been mocking Chen Ping earlier were now staring with mouths agape, the smiles on their faces frozen.
A first-grade Earth Immortal Realm cultivator had actually defeated a seventh-grade captain so easily. This completely overturned their understanding!
Zi Yuan’s lips curved into a faint smile. She looked at Ao Lie and said, “Commander Ao, do you still think Fellow Daoist Chen is unworthy of a spar?”
Ao Lie’s face was extremely ugly. He stared at Chen Ping and said solemnly, “It does not count! Shi Hu obviously held back just now! He was afraid of really injuring you, so he did not go all out, allowing you to exploit the gap! If he had used full force, you would have had no chance!”
As soon as these words came out, even Shi Hu on the ground could not help but want to refute. He had clearly gone all out earlier, yet could not even touch Chen Ping’s clothes. Where was the holding back?
But he did not dare to defy Ao Lie’s order, so he could only lower his head, tacitly accepting this statement.
Chen Ping, upon hearing this, showed a trace of contemptuous smile on his face. “Oh? So you are saying my victory was unfair?”
“Exactly!”
Ao Lie stiffened his neck and said, “You were just lucky! If it were a real life-and-death battle, you would have long become a ghost under Shi Hu’s blade!”
“Fine.”
Chen Ping nodded, his tone calm yet carrying a trace of coldness. “Then how about a life-and-death duel? No restrictions whatsoever, until one side falls.
However, since it is a life-and-death duel, there should be some stakes, right?
I bet one million immortal stones. If I lose, the immortal stones go to you. If you lose, you also put up one million immortal stones. How about that?”
One million immortal stones was no small amount. Even for a forbidden army commander like Ao Lie, it would take decades of accumulation to gather.
But he was enraged by Chen Ping’s attitude, plus the earlier humiliation. Without thinking, he agreed. “Fine! I will bet with you! I want to see how you, a first-grade Earth Immortal Realm cultivator, can fight me to the death!”
The surrounding forbidden army soldiers all got excited, gathering around one after another, wanting to watch a life-and-death duel between a first-grade Earth Immortal Realm challenging a peak ninth-grade Earth Immortal Realm.
Zi Yuan wanted to dissuade, but was stopped by Chen Ping’s gaze. What he wanted was to thoroughly subdue Ao Lie, to make the entire Divine Kingdom understand that he had the qualifications to cooperate with the Divine Kingdom on equal footing.
Ao Lie strode to the centre of the martial arts field, shook the silver spear in his hand. The spear tip pointed straight at Chen Ping. “Kid, do not say I am bullying you. You make the first move!”
Chen Ping wasted no more words. His right hand flipped, the Dragon-Slaying Sword appeared out of thin air in his hand.
On the sword body, silver lightning flickered. A chilling killing intent spread out, making the surrounding forbidden army soldiers involuntarily shiver.
“So it relies on the weapon!”
A flash of disdain passed through Ao Lie’s eyes. “I thought you had real skills. Turns out you are relying on a good sword!”
Before the words finished, Chen Ping’s figure had already disappeared from the spot.
Ao Lie’s heart startled. He quickly swung the silver spear, forming an airtight defence.
However, at the instant the silver spear collided with the Dragon-Slaying Sword, only a “crack” crisp sound was heard. The silver spear in Ao Lie’s hand was actually severed in the middle by the Dragon-Slaying Sword!
“What?”
Ao Lie’s pupils contracted sharply, his face full of disbelief.
This silver spear of his was forged from thousand-year profound iron, indestructible. Even a full-force strike from a ninth-grade Earth Immortal Realm cultivator might not leave a mark, yet it was severed by Chen Ping’s one sword?
Chen Ping gave Ao Lie no time to react. The Dragon-Slaying Sword pointed straight at his throat.
Ao Lie was scared out of his wits, quickly dodged sideways, barely avoiding this fatal strike. But his neck was still cut by the sword wind, leaving a blood mark.
“Stop!”
Ao Lie shouted loudly, retreated repeatedly. “It does not count! This absolutely does not count! You used a divine weapon. I used just an ordinary profound iron spear. You had too much advantage in weapons. This match does not count!”
The surrounding forbidden army soldiers also echoed one after another, feeling that Chen Ping had indeed won by relying on the weapon, an unfair victory.
