He existed for the sake of protecting Young Master Qingyang. Anyone who dared to harm his young master or show him disrespect would be killed!
Young Master Qingyang suppressed the rage in his heart and sternly said, “I underestimated him!”
He had originally believed that when he came with the Black Yin Ancestor to see the fake and challenged him, the fake would definitely back off. But it was now obvious that his thinking had been too simple. From the display just now, he could see that he was facing down a powerful foe and not the mediocre poser he had imagined.
But the more this was the case, the more unable he was to let this fake go.
In understanding of the martial arts of the world, he would not lose to anyone.
“Let me see how long you can keep pretending in front of everyone!”
A chilling light flashed through Young Master Qingyang’s eyes.
Buzz!
The crowd chattered and buzzed. This conflict involved the Righteous Alliance and the Five Ancestor Alliance, and also the illustrious Young Master Qingyang of the martial arts world. Everyone had come to watch while treating the whole thing as a play, but as the ‘plot’ got more complicated and confusing, they all unknowingly became entranced.
“These two possess such frightening talent, but… just which one is the real Young Master Qingyang?!”
The crowd looked at Wang Chong and then looked at that youth standing with the Five Ancestor Alliance, their minds dominated by a single question.
“Black Yin Ancestor, you’ve seen the result. Is there anything else you want to say?”
Song Yuanyi finally spoke, his face devoid of emotion as he looked at the Black Yin Ancestor.
“Haha, it’s not over yet. Song Yuanyi, why are you in such a rush? Or are you trying to say that your Righteous Alliance can’t bear to lose in front of so many people?”
The Black Yin Ancestor sinisterly chuckled as he retorted.
Song Yuanyi refused to comment.
“Haha, this matter has gotten even more interesting.”
A hint of cruelty appeared in the Black Yin Ancestor’s eyes.
“Now, Alliance Lord Song and I will each choose an Imperial Martial expert. Rest assured, neither I nor Alliance Lord Song will play any tricks. Their strength will be at the same level. But let me warn you in advance that after this battle, whoever fails will be the fake Young Master Qingyang and die!”
Whoosh!
Wang Chong showed no reaction, but Young Master Qingyang slightly paled. The Black Yin Ancestor had not mentioned anything like this to him before.
“Haha, everyone in the world knows that Young Master Qingyang knows the martial arts of the world like the back of his hand. As both of you instruct your respective martial artists in battle, the one who loses must unquestionably be the fake.”
The Black Yin Ancestor moved his sinister gaze back and forth between Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang.
“Neither of you thought that you could actually leave alive after deceiving Alliance Lord Song and me in front of so many people, right?”
Wang Chong placed his hands behind his back and confidently proclaimed, “Black Yin Ancestor, you’ve truly got a bad heart! But I won’t lose!”
Although Young Master Qingyang was known for his erudition in martial arts, Wang Chong had probably seen even more martial arts, though he had probably not researched them as thoroughly as Young Master Qingyang. Moreover, Wang Chong also had the world of energy, an ability his master had developed after cultivating the Myriad Spirit Sea Art.
No matter what sort of opponent he faced, he could see how Stellar Energy flowed through their bodies, detect the key ‘pivots’, and find their weaknesses.
In this way, Wang Chong could achieve the same result as Young Master Qingyang through a different method.
“Hah, kid, you’ve got guts!”
The Black Yin Ancestor flashed a mouthful of white teeth and gave a strange laugh.
“Hmph, then let’s do it! I’m the real Young Master Qingyang, and no one can imitate me!”
Young Master Qingyang had been rather hesitant at first. Although he possessed profound perception, his strength was lacking, so he was still rather fearful in front of a titan of the martial arts world like the Black Yin Ancestor. But Wang Chong’s provocative words had forced his hand.
“Haha, okay!”
The Black Yin Ancestor loudly laughed.
“Alliance Lord Song, do you have any objections?”
“Let us do as the old ancestor proposes!” Song Yuanyi noncommittally replied. Since they had already begun, they should see things through until the very end.
The crowd once more began to chatter, their eyes roving between Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang.
“I wonder which one will win?”
At this stage, everyone was incredibly interested to see how this contest would turn out. Whichever one was fake, anyone who could match wits with Young Master Qingyang up to this point couldn’t possibly be some nobody.
The Black Yin Ancestor and Song Yuanyi quickly chose their respective experts. This time, the two made extremely fair choices, both experts at the same level of power. Although no one dared to say that they were completely identical, the difference was so small as to be negligible.
“Begin!”
Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang both stepped forward. At this moment, everyone was all eyes, and even those unaffiliated martial artists who had come to watch a good show stopped smiling.
Everyone was brimming with anticipation for this battle, but the loser would be executed before the crowd. This was no longer some simple game, no longer anything worth smiling about.
As Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang stepped forward, so did the two experts from the Righteous Alliance and Five Ancestor Alliance.
Young Master Qingyang looked at his counterpart and solemnly said, “You’ve made a mistake. You shouldn’t have pretended to be me and infiltrated the Righteous Alliance. Not even I can do anything to help you now.”
“Oh?”
Wang Chong slightly raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Putting aside everything else, that this Young Master Qingyang was able to say such words improved Wang Chong’s impression on him.
“Relax! I won’t lose!”
Wang Chong grinned.
“Hmph, truly stubborn!”
Young Master Qingyang clenched his teeth, his complexion darkening.
“Since that’s the case, I’ll fulfill your wish!”
The mood instantly tensed.
The two experts slowly stepped forward, staring at each other, their expressions far more nervous than Wang Chong’s and Young Master Qingyang’s.
After all, Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang were only moving their lips while they were the ones engaged in mortal combat. When the Righteous Alliance and Five Ancestor Alliance gathered in one place, regardless of the reason, a bloody battle was bound to occur.
The battle quickly began. Both experts got closer and closer, but Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang remained silent, issuing no pre-battle instructions.
The trials from before had allowed both of them to get a rough understanding of their counterpart’s abilities. At their level of talent and skill, there was no need to do anything unnecessary.
Bang!
Just when everyone was thinking that those two experts were dragging things out, they simultaneously struck, bold and upright Stellar Energy clashing with evil and sinister Stellar Energy. Swish! Powerful bolts of energy shot outward, carving deep furrows in the ground. Unlike the battles of the Profound Martial realm, those of the Imperial Martial realm were far more dangerous.
The two Imperial Martial experts were on each other like battling tigers, and in a few short moments, they had both used exquisite and dangerous techniques. Both of them were pushing their respective movement techniques to their limit, rushing here and there across the battlefield with such speed that it was impossi
ble to tell where they were.
Everyone watched with bated breath, and Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang were even more focused, taking in every movement. This was a contest between the two, the first in which they actually compared abilities. For now, this was a test of their eyesight.
In this short clash, not only did the two of them have to analyze the strength, martial art, and fighting style of their own expert, they also needed to analyze the habits, moves, and weaknesses of the opposing expert.
There was only one chance. Analysis of the two martial artists would majorly influence the rest of the battle, eventually determining which one survived.
It became so silent that one could hear a pin drop. The eyes of the crowd would alternate between the experts battling and Young Master Qingyang and Wang Chong.
“Young Master, you can do it!”
Song Youran and Song Jue clenched their fists as they worried over Wang Chong. Meanwhile, Ji Andu had a completely different reaction.
“Hmph, just some random fake! I wonder what your death will be like!”
Ji Andu hadn’t believed Wang Chong from the very beginning, and when he saw the Young Master Qingyang on the other side, he became even more sure of his conclusions. He cared little for this battle. After all, when the fake met the real, was there any need to wonder what the result would be?
Chapter 1378 - Evenly Matched!
Chapter 1378: Evenly Matched!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
It’s enough! These two people truly do have similar strength. The Black Yin Ancestor didn’t try any tricks this time.
Wang Chong’s eyes flashed as he commented to himself. But this was only more indicative of how badly the Black Yin Ancestor wanted to kill him.
The people of the evil path were all people who tended to seek vengeance over the smallest grievances, and the Black Yin Ancestor in particular, as a major leader of the evil path, had a high regard for himself, yet an ‘insignificant’ character like Wang Chong had ruined his plans in the Righteous Alliance’s temporary base and forced him to flee. This was an offense and disgrace for the Black Yin Ancestor, like petting the hindquarters of a tiger or stroking the whiskers of a dragon. In the Black Yin Ancestor’s view, Wang Chong was already a dead man.
Bang!
After three seconds, there was an enormous explosion as the two Imperial Martial experts pushed away from each other and landed back in their original positions.
The surroundings once more fell silent, but the mood only intensified. But those two experts only warily watched each other like hunting leopards, ready at any time to begin the next round of attacks.
One second, two seconds, three seconds… Whether it was Wang Chong, Young Master Qingyang, or the two experts, none of them moved.
“What are they doing!?”
As the crowd was slowly beginning to lose its patience, bang! The two experts lunged forward once more.
When the two were only a few feet from each other and about to clash, Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang called out almost simultaneously.
“Dragon Form Crane Image!”
“Myriad Ghosts Emerge from Yin!”
A moment later, the Righteous Alliance expert’s body erupted, the images of dragons and cranes spiraling out from him to assail the Five Ancestor Alliance expert from various angles. But even more incredibly, a split-second later, the Five Ancestor Alliance expert’s also erupted with seething smoke that attacked from the same angles.
The two used similar techniques and attacked from the same angles as if they were fighting their own shadow. The result was obvious.
Boomboomboom! In a series of explosions, the attacks of the righteous and evil experts met, and though both dearly wanted to defeat their opponent, the result of this clash was the same as the previous one.
The two separated and returned to the edges of the battlefield. Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang simultaneously frowned. They had reached the same conclusion in this round, resulting in a complete tie.
Even in the martial arts world, such a thing was incredibly rare.
The winds shrieked through the space between the two, causing the mood to grow even tenser. Even the Black Yin Ancestor and Song Yuanyi had unwittingly been entranced by this fight.
Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang soon made their next moves.
“Mountain River Pull!”
“Heavenly Demon Descent!”
Wang Chong had determined just now that the Righteous Alliance expert and Five Ancestor Alliance expert each had at least three powerful techniques. The Mountain River Pull was one of these, as was the Dragon Form Crane Image. With these orders, the battlefield went through another transformation.
Bold and righteous Stellar Energy erupted from the Righteous Alliance expert’s body like a volcano, and his aura instantly became much heavier. The image of a mountain appeared in the air, but this mountain had been completely turned over so that its peak faced down, making it seem like the mountain was pouring all its power into the Righteous Alliance expert down below.
The Mountain River Pull was a supreme technique of the Righteous Alliance that could greatly boost one’s offensive power. But Wang Chong had chosen this technique for the angle and position one took when using it.
“…Lingxu point!”
Wang Chong’s voice resounded.
“…Yindu point!”
Young Master Qingyang’s voice also resounded. For this round, both of them had chosen to attack, and the points chosen were precisely where the weak points of the two experts were located. In the last two clashes, the two of them had succeeded in finding the weaknesses in the opposing expert.
But as both of them had found the weaknesses in their opponent, the final result was easy to imagine.
Bang!
Stellar Energy intermingled amid thunderous explosions, and then a powerful shockwave sent both experts flying. Young Master Qingyang instantly furrowed his brow as if he had encountered some intractable problem.
“Impossible! What’s going on here?”
Young Master Qingyang raised his head and stared at Wang Chong.
He had begun to study and read through the martial arts of the world as a small child, and while those two instructions just now had seemed simple, they were the crystallization of his vast intelligence and understanding. A gap as thin as a hair would lead to an error of one thousand li, and as long as there had been a tiny gap, the result would have been vastly different.
No ordinary person was capable of this.
Comprehension was like an onion and had many layers. Young Master Qingyang had believed that he could easily defeat his foe, but reality had unfolded much differently from how he had expected.
“Just who is he? How could there be someone in the world like me who knows all martial arts like the back of his hand and has reached a similar level of attainment? Most importantly, how can this person be as young as me!?”
Young Master Qingyang examined Wang Chong’s face. Although he found it difficult to believe, the fake Young Master Qingyang on the other side was also seventeen or eighteen years of age.
It wasn’t impossible for someone to reach the same level as him, but they wouldn’t be young and would be more like Song Yuanyi or the Black Yin Ancestor. Young Master Qingyang was astounded to find that there was a person so similar to him in this world.
At this moment, there was someone even more shocked than Young Master Qingyang: that ever-present guard standing behind him.
“Impossible! Young Master is so formidable only because of… Just where did this young man come from? And why is he pretending to be Young Master?!”
The tall and muscular guard had lost his usual composure. Although this battle had only been going on for a short time and his young master and that youth on the other side had only spoken twice, these two times were enough to deal an earth-sundering strike to his mind.
He had traveled with his Y
oung Master across the realm and seen many experts and masters. He had also seen many geniuses and young elites, each one more eye-catching than the last, but in his eyes, they were nothing but clowns. In terms of talent, understanding, and erudition in martial arts, none of them could compare to his young master.
If not for the limits imposed on him by his body, his young master would have become renowned throughout the world, standing proudly even in front of titans like Song Yuanyi and the Black Yin Ancestor!
“Ghostly Traverse!”
“Mountain River Storm!”
“Devil Path Five Prison!”
“Blazing Sun in the Sky!”
……
The battle continued. Young Master Qingyang continued to use all his power to instruct the Five Ancestor Alliance expert into unleashing a flurry of attacks against the Righteous Alliance expert.
At that moment, the Five Ancestor Alliance expert seemed to have turned into the sharpest saber, his actions crisp and simple, his every move aimed at his opponent’s vital points.
In the hands of Young Master Qingyang, that Five Ancestor Alliance expert’s strength was maximized. His location was constantly changing and his techniques came one after another like a flowing stream. It was as if Young Master Qingyang had calculated beforehand all the countless attack trajectories and chosen the simplest, fiercest, and most lethal one.
“Ah!”
The spectating crowd cried out in wonder and shock at this Five Ancestor Alliance expert’s performance. For some reason, when they saw those fierce attacks, they felt like there was a dagger pressing up against their backs. All of them believed that if they had been the one on that field, they would have been pushed to their breaking point long ago, a feeling that made their hair stand on end.
But even more astonishing was Wang Chong’s reaction.
If the Five Ancestor Alliance expert under Young Master Qingyang’s control was a flourishing saber that seemed unstoppable, the Righteous Alliance expert under Wang Chong’s control was a sword that swam through the air with lethal precision.
His movement techniques were nimble to the extreme, and most importantly, under the storm of attacks from Young Master Qingyang, Wang Chong not only did not draw back, but used the same ‘offense is the best defense’ strategy as Young Master Qingyang.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 864