by Shian Jeen
He raised his head to look at Huwang Xiao to see he was looking back at him with indifferent eyes and a calm expression. He did not budge an inch!
“You!” Bai Shou was astonished, unable to accept what he saw.
While Bai Shou was still in shock, a powerful force burst out from Huwang Xiao’s body. Before this wave of overwhelming power, the palms which were pressed against Huwang Xiao’s chest trembled forcefully, and Bai Shou was seen stumbling backward from the repelling force.
“Huh?!!”
“What is happening?!”
Noticing that Huwang Xiao was actually fine after receiving a strong attack from Bai Shou- no, not only was he fine, he repelled Bai Shou instead!
Faces of astonishment filled the crowd as surprised gasps and exclamations rang out. Geniuses below the stage jumped to their feet, their faces turning ugly due to the sudden turn of events. Even the imperial guards who were watching were slightly amazed.
A wave of commotion swept the crowd.
Not only were the people on the main platform paying attention to battle number two, but Duan Wuhen was as well.
There was a hint of appreciation in Duan Wuhen’s eyes as he watched Huwang Xiao. Muttering to no one in particular, he said: “Imperial Father reminded me to pay more attention to this Huwang Xiao. It seems he is indeed more than meets the eye.”
Cheng Jian who was seated beside him smiled, “His Imperial Highness’s judgement has always been very accurate!”
Any fool could see by now that Huwang Xiao’s strength was above a peak late-Tenth Order warrior.
Watching from below the stage, Xie Puti’s mouth was agape as the fire-red flames around him flickering wildly in vivid excitement, whereas Yanggang’s face became icy and gloomy.
Cui Li stared dazedly at Huwang Xiao’s silhouette. Her dainty cherry lips opened in the shape of an ‘O’, totally disregarding her image, and her generous bosom heaved up and down.
Just like that time in Cosmic Star Academy when Huwang Xiao took on the full force of Lin Han’s Great Moonlight Fist, he remained as stable as a mountain. It was as if nothing happened. The expression of the crowd at this moment was the same look the Cosmic Star Academy’s students showed at that time. Individuals that were watching the second battle stage were shocked by the sudden change.
Taking a double palm hit from a Xiantian realm expert, yet remaining unharmed?!
After the initial shock subsided a little, the one word that emerged in everyone’s mind was: monstrous!
Huwang Xiao repeated the same action he previously did after receiving a full force punch of Lin Han’s Great Moonlight Fist. Raising a hand to pat away some non-existent dust on his chest, Huwang Xiao looked at Bai Shou with indifference, “Ice Shattering Palm? Bring out the force you usually use to drink milk. That felt like scratching an itch for me!”
Bring out the force used to drink milk!
Scratching an itch!
After a brief moment of silence, Duanren Square once again exploded in a hoo-ha.
“So arrogant, too arrogant, this Huwang Xiao dared to say Bai Shou was scratching an itch for him!”
Cui Li stood some distance away, her voluptuous chest heaving dramatically as she shivered with excitement.
Bai Shou looked extremely ugly up on the battle stage.
As the words from the crowd entered his ears, rage exploded in his eyes. A blinding flash of black light shone from his body, revealing a human skeleton hovering in the air when the light vanished.
This skeleton belonged to the group of weapon martial spirits and was pitch black in color. It had a structure similar to the human skeleton. However, inside the skulls eye sockets, there were flames dancing around like will-o’-the-wisps.
This was Bai Shou’s martial spirit, a grade ten martial spirit that was one of the closest existences to a superb talent martial spirit, Black Skeleton.
However, Bai Shou did not soul transform immediately after summoning his martial spirit and instead gave an order to the black skeleton to attack Huwang Xiao.
Shattering the void, that black skeleton appeared right above Huwang Xiao’s head. The two dancing flames in its eyes glowed brightly, turning into two flames that shot towards Huwang Xiao’s chest. Simultaneously, its body and arms lengthened several folds, slamming down, aiming at Huwang Xiao’s head.
While the skeleton was attacking, Bai Shou dashed out like the wind, approaching Huwang Xiao from the front.
“Die—!!”
A murderous light flitted in his eyes as both palms once again struck out, whistling through the air and causing ripples to form in the surrounding space.
He had underestimated Huwang Xiao earlier; thus with the first Ice Shattering Palm attack, he only used seventy percent of its power. But now, his palms contained all of his might!
Below, the ruckus from the crowd desisted instantly, and all eyes were glued to the stage.
Huwang Xiao made his move. Raising his arms up, one palm struck against the fire beam coming from the skeleton while the other met directly with the two bony palms.
One palm from Huwang Xiao dispersed the black skeleton’s fire, and at the same instance, the two long bony arms were broken due to the collision from Huwang Xiao’s other palm, sending the black skeleton flying. In that split second delay when dealing with the black skeleton, Bai Shou’s palm attack had reached Huwang Xiao’s chest.
But when both palms struck Huwang Xiao’s chest, the surface of his skin shone with a resplendent light, similar to shimmering crystals.
Boom! An explosive and deafening sound of two large forces colliding shook the air.
Bai Shou successfully hit Huwang Xiao on the chest again with both of his palms.
A wave of glee ran through Bai Shou’s heart. He refused to believe that Huwang Xiao could withstand the power of this attack safely without any repercussion!
“This…is all the strength you have?” Suddenly, Huwang Xiao’s cold voice sounded, cutting into his happiness. Before Bai Shou could react, Huwang Xiao attacked with an Ethereal Palm straight at Bai Shou’s chest.
Puu—!
Blood spurted from Bai Shou’s mouth as his body inverted and flew back, then crashed down onto the edge of the stage.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
, the crowd erupted with astonishment and awe.
Outside the battle arena area, many spectators were manic with excitement.
The loud commotion attracted the attention of people watching battles that were taking place on other stages, quickly turning their heads in order to see what was happening.
Below the stage, Yanggang’s face darkened gloomily, a contrast to the burning thrill in Xie Puti’s eyes. This Huwang Xiao’s strength far exceeded his assumption.
A Xiantian First Order expert such as Bai Shou was defeated just like that?!
He could easily guess that Bai Shou suffered a heavy injury from that palm strike, completely losing the power to battle further.
The result for this match was already determined!
Cui Li seemed unable to still the excitement coursing through her body and her eyes glittered like the night sky. Her proud peaks looked like they were about to escape from their bindings any moment due to her vigorous breathing.
Nearby kingdom geniuses that noticed this could not shift their gaze away, their saliva on the verge of leaking out from the corner of their lips.
Amongst the crowd, Pang Yu and Dai Shanni, who both possessed a superb talent martial spirit stared at Huwang Xiao with disbelief.
At this time, Bai Shou struggled into a standing position at the edge of the stage, wobbling unsteadily. Wiping off blood at the corner of his lips, it was difficult to conceal the fear in his eyes as he stared at Huwang Xiao.
“I throw in the towel!” Climbing up from the ground, he shouted in panic without waiting for Huwang Xiao to make another move.
Admitting defeat!
Without a doubt, this brought another wave of excitement across the
crowd.
Huwang Xiao walked off the stage after the judge announced that he won the match and returned to his seat. On his way over, he ignored Cui Li’s exuberant stare as her eyes followed him with burning intensity.
Ch.172
As Huwang Xiao took his seat, the gazes directed at him from the surrounding geniuses were filled with complicated feelings. Those that mocked and ridiculed Huwang Xiao earlier had clamped their mouths shut. Their eyes occasionally glanced at Huwang Xiao with reverence, and hidden deep within them were faint traces of regret and trepidation.
The instant Huwang Xiao sat down, Cui Li moved so close to Huwang Xiao that she appeared to be draping her entire being over his arm. Her breathy voice gasped, “Xiao, you were so powerful just now!”
So powerful just now!
These words sounded so ambiguous.
Some nearby geniuses felt a warm sensation in their nostrils hearing this sentence. Touching their nose, red warm sticky liquid stained their fingers—they all had nose bleeds!
Huwang Xiao looked over at Cui Li and discovered that her breasts were nearly resting on his arms.
Before the match started she referred to him as ‘Little brother Xiao’, and now she dismissed the words ‘Little brother’, moving directly to calling him Xiao!
Huwang Xiao looked away after staring at Cui Li for a second, not speaking one word.
“Xiao, if you meet me later on the stage, you cannot bully me!” Cui Li insisted in a spoiled little girl manner as she moved closer. That soft, coquettish voice made male hearts itch to agree with whatever she asked or demanded.
At the same time, Huwang Xiao felt something soft brush against his arm.
Something very, very soft.
Not needing to look, he already knew what that ‘something’ was.
Even for someone like Huwang Xiao, he could not stop a tinge of red creeping up his face. After all, this was a public place.
From her outside appearance Cui Li seemed sweet and innocent, he really did not expect her nature to be so… ?!
Just when Huwang Xiao was considering whether he should change his seating, Cui Li suddenly straightened her body. Flashing Huwang Xiao a sweet smile she said, “I was just joking with you just now.” Her giggle, along with every other little gesture screamed purity and innocence.
On the stage, the seventh round battles had begun.
Surprisingly, Yanggang was placed into the seventh round battles. His token number was seventy-two, thus he walked towards the same battle stage as Huwang Xiao, battle stage number two.
Seeing Yanggang going up the stage, the crowds discussions about Huwang Xiao quieted down, diverting their focus to watch Yanggang’s battle.
Yanggang’s opponent was also a Xiantian First Order expert named Chen Chaoguang, and this person had the same martial spirit as Fei Hou, a Silver River!
When Chen Chaoguang summoned his martial spirit, Huwang Xiao was stunned for a second.
However, on closer observation, Chen Chaoguang’s Silver River was much weaker compared to Fei Hou’s, reaching a strengthening ability of only up to five times.
Chen Chaoguang wasted no time in activating the five times martial spirit strengthening after summoning his Silver River martial spirit, increasing his momentum to the limit and launching an attack on Yanggang.
Chen Chaoguang’s weapon of choice was a long whip, reaching thirty to forty meters in length as it shot out, sharp bone spurs trailed along the whip’s spine. In Chen Chaoguang’s hands, the long whip turned into a poisonous snake, winding around Yanggang. The bone spurs enlarged akin to the poisonous teeth of a giant snake with its jaw opened wide.
Watching as the long whip shot towards him, Yanggang snickered condescendingly as he lifted one of his hands and slammed it down above the whip. Before the spectators stunned eyes, the long whip was frozen into solid ice. In an instant, it cracked and lumps of ice fell onto the stage floor!
The crowd was in awe.
Huwang Xiao nodded appreciatively internally to himself.
Turning everything to ice with a single wave, the power of this Yanggang’s ice-frost was indeed notable.
Without further suspense, the result of that battle was announced moments later. Chen Chaoguang was sent flying with an effortless palm strike from Yanggang, falling out of the battle stage area. When Chen Chaoguang landed on the ground, his body was enclosed within a thin layer of ice, having turned green and was constantly shivering from the cold.
From beginning to end, Yanggang did not summon his martial spirit.
While the crowd was in the throes of excitement, Yanggang walked down from the stage and went back to his seat. On the way back he shot a provocative look in Huwang Xiao’s direction.
Huwang Xiao gave no reaction.
, it was token number eighty-one to ninety. Two more rounds of battles and the first tier of battle would end.
A short while later, all one thousand three hundred and sixty-two geniuses completed their first round of battles with half of them eliminated, hence only six hundred eighty-one were left.
The remaining three people that possessed superb talent martial spirit, Cui Li, Pang Yu, and Dai Shanni all displayed incredible strength and power, defeating their opponents with ease and progressing into the next round.
Just as before, half of the people drew lots. With one odd person out in six hundred and eighty-one people, the person who drew a blank lot got to move onto the next round without participating in the current rounds battles.
Whether it was a coincidence or deliberate arrangement by Duanren Empire’s people, the person who drew the blank lot was Xie Puti. Therefore, without needing to battle anyone, Xie Puti gained the qualification to enter the third round.
Huwang Xiao drew number eighty-six, but the opponent this time was not a Xiantian realm expert. Instead, it was peak late-Tenth Order warrior, a young man from White Deer Kingdom called Deng Tang.
When Deng Tang discovered his opponent was Huwang Xiao, he turned deathly pale. After summoning his martial spirit the moment he got onto the stage, he soul transformed and launched his strongest skill at Huwang Xiao.
His plan was to catch Huwang Xiao unprepared, taking the initiative and striking first. His idea was a good one, but Deng Tang forgot one crucial point—as fast as his attack was, and as strong as his attack power might be, would there be any use to his efforts if he failed to break through Huwang Xiao’s defenses?
Almost within one breath’s time, he was sent flying off the stage with a single punch from Huwang Xiao.
Rounds progressed quickly and soon the second round was concluded.
With another half eliminated, three hundred forty people remained, adding Xie Puti, it was a total of three hundred forty-one people.
Still, with one odd man out, the same rule applied… and the person who drew the blank lot was Xie Puti once again.
At this point, everyone understood that this was Duanren Empire’s arrangement. Even so, no one complained.
After all, Xie Puti’s talent and strength were obvious to see.
As time passed, group after group went up and round after round of competition continued as the sun that was high in the sky slowly moved westward. The high heat of midday turned milder, dispersing slowly.
At sunset, the names of the top 100 participants were finally announced.
All six participants possessing superb talent martial spirit—Huwang Xiao, Xie Puti, Yanggang, Cui Li, Pang Yu, and Dai Shanni were listed among the top one hundred names.
On this first day of competition, these six people did not come across each other on the stage. This was very likely another one of Duanren Empire’s arrangements. The announcement marked the end of first day’s competition.
The Imperial City Battle took place over three consecutive days: the first day determined the top 100 places. The second day was a fight for the top ten. Lastly, the third day decided who would be number one!
The many spectating forces and commoners ma
de their way out of Duanren Square after hearing the first one hundred places results announced.
Though the first day’s competition may have ended, the atmosphere was still sizzling with excited discussions, but the main character discussed was neither Xie Puti nor Yanggang, it was Huwang Xiao!
In the morning before the competition started, Huwang Xiao was deemed as the one with the most unfavorable odds amongst the six people with superb talent martial spirit. But now, every little detail related to Huwang Xiao turned into a big topic.
For example: Huwang Xiao was only seventeen. Huwang Xiao’s martial spirit was a Primordial Divine Black Dragon. What was Huwang Xiao’s real strength? Some even went as far as comparing Huwang Xiao with Xie Puti and Yanggang.
Although no one was certain as to the extent of Huwang Xiao’s real strength, nearly everyone agreed that Huwang Xiao could definitely achieve a spot in the top ten.
Leaving Duanren Square, Huwang Xiao returned to Solitary Longing Inn with Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, and Fei Hou.
Darkness filled the night sky, yet Huwang Xiao had no chance to rest. Not long after returning to the inn, an uninvited guest appeared at his door.
It was Cui Li!
Ch.173
Cui Li arrived wearing an elaborate and formal looking outfit. It had a very wide and open collar, making her deep gorge hard to miss. Her small delicate face was pure, yet there was an inexplicable charm.
However, Cui Li did not come alone. Another woman of about twenty-four to twenty-five years old came along with her, whose appearance was absolutely stunning.
Similar to Cui Li, this woman was also wearing a wide-collared dress that was fuchsia in color, complimenting her fair skin. Her beauty was different from Cui Li’s. The kind of charm this woman emanated was bone deep and like that of a flaming rose.
When this two woman arrived, Huwang Xiao, Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, and Fei Hou were discussing the relocation of Nine Tripod Commerce over to Duanren Empire.
The moment they entered, Cui Li stuck herself onto Huwang Xiao in the blink of an eye, flashing a bright smile, “Xiao, come, let me introduce you. This is Sis Zhao Wuji, isn’t she beautiful? She is one of the famous four beauties in our Duanren Empire.”