Chapter 2202 - Double Standard

Yue Sanshan had been defeated in a single strike.

He fell to earth like a shooting star, filling the air with a cloud of dust.

When the crowd saw this, they almost dared not believe their eyes.

He said he’d give Xiao Jian three free attacks, but he couldn’t even take a single hit!

“So strong!”

Some of the older-generation cultivators could tell at a glance that Xiao Jian’s seemingly airy palm strike had been imbued with Laws of the Divine Dao and the power of his blood and qi. It was supremely, unyieldingly powerful and incomparably terrifying!

Had Yue Sanshan gotten complacent?

Perhaps.

Still, a peak Creation Realm outer sect elder like him had lost to a single palm strike. That was more than enough to prove Xiao Jian’s terrifying strength.

Li Yunxiao’s brow furrowed. Qian Hu’s eyes flashed. Every last god who’d come to challenge Su Yi was stunned, and all of them looked stricken.

Yue Sanshan had lost!

And in a single palm strike at that!

Xiao Jian had just overawed the crowd with a show of strength.

The onlookers were in uproar. Those disciples who’d come to watch the spectacle were all deeply shaken.

Is this the power of a descendant of the Torch Dragons? It really is terrifying!

“I told you not to underestimate Xiao Jian! If he hadn’t decided against accepting any further matches, he could have made it into the top ten of the Spring and Autumn Dao Assembly!” Ninth Elder Tie Wenjing said coldly. “Keep underestimating him, and you’re sure to wind up even more wretched than Yue Sanshan!”

Li Xiaoyun, Qian Hu, and the others’ expressions darkened. It seemed they’d been provoked.

“I refuse to accept this!” Yue Sanshan suddenly crawled out of the human-shaped crater and roared in fury. “He ambushed me before our battle even began. How despicable is that?”

His hair was disheveled, his face was black and blue, and his entire body was covered in dust. He looked utterly wretched, and his expression was hideously contorted.

It seemed he was beside himself with fury.

“Shameful!” Tie Wenjing pointed at Yue Sanshan. “Everyone saw what happened. A loss is a loss, yet here you are, throwing a tantrum. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Yue Sanshan quivered from head to toe, then turned to leave.

He’d really lost face this time. Word of how he’d lost to Xiao Jian was sure to spread throughout the sect before the day was through.

If he stuck around any longer, he’d only make a laughingstock out of himself.

“Wait!” Tie Wenjing roared. “Head straight to the Celestial Treasure Palace and have all of your merit points transferred to Xiao Jian!”

Yue Sanshan sputtered a series of expletives, then hurried away.

The crowd watched it all. Their expressions were a bit strange.

Yue Sanshan had come with some confidence and bluster, only to flee like a whipped dog. It was unquestionably ridiculous.

Meanwhile, the way they looked at Su Yi had shifted.

“Next.” Su Yi stood amidst the sea of clouds, his white robes fluttering around him. He said leisurely, “The rest of you should wait in line and make sure you’re ready.”

“...” The crowd didn’t know what to say. All of them could sense how domineering and tyrannical this descendant of the Torch Dragons was!

“Hmph! Allow me!” Qian Hu shot into the air and blurred into a beam of red light.

Boom!

His ten-foot frame erupted with stinging, blood-red light, and his ferocious aura swept out like waters at high tide. It was as if he’d transformed into a god of slaughter!

His dense, bloody, baleful energy even transformed into a divine ring. It hovered around him, reflecting visions of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Clang!

A deafening blast rang out, and a golden halberd appeared in Qian Hu’s grip. As soon as he took hold of his weapon, his ferocious aura swelled yet again!

The crowd was stunned.

Qian Hu was a fellow deacon of Wandering Night Palace, and more than that, he was one of Third Elder Ku Zhen’s confidants. He’d long since had the foundations needed to break into the Limit Realm and become a Mid-Rank God.

However, for the sake of tempering his powers of the Grand Dao, he’d suppressed his cultivation base for three thousand years. By now, although he’d yet to break through, he was among the ten strongest Creation Realm gods in all of Qingwu Divine Court!

When they saw Qian Hu’s ferocious aura, even many of the older-generation cultivators were stunned.

“That’s the Sky-Dazzling Halberd, an Epoch Treasure, and one of the sect’s supreme legacies, the Murderous Blood Ring! He cultivates the Laws of Melting Blood, and he condensed a first-level Godhead! Qian Hu has clearly decided to fight with all he’s got. He’s treating Xiao Jian like a powerful enemy!” whispered one of the sect’s old-timers.

“This is sure to be a fierce battle.”

“Xiao Jian is a descendant of the Torch Dragons, so he has powerful divine abilities. I’m just not sure whether he’ll be a match for Qian Hu or not.”

As Tie Wenjing listened in on the crowd’s conversations, he recalled Su Yi’s performance in the Spring and Autumn Dao Assembly.

The Spring and Autumn Dao Assembly is a gathering of the most unparalleled figures in the Southern Flame Divine Continent, but Xiao Jian managed to stand out even there. How could he possibly be a pushover? I’m afraid... that Qian Hu won’t have any advantage whatsoever!

As Tie Wenjing reached this conclusion, Qian Hu attacked directly without a word.

Kaboom!

He swung the Sky-Dazzling Halberd, filling the skies with bloody, baleful energy.

The dome of heaven shook, and the power of a formation appeared. This was the defensive formation placed over the Qingwu Divine Mountains. Qian Hu’s attack had actually stirred it into action!

Everyone who witnessed Qian Hu’s attack felt a prickling pain in their eyes. All of them were stunned, no exceptions.

The destructive power of this strike was simply too terrifying!

In the face of this attack, Su Yi erupted with the full power of his Torch Dragon bloodline, then charged into the fray, fists swinging.

Clang!!

He blocked the Sky-Dazzling Halberd, producing a heaven-shaking blast and a wave of destructive power on impact.

An illusory Torch Dragon manifested behind Su Yi, followed by a curtain of seemingly endless darkness. It blanketed the sky and blotted out the sun.

It was like the descent of an eternal night. Everything went black before the crowd’s eyes. It wasn’t just their vision, either; even their divine senses were affected. It was as if they stood in endless darkness. All of them were unwittingly horrified!

“Die!” Qian Hu bellowed and swung his halberd in a frenzy, the very picture of a god of slaughter.

Su Yi never once avoided his attacks. Instead, he fought with all his might and clashed with Qian Hu head-on.

He was, if anything, even more domineering than Qian Hu. He fought barehanded, but the power of his blood and qi connected heaven and earth. With every punch he threw, the sky collapsed, and everything shook violently on all sides.

Qian Hu was frenzied and fierce, but even he was gradually forced back.

Before long, a massive impact rang out, and the Sky-Dazzling Halberd flew from his grip, its wails shaking the heavens. Qian Hu coughed up blood and retreated in horror.

But it was then that Su Yi leaped through the air, his fist like a mallet beating a heavenly drum.

It was indistinct, but Qian Hu caught a glimpse of a roaring Torch Dragon within the descending fist force.

Bang!!!

Qian Hu’s defensive Dao Light split and fell apart one inch at a time, and the arms he’d raised to defend himself shattered.

As fresh blood splattered the air, Qian Hu cried out in agony and slammed back down to earth, hard. He left a human-shaped crater in the ground, just as Yue Sanshan had before him.

A deathly silence fell over the crowd. Even the birds ceased their song.

Everyone was overcome with astonishment.

Qian Hu lost! Xiao Jian repeatedly forced him back in a head-on confrontation, crushing all of his attacks!

Qian Hu, meanwhile, lay there in the crater, arms shattered. He was sprawled out like a dying toad, convulsing from head to toe and repeatedly coughing up blood.

Meanwhile, Su Yi stood amidst the turbulent sea of clouds, his white robes still perfectly pristine. Bathed in the light of the heavens, he seemed as grand and unshakable as a solitary mountain!

As the crowd watched in astonishment, Su Yi’s voice rang out once more. “Next.”

Everyone instinctively glanced at Li Xiaoyun, only to discover that his expression had shifted dramatically. He looked utterly solemn.

There was no doubt about it. Witnessing Yue Sanshan and Qian Hu’s defeats had put an enormous amount of pressure on the sect leader’s seventh legacy disciple. He could no longer remain composed.

“Who’ll be the third to fight Xiao Jian?” Li Xiaoyun looked at the others who’d come here to “visit” Spirit Bamboo Peak.

Some of them avoided his gaze, while others looked uncomfortable. Others simply fell silent.

It would have been obvious to anyone that Xiao Jian’s successive victories and his display of unparalleled strength had intimidated his remaining challengers!

Even Li Xiaoyun was afraid of him now. Were he at all confident in his victory, he’d be stepping forth to fight now. Why would he bother asking if anyone else wanted to do battle next?

“According to the sect’s rules, once you’ve decided to challenge someone, you cannot change your mind. If you do, you’ll be punished, and you’ll have to pay the corresponding price!” said Tie Wenjing. “And of course, if you flee from battle, you’ll only bring shame upon yourself.”

It might have sounded like a well-intentioned warning, but he was really just telling the gods who’d come to challenge Su Yi that they couldn’t back down now. They had no choice but to fight him!

The way the crowd looked at Li Xiaoyun and the other challengers shifted slightly.

They’d come here with such bluster and arrogance, clearly intent on making trouble, but Xiao Jian was far, far stronger than the rumors suggested!

“I don’t need the reminder, Ninth Elder. Even if we’re defeated, we won’t shrink back!” Li Xiaoyun snorted coldly, then took to the skies and arrived beneath the dome of heaven.

He was obviously a bit stronger than Qian Hu, and when he attacked, he immediately used the forbidden technique he kept in reserve.

He fought like his life was on the line!

Su Yi wasn’t at all polite either. He unleashed the Curtain of the Silent Night, the Breath of the Torch Dragon, and other such taboo divine abilities. Before long, he'd smoothly suppressed Li Xiaoyun.

There was no suspense whatsoever.

Deathly silence descended over the crowd.

They weren’t astonished like they’d been before. After all, by now, they’d seen Su Yi’s strength for themselves. Still, when they saw the sect leader’s seventh legacy disciple defeated before Spirit Bamboo Mountain, they couldn’t help but be rueful.

There were lots of Creation Realm Lesser Gods in Qingwu Divine Court, but only a handful were truly elite.

Li Xiaoyun was one of them.

His defeat proved that Xiao Jian was also one of the mightiest Creation Realm Lesser Gods in the sect!

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“How about... you just admit defeat?” Su Yi gazed down at his remaining challengers.

His tone was utterly disdainful.

“Xiao Jian, you’re far too arrogant! Do you really think you can scare us off?” someone roared in fury and charged into the heavens.

However, in the blink of an eye, he was suppressed and sent plummeting down to earth.

“Don’t overestimate yourselves. Any further stubbornness will only embarrass you even further,” Su Yi said calmly.

The gathered experts’ expressions shifted.

“Xiao Jian, there are times when it’s best to show leniency. You’ve already proven your strength. Must you push them further?” said an old man. “Here’s a word of advice. You’d best stop here. Otherwise, you’ll only offend everyone.”

Many others chimed in to voice their agreement.

But Su Yi just laughed dryly. “Did any of you try to dissuade them from challenging me before they came looking for trouble? Yet now, here you are, urging me to show mercy. Don’t you think your words are as worthless as farts?”

A burst of uproarious laughter followed. He was right! The old-timers’ double standards were blatant and shameless!