Qiu Yan stood on the combat ring with an icy cold expression and his hands crossed before his chest, and he felt extremely enraged in his heart.

Since last night, the bet relating to the competition between him and Chen Xi had given rise to much discussion and all the scenes that occurred in the Viburnum Restaurant had even been recorded with Mirage Jade Slips by busybodies, and they spread it throughout Azure County City.

His name and Chen Xi’s seemed to have grown wings as they flew into the ears of every single cultivator, causing him to be like a glittering crystal everywhere he went and receive the attention of everyone.

Being the center of attention was a feeling that many people yearned to obtain for their entire lifetimes, yet Qiu Yan only felt humiliation, boundless humiliation.

He felt as if all of this was undisguised ridicule towards him, and he even suspected that many people felt he was incapable of defeating an initial-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator!

This feeling caused him to be exceedingly enraged, yet he didn’t get carried away by the flames of rage in his heart. Since those two drop dead gorgeous young women actually took out 100,000 and 200,000 Nascent Condensation Pills, they were surely not acting on impulse, so he’d decided that once the competition began, he would use his most formidable killing move to defeat his opponent in a single move. In this way, no matter what ability his opponent possessed, his opponent would absolutely be unable to execute it and lose without a doubt.

All in all, he would absolutely not allow any accidents from happening, otherwise, he would become a humongous joke and become the joke countless people laughed about after their meals...

Hmm? Why hasn’t that fellow come yet? Qiu Yan frowned and couldn’t help but think with ill will. Could it be that this fellow saw that the circumstances weren’t good and has withdrawn from the competition voluntarily?

When he thought up to here, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but be suffused with dense disdain. Looks like I’ve looked too highly upon my opponent, and he actually doesn’t even have the courage to participate. He’s truly a piece of trash.

“Combat Ring 16, Chen Xi, if you don’t ascend the ring within the time of three breaths, then you will be taken to have voluntarily given up on in the competition.” At the side of the combat ring, the Rebirth Realm cultivator who presided over the competition spoke with a deep voice that sounded out into the surroundings.

“Haha! I knew it! How could a fellow at the initial-stage of the Golden Core Realm be a match for Brother Qiu Yan? Look, look! He doesn’t even have the courage to participate, he’s truly a piece of trash!”

“Brother Qiu Yan can finally wash away his shame now and walk with his head held high. It’s just a pity that the person those two beauties took a fancy to last night is actually a worthless wretch. Alas, what a pity.”

“What’re you feeling pity for? This fully proves that Brother Qiu Yan is one with great luck. He doesn’t even have to move a finger in the first round of the competition, and not only has he won the competition, his reputation has been spread as well. It can be said to be killing two birds with one stone, and it’s truly a cause for envy.”

Qiu Yan’s group of good friends were gathered before the combat ring, and when they saw Chen Xi hadn’t made an appearance after so long, they started making a clamor and laughing at Chen Xi.

Some cultivators had originally acted upon hearing about the news and had crowded around here since long ago, as they wanted to witness this competition and bet that had given rise to much discussion. Yet never had they imagined that the main participant of this battle hadn’t made an appearance even until now, and they couldn’t help but be greatly disappointed and shake their heads as they sighed endlessly.

Right at this moment, someone suddenly exclaimed in shock. “Quickly, look over there!”

Everyone was stunned and looked over in unison, and they saw a tall figure hurrying over here. But this wasn’t the main point, the main point was that behind this fellow were two drop dead gorgeous young woman that were cheering for him, and their clear and melodious voices could be heard from extremely far away.

“Chen Xi, I’ve placed 100,000 on you, you have to compensate me for your entire lifetime if you lose!”

“Chen Xi, I’ll treat you to a meal and celebrate your victory after this competition ends.”

Everyone was in an uproar. The news that spread throughout the city last night is actually true. That initial-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator from the southern territory is really someone with good fortune in the affairs of love.

At the central seats of the spectating area, the Fourth Young Master of the Zhou Clan who wore a black embroidered cloak and was covered in an oppressive noble aura swept his gaze towards the distance, and his angular and defined face was suffused with a trace of shock. Why has this little girl Ya Qing come here as well? Eh, that young woman seems to be the eastern sea’s Mistwater Pavilion’s Zhen Liuqing. This woman is the one and only formidable figure that successfully cultivated the Stellar Aquamirror Arts in the Mistwater Pavilion. I never imagined that she has actually come as well. Interesting, too interesting... As he spoke, his gaze descended onto Chen Xi instead, and he withdrew his gaze after slightly sizing Chen Xi up. At the same time, his slanted brows knit together, and he seemed to be lost in thought.

“Miss Zhen wouldn’t have taken a fancy to Chen Xi, right?” On the other side, An Qianyu spoke with wonder.

“Who knows? Even though a figure like her who’s graceful like a swan is of the same generation as us, she absolutely can’t be treated lightly. I feel that there’s probably very few people that’re able to guess what she’s thinking.” Wang Daoxu shook his head and sighed, and his words vaguely praised Zhen Liuqing extremely highly.

“Look, Chen Xi has ascended the ring!” said An Qianyu.

————

Qiu Yan stared at Chen Xi with an extremely icy cold gaze, and if his gaze could kill, then Chen Xi would probably have already been killed countless times by him.

“You’re Chen Xi?” Qiu Yan spoke coldly. At this moment, he was reacting to what had happened. The reason this fellow hasn’t made an appearance for so long turns out to be that he was courting these two young women that are beautiful like flowers, yet he made me stand here like an idiot and suffer torment.

Chen Xi nodded inattentively as he was thinking about what had happened earlier. Ya Qing and Zhen Liuqing are too unusual today, what exactly has happened?

Qiu Yan’s expression became even more unsightly. Not only has this bastard made me wait bitterly for so long, he even disregards me like this. He’s simply going too far! Qiu Yan wished for nothing more than for the competition to start right away, and then he would chop this damnable bastard into two with a single chop of his axe!

“You’re allowed to use any offensive ability in the first round of the competition. If someone admits defeat, then you’re disallowed from launching another attack. If one withdraws from the combat ring, then one will be instantly judged as having lost. If...” The Rebirth Realm cultivator that presided over the combat ring was a middle aged man, and he read the rules of the competition aloud with an indifferent expression.

Qiu Yan took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the flames of rage in his heart. He told himself that he had to be calm and must not allow himself to be angered by this bastard to the point of losing his calm. Perhaps this was precisely a psychological tactic of his opponent, and he must not fall into his opponent’s trap.

But when he unintentionally swept the surroundings of the combat ring, he kept having the feeling that every single gaze towards him from the dense crowd was filled with ridicule, and it was as if they were looking at a joke.

Annihilate my opponent with a single strike!

I must annihilate this bastard with a single strike!

Qiu Yan took a deep breath once more and lowered his head. He was afraid that if he were to continue looking at Chen Xi’s detestable face, he would be unable to endure the flames of rage in his heart and swing out with his axe.

There’s killing intent! Chen Xi awoke from his deep thought before taking a glance at his opponent, and he couldn’t help but frown. This fellow seems to be filled with killing intent towards me.

The Rebirth Realm cultivator that presided over the competition had finally finished announcing the rules, and then his figure flashed to withdraw from the combat ring before saying with a deep voice. “The competition begins!”

Qiu Yan raised his head as the rage and fury that was suppressed for a long time in his heart erupted, and the aura around his body skyrocketed like an enraged wild beast that revealed its fangs and intended to swallow its prey.

Bang!

The enormous axe in Qiu Yan’s hand transformed into the size of a hill with a bang, and then a violent and murderous energy of Dao Insight whistled as it coiled around the surface of the head of the axe, and the destructive energy emitted from it could be felt clearly from 3km away.

“Bastard! Fuck off from the combat ring for your Grandpa Qiu! Axe Annihilation!” Qiu Yan shouted out explosively as he took a step forward, and then enormous axe that was like a hill chopped down from midair with a shockingly imposing aura. It seemed like a savage beast that poured down from the nine heavens, while carrying a peerless powerful strength that was overbearing to the extreme.

This was his trump card, and he would utterly not utilize it unless it was a moment of life and death. It was even to the extent that even his family and friends didn’t know of the existence of this move.

But at this moment, for the sake of avoiding himself from becoming a joke in the Goldlake Meeting and for the sake of blasting this damnable bastard before him out of the combat ring with a single move, he couldn’t care so much about anything else.

As expected, when they saw Qiu Yan execute this move, everyone in the surroundings of the combat ring had expressions of shock. This move contained violent Earth Dao Insight, and the head of the axe was like a hill that crushed the sky. Obviously, it was an extremely formidable Dao Grade martial technique, and its might was probably something that even a perfection-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator wouldn’t dare take head on.

This fellow has exerted his full strength right off the bat. Could it be that he wants to defeat his opponent with a single move? Chen Xi is probably in danger. Qiu Yan was already an advanced-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator, and he utilized his trump card at the instant he made a move. Any initial-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator would probably be unable to resist it... At this moment, practically everyone understood Qiu Yan’s thoughts and intentions, and they couldn’t help but admire Qiu Yan’s resoluteness and decisiveness in doing things.

“Supposedly, Qiu Yan is a disciple of the central plains’ Longevity County’s Qiu Clan, and he possesses extraordinary natural talent and rather outstanding strength. But unfortunately, the Qiu Clan lost the true inheritance of the Mountain Shaking Seven Axes a thousand years ago. Otherwise, the might of this strike would at least be increased by double.” Zhen Liuqing had always been paying attention to the battle here, and when she saw Qiu Yan’s strike, she couldn’t help but recall some of the books she’d seen in the sect’s Treasure Pavilion.

The Mountain Shaking Seven Axes was an extremely formidable Dao Grade martial technique. Supposedly, it came from a formidable sect in the primordial era, the Mountain Shaking Axe Sect. The ancestor of the Qiu Clan was a disciple of the Mountain Shaking Axe Sect, and by relying on this axe technique, the Qiu Clan had once attained an extremely magnificent height in the Darchu Dynasty. But unfortunately, along with the true inheritance of this Dao Grade martial technique being lost, all its magnificence was blown away, causing the Qiu Clan to fall into decline.

“Since this Qiu Yan is capable of cultivating this Dao Grade martial technique to such an extent, he’s obviously an extremely formidable figure. He’s probably participating in the Goldlake Meeting for the sake of reviving his clan. But, unfortunately...his opponent is Chen Xi.” Zhen Liuqing sighed lightly and seemed to be sad that the brilliance of the Mountain Shaking Seven Axes was gone, and it had no inheritors any longer.

Dao Grade martial technique, Mountain Shaking Seven Axes? Wait, this move is obviously slightly incomplete, and it seems to be it, yet isn’t. But it’s more than enough to be utilized to deal with ordinary cultivators. If that kid doesn’t have any formidable abilities, he’ll probably lose to this move. In the distance, Young Master Zhou’s eyes narrowed as he noticed the might of this strike, and then his expression returned to normal before looking at Chen Xi with interest and seeming to want to see how Chen Xi would ward off this move.

It wasn’t just Young Master Zhou, everyone present had stared with eyes wide open and clenched their fists tightly, as they wanted to see how Chen Xi would ward off this strike, and they were only afraid they would miss any detail.

Chen Xi sensed the terrifying might contained within this strike as well, yet he didn’t defend against it, and he instead took the initiative to charge out!

Passively taking a beating wasn’t his style, not to mention even though Qiu Yan’s strike was formidable, it was full of flaws, and it was completely unable to do anything to him.

Swish!

Chen Xi didn’t utilize the Starsky Wings, yet he who’d combined the Wind Dao Insight and Sky Dao Insight seemed like a swift bolt of lightning and was like a practically translucent phantom, and his entire body vanished abruptly when Qiu Yan’s axe that contained Qiu Yan’s entire strength was only 3cm away from his head.

What a swift speed!

Everyone only felt something flash before their eyes before they lost Chen Xi’s figure and were unable to lock onto him any longer.

Clang!

A sword howl that was chilling like the depths of the ocean resounded out, and Qiu Yan’s face that was originally filled with confidence suddenly gushed out with a wisp of shock. Because in his constricted pupils a tiny swift and ghastly sword light had appeared to his shock, and it pierced his eyes to the point it hurt as if they were pierced by needles.

Shit!

Qiu Yan’s reaction was extremely swift, and he didn’t hesitate in the slightest to smash out with his palm as the enormous axe in his right hand circled around with the intention of exterminating this sword light. However, right when these movements of his were executed halfway, he instantly froze on the spot.

A sword was less than 3cm away from his throat. The fierce sword qi that was condensed within it caused a layer of icy coldness to arise on his throat, and it froze his blood.

There was never a moment that Qiu Yan felt death was so close to him, whereas, besides astonishment, there was unwillingness and frustration in his heart. Why is it like this? My trump card has been so easily dodged?

The crowd in the surroundings of the combat ring were dumbstruck from this scene. The outcome had indeed been decided in a single move, yet the loser had become Qiu Yan, and this was something that they’d never ever imagined.

Only Wei Feng and Zhong Liao glanced at each other and weren’t too surprised. Only after one fought Chen Xi would one understand how terrifying he was, and if one only paid attention to his cultivation yet overlooked his combat technique and comprehension of Dao Insight, then one would absolutely be courting death. After all, cultivation was only one aspect that affected the battle, and it was especially so under the circumstances that one’s comprehension in Dao Insight wasn’t much different.

“You’ve lost.” Chen Xi put away the Talisman Armament as he spoke.

“Impossible! You only have a cultivation at the initial-stage of the Golden Core Realm. How could you possibly defeat me?” Qiu Yan’s stared his eyes wide open as he muttered to himself.

“When you stop paying attention solely to cultivation during a battle, you’ll naturally understand the reason.” Chen Xi thought for a moment, and felt that this fellow was rather pitiable, so he explained patiently.

“I admit defeat.” Qiu Yan stood there staring blankly for a long time before slowly walking down the combat ring, and he felt that his actions from before were indeed a humongous joke...