Chapter 55 – I Will Defeat You
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Master Shadow
“That’s the gap between us,” Xiao Yun replied as he looked at Zhou Lin seriously. “Do you want to fight with me again?”
As the youth spoke, a formless pressure emanated from him, bringing with it a sharp and murderous aura. Anyone who felt this would feel their soul trembling – this was the air of someone who had killed many people and had a river of blood in their hands. After Xiao Yun ventured to the Violet Cloud Mountain, he had killed tens of people.
“I&h.e.l.lip;” Zhou Lin shuddered; it was as if he was facing a demon. He felt a sense of fear within him, and his look of unacceptance quickly disappeared. After all, Zhou Lin had not experienced life and death battles before, and didn’t have the same mental fort.i.tude. As such, it was natural for him to back down when facing danger.
“I’ve lost,” Zhou Lin’s said in a powerless voice as his eyelids closed. It wasn’t just the effect of Xiao Yun’s aura – after calming down, he had noticed his injuries. In just that single attack from Xiao Yun, a few of his ribs had been broken.
“Xiao Yun has won and will move on to the next round!” one of the adjudicator announced in a loud voice. The man’s voice was low, but filled the entire arena so that everyone heard it.
“Xiao Yun won?” Hearing these words, everyone present was dumbfounded.
“He really regained his talent?”
“He defeated Zhou Lin so easily? Could it be that he can wipe out anyone at the early stage of the Innate realm?” This thought surfaced in countless people’s minds, and they no longer dared to look down on this youth. Based on the battle power he just displayed, he definitely wasn’t ordinary.
“This boy has such power?” On the platform, the cultivators from the large families all revealed looks of incredulity.
“Is this really Xiao Yun?” Madam Yan watched on with a look of shock. Over the past 2 years, Xiao Yun had frequently visited the Yan residence, and she was familiar with his status. How could it be that he had suddenly become a new person after a few months, and could even defeat the Zhou family’s genius in a single strike?
“Is this real?” Lin Xiao Man’s long eyelashes fluttered as she narrowed her eyes, a look of shock written all over her face. She never thought that Xiao Yun would actually be able to defeat Zhou Lin, and so easily at that.
Xiao Yun had attained victory almost as easily as breathing!
“See? I told you that big brother Xiao Yun would win.” Beside her, a pleased look appeared in Yan Shi Yan’s eyes as she gave a smile of delight.
“What are you so pleased about? He only beat Zhou Lin. See what happens when he fights young master Fang Hao.” Lin Xiao Man raised her eyebrows, a look of mockery in her eyes. However, when she looked at that youth in the distance with her eyes, there was a sense of shock within them.
“Has his talent truly returned?” Lin Xiao Man muttered inwardly.
“Haha, young master Xiao Yun has won.”
“Our Xiao family’s genius is finally back!”
“As long as we have young master Xiao Yun, our Xiao family will definitely prosper!” Xiao Yun’s victory caused the Xiao family’s people to be filled with excitement. Their blood seemed to boil, and they cried out in joy, as if they were venting out the emotions they had suppressed all these years.
The Xiao family had fallen silent for too long, to the point that Fang Hao dared to venture into their territory and mock them that they had no one decent. Now that Xiao Yun had regained his cultivation, the Xiao family saw a trace of hope.
“Who would have thought that Yun’Er would be so powerful.” A strange light shone in Xiao Hong’s eyes. He knew that for Xiao Yun to easily defeat Xiao Cheng, his talent had most likely returned and that he had probably stepped into the Innate realm. However, he never expected that Xiao Yun would defeat Zhou Lin so easily.
After all, Zhou Lin was the Zhou family’s genius, and was quite famous within the Violet Cloud County!
“Haha, and those aren’t all of Xiao Yun’s abilities,” Xiao Hai said as he laughed.
“Oh?” A confused look appeared on Xiao Hong’s face, “Not all of Xiao Yun’s abilities?”
Could it be that this wasn’t Xiao Yun’s limit? This caused him to feel stunned.
“Just wait and see.” Xiao Hai calmly smiled, seeming mysterious.
Although there were many questions within Xiao Hong’s heart, he didn’t continue asking. Apart from Xiao Hai, very few other people knew that Xiao Yun knew how to refine pills.
As the Xiao family’s people cheered loudly, the Fang family’s people’s faces darkened.
“Who would have thought that brat actually regained his talent,” Fang Wei said as he frowned.
The other Fang family’s youths were also quite disgruntled about this. Three months ago, this youth had only been at the Sixth Layer of Body Tempering, and they had called him trash. How could he attain such cultivation in just a few months and leave them so far behind?
“Looks like only young master Fang Hao will be able to deal with him,” a few of them sighed.
“Has this brat regained his talent?” The Fang family’s old patriarch also looked on with an expression of shock. However, he quickly regained his cool as a sinister and savage look appeared in his eyes.
Xiao Yun went down from the stage and went to draw lots again.
Fang Hao, who had long since been done, gave a provocative smile.
‘I’ll show you what a real genius is’.
Xiao Yun completely ignored Fang Hao’s provocation. There was no use exchanging useless words now – the results were the best evidence.
Not too long after, the battles on the other stages reached their conclusion. The people who had advanced jumped onto the preparation stage and prepared to go into the next round. After this elimination round, there were 40 people left.
After drawing lots again, Xiao Yun was still not paired with Fang Hao.
This time, Xiao Yun’s opponent was a youth at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering. Before they even started fighting, his opponent resigned.
As time pa.s.sed, the compet.i.tion progressed, round by round.
On a stage, Xiao Qian was currently fighting with Fang Hao.
“Not bad – you’ve stepped into the early stage of the Innate realm. However, it’s a pity that this is far from enough,” Fang Hao said with a calm smile. He didn’t use his Martial Spirit, but instead used the Fang family’s Heavy Mountain Seal to defeat Xiao Qian instantly. The air his attack gave off made it seem simply unblockable.
“So I still can’t compare with him!” Xiao Qian fell to the ground, an expression of disappointment on his face.
He had long since stepped into the Innate realm, and after consuming the Congealing Qi Pill from Xiao Yun, he had reached the completion of the early stage of the Innate realm. Soon, he would be able to step into the middle stage of the Innate realm.
Even so, Xiao Qian still was not able to put up a fight against Fang Hao. What he felt was most difficult to accept was that Fang Hao hadn’t even used his Martial Spirit. This meant that Fang Hao was far superior to him!
“Xiao Qian has lost, and Fang Hao has won!” the adjudicator announced.
“Young master Fang Hao is mighty!”
“Victory is guaranteed for young master Fang Hao!” The Fang family’s people were ecstatic and incredibly excited.
“He should have reached the completion of the middle stage of the Innate realm,” Xiao Qian said to Xiao Yun after descending from the stage.
“That’s fine,” Xiao Yun calmly said with a shurg.
Seeing how confident Xiao Yun looked, Xiao Qian did not say anything and retreated.
The compet.i.tion continued to progress, and cultivators from the various families continued to be eliminated.
However, everyone still fought with all their strength, because the top 10 would each receive a Congealing Qi Pill. To the descendants of normal families, this sort of medicinal pill was a priceless treasure, a miracle medicine that they could only dream about.
Xiao Yun continued to defeat opponent after opponent until the end.
It just so happened that he and Fang Hao never managed to face off.
Until the very end.
“The grand final will be between Xiao Yun and Fang Hao!” the middle-aged adjudicator announced on the grand final stage with a hint of excitement. He seemed to be filled with expectation towards this battle.
“Who would have thought that Xiao Yun would be able to reach the grand final!”
Tens of thousands of fiery gazes fell on the youth. The people were unable to hide the respect and admiration they felt for him – in the eyes of the people present, this youth was truly the pride of the heavens.
From now onwards, no one would dare to say this youth was trash anymore.
After continuously defeating the geniuses from the various families and reaching the grand final, who would dare to still call him trash?
“This Xiao Yun reached the Innate realm from the Sixth Layer of Body Tempering in 3 months. Wouldn’t he be able to step into the True Essence realm after another few months?”
“You think stepping into the True Essence realm is so easy? That’s only possible if he joins the Heaven Origin Sect,” others coldly laughed.
“Haha, with young master Fang Hao present, how could Xiao Yun have the opportunity to enter the Heaven Origin Sect? Young master Fang Hao has a Martial Spirit!”
“That’s right. With a Martial Spirit, Fang Hao is destined to be far more powerful than others with the same cultivation.” The members of some families that had poor relations with the Xiao family took this opportunity to mock them. They didn’t want Xiao Yun to become any stronger, so they placed their hopes in Fang Hao.
On the platform, the elders of the various families looked towards the stage in expectation.
Only the Fang family’s old patriarch looked completely calm.
“He wants to enter the Heaven Origin Sect?” A trace of coldness appeared on Qiu Yu Chen’s lips.
“This is the grand final. The winner will have the right to proceed to the Heaven Origin Sect and take their examination,” the adjudicator said before leaving the stage, leaving only the two elegantly-poised youths staring down each other.
In that instant, the entire arena was sent into a frenzy.
Countless cultivators were yelling and cheering.
Everyone was wildly discussing who would be the champion.
One had been the pride of heaven, and was called a genius who would be difficult to find in a hundred years.
Although this youth had fallen into hard times, his talent had returned. Perhaps he would be able to become the champion.
The other was the current genius, had an Ice Martial Spirit that was admired by all, and had monstrous battle power. Could he suppress the genius from before and maintain his majesty?
The soundwaves were deafening and crashed like waves from the spectators.
Within all of this clamouring, the battle spirit within the two youth’s eyes increased as they continued to stare each other down. It seemed that they were both about to act.
“Who would have thought that trash like you would be able to make a comeback?” Fang Hao’s gaze was cold as he glared at the youth opposite him.
“There are rises and falls in life. So what if I was at the bottom of the gully for a while?” Xiao Yun narrowed his eyes, a calm smile on his face. “You only have an Ice Martial Spirit, and yet you think you’re invincible and act so arrogant? Today, I’ll defeat you and show you what a true genius is. In my eyes, you, Fang Hao, are nothing.”
“What haughty words.” Fang Hao raised his eyebrows with a look of condescension on his face as he coldly laughed, “You have merely stepped into the Innate realm – that’s something not worth even mentioning. Someone like you, who only has a trash Martial Spirit will never experience how powerful Martial Spirits can be. Today, I’ll cut off your future for you.”
As he spoke, a powerful pressure swept out from Fang Hao.