Chapter 3: Posturing? I Can Do That Too!
"Young Lord Gu, I hope you don"t mind this disciple"s actions. This Ye Chen doesn"t understand etiquette."
Gloom covered the Taixuan Holy Lord"s face as he spoke. He couldn"t help but signal towards the Elders of his Sect with a subtle wink while apologizing to Gu Changge.
All the guests were watching this farce with great excitement…his Taixuan Holy Land had never suffered such loss of face before!
"Holy Lord, please allow me to deal with this Ye Chen to present Young Lord Gu with our apology!"
Chu Xuan, the new Holy Son of the Taixuan Holy Land, took the lead in currying favor with Gu Changge. He had started to move before he finished his words. Magical runes flickered and appeared in his palms as he launched a probing attack towards Ye Chen.
[Boom!]
A deep explosion thundered in the hall. The runes in Chu Xuan"s hands merged and transformed into a terrible flash of lightning that resembled a roaring dragon.
As the Holy Son of the Taixuan Holy Land, he was naturally a cut above the rest when compared to his peers. Ye Chen, on the other hand, was nothing but a nameless Inner Sect Disciple. The disparity between the two was like a bottomless chasm, so how could Ye Chen be Chu Xuan"s opponent?
Runes flashed around and spectral rays of light blinded the onlookers as they watched the battle.
The stronger existences in the hall, including the Taixuan Holy Land, didn"t care about the outcome of the battle though. In their opinion, Ye Chen"s defeat was a forgone conclusion.
Thankfully, it wasn"t a matter where they would need to take action, or they wouldn"t have a place to hide their faces. After all, there were many people from the other Holy Lands and major Clans among the guests who came to observe the Coronation Ceremony.
The Taixuan Holy Lord didn"t want to add on to the humiliation.
"Good, let"s fight it out then!"
Ye Chen, on the other hand, welcomed the battle with great excitement. He wasn"t afraid in the least! His aura surged and he met his adversary"s palm with a palm attack of his own.
"This Ye Chen really doesn"t understand the immensity of the Heavens! Isn"t he just overestimating himself and looking for death?"
The Inner Sect Disciples in the audience ridiculed with disdain.
"The Holy Son Chu Xuan is half-step into the Transcendent Realm, while this Ye Chen is merely in the Spirit Palace Realm, and that"s without taking into account the Holy Son"s [h.e.l.l Thunder Divine Physique]…"
"The outcome is already set in stone…"
The disciples concluded one after another — every single one of them felt that Ye Chen was courting death.
In the next moment, flames surged and thunder crackled. Extreme heat met with a brilliant flash to birth a resounding boom.
In the aftermath, Chu Xuan"s body trembled and he felt a numbing sensation throughout his body. Ye Chen, on the other hand, stood still with a confident expression, resembling a young G.o.d of Fire.
"What?!"
"He"s that strong…"
Light flickered in the eyes of various female disciples as they watched Ye Chen"s captivating figure. His strength exceeded their expectations — it shocked a lot of the observers.
In that palm exchange, it could be seen that the two had rivaled each other without much difference.
"Ye Chen"s cultivation is only at the Spirit Palace Realm, yet he"s able to block the Holy Son"s blow, who"s half-step into the Transcendent Realm? "
All the disciples and Elders were stunned by the outcome.
The result even shook the Taixuan Holy Lord, who had watched the exchange with a sullen expression.
After all, Chu Xuan was born with the [h.e.l.l Thunder Divine Physique], and could easily contend against cultivators above his own Realm. Few could rival him in his generation. And yet, he failed to finish someone like Ye Chen, who was almost an entire Realm below him, in a single blow?
Could this Ye Chen"s potential be even stronger than Chu Xuan"s? How come they hadn"t discovered his talent until now?
Of course, if one asked who among the observers wasn"t surprised by this turn of events, then the answer would be…Gu Changge!
Ye Chen was a Favored Son of Heaven, after all.
Proving others wrong and slapping their faces was the norm for his kind, after all.
Gu Changge slowly took another sip of his tea.
Without a hurried tone, he spoke up.
"You seem to have quite the trust in this Ye Chen"s ability?"
Su Qingge turned her head when the words fell into her ears. Her calm figure couldn"t help but tremble, spreading a burst of elegant fragrance of orchids in the surroundings.
She didn"t speak up, but her subtle movements exposed what went through her mind.
Gu Changge stared at her with his deep gaze, and smiled, "The way you try to act calm…isn"t it to make me think you have nothing to do with this Ye Chen? Are you afraid I will deal with him?"
"How cunning you are, woman."
With a few words, he had revealed her parlor trick.
Su Qingge felt that this man right now was more difficult to deal with than she had thought, and this fact made her feel even more uneasy than when he had an indifferent expression.
Still, she pursed her lips and made sure not to utter any words.
Gu Changge, on the other hand, glanced down at his tea cup, and said with a flat tone, "It"s empty…"
Su Qingge turned to look at him, and then silently picked up the teapot to refill his cup.
"Interesting…"
Gu Changge spoke with a mysterious smile. It was as if he was talking to himself, but it also appeared as if his words were directed at Su Qingge.
Su Qingge"s hand holding the teacup quivered.
For Gu Changge, it was easy to pull out a few hundred examples of such a well-weathered cliche and plot. The reason behind Ye Chen"s sudden anxiety today was purely generated by the fact that he overheard that the Taixuan Holy Lord"s personally sent his daughter over to Gu Changge"s room last night.
What he didn"t know was that Gu Changge"s Original had an indifferent disposition, only focused on his Cultivation, so he didn"t even bother to touch Su Qingge.
From the events that lead to now, Gu Changge could easily see that this Su Qingge was one of those so-called Heroines.
And from the perspective of the plot, Ye Chen, someone who had risen up from a backwater place, crossed through hundreds of dynasties, and finally worshiped into the Taixuan Holy Land as a disciple, was the Protagonist. In fact, the plot should have progressed to the mid-point of his story.
After all, Su Qingge had prodigious talent, a gorgeous face and figure, and the ident.i.ty of being the Taixuan Holy Land"s Holy Maiden. More than that, she was smart.
She knew that if Ye Chen were to face off against Gu Changge, he would be like an egg smashed into a rock. For that reason, she didn"t try to ask him for lenience towards Ye Chen — that would only make him, Gu Changge, despise Ye Chen even more.
The best way for her, then, would be to act with indifference towards everything that went on to show Gu Changge that she had nothing to do with Ye Chen.
If such a woman wasn"t the Heroine, then who was?
What a pity for her that Gu Changge had already seen through it all.
It was as if he had an omnipotent perspective through which he watched the world. What"s more? Now that Gu Changge knew he was the villain, he had no intention to let Su Qingge get away from his grasp.
A melon plucked by force might not be sweet, but it could still quench one"s thirst.
"I underestimated you!"
Taixuan Holy Son, Chu Xuan, spoke with a cold tone. His posture showed that he still wanted to continue the battle. After all, he would be an embarra.s.sment if he couldn"t take down this Ye Chen when everyone, especially Gu Changge, watched him.
But, by now, Gu Changge had already appeared beside them and waved his hand to stop his actions.
"How dull."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Ye Chen froze in stupefaction.
"However, since this matter is related to me, I won"t trouble Holy Son Chu Xuan anymore."
Gu Changge added while his gaze landed upon Ye Chen"s face.
"Your fearlessness…is it out of ignorance?"
Gu Changge muttered, and then his gaze fell.
In the next moment, a majestic force descended upon the hall as if the sky had burst open. A terrible tempest swept through everything as runes flashed and spirit energy quivered.
Everyone felt deep terror rising from the depths of their souls, to the point that even some Elders couldn"t help but be shocked.
"Is this Young Lord Gu"s true power, huh…"
The Taixuan Holy Lord also turned serious.
[Bang!]
As the main target of the force, Ye Chen"s complexion drastically changed and his face paled; his legs softened and he knelt on the ground in the next moment. Even with his hands pushing against the ground, he could barely keep his head from touching the floor.
He was squashed.
No matter how he contacted the Master in his ring, it made no difference.
‘How is he so strong…"
Ye Chen used all his might to raise his head and stared at the man dressed in white looking down on him as if he was watching an ant. Ye Chen couldn"t believe what happened — he was unwilling to accept such a result.
‘Posturing? I can do that too!"
Gu Changge had an indifferent, lofty expression, but he sneered in his heart. There wasn"t much to think about the result of the previous battle. If he let that go on, Ye Chen would easily defeat Chu Xuan and strongly slap everyone in the face.
Next, Ye Chen would take the opportunity to challenge him and make some kind of bet on a battle in the future. Won"t that be an easy win for him with that Powerful Grandpa in his ring?
It was quite a nice setting.
Alas! He was a Transmigrator, and one that came over with a cheat of his own!