“Son of a bitch… You fuckin’ cheat…” All Luo Sanfeng could do was weakly speak these words, seemingly finding a reasonable explanation. His voice crowing, he pulled on Xu Yangyi’s hand that was gripping his throat. “That’s right! You’re cheating! You’re definitely cheating! There’s no way you can have such freakish strength!”

Xu Yangyi coldly looked at him but didn’t say anything. Waiting for Luo Sanfeng to finish his diatribe, he asked dimly, “Was it you?” 

Luo Sanfeng was dazed. Afterwards, although he couldn’t speak because his throat was being gripped, he glared daggers at Xu Yangyi like he wanted to devour him! Several seconds later, his entire face turned crimson as he choked. He gritted his teeth rigidly and shook his head, restraining his considerable grievances.

“Be glad.” Xu Yangyi looked at him for ten seconds and laughed. Without further hassle, he tossed Luo Sanfeng aside. “Otherwise, things wouldn’t be so simple as you lying down on the ground right now. My debt is quite expensive.”

This action had caused all the students to gasp coldly. Simultaneously, a numbing coldness began to creep upwards from the bottom of their hearts! They understood! They knew why Xu Yangyi was doing this! They finally became aware of why he’d failed to open the door while he was making a breakthrough! This man… had a demon in his heart! A bloodthirsty fiend!

Chu Zhaonan’s eyes turned red in excitement, yet the expressions of the two champions besides him who had mocked and ridiculed Xu Yangyi after he had failed to break through had become fairly unsightly in a matter of moments! 

Hadn’t they originally thought that Xu Yangyi was embarrassed? Didn’t he lack the nerve to meet people? Wasn’t his character weird? No, not at all, not whatsoever! On all accounts, absolutely not! Xu Yangyi… was only looking for a fair opportunity devoid of schemes to take action! He didn’t even want to privately talk things over with whoever it was. Moreover, he was a man that couldn’t be reasoned with!

He seemed like an emperor from ancient times. Whoever had committed offense, he would draw a ring and then strike indiscriminately towards whoever was inside the circle!

Xu Yangyi was undertaking the most practical action to tell everyone that he would personally find out who had severed his breakthrough! Who had done it wasn’t important anymore. He was venting his anger! He knew that the one who had plotted against him was among these thirteen people, yet he had no plan to strike down with precision! It was an attack without distinction! Each and every one of them would be sequentially beat up!

The several people who had originally slandered Xu Yangyi outside his stone door all happened to purse their lips at the same time. They were sitting down on the arena stage crossed-legged. Such a heart-shaking feeling was too uncomfortable… So uncomfortable that their hearts chilled!

“His data has already been computed, Minister!” At this moment, the assistant at Chu Tianyi’s side stopped his hand on his computer, and raised his sweat-drenched head. “Strength measures in at 1,872 kilograms! Speed was recorded at 40 meters per second!”

Chu Tianyi shut his eyes and lifted his hand. As a high-level government official that understood cultivators, he knew full well what these two figures entailed...

This was an absolutely fantastic seedl! To say that it was a prospective Foundation Establishment seed wouldn’t be an exaggeration! Not even to speak of the cultivation world’s cornerstone clans, a couple great powers would be stirred to their fullest as well! 

Nonetheless! He opened his eyes, revealing neither a trace of warmth or coldness, and stealthily glanced at Firecloud. No one knew what was inside that jade chest… except him! 

This treasure… Even if you are good seed! Even if you are a heavenly blessed talent! You would still be unsuited to obtain it!

“Strength approaches 1,900 kilograms! Speed is 40 meters per second!” As these figures appeared on many people’s computers, it was unknown how many complexions changed. There was excitement, exhilaration, and also a sigh of helplessness, a complexity of many feelings blended and combined together.

“This fist strength… This speed… This kid is only a step away from middle Qi Condensation! Heavens Law branch numbers sure can be fucking depended on!” A middle-aged woman slammed the handrail, with burning anxiety. She gritted her teeth. “Which clan doesn’t desire such a talent? If he goes to a cultivation clan, maybe he’ll obtain major assistance! Overwhelming resources support!”

“But…” Not so far away, an old man faintly sighed, “How can such a talent fancy the cultivation clans…? With the personnel of a couple major powers here, the more he displays his brilliance… the less likely he is to come to us…” 

“Yes… Perhaps they’ve already made prior contact. Such a talent has probably been selected already.”

Shadowslay and Firecloud didn’t speak, but they carried a trace of happiness in their eyes. At this moment, an extremely soft sound, but one that was crystal clear, entered everyone’s ears.

Crack… Crack… 

It was similar to a biscuit crumbling, yet as this sound echoed, everyone was of one heart as they looked at the surrounding stone steles with an incomparably fiery gaze!

This was a sound… that they couldn’t be considered familiar with since it had been far, far too long since it had appeared. And yet, they were exceptionally familiar with it! It was because when this sound emerged, it was the sure representation of a hero’s birth!

The arrival of a saint child! 

Firecloud, Shadowslay, Lilac, Hibiscus, and Vulture—the gazes the Big Three’s representatives and the Foundation Establishment cultivators—gathered on the steles above, without question. However, in the next second, the three recruiters, who were originally standing in shock, were unable to restrain the simultaneous fall of their jaws! 

Stone steles had cracked! Among the 120-plus stone steles, cracks appeared on twenty of them! On five of them, cracks began to frantically climb upwards and immediately covered their entire surfaces, in only a few seconds!

“Paragon of the 2009th graduation… Songdongyue City’s Zhang Yiheng…” An old ancestor stood up, his voice hoarse as he looked at the crack-covered stone stele.

“Paragon of the 2013rd graduation… Beijiangyuan City’s Mu Gaoping… Right now, he’s at initial Foundation Establishment, working at the CSIB. Ten years ago, he slew the old middle Foundation Establishment monster, B-rank listed Brilliant Moon… The bounty was… 2.72 billion…” On the other side, a seemingly fifty-year-old man said shakily in disbelief.

“Paragon of the 2071st graduation… Fengyi City’s Teng Xue… Initial Foundation Establishment… Currently the Featherwood Guard’s deputy commander of the Vermilion Bird Division… Nantong Province’s second bounty hunter unit… This… This…” Not too distant from the middle-aged man was an old woman propped on crutches. Because of the trembling on her wrinkle-covered face, the muscles on her face had balled into a tangle. 

“Paragon of the 1999th graduation, Yangming City’s Gu Feng of the Gu Clan… Presently, he’s the commander of the Capital Government’s Imperial City protectors, ‘the Yan-Huang Sentinels’, part of the CSIB cultivator organization. As a middle Foundation Establishment cultivator, he’s ranked seventh in martial contest…” Lilac looked at the five stone steles as the cracks on them became more numerous, and her heart leapt up to her throat. “Last month… he shut me out from making an official visit…”

[1]

Crumble…

 As the cracks multiplied, a tremendous boom rang out ten seconds later! The five stone steles had completely shattered apart! They transformed into specks of white light and faded away from the arena!

No one spoke. Not a person opened their mouth. Even Shadowslay and Firecloud didn’t know what to say at this moment. These weren’t just city champions… these were provincial paragons of their respective graduations!

There were many that they recognized! But below their eyes now, five stone steles of figures that they knew of had exploded into bits! In addition, twenty other stone steles were covered in cracks, shaking incessantly!

Rumble…

 The deep and low sound of the steles’ shaking seemed to echo in each person’s heart. No one had expected that in the first matchup, Xu Yangyi’s talent would surpass that of five past champions! The arts of Core Formation masters had judged Xu Yangyi’s displayed talent as being above these twenty-five people. This was above twenty-five provincial paragons of past generations!

The arena had become silent. The Qi Condensation cultivators had shaken themselves into speechlessness. The two Foundation Establishment cultivators also didn’t know what to say.

“Xu Yangyi.” 

Xu Yangyi cared nothing about this. Presently, he only cared about getting to the bottom of who it was that had dared to seal away the worldly qi as he failed to advance. It wasn’t until a voice echoed out did he gather his bearings.

This was because it was Firecloud’s voice. From shock, every person retrieved their attention. This was the first time a Foundation Establishment cultivator had spoken.

“Do you understand Foundation Establishment cultivators?” Firecloud’s smile carried a trace of gentleness. “Do you have one you admire…”

“No.” Firecloud’s voice yet to fall, Shadowslay’s voice calmly rang out. Firecloud suddenly looked over, and the duo’s gazes interlocked with each other so that sparks of fire could be felt in Firecloud’s eyes.

“Is Fellow Daoist Shadowslay backing out of his promise?” Firecloud laughed grimly. 

Shadowslay didn’t speak. It wasn’t until after a long time did he say coldly, “Your price isn’t enough for his talent.” 

“Oh?” Firecloud smiled. “I don’t want that small-scale spirit stone mine.” 

Extreme decisiveness!

Shadowslay was silent for a few seconds and looked at Firecloud seriously. “Fellow Daoist Firecloud, it’s not that I’m going back on my words, but I won’t let you have this seed. I cannot let you have him.” 

“You!” Firecloud’s thoughts spewed upwards like a backfire, but at the same time they were also extremely complicated. Who would’ve thought that although Xu Yangyi’s talents were less than Sunnihilator’s, he wasn’t lacking by any means! It could even be said Xu Yangyi was a talent towering far above the standard level! It had to be known that just now was only a life-death battle not worth mentioning! Xu Yangyi’s and Luo Sanfeng’s strengths had been of equal grades! 

But it was a steamroll! 

If… this graduation had someone comparable to Xu Yangyi in strength, both sides would truly explode with potential, and then perhaps…

Firecloud was extremely understanding that maybe… it wouldn’t only be a matter of twenty swaying stone steles and five shattered ones!

He turned his eyes towards the taciturn Chu Zhaonan. Finally, his eyes fell upon the holstered pistol at Chu Zhaonan’s waist. It was probable that perhaps a true clash of titans would occur between these two. A showdown between a tyrannosaurus rex in human form and Gun Kata, who would be the hunter? Who would be the hunted? 

Retracting his gaze, Firecloud mumbled to himself yet didn’t give up on his plans at all. As long as such a person stepped out of these doors, which power wouldn’t want him? Did he not notice that the eyes of the juniors from the Bountiful Treasures Pavilion, the Featherwood Guard, and the CSIB had turned green in desire? He sighed silently. Previously, he had believed Xu Yangyi wouldn’t be any match for Chu Zhaonan. His vision hadn’t even faltered over the other’s body. As a result...

“Fellow Daoist Firecloud.” Shadowslay understood this reasoning in kind and cupped his hands. “Let’s postpone this matter and wait until after the Qualifier. Then, everyone can rely on their own methods. How about it?”

Not waiting for Firecloud to speak, he waved his hand, his voice containing a rare softness. “Rest. In five minutes, the next lineup will be prepared.”

Firecloud kneaded his cheek muscles several times, but ultimately didn’t open his mouth again. The arena was clamoring, yet Shadowslay didn’t give it much thought. Instead, he waved his hand and eleven iron plates appeared. He casually grabbed two and his gaze slightly flashed. He softly rolled them in his hands, and snow-white rays of qi formed two names on the right and left sides in the air again. 

Tianfeng City, Chu Zhaonan.

Beijiangyuan City, Gao Ye.

Chu Tianyi set down his teacup and used his walking stick to stand up. As long as Chu Zhaonan raised his head, he would see Chu Tianyi’s figure.

However, Chu Zhaonan didn’t even raise his head. The arena had swiftly fallen into a calm, as if it was a sea where a storm had just passed moments ago. Everyone was making theories and discussing the battle that had just passed in an instant. No one would remember Luo Sanfeng’s name, but Xu Yangyi’s name had already been drawn in striking red by several major powers and some powerful cultivation clans. Such a feeling made Chu Zhaonan extremely unsettled.

1. 炎黃 - Yan-Huang Sentinels is the name I chose for this group. The thing is, it’s only supposed to be called “Yan-Huang”. Literally translated, it’s “Flame Yellow”, however, the true meaning, especially since they are supposed to be the protectors of the Forbidden City, refers to two famous emperors in Chinese history/myth Yan Di and Huang Di (Flame Emperor and Yellow Emperor).

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