Chapter 653: Voluntary Forfeit

In comparison, Ling Bi’er’s rather average draw luck had improved considerably. She actually drew an eighth level origin realm genius from a fifth rank sect as her opponent. It was a rare opportunity for Ling Bi’er to readjust her mentality.

Generally speaking, it was impossible for an eighth level origin realm genius from a fifth rank sect to compete against a peak ninth level origin realm genius from a fourth rank sect. Moreover, Ling Bi’er was currently in a state where she was on the verge of breaking through to sage realm. She was brimming with qi, without a doubt a great boost to her power. Ling Bi’er would be much stronger than usual in this situation.

Shen Qinghong and Jun Mobai were both sage realm geniuses. They were protected, and thus it was impossible for them to encounter another sage realm opponent. As long as their opponents stayed beneath sage realm, then it was all the same to them no matter who they drew. Shen Qinghong walked up to Nie Chong. “Do what you can and don’t force yourself. We can afford to win just as we can afford to lose. There is no need to struggle pointlessly out of pride.”

Nie Chong might be at the peak of ninth level origin realm, but he was obviously incomparable to the peak of first level sage realm Jin Feng. If his opponent was any other sage realm genius, they would’ve taken care not to go overboard and ruin a weaker opponent just because they were stronger. They wouldn’t do so unless that weaker opponent purposefully taunted them.

However, the sage realm genius he’d drawn was from the Sacred Sword Palace. That was a problem. The Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace were sworn enemies.Their battles were incredibly intense every time they fought each other. Take Wang Jing and Jiang Chen’s match for example. The stance Wang Jing had assumed from the beginning wasn’t one suitable for an exchange of martial arts. Jiang Chen’s counterattack had also obviously gone overboard.

Nie Chong inhaled deeply and nodded with a darkened expression, “I will be careful.”

He was a man who preferred baring his fangs over hiding them. He couldn’t accept forfeiting the moment he went up stage.

“All participants, please head for your rings.”

On the Regal Pill Palace’s side, Jun Mobai walked next to Nie Chong and patted him on the shoulder. However, he said nothing to him.

Ling Bi’er said faintly, “Be careful.”

Jiang Chen walked over and stretched out his hand, “Good luck.”

Nie Chong understood that there was no way that peers wouldn’t take joy in the misfortune of someone in their own sect. He accepted their feelings, and strode into the ring with no more hesitation.

When Jiang Chen finally walked up the stage, his opponent had already been waiting for him for a while.

“Mu Gaoqi?” The Sacred Wolf family’s Li Xin had truly underwhelming looks. He had a sharp chin, a common pair of triangular eyes, and thin cheeks. His countenance gave off an incredibly sinister feeling, and his voice carried within it a strange, metallic quality that numbed a listener’s skull.

Jiang Chen nodded but said nothing. This was a martial arts competition. They had neither grudges nor bonds with each other, so there was nothing to talk about. He would let his strength speak for itself.

Li Xin’s mouth curled into a weird, eerie smile, “Mu Gaoqi, I have heard of you. You are born with an upper rank innate wood constitution, and a future pill king.”

Jiang Chen cast a glance at this Li Xin expressionlessly. He wasn’t sure what this guy was trying to say.

“I don’t wish to hurt you. How about this: I’ll let you have ten moves and then allow you to persevere for an hour’s time in the ring. Then, I’ll send you off stage with your dignity intact. What do you think?”

When Jiang Chen heard this, he couldn’t help his annoyance and his amusement. “Why?” Jiang Chen was curious about his reasons.

“I don’t wish to offend a future pill king. Is that good enough?” Li Xin appeared to be very confident in himself. He didn’t seem to care about Wang Jing’s defeat yesterday.

“Are you so absolutely confident that you can beat me?” Jiang Chen asked indifferently.

Li Xin was caught off guard by the question. He felt that his opponent was now spouting nonsense.

I am a genius from the Great Cathedral, and you are just a seventh level origin realm Regal Pill Palace disciple. Isn’t it normal that I will defeat you?

As for Wang Jing’s defeat, what the hell does it have to do with me?

Li Xin was at the ninth level origin realm, and a member of the Great Cathedral. The only people he paid attention to were sage realm cultivators like Wang Han. That peak eighth level origin realm cultivator Wang Jing? Li Xin had never paid him a whit of attention. He was completely unconcerned with Wang Jing’s victory or defeat.

Those of the Great Cathedral wielded absolute confidence in the Myriad Domain. In fact, they were almost blindly confident in their power. Therefore, Li Xin couldn’t help but laugh out loud at Jiang Chen’s question. He calmly replied Jian Chen’s question with a question of his own, “You can’t be thinking that you stand a chance against me, hmm?”

Jiang Chen let out a soft sigh. Why were the Myriad Domain’s geniuses always so blindly confident in themselves? He’d fought against the geniuses of the first rank sect Ninesuns Sky Sect several times, but hadn’t found this kind of blind confidence in them at all. Be it Cao Jin or that fatty Wu Heng, they’d never displayed such blind haughtiness. The geniuses of Ninesuns Sky Sect might be confident in themselves, but that didn’t mean that they lacked prudence. They acted within boundaries, and was calm in the face of most surprising situations. They were neither blindly confident nor unduly humble. Although they were enemies, Jiang Chen had to admit that both the strength and the temperament of a first rank sect genius far exceeded those possessed by a Myriad Domain genius.

“Stop wasting your breath already. Come at me,” Jiang Chen frowned.

Li Xin sneered, “Are you sure you want me to act first? You may not have the chance to act if I do so. I will give you one last chance: Ten moves, and an opportunity to descend this stage with dignity.”

“No, thank you.” Jiang Chen said indifferently.

“So you’re saying that you want to refuse a toast and be forced to drink a forfeit?” Li Xin’s voice turned chilly. He wasn’t someone who normally had a good temper. The only reason he’d given Jiang Chen an option was because he didn’t wish to offend a future pill king. After all, what if he had a favor to ask of the pill king in the future?

“This is a martial arts competition, not an invitation to a meal, so cut that toast and forfeit crap. If you’re afraid to attack me, I can throw you a few punches instead.” Jiang Chen really didn’t wish to waste his breath with this fellow any longer.

He took a few steps forwards, clenching his hand into a fist and abruptly dashed towards Li Xin like a beam of light. It was just the simple clench of a fist, but the crisp roar of a tiger and the howl of an ape accompanied it. The entire arena seemed to shake, as if an entire army was running across its surface. The battlecry of this illusory, yet incredibly powerful army seemed almost ceaseless.

In that moment, an illusion descended onto Li Xin’s consciousness. It was as if he’d been thrown into an ancient slaughter ground. He couldn’t believe that this one simple preparatory move for a punch could conjure so many profound illusions. His eyes, ears, skin, and every sensory organ he had was combining forces to assault his mind.

“Not good!” Yet, Li Xin was a Great Cathedral genius after all. That animalistic battle instinct he possessed wasn’t for show. He slapped his head fiercely and repeatedly with both hands in attempt to chase out the attack on his consciousness. Then, he opened both his hands and transformed great waves of qi into ten sharp blades.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

The ten sharp swords conjured numerous  phantom edges that resembled wolf fangs. Those full and crisscrossing blades of power actually transformed into shields of aura made of wolf fangs.

“Gale Wolf Shield!” The engraved runes in the wolf shield vibrated intensely as it emitted rays of dark light that lent it a deep and abstruse air. The wolf shield formed from the fangs had obviously undergone a special rune treatment. Its defensive power was not to be underestimated.

Jiang Chen’s fist slammed into the shield.

Bang!

The pressure from the fist caused the shield to emit a sharp crack! The wolf fangs that made up the wolf shield actually began to fragment, and the engraved runes vanished like shooed flies.

“What?” Li Xin was completely flabbergasted by this. He knew very well just how tough his Gale Wolf Shield was. Forget an seventh level origin realm cultivator, not even a peak ninth level origin realm cultivator could break it with just their boxing aura. In fact, even immensely treasured weapons would be hard pressed to break through his Gale Wolf Shield.

Instinct took over in the absence of thought. Li Xin’s hands blurred through hand gestures as he hastily buffed himself with a defensive glyph. At the same time, his body twisted like a wolf in an attempt to dodge his opponent’s fist.

However, while Jiang Chen’s boxing technique appeared to be common, it obviously contained incredibly profound mysteries within it. Obviously, this punch wasn’t as simple as a one-two punch. Jiang Chen took one step forwards, drawing back his fists before unleashing a quick two strike combo on his opponent.

Crack crack crack!

Li Xin might be quick, but he wasn’t faster than Jiang Chen’s fists. The defensive barrier created by his glyph was mercilessly shattered into pieces by Jiang Chen while he desperately dodged. Jiang Chen’s fists seemed to be akin to indestructible divine weapons that prevented Li Xin from escaping his dire predicament, no matter how hard he tried to evade or defend. By now, as confident as Li Xin was, even he knew that he had drastically underestimated his opponent.

He could barely defend himself against his enemy’s fist, much less counterattack his opponent and go on the offensive. For a moment, Li Xin was filled with bitterness and regret. He was known for his outstanding offensive power. His defensive ability was passable, but they were ultimately incomparable to his stunningly powerful offensive power. However, he had been denied any opportunity to attack even once in this battle.

Defend, defend, and defend once more.

Jiang Chen obviously didn’t plan to waste too much time on this battle. He wanted to end this match as soon as possible. His technique changed slightly, and the powerful force of metal was added to his boxing aura. It was as if hundreds and thousands of swords was imbued into his fists to shatter seas and mountains.

Once again, he threw out a perfectly normal punch.

Wham!

Every defense Li Xin possessed shattered into pieces in that instant, and the punch continued to strike his chest. Just before Jiang Chen’s boxing aura entered Li Xin’s body, Jiang Chen pulled back his fist slightly and withdrew ninety percent of his strength.

Bam!

The remaining ten percent of power rammed into Li Xin’s chest. Blood spurted out of Li Xin’s mouth as he was launched sharply backwards. He was lucky Jiang Chen had been merciful. As Li Xin careened through the air, he slammed his hand into the ground, digging a trench into the arena as he tried to stop himself. After expending every ounce of his strength, he managed to reach a stop at the very edge of the arena. Another step, and he would’ve fallen off the ring. He spat out another mouthful of blood.

Li Xin stood dumbstruck at the edge of the arena with a gloomy look on his face. He was unable to immediately accept that he had just been defeated. However, when the mountain winds brushed by and caused Li Xin to shudder, he ultimately understood that his opponent had shown him mercy. If his opponent hadn’t withdrawn a large portion of the strength behind the punch after it broke through his defenses, he would likely be a corpse on the floor already.

When his thoughts reached that point, Li Xin lost all courage to stay in the ring any longer. He gave Jiang Chen a deep, meaningful glance before clasping his hands and sighing, “Thank you for your mercy. I concede.”

What?

Gasps of astonishment rang from beneath the stage. Was this really a member of the Great Cathedral’s Sacred Wolf family? The Sacred Wolves was known to be the most warlike and competitive among the Great Cathedral’s four great families! Had Li Xin truly just surrendered after being punched twice?

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