Chapter One Hundred Fourteen: The Battle Halberd

The terrifying wave of blood energy, carrying an inexhaustible force, crashed down onto the bluestone floor, collapsing it into a pit half a meter deep. The bluestone, which even a peak Blood Qi Realm warrior had to exert his full strength to crack, had been forcibly blasted into a crater. The might of that attack was self-evident. Had it struck its target, it would not have been merely Ye Cheng—even an Origin Realm expert would have vomited blood beneath that blow.

“Uh... he dodged it?”

The speaker was a middle-aged martial artist, but his words abruptly died halfway through. He stared in disbelief at the young man whom he had thought incapable of escaping the attack. Ye Cheng’s figure suddenly shifted and, in an utterly bizarre manner, slipped free from beneath Tiemu Qing’s enveloping wave of blood.

“Go on, then!”

The man beside him, who had agreed with him a moment earlier, urged him impatiently when the voice suddenly stopped. But after noticing his companion’s strange expression, he turned toward the arena as well. There he saw Ye Cheng standing unharmed, while Tiemu Qing wore a dark expression, a crater blasted by the previous attack lying beneath his feet.

His gaze instantly went blank, and he murmured, “How did he dodge that?”

“I have no idea,” the middle-aged martial artist replied with a bitter smile. “All I saw was Ye Cheng taking a few strange steps before slipping out of the wave’s range.”

The two of them were not alone. Everyone present found it difficult to believe what they had witnessed. One of the Blood Fiend Gang’s renowned advanced martial techniques had been evaded so effortlessly. Some people even rubbed their eyes vigorously, their faces filled with disbelief.

“He actually dodged it.” Beneath the stage, Tiemu Qiu watched as his most beloved grandson’s attack struck nothing. He could not help murmuring, “Just what is this boy’s background?”

“Hahaha!” On the Nangong family’s side, Xie Cang burst into laughter and looked gleefully at Tiemu Qiu. “Old ghost, that Blood Surge of your Blood Fiend Gang isn’t much to look at. It can’t even deal with a young boy.”

Nearby, Nangong Hao could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Xie Cang truly never let a single opportunity to mock Tiemu Qiu pass him by. Still, seeing Tiemu Qiu suffer such a setback left Nangong Hao in an excellent mood as well.

This boy is truly extraordinary, Nangong Hao praised him inwardly. An Origin Realm expert might not have been able to see it, but with his Ancient Core Realm cultivation, he could naturally tell that Ye Cheng had escaped the attack’s lock without using any movement technique at all. Judging from the fluidity of his movements, it had seemed more like instinct.

If it truly was instinct, then this boy’s future was limitless.

The more Nangong Hao thought about it, the more astonished he became. Even if such a person could not be recruited, he still had to be befriended.

“Hmph.” Tiemu Qiu snorted coldly, ignoring Xie Cang’s sour remarks as he turned his gaze back to the arena.

Bang! Bang!

Although Tiemu Qing was deeply shocked after his first attack missed, he did not hesitate in the slightest. He once again closed in on Ye Cheng, unleashing a relentless barrage of fierce attacks. The techniques he had honed through years of life-and-death combat on the battlefield were displayed to perfection.

To those watching from below, the attacks came like a violent storm, pounding down in a terrifying barrage. They were so dense that only a few blurred afterimages could be seen flickering across the arena. The speed of the assault left Ye Cheng somewhat flustered.

Although he had spent several months tempering himself in the Demon Forest and had made up for many of the deficiencies in his combat skills, he had fought mostly magical beasts during that time. While magical beasts below the Origin Realm possessed considerable intelligence, they were still far inferior to human martial artists. Only beast kings that had reached the Ancient Core Realm possessed intelligence equal to that of humans.

Now, however, he was facing a young martial artist who was every bit as talented as himself—and who had endured three full years of life-and-death training. That was ten times the three months Ye Cheng had spent training. In terms of applying combat techniques, the other boy was therefore far beyond what Ye Cheng could presently match.

“What a strange attack.”

Ye Cheng blocked Tiemu Qing’s incoming right fist, only for it to suddenly transform into an elbow strike aimed at his temple. His expression grew solemn. The way his opponent applied his techniques had already surpassed him by far. Moreover, every move was vicious, striking directly at his vital points—his eyes, heart, and pressure points.

A Blood Qi Realm warrior’s body was strengthened only by absorbing small amounts of primordial energy. It had not yet undergone true tempering. Once those vital areas were struck, severe injury was inevitable.

Fortunately, my blood energy is even more vigorous than his. The two forces offset each other, so I won’t lose just yet.

During his close-quarters battle with Tiemu Qing, Ye Cheng carefully observed every one of his opponent’s movements, learning even as they fought. By the end, the two figures had become completely entangled, surging blood energy colliding between them. Whenever their attacks crashed together, even the arena, as hard as bluestone, was shaken by the aftershock into developing one crack after another.

“So strong! That boy can actually clash head-on with the madman Tiemu Qing!”

The scene everyone below had expected—the young man invited by the Nangong family being brutally beaten into a miserable state—had not appeared at all. Instead, what met their eyes were two savage figures bombarding each other like wild men. One particularly lecherous-looking martial artist even opened his crooked mouth so wide that an entire egg could have been stuffed inside.

The battle between the two gradually intensified, and the situation in the arena slowly began to change. Ye Cheng’s combat skills continued to improve. What had begun as passive defense gradually turned into offense. At first, he could do nothing but defend, but as the exchanges accumulated, he began to discern the paths of his opponent’s attacks. He launched strikes with increasing frequency.

Both of them fought with brute force, every move violent and explosive, like two barbarians from some primitive tribe locked in a savage brawl.

This forced those who had already been shaken by Ye Cheng’s performance to acknowledge the young man they had initially dismissed. He had actually managed to battle a monster like Tiemu Qing to this extent. What was even more astonishing was that his face was neither flushed nor breathless; his blood energy flowed endlessly.

It was difficult to imagine which great power this young man came from.

This bastard is using me as a whetstone.

Tiemu Qing’s face turned livid. He had sensed that something was wrong from the beginning, but only now did he realize that Ye Cheng’s combat skills were improving at a frightening speed. At first, he had been able to leave several wounds on Ye Cheng’s body. Now, every attack was being blocked. Worse still, the techniques Ye Cheng was using were the very same ones Tiemu Qing had just displayed.

This cannot continue.

Tiemu Qing abruptly retreated instead of pressing closer. After blocking an attack, he stepped sideways and opened a short distance between them. A crimson battle halberd suddenly appeared in his hand.

The instant the halberd was grasped, a terrifying aura erupted from Tiemu Qing, as though a war god had emerged from the depths of the netherworld.

“Your strength is impressive. To deal with you, I can only bring out my full power.”