Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jing Lucheng and Jing Yan looked like little more than shadows as they flashed back and forth across the stage. Layers upon layers of sword radiance and spear shadows further obscured their shapes.
Many of the warriors standing around the combat stage were at lower ranks. They could barely make out the blurred figures of the fighters, but judging from the powerful waves and whirls of energy and Qi forming around them, the audience could tell that it was a fierce fight.
Jing Tianying and Jing Mingzhi also concentrated on the fight between the two. At the same time, they both started to circulate their inner Vital Qi in case they needed to step in and stop the fight at any moment.
No matter what, they couldn’t let Jing Yan get killed by Jing Lucheng.
Although Jing Yan’s cultivation was only at the Sixth Heaven, he had been a mere Third Heaven warrior only a month ago. He leveled up three ranks in a month, suggesting that the former No. 1 genius of Dong Lin City was back. And this time, his potential seemed even more aggressive and unpredictable.
“Who is shameless now?” Someone standing near the combat stage sneered at Jing Lucheng.
“Exactly! He claimed before the fight that he would cap his rank at the Sixth Heaven, but now he isn’t limiting squat! Haha, he broke his promise right in front of our eyes!”
“If Jing Lucheng is using everything he’s got, doesn’t that mean Jing Yan is in great danger?”
“That’s right. But even if Jing Yan loses, it’s no big deal. No one will say he is weak or call him a loser.”
“What a pity. The difference between the Sixth Heaven and the Seventh Heaven is just too much. Alas…” Someone let out a sigh.
The way they saw it, there was no way Jing Yan could be a match for Jing Lucheng. The gap between them was an entire rank—that difference was too significant for anyone to ignore. If Jing Yan were also at the Seventh Heaven, he would undoubtedly beat Jing Lucheng.
“Die, Jing Yan!” Jing Lucheng’s face twisted further as he heard the comments made by the onlookers. He grew more furious.
He thought that attacking Jing Yan casually would be enough to win. Yet now he was using his full power, and Jing Yan remained intact.
At first, all he wanted was to humiliate the hell out of Jing Yan by beating him up in front of the Jing Clan disciples. Now it didn’t seem like humiliating Jing Yan was still an option for him. Even if he defeated Jing Yan, others would consider it a glorious failure. After doing so well against a warrior who was an entire rank above him, Jing Yan had every reason to be proud of himself.
This was obvious based on the comments made by their audience.
“It’s about time!” Jing Yan’s eyes suddenly burned with intensity.
The primary reason he was using a Low-grade martial system to go against Jing Lucheng was to practice his martial arts.
Ever since he refined and improved the Stance of Autumn Wind and Falling Leaves, he hadn’t gotten a chance to fight a real enemy. The fight with Lin Hu in the Blackrock Mountains didn’t count. Jing Lucheng, a Seventh Heaven opponent, was a perfect chance to sharpen his skills. Wouldn’t it be a waste if he couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity?
“You are done!” The Vital Qi throughout Jing Yan’s entire body vibrated as he suddenly accelerated. The Moonbeam Sword in his hand blurred, leaving behind a swath of pitch-black sword radiance.
Crack!
A crack appeared in the screen of spear shadows.
The sword radiance instantly burst through.
Slash! Jing Lucheng’s body was struck by the sword radiance and flew into the air.
“Ah!” Jing Lucheng screamed, hitting the ground as limply as a dead dog.
“There must be a lot of hidden flaws in the Dancing Dragon Spear Technique,” Jing Yan thought.
Although Jing Yan had never refined or practiced this martial system himself, he could still sense the imperfections during the fight. He took advantage of them, which was enough to help him trounce Jing Lucheng.
Of course, if Jing Lucheng’s rank had been a lot higher, Jing Yan wouldn’t have been able to exploit the weaknesses in his opponent’s martial system. Being able to see flaws didn’t necessarily mean that he could do anything about them.
For example, if Jing Lucheng had been a Precelestial warrior, then Jing Yan couldn’t have beaten him even if Jing Lucheng didn’t use a martial system at all.
Unfortunately for Jing Lucheng, his rank wasn’t nearly that high. Although his rank was higher than Jing Yan’s, his Vital Qi was no stronger than Jing Yan’s.
Jing Lucheng had been destined to lose this fight from the start.
Not to mention that Jing Yan hadn’t even used Moon-Freezing Triple Waves, a Middle-grade martial system.
“Jing Lucheng lost?”
“This… this…”
“He’s at the Seventh Heaven! He somehow ended up losing to Jing Yan, a Sixth Heaven warrior?”
“My eyes are going blind! How could something like this happen? How did it happen?”
Jing Lucheng had been tossed into the air by one sword strike. Members of the Jing Clan around them were still trying to process that. One second, they saw Jing Yan and Jing Lucheng fighting head-to-head as if it was a close match. That had been surprising enough. Then, the next second, Jing Lucheng flew into the air.
Had their eyes played some sort of trick on them?
Nope. Jing Lucheng was still lying there, looking as sad and pathetic as a dead dog.
Jing Lucheng hadn’t been severely injured. The audience members looking over him saw some tears in his gown, but there was barely any blood visible.
There was no sign that Jing Lucheng would stand up any time soon, however. He was simply too ashamed to face the Jing Clan warriors.
He failed. It was a terrible failure. He didn’t understand how Jing Yan had become so strong. But he was certain of one thing: Jing Yan was way stronger than he was. If Jing Yan had wanted to kill him, he would be dead now. If he was being honest, he should probably be thankful that Jing Yan had let him live.
Jing Lucheng felt as if his mind was going blank. He couldn’t even hear much of the sound of the Jing Clan members around him. His heart was filled with regret. Why had he provoked Jing Yan? Why?
“Jing Lucheng, I said this before. If you want to stand up for someone, you need to be strong enough. Otherwise, you’ll regret it,” Jing Yan said as he gazed down at Jing Lucheng, who appeared listless, expressionless, and miserable.
There were a couple of reasons that he hadn’t killed Jing Lucheng. First, there wasn’t much personal conflict between the two of them. Jing Lucheng was only trying to help Jing Yuqin humiliate Jing Yan. Secondly, it was part of the Jing Clan’s rules that the family’s disciples were allowed to fight but not to kill each other during contests like this. Not to mention that two Elders were right there watching them.
“Fourth Elder, it seems like you were totally right! Jing Yan… really is something!” Jing Mingzhi said, turning to Jing Tianying. After pausing for a brief moment, he let out a long breath.
“I didn’t expect this to happen either! Although I could tell that the kid was hiding his real strength, I didn’t see it coming that he could actually defeat Jing Lucheng,” Jing Tianying shook his head slowly.
“Well, one month ago, his cultivation was at the Third Heaven. Now, it’s the Sixth Heaven. More than that, he even improved the Stance of Autumn Wind and Falling Leaves and defeated Jing Lucheng, who’s at the Seventh Heaven. Fourth Elder, do you think it’s safe to say that the genius of our clan is back?” Jing Mingzhi’s eyes were shining brightly.
“Sixth Elder, could you please carry on with the abilities test by yourself? I need to see the Patriarch,” Jing Tianying said in a serious tone.
“Of course!” Jing Mingzhi nodded thoughtfully, eyes glinting. He knew what Jing Tianying meant.
The Jing Yan they once knew was back! This time he seemed even stronger and more unpredictable. This was something the Patriarch needed to know.