After Ye Weitian finished speaking, every disciple on the Martial Arts Training Ground grew excited. They all knew the most spectacular and thrilling part of the competition was about to begin!
Ye Hu glanced at his number plaque, then swaggered onto the stage. 'How can I quickly defeat this unlucky bastard,' he thought, 'and make everyone admire me even more?'
"Look! The first one up is Ye Hu! Whoever faces him is really unlucky!" someone in the crowd couldn't help but exclaim.
"Facing Ye Hu in the first match⊠that's some bad luck! The other disciple's legs have probably gone soft with fear just seeing Ye Hu take the stage!" another person said.
"Not necessarily. What if it's Ye Feifei or Ye Tian? Since Ye Hu is up, they have just as much of a chance to be in the first match!"
The voice wasn't loud, but many heard it clearly. Everyone turned to look at the speakerâa rather thin and small disciple. His strength, however, had reached the One Vein Fifth Layer. It seemed his usual Cultivation was quite diligent.
Ye Tian glanced at Ye Hu on the stage before slowly making his way up. The moment he set foot on the platform, the entire Martial Arts Training Ground erupted.
"It really is Ye Tian! I can't believe the first match is Ye Tian versus Ye Hu. This is totally unexpected!" a disciple cried out.
"Now Ye Hu is the unlucky one. Ye Tian's Attack Power is so strong, and he's already broken through to the One Vein Seventh Layer. Ye Hu is definitely not his match!"
For a moment, the disciples below the stage were a cacophony of discussion and clamor, their faces alight with excitement. Perhaps a match between Ye Hu and Ye Tian was what everyone had most wanted to see.
A resentful look, however, flashed across Ye Shixue's face. She glanced at Ye Tian on the stage and thought, 'Ye Tian, if you seriously injure Brother Hu, I'll make you regret it!
'You were good to me in the past, but as a man, you never knew what a woman wants. You may be the Ye Family's genius today, but one day I'll show you that I, Ye Shixue, am no pushover. I'll make you come begging to me!'
Ye Tian, of course, was oblivious to Ye Shixue's thoughts. At this moment, he was looking at Ye Hu, whose face was full of frustration and disappointment. 'He probably thinks it's terrible luck to be facing me in the very first match!'
Ye Hu, meanwhile, was cursing Ye Tian a few hundred times over in his head. 'Of all the numbers he could have drawn, he had to draw number one. And my luck is so rotten I drew the very last one. I was just saying how unlucky my opponent would be, but it looks like I'm the biggest unlucky bastard of all.'
Although Ye Tian was very strong, Ye Hu still wanted to save some face. He said to Ye Tian, "Ye Tian, it wasn't easy for you to go from being an Outer Disciple to an Inner Sect Disciple just like that. Brother Hu doesn't want to hurt you, so you should just admit defeat! We don't want to create any bad blood."
Demanding Ye Tian surrender right off the batâYe Hu was truly shameless. But Ye Tian was not one to be pushed around. He glanced at Ye Hu and said with a smile,
"Ye Hu, you've seen my Attack Power, haven't you? I'm just wondering if you can even take a single hit from me. What if I cripple you or kill you by accident? That would be no laughing matter. So I think it's better if you surrender. At least then we can still be friends."
Hearing Ye Tian's words, Ye Hu's face turned the color of liver. 'This brat really doesn't know what's good for him.' Since Ye Tian thought he was so tough, Ye Hu would have to test him. A person who had just broken through to a new Realm would surely have an unstable Mental Realm. All he had to do was provoke him.
"Ye Tian, don't get so smug. Do you have any idea what your woman tastes like? The things she can do are enough to drive a man wild. Just thinking about her moaning beneath me gets me excited. You were with her for so long... did you ever get a taste?" Ye Hu's voice was very quiet, but Ye Tian heard every single word.
A sharp pain shot through Ye Tian's heart when he heard Ye Hu's words. In all his years with Ye Shixue, he had always been a gentleman. Even when he'd had the desire to be with her like *that*, he had always held back.
He never imagined Ye Hu would get her so quickly, and then brag about it to his face. It just went to show that in Ye Hu's eyes, Ye Shixue was nothing more than a toy to be thrown away at any time.
What frustrated Ye Tian even more was that Ye Shixue had told him she was still a virgin. She claimed she was only with Ye Hu to improve her strength and to help him get the Celestial Melody Pill. It was clear now she had just been stringing him along.
Thinking about how well he had treated her, and then how she was treating him now, Ye Tian's heart truly ached. They couldn't be lovers, but couldn't they at least be friends? Yet, with what she had done, did she even consider him a friend?
His heart hurt, but his mind was crystal clear. Ye Hu was only saying this to provoke him. Since he thought he was so great, then today Ye Tian would show him the price for touching his woman. She wasn't his now, but she had been once!
A furious expression appeared on Ye Tian's face. The aura around him began to surge, and his clothes started to move on their own, though there was no wind. His dark eyes filled with hatred.
Seeing Ye Tian like this, Ye Hu was startled and took an involuntary step back. He had a premonition that today was not going to end well for him.
"Ye Hu, draw your Weapon! Today, I'll make you understand that there's a price to pay for your mistakes!" Ye Tian shouted, leaving everyone utterly confused. They didn't understand why he would say such a thing.
Perhaps the only one present who understood Ye Tian's meaning was Ye Shixue. But she had already given her body to another; the arrow had been loosed from the bow, and there was no turning back. No matter how outstanding Ye Tian became, she would never go back to him.
"Ye Tian, you really think you're all that, huh?! Come on, then! Let's see how tough you really are!" Backed into a corner by Ye Tian, Ye Hu could only bite the bullet and talk tough.
With a single thought from Ye Tian, the Fine Steel Sword appeared in his hand. It was like a magic trick, baffling many in the crowd. Even Ye Weitian and the other Elders were surprised, wondering how he had done it.
But no one would have guessed that Ye Tian possessed a Storage Ringâand a top-tier one from the Celestial Dragon Continent, at that.
Ye Hu drew his Sword and said, "Ye Tian, I hope you make it out of this alive. It would be a shame if you were just a flash in the pan!"
"Too much talk. Take this!" Ye Tian had no desire to banter with Ye Hu any longer. He had to teach him a lesson, or his heart would never be at peace.
His figure flashed, leaving an afterimage as he charged toward Ye Hu. Simultaneously, the Fine Steel Sword in his hand rapidly executed the Fourth Form of the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique. This time, Ye Tian didn't hold back, directly unleashing eighty percent of his power.
Seeing Ye Tian charge at him, Ye Hu grew furious. His Sword dipped slightly before he quickly swung it in a flourishing arc. A powerful wave of Sword Qi instantly materialized and collided with Ye Tian's Attack Power.
BOOM! A massive explosion rocked the stage, and the very space around it seemed to tremble. The force of their two attacks was so strong that a violent gale now whipped across the platform.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that under the force of that single blow, both of them were sent flying backwardâŠ