Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Many looked at Yi Sheng with amused looks. That genius from the Yi clan had verbally provoked Ye Futian. However, Ye Futian did not take him seriously and simply claimed that he was far from qualified.
And now, the champion of the Nine State Forum asked for him to get out personally.
Yu Sheng’s prowess and status made him far more eligible to do so.
Yi Sheng was seen getting up. He looked nonchalant and unperturbed while doing so, yet his eyes were sharp and unforgiving. A sliver of formless aura expanded and his robe billowed as he walked out. A very sharp will was shot at the direction of the stage.
Golden brilliance was seen gleaming from his body as soon as he took the first step. Searing fires danced about him as if he was burning under the hot sun. When Yi Sheng stepped up to the stage, his bearing was cranked to the extreme as terrifying currents washed about in his surroundings.
A golden gleam was seen his eyes as if he was able to see through everything. He went on to lock Yu Sheng down right there and then, displaying his impressively powerful spiritual will.
“The champion of the Nine State Forum?” Yi Sheng glared at Yu Sheng and continued with incredibly pointy words. “We’ll if this number one title of yours is worth anything.”
He extended his arms as soon as he finished talking. Currents of Worldly Rules coalesced between his hands and slivers of golden aura from within his body coalesced into a bow. Golden dragon boa seemed to be howling as dragon boa qi gathered and materialized into the bow string. Many were able to see that a golden dragon boa seemed to be baring its fangs at the bow between his hands, which was then shot out in a frenzied roar.
The dragon boa made its presence known before the arrow was even shot. It brought its impressive might to bear while lashing out at Yu Sheng.
Slivers of golden fiery aura permeated the air, as if the arrow was meant to tear through space and take down mountains, rivers, and even the sun.
Yu Sheng stood firmly like a mountain. Demonic might circled around his body and expanded around the stage. The space seemed to be at the verge of being devoured by that very demonic might. It was a terribly imposing scene to behold. Yu Sheng seemed to have grown taller and even more imposing, as if he was possessed by a devil. The golden dragon boa was infused with terrifying offensive powers as it crashed onto Yu Sheng’s body. However, dark golden demonic currents seemed to have eroded the golden boa’s currents bit by bit like a black hole.
“Devouring Rules?”
Someone asked under their breath.
“No, not Devouring Rules. Demonizing Rules. He displayed that before during the Nine State Forum,” someone answered. It was a power that was even more imposing than Devouring Rules.
Yi Sheng was seen bursting with greater brilliance. Countless golden boas danced and bared their fangs as they circled the bow and arrow. The resulting aura was frightening. Yi Sheng was being shrouded by the towering force, making him look like a god of archery.
His eyes were incredibly sharp as his spiritual will was infused into the bow and arrow. The bowstring moved, the dragon boa howled and his surroundings trembled.
A golden beam of light shot through the air and came right before its target. The golden dragon boa lashed out at full force, seemingly bringing the might of the heavens and earth to crush everything before it.
Yu Sheng seemed to have hallucinated at the moment. The arrow did not only penetrate his physical body, but an arrow seemed to have formed in his spiritual will, seemingly out to destroy his will power. It felt terrifying.
However, he simply remained standing where he was, unmoved as his incredibly frightening devil battle form materialized. Its huge palm lashed out, causing all who witnessed it to tremble. Is he trying to take on Yi Sheng’s Arrow of Destruction with his very own body?
The arrows of the Yi clan were weapons capable of penetrating everything. Everything, regardless of physical body or spiritual will, were doomed to crumble as soon as the arrow was released. Few were capable of rivaling such might.
However, Yu Sheng simply extended his hand to take the arrow.
While there was no doubt about his status as the champion of the Nine State Forum and his body, tempered by the ways of the demons, was nigh-indestructible, many were still thinking nonetheless if he was overestimating himself, and had thought too little of Yi Sheng’s powers.
“Boom.”
A loud boom was heard, reverberating in the minds of all within earshot. The arrow reached its target. An incredibly blinding beam seemed to have penetrated the battle form’s hand and tore through Yu Sheng’s body, as the might of the arrow was felt.
However, that scene proved to be little more than an illusion of their expectations. A piercing, screeching noise was heard as the dragon boa howled in frenzy. That arrow, which supposedly was imbued with terrifying power of rules capable of penetrating everything, simply rubbed against the hand, incapable of breaking through. Furthermore, the arrow’s golden light seemed to gradually dim, until the arrow disintegrated into dots of light.
“Some power indeed.”
Many shuddered at the scene.
Yi Sheng’s expression flinched slightly. Currents of greater might coalesced but at that very moment, Yu Sheng was seen stepping forward.
“Boom.”
The stage shook and the step’s might rang within Yi Sheng’s mind. He felt incredibly terrifying power of the great rules throwing its weight about his surrounding, shrouding his body and omnipresent.
“What kind of power is this?” Distress welled within Yi Sheng’s heart. Yu Sheng’s impossible might seemed to have thoroughly exceeded his expectations.
He was not the only one who felt shocked, as even his seniors were shocked at what had transpired.
The very reason why Saint Li had not stop Lin Xuan from challenging Yu Sheng, was because he wanted to see if the champion of the Nine State Forum truly deserved his title, and how far said champion would have been able to go. There was no way the saint would have expected Lin Xuan to be able to defeat Yu Sheng right there and then.
Lin Xuan failed to do so and Yi Sheng fell short as well. While he was a genius hailing from the Yi clan, but there were still a handful from the clan who were capable of overpowering Yi Sheng. If he was indeed capable of defeating Yu Sheng, the title of champion would have been far less worthy than he had expected from what was told in the rumors.
However, it was common for geniuses training in the holy lands to have faith reaching the skies in themselves. There was simply no way for Yi Sheng to know where he stood if he were to not be put in his place in such a manner.
“Boom.” Yet another step was taken. Yi Sheng felt his heart was trembling and his veins howling. His spiritual will was completely overpowered by then. The figure that stood in front of him was no longer a junior of the younger generations, but a devil of unparalleled might. It was a being that hailed straight from ancient battlefields, bringing all-encompassing, invincible demonic might to bear on everything around it.
Yi Sheng never felt such power emanating from any of his peers and was never overpowered in the realm of martial will. Even the most powerful few from his clan were probably unable to bring that much to bear, if they were to be at the same plane as he was.
Many from the Yi clan frowned at that moment. The elder generations looked sharp. None of them stepped out to stop Yi Sheng when he provoked Ye Futian, and they shared Saint Li’s intentions in their inaction—they wanted Yi Sheng to test for himself. If he was able to win, then his opponent would have been wholly undeserving of the lauded title; if he were to lose, it would have enabled Yi Sheng to learn his lesson.
However, they all felt at the moment that Yu Sheng’s powers might have exceeded their expectations. It seemed that those who had attended the Nine State Forum event before were truthful with their words. Yu Sheng was indeed a genius like no other, and one that was hard to come by in generations.
“Yi Sheng’s spiritual will seemed to have been completely suppressed by his opponent,” some mighty ones from the Yi clan siad. They felt Yu Sheng’s aura to be very imposing. However, they were not standing in Yi Sheng’s shoes, and thus were unable to actually sense how powerful that fearsome might was.
“Boom.”
Yet another step was taken, and Yi Sheng felt his mind to have been completely shaken. The hands that grasped the bow and arrow wavered. His undoubted belief of victory was gradually being gnawed away.
The wavering of faith in himself made Yi Sheng feel completely ashamed. There were many legendary figures hailing from his clan. While he was far from being the most brilliant example, he nonetheless had few rivals among his peers and was quite prestigious in the Summer State. He had beaten a good number of geniuses before, yet his mind actually wavered before the result was even determined. He deemed it to be unforgivable.
His eyes turned incredibly determined at that thought. The golden dragon boas howled as they were shot out. The arrow streaked through the air yet again. Beams of light tore through the space as they lashed out at Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng’s pitch black eyes seemed to have harbored a devil within. His expression was incredibly cold as he took a look at Yi Sheng. If your mind and faith are still intact, then I would simply tear everything apart and leave nothing behind.
Yu Sheng lifted his arm and clenched his fist hard. His surrounding space seemed to have been put into lockdown by that imposing might. Yi Sheng felt as if he was looking at devils when he looked into Yu Sheng’s eyes, with full intent of bringing down the sky on them. A demon lord seemed to be reigning over the devils within those eyes, who demanded all beneath to worship and submit unconditionally to it.
Yi Sheng had no idea why he was seeing a scene like that. It might have something to do with the methods he was training with. However, the methods that the Yi clan trained in were just as powerful and imposing, yet he was unable to fathom why Yu Sheng’s methods alone were able to achieve such sky-reaching might, a might that seemed to have demanded everything in existence to submit to said demon lord within.
Yu Sheng punched and tore through the space before him. The arrow disintegrated right there and then. Yi Sheng felt as if his chest was being punctured. His body rattled violently and then dropped like a duckweed with its roots severed. Blood spluttered from his mouth and the scene was harrowing.
Yi Sheng was unable to even withstand one punch from Yu Sheng. His challenge rendered completely meaningless.
The vast space around them turned completely silent. Everyone was finally able to see the champion of the Nine State Forum fight. They wanted to see how capable those who emerged from that year’s Nine State Forum were, and they got their wish fulfilled right there and then.
The champion was invincible.
Ye Futian sat solemnly on the throne below the Barren State symbol as he stared at Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng’s prowess at the demonic powers which he trained in, turned even more imposing after he broke into Sage Plane. It was as Ye Futian had expected. The further Yu Sheng went and the higher his plane became, the more apparent of the fearsome might of the demonic methods became. The force that he brought to bear grew increasingly powerful as well/
But then again, that had a lot to do with the methods that he trained with. It was how all methods and techniques worked. Regardless of how powerful and impossible a certain method inherently was, it had little to bring to the table during initial stages. The force exuding from such methods was what one was able to tell the difference in power with.
The higher one’s plane became, the more destructive one’s powers became, and it was only natural that one’s display of might became more fearsome as a result. The pain and suffering that Yu Sheng had endured all those years from training in the demonic methods, were all displayed in the powers he brought to his fights.
Yu Sheng took another step on the stage and took to the air. He then came down and stepped on Yi Sheng’s body. The force was so frightening that the floor caved in, yet Yu Sheng did not stop there.
Yi Sheng’s body shuddered as he spit out blood again. He felt incredibly helpless before the imposing figure who was stepping on him. His pride, confidence and dignity, were crushed to the ground before the eyes of everyone around the stage.
Yu Sheng stood imposingly over Yi Sheng with uncaring, cold eyes and said, “You think you’re qualified to ask for a fight from him?”
Many shuddered as they knew what Yu Sheng meant with those words.
Yi Sheng had said that Ye Futian was far less qualified to teach him anything.
Yu Sheng was telling Yi Sheng with his actions, who was the one who was unqualified there.
Yi Sheng was nothing.
There were many mighty ones from Yi clan who frowned and some commented, “Palace Lord Ye, I think your people had gone too far here.”
They did not stop Yi Sheng from provoking Ye Futian and did not mind Yi Sheng emerging as the loser. However, Yi Sheng ended up worse than losing the fight. Yu Sheng was destroying Yi Sheng’s mind and crushing his beliefs. It was a worse fate than losing a fight to most cultivators.
Ye Futian looked at the mighty ones from Yi clan with calm eyes and he looked hardly fettered.
While Yu Sheng had indeed been a little too much on the brutal side, but he did not stop him, just like how the ones from Yi clan did not stop Yi Sheng.
If all from the nine states wanted to see how powerful the champion was, then they shall have their wish fulfilled.
It was just as how Huang Xi put it. What they were doing was to create a new era. If one were to be simply be unconditionally patient and humble throughout the entire process of doing so, it would have simply showed others that they were pushovers. Only with true might and determined blood, would they have been able to shock the titans. The sacred war with the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty had erupted in such a background after all.
There was first Zhisheng Cliffs and then the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. If a true sacred war were to not be fought, they would have been other people and holy lands coming out to ask for trouble.
If the Barren State were to stand, then there was no doubt that some holy lands needed to fall.
If there were to be anyone who intended to step on them to achieve their goals, then they shall be stepped on in turn.
“Yu Sheng’s temper is indeed a little much and he has indeed gone a little too far. For that, I ask for your forgiveness.” Ye Futian smiled at the mighty ones from Yi clan and added plainly, “But then again, it was Yi Sheng who had been disrespectful to me at first. I never wanted further quarrel with him, but if he insisted in his provocations nonetheless, and he only did so because he wanted a fight. I would consider Yu Sheng fulfilling his wish here, and teach him a lesson while Yu Sheng is at it as well. I said before that Yu Sheng was more than just the champion of the Nine State Forum; he would have reigned supreme in such competitions in any era. However, Yi Sheng seemed to have overestimated his own capabilities despite being mediocre. I’d say that it was his honor to have been able to fight Yu Sheng.”
The eyes of many froze as Ye Futian finished talking.
Yi Sheng had been thoroughly humiliated through his crushing defeat at Yu Sheng’s hands, yet Ye Futian called it to be Yi Sheng’s honor instead!
