“Han Yuzheng!”
Hu Jian cast a fearful glance at Han Yuzheng, then sat down with his legs crossed and fished out some spirit stones to continue replenishing the inner Yuan he had expended.
He had used up more inner Yuan this time, so the recovery period was longer.
It took him a full thirty minutes before he finally recovered.
During the time he was healing, the people from the Lighting Sword Sect who were present all knew that the Thunder Knife Sect disciple who was there was Han Yuzheng. He was the genius that the Tielao planet had not seen in a century and was only 24 years old this year, but he was already a mid Dharma adept.
“A mid Dharma adept who’s only 24 probably spent all his time on training, right? How powerful can his Dharma power possibly be?”
Quite a number of the Lightning Sword Sect people were suspicious of this.
Of course, there were more people who were calm. “For this Han Yuzheng to appear now only means that there’s at least an 80% chance that his abilities are not inferior to Cheng Yanyang’s!”
“Cheng Yanyang had said earlier that she could only go as far as landing three hits when she fought against him!”
“My God! If what she said is true, which mid Dharma adept from our sect could possibly be a match for Han Yuzheng?”
…
Hu Jian had finished healing, and he moved to stand face-to-face with Han Yuzheng. The people from the Lightning Sword Sect who were there could not help but feel apprehensive.
As for the Lightning Sword Sect leader, Yu Yucheng and several of the higher-ups in the sect, they all sighed quietly. They knew full well that Hu Jian could not possibly be Han Yuzheng’s match.
Thereafter, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Hu Jian moved to strike first. He struck pre-emptively, and it was a flawless move…
But be that as it may, he still failed.
Han Yuzheng made a move to block his attack, then made another one in retaliation. Hu Jian was pushed into a disadvantageous position and immediately fell into a dangerous situation.
His third move sent Hu Jian flying.
“Oof—”
Hu Jian flew and fell, spitting blood out his mouth. When he fell to the ground, he was half-kneeling due to the severity of his injuries.
Hu Jian was looking bad.
Han Yuzheng, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He levitated, hovering slightly above the ground. He summoned forth a ten-meter tall umbrella with his Dharma power and opened it, leaving it to spin nonstop.
The tips of the umbrella ribs at the fringes of the umbrella seemed unnaturally sharp, even for an umbrella conjured up using Dharma power.
The large umbrella continued spinning. Its form was perfect, and it seemed almost flawless.
Han Yuzheng stood in the air, looking very much like an emperor who was above everybody else. He was indifferent as he looked down at Hu Jian, who was half-kneeling on the ground, as if he were looking at a lowly cricket.
The crowd fell silent.
After a moment, everyone seemed to come back to their senses. Unsurprisingly, the crowd collectively inhaled sharply.
“My God! Is he really only 24 years old?”
“It’s already quite a feat to reach the mid Dharma stage at 24 years old… But the real issue is the fact that his Dharma power is actually so powerful!”
“Hu Jian is a core disciple with us at the Lightning Sword Sect. He’s 37 this year, and he’s the one we acknowledge to be the top mid Dharma adept in the Lightning Sword Sect… And yet, he could not last longer than three moves against Han Yuzheng.”
“That core disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect Cheng Yanyang, she wasn’t lying.”
“He’s just too strong!”
“Let’s not even talk about the top sects… Even the two sects in the Hengliu galaxy that have been around the longest are unlikely to have mid Dharma adepts that are his match. His very powers defy the laws of nature.”
…
At this moment, the people from the Lightning Sword Sect who were present were not in complete despair. Though they were a little dejected, they believed this was expected.
It was a given for the Lightning Sword Sect to lose in such an exchange of blows, so this was not something that was terribly humiliating for them.
The Thunder Knife Sect accepting a once-in-a-century martial arts genius from the Tielao planet was something out of the ordinary, and so it was natural that there would be no one in the Lightning Sword Sect who could be a match for him.
“Sect Leader Luo, the Dharma power of this disciple of yours is already more or less on par with that of the adepts at the ultimate Dharma stage,” Yu Yucheng said, looking at Luo Yuanqiu.
He accepted his defeat in this match.
He could blame no one but himself for underestimating his opponent’s determination in crushing the Lightning Sword Sect.
“Haha…”
Luo Yuanqiu laughed heartily. “You flatter us, Sect Leader Yu. It’s really nothing much, nothing much at all.
“Sect Leader Yu, the Lightning Sword Sect has an extensive and profound history, and it’s not something the Thunder Sword Sect can hope to contend… One can make the presumption that your sect is probably still hiding a mid Dharma adept far more outstanding than what we’ve seen so far.”
Luo Yuanqiu seemed very earnest. “Sect Leader Yu, you don’t have to hold back out of consideration for my reputation, or for that of my sect.
“Though we are your guests, we can still accept defeat.
“Call forth the most outstanding mid Dharma adept you have in your ranks to exchange blows with this disciple of mine. You don’t have to worry about knocking him down.
“What is youth without setbacks, no?”
Luo Yuanqiu said to him, his lips curling into a derisive smirk. It was obvious that he was mocking Yu Yucheng and the entirety of the Lightning Sword Sect for lacking a mid Dharma adept who could fight against his disciple, Han Yuzheng.
Yu Yucheng was smiling, but the smile never reached his eyes. “Sect Leader Yu, Hu Jian’s the only core disciple we have at the Lightning Sword Sect who’s at the mid Dharma stage.”
However, Yu Yucheng’s response did little to deter Luo Yuanqiu. He had no intentions of letting the former go so easily. “Don’t try to play dumb with me, Sect Leader Yu, we both know better than this.
“Don’t think I’m not aware… the mid Dharma adept you’re hiding is not necessarily a core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect.
“Just like how this disciple of mine, Han Yuzheng, is not a core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect.”
It had not been long since Han Yuzheng joined the Thunder Knife Sect, but he became a disciple under Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu the moment he joined, so the title “core disciple” was really nothing more than just a title.
In the eyes of the Thunder Knife Sect members, Han Yuzheng was every bit of a core disciple!
Even though he never went for the core disciple assessment, much less pass the assessment…
“That’s enough, Sect Leader Luo.”
Luo Yuanqiu’s continued snarky remarks were aggravating Yu Yucheng. If he took this lying down, there was no telling how much further Luo Yuanqiu would push his luck.
“Haha… I barely did anything, Sect Leader Yu. Why do you look so angry?”
Luo Yuanqiu’s smile grew even more radiant.
At the same time, Han Yuzheng, the core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect who had struck down Hu Jian, tore his gaze away from his opponent and looked around himself, then said coolly, “Does the Lightning Sword Sect have any mid Dharma adepts willing to come down to spar with me?”
With this one question of his, the crowd from the Lightning Sword Sect fell yet again into stifling silence.
Even Hu Jian had lost so badly.
If anyone else were to go, they would only be in a worse state.
After all, this was a match solely for mid Dharma adepts.
Han Yuzheng continued, “I am Han Yuzheng, 24 years old this year… Now you’re no longer restricted to only sending adepts at the same stage.
“The Lightning Sword Sect can send any disciples down to challenge me, regardless of their stage, as long as they are younger than 30.
“As long as you can defeat me, we will consider your sect to have won this fight between the Thunder Knife Sect and the Lightning Sword Sect.
“This is a really good opportunity to take a little revenge for your sect, so don’t let it slip by,” Han Yuzheng said, lips curled slightly into a mocking smirk.
There was not a single person in the Lightning Sword Sect who was younger than thirty but at the late Dharma stage or higher… This was a point he had heard his master mention earlier.
When they heard his proposition, the people from the Lightning Sword Sect were cursing him.
This Han Yuzheng, he made it sound so nice.
Within the Lightning Sword Sect, there were only a few mid Dharma adepts who were less than thirty years old that they could send out to fight. And even then, they were absolutely no match for Hu Jian, not even remotely so.
If even Hu Jian had lost to Han Yuzheng, the few mid Dharma adepts from the sect would only end up in a worse plight if they were to challenge the latter.
Han Yuzheng squinted at the Lightning Sword Sect members who were standing still, and the mocking smirk he had on his face seemed all the more prominent. “What, is there no one else from the Lightning Sword Sect?”
Han Yuzheng’s words were angering and humiliating, not just to the Lightning Sword Sect disciples, but to Sect Leader Yu Yucheng as well. The man’s face seemed to harden at his words.
Provocation!
A bold-faced, brazen provocation!
But no one could refute it.
It was not like they could tell Han Yuzheng: You’re just a 24-year-old disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect. If you’re really all that, why don’t you challenge someone from our sect who’s over thirty?
You’re just a mid Dharma adept from the Thunder Knife Sect. If you’re really all that, why don’t you challenge someone from our sect who’s at least at the late Dharma stage?
These were words they could only keep to themselves no matter how badly they wanted to say them.
These were words that were as good as a verbal admission of defeat should they ever leave their mouths.
“Sect Leader Yu, if you really insist on hiding… Well, then, it would be disrespectful of the Thunder Knife Sect to not accept victory for this match,” Luo Yuanqiu said to Yu Yucheng with a smile.
This time, the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin was a step quicker. He spoke before Yu Yucheng could even open his mouth.
“Sect Leader, since Sect Leader Luo has already mentioned it… There’s no reason why the Lightning Sword Sect should be hiding this any longer.”
“Hm?”
Yu Yucheng, who had been so angry his blood vessels would burst, was taken aback by He Jin’s words. He looked towards He Jin immediately, confusion as plain as day in his eyes.
He Jin was undeniably the steadiest of the four valley heads, even if he was not the one with the highest level of practice.
Just why would the steady Autumn Valley Head say something like this?
“Donghuang.”
Very soon, Yu Yucheng had his answer when He Jin spoke again.
Zhou Donghuang, who had been resting with his eyes closed initially, snapped his eyes open and immediately flew through the air with He Jin’s call. He appeared at the scene like a bolt of white thunder, staring apathetically at the haughty young man dressed in black who had a wry smile on his face.
