Hearing this, the young man actually calmed down. He nimbly grabbed a round shield and a spear before entering the field. “Bai Longyue of the Bai clan is here to seek pointers!”
This person had kept himself hidden as the most outstanding talent of the Bai clan. His cultivation rank was seventeen, on par with Song Zining. His face looked young, but he was actually a bit older than Bai Longjia, and it was already quite forced to call him one of the younger generation.
With his shield and spear, Bai Longyue seemed prepared for both attack and defense. He did not enter the arena for victory, but to exchange a few real blows with Qianye. The past ten battles had all ended up with Qianye grabbing the opponent by the neck and slapping them. He didn’t even use a shred of origin power, so this continuous fight was meaningless.
Only at this point did the Bai clan people understand why Song Zining had agreed so readily, even removing the limitations. It turned out that Qianye’s fighting power was on a completely different level; the fight was an overwhelming suppression. Taking turns to wear the enemy down was only meaningful if they could actually fight.
If it wasn’t for his age and background being well-known, these young men simply couldn’t believe Qianye was younger than them.
Yet the truth was before them.
The moment he came face-to-face with Qianye, Bai Longyue felt that his opponent was like a mountain, one he could never climb over!
In the blink of an eye, his mind was shaken, and he actually felt the urge to flee. At that moment, Bai Longyue realized why his brethren had no ability to even struggle or resist.
Despite that, the man was born of a famed clan and his cultivation was only below Bai Aotu. Although he couldn’t figure out why he was so intimidated, his body reacted instinctively, surging with origin power as he drew back in a defensive stance.
His reaction couldn’t be considered slow, and his judgment was accurate. Qianye’s punch arrived just as he pulled back his shield, slamming squarely onto it.
That moment, Bai Longyue felt as though he had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer. He couldn’t breathe for a split second and his heart almost skipped a beat. His vision went dark, and his body felt lighter and lighter as he flew into the air before slamming back to the ground. Even then, he couldn’t feel the pain of the crash.
“How fortunate, I wasn’t slapped…” That was actually his last thought. His mind relaxed as his consciousness sank into the darkness.
“Pop!” One of the elders under the tree was just about to play his chest piece when it suddenly turned to powder between his fingers. He looked up all of a sudden, his eyes exuding a sharp glow as he uttered, “He’s actually a divine champion!”
“Divine champion!” The other elders glanced at Qianye in shock.
After knocking Bai Longyue away with a single punch, he withdrew and stood calmly with his hand behind his back. No one could sense the grand suppressive might of a divine champion from him, yet even someone like Bai Longyue couldn’t last a single move against him. There was no need to seek further confirmation because one could easily tell that Qianye’s combat strength had reached that level.
“So… young,” an elder muttered in disbelief.
Everyone knew Qianye’s real age, and it was exactly because they knew that they found it difficult to accept.
Another elder said, “That’s more or less on the same level as Zhao Jundu, right?”
“No, he’s even earlier than Zhao Jundu. Don’t forget that the latter is one year older.”
“Was Prince Greensun so young when he broke through?”
Everyone went silent at this question.
Only after a while did one of the elders say, “Prince Greensun spent a good amount of time accumulating knowledge and polishing his origin power. The profundity of his foundations isn’t something the likes of us can imagine. Only after all that did he soar to great heights and stepped into the heavenly monarch realm. How can this Qianye even compare? Maybe… this divine champion rank is his final achievement.”
These words made some sense because most people would stop at the early divine champion stage. How far one would go beyond the divine champion realm was decided by the purity of his origin power. At the thought of this, the elders recalled Qianye’s famous Venus Dawn and were filled with sudden bitterness.
“How dare a vampire be so insolent!” The elder had just started voicing his indignance when the chess-playing elder shot him a cold glare, stopping him up.
The chess-playing elder said, “After the void continent war, it has been hinted in the Imperial court that no one should bring up his other identity. This isn’t just Prince Greensun’s opinion, but also Empress Li’s and the Emperor’s.”
The elders were dissatisfied at this undocumented order, but under the chess-playing elder’s gaze, no one was dumb enough to voice it.
The chess-playing elder stood up and said, “Come, let’s go meet this divine champion.”
On the martial path, the first to attain was the senior. There was no meaning in feigning aloofness before a divine champion, which would only make people suspect the Bai clan’s judgment and bearing.
The group of elders stood up, no longer disguising themselves. They stepped forward with different momentums, some like dragons and tigers, others flowing like wind and water.
Qianye stood with his hands behind his back, waiting silently for them to arrive.
The elders looked leisurely but were actually moving at great speeds. They arrived near the arena in the blink of an eye, where they came to a stop and only the chess-playing elder went forward to Qianye’s side. “General Qianye, no, I should call you Marshal Qianye now.”
Qianye replied, “Marshal is an Imperial rank. A civilian like me wouldn’t dare accept such an address.”
The chess-playing elder said, “This old man is Bai Yuantu, currently a retiree.”
“Mister Bai.” Qianye cupped his hands in reciprocation. It was just that his address couldn’t be considered respectful at all, even placing himself on the same level as the other party.
The elders were prepared, but they couldn’t help but feel angered after seeing Qianye not give face even to an aged elder.
Bai Yuantu, on the other hand, was as calm as still water. He said in a steady tone, “We’ve heard before that Sire Qianye views himself quite highly. Now that we meet, it is indeed the case.”
Qianye replied indifferently, “The ignorant layperson will always make random guesses, no need to take it to heart. It’s just like how people say that the four major clans stand at the peak of the aristocracy, possessing great foresight and judgment. Now, it seems that’s not necessarily the case.”
The chess-playing elder’s brows rose. “Then I must ask you for some advice. Where is our Bai clan lacking in foresight?”
Qianye pointed to the unconscious Bai Longyue. “This is your favorite, right? He can’t even take a single punch from me. Bai Aotu is much stronger even in her current state, let alone in the future.”
“Does this mean you’re going to speak up for Bai Aotu? That’s not appropriate, is it? We cannot break our centuries-old rules just because of her.”
“It is indeed not suitable for me to teach your Bai clan how to do things. I simply came here to see an old friend, and I was going to leave once that was done. Since these children wish to teach me a lesson, I don’t mind teaching them how to behave, either.”
“Is this your way of teaching? Your slap isn’t just on their faces.”
Qianye said with a smile, “I feel that this method is quite good. This interception isn’t entirely their idea, so it goes without saying that my slap isn’t limited to their faces, either.”
The chess-playing elder looked indignant. “Aren’t you being too arrogant, no matter how much of a genius you are? Are you planning to incur irreconcilable hatred with our Bai clan?”
Qianye sneered fearlessly. “I should be the one asking this. Is the Bai clan going to make an enemy out of me?”
One of the other elders could no longer endure. “Insolence! How dare a commoner like you compare yourself to the Bai clan? Where will we keep our faces if we don’t make you pay a price today?”
Qianye replied unceremoniously, “It’s going to be hard for you to make me pay a price. I’ll kneel down and apologize if you can take a punch from me!”
That elder was livid. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but he couldn’t bring himself to utter any unyielding words. According to reason, he was a high-ranking character in the Bai clan and Qianye was just a new divine champion. How powerful would the latter be? How could he not block a single punch?
Yet he was inwardly hesitant. Even despite his fit of anger, he didn’t dare say: “Then I’ll try taking a punch from you!”
Bai Yuantu narrowed his eyes. “This old man has neglected worldly matters for a while, I never knew such talents have appeared among the youth. But Qianye, you’re just an early divine champion and you probably haven’t even stabilized your powers. It’s too early for you to behave so atrociously in the Bai clan!”
Qianye replied calmly, “I might have just entered the divine champion rank, but ordinary divine champions will find it pretty hard to escape alive from my hands. If you want to teach me a lesson, then feel free to make your move, but you should better step aside if you lose. Don’t block my path.”
Bai Yuantu broke into an angered laugh. “What conceited nonsense. Aren’t you afraid our Bai clan will mobilize all our experts and kill you here?”
“You want to mob me? Which divine champion is so easy to kill?” Qianye laughed. “I admit you might have people who can defeat me now, but what about in three years? Five years? If you cannot kill me here, your clan can forget about coming out. I will kill every member on sight!”
“You!”
Bai Yuantu’s hair flew up as an astral wind stirred in the arena, and a gigantic pressure bore down on Qianye. The latter remained as still as a rock, ignoring the surging storm around him.
Just as a battle was about to break out, Song Zining opened his folding fan and let out a cough. The sound wasn’t loud, but it echoed in everyone’s ears, and the tense atmosphere immediately collapsed.
The Bai clan members didn’t think too highly of Song Zining at first. Only now did they realize that this romantic guy wasn’t a simple character at all. Being able to affect a fight between divine champions meant that his own combat strength wasn’t too far off.
Someone glanced at Bai Longyue and felt that it was lucky that he was unconscious. The setback would be too great if he found out that he wasn’t a match even for Song Zining.
Clearing his throat, Song Zining said, “The war has just ended. Is this how the Bai clan treats subjects of outstanding service?”
These words were neither serious nor light. Some were puzzled as to what it meant, while others noticed the hidden message.
Bai Yuantu slowly retracted his aura. “The seventh young master makes sense, then I shall learn from Sire Qianye’s skills another day.”
Many people from the Bai clan heaved a sigh of relief. This fight wasn’t good for them at all—a victory would not be glorious, while a defeat would be embarrassing. It was a good thing to be able to exit.
Unexpectedly, Qianye said, “No need for another day. Let’s just settle things now. I must seek pointers from Mister Yuantu right now!”
With that, Qianye threw a punch at the old man’s chest, just as he did with Bai Longyue.
