The browncloak’s attacks proved his prowess as a demigod.
Even Yan Wanjun clucked his tongue when he witnessed the ferocity of the man’s attacks. He himself probably wouldn’t have endured the two attacks if he were the one taking them on. He would be severely injured, if not outright dead.
Elder Shun admired Jiang Chen’s skills even more so. “Xinghan, do you see that?” he muttered to his disciple. “Jiang Chen is your goal on the path of martial dao.”
Chu Xinghan was dazzled by what he saw. If he wasn’t both standing at a respectable distance and being shielded by Elder Shun, he would’ve been swept into the fallout. His below-empyrean cultivation was a bit too low for that.
He had seen Jiang Chen’s remarkable combat ability since tagging along. When Jiang Chen had fought Commander Yan of Bluesmoke’s Blue Eagle Guard, the latter’s ninth level empyrean level had been helpless before the young lord. That already gave a good grasp of his old acquaintance’s true capabilities.
Still, he was shaken nonetheless. The man Jiang Chen was taking on right now wasn’t just ninth level empyrean – he was a demigod, just a step away from being a full blown god!
Three or four Commander Yans added together wouldn’t necessarily be able to best the browncloak, but Jiang Chen answered with an air of ease. He was no longer describable with merely the term ‘genius’.
When he’d first seen Jiang Chen in the Eastern Kingdom, Chu Xinghan had been second disciple under Master Shuiyue, a superb genius in his own right.
At that time, his cultivation had been sufficient to steamroll Jiang Chen. If Elder Shun hadn’t intervened by forcing him back, Jiang Chen would’ve been completely powerless to stand against him.
Perhaps that’d been the only chance for Chu Xinghan to defeat Jiang Chen at any point in his life. After that, Jiang Chen had advanced with astonishing rapidity, moving from Eastern to thriving in Skylaurel. There, he’d obtained an opportunity to test himself among the sixteen kingdom alliance’s four great sects.
Like a dark horse, he cut cleanly into the competition, defying expectations by slaying all in his path. Even Long Juxue, who’d had an azure phoenix constitution, had been dispatched in his warpath.
At that time, Chu Xinghan had already fallen far behind.
It was during that occasion that he’d been injured and abandoned by his sect as well. Jiang Chen had saved him. After that, he became Elder Shun’s pupil and enjoyed the ensuing opportunities that came with his newfound status.
Meeting Elder Shun had changed his life in more ways than one. Compared to his former peers, he was the best off by a long shot. Compared to Jiang Chen though, there was still a noticeable, massive gap between them.
Chu Xinghan wasn’t jealous. He knew that the young lord’s accomplishments hadn’t come from a single day of work. In fact, Jiang Chen’s success drove and motivated him.
Even with the former’s lowly origins, he had nevertheless managed to come this far. There was no reason for Chu Xinghan not to work hard so that he might do the same!
The battle raged on.
The furious browncloak was completely riled up. Two successive powerful blows still hadn’t made a dent in Jiang Chen’s defenses; the result cracked his mentality.
Though the tempo of his assault had increased as a result, their actual effect was lacking compared to his five fingers mountain from earlier. Most importantly, earth-attribute abilities were completely ineffective against the Earth Bodhisattva Orb’s bearer.
Browncloak landed seven swift blows with an incredibly fluid motion.
Jiang Chen didn’t bother to mount a counterattack. Instead, he faced them head on. His defense was all the more remarkable for it – and mocking, to their originator.
“Impossible! Is this kid immortal? Even if another demigod were to take my attacks, he would be seriously injured or outright killed! And yet, he barely dodged. Wasn’t he in the center of my attacks all along? Why is he completely fine? Can he… can he be hiding his true strength?”
The possibility made him tremble. He began to carefully scrutinize Jiang Chen once more. The young man didn’t look like an old monster in disguise as his looks and actual age aligned. But it was difficult to imagine someone so young to be strong enough to need to hide his strength.
This put the browncloak at an impasse. He had three moves left. If he couldn’t deal with his opponent in that time, he would be declared the loser.
It wasn’t particularly shameful to not win in the first ten attacks.
The shameful part was that he’d made the promise so casually. He’d been so confident of his victory. To fail after exhibiting such impudence was utterly scathing.
The browncloak had never felt so ashamed before.
Jiang Chen meanwhile, remained as cool as ever.
“Three attacks left. Take your time and work up your strength. I don’t want you to say that I didn’t give you a chance to do your best,” he joked.
The ease with which he spoke was a kind of psychological interference.
Browncloak was still trying to figure out a method that could negate the young man before him. He had plenty in his arsenal, but most had been tried just now during the seven consecutive strikes. The field test had shown their limited effectiveness.
“Boss, why not use the new move that master’s taught you?” reminded one of his companions.
The browncloak was inspired. He’d had the same idea, but the new move was tremendously powerful: so much so that he had wanted to save it for last.
If he used it ahead of time, the two moves he would have left afterwards would be wasted.
In that moment, he was rather hesitant.
“What’s the difference between you using it now and later, man? What’re you waiting around for?” the bluecloak transmitted again.
His companion had a point, the browncloak realized. He might not even have the chance to use it later. The resolution forced him to become serious. It was decided, then!
This would be his ultimate attack. Either it worked, or he failed outright. It was that simple. If the young man could withstand this attack, the older man would have to forfeit in their agreement.
