Tu Fusheng’s second punch displayed his frightening strength that could easily bring any seven-star condensed prime Warrior to their knees; even at a state level, he could be counted as one of the best young cultivators. His fist propelled through the thick air filled with Ye Wei’s and his own Qi. It arrived in front of South Star’s ace in the blink of an eye.
The chaotic wind was slapping Ye Wei on the face but he did not flinch, and he did not look like he was going to bother with dodging either. He just stood still and watched his opponent’s dark fist.
It wasn’t that he gave up, but that he was so focused on the stance he was charging up.
While everyone in the audience gasped for air, Ye Wei took a step forward. He wrapped his body with Zodiac Sword Qi ten times strengthening it to a frightening extent while launching himself right at Tu Fusheng’s strike.
The spectral swords shrunk and condensed around Ye Wei’s hands, forming a transparent energy around them. He then clenched his fists, threw them out with the momentum a exploding star.
The layer of air in front of Ye Wei was crushed by his stance’s impact and it created a conical void filled with his Zodiac Sword Qi.
“Bang!”
Ye Wei’s empowered punch landed solidly onto Tu Fusheng’s dark, green fists. The crash set off two fearsome recoiling force waves that ended up swapping the platform. The previous fractures on the amethyst platform split even more making them wider and deeper. The whole platform was shaking violently and becoming unsteady. It was showing signs of completely breaking apart.
Being in the eye of the storm, neither Ye Wei or Tu Fusheng were affected by this explosion of energy. Both of them levitated to avoid the risk of losing their footing.
‘Supernova stance!’ The Zodiac Sword had taken a toll on the Qi reserve in Ye Wei’s dantian, so he activated the first stage of his amplification stance to compensate. The golden runes engraved onto his bones began to shine bright and circulated over his skeleton.
“Boom! Boom!”
All of a sudden, Ye Wei’s Qi violently expanded granting him triple his normal strength. The Supernova stance was one of a kind; its amplification effects increased exponentially in proportion to the user’s cultivation, and now that Ye Wei was a three-star condensed prime Warrior, he was able to reach the body strength of a five-star condensed prime Warrior effortlessly.
A shrill sound echoed between the raised martial platforms around Ye Wei and Tu Fusheng’s fight, and at the same time the air around platform one was being drained by Supernova stance.
Benefit from the surge of amplified Qi, the Zodiac Sword became harder and sharper, destroying the green pattern on Tu Fusheng’s fist.
The moment the green pattern broke, Tu Fusheng’s bodily strength dropped rapidly. He was no longer a match for Ye Wei’s sword Qi. His dark skin was torn, revealing the bones of Tu Fusheng’s knuckles.
“I want you dead!” Tu Fusheng howled The green glow in his eyes shone brighter, and the green pattern covering his body re-lit and expanded in all directions.
‘Starblink Steps!’ Moments before the green energy waves touched Ye Wei, a stream of energy resembling the milky way appeared under his feet.
“Whoosh!”
Ye Wei’s movement became unpredictable. His figure blurred, and he rode the glowing light beneath his feet. Dodging wave after wave of Tu Fusheng’s energy burst, he was occasionally grazed but the impacts of the waves were constantly redirected.
“What kind of stance is that?” The experienced cultivators on the cloud platform scratched their heads, shocked while admiring the mysterious speed boosting stance.. None of them had come across or recognized a stance similar to Ye Wei’s.
Tu Fusheng’s strength impressed many but when compared toYe Wei’s stance, it became less of a feat. As the stance was not high-graded but mysteriously unpredictable.
“Even I would struggle dodging those bursts of energy, but it doesn’t look to be a problem for Ye Wei at all. It wouldn’t be long until he overtakes me, I think actually in some aspects he is already ahead of me!” Xu He, vice-principal of South Star, said startled and concerned. He looked at Ye Wei’s drifting figure, shocked by the level of talent.
The vice-principal was pleasantly surprised by Ye Wei once again. This time he applauded Ye Wei on another secret techniques, one that was beyond his understanding and knowledge of stances.
“Ye Wei is the youngest Runemaster Qing State had ever seen. The fact that we know nothing of the stance until now certainly means he created it himself!” Chen Yuan looked at Ye Wei and saw Master Yi’s form in the young one’s fighting style, exclaimed, “Oh Yi Yan, oh Yi Yan, you are a far greater teacher than I am.”
“Regardless of the fight’s outcome, I am going to recruit Ye Wei; he is qualified for sure!” Shi Qing looked at Ye Wei with his bronze eyes and spoke with great appreciation.
“Brother Shi Qing, I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Just because the Green Army wants to recruit him ,doesn’t mean he will oblige.”Chen Yuan wisely commented and gave Shi Qing a reproachful look, his lips twitched as his words came out.
Ye Wei was as good a Runemaster as he was a cultivator. Even though the Green Army was interested, they still needed the Runemaster Union’s approval.
“What do you mean? Who dares stand against the Green Army?” The commander stared at the City Lord, his thick black brows arched upwards, interrogating in an overbearing tone.
City Lord Chen Yuan looked at the aggravated commander, smiled and shook his head. He then casted his attention back onto the amethyst platform. ‘Not many people can challenge your authority in Qing State,but Ke Bai is one of them. As well, he just so happens to be the President of the Runemaster Union. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has something to say about the army wanting to recruit Ye Wei.’
While Ye Wei was in the heat of battle, he felt a chilling tingle go down his spine as he noticed his opponent’s presence was similar to that of the demon who ambushed him weeks ago with the energy of black scale, currently in Ye Wei’s possession.
‘This is not a enhancing stance, like Ziyan said, probably, the demons are infiltrating right now, and Tu Fusheng could very well be one of them!’ Ye Wei thought to himself and empowered his sword Qi.
Due to the Mystic Mount’s presence in his Sentient, Ye Wei had superior demon sensory compared even to returned prime Warriors, making him the only human-being on the venue that knew Tu Fusheng’s true identity.
‘Well done little boy, I didn’t think you would notice. He is a strong one isn’t he? Mastering the Green Corpse technique is quite a rare feat for a young demon like him. Now it’s only just a matter of seconds before he slaughters you all like helpless cattle!’ The Black Scale Progenitor’s voice echoed in Ye Wei’s mind.
‘Thanks for confirming, now I know I don’t have to hold anything back.’ Ye Wei replied, ‘Old dog, this is Ning City, a human territory! Good luck beating us here.’
‘Pfft, us demons can enter and leave a small city like this anytime we wish!. But the fact that he is here means he came prepared. Don’t bother saving the city kid. It will soon turn to dust anyways I’d just try to stay alive if I were you!’ The Progenitor taunted insolently.
“Stop, listening to you makes me feel stupid.” Ye Wei grunted and channeled his Qi.
“Ow!”
Tu Fusheng made a strange noise from his throat and swallowed a large breath of air. The green pattern on his skin moved into his mouth; the blaring green glow on him disappeared, but his energy’s presence grew. His wounds began to heal, strands of muscles quickly being synthesized, covered the knuckle bones as his dark skin also regrew.
‘Eh?’ Ye We sensed danger. He stepped on the shining star shapes under his feet, continued to escape from Tu Fusheng’s shockwaves. Ye Wei try to open his mouth wanting to warn others about his opponent’s real identity only to find he could not make a sound. The air around him was dense; so dense, he became contained in an area where his actions were constricted, limited.
The waves came from all directions, crushing Ye Wei from all angles.
‘Kid, you are in trouble now. He has used the power of his true demon form. Using my scale’s power will be your only way out. If you really want to live you should follow my instructions.’ The Progenitor chuckled.
‘Shut it!’ Ye Wei pinched himself to stay sharp and refocused on Tu Fusheng.
‘Fine, if you want to die, then shutt me off, but you’ll regret it!’ The Progenitor’s words sounded in Ye Wei’s head.
Tu Fusheng’s eyes turned green entirely, the glow was mesmerising, his presence kept expanding, caging the audience in a horrifying atmosphere.
“Nine-star condensed prime, there is no mistake…”
“Dear Sages! Tu Fusheng is already a nine-star condensed prime Warrior?!” The weaker cultivators on the cloud platform were startled, shocked, and slightly ashamed of themselves.
“How can this kid be a nine-star condensed prime Warrior already?” Xu He’s face went pale. He worried for his team, and, most importantly, he worried for Ye Wei. ‘What am I going to say to Master Yi if his only legacy apprentice got injured under my watch!?’
The vice-principal’s lips became chapped and dry from the frequent panic-inducing heavy breathing.
“Xu He, relax, cant you see Ye Wei is still feeling relaxed? He always dealt with whatever stood in his way, and he handled the difficult circumstances rather easily with secret techniques we never expected him to know.” Jian Shiyu comfortingly said with a deep voice; he placed his hand on vice-principal Xu’s shoulder while observing Ye Wei’s moves. His eyes light up, brighter than stars in a night sky.
Jian Shiyu was himself close to becoming a returned prime Warrior. Although he appeared calm, he was shocked and worried as well. He thought that the platforms were too weak and small for the fighting on top of it.
The important figures on the cloud platform looked at each other in silence. They wanted to speak but didn’t quite know what to say. They felt strange as they knew how hard it was, how much effort they spent cultivating just to be as strong as this teenager.
“Nine-star condensed prime, I did not expect a cultivator of this level could be found in your region! Chen Yuan, you know this Tu Fusheng kid could probably place in the top thirty if he fights the Qing State tournament right?”
“This is not looking good for Ye Wei!” Chen Yuan shook his head, the City Lord was a close friend of Master Yi’s, and he couldn’t help but pick a side. He sympathized about Ye Wei’s troubling predicament as he knew it was going to be at best an uphill battle for the young Runemaster.
“Tu Fusheng, Ye Wei, Jian Chen, Feng Yi, the standard of this year’s tournament is far higher than any of the other years!” Chen Yuan smiled. He was sure that these four prodigies could one day become influential forces.
While the audience were admiring the quality of this year’s contestants, Ye Wei was caught in a dire situation, a situation that could kill him. He adjusted his breathing pattern, injected Qi into his bones, and aimed to activate the Supernova stance.
‘Second evolution!’ The runes inside Ye Wei’s body shone golden and flowed quickly. His power tripled in the matter of a second.
As his Qi rushed into of his bones, amplified them, and his strength kept increasing, Ye Wei achieved a nine-star condensed prime level as the Supernova stance reached the second evolution. Although he would be struck by recoiling force once the stance fades, he could not afford to hold anything back during this fatal moment.
Ye Wei felt the changes in the Qi flow inside his body, but he could not see the tadpole patterned runes developing on his bones which were linking together.