Ye Xiwen smiled, but didn’t reply. An Licheng was weak? He obviously wasn’t weak. He could’ve easily burst into top 500 experts if he hadn’t bumped into Ye Xiwen. However, he had been eliminated in the first round itself. One could say that he had been treated unjustly.
"I didn’t expect to see Sister Shuiyan here!" Ye Xiwen said. He looked at Shuiyan Luo. She had also entered the semi-sage realm. However, she was merely at the initial stage of the semi-sage realm. The principles on her body also looked somewhat unstable. This clearly meant that she had recently entered the semi-sage realm. She could be regarded as elite in this generation. However, she couldn’t be compared with Qi Feifan and Hua Menghan. These two individuals had chanced upon their own respective fortuitous meetings. They couldn’t be regarded as ordinary.
"You’ve become a very busy man now. It’s not surprising that you didn’t get the time to look for us!" Shuiyan Luo teased Ye Xiwen.
She also sighed in her heart. They used to be called the 6 pro-disciples in the past. However, the disparity between them hadn’t reduced. It had grown bigger and bigger on the contrary. This was the result of having met with different fortuitous encounters.
"My bad, my bad. Sister Shuiyan, please forgive me!" Ye Xiwen repeatedly asked for forgiveness and said, "Oh by the way, are Sister Shuiyan and Brother Huang are still in touch?"
He still recalled that man; that man used to as cold as ice. However, he wasn’t a bad person. There hadn’t been any news about him after he had entered the True Martial University.
"Well, of course!" Shuiyan Luo replied. Ye Xiwen had started his journey late. So, he wasn’t in contact with these people. However, these people belonged to the same batch, and had started their journey together. Therefore, they were obviously in touch. So, they knew each other’s whereabouts.
"That’s great. I wish to give a dinner party tonight. Let’s gather everyone. Consider it to be an apology from me!" Ye Xiwen said. This was a rare opportunity for a get-together for all the disciples of the Yi Yuan School.
This time’s Martial Arts Competition wouldn’t end in one day. Only three rounds would take place today. But, the remaining rounds of this competition wouldn’t be completed in a single day.
It would continue for several days!
Ye Xiwen quickly met with a few other senior disciples of Yi Yuan School after he followed Shuiyan Luo. Some of these disciples had lost in the first round, while some had won.
He also saw the man who was still as cold as iceberg – Huang Luochen. Huang Luochen’s temperament was entirely different from that of Qi Feifan’s.
Everyone laughed and talked. It didn’t take too long for the first round to end. The second round would begin soon. Ye Xiwen, Shuiyan Luo, and Huang Luochen had passed the first round. So, they left for their respective competition microcosms.
Ye Xiwen took the initiative, and entered his microcosm. His opponent hadn’t arrived yet. He waited for a while, and his opponent eventually arrived. It was a tall guy of the barbarian race. He was approximately 2 meters tall. He was carrying a big club on his shoulder; it was made up of wolf’s tooth. He was a bit surprised to see Ye Xiwen. He grinned and spoke-up, "You’d better admit defeat without wasting any time. It’s still not too late. It won’t be good for you if my club were to pound on you… just in case!"
He was a senior expert of the late stage of the semi-sage realm. He had condensed over 700 dao principles.
Ye Xiwen smiled back. This disciple of the Fire Cloud Cave was somewhat funny. He sounded a bit rude and impolite from his words, but he clearly didn’t have any bad intentions. He genuinely wanted to warn Ye Xiwen. And, Ye Xiwen developed a good impression of him because of this.
Ye Xiwen hadn’t anticipated that he would come across two peak experts of the late stage of the semi-sage realm in the first two rounds only. It was either their bad luck… or his.
"I would like to know whether it will pound on me or not!" Ye Xiwen replied with a smile, "Let’s fight!"
"You southern humans are very troublesome. Here I come!" the voice of that Fire Cloud Cave disciple faded away soon enough. An enormous imposing aura emerged out from his body, and swept across. The aura seemed mighty and grandiose; it had a wild touch to it as well.
This disciple had already practiced the power techniques of the Fire Cloud Cave to perfection. So, his attack wasn’t ordinary like the Fire Cloud’s Falling Sky Hand that was used by the ordinary disciples of Fire Cloud Cave.
"Bang!"
A loud explosion sound was heard. And, that disciple of the Fire Cloud Cave suddenly disappeared. He only left a hole behind in the spot where he stood. He arrived in front of Ye Xiwen the very next instantly. He was a big guy. Only a few people would believe that he possessed such speed after they had looked at his grandiose stature.
The club on his shoulder smashed down with unmatched momentum. The trace of a plain and honest smile still lingered on his face.
However, Ye Xiwen’s blade was far quicker. The blade in his hand immediately erupted. The blade-energy swept out, and slashed down in a flash.
"Bang!" the club of that Fire Cloud Cave’s disciple instantaneously disintegrated into pieces under the impact of Ye Xiwen’s ‘dao tool’. Ye Xiwen’s long blade then dropped down towards his head from above.
"Wait! I admit defeat. I was mistaken! You southerners are very sinister!" that disciple of the Fire Cloud Cave became somewhat upset and spoke-up.
Ye Xiwen felt a little depressed since this barbarian-man had called him ‘sinister’. This was too simple for him. Could it be that the barbarian people still believed that people with bigger bodies possessed greater strength?
"True Martial University’s Ye Xiwen has won this round!"
Just one move… he had won again in just one move!
A peak expert of the semi-sage realm had lost in the hands of Ye Xiwen once again. He couldn’t withstand one move, and was defeated. Ye Xiwen’s victory speed set the moods of several spectators on fire… especially the moods of the disciples of the Fire Cloud Cave.
"How is this possible? How he can be defeated in the second round? He’s an elite disciple of our Fire Cloud Cave!"
"Is this Ye Xiwen genuinely that powerful? I’ve heard rumor that he has killed some heaven’s pride experts in the past. Is it true or false?"
Many disciples were shocked by this, and they were trying to observe Ye Xiwen. Many people knew that he was ranked as a heaven’s pride expert. In fact, many of them knew that he had killed some heaven’s pride experts in the past. So, they weren’t baffled by the fact that he had defeated someone. However, they were left shocked by the fact that he had defeated two powerful opponents one after another… and each with only one move.
Those two young men enjoyed good reputations. They were considered as elites in the younger generation. Several people had guessed that they would make it into the list of top 200 experts. However, Ye Xiwen had defeated them by using only one move. He had defeated them in the same manner. The only difference was that An Licheng had been defeated miserably. But, the second opponent had been defeated with some dignity to spare since he hadn’t been offensive.
These two contenders had come in with high hopes. However, they hadn’t thought that they would be eliminated so early in the competition.
Even the four lords were in shock.
Many high-level experts of every major force were present on the tall platform; they were shocked as well. They had given their undivided attention to the fights of Ye Xiwen and other heaven’s pride experts. So, Ye Xiwen had gained their attention because of his brilliant performances.
Ye Xiwen came out of the competition space after he had defeated that disciple of the Fire Cloud Cave. A long time span elapsed before the other disciples began to come out of their venues.
The contenders who had made it to the second round were a bit more tyrannical than the ones in the first round. That’s because only the disciples who had put-on a good show in the first round had made it to the second round.
The tall platform was hidden amidst the clouds and mist. Four grand towers stood tall and upright above the tall platform. Four God-like figures were seated on the thrones located atop each of those four towers. These four people wielded the power and authority over the four forces.
The Supreme Lord of the True Martial University was seated in the middle. He wasn’t clearly visible. Three pinnacle experts with tyrannical auras were seated on his either sides. Their cultivation level was hardly recognizable. One man among them was clad in a purple robe. He carried a sort of extravagance on his person. He was the Lord of the Xuan Yuan Palace Hall. The man seated beside him was clad in a bluish-green robe. The color of his robe was very much similar to that of water. He was the Lord of the Muddy Sky Island.
And, the last one was the Lord of the Fire Cloud Cave. He was an old barbarian with a robust physique. His hair was as white as the feathers of a white crane. He possessed a somewhat wild aura. He was seated upright beside the Supreme Lord of the True Martial University.
"Is that Ye Xiwen? I heard that he has killed a heaven’s pride expert of your Xuan Yuan Palace Hall. And, he also taught a lesson to a young heaven’s pride expert of yours in the Wind Dragon City. Geez, he’s really outstanding!" Muddy Sky Island’s Lord laughed mischievously and said. It was obvious from his tone that he was trying to sow seeds of dissension.
"Yes!" the Lord of the Xuan Yuan Palace Hall merely replied with a ‘yes’, but didn’t say anything further. He didn’t become happy or get angry after he heard this. It wasn’t clear whether he was angry… or had merely treated this as news.
The Lord of the Muddy Sky Island shot a glance at him. But, he didn’t elaborate further; some things don’t need to be elaborated further.
"This youngster is pretty good. His approach towards this competition has been appropriate from the get-go. He treats the competition as competition; nothing more!" the Lord of the Fire Cloud Cave unexpectedly opened his mouth at this time, and spoke-up. Ye Xiwen hadn’t injured that disciple of the Fire Cloud Cave. That’s why the Lord was quite pleased with him.
Muddy Sky Island’s Lord got restless as soon as he heard these words. Ye Xiwen had recently tidied-up his disciple quite miserably in the first round. Therefore, he didn’t wish to see Ye Xiwen.
"Humph! This is nothing. It’s only the beginning. He won’t be able to go far!" The Lord of the Xuan Yuan Palace Hall couldn’t help but open his mouth and said, "He’s not even a chief disciple. He’s nothing compared to those hidden geniuses who haven’t shown themselves yet. You never know when someone will defeat him!"
"I don’t think so. I think his reputation will flourish… ha ha… when the time comes!" The Lord of the Fire Cloud Cave generously applauded Ye Xiwen. A rampant person like Ye Xiwen didn’t need to be scared of anything. In fact, he-himself was an extremely rampant person. So, he was quite impressed to see Ye Xiwen’s no-nonsense style of handling things.
He obviously didn’t know that Ye Xiwen was the one who had stolen their ‘Flaming Sun Real Water’. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spoken such words.
Perhaps, he wouldn’t have appreciated Ye Xiwen if he knew this. Rather, he would’ve stepped off the throne, and would’ve chased Ye Xiwen everywhere to kill him.
"It’s too early to say whether he’s a genius or mediocre. This kid is arrogant and despotic. Let’s see how far he goes in the future!" The Lord of the Xuan Yuan Palace hall spoke-up in a somewhat unsatisfied tone.
The Lord of the Muddy Sky Island looked at the Supreme Lord of the True Martial University, and noticed that his gaze was fixed in one direction. It hadn’t changed one bit from the beginning to end. It seemed as if he had heard nothing. Muddy Sky Island’s Lord merely sighed, and didn’t say anything.
(To be continued)