Glittering golden light bathed the Fangyang youth, turning him into a blinding, blazing sun. He manifested a golden lance and leveled it at Qing Han.
“Survive three of my moves and I’ll tell you my name.” His lips quirked in a derisive smile.
Qing Han nodded noncommittally, standing where she was with no attempt to show off her strength.
“This is just as well. We’ll let the Fangyang cultivator test Qing Han first, and find out if she's one of the two shitstirrers of Destiny City!”
Outside of Dusk Province, a few heavyweights conversed among themselves through transmission as they watched the fight play out. They were looking for a man and a woman, some suspected one of the two to be either Qing Han or Lu Yun, but they didn’t have any proof as of yet.
“Perhaps Qing Han is Qing Yu!” an elite of House Donglin suggested. With the clan’s ancestral lands destroyed and Dong Lin slain by Zhao Fengyang, House Donglin had fallen far down the pecking order.
However, a dying camel was still bigger than a horse. There remained many top powerhouses among the Donglin ranks, peak arcane dao immortals included. Thus, their influence and status in the world of immortals remained steady.
“Qing Yu has a cosmic constitution and is of a similar age to Qing Han. Perhaps someone in the Qing Clan transformed Qing Yu into Qing Han to disrupt House Donglin’s plans! The way Qing Yu’s Sidekick acted back in Destiny City was telling enough!” That speculation hit a nerve.
To everyone’s great surprise, Qing Yu had turned out to be a woman. Following that logic, why couldn’t Qing Han be Qing Yu in disguise? If she could disguise herself as someone else, it would be easy to disguise someone else as her.
Therefore, it’d make perfect sense if Qing Yu was Qing Han and Sidekick was Lu Yun. A strange atmosphere permeated the air.
“That’s only a speculation, though,” interjected a dao immortal. “This matter cannot be made light of. We must make sure that Qing Han is Qing Yu before committing to anything, as there are still factions supporting Dusk Province even now. Aside from the Star Demon Sect, both the East Sea Court and Panorama Pavilion have an undefined relationship with the province. If we make a move without evidence, those two factions may not react well.”
The East Sea Court occupied a fertile oceanic region, while Panorama Pavilion was among the top three biggest merchant guilds in the world. Their influence extended far beyond a single major, and in fact reached throughout all of the land.
If they threw their weight behind Dusk Province, many would refrain from attacking Dusk Province out of fear of the repercussions.
But if Lu Yun and Qing Han were responsible for the utter shambles of the Sovereign Meet, even the reemergence of the nine celestial emperors wouldn’t be able to prevent public backlash, let alone the Panorama Pavilion and East Sea Court.
Zhao Fengyang had killed Dong Lin because the latter had injured the Destiny city lord, his master. The former celestial emperor’s actions were perfectly justified. But if anyone dared protect Qing Yu and her Sidekick, they would be going against the entire world of immortals.
The crime of disrupting the Sovereign Meet and skinning and deboning the geniuses of the world of immortals was too great. What the two youths had done there had made them public enemy number one.
“Let’s see how the battle between Qing Han and the Fangyang youth turns out, first,” said an arcane dao immortal. “The one from the Fangyang Clan is indeed strong to rank among the top half of the thirty-six champions of the Sovereign Meet. Qing Han won’t be able to hold back when fighting him. We’ll be able to tell who he is then.”
The Donglin dao immortal was certain that Qing Han was Qing Yu.
It also went without saying that Donglin Taihuang was nowhere to be seen. There was still a bounty of a hundred billion crystals on him, one that proved too great a temptation despite many seeing the two shitstirrers as their enemies.
If Donglin Taihuang dared show himself, an origin dao immortal might kill him with a casual backhand.
……
Qing Han crooked his finger in a beckoning gesture. His lackadaisical dismissal put a furious grimace on the Fangyang scion’s face.
“You court death!” Brilliant luminescence burst out from his polearm. He made an overhead swing at Qing Han with all of his strength, slashing down at his opponent from above. Rather than pulling his punches to test Qing Han, the youth wanted to kill the arrogant brat in front of him with a single hit.
The attack’s impact was tremendous. Three thousand meters in every direction turned into a golden ocean, and the land beneath them and the energy in the area began to evaporate.
“That’s an immortal dao combat art from the primordial times rather than a technique of a cultivator!” many immortals cried out in shock.
The Fangyang youth wasn’t using the combat art of a cultivator, or even one of the current immortal dao. The primordial immortal dao had been prosperous and its combat arts flawless, much more powerful than the ones today.
He should’ve gone on a killing spree and taken home the championship in the Sovereign Arena. However, when Qing Yu activated the power of the arena with the combat arts of the founders, it’d prevented him from tapping into his full power.
Now that there was nothing restraining him, Fangyang was able to unleash the full power of the ancient arts with his primordial treasure, pushing his strength to unprecedented heights. In the eyes of the crowd, Qing Han would be crushed like an insect under the might of this terrifying primordial art, youth dao sovereign or not.
Bam!
The blazing sun descended, scattering deadly solar flares in all directions. All but the ten lords and remaining thirty-five champions had fled the area of effect. Those whose cultivation was slightly lower were disintegrated beneath the terrifying might.
Such overweening audacity! The young man clearly considered himself above all others and didn’t spare a single thought for potential casualties. Even the immortals watching outside Dusk Province shied away from the light.
“What a perfect primordial combat art… and what a shame it’s tied to bloodline. Only those of the Fangyang Clan can practice it!” A few dao immortals had identified the combat art for what it was, and the comprehension disappointed them. If that hadn’t been the case, they would’ve loved to emulate it.
“It’s likely only bloodline-related combat arts like these were preserved in the face of the restriction’s destructive power against immortals.” The dao immortals shook their heads.
“It doesn’t matter who Qing Han is anymore. He’s dead without a doubt, as that perfect combat art will kill any cultivators of the same level. If the Sovereign Meet hadn’t been disrupted, the young man from the Fangyang Noble Clan would’ve ranked first and been the top sovereign.”
Some began currying favor with the Fangyang Clan in anticipation of the clan’s victory. It was, after all, a noble clan from the Primordial Era. Apart from the nine celestial emperors, there were none who could rival them in the world.
“Not necessarily! The world of immortals is vast, and geniuses are abundant as carp in the river. Flawless combat arts of the immortal dao are powerful, but they aren’t the only paths to supremacy. The ten lords and other thirty-five champions may not be weaker than the Fangyang Clan.”
Naturally, there were dissenting voices as well, but all of them agreed on one thing about the fight: Qing Han was doomed.
……
“Hmph, overly confident fool.” The Fangyang youth smirked derisively and muttered at Dusk City, “It’s your turn, Lu Yun.”
“Eh… didn’t you say you’d make three moves? There’s two more to go, don’t keep me waiting,” a rather bored voice sounded out. “If three aren’t enough, I’ll let you have ten. If you still aren’t satisfied, we can make it a hundred.”