Battle Through the Heavens

The entire stadium was silent as everyone eyed Bai Cheng who had collided heavily against the wall. No one knew if he was dead or alive. Quite a number of people could sense the degree of ferociousness behind Xiao Yan’s punch earlier despite being a great distance away. They did not dare to imagine whether they could still keep their little lives if that punch were to solidly connect with their body.

Xiao Yan slowly straightened his body within the arena. His tightly clenched fist trembled slightly as a trickle of blood followed the tip of his finger and dripped down. Although that attack earlier was indeed ferocious, it also caused his fist to feel some pain after being shaken by the reverse force. However, this was undoubtedly many times better compared to the ninety-percent of strength that Bai Cheng had to endure.

Xiao Yan raised his head. His gaze swept over the various expressions of everyone on the tall platform. After letting out a soft cough, he turned his gaze toward Su Qian on the judges’ seats.

Su Qian glanced at Bai Cheng below, who no one knew was dead or alive, after sensing Xiao Yan gaze which had shot over. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. After receiving such a heavy blow, it was likely that Bai Cheng would be left with an injury that would be difficult to fully heal even if he was lucky enough to keep his little life this time around. Su Qian had nothing to say in regards to this. After all, all of the attacks that Bai Cheng used against Xiao Yan earlier were basically all fatal moves. He only had himself to blame for having such an ending.

Su Qian exchanged gazes with the few Elders beside him before waving to some of the instructors maintaining safety within the arena. Immediately, two people flashed forward. They picked up Bai Cheng, who was lying on the ground without moving, and carried him away.

“*Cough*. Xiao Yan wins this match.” Su Qian’s eyes looked at Xiao Yan in the arena. Immediately, his voice became deeper as he spoke, “However, I hope that everyone does not use such heavy attacks in the next match. Those whose tactics are overboard will have their qualification to participate in the competition revoked.”

Su Qian’s words obviously contained a warning. After all, the students who could enter the ‘Strong Ranking’ basically belonged to the top within the Inner Academy. It would be quite a great loss if anything were to happen to a student of such talent. Moreover, some of the students had quite strong backgrounds. Although these backgrounds did not have much of a deterrent effect within the academy, the factions behind them would definitely be displeased if something were to happen to these students within the academy. At that time, it would be troublesome if they were to run to the Inner Academy crying and shouting.

Xiao Yan smiled and nodded. His toes pressed gently on the ground as his body rushed to the tall platform. After which, he ignored the numerous gazes from the surroundings and landed on his seat.

“What a useless person. He is actually unable to defeat Xiao Yan even like this.” Liu Fei immediately snorted coldly and softly cursed Bai Cheng’s inability to take out Xiao Yan as she eyed him return to his seat without appearing to have suffered any serious injuries.

“Yao Sheng, you better not disgrace yourself if you meet him.” After cursing, Liu Fei turned her head and spoke to Yao Sheng by her side who was staring at Xiao Yan.

Yao Sheng was slightly startled. His expression was initially a little unnatural before he immediately gave a sinister smile as he nodded and said, “Fei-er, you can rest assured that as long as I am able to meet him, I will definitely seek justice for you.”

“You should not look down on Xiao Yan. Otherwise, you will also end up like Bai Cheng, losing when he was not expecting to. The green-colored flame armor that Xiao Yan displayed earlier has an extremely shocking defensive strength.” Liu Qing knit his brows and spoke in a deep voice.

Yao Sheng smiled and nodded. However, there was still a dark coldness and disdain between his brows.

……

“Xiao Yan ge-ge, are you alright?” Xun Er held Xiao Yan’s hand and asked in a concerned manner. She was able to clearly sense that the latter’s breathing was a little rough and heavy. Clearly, his strength had been greatly exhausted in the battle earlier.

“I’m fine. It is just that the flame armor exhausts too much Dou Qi. I’ll be fine after resting for a while.” Xiao Yan took out an ‘Energy Recovery Pill’ from within his storage ring and stuffed it into his mouth as he smiled while shaking his head.

Xun Er’s pretty eyes studied Xiao Yan’s face, only to sigh in relief when she saw the sleek redness that gradually surged over it. Her gaze turned toward the next match that had just begun and softly said, “It is really unexpected that Bai Cheng actually used such tactics. That ‘Bloody Ground Eight Split’ is likely a Middle Xuan Dou Technique.”

“That’s right. Moreover that secret technique which raised his strength is not an ordinary one. It really was beyond my expectations that he had something like that.” Xiao Yan smacked his lips and said.

“Ke ke, Bai Cheng and Bai Shan do have some background. Their clan may not be very prominent in the entire Dou Qi continent, but they can be considered a second tier faction. If one were just discussing strength, even the three great clans of the Jia Ma Empire are slightly inferior to them. I think that this secret technique is something that is secretly passed on within their clan.” Xun Er smiled as she spoke.

Xiao Yan nodded slightly. Due to the special rules, no matter what kind of background one had, it would not provide any sense of superiority for that person within the Inner Academy. Therefore, it was possible that the faction behind any random person that was picked could be quite great.

“From the looks of it, I myself might be the kind who is considered the weakest because I am alone, right?” Xiao Yan suddenly laughed bitterly as he mocked himself in his heart. He did not have much of a background. Not only did the Xiao clan not have much strength within the Jia Ma Empire, but it was being chased and killed until few people remained because it had offended the Misty Cloud Sect. His only support was himself.

“Xiao Yan ge-ge alone is much more effective than any other faction. A tier five alchemist would be welcomed with a smile even if the other party is an elite Dou Huang. Who would dare say that you are weak because you are alone?” Xun Er’s lovely, delicate hand gently held Xiao Yan’s palm as she replied with a soft gentle smile.

Xiao Yan was startled when he heard this and immediately laughed out loud in a carefree manner. He had actually forgotten his most important identity. As his palm patted Xun Er’s head, he jokingly said, “However, even though I am a tier five alchemist, it is likely that I am nothing in the eyes of the faction behind Xun Er.”

“But Xiao Yan ge-ge is still young. There have not been many tier five alchemists at such an age in the continent.” Xun Er smiled as she responded.

Xiao Yan smiled. He crossed his legs on the spacious seat and slowly shut his eyes. His mind sank and intruded into his body, adjusting his somewhat tired condition caused by his over exhaustion.

Xun Er quietly eyed Xiao Yan’s calm face. She muttered to herself within her heart, “Xiao Yan ge-ge, I believe that you will become a truly strong person the next time we meet…”

……

There was still an endless stream of fights after Xiao Yan. Moreover the degree of fierceness even surpassed that of the fight between Xiao Yan and Bai Cheng earlier. During this time, quite a number of people in the top ten of the ‘Strong Ranking’ had shown themselves. That kind of powerful strength caused exclamations to sound repeatedly in the stadium.

It was finally Wu Hao’s turn to appear after the competition had progressed until it was halfway through. Compared to some of the exciting fights earlier, this fellow’s victory was quite relaxing. The strength of that one star Dou Ling may surpass Wu Hao, but his fighting experience was far inferior when compared to the latter. Hence, the fight had merely lasted less than ten minutes before that one star Dou Ling had an opening which was caught by Wu Hao due to his carelessness. He was defeated in one blow.

Xiao Yan shook his head, feeling neither able to laugh nor cry as he eyed Wu Hao’s face which was filled with a lack of enjoyment as the latter returned to the tall platform. This fellow was still not satisfied after winning the round so easily. Would this fellow be happy only if he became extremely exhausted just like myself?

……

“Number thirty-seven!”

The number that had suddenly sounded in the stadium immediately caused the entire place to abruptly quieten. After being dull for an instant, numerous gazes suddenly turned before finally stopping on that tall, large man with a face as deep as water.

The man sat quietly, appearing to sense the focus of all the gazes around him. He slowly opened his eyes and a sharp tyrannical aura suddenly surged out just like the awakening of a snake that had gone into hibernation.

Tyrant Spear Liu Qing!

Ever since that year when he had been defeated by Lin Xiu Ya’s hands, this tyrannous and mighty looking man had never lost once within the Inner Academy. That record of dozens of continuous wins within the Fighting Arena caused a countless number of students to be filled with both respect and fear.

Liu Qing stood up and slowly walked forward. As his footsteps moved, the tyrannical aura on his body grew increasingly powerful. Some of the strong people, who were leaning closer, even sensed that their breathing had become rough and heavy.

Liu Fei’s eyes revealed some adoration as she eyed the heavy back that was the focus of attention of the entire place in front of her. Ever since she was a child, she had never seen Liu Qing admitting defeat to any opponent. Even those people with outstanding talent like Lin Xiu Ya would only cause him to be slightly worried. Of course… she had automatically excluded Zi Yan in this. That was because that little girl could not be classified as normal.

Liu Fei suddenly glanced at Xiao Yan a short distance away as she had this thought in her heart. The corner of her mouth was lifted into a sarcastic arc, “No matter how high you jump, you are merely just a leaping clown in elder cousin’s eyes!”

Xiao Yan naturally did not know what Liu Fei was thinking in her heart. Even if he did know, it was likely that he would be unconcerned. Any spoken words were pallid explanations. Only by thoroughly sparing would there be an effective result.

Xiao Yan leaned against his chair. His gaze paused on Liu Qing who slowly walked forward. If one did not mention anything else, Xiao Yan viewed this man extremely seriously. An incomparable tyrant. This was the best description for him.

In his heart Xiao Yan thought that if Liu Qing was given time to grow, it was likely that no one would disagree that he had the qualifications and the talent to become a giant who would shake the Dou Qi continent in the future.

“Bang!”

Liu Qing came to the side of the guardrail before stomping his feet on the ground. His body was like a metal pagoda as it abruptly fell from the sky before heavily landing on the ground. His impact was great in everyone’s eyes. The hard ground in the area where he landed was shattered into a pile of powder. Countless crack lines swiftly spread out…

Liu Qing stood straight and hugged his chest with his arms. Under the shine of the sun, the dark-black heavy spear on his back reflected a dense, cold glow. With this outfit, along with that tyrant aura, it was likely that a person who did not have a strong mental fortitude would lose even before fighting.

Xiao Yan laughed softly as he watched Liu Qing in the arena pressuring others with his aura. A fiery hot fighting intent slowly surged within his dark-black eyes. Among those of his age group, it was likely that only Lin Xiu Ya and Liu Qing would truly cause him to form a fear and solemness in his heart.

“He is indeed not a bad opponent.”