Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 302: Chapter 302: Battling the Second Layer of the Martial King Realm

As it was the final match of the individual competition, many people had come to spectate. The venue was a sea of people, packed so tightly that all one could see was a dense crowd of heads. Even though the Wuji Immortal Palace had dismantled the extra arenas and added more seating, it still wasn’t enough to accommodate the impassioned audience.

”Senior Brother Xiaoyu, please announce the start of the match,” Xiao Xiao said to Ling Xiaoyu, glancing at the time.

Ling Xiaoyu nodded and signaled to the referee beside the stage to begin the match.

Ye Qingchen and Li Chenyang walked onto the arena stage.

When Li Chenyang stepped onto the stage, nearly the entire audience rose to their feet and cheered. As a second-level Martial King Realm expert, he was the clear favorite to win the individual competition. Furthermore, his Ziyun Sect had already placed first in the team competition. This meant that regardless of the outcome of this match, the Ziyun Sect would be the overall champion of the Sect Advancement Tournament. For a sect, this was the highest possible honor. Even though the Ziyun Sect had only just been promoted, it would now hold considerable prestige among the two-star sects.

But when Ye Qingchen took the stage, the audience erupted in a chorus of boos.

It was a strange quirk of human psychology to resent seeing someone perceived as weaker do better than oneself. Ye Qingchen was only at the fifth level of the Martial Spirit Realm. Although he had demonstrated impressive feats on multiple occasions, the sudden appearance of a Martial Spirit Realm cultivator in a final filled with masters was something most people couldn’t accept. Moreover, he had advanced to the finals first by receiving a bye and then by winning when his opponent forfeited. This made the eliminated Martial King Realm experts all the more indignant!

Faced with waves of jeers, Ye Qingchen remained unfazed, as if their insults had nothing to do with him. His composure prompted a sidelong glance from Li Chenyang. This young man doesn’t seem as worthless as the rumors claim.

As the bell rang to signal the start of the match, Ye Qingchen and Li Chenyang exchanged salutes but didn’t rush to act. Instead, they observed one another, searching for an opening. Their standoff, however, earned the dissatisfaction of the spectators, who began to clamor.

”Sect Leader Li, hurry up and deal with this kid! With your strength, a mere wave of your hand should be enough to knock him off the stage!”

”Ye Qingchen, you should just surrender! Stop embarrassing yourself up there!”

”Damn it, this kid pisses me off just by looking at him! I’m at the peak of the ninth level of the Martial Spirit Realm, and I didn’t even make it into the top hundred. How did a fifth-level brat like him make it to the finals? By what right?”

Hearing the jeers from below, Li Chenyang sighed and said to Ye Qingchen, ”Young friend, please make your move.”

Ye Qingchen nodded and made a respectful gesture toward Li Chenyang before drawing his Qingfeng Sword. Li Chenyang, however, did not draw a weapon, merely watching him quietly.

Ye Qingchen understood. To Li Chenyang, I’m not an opponent who requires a Spiritual Artifact. This is the pride of a Martial King expert. Well, if he mistakes me for an ordinary Martial Spirit Realm cultivator, he’s bound to pay a heavy price.

”Sect Leader Li, be careful,” Ye Qingchen offered as a well-intentioned reminder before immediately unleashing his Wind Blade Sword Technique, slashing toward Li Chenyang.

At first, Li Chenyang paid the warning no mind. But when he felt the surging Sword Qi and the sword’s unpredictable trajectory, he realized this was no ordinary strike.

”White Tiger Martial Soul!”

However, Li Chenyang hadn’t gotten this far by chance and was certainly no pushover. Although Ye Qingchen’s attack was ferocious, Li Chenyang chose not to evade. Instead, he summoned his Martial Soul, and a giant, three-meter-tall white tiger appeared behind him. The White Tiger specialized in slaughter, greatly enhancing his attack power, which was why he had always favored a head-on fighting style.

”Purple Cloud Palm!”

With another great shout, Li Chenyang shot out a series of illusory purple palms. The White Tiger Martial Soul seemed to come to life, breathing out a cloud of white killing intent at the phantoms. The purple palms swelled in size as they met Ye Qingchen’s Sword Qi.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of explosions rang out as the palm phantoms were shattered by the Sword Qi one after another. In the end, however, the palms completely neutralized the Wind Blade Sword Technique, and the few remaining palm strikes continued toward Ye Qingchen. Ye Qingchen constantly used his Mystifying Steps to dodge their attacks.

After their first exchange of moves, neither had managed to harm the other.

Ye Qingchen frowned. The Wind Blade Sword Technique is my strongest Martial Technique right now, yet it was still overpowered by Li Chenyang—and he didn’t even use a Spiritual Artifact!

Li Chenyang, on the other hand, was even more astonished. His Purple Cloud Palm was the Ziyun Sect’s signature Martial Technique. Although it was only a high-grade Mystic Rank technique, the power it unleashed when enhanced by his White Tiger Martial Soul was in no way inferior to that of a low-grade Earth Rank Martial Technique! And he was a second-level Martial King Realm expert! For him to use an art with the power of a low-grade Earth Rank technique and still fail to injure Ye Qingchen... It was unbelievable.

Both fighters were stunned for a moment before Ye Qingchen launched another attack. Casting aside his earlier contempt, Li Chenyang began to take the fight seriously.

As they traded blows, the onlooking audience was left dumbstruck. No one had expected Ye Qingchen to last so long against Li Chenyang. In their minds, a slight effort from Li Chenyang should have been enough to crush him!

Was Li Chenyang holding back? Of course not. His Purple Cloud Palm had defeated countless masters, and the memories of those battles were still fresh in everyone’s minds.

Did this mean... Ye Qingchen truly possessed combat strength comparable to the Martial King Realm?

The crowd swallowed nervously, not daring to ponder the implication.

On the arena stage, Ye Qingchen relentlessly wielded his Qingfeng Sword, alternating between the Wind Blade Sword Technique and Sword Dusting the Wind. Even a master like Li Chenyang was struggling to keep up. Continuously using high-level Martial Techniques consumed a vast amount of Spiritual Energy, but Ye Qingchen understood his advantage was precarious. He had just seized the initiative, which was the only reason he could trade blows evenly with Li Chenyang. If he gave his opponent a chance to catch his breath and counterattack, the tide of battle would instantly reverse.

The fight was incredibly frustrating for Li Chenyang. He had already summoned his White Tiger Martial Soul to aid him, yet he had still been forced onto the back foot. Worse, Ye Qingchen had yet to reveal his own Martial Soul. This forced Li Chenyang to remain on high alert, constantly guarding against a sudden attack leveraging his opponent’s unknown Martial Soul abilities.

Li Chenyang sighed, finally drawing his weapon—a superior-grade spiritual weapon, the Sunset Blade.