Volume Two: Travels in the State of Qi, Chapter 143: Victory

In the other arenas, perhaps out of respect for the geniuses involved, or perhaps because those fighters truly possessed some skill, the matches involving ninth-stage Yuan Dan realm experts like Qi Xuan and Mu Wanqing—who usually ended their fights quickly—were still ongoing.

The spectators were enthralled by the sight of these peerless geniuses displaying their pride on the platforms. The high-ranking figures watching from above sighed in admiration; this generation of young people was truly exceptional.

Unable to endure Zhang Heng’s provocations, Huang Yan began unleashing a relentless barrage of spiritual energy, heedless of the cost. Zhang Heng could only dodge; fundamentally, his own spiritual energy was not as potent as Huang Yan’s.

Time passed, and most of the other arenas had concluded their matches. While some had been brutal, winners had emerged. Yet, the arena featuring Zhang Heng and Huang Yan remained locked in combat. Everyone’s eyes were fixed upon them.

Huang Yan continued his assault, cycling through various martial techniques and endless tactics. Zhang Heng relied entirely on his "Minor Extreme Phantom" movement technique to evade. Huang Yan had clearly lost his composure, and meeting him head-on would not have been the right choice.

The watching geniuses were secretly stunned. While they all possessed their own pride and were unwilling to bow easily, Zhang Heng’s speed had already surpassed them all.

Huang Yan continued to press the attack. By now, he had exhausted more than half of his spiritual energy, and his movements were slowing. However, Zhang Heng was in an even worse state.

"Kid, out of spiritual energy, aren't you? I'll send you to hell now." This was the first time Huang Yan had spoken. Infuriated by Zhang Heng and exhausted from overexertion, his voice sounded breathless, filled with rage yet strangely comical.

Before him, Zhang Heng stood still, gasping for air. His spiritual aura flickered, appearing and disappearing. It was understandable to the onlookers that Zhang Heng’s energy was depleted faster; after all, he was only at the third stage of the Qi Sea realm. Using such a high-speed movement technique must have consumed an immense amount of energy.

Huang Yan pointed his long sword at Zhang Heng, his spiritual energy surging as the blade began to glow with a cold, blue light. Suddenly, Huang Yan roared, "Die!" He swung his sword horizontally, launching a fierce wave of sword qi infused with massive power. Not stopping there, he lunged forward, refusing to give Zhang Heng even a sliver of an opportunity.

Seeing the overwhelming sword qi rushing toward him, Zhang Heng tried to defend himself, but he could not muster a single shred of energy. He stood frozen in terror.

The other geniuses sneered with disdain, though Qi Xuan and Mu Wanqing felt a sense of doubt—what exactly was Zhang Heng doing? On the second floor, Wu Hong was equally perplexed. Seeing Zhang Heng unable to move, Huang Yan laughed even more heartily. A piece of trash who didn't know his own limits dared to provoke him.

However, just as his attack was about to pass through Zhang Heng, he was stunned. Zhang Heng had vanished. He hurriedly brought his momentum to a halt.

At that moment, Huang Yan sensed a dangerous presence behind him. He spun around, only to see Zhang Heng standing in the distance, his eyes sharp and his hands—crackling with a blend of different spiritual energies—aimed directly at him.

"Gathering Spirit: Dual Yang Finger," Zhang Heng whispered.

Huang Yan desperately channeled his remaining energy to block, but his previous large-scale attack had already drained him, and the haste of the moment left him vulnerable. A moment later, he was struck by Zhang Heng’s fused martial technique, sent flying backward, and landed at the edge of the arena.

Zhang Heng withdrew his energy and walked slowly toward Huang Yan.

"You... how?" Huang Yan was truly bewildered.

The disdainful expressions of the other geniuses transformed into shock. Hadn't Zhang Heng been completely drained of energy? How could he still unleash an attack of such magnitude?

Martial technique fusion—it was martial technique fusion again, and executed so rapidly. Zhang Heng’s talent for martial arts was truly terrifying; in just one day, he had become even more proficient at using fused techniques.

Zhang Heng couldn't be bothered to explain. *Out of energy? I have dozens of vats of spirit spring water on me. Even if you exhausted your energy hundreds of times over, I would never run dry.*

"So much talk. Are you going to walk off yourself, or do you want me to kick you off?" Zhang Heng said dismissively.

Huang Yan coughed up blood, his breathing ragged as he staggered to his feet. He glared at Zhang Heng before walking off the stage himself. This was his final shred of dignity. If he were truly kicked off by Zhang Heng, he would never be able to show his face again.

"It's over. Time to go back and eat." Zhang Heng stretched, smiled faintly, and began to walk back amidst the stunned gazes of the crowd.

The spectators cursed Zhang Heng for being shameless, using words to goad Huang Yan into wasting his energy and then feigning weakness to deceive him. Zhang Heng didn't care; no matter what methods he used, victory was all that mattered.

Of course, some supported him. Regardless of his tactics, he had reached the final eight. This was no small feat—out of millions of young cultivators in the Qi Kingdom, he had ranked among the top eight. And at only the third stage of the Qi Sea realm, defeating a ninth-stage Yuan Dan talent was truly terrifying.

Zhang Heng left, and the other geniuses followed, needing to recover their energy for the next day's matches. The final eight were: the Eighteenth Prince of the Qi Kingdom, Qi Xuan; the Lingyu Palace genius Mu Wanqing; the Hehuan Sect’s Chen Hao and Wang Ying; the Yin Shen Sect’s young master, Chi Ying; and the rogue cultivators Zhang Heng and Qin Ming. The last was another rogue cultivator named Bu Jige, who possessed only eighth-stage Yuan Dan strength and had been largely unknown until now. Like Zhang Heng, his progress had caught everyone by surprise.

Though the day's matches had ended, the eight victors were true geniuses, and the battles to come would only be more spectacular.

Back at his residence, Zhang Heng felt a headache coming on. Tomorrow was the final four, and his opponents were all monstrously powerful. He wasn't certain he could win. But the System demanded victory.

*Maybe I should wait until dark and use the power of the Heart-Protecting Sword to cripple them all,* Zhang Heng thought. *Then they won't be able to compete tomorrow, and I'll win by default. The System said I couldn't use the sword's power during the matches, but this isn't the match itself, so it shouldn't be a violation.*

Suddenly, the voice of the Super Thigh System echoed: "Ding. This System also suggests the host use this tactic."

"You agree, System brother?" Zhang Heng was surprised. He had only been joking.

"Ding. Of course. This System only requires the host to take first place in the Imperial City Grand Tournament and forbids the use of the Heart-Protecting Sword in front of the crowds. Sneaking around to cripple them is an excellent proposal. The host is so weak; winning first place is truly difficult. Doing this will save the System the trouble of helping the host improve his combat power."

"Tsk, System brother, are you looking down on me? The more you say that, the more I want to prove myself. I’ve set my sights on first place in the Imperial City Grand Tournament. And I will do it with my own strength. Even Jesus can't stop me."