Volume Two, Travels in Qi State Chapter 154: Disregarding the Entire Audience

An official of the arena flew onto the stage. "Gu Debai, you have already won two consecutive matches. Do you wish to continue?"

"Continue," Zhang Heng replied without a moment's hesitation. He had yet to test the limits of his abilities; how could he possibly leave so easily?

Hearing Zhang Heng's response, the arena official wore a bitter expression. They knew this person named Gu Debai possessed terrifying combat power, and they feared no other cultivators would dare to step onto the stage.

Zhang Heng cast his gaze around the entire venue, noticing that almost everyone instinctively averted their eyes. Even those powerhouses at the Ninth Realm of Yuan Dan were unwilling to face him in battle.

Zhang Heng smiled.

For within this arena, there were not only cultivators of the Void Return Realm, but also those of the Tian Yuan Realm.

Zhang Heng turned around and said to the arena official with a meaningful look, "I know you are in a difficult position. I am also pressed for time, so let us not follow the arena's rules for my matches."

The arena official looked confused.

Then, Zhang Heng proclaimed arrogantly to the entire audience, "I currently have a total of seventy spiritual essences on me. Anyone present may come up to the stage to challenge me. Whoever defeats me shall take these seventy spiritual essences! If you lose, you only need to leave behind ten spiritual essences."

"How about that?"

The final sentence was directed at both the arena official and the cultivators of the Void Return and Tian Yuan realms throughout the venue.

Earlier, Zhang Heng had utilized the power of the Super Thigh System to gain a preliminary understanding of the cultivation levels of everyone present. Within this arena, there were five individuals at the First Tier of the Tian Yuan Realm, and one at the Second Tier of the Tian Yuan Realm.

Zhang Heng's targets this time were precisely them.

Seventy spiritual essences?

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

This arena had been established in the imperial capital for hundreds of years, frantically hoarding resources. Perhaps its total wealth amounted to only a little over a hundred spiritual essences.

Yet this brat opened his mouth and casually offered seventy.

The crowd broke into a heated uproar, yet for a moment, no one dared to make a move.

A colossal fortune in spiritual essences was certainly alluring, but one needed to stay alive to spend it. Cultivating to the Void Return Realm had not been easy for them, so they all cherished their lives. Losing one's life for the sake of resources was simply not worth it.

Some cultivators at the Ninth Realm of Yuan Dan were also secretly pondering whether they could block that single sword strike.

***

Those who came to this arena to duel had always been required to abide by its regulations. Yet now, an unexpected situation had arisen. Given the circumstances before them, they had no choice but to follow the young man's wishes.

Thus, the arena official agreed to Zhang Heng's terms, flew off the stage, and ceased to interfere in the matter.

The Tian Yuan Realm cultivators beneath the stage sneered inwardly. No matter how formidable a Void Return Realm cultivator might be, they were still merely in the Void Return Realm.

The transition from the Void Return Realm to the Tian Yuan Realm was a qualitative transformation. Once cultivation reached the Tian Yuan Realm, one could comprehend a fraction of spatial force, and their combat power would be elevated to the ultimate extreme.

This arrogant little cultivator at the Second Tier of the Void Return Realm was ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth, foolishly believing that comprehending the ultimate martial dao will made him invincible across the world. His current actions were clearly nothing more than delivering spiritual essences straight to their doorsteps.

Shock was no longer enough to describe Qi Sisi's state of mind at that moment. She and Zhang Heng were roughly the same age, yet she was only at the Sixth Tier of the Qing Ling Realm, while Zhang Heng was already qualified to point his sword toward the Tian Yuan Realm.

As a princess of the Qi Kingdom, Qi Sisi had always believed that her nation, being one of the seven ancient kingdoms, was already a top-tier power. She had thought that Qi Xuan, who reached the Ninth Realm of Yuan Dan at twenty-four and possessed the combat prowess of the Void Return Realm, was already a peerless genius. She had believed that everything she witnessed was the pinnacle of this world.

Now, it seemed she was nothing more than a joke. They were all merely frogs at the bottom of a well.

After the arena official withdrew, an old man suddenly appeared—a skinny, emaciated old man with a frail physique, showing not the slightest ripple of spiritual energy about him. Unlike the others who flew onto the stage, he walked up the battle platform step by step.

Yet everyone present knew that this old man was a true demon. Relying on his Tian Yuan Realm cultivation, he had frequented the Heaven-tier grounds of this arena for years. He often harvested cultivators at the Ninth Realm of Yuan Dan who had won multiple matches, possessing immense cultivation and ruthless methods.

"This old man is Black Slaughter." Just four brief words, spoken as if they were mundane. Yet the people below felt as though they had plunged into an abyss.

For every time those four words were uttered, a supreme expert of the Ninth Realm of Void Return would inevitably perish.

Putting on airs? Zhang Heng smiled faintly.

Suddenly, Zhang Heng slashed out with his sword. The sword light was unimaginably fast. Black Slaughter had never expected this brat to disregard convention and attack without warning, and he hastily summoned all his spiritual energy to defend.

However, the Heart-Protecting Sword was the natal artifact of Dugu Bai.

This single sword strike contained Dugu Bai's sword intent, which looked down upon the entire world. How could it possibly be blocked by a mere minor Tian Yuan cultivator?

The majestic sword Qi surged forward like a roaring flood. Black Slaughter struggled desperately to hold his ground, but the ultimate sword dao will was beyond his ability to withstand. Within mere moments, he collapsed onto the ground. A horrifying sword scar appeared across his chest. With just a single sword strike, a powerhouse of the Tian Yuan Realm had actually been stripped of his combat capability?

At that moment, he felt as though he were dreaming.

Below the stage, everyone felt as though they were dreaming as well. This was absolutely impossible. Why was a minor cultivator at the Second Tier of the Void Return Realm capable of comprehending such ultimate sword intent?

Seeing that this person had not been knocked off the stage by his slash, Zhang Heng felt slightly displeased. After all, his strength was still too weak. If his strength were just a bit higher, and he executed this strike with the Heart-Protecting Sword, this old fellow named Black Slaughter would likely have been split apart on the spot.

***

"Young friend, I concede." Black Slaughter hurriedly retrieved ten spiritual essences from his spatial ring and handed them to Zhang Heng. Matters having reached this point, even a Tian Yuan powerhouse had no choice but to bow his head.

"Concede?" Zhang Heng smiled. He raised his sword and walked toward Black Slaughter.

Black Slaughter forcefully propped up his body and retreated step by step. Had he known this would be the outcome, he would never have forced himself forward to show off and stand out.

Zhang Heng suddenly slashed with his left hand in a gentle arc, and a Tian Yuan Realm cultivator perished right then and there.

"From the moment you stepped onto this battle platform, your life was in my hands. Unless I, your young master, am overcome with mercy, you will never find a way out," Zhang Heng said coldly.

This man named Black Slaughter carried monstrous killing intent; he had undoubtedly slaughtered countless people. How could Zhang Heng possibly let him go?

Watching a Tian Yuan Realm cultivator die right before their eyes, the Void Return Realm cultivators below felt as though they were sitting on needles, deeply distressed. Everything that happened today felt like an illusion to them. They were all mighty experts in their own right, yet they had never felt as wretched as they did today.

Qi Sisi and Mu Wanqing stood frozen in place, equally unwilling to believe everything unfolding before their eyes. Even though they knew Zhang Heng was a peerless genius, even though they had told themselves countless times in their hearts that Zhang Heng was no ordinary person...

Witnessing a Tian Yuan Realm cultivator die under Zhang Heng's sword with their own eyes delivered far too intense a shock.

One had to remember that Tian Yuan powerhouses were capable of traversing the void.

Zhang Heng withdrew his sword and leaped down from the stage. Because he noticed that the single Tian Yuan Second Tier cultivator in the venue had already fled, there was no longer any point in him standing up there putting on airs.

Reaching out, he caught the ten spiritual essences tossed to him by the arena official. Zhang Heng led Qi Sisi and Mu Wanqing and walked toward the exit.

Although the arena had been fleeced of quite a few spiritual essences by Zhang Heng, they did not make things difficult for the trio, because Zhang Heng had also left them a gift.

That Tian Yuan Realm cultivator named Black Slaughter undoubtedly possessed many fine treasures on his person. Since Zhang Heng had killed him and only taken ten spiritual essences, the rest belonged by default to the arena.

In truth, everyone knew that any cultivator who died within the arena would be thoroughly looted of their resources by the arena staff; it was merely an open secret understood by all.

"Let's head back," Zhang Heng said softly to the two maidens, after which the three of them boarded Qi Sisi's beast-drawn carriage and headed in the direction of the imperial capital.