Chapter 149 – Center of Attention
The center plaza of Blue Wind Profound Palace’s Outer Palace was immensely big. There would usually be numerous outer palace disciples sparring at this location, attracting the attention of even more disciples. This plaza was also the location of all sorts of profound strength competitions of the outer palace.
And today, the plaza was tens of times more livelier than any other day. Numerous crowds of people densely packed with the stage at its center. Of the fifty thousand or more Outer Palace disciples, there were actually more than eighty percent of them gathered here, causing the central area to be wrapped so tight that it was impenetrable. Their attention was focused on the stage, they were waiting for the arrival of the today’s main character.
Today was the date of Yun Che and Murong Yi’s arranged battle.
However, the main character in the heart of these Outer Palace disciples was most certainly not Yun Che, but rather Murong Yi. The majority of these disciples who were present today came to catch a glimpse of an Inner Palace disciple’s elegant prowess. As for Yun Che, he had always existed in their mouths as a laughingstock for the past three months.
Originally, a newly joined Outer Palace disciple overestimating himself and challenging an Inner Palace disciple was not something that would instigate so much attention. However, what was crucial, was the fact that this arranged battle had actually disturbed the Palace Chief Qin Wushang. Furthermore, Qin Wushang had even personally became a testimonial for this arranged battle. As such, it was impossible for this battle to not evoke the attention of the entire Profound Palace.
The promised time for the battle drew nearer and nearer by the second; less than a quarter of an hour remained. However, neither Yun Che nor Murong Yi had appeared yet. Right at this moment, a disturbance suddenly appeared from the east side of the plaza, and waves of exclamations resounded.
“Look! It’s Palace Chief Qin! Palace Chief Qin has arrived!”
The crowd separated, and a group of people slowly walked over. The leading middle aged man wore a purple robe. He had a benevolent and peaceful appearance, and he walked carrying an aura that caused awe in one’s heart; he was precisely the Blue Wind Profound Palace’s Vice Palace Chief, Qin Wushang. Next to him was Qin Wuyou, who wore a slight smile and following behind them were several Elders, as well as instructors of the Outer Palace.
Qin Wushang and company sat down in a pavilion not far away from the stage, gazing indifferently at the empty stage. All the disciples subconsciously moved back; their gazes that looked at the pavilion were filled with reverence.
“Palace Chief Qin really came!”
“Rubbish! Who did you think Palace Chief Qin is? Of course he’ll keep his word!”
“But why would Palace Chief Qin agree to personally witness a battle like this? Yun Che is an entire great realm below Senior Brother Murong; even if three months had passed, it would be impossible for the gap to be a lot closer, and perhaps it even got further apart. Even a fool could imagine the conclusion of this battle…”
“Palace Chief Qin’s intentions, naturally aren’t something that we could understand. There’s also the chance that Palace Chief Qin did this merely on a whim…”
Some time had passed since the arrival of Qin Wushang, yet Murong Yi and Yun Che still had not shown up. It was only a few minutes away from the time of the battle, and the chattering in the plaza had also grown increasingly louder. Then, at this moment, large burst of shouting came from the north side of the plaza.
“Murong Yi! Murong Yi’s here!”
Under the gazes of countless disciples that brimmed with excitement, Murong Yi had finally appeared. To his side, was a man donned in all white who followed along shoulder to shoulder. The man’s facial feature was handsome yet feminine; his eyes were narrow and his gaze was undisciplined and cold.
“Look at the person next to Murong Yi! That’s Feng Baiyi, who’s ranked thirty-six on the Heavenly Profound Ranking!”
“Woah! Ranked thirty-six?” The screams of the Outer Palace disciples suddenly increased by another few notches.
The arrival of Murong Yi and Feng Baiyi had caused Outer Palace disciples in the jam packed plaza to completely sink into an uproar. The reason why the majority of the Outer Palace disciples came pushing into the crowd today, was just to personally see the legendary Inner Palace disciple. Each and every one of them were tiptoeing as their gazes burned with fervor.
“Elder cousin, you must certainly teach that Yun Che a lesson this time, at best, beat him until he’s crippled! That grudge from last time, I had already endured for a whole three months!”
Murong Ye, who was in the crowd, spent an immense amount of effort before he finally pushed through to Murong Yi’s side, and said while gritting his teeth.
“Rest assured, that Yun Che is only a little rat that doesn’t know the difference between heaven and earth. If I want him to be round, then he’ll be round; if I want to flatten him, then he’ll flatten. If you want to personally vent your anger then, humph,” Murong Yi sneered disdainfully: “After I finish stepping on him, I will let you deal with him… After all, he had previously said it himself that if he were to lose, his life will be in my hands.”
“Hehe,” Murong Ye rubbed his hands together; an “unable to wait any longer” expression filled his face: “Cousin, then I’ll be waiting for you to mercilessly beat him into a dead dog. For the next three days, if there’s anywhere cousin wants to have some fun at, just ask away.”
“It’s only stepping on a suicidal locust, was there really a need for you to take it so seriously?” Feng Baiyi yawned, he had a face full of boredom.
Murong Yi glanced at the arena and groaned coldly. “That Yun Che still hasn’t come yet?”
“Not yet.” Murong Ye hastily replied. He then sneered. “Perhaps he is simply too afraid to show up.”
Right after Murong Ye said those words, a burst of rowdy clamoring suddenly came from the distant crowd. Feng Baiyi squinted his eyes, and started to laugh with extreme mockery. “My! He actually showed up!”
Yun Che was wore a set of white training clothes. He had arrived at about the same time as Murong Yi. However, in addition to the fact that not many had actually seen him before, due to the crowd’s noise, and that he also walked in keeping a low profile, it took a long time for the crowd to recognize him. It was only after he crammed his way through the crowd with effort into the center of the plaza and walked onto the stage without any sense of urgency did the crowd’s gaze finally turn his way.
Yun Che stood atop the arena. His line of sight sweeped over the area below and immediately saw Qin Wushang and Qin Wuyou in that pavilion not far away. After momentarily stopping at the pavilion, his gaze fell onto an unremarkable corner at the rear of the crowd. Lan Xuerou was standing there quietly as she looked over with deep concern and nervousness. As their eyes met, Lan Xuerou first smiled faintly, then uncontrollably remembered what happened earlier, and blushed while quietly lowering her head … Even till now, her mind was still in a muddled state. She simply did not understand why, that even though she was treated like that and violated by him, she actually didn’t feel a single hint of the rejection that she was suppose to feel….
“Hmm? Second level of the True Profound Realm? Murong Yi took a glance at Yun Che and immediately saw through his current level of profound strength.
“Wh…what? Second level of the True Profound Realm? That’s impossible! He was only at Nascent Profound Realm three months ago!” Murong Ye said with his eyes wide open.
Feng Baiyi was all smiles. He said. “Tch, a locust that’s slightly fatter is still a locust, if brother Murong wants to squash him to death, just a pinky would be more than enough. However, if I were you, tsk tsk, before I thoroughly stomp him to death, I would play till my heart’s content; You need to know, that there’s not so many locusts in this world that are stupid enough to offer themselves up to be abused.”
“I will make him remember this day the rest of his life.” Murong Yi coldly grunted. Suddenly, he kicked the ground below him his foot, and his body soared to the sky like a large bird. After leaping over a distance of over a hundred meters, he landed steadily on the arena and stood directly in front of Yun Che.
“Woah!!”
Murong Yi’s leap made all the people who came to watch him exclaim in shock. More than half of the Outer Palace disciples opened their mouths agape; their face full of admiration and reverence as they fantasized the day they would reach Murong Yi’s level themselves.
“As expected of an Inner Palace disciple, he leaped over a distance of one hundred meters! Sigh, I reckon that it’s impossible for me to reach that level before the age of twenty.”
“That one in white is Yun Che? Tsk tsk, he looks so soft and tender, not at all like the appearance of a profound practitioner. He is totally a pretty boy; even a trash like him would actually dare to challenge Murong Yi? Even I could knock him down in a single strike.”
On the stage, Murong Yi and Yun Che stood facing one another. Murong Yi had a sturdy stature, tanned skin and his exposed muscles mustered up into chunks. From just a single glance, one could tell that he was full of explosive strength. On the other hand, Yun Che was slender and delicate, his skin was tender and pure, without even a hint of aggression. Even calling him a pretty boy was being modest, he’s practically half a woman.
“How many moves do you think it’ll take for Murong Yi to take down this Yun Che? I think just three moves would be enough.”
“Say what? Three moves? You’re practically insulting Inner Palace disciples! If Murong Yi wants to get even a little serious, then one move…. just a single move would be enough!”
In the pavilion not far from the stage, Qin Wushang had a smiling face; it seemed as if he was really looking forward to the upcoming fight. He casted a side glance at Qin Wuyou who was next to him and said. “In three months, he leveled up two ranks, not bad, not bad. However, Murong Yi is a ninth ranker of the True Profound Realm. Furthermore, in these three months, his profound strength had also increased greatly, and is not too far away from reaching the tenth level. Wuyou, do you think that there’s any possibility for Yun Che to defeat Murong Yi?”
“This…” Qin Wuyou hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head and sighed: “To be honest, I do not think that is possible at all. After all, there is a gap of an entire seven realm. Even though he was able to gravely injure his opponent who was at the tenth level of the Nascent Profound Realm with the strength of a first ranker of the Nascent Profound Realm, the gap between each level in the True Profound Realm is completely incomparable to those of the Nascent Profound Realm.”
“Humph, this rascal was simply just arrogant, conceited and overestimating his capabilities.” Instructor Qi, who was in the back, said while sneering.
However, Qin Wushang only faintly smiled and said. “I, however, think that Yun Che may possibly win.”
Qin Wuyou was immediately looked to the side and said in shock: “Elder brother, you never speak words that you aren’t certain of, why are you so optimistic toward this Yun Che? Even though Yun Che’s innate talent is astonishing and can fight a person above his rank, a gap of seven True Profound realm is still fundamentally insurmountable and I have also never heard of anyone surpassing it before.”
Qin Wushang gazed attentively at Yun Che and slowly replied. “Murong Yi has greatly advanced in profound strength in the past three months; I can clearly sense all the improvements he made in the past three months. However, what this Yun Che advanced in the three months is not only his profound strength. Other than his external appearance that remained the same as it was three months ago, everything else is completely different. It is as if he’s a completely different person. Furthermore, his body is faintly giving off an… an aura that I am completely unable to see through. This feeling that I am unable to fathom has also made me unable to fathom the outcome of this match.”
Qin Wuyou: “…”
“Wuyou, it is time. Go and preside over this arranged battle…. but no matter the results, under the eyes of many, I hope you will be absolutely fair. Any other matters can be determined at a later time.” Qin Wushang said with hidden profoundness.
Qin Wuyou nodded and then flew up, to then land on the edge of the stage. His appearance had caused the entire plaza to immediately quiet down. All the disciples who stood around the stage held their breath; they were waiting for the upcoming scene.
“The time is nigh. You two may begin now.” Qin Wuyou flatly said with dignity. “However, bear in mind that this is nothing more than a spar and not a battle to the death. You are not to kill your opponent. Otherwise, you will be punished severely. Alright begin!”
After Qin Wuyou’s voice faded, Murong Yi still wore the same indifferent expression. To fight against someone with only the strength at the second level of the True Profound Realm, he had determined that there was no need for him to be serious. He cast a glance at Yun Che and said, feeling beneath his dignity. “Yun Che, have you finish thinking about how you want to be killed?”
“That is something that I ought to ask you.” Yun Che gave the same disdainful sneer in turn. “Take out your weapon.”
“Weapon?” Murong Yi laughed loudly. “Against you, is it even necessary for me to use a weapon?”
“Is that so?” The corner of Yun Che’s mouth raised. He swept his wrist around without any sense of urgency. “Since that’s the case, there’s also no need for me to use my weapon. I hope that you’re still able to laugh later on.”
As Murong Yi and Yun Che conversed, the crowd below them were already hissing with displeasure.
“F*ck! I can’t take hearing this anymore! Does this Yun Che know who he is?! Does he know who the person standing in front of him is?!”
“I heard before that there’s a problem with this Yun Che’s brain and didn’t believe it then, but now I believe it completely. A ninth ranker of the True Profound Realm needs to use a weapon to deal with a second ranker of the True Profound Realm? This trash actually dared to act so arrogant up there! Our grand Blue Wind Profound Palace actually has such a joke of an existence!”
“This Yun Che should take a piss and use that as a mirror to see himself! A second ranker at the True Profound Realm dares to act so arrogant in front of Senior Brother Murong?! Bah! Senior Brother Murong, hurry up and beat him off the stage!”