“You?” Wei Zikun couldn’t help but snicker when he saw his first opponent, one that displayed his discontent perfectly. Of all his potential opponents, the last person he was scared of was Li Yanfeng. The man was the textbook definition of cannon fodder, and it was already surprising enough that Lightning Manor didn’t send him out as the first to die.
“You just reached Heavenly Will, right?” Wei Zikun sneered.
Without a word, Li Yanfeng unsheathed his sword, pointing its tip at Wei Zikun. The whole stadium burst into discussion about Li Yanfeng’s identity at that action, and naturally, many looked at Wei Jing and Li Tianming. The story between Li Yanfeng and Wei Manor was no doubt a complicated one, one that was good for sharing.
“Heh, a fight between Wei Tiancang’s own son, and a boy far beneath his notice.”
“Li Yanfeng will finally get the chance to prove himself.”
Stories and conflicts like this would of course make the battle more interesting to watch. To top it off, Li Yanfeng’s face was as cold as ice, killing intent roiling off him like storm clouds.
A massive bird as white as snow took to the sky. As it opened up its wings, white flames materialised around the beast, heating up the entire stadium like an oven.
“That’s the high-tier seven-star beast, the White-Flame Four-Pupiled Bird!”
While the bird had two eyes, it had two pupils in each of its eyes, giving it a cold-blooded, menacing look.
“Ha, a half-assed lifebound beast with pathetic bloodline.” Behind Wei Zikun, a golden roc rose from the ground, dazzling the arena with its golden gleam. It was the high-tier seven-star lifebound beast, the Five-Clawed Vajra Roc!
In the Wei Clan, the Five-Clawed Vajra Roc had a higher standing than an Eight-Winged Goldroc. The roc had five legs growing out of its abdomen, and every leg boasted a sharp claw capable of shredding even beastial weapons. It was a beast that specialised in melee combat.
“Wei Zikun, I’ll show you how a half-assed beast is enough to take your life.” Having said that, Li Yanfeng dashed towards Wei Zikun. A stream of white flames poured from the Four-Eyed Bird’s mouth, filling the entire barrier with its flames. The temperature shot up immediately, scorching both rocks and dirt.
“What a joke. Scum like you can only spend your life as other people’s dogs!” Wei Zikun made a move too, turning into a golden flash with his long saber in his hands.
Seconds later, the two locked blades with a bang. At the same time, the two beasts duked it out with their spiritsource abilities too, some of the abilities even threatening the lives of the two on the ground!
“This Li Yanfeng is not bad. He can reach a stalemate with Wei Zikun when he only just entered Heavenly Will.” Yueling Hong raised an eyebrow.
“Stalemate?” The Lightning Seigneur Lin Zhao smiled, running his hand through his beard.
As those words left his mouth, Li Yanfeng closed his eyes, before carving out one full circle with his sword. That very action seemed to open the floodgates of hell, the howls of ghosts and dying spirits stabbing into everyone's ears.
With his lips curled, Li Yanfeng stabbed forward like a flowing river. It wasn’t any river, but a yellow river drowning with ghosts and spirits, each of them engulfed by a white flame. It was a strike filled with killing intent, a strike that determined Wei Zikun’s fate!
“Hellish Downfall Sword Art, first stance. Yellow Springs!”
Even Wei Tiancang rose to his feet, as he stared dumbly at that move, “How is that possible?!”
Even the strongest powerhouses viewing the battle could feel their minds blank out. His sword was simply too fast, and too threatening!
Wei Zikun barely had time to blink when the river flowed towards him. He could already feel the howling ghosts in his ears.
“Li...” But instead of targetting him, the man in red robes instead leapt into the sky and attacked the Five-Clawed Vajra Roc, together with the White-Flame Four-Eyed Bird. As for Wei Zikun, he was still traumatised by that stance, as if he himself was mired in the yellow springs.
As the bird tangled with the goldroc, Li Yanfeng suddenly appeared, his sword piercing through the goldroc’s head and punching a hole through its skull. Retracting his sword a moment later, the Five-Clawed Vajra Roc fell to the ground, dead!
Only then did Wei Zikun escape from the effect of the sword art, just in time to see his beast being killed by Li Yanfeng!
“You are next.” Li Yanfeng smiled, his figure like a devil as the yellow springs burst out once more, with his bird still pouring out white flames that filled the arena.“Die!”
Wei Zikun could feel his blood boiling at the loss of his beast, but there was nothing to do to stop Li Yanfeng’s sword. Li Yanfeng’s sword pierced his abdomen, shattering his spiritsource and dispersing his beast ki.
“Ready to die?” Li Yanfeng swung forth his sword again, ready to kill.
Wei Zikun trembled uncontrollably as the merciless man approached him once more. Just before his imminent death, he tossed his weapon away and produced a golden orb from his pocket.
That too was a top-class beastial-weapon! The orb unleashed a blinding golden light, instantly turning the barrier into a shining golden sphere.
“I concede! CONCEDE!” Wei Zikun’s cries echoed in the barrier, those cries devolving into tearful howls seconds later.
“It’s the Dazzling Gold-Pearl. He’s not going to die here, but at least he’s crippled,” Song Yixue said.
Jin Yixuan’s lips curled for a moment, before he opened a hole on the Heavenly Pattern Barrier. Shortly afterwards, a blood-stained Wei Zikun crawled out of the arena.
This battle ended with the Five-Clawed Vajra Roc dead, and four of Wei Zikun’s seven spiritsources broken. Wei Zikun himself was in a tragic state.
“Pretty good at running aren’t you? Should have known to cut off your head first.” Li Yanfeng laughed. If it wasn’t for the cover that the Dazzling Gold-Pearl provided, Wei Zikun would have been dead for sure.
How is Li Yanfeng that strong? For a moment, the stadium was silent. As for Li Yanfeng, he whipped out a white cloth from his pocket and cleaned Wei Zikun’s blood off his sword. After that was done, he pointed the black sword towards Wei Clan’s direction and sneered.
“I'm waiting, Wei Clan.”
When compared to the sorry state that Wei Zikun was in, his casual attitude raised much cheers and applause from the crowd. As for Wei Zikun, he could only look back in disbelief as he crawled towards the Wei Clan’s direction.
“Kun’er!” Wei Tiancang’s face was pale as paper. Yesterday, it was his own brother that was crippled. And today, Wei Zikun had suffered an even more overwhelming defeat! Not only was his lifebound beast dead, he was also gravely injured.
“Help, save me!” Wei Zikun cried. The Wei Clan could only attend to his wounds, but with his beast dead and his spiritsources broken, Wei Zikun was bound to be useless for the rest of his life.
Li Yanfeng killed Wei Zikun’s beast and crippled him in two moves! That was enough to shock everyone, even Li Tianming. He never imagined Li Yanfeng of all people to be this strong. Compared to Wei Zikun, who had been cultivating in Heavenly Will for over three years, Li Yanfeng had only just reached Heavenly Will Stage a few days ago. How could his father easily cripple and even nearly kill Wei Zikun?
“How can he have such mastery of the Hellish Downfall Sword Art!” That was perhaps the question in many people’s minds.
Li Yanfeng grit his teeth and spoke in a bitter tone, “Are you all surprised? I achieved the peak of Unity five years ago. But I came from a lowly background with no support, and I have no Heavenly Will techniques! The gods have forsaken me for five damned years just because I have no backing!”
“But I have never wasted a single second of these five years. Even without the techniques, I tried to develop my own heavenly will, and practised the heavenly-ranked arts. I’ve been working on the Hellish Downfall Sword Art for five damned years! Five years, and I practised my moves no less than eighty million times! And today, I’m here to kill every single bastard who still looks down on me just because of my background.”
“So, who’s next from the Wei Clan!” It was a shout out to the world that he had been holding back for five years. And when that volcano of five years finally erupted, he was ready to surprise the world.
Li Yanfeng’s eyes were like fire with his sword pointing at the Wei Clan. Behind him, Liu Qing wept uncontrollably, her fists clenched as she felt genuinely proud of that man standing in the arena. From this day on, no one in Vermilion Bird will ever dare look down on Li Yanfeng again!
The way Li Yanfeng easily crippled Wei Zikun shocked the Wei Clan. It was even more of a shame for Wei Tiancang, considering that his own son had been defeated by the son-in-law he had never admitted.
Was this the start of the Wei Clan’s downfall? Before this, members of the Wei Clan had all performed exceedingly well, but Li Yanfeng had turned the tables completely, demoralising them. That was obvious from the look on Wei Qingyi and the other kids’ faces; their stunned, pale faces showing an utter deficit in fighting spirit.
“Li Yanfeng, you bastard!” With a roar, the chancellor Wei Tianxiong charged into the arena. The moment he entered, Jin Yixuan closed the barrier behind him with a smile.
“Yanfeng, the Wei family are all idiots who wouldn’t recognise your worth. But the Lightning Manor respects those who climbed from humble beginnings. If you can bring me Wei Tianxiong’s head today, when I retire and Lin Tianjian takes over my position, you shall be the second-in-charge within the Manor. Other than my son and I, you will be the one with the most power!” The Lightning Seigneur’s words echoed in the stadium.
That was enough to show how much Lin Zhao treasured Li Yanfeng, offering him such a high rank despite him being from an outside clan. All he had to do was to kill Wei Tianxiong!
“I thank the Lightning Seigneur for your recognition. Today, I shall cut down Wei Tianxiong’s head and offer it to you!” Li Yanfeng dashed forward like a phantom with the black sword in his hand.
“Flameyellow Chancellor? For someone who took up so much resources, you are pretty damn useless!” Li Yanfeng’s boldness had left most people shocked. But that didn’t matter, since today marked the day that he would rise to the top of the nation!
Wei Tianxiong’s eyes were bloodshot as he answered the battle with the two swordbreakers he held. His moves were extremely powerful, and each movement caused a tremor in the arena. He was almost at Wei Qing’s standards, with his exceptional understanding of Heavenly Will and his beast ki all capable of suppressing Li Yanfeng.
From the start of battle, Wei Tianxiong had been pushing forward with his bursts of strength, forcing Li Yanfeng to back off and even created many wounds on his body. And yet, Li Yanfeng continued to laugh like a maniac.
“Useless! Useless! If I had the level of resources you had, I would have been ten times more powerful than you by now! Wei Tiancang may think I don’t deserve to be part of the clan, but to me his sons are all trash! You don’t deserve me in the family!” Who would understand just how important Lightning Manor’s Heavenly Will Techniques were to him?
Even though Li Yanfeng was badly wounded and still suppressed by Wei Tianxiong, he was waiting for his chance. A chance for Wei Tianxiong to pay a price for his arrogance!
Just as Wei Tianxiong striked forward once more with a scornful look…
“Hellish Downfall Sword Art, River of Forgetfulness!”
The first stance was the Yellow Springs, and the River of Forgetfulness was the second stance of his sword art!
The first stance forced Wei Tianxiong to back off, while the second easily tore off three of the Ten-Winged Goldroc’s wings!
Like a god of war, Li Yanfeng was bathed in blood, but this blood wasn't his.