If Jiang Yun had previously been indifferent about whether or not to participate in this competition, then upon hearing the name Feng Wuji, he resolutely stood up and, with extreme determination, declared, "I want to participate!"
Although there were still four years until the agreed-upon Life and Death battle between Jiang Yun and Feng Wuji, now that they had encountered each other, Jiang Yun had no desire to back down.
As for Feng Wuji being called the foremost Cultivator in the Tongmai Realm, Jiang Yun didn't care at all. Feng Wuji wasn't his opponent back then, and he was confident he could defeat Feng Wuji now.
Looking at Jiang Yun's resolute attitude, a hint of doubt flashed in Dongfang Bo's eyes, but he didn't ask further. Instead, he said indifferently, "I know you have confidence in yourself, and I also have great confidence in you. But do you know why Feng Wuji is called the foremost Cultivator in the Tongmai Realm?"
"I don't know."
"Because he..."
Just then, an earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted, interrupting Dongfang Bo's words. After a moment of surprise, Dongfang Bo smiled and said, "The competition has already begun. Although you can't go, there's no harm in letting you watch."
As his words fell, a bronze mirror, about ten feet in Fang Yuan, appeared before Jiang Yun. The mirror's surface clearly displayed rapidly changing scenes.
Although Jiang Yun was still thinking about Dongfang Bo's unfinished words, his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the scenes in the mirror.
On the summit of an unknown peak, there was a huge platform. In the center of the platform, two figures were fighting fiercely. One of them was clearly Fang Ruolin, and the loud noise earlier came from an exploding talisman she had thrown.
On both sides of the platform stood dozens of people. On one side were people from Wen Dao Sect, and on the other, naturally, people from Reincarnation Sect. Although the number of people from Wen Dao Sect was not large, all the Five Peaks Peak Masters and Dao Tianyou were present, making it clear that Wen Dao Sect attached great importance to this competition.
Among the Disciples, besides Fang Ruolin who was currently competing, there were seven or eight others. The only one Jiang Yun recognized was Wu Shang.
Dongfang Bo explained, "The competition adopts a best-of-three system. The only one we still have a chance of winning with is probably Wu Shang. However, both Wu Shang and Feng Wuji will appear last. If we lose two matches in a row, he won't even have a chance to play."
Jiang Yun's gaze merely swept over everyone until he saw a Young Man with effeminate features standing on the opposite side of the platform.
With a pair of Vermillion Phoenix eyes that slanted towards his temples, and the unconcealed disdain on his face, it was Feng Wuji!
It was evident that compared to a year ago, although Feng Wuji had gained a bit of maturity, his personality hadn't changed much.
At this moment, he didn't even look at the two people who were competing. Instead, with his hands clasped behind his back, he looked up at the sky, assuming a condescending attitude, as if what was happening here had nothing to do with him.
Watching Feng Wuji, Jiang Yun couldn't help but recall the scenes from their past encounter. Although only a year had passed, it felt like a long time had gone by. Both he and Feng Wuji had left the familiar Ten Thousand Mang Mountains and entered their respective Cultivation Sects.
He had transformed from a Mortal into a Nine Levels of Vein Opening! Cultivator, and Feng Wuji was even called the foremost Cultivator in the Tongmai Realm.
Suddenly, another loud bang came, interrupting Jiang Yun's thoughts.
The two people competing in the arena had already decided the victor. Fang Ruolin lay on the ground, her face pale, with blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Her purple-gold mink lay on her body, covered in bloodstains.
Clearly, she had lost.
Neither side was surprised by this result; it simply made the faces of the Wen Dao Sect members even gloomier.
A Disciple from Wen Dao Sect went forward to help Fang Ruolin away. Immediately after, Dao Tianyou and a long-browed elder from Reincarnation Sect each named the Disciple their Sect would send out for the next match.
Dao Tianyou pointed to a well-built, medium-sized man. However, just then, Wu Shang suddenly stepped out from the crowd, standing in the center of the platform, and pointed at Feng Wuji, saying, "You!"
Wu Shang's sudden appearance and his provocative actions made everyone slightly stunned. However, they quickly recovered, especially Peng Shou, the Five Elements Peak Master, who shook his head with a wry smile.
He knew his Disciple too well; he was extremely warlike and particularly enjoyed challenging strong opponents.
Needless to say, Wu Shang had also realized that Wen Dao Sect had little chance of winning this competition and that he might not even get a chance to participate. That's why he stepped forward first and specifically challenged Feng Wuji.
Although Wu Shang's actions were a bit against the rules, neither the Five Peaks Peak Master nor Dao Tianyou stopped him. As for the long-browed elder from Reincarnation Sect, he also smiled faintly and said nonchalantly, "Since that's the case, Wuji, you can spar with him!"
Only then did Feng Wuji retract his gaze from the sky and look at Wu Shang, saying indifferently, "To deal with you, I only need to use fifty percent of my cultivation!"
Hearing these words, which clearly carried contempt, Wu Shang showed no reaction. However, Jiang Yun's face revealed a cold smile; Feng Wuji had said similar words to him back then.
As the two finally stood in the center of the platform, Feng Wuji's hands remained clasped behind his back, and he said nonchalantly, "You go first!"
Wu Shang was not polite. He extended two fingers and gently lifted them. Two loud bangs were heard, and the ground suddenly cracked open. A stone thorn, about ten feet thick, emerged from within and pierced directly towards Feng Wuji.
Feng Wuji made a single-handed gesture, and a gentle breeze lifted his hair and blew past the stone thorn. In an instant, the stone thorn silently shattered.
"Wind Blade!"
Jiang Yun silently uttered these two words. He had to admit that, putting everything else aside, the power of Feng Wuji's Wind Blade was indeed much stronger than a year ago; it was almost formless and traceless.
With the stone thorn shattered, Wu Shang showed no panic. He raised his hand again, and a fire sphere the size of a millstone flew out, whistling as it smashed towards Feng Wuji.
Feng Wuji still gently waved his hand in the air, suddenly conjuring a whirlwind that enveloped the huge fire sphere and sent it charging back towards Wu Shang.
Wu Shang hastily retreated, while simultaneously moving his hands as fast as wind into a strange posture.
As this posture appeared, everyone heard a "drip-drop" sound. Countless water droplets appeared in the air in front of Wu Shang, dense and endless, forming a wall of water.
"Boom!"
The whirlwind, carrying the fire sphere, fiercely crashed into the water wall. The scorching high temperature and violent wind instantly dispersed and evaporated all the water droplets, yet its momentum remained undiminished, continuing to rush towards Wu Shang.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
Although the water wall had blocked most of the force, Wu Shang was still knocked back several steps. He barely managed to steady himself, letting out a muffled grunt and biting his lip to swallow the blood that was about to gush out.
Seeing this, Jiang Yun's eyes narrowed slightly and he said, "Wu Shang is not Feng Wuji's opponent. I don't know what Realm Wu Shang is currently in, but in terms of Spiritual Qi quantity alone, he is clearly inferior to Feng Wuji."
Dongfang Bo interjected, "Wu Shang's Realm is the same as yours, Nine Levels of Vein Opening!"
"Nine Levels of Vein Opening!?" Jiang Yun was surprised and said, "Even if Feng Wuji is also at Nine Levels of Vein Opening!, the difference in their Spiritual Qi quantity shouldn't be this great, right?"
In fact, Jiang Yun's own Spiritual Qi quantity was more than that of other Cultivators at the same level, but that was because his Meridians were wider than others. However, he didn't believe Feng Wuji's Meridians were also like his, so he couldn't quite understand the current situation.
Dongfang Bo, however, glanced at him indifferently and said, "Feng Wuji is not at Nine Levels of Vein Opening!."
"Not? That makes even less sense! Is he in the Blessed Land Realm..."
"He is in the Tongmai Realm, Tongmai Tenth Level!"