831: Chapter 831 1V99 (Part 1)!

Zhao Kuangning climbed up from the ice, his entire face flushed the color of pig liver.

He wanted to roar at Ye Chen and shout a loud "No!"

But that single flick of a finger just now—he hadn't even clearly seen Ye Chen's movement before he was sent flying.

This wasn't a contest on the same level at all.

Continuing to fight would only be more humiliating.

"I... concede!"

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Kuangning gritted his teeth, flipped off the stage, and dove into the crowd without looking back.

A commotion broke out under the stage.

"He's conceding already? It was only one move!"

"Is this the level of the Qianji Sect?"

"You don't know a damn thing! That flick looked light, but it actually broke through Zhao Kuangning's protective true energy. If he didn't concede, was he waiting to be beaten into a cripple?"

Amidst the discussion, the second person jumped onto the stage.

This time it was a skinny, middle-aged man holding a horsetail whisk, his every movement exuding the air of an immortal.

"This humble Daoist is Zhang Xuanqing, a deacon of the Qingmu Sect, here to ask for pointers!"

Ye Chen tilted his head: "Daoist, is this whisk of yours... meant for scratching an itch, or for swatting mosquitoes?"

Zhang Xuanqing's face darkened: "Arrogant brat! Take this!!!"

He flicked the whisk, and thousands of silver threads covered Ye Chen like a torrential rain.

Each thread was wrapped in cyan wood-attribute true energy, weaving a net of heaven and earth in the air.

Ye Chen sighed and casually slapped the whisk away.

"Slap."

The net of heaven and earth woven by the silver threads exploded in mid-air, scattering in all directions.

Before Zhang Xuanqing could react, Ye Chen had already appeared in front of him and lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Bang!"

Zhang Xuanqing fell straight to his knees, his knees slamming into the ice.

The whisk in his hand was reduced to just the handle, and the silver threads were scattered all over the ground.

"I..."

Zhang Xuanqing was dazed. "This humble Daoist also concedes."

He was at the Golden Core Stage.

Yet in Ye Chen's hands, he couldn't even withstand a single move.

His heart collapsed.

He scrambled up and ran, running even faster than Zhao Kuangning.

Boos rang out from under the stage.

The face of Qin Guanglin, the Sect Master of the Qingmu Sect, was a bit embarrassed, but he couldn't say anything.

Although Zhang Xuanqing wasn't in the top five of the Qingmu Sect, he was considered a decent mid-tier expert. To be slapped to his knees by someone—how could they keep fighting?

The third person jumped up almost at the same time Zhang Xuanqing left the stage.

This time it was a burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist, his entire body covered in dark red patterns. As soon as he got on stage, he collided his fists, emitting a dull thud like metal striking metal.

"Loose cultivator, Iron Bear!"

"I wish to ask for guidance from Team Leader Ye!"

After dropping this line, he charged toward Ye Chen.

With every step the incoming figure took, the ice surface trembled, cracking into fissures.

Ye Chen watched the burly man pressing down like a small mountain, not dodging or evading, just lifting his foot and tapping the ice surface lightly.

"Thud."

A shockwave traveled through the ice, causing Iron Bear to stumble violently, losing his balance and falling forward.

Ye Chen stepped aside, and Iron Bear landed right at his feet.

"Are you still okay?" Ye Chen asked, looking down.

Iron Bear struggled twice, only to find that half of his body was numb and he couldn't get up at all.

His face turned bright red, but his body's reaction didn't lie.

"I... I can't."

Ye Chen clapped his hands and looked around the stage: "That's three matches. I should count as having advanced, right? Can I go down and rest?"

The surroundings were silent.

Anyone who wasn't blind could see the current situation.

Ye Chen had won easily; defeating Ye Chen was truly too difficult.

Because this was simply not a contest between existences of the same level.

Seeing this, the stage host was about to announce the result...

"Wait a moment."

A voice came abruptly from the direction of the viewing gallery.

Ye Chen turned his head to look.

He saw...

The person speaking was sitting in the Bai family's section; it was a gaunt old man.

He stood up and cupped his hands toward the stage.

"This old man is from the Bai Family, Third Elder Bai Hongyuan."

"I would like to ask Young Friend Ye for a few pointers."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan had made a name for himself more than fifty years ago during the chaos in the Kunlun Ruins. It was said that his cultivation had reached perfection, and he rarely took action in daily life.

And today, he was making an exception to take action? And against a junior at that?

Ye Chen looked him up and down and said indifferently: "Is the Head of the Bai Family sending an elder up to his death? Why not come up yourself?"

Silence fell over the entire audience.

Bai Canghe sat in his seat, the smile on his face stiffened, but he quickly returned to normal.

"Young Friend Ye is joking."

"Third Elder Bai Hongyuan just wants to personally experience Young Friend's cultivation; there are no ill intentions."

"Ill intentions?"

Ye Chen chuckled: "Whether there are ill intentions or not, we'll only know after we fight."

Saying this, he hooked his finger at Third Elder Bai Hongyuan: "Come on up."

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan's face darkened slightly, and with a flicker of his figure, he landed on the stage.

The two stood facing each other.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan stood with his hands behind his back and said indifferently: "Young Friend Ye, please."

Ye Chen didn't stand on ceremony and raised his hand in a palm strike.

This palm looked casual, but where the palm wind passed, the ice on the stage cracked directly, a fine line spreading toward Third Elder Bai Hongyuan's feet.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan's pupils contracted slightly. He tapped his toes, his figure rising several feet to avoid the spreading cracks, while his right hand, fingers curled like a blade, stabbed toward Ye Chen's glabella.

The finger wind was sharp, filled with killing intent!

But...

Ye Chen didn't dodge or evade; he just raised a finger and pushed upward.

"Bang!"

The two fingers collided.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan only felt a force as vast as the sea surge from Ye Chen's fingertip, pouring into his meridians along his finger, destroying all his true energy as it rushed through him.

His expression changed abruptly. He withdrew his move, retreated three steps, and hurriedly checked his energy center.

The next second, cold sweat broke out on him.

It was just a hair's breadth!

If he had been a moment slower, not only would his true energy have been scattered, but his body would likely have been shattered as well!

"What a wicked and domineering technique!" Third Elder Bai Hongyuan's expression darkened.

Ye Chen lowered his hand and tilted his head: "Continue?"

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan didn't waste words; he took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it.

In an instant, his scattered true energy recovered.

Immediately after, he clapped his palms together, and his true energy surged, causing the ice on the stage to crack.

In the next instant, he turned into an afterimage and pounced on Ye Chen.

"Again!!!"

His task was very simple... to test the depths of Ye Chen.

So, naturally, he couldn't give up halfway.

At the very least, he had to force Ye Chen to use a real move.

For a time, he alternated between punches and palms, each strike capable of splitting stones, his speed so fast that most people under the stage could only see a blurry afterimage.

Yet Ye Chen stood in place, blocking and parrying, receiving every strike with ease.

He didn't retreat half a step.

After thirty moves, Third Elder Bai Hongyuan's offensive suddenly paused, followed by a muffled groan, and his entire body flew backward several feet, landing heavily on the edge of the stage.

He clutched his chest, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his face pale as paper.

"You..."

He had just said one word when another mouthful of blood surged up, and he swallowed it back hard.

But he was horrified in his heart.

Because after thirty moves, not only had he failed to test anything, but Ye Chen hadn't even moved.

Such a result... was too terrifying!!!

Ye Chen withdrew his fist, his expression indifferent: "Thank you for the match, Third Elder Bai Hongyuan."

The audience was silent.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan took a deep breath, cupped his hands toward Ye Chen, and walked off the stage without a word.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan had lost.

Lost clean and neatly, without even causing much of a splash.

But this was just the beginning.

As soon as Third Elder Bai Hongyuan went down, a middle-aged man from another family's section stood up.

"Hehuan Sect, Jin Kai, here to ask for pointers!"

Ye Chen refused no one.

Jin Kai got on stage and was defeated in one move.

Immediately after, another young prodigy jumped up, only to be blasted off the stage in one move as well.

Then, the other sects and gates...

The loose cultivators who had rushed over from the south couldn't sit still either, rushing onto the stage one after another.

The wheel battle kicked off.

The eighteenth.

The twenty-sixth.

The thirty-fourth.

The forty-first.

...

Ye Chen stood on the stage, never moving his feet from beginning to end.

Knock one away, another comes.

Another one flies out, another one goes up.

The crowd under the stage changed from initial excitement to shock, and from shock to numbness.

The fifty-third challenger was slapped onto the ice, sliding over ten meters and crashing into the pillar at the edge of the stage.

The sixty-seventh challenger had barely announced his name before he was kicked off the stage, not even having time to use a move.

The eighty-second challenger lasted two moves, which was considered the best performance so far.

Someone under the stage started counting.

The ninetieth.

The ninety-first.

The ninety-second...

By the time the ninety-seventh challenger was defeated, even the elders of the Five Clans, Eight Sects, and Thirteen Gates in the viewing gallery couldn't sit still.

Some were whispering.

"This Ye Chen... does he have no limit to his stamina?"

"A normal martial artist should be exhausted after ten consecutive battles. He's fought nearly a hundred matches now, and he hasn't even had a change in his breathing?"

"What exactly is this guy's background?"

...

On the stage, the ninety-eighth challenger walked down himself.

Not knocked down.

After that person jumped onto the stage, he looked at Ye Chen for two seconds, then silently turned and jumped down.

"I concede."

When he said this, his expression was very calm.

The people below didn't mock him either.

Because everyone understood; the previous ninety-seven people couldn't beat him, so if he went up, it would just be a waste.

The ninety-ninth challenger came up.

That was a pawn arranged by the Bai family.

Originally planned to appear at the end of the wheel battle, to win in one blow when Ye Chen was exhausted.

But when he stood on the stage and looked at Ye Chen's face, a sense of despair welled up in his heart.

He had come to pick up the scraps.

But in this situation, what was the difference between Ye Chen now and when he first stepped onto the stage?

He gritted his teeth and attacked anyway.

A heavy punch, long-planned, aimed straight for Ye Chen's face.

And then.

He flew out, flying even further than the people before him, crashing directly into the snow pile in front of the viewing gallery, unable to climb up for a long time.

Ye Chen yawned and asked: "Are there any more?"