120: Chapter 120 Qi Deqing

Below the arena, Ye Yitian stuck out his tongue, drenched in sweat. Gasping for breath, he looked at Ye Yisong on the stage and raised his hand with difficulty to wave.

Ye Yisong nodded but did not step down from the arena. Instead, he feigned consuming a Medicinal Pill on the stage, intending to recover as much Spiritual Qi as possible before the next match to be prepared for any changes.

Regarding the previous match, Ye Yisong had not consumed much of his own Spiritual Qi; consuming the Medicinal Pill was merely to deceive Qi Deqing.

Upon seeing the name Qi Deqing, Ye Yisong had already mentally marked him for death.

Since the Family had made arrangements in advance, Ye Yisong had no psychological burden. Having encountered him, it was simply Qi Deqing's bad luck.

A few months ago, he had inadvertently witnessed the conflict between the Qi Family and the Fu Family. Coupled with what he learned from his father—that the two families had clashed again later, with both sides paying a heavy price—he had gained a preliminary understanding of the world's operating rules.

It was a typical cannibalistic society; if you do not devour others, others will devour you.

Regardless of whether the Qi Family was backed by the Wei Family or the Wang Family, Ye Yisong would let them know that the Ye Family was not an existence they could provoke.

"Why isn't Thirteenth Brother coming down? What is he doing standing there?" Ye Yitian asked in confusion. He was too exhausted and was currently slumped on the chair, not wanting to move a muscle.

Ye Yiguang was not participating in this Prefecture Examination, so he had no pressure. He was relaxed, watching the matches in the arena with great interest, especially paying extra attention to the few people within their small circle.

Hearing Ye Yitian's confusion at this moment, he manually turned Ye Yitian's head to the left and pointed to the large characters on the first line of the screen, where Ye Yisong's name was prominently displayed.

"Damn, this competition is so rigged. Thirteenth Brother just fought a match and consumed a large amount of Spiritual Qi, and now they've arranged a second match without even letting him rest." Ye Yitian cursed, using a famous catchphrase he had learned from Ye Yisong when he was a child.

Before the top 100 of the Prefecture Examination, it was rare for such a situation of fighting two consecutive matches to occur; he hadn't expected Ye Yisong to run into it.

"I believe in Thirteenth Brother. Qi Deqing, a measly 6-star Martial Master, is no match for Thirteenth Brother at all." Ye Yifan poked her head out to the front row and said, with immense confidence in Ye Yisong.

"Exactly. Thirteenth Brother's fake move of consuming the Medicinal Pill is probably to set a trap for someone!" Ye Yitian said.

Hearing Ye Yitian's words, Ye Yifan and Ye Yiguang both nodded in unison.

Among the Disciples in the Family, the three of them had sparred with Ye Yisong the most. Since they were young, they knew that the depth of Ye Yisong's Spiritual Qi was unfathomable.

He had only fought Wang Xianfeng, and it was a delaying, kite-style battle; the three of them did not believe that it had consumed much of Ye Yisong's Spiritual Qi.

"I also believe in Young Master Ye," Shangguan Yunque added from the side. With Ye Yiguang acting as a go-between over the past few days, Shangguan Yunque had slowly found topics to chat about with everyone. It had to be said, she was a clever young girl who not only knew what shouldn't be said but also knew what to say to make everyone happy.

Gradually, everyone accepted the presence of this stranger. As for whether Shangguan Yunque could truly integrate into this group later, it would depend on her subsequent performance.

...

Qi Family Rest Area

"Deqing, launch probing attacks for three rounds, then immediately concede. Do not get entangled in the fight," 4-Star Martial Ancestor Qi Xianzhe instructed.

"Yes, Clan Chief," Qi Deqing replied, bowing his head to accept the order.

The Qi Family was working for the Wei and Wang Families, not hesitating to offend one of the three major giants of the Cangjiang Prefecture. The Wei and Wang Families would not let the Qi Family sacrifice themselves in vain; they had provided the intelligence that should be given to the Qi Family in quite some detail.

According to the intelligence, this Ye Yisong was very mysterious. At a young age, his cultivation had already reached the Nine-Star Martial Master level, and it was said that he was also practicing a Grade 5 Cultivation Technique. He was certainly not an existence that Qi Deqing could provoke.

A single slip-up, and Qi Deqing would lose his life on the spot!

4-Star Martial Ancestor Qi Xianzhe observed that the Ye Family was truly showing its power this time. Within just four rounds of matches, half of the Disciples from the Qi Family participating in the Prefecture Examination had already been lost.

If a Loose Cultivator died, it was no big deal to recruit a new one, but the rapid depletion of the Qi Family's own Disciples was something 4-Star Martial Ancestor Qi Xianzhe could not accept.

If he had a choice, the Qi Family would not want to offend the behemoth that was the Ye Family, but small characters often had no room for choice.

The Wei Family and Wang Family approaching the Qi Family was giving face to the Qi Family. If the Qi Family did not accept it and acted ungratefully, offending two giants at the same time, their fate would be no better than it was now.

Helplessness!

4-Star Martial Ancestor Qi Xianzhe could only try his best to minimize the casualties of the Qi Family's own Disciples. He hoped the Wei and Wang Families would not go back on their word and would deliver the promised benefits to the Qi Family after the Prefecture Examination ended, so that the Qi Family's risk in offending the Ye Family would not be in vain.

Thinking of the benefits promised by the Wei Family Elder, a rare flush of excitement appeared on 4-Star Martial Ancestor Qi Xianzhe's tired face.

After receiving the Clan Chief's instructions, Qi Deqing still felt a great deal of pressure. Facing such an opponent, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

For Martial Master cultivation, reaching the Late Stage was like climbing a step at a time, and Qi Deqing had not even broken through to the Late Stage of the Martial Master realm.

Clan Chief 4-Star Martial Ancestor Qi Xianzhe really thought too highly of him. Probing attacks for three rounds? Qi Deqing suspected he wouldn't even be able to last a single round.

But if he didn't put on a show, he wouldn't be able to justify it to the Wei and Wang Families.

Sigh!

Damn! Anyone who believed that action of Ye Yisong consuming the Medicinal Pill was a fool.

Ye Yisong watched speechlessly as his opponent, Qi Deqing, stepped onto the stage at the very last moment of the match, thinking to himself that things had gone wrong.

It seemed his performance just now hadn't deceived this guy. Well, that was to be expected; he had mastered intelligence on the opponent, so the opponent naturally had channels to acquire some intelligence on him.

He just didn't know what the Qi Family had instructed Qi Deqing to do when he went on stage. If Qi Deqing retreated at the first touch, Ye Yisong would really find it difficult to kill him.

"Begin."

A voice descended from the sky, and the two dashed toward each other simultaneously.

Ye Yisong curled his lips into a smile. He wasn't afraid of the opponent having ideas; he was only afraid of them having no ideas. Since they dared to deliver themselves to his doorstep, he would not be polite.

Qi Deqing was forty-eight years old, and his skills were mainly in Body Refining. His Physical Body was at the Middle Stage of the 3rd Rank and had been polished to be incredibly tough. This was also the source of his confidence in proactively attacking Ye Yisong; even if he couldn't win, it wouldn't be impossible to retreat.

Since stepping onto the stage, he had kept the Clan Chief's instructions in mind, planning to concede voluntarily after three rounds.

However, how could Ye Yisong give him a chance to retreat? As soon as the two made contact, Ye Yisong formed seals to release three green lotuses, sealing off all of Qi Deqing's escape routes, forcing him to only be able to advance and not retreat.

With his path of retreat completely sealed, Qi Deqing felt a hint of danger, but he was still relatively confident in his own strength. They had just exchanged blows, and two moves had already passed. After one more round, he would voluntarily concede. He figured Ye Yisong wouldn't dare to openly violate the competition rules and kill him.