45: Chapter 45 Conspiracy

Ye Jiehua cupped his hands at Zhao Wentao and said apologetically, "My apologies."

Zhao Wentao looked at his pierced right hand, and a surge of anger rose up, but his reason forced him to calm down; admitting defeat on the arena meant he dared not make another move, for he could not bear the consequences.

"Brother Ye has great spirit; I admire you."

Ye Jiehua had risked serious injury, or even death, just to cripple Zhao Wentao's right hand, which made Zhao Wentao admire his audacity.

If his sword had been off by another inch, it would have pierced Ye Jiehua's heart meridian. To recover from a heart meridian injury, one would need a Fourth Grade Heart-Nourishing Pill.

It would be too extravagant to waste a Fourth Grade precious pill for a spot in the top fifty of the County Exam.

His own pierced right hand would likely need three months of rest, aided by a Third Grade Muscle-Regenerating Pill, to fully recover.

Fortunately, Ye Jiehua didn't twist his sword, so his right hand only sustained a minor injury.

However, this meant he would be unable to unleash his full strength for the upcoming Arts Examination. The Ye Family had calculated well.

Ye Jiehua had calculated that Zhao Wentao's sword would pass between his internal organs, which was why he dared to take the blow head-on; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so foolish.

Injuring his internal organs would have a huge impact on his Martial path. He was currently in a period of rapid development and didn't want to waste a single moment.

The further one progressed in Martial Master cultivation, the harder it was to increase by one star. In particular, breaking through the Late Stage Martial Master Bottleneck would trap many people for years.

After breaking through to the Late Stage Martial Master, one shouldn't even dream of increasing their strength by one star without five or six years of accumulation and consolidation.

One step ahead, every step ahead!

Ye Jiehua had grand ambitions; he also wanted to climb the mountain of the Fourth Grade and enjoy the scenery from its peak.

Ye Jieyang watched Ye Jiehua walk off the stage after completing his mission, secretly reminding himself not to delay any longer, as delays often lead to complications.

Ye Jiehua walked up to Ye Jiesheng and said, "Fifth Brother, it's done. I crippled one."

Ye Jiesheng looked at Ye Jiehua speechlessly; that expression was truly that of a villain. He tossed him a Medicinal Pill and said, "Rest well. There are still a few matches later, aren't there?"

"Thank you, Fifth Brother," Ye Jiehua said happily, looking at the Third Grade High Grade Blood-Restoring Yuan-Nourishing Pill in his hand.

After taking this pill, his minor injuries would be healed within half an hour. It was good to have a powerful backer!

Listening to their conversation, Ye Yisong finally understood what Ye Jiesheng had been whispering about behind his back the other day.

Father Ye Jiesheng was a calculating man; he was actually playing dirty.

But Uncle Jieyang wouldn't have it so easy next.

Li Yuan also saw the miserable state of Zhao Wentao next door and immediately understood what the Cangjiang Ye Family was planning.

They wanted to take both the first place in the Martial Examination and the Arts Examination to get the additional 10 points.

He and Zhao Wentao were the biggest obstacles. As long as they were crippled in the short term, no one would be able to beat Ye Jiekang in the Arts Examination, and they wouldn't create a major feud either.

What a great plan. No wonder these two were fighting so abnormally; they were completely acting like they were risking their lives.

Ye Jieyang didn't care what Li Yuan had figured out. Even if he did, so what? Let him get past the precious sword in his hand first.

"Mysterious Ice Sword Art — Ten Miles of Frozen Ice."

Ye Jieyang gave up on searching for Li Yuan's figure in the water mist and directly froze the entire arena; this ice would help him find Li Yuan.

"I want to see if your water mist is harder or my ice is harder."

Li Yuan smiled slightly, watching the cold air emanating from the ice across the arena, which was perfectly and continuously replenishing the water mist.

The water mist not only didn't dissipate, but it actually became thicker.

Li Yuan thought to himself, "What a good guy."

Ye Jieyang also discovered the problem of the water mist getting thicker; he was too stupid, unknowingly using his ultimate move to aid his enemy.

There was no other way; he had to use that move. He had originally wanted to save it for the end, but he would have to let him enjoy it now.

Through the ice field he had set up, Ye Jieyang vaguely sensed Li Yuan's position. "Kid, I've found you."

"Mysterious Ice Sword Art — Mysterious Ice Sword Formation."

Hundreds of tiny ice shards formed a sword formation and shot towards the southeast corner of the arena.

"Hiss."

A few soft sounds of tearing clothing reached his ears. Ye Jieyang knew the sword formation had injured Li Yuan, so he quickly rushed over to land another strike while he was injured.

Passing through the water mist, Ye Jieyang's eyes suddenly shrank. He had fallen for a trap! Danger!

Those "hissing" sounds were simply created by Li Yuan himself, a trap to lure him in close for a follow-up attack.

It was too late to retreat now, and he was struck in the chest by Li Yuan's prepared heavy sword strike.

"Water Wave Sword Art — Three-Fold Wave."

"Cough, cough, the Three-Fold Wave of the Shuinan Li Family is truly powerful." Ye Jieyang had been slashed into a bloody mess, yet he didn't forget to praise his opponent's high-level Martial Skill; he was truly carefree.

Ye Jieyang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up, and shouted, "Kid!"

"I forfeit."

Ye Jieyang saw Ye Jiesheng shake his head and decisively chose to forfeit.

"Hahaha..." The Martial Artists watching under the arena couldn't help but burst into laughter, seeing someone forfeit with such personality.

Li Yuan on the arena was not relaxed at all. When Ye Jieyang shouted "Kid" just now, he felt an extremely dangerous Qi aura locking onto him.

It wasn't until Ye Jieyang called out his forfeiture that the Qi aura dissipated.

The Cangjiang Ye Family was truly worthy of being a prefecture-level noble Family; even wounded like that, they still had unknown trump cards that could send such dangerous signals.

Unconvinced, Ye Jieyang took his admission ticket stamped with the word "Loss" and returned to the Ye Family's resting area, saying, "Fifth Brother, I still have..."

Ye Jiesheng didn't let him finish, interrupting, "It's not worth it."

Under Ye Jiesheng's pressure, Ye Jieyang dared not act out and obediently sat aside to meditate and heal, holding the Medicinal Pill.

He still had one chance to challenge later, so he needed to quickly bring his injuries under control.

If he returned home with a result in the bottom fifty of the Martial Examination, he wouldn't have the face to go out, and he would have failed the Family's many years of cultivation.

"Taor, the Ye Family has gone too far," Zhao Jian said resentfully, looking at Zhao Wentao's pierced right hand.

Originally, Zhao Wentao had a great chance of winning first place in this year's Martial Examination, but now everything had become a bubble.

Zhao Wentao comforted his grandfather, "Grandfather, it was my carelessness. I didn't expect the Ye Family to use such desperate measures."

However, after watching Li Yuan's match, the grandfather and grandson were not as angry anymore; Li Yuan's strength was too great, completely suppressing Ye Jieyang.

If Zhao Wentao were to face him, he would have less than a ten percent chance of winning.

"Yuane, well done," Patriarch Li Hu said happily.

"I must thank Grandfather for all these years of cultivation; otherwise, my strength wouldn't have improved so quickly," Li Yuan said modestly.

Patriarch Li Hu said, "Hehe, if I don't Cultivate you, who would I Cultivate?"

It hadn't been easy for the Li Family to produce a Genius like Li Yuan, and he was his own grandson; how could they not use the entire Family's strength to Cultivate him?

In a small county town like theirs, it wasn't easy for a Family to produce a Martial Ancestor seed!

Because of their natural talent and the cultivation of abundant resources, Li Yuan and Zhao Wentao were overwhelmingly stronger than the rest of the younger generation in their families.

Ye Yisong also comforted his uncle Ye Jieyang, saying that if he encountered Li Yuan later, he would definitely avenge him.

He was still secretly analyzing how to break Li Yuan's water mist.