51: Chapter 51 Revenge

Ye Jieyang walked down the arena, crestfallen. He had lost face significantly in this Martial Examination, falling in the same spot twice. Even now, he could not figure out what Li Yuan's layers of water mist actually were.

"Why are you hanging your head? Are you defeated just because you lost one match?" Ye Jiesheng said angrily. "The sons of the Ye Family never admit defeat. Just find an opportunity to win it back next time. Why act like a delicate girl?"

Seeing Ye Jieyang's dejected appearance made Ye Jiesheng angry. They were all pampered under the wings of the Family, without a shred of a Martial Artist's bearing, looking more like a bunch of playboys.

Especially when compared to the performance of the Shuinan Ye Clan's disciples, his anger grew even more.

After this round of competition, the top five who advanced were Ye Yisong, Ye Jiekang, Ye Jiejing, Ye Jiehua, and Li Yuan.

There was a reason why the Cangjiang Ye Clan could firmly sit as one of the three giants of the Cang River in just a hundred years; their method of cultivating Family disciples was truly effective.

By the end, if not for the dark horse Li Yuan still being in the running, the Shuinan County Martial Examination would have looked like an internal competition of the Ye Family.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu looked at the five high-quality Martial Artists before him and was already overjoyed. The first place of previous Shuinan County Martial Examinations only had the strength of a two or three-star Martial Master, but this batch had four people who were five-star Martial Masters.

Heaven has been kind to me!

Happy as he was, the competition had to continue. Magistrate Sun Nanyu did not keep everyone waiting too long; he pressed two buttons on the groove.

The numbers for the five people began to rotate in the sky.

The four people from the Ye Family did not look at the numbers in the sky; they all glared at Li Yuan. They knew very well that there was only one thing to do next: take down Li Yuan, beat this kid into the ground.

The Ye Family had already secured first place in the competition stage of the Shuinan County Martial Examination!

No one could take these 10 points away. What the Ye Family wanted, the Ye Family would get!

Li Yuan felt his scalp tingle under their gazes. Four against one—the advantage... was with the Ye Family. It would be difficult to handle later.

It was foreseeable that no matter who encountered him next, they would not let him walk off the arena easily.

"Cousin won't be beaten to death by the Ye Family, will he?" Zhao Wentao said worriedly off the stage.

"Shut your crow's mouth," Zhao Jian slapped Zhao Wentao on the head and scolded.

"Brother Li, the situation is not looking good. Should we let Yuan'er forfeit?" Zhao Jian said to Patriarch Li Hu.

"Yuan'er has had his own mind since he was a child. I'm afraid he won't listen to us," Patriarch Li Hu replied.

"I hope the Ye Family won't go too far," Zhao Jian said with worry.

While everyone was analyzing the situation, the numbers in the sky finally stopped.

Ye Yisong laughed, "It seems today is the day I make a name for myself in Shuinan."

Li Yuan's opponent was Ye Yisong, Ye Jiekang's opponent was Ye Jiejing, and Ye Jiehua had a bye.

Li Yuan was five parts confident he could win against any of the three: Ye Jiekang, Ye Jiehua, or Ye Jiejing.

Li Yuan's water-based Cultivation Technique naturally countered the fire-based Cultivation Techniques of Ye Jiekang and Ye Jiehua. As long as he was careful, winning against them would not be a problem.

As for Ye Jiejing's Tyrant Spear, it was too overbearing. As long as he did not clash head-on, it was not impossible to win this match.

Only Ye Yisong remained, whom Li Yuan could not see through.

The eerie blue light, the enemy-seeking Sword Qi, the terrifying lotus flower.

Li Yuan probably could not handle even one of these if brought out, but now they all appeared on one person. How was Li Yuan supposed to deal with that?

"Brother Li, release your water mist. Watching from off the stage just now made me itch to fight. I could not wait to meet you and compete," Ye Yisong really wanted to experience firsthand how Li Yuan turned water into mist.

As he said himself, Ye Yisong was genuinely curious. He had never seen such an interesting opponent before.

The talented disciples in the Family all cultivated those few fourth-tier Cultivation Techniques. Fighting them was always the same routine, without any novelty.

"As you wish. I hope you can still smile later." Li Yuan did not stand on ceremony. He circulated his Spiritual Qi, his sword bringing with it water mist, which rapidly spread to the surroundings.

In a few minutes, the entire arena was filled with water mist, hazy and indistinct, making it hard to see clearly.

Ye Yisong even curiously reached out to touch the water mist in front of him. It was cold and cool, carrying a hint of water vapor, wetting a patch of Ye Yisong's palm.

After waiting for ten minutes, Li Yuan saw that Ye Yisong was still standing in place, motionless, happily playing with the water mist by himself like a child.

"Why is it so quiet?"

"What are they doing in there?"

"Have they started fighting yet?"

"Are you talking nonsense? It's been so long, how could they not have started fighting yet?"

"No, they really have not started fighting. Have you felt any Spiritual Qi fluctuations?"

Li Yuan was completely numb. He had consumed half of his own Spiritual Qi, yet Ye Yisong completely ignored him, playing with the water mist on his own.

Even when Li Yuan launched several sneak attacks in secret, they were all easily resolved by Ye Yisong.

Ye Yisong seemed to see through Li Yuan. No matter from which direction Li Yuan attacked, Ye Yisong could react in advance and calmly repel Li Yuan.

Ye Yisong did not linger in the fight either; after repelling Li Yuan, he went back to playing with the water mist, leaving Li Yuan unable to advance and with no way to retreat.

After personally experiencing the water mist Li Yuan created, Ye Yisong quickly discovered a fatal weakness in Li Yuan's water mist: it had no offensive capability.

In previous battles, Li Yuan exploited his opponents' desire for a quick victory, deceiving them. The water mist blocked the opponents' vision, causing them to feel anxious and uneasy, which in turn made them thicken the water mist, gradually turning their anxiety into irritability.

Martial Artists, in such an irritable state, often made wrong decisions. That was when Li Yuan's opportunity came. By seizing this one chance, Li Yuan could easily achieve victory.

The water mist slowly dissipated, gradually revealing the figures of the two, confirming the suspicion of the Martial Artists off the stage: Ye Yisong and Li Yuan had not officially fought yet.

"Brother Li, why stop creating water mist? I have not had enough fun yet," Ye Yisong said with a smile.

"Trying to trick me? You're still a bit green. When I was tricking people, you were still playing with mud!" Ye Yisong thought to himself.

If he did not stop now, Li Yuan's Spiritual Qi would be exhausted. He said helplessly, "Young Master Ye, sharp eyes. You are the second person to discover my secret."

The first person to discover this secret was that dog-skin plaster Zhao Wentao; that time was also just a coincidence.

"Oh, is that so? Ye is truly honored," Ye Yisong said. "Water mist is not fun. Brother Li, try my lotus flower. I believe you will be very curious about it too."

A lotus flower suddenly appeared on the arena, floating around without any pattern. After a few moments, the lotus flower split into hundreds, filling the entire arena.

Li Yuan was surrounded by the lotus flowers, motionless, fearing that he would be seriously injured by the lotus flowers, which would affect the upcoming crafting assessment. There was not much time left for him to recuperate.

He did not believe that every lotus flower of Ye Yisong's had that terrifying power. If that were really the case, then the hundreds of large and small ones on the arena were enough to make one's hair stand on end just thinking about it!

"Pop."

Li Yuan reached out and popped the smallest lotus flower in front of him. As soon as his finger touched the lotus flower, it vanished like a bubble.

"Yo, quite brave," Ye Yisong said with a sigh as he watched Li Yuan touch the lotus flower with his hand.

Of course, not every one of these lotus flowers contained terrifying power; Ye Yisong did not have that much Spiritual Qi to support it.

"Explode."

The time was almost up. Ye Yisong raised two fingers and triggered the lotus flowers to erupt. With Li Yuan as the center, a huge energy mass burst open, and a scorching aura spread to the surroundings, making people feel incredibly uncomfortable.

A deep pit was blasted into the arena, and even the protective Formation of the arena cracked with several fissures.

This was a Formation that could withstand a strike from a Martial Ancestor!

"Cough, cough, cough. Young Master Ye, good method."

A blood-covered person was struggling to kneel on the ground, saying miserably.