52: Chapter 52, Part 1

Unlike Li Yuan's water mist, Ye Yisong's lotus flowers were not meant to deceive; these lotus flowers were entirely transformed from Spiritual Qi.

To make it look intimidating, Ye Yisong had deliberately split the Green Lotus into a hundred parts, mixing the real with the illusory, making it impossible for others to distinguish the truth from the fake.

The Green Lotus flowers Li Yuan had pierced with his fingers at the beginning were merely those without much Spiritual Qi, so naturally, they caused no harm and dissipated upon contact. While Li Yuan was still trying to distinguish the real from the fake, Ye Yisong quietly moved three Green Lotus flowers carrying immense Spiritual Qi energy to Li Yuan's side.

The three Green Lotus flowers exploded simultaneously beside Li Yuan. The fact that the kid was still standing impressed Ye Yisong; he truly lived up to the reputation of a powerhouse who could make it to the final round.

It was estimated that Li Yuan's Body Refining had also reached the third stage; otherwise, he would not have been able to withstand this energy bomb.

The Li Family of Shuinan County had truly produced a young tiger!

Li Yuan adjusted his breathing for a few moments, then slowly stood up. With a shake of his entire body, he shook off all his tattered clothes, revealing the muscular build of his upper body.

Looking at those well-defined muscles, Ye Yisong became even more certain that Li Yuan had achieved success in Body Refining.

He had just been worried that the three Green Lotus flowers would injure Li Yuan too severely, but now it seemed the energy was still too little. If he had known, he would have just hit him with five.

"Young Master Ye, please offer your guidance."

Li Yuan cupped his fists and charged at Ye Yisong at full power.

"Water Wave Sword Technique — Six Layers of Waves."

Li Yuan's sword erupted with six streaks of Sword Qi shaped like water waves, flying forward. As they neared Ye Yisong, the six streaks of Sword Qi merged into one, and a massive energy orb slashed violently toward Ye Yisong.

From the moment Li Yuan stood up, Ye Yisong had begun to guard against a sneak attack. He had donned a layer of protective armor and wrapped himself in a giant Green Lotus, looking like a Zongzi.

The Sword Qi struck the Green Lotus, emitting a blinding white light that made it impossible for people to open their eyes.

"How is this possible?"

The Martial Artists under the arena exclaimed in surprise when they opened their eyes again.

They saw Ye Yisong walking out of a tattered Green Lotus completely unharmed, his clothes still perfectly neat.

Such violent energy had been blocked by him so easily.

Observant Martial Artists noticed a few flickers of red light on the Green Lotus, which was likely another unknown technique of Ye Yisong's.

It was precisely this technique that helped Ye Yisong withstand Li Yuan's attack.

"It's my turn."

Ye Yisong said solemnly. He had also truly gotten fired up; he had held back at every turn, yet Li Yuan was using critical strikes everywhere, as if afraid he wouldn't be able to kill Ye Yisong.

It was time to let Li Yuan taste the power of a critical strike!

Ye Yisong quickly formed hand seals, condensing a Green Lotus. Not giving Li Yuan any time to react, it flew before him in a single breath.

"It's that Green Lotus again."

"Just now, three of them only caused Li Yuan minor injuries. One probably won't do much."

"It has changed."

"What has changed?"

"Previously, only one of the Green Lotus's nine petals had a faint green color, but now three petals have color."

"That's not all. Look, there is a faint red light moving at the bottom of the Green Lotus."

Li Yuan felt the threat of death. If he dared to take this move, he would likely be done for. Without hesitation, he quickly raised his hand to concede: "I..."

How could Ye Yisong let Li Yuan have his way? The Green Lotus smashed down heavily, caving in Li Yuan's entire chest.

"Ah..."

Li Yuan was sent flying, and even when his body slammed into the Formation's spiritual light in the sky, he did not stop.

After sustaining for a few breaths, the Formation's spiritual light shattered into fragments and vanished into the sky.

A scorching heatwave swept toward the Martial Artists under the arena, causing a commotion as everyone scrambled to retreat.

This energy was simply too powerful. After shattering the Formation, although its sharpness was weakened by seventy percent, they still dared not take the remaining thirty percent head-on.

Just when the weaker Martial Artists were in despair, a large hand appeared in the air, completely obliterating the remaining energy.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu had acted. As the host of the Shuinan County Martial Examination, he naturally could not watch the spectators get hurt.

The scene finally quieted down. Everyone looked at the dilapidated arena, their hearts filled with mixed feelings. Too strong!

No one made a sound; they all quietly watched Ye Yisong standing on the arena.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu carried a person in his hand, strolling through the air, and slowly arrived at the Li Family's resting area. He handed Li Yuan to the anxious Patriarch Li Hu and said: "I have already fed him a High Grade Third-Order Profound Heaven Heart-Protecting Pill. His life is temporarily out of danger; after recuperating at home for a few months, he should be fine."

Patriarch Li Hu said gratefully to Magistrate Sun Nanyu: "Many thanks to the Magistrate for your great kindness. In the future, whenever the Magistrate gives an order, the Li Family will go through fire and water without hesitation."

The High Grade Third-Order Profound Heaven Heart-Protecting Pill was an extremely precious treasure pill for saving lives and treating injuries. For any Martial Artist below the fourth order, as long as they had a single breath left, it could save their life and incidentally repair some injuries.

Magistrate Sun Nanyu had been the magistrate of Shuinan County for twenty years, and he had only managed to obtain two.

Considering all aspects, Magistrate Sun Nanyu made the painful decision to save Li Yuan's life.

Without this pill, Li Yuan would certainly not have survived the injuries he sustained this time.

After Ye Yisong was truly fired up, he no longer cared about anything else and used his strongest offensive technique at his current stage — the Three-Colored Green Lotus — and even used red light to double its attack power.

Ye Yisong himself did not know how strong the attack he unleashed was.

It was not until the protective Formation of the martial arts arena was shattered that he first realized his strike was this powerful.

"A strike of a Martial Ancestor."

This was the only thought in everyone's mind at this moment. As for Li Yuan not being killed, nobody cared except for the Li Family.

Relying on his own strength and without the aid of external objects, Ye Yisong had unleashed an attack comparable to that of a Martial Ancestor powerhouse.

A Martial Ancestor powerhouse, let alone in Shuinan County, was the pillar of every Family even in Cangjiang Prefecture.

Thinking back to Ye Yisong's current cultivation level, he was only a Three-Star Martial Master!

Too monstrous!

Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang looked at Ye Jiesheng in astonishment and said: "Nephew Jiesheng, the child Yisong is truly too ferocious. I believe that among the Martial Masters of Cangjiang Prefecture, no one can surpass him."

Ye Jiesheng pretended to be calm and said: "Uncle Tuanzhang, you overpraise him. This child has merely been lucky enough to obtain some Opportunities."

Magistrate Sun Nanyu announced: "Ye Yisong and Ye Jiekang are the winners."

After Ye Yisong's final Spiritual Qi shockwave shattered the Formation, the massive energy sent both Ye Jiekang and Ye Jiejing flying.

Before Ye Jiekang landed, Ye Jiejing used his sword to support himself against the ground, performed a magnificent flip, and stood steadily outside the arena, successfully advancing to the top five of the Shuinan County Martial Examination.

Ye Jiekang landed on his butt, grimacing as he rubbed his rear; his butt was flowering with pain, but he had entered the top three.

The subsequent matches were just a formality.

Ye Jiekang and Ye Jiehua went up to the stage, looked at Ye Yisong as if he were a monster, and both raised their hands to concede.

He even unleashed a strike of a Martial Ancestor, what is there to compete for!

Besides, the three of them were all disciples of the same Family; it didn't matter who took first place.

At the same time, after some friendly negotiation between the two, Ye Jiekang was ranked second, and Ye Jiehua was ranked third.

The first stage of the Shuinan County Martial Examination — the martial arts competition — officially came to an end.

After Magistrate Sun Nanyu entered the list of the top one hundred into the System, he announced: "The competition ends here. The Martial Artists who have entered the top one hundred will undergo the second round, the Crafting Competition, in ten days. Everyone, disperse."

Looking at the shattered Formation, Magistrate Sun Nanyu's heart was bleeding. He didn't have any Spirit Stones to begin with, and now he had to scrape together tens of thousands of Spirit Stones to repair the Formation. What a sin!