Chapter 163: An Absolutely Overbearing Stance

Chapter 163: Chapter 163: An Absolutely Overbearing Stance

The spectators were the ones who got angry first, not the person involved.

Master Ni, however, didn’t get angry. He laughed. "I have traveled the Eastern Domain for many years," he said, "and met countless Cultivators. Some are humble, some are arrogant, but you’re the first I’ve met who is so mindlessly arrogant. The Celestial Heart Hall is nothing more than a minor Sect, founded just three years ago. It’s true you’ve progressed rapidly, entering the ranks of Second-class Sects, but it seems your masters have focused only on raising your Cultivation, forgetting to teach you how to be a person. If that’s the case, then today, I will teach you that lesson in their stead."

Chu Fan’s right hand was already out in front of him. He boredly picked his ear, and when Master Ni finally finished, he even brought the pinky to his mouth and blew on it.

"Are you done? If so, hurry up and make your move!"

"You..." No matter how well Master Ni maintained his facade of a perfect gentleman in public, he finally snapped after Chu Fan’s fluid, seamless display of mockery.

He drew his Sword and lunged at Chu Fan, holding absolutely nothing back in his strike.

Chu Fan retreated several steps and shouted to the judges, "A strike like that, and you’re not going to stop him?"

"You dodged it, didn’t you?" one of the judges retorted.

Chu Fan nodded, saying nothing more.

’Master Ni’s strike was powerful.’ Chu Fan could feel that the true might of this Sword Technique was on par with his own Walking Dragon Sword Shadow.

’It’s highly likely he obtained this Sword Technique from the Mang Divine Hall.’

The Sword Technique was powerful, but Master Ni was two entire Great Realms below Chu Fan. Forget dodging—even if Chu Fan stood perfectly still and let Master Ni hack away at him a dozen times, he couldn’t have been injured in the slightest.

The reason Chu Fan had shouted at the judges was to get a statement from them. Now that they had given him that response, he would have the perfect retort when he inevitably injured Master Ni.

Master Ni hadn’t expected Chu Fan to dodge his attack. With a cold snort and a flick of his wrist, his next strike was even sharper and swifter.

This time, Chu Fan didn’t retreat. Instead, he charged straight into the Sword Qi. With a gentle flick of his right hand, a flurry of palm afterimages passed right through the Sword Qi and struck Master Ni.

All the crowd heard was a rapid succession of sharp cracks.

In an instant, the Sword fell from Master Ni’s hand. He stood rooted to the spot, stunned, his eyes filled with sheer disbelief.

Chu Fan, meanwhile, was already back where he started. One hand was clasped behind his back, while his right was held before his chest, idly rubbing its thumb and forefinger together.

Silence. The entire Martial Arts Arena was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared at the platform in utter disbelief.

Yesterday, he had swatted Wan Jiaxing, a Golden Core Realm Tier Seven, off the platform with a single palm. Today, Master Ni, a Soul Emergence Realm Tier One, had faced him. With just a single move from Chu Fan, both of Master Ni’s cheeks were swollen like a pig’s head.

The crowd only saw Master Ni’s face swollen up like a pig’s, but in truth, Chu Fan’s attack held a hidden depth. The slaps to the face were one thing, but with the strikes to his chest, Chu Fan had forced several streams of True Qi into Master Ni’s meridians.

The gap of two Great Realms was as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

Master Ni was completely oblivious to the hidden damage Chu Fan had left inside his body.

"How audacious!" The judge who had spoken before slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet.

"What’s wrong?" Chu Fan asked, feigning innocence.

"The rules of sparring are to stop once a victor is clear, yet you have repeatedly attacked with such viciousness! Do you truly have no respect for us old men?"

At this judge’s rebuke, the other three also stood up, each one glaring daggers at Chu Fan.

Chu Fan pointed to his own nose, his face a mask of disbelief. "You’re saying *I* was vicious? He was using a Sword! Don’t tell me you couldn’t see the power in those last two strikes. When I asked you about it, what was your response? I used a single palm strike. He, a Sword user, couldn’t even block one palm from me, and you’re blaming *me*? Is this what passes for your ’impartial’ judgment?"

"Besides," he continued, "he looks a little worse for wear, I’ll admit, but he’s hardly incapacitated. I didn’t cripple his Cultivation or injure his meridians, so how was I being vicious?"

"You from the Six Sects and Eight Gates know exactly what you’re up to. This competition lost any pretense of fairness long ago. There were four hundred contestants. After the first day of eliminations, two hundred were left. Among them, only eleven are at the Nascent Soul Realm. And what a coincidence—all four disciples from our Celestial Heart Hall who advanced happened to be matched against a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator today. Surely you’re not going to tell me that’s just a pure, random coincidence, are you?"

"Frankly, I don’t even care about that. But you said nothing yesterday. Then today, the moment I take the stage, you send out a man in his forties to fight me, calling it ’chastisement’ for my own good. And did I complain? This Soul Emergence Realm Cultivator, over forty years old, used two Sword Techniques against me. Wasn’t every single one of them aimed at crippling me? Did you try to stop him then? No, I bet you were all hoping he’d put me in my place for good, weren’t you?"

Chu Fan’s words were so logical and well-argued that, for a moment, the four judges were rendered speechless, unable to find a rebuttal.

Just then, the chief judge flew from the steps of the main hall, soaring over the heads of the crowd to land on the platform.

This was Liu Huaguang, the Great Elder of Zi Wu Gate.

"What is all this commotion about?" Liu Huaguang asked, his gaze then falling upon Master Ni, whose face was swollen like a pig’s head as he glared daggers at Chu Fan.

The other judges rushed to explain the situation.

After listening to their explanation, Liu Huaguang showed no partiality. On the contrary, he shot a glare at the four judges. "Hmph. One is forty years old, the other is only twenty-eight. One used a Sword, the other used his palms. It was just a few slaps, not a grievous injury. Why are you clinging to this issue? Zhu Pingyong wins this match; Master Ni loses. And according to the rules you all decided on beforehand, Zhu Pingyong advances directly to the top three."

Chu Fan’s estimation of Liu Huaguang rose even higher. It was precisely because of Liu Huaguang’s upstanding character that he had arranged for Chen Qi’an to become his disciple.

Master Ni was too humiliated to object. Only when Chu Fan had made his move did he truly understand the colossal gap in power between them.

If that weren’t the case, having been beaten so thoroughly by Chu Fan, wouldn’t he have flown into a thunderous rage long ago?

"Elder Liu, about this Zhu Pingyong’s Cultivation..." one of the judges whispered.

Liu Huaguang gave Chu Fan another careful look, then turned to the judge. "The Tengxing Grand Assembly has an age limit, not a Cultivation limit. What’s the matter? You, Liu Qingsong, reached the Nascent Soul Realm at fifty and the Soul Emergence Realm at eighty. Now you’re a hundred and twenty and still haven’t set foot in the Divine Separation Realm. Are you going to forbid a young man from being more talented than you?"

The judge’s face went pale with shame at Liu Huaguang’s utterly merciless rebuke, but there was nothing he could do.

Chu Fan cupped his fist to Liu Huaguang in a gesture of respect and walked off the platform.

But as he walked off the platform this time, no one dared to say a word. More importantly, no one dared to mock and slander the Celestial Heart Hall as they had when Yun Xi and the others had left the stage before.

With the most direct method possible, Chu Fan had delivered a resounding slap to the face of every single loudmouth in the crowd.

It was also a clear message to those in the Six Sects and Eight Gates who sought to manipulate the competition from behind the scenes.

In the arena, schemes alone are useless.

Because both Yun Xi and Chu Fan had won their matches through absolute power, the Sects that had been targeting the Celestial Heart Hall disciples finally backed down.

To be precise, their plan had been to use Master Ni and the other three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators to eliminate the Celestial Heart Hall in the second round. They had no plan beyond that.

Now, seeing Chu Fan’s overwhelming power and being unable to discern his true Cultivation, they naturally couldn’t continue their scheme. After all, if even Master Ni was no match for him, who among the remaining contestants could possibly defeat him?

They had been able to twist logic and invent an excuse for Master Ni to take the stage, but what could they do now?

PS: I’m on a business trip for the next few days, so there will only be one Chapter per day for the next four days. Once I get back, updates will return to normal, and I’ll make up for the missing Chapters.