Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 313: Chapter 177: Facing Off (Part 2)

"If he cannot be used by us, what does it matter if he becomes the strongest in the world? That’s why a marriage alliance is a necessity."

Li Songhe remained noncommittal, simply smiling. "It’s still too early to say whether he can make a name for himself beyond the Purple Sun Sect. He still has a few years until his Secondary Dragon Ascension. Who can say for certain that he won’t succeed?"

"None of the families in Qingyuan County thought much of him. Who could have imagined that he would one day become one of our Purple Sun Sect’s Ten Heroes?"

Du Qingpu was astonished. "Brother Li, you think that highly of Xu Yang?"

Li Songhe smiled. "It’s not that I think so highly of him, but there is, at least, some hope. For him, a marriage alliance right now would certainly not be a good thing."

Seeing that Li Songhe was being deliberately vague and unwilling to elaborate, Du Qingpu knew better than to press him. Instead, he turned his gaze to Ding Yuan.

"If the deal fell through, why is it that whenever other families approach Xu Yang, he tells them he’s still in talks with your Ding Family?"

The Du Family had also approached Xu Yang, but he said he was in talks with the Ding Family, so the matter was dropped.

Ding Yuan looked slightly embarrassed. "I saw that he failed to appreciate my goodwill, so I told my people not to contact him further."

Li Songhe snorted coldly. "So he’s been waiting for a response from the Ding Family all this time, missing out on investments from other families?"

Du Qingpu also snorted. "Your Ding Family is truly unscrupulous. If you couldn’t agree on the terms, you should have just rejected him and let him seek other opportunities. The Ding Family is rich and powerful; if you don’t give him a clear answer, how could he possibly dare to accept an offer from another family?"

In that moment, both he and Li Songhe found they had a very low opinion of the old scoundrel, Ding Yuan.

As an Outer Elder, Li Songhe naturally had to look out for the Purple Sun Sect’s disciples.

And while Du Qingpu wasn’t a disciple, every major family in Cyan Yang City was inextricably linked with the Purple Sun Sect. The families would only prosper if the sect did.

Ding Yuan’s actions were essentially ruining a young man’s future. To put it more severely, this was creating a feud on the level of obstructing one’s path of cultivation.

"I’ll have someone go and clear things up with him in a moment," Ding Yuan muttered.

He hadn’t expected Xu Yang to be so earnest as to actually wait for the Ding Family’s response.

"Gentlemen, enough talk. It’s Xu Yang’s turn to enter the ring," someone nearby suddenly reminded them. "Let’s see if the young man Brother Li favors truly has what it takes to make a name for himself beyond the Purple Sun Sect."

The three of them looked up to see Xu Yang walking slowly into the fighting ring.

"I am Yang Fu. I ask for your guidance, Brother Xu!"

Xu Yang’s luck with the drawing was pretty good. His opponent in the first match was a new disciple at the stage of Talent Gang Qi Minor Achievement. From the murmurs below, he gathered the young man was ranked eighth among the current Ten Heroes.

"He got damn lucky!"

Seeing Xu Yang’s good fortune, Su Zhe, who had just drawn an opponent at Gang Qi Great Success, felt a pang of jealousy. An opponent at Gang Qi Minor Achievement probably wouldn’t be enough to force out Xu Yang’s true strength. This meant Su Zhe’s plan to observe Xu Yang’s Martial Arts style would fail.

’If I could figure out his Martial Arts style beforehand,’ Su Zhe thought, ’I could probably beat him in just two or three moves.’

"Junior Brother Yang, please," Xu Yang said with a smile, clasping his hands in a salute.

"Brother Xu, be on your guard!"

Yang Fu took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn. He hadn’t expected to have such bad luck, drawing a genius from the previous Ten Heroes List for his very first match.

’Defeat is certain,’ he thought. ’The only question is how long I’ll last. Will it be ten moves, or twenty?’

Gang Qi surged around his body. He stomped his left foot hard on the ring, and in the next instant, he shot toward Xu Yang like a fierce gale.

A fierce wind shrieked as Yang Fu brought his five fingers together like a blade, thrusting straight for Xu Yang’s Dantian.

’This kid is ruthless,’ Xu Yang thought. ’Going for a critical spot like the Dantian right from the start.’

However, he didn’t sense any malice or killing intent from Yang Fu. The other man wasn’t truly trying to cripple him. When someone at Gang Qi Minor Achievement fights someone at Great Success, they have to be ruthless if they want to last more than a few moves.

With this in mind, Xu Yang decided not to let Yang Fu lose too badly. His fingers immediately curled into a claw, his hand shooting out so fast it seemed to tear through the air.

He didn’t even use his Gang Qi, and he suppressed most of his physical strength, afraid that he might accidentally cripple Yang Fu.

’His physical strength alone is this terrifying?’

Seeing Xu Yang generate such frightening power without even using his Gang Qi, Yang Fu immediately retracted his palm and, following the motion, swung out with a punch.

The initial palm strike had been a feint; this follow-up punch was the real Killing Move.

The fist, like a red-hot iron hammer coated in searing Gang Qi, cut an arc through the air, aimed straight for Xu Yang’s cheek.

Xu Yang tilted his head back to dodge. The fist roared past, grazing his face, and the rush of wind lifted his hair.

"Junior Brother, your adaptability is quite good!"

Xu Yang praised as he closed the distance, jabbing a finger toward Yang Fu’s armpit.

The opening in Yang Fu’s technique was right under his arm.

"Brother Xu, what a sharp eye."

Yang Fu was clearly aware of this weakness and began to alter his technique mid-motion. He suddenly leaped back three feet, causing Xu Yang’s finger to strike empty air, and slapped out with his other hand.

Xu Yang retracted his finger and met the attack with a Palm of his own.

BANG!

The two palms collided and Vigorous Energy exploded outward. With only his physical strength, Xu Yang shattered Yang Fu’s Gang Qi.

He remained rooted to the spot, but Yang Fu’s entire body trembled. His face flushed red as he staggered back three steps.

"Brother Xu, what a powerful Physique!" Yang Fu exclaimed, suppressing the churning qi and blood in his chest.

’He sent me flying back with just his physical body,’ he thought. ’If he had used Gang Qi, that single palm strike would have knocked me right out of the ring.’

"Junior Brother Yang’s Physique is also well-honed," Xu Yang said with a smile.

Yang Fu strode forward and resumed his attack. In the blink of an eye, he and Xu Yang had exchanged more than ten blows.

"What the hell is Xu Yang doing? A fight between someone at Gang Qi Great Success and someone at Gang Qi Minor Achievement is taking this long?"

"Xu Yang isn’t even trying. He’s giving Yang Fu pointers on his Martial Technique. If you can’t see the subtleties of their exchange, then shut your mouth."

"Guidance, my ass! He just can’t take Yang Fu down, and you call that ’giving pointers’?"

As the two on the stage traded blows, the crowd below grew restless, and some even started arguing.

Some of the new disciples, who hadn’t even reached the Qi Cultivation Gang stage, couldn’t even follow their movements clearly. From their perspective, it simply looked like Xu Yang was unable to defeat Yang Fu.

’That bastard is being wary of me. He’s not using any real Martial Techniques at all.’

Su Zhe, who had been hoping to observe Xu Yang’s Martial Arts style, saw that he was only using basic Techniques and couldn’t help but grit his teeth in frustration.

"Whew... I’m done," Yang Fu panted, stopping the fight. "Brother Xu, your skill is extraordinary. This junior brother willingly concedes."

In the ring, after more than twenty exchanges, Yang Fu stopped and clasped his fist. "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Xu."

Xu Yang had indeed been giving him pointers, but Yang Fu couldn’t afford to keep fighting. He needed to recover his stamina for his second match.

The gap between them was simply too wide; continuing the fight would serve little purpose.

"Thank you for the match," Xu Yang said with a smile and a salute, then turned and leaped from the ring to rejoin Sun Tao and Zhang Yong.

Both of them had fought before him and had successfully won their first matches.

WOAH!

Suddenly, a clamor erupted from another ring.

"As expected of the number one of the Ten Heroes! He actually defeated an opponent at Gang Qi Great Success!"

Everyone looked up to see that in one of the rings, a disciple with a Cultivation of Gang Qi Great Success had been defeated by Qiao Yong.

Qiao Yong’s face was alight with triumph. He stood on the ring with his hands clasped behind his back, basking in the crowd’s attention. His gaze shot across the open space, landing directly on Xu Yang.

His goal was to defeat Xu Yang. A new-generation Ten Heroes member defeating one from the previous generation—that was how you made a name for yourself. He just wondered if he’d get the chance to face him.

Soon, the first round of eliminations was over, and roughly seventy people had advanced to the second round.

Almost everyone in this round was a master at Gang Qi Great Success. Only seven or eight at Gang Qi Minor Achievement had made it through, and all of them were the Ten Heroes Geniuses among the new disciples.

The drawing of lots began. This time, Xu Yang drew the number "Yi Shisan."

"Yi Shisan, to the ring!"

After a short wait, a Steward on one of the rings called out the number.

Just as Xu Yang was about to head over, a figure suddenly leaped into the ring. The movement was clean and fluid, displaying a Body Technique at the Great Success Level.

’It’s Qiao Yong!’

A smile touched the corners of Xu Yang’s lips. He walked unhurriedly into the ring and handed his bamboo slip to the Steward.

’Good! We finally get to fight!’

As the saying goes, think of the devil and he shall appear. When Qiao Yong saw that his opponent was none other than the very person he’d been hoping to fight, Xu Yang, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

In the previous round, he had defeated a senior disciple at Gang Qi Great Success, becoming the center of attention. His fame at that moment even surpassed that of disciples like Han Feng and Xiong Kun.

Now, his fighting spirit was soaring. He wanted only to continue his triumphant advance and defeat someone truly significant.

And Xu Yang, who was at the bottom of the Ten Heroes list, was undoubtedly the perfect choice.

"Xu Yang, you slighted me once," Qiao Yong declared, airing their grievance for all to hear. "Today, I’m going to make you understand just how foolish you were."