Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 318: Chapter 180: Humiliation

"See? I told you Old Ghost Li has terrible judgment. Now you believe me, don’t you? First Lu Ren, and now Xu Yang has proven him wrong again.

For Xu Yang to achieve Marrow Cleansing this fast, he should be at least seventh among the Ten Heroes, but he was only ranked eighth," Huoyun said, smiling broadly.

"My judgment was off, I’ll admit. But it wasn’t a total blunder."

Li Songhe explained, "I considered the original Ten Heroes rankings very carefully. After Kong Yu died, I had the Young Master Marquis take his place.

Later, when Wen Hao and Fang Yu died, I wasn’t paying as close attention and casually selected Xu Yang and Su Zhe for the list.

Their talents were comparable, but I figured that since Su Zhe was a disciple of the Su Family, he’d have more resources, so I ranked him ahead of Xu Yang. Who would’ve thought that this good-for-nothing, despite his family’s standing, would turn out to be less capable than someone from a peasant family."

Du Qingpu laughed. "Old Ghost Ding, any regrets? Do you still dare say Xu Yang has no future outside the Purple Sun Sect?"

Ding Yuan’s brows knitted together. He ignored Du Qingpu, turning instead to Li Songhe. "Isn’t Xu Yang’s a Lower C-class Root Bone? With that kind of Root Bone, even with decent Comprehension, the Marrow Cleansing bottleneck should have taken him at least a year to break through. Why was he so fast?"

Most people wouldn’t have noticed the discrepancy, but Ding Yuan had personally overseen the Ding Family’s attempt to recruit Xu Yang. As a result, he knew more about Xu Yang’s situation than Du Qingpu did.

"Just a Lower C-class Root Bone?"

Hearing his words, Elder Huoyun and Du Qingpu also realized something was wrong.

Li Songhe nodded. "I am the one who compiles the Ten Heroes List. In all the past years, have you ever heard of it being proven wrong?"

They all shook their heads.

The Ten Heroes List was highly authoritative and had almost never been inaccurate. The only exceptions had been Lu Ren last year, and Xu Yang this year.

Li Songhe continued, "A few days ago, when I discovered Xu Yang had achieved Marrow Cleansing, I made a point to re-examine his and Lu Ren’s files. That’s when I found it. The person who assessed their Root Bones wasn’t a master from the Martial Arts Hall, but some old craftsman a minor family hired from the populace.

That old fellow probably got both of their Root Bone assessments completely wrong."

One case might be an accident, but two, assessed by the same person? The problem must have been with the assessment itself.

When compiling the list, he could only rely on the official records. He couldn’t personally assess each disciple’s Root Bone, so naturally, his ranking reflected the error.

"See? That’s my brother. Isn’t he handsome? Do you still dare say he doesn’t deserve to be on the Ten Heroes List?"

Xu Qing stood with several other female disciples, her face full of adoration as she gazed at Xu Yang.

"Xiaqing, we were wrong. We’ll treat you to dinner tonight. Just make sure to bring Brother Xu along, so we can apologize to him in person."

A young woman with delicate features said, her own lovely eyes fixed on the figure on the fighting ring.

"Thinking of becoming my sister-in-law? You’re not quite up to par. Once the grand competition is over, he’ll be an Inner Sect Disciple. You really think you have a chance?" Xu Qing scoffed.

She saw right through her friends’ intentions.

’Marrow Cleansing! How could he possibly have achieved Marrow Cleansing...’

Qiao Yong’s face was ashen with disbelief.

He understood it all now. The reason he had lost so easily to Xu Yang was because Xu Yang had already achieved Marrow Cleansing. He had been picking a fight with a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist this whole time.

’We’re finished. That idiot Qiao Yong dragged us down with him.’

Beside him, Ma Yong and the others turned deathly pale. To think they had followed Qiao Yong in offending a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist.

Xu Yang had once treated them to a meal, but they had repaid his kindness by joining Qiao Yong in mocking him and drawing a clear line between them.

"Xu Yang is victorious! Su Zhe is defeated!"

On the fighting ring, the Steward announced the result of the match.

Su Zhe kept his head bowed, not daring to look at anyone. He knew that in this moment, in the eyes of the crowd, he was nothing but a posturing buffoon, an arrogant fool.

He had made such earth-shattering boasts, yet he could only walk off the stage unharmed because Xu Yang had held back. What a joke.

CLANG!

Suddenly, a sword plunged into the ground before him, its blade quivering.

It was Xu Yang, who had tossed the sword down from the fighting ring to land in front of them.

Xu Yang looked down at Su Zhe. "From now on, try not to run your mouth so much. You want to beat me in ten moves? Go back to your mother’s womb and practice for a few more years before you come out again."

’Now that I’ve fought Su Zhe and utterly destroyed his reputation, a confrontation with the Su Family is inevitable.’

’That being the case, I won’t take any more of the Su Family’s crap.’

At these words, Su Zhe, who was already overwhelmed with shame and fury, finally broke.

PTHBFT! Su Zhe coughed up a mouthful of blood, literally angered to the point of vomiting it. His body swayed, on the verge of collapse.

He had endured the vicious mockery of the surrounding crowd, but Xu Yang’s words—"go back to your mother’s womb and practice for a few more years"—were the final blow. His already crumbling Heart Spirit could take no more, and a mouthful of blood gushed out.

"So vicious!"

"He might actually get angered to death!"

"His current pathetic state is a measure of his past arrogance. Why’d he have nothing better to do than try to put Xu Yang down? He messed with the wrong person, and it serves him right."

...

The line "go back to your mother’s womb and practice for a few more years" made the corners of many onlookers’ mouths twitch.

Even they found it harsh. One could only imagine the devastating impact of those words.

"Xu Yang, you’re courting death!"

Su Man shrieked and ran toward Su Zhe, her face a mask of venomous hatred. ’Xu Yang is trying to start a blood feud with the Su Family!’

Xu Yang stared at Su Man, not speaking.

’This was all that woman’s fault. Without Su Man, none of this would have happened.’

’He had already resolved to kill this woman.’

"Where did this madwoman come from? Someone get her out of here!"

From the high platform, Li Songhe’s face darkened, and he bellowed in anger.

’A duel between Purple Sun Sect disciples, and some outsider has the gall to interrupt and threaten the victor.’

’If everyone acted this way, who would ever dare to compete against the scions of the great families again?’