Chapter 1098: Chapter 1097 Central Plain Genius vs Western Region Genius_1
Tian State, Cliff Peak City.
Cliff Peak City, named for its proximity to Endless Risky Peak, wasn’t originally bustling, but with the surge of spirit energy in heaven and earth, more and more masters emerged and the number of people going to Endless Risky Peak to challenge others naturally increased.
Now, the area of the entire city is no less than that of Sky City, it’s just that many places are still under construction, so for the time being, it is not as grand as Sky City.
There was half a month left until the grand challenge.
Cliff Peak City once couldn’t accommodate the influx of Martial World guests, until the court and the Martial World jointly announced that, except for the city’s residents, no one with cultivation below the nine peaks of the Divine Barrier Realm was allowed to enter, which finally relieved the congestion issue.
Even so, the streets of Cliff Peak City were still shoulder to shoulder, a hundred times livelier than usual. Some children squatted by the roadside, pointing at passing martial artists with curiosity and admiration.
"Look, isn’t that Duanmu Longteng, the head of Heaven and Earth Surprised Swan Castle? He’s coming with his people."
"What’s so strange about that? Before him, the other twenty-one top forces of the Flying Horse Dynasty had already arrived. And also the forces from Daxia Dynasty, Bei Liang Dynasty... Heh heh, now you can randomly bump into top sect masters and disciples on the streets."
"I know, I just can’t help but sigh. Before today, these were all legendary figures in the Martial World that we could hardly hope to meet. I heard that all the top forces, and the experts from the Emperor List, are staying in the first district of the city..."
In an inn, several people were talking by the window when suddenly, their voices inexplicably stopped.
"Wang Laoliu, what’s wrong with you? You didn’t see a ghost, did you?"
A young man joked.
The young man named Wang Laoliu shook his head: "I didn’t see a ghost, but I think I saw a Kirin."
"What, where? Quick, point it out to me!"
All of them were restless and looked in the direction Wang Laoliu pointed. On a long street, a group of three men and a girl were approaching.
The lone girl, eight or nine years old, hopped and jumped, lively and adorable as a porcelain doll. She curiously approached anything she saw, and whenever she did, a round-faced old man would step forward to pull her back, coaxing her with kind words.
The other two men, one was a white-haired old man with a vacant look but an elegant demeanor, the other a clean young man in a green shirt with a sword hanging from his waist, a rare handsome figure in this world.
Before long, the group of three men and a girl entered an inn.
Since it was early in the morning, many guests in the inn had not yet left their rooms, and the four fortunately found a spot by the window to sit down and ordered a table of good wine and fine dishes.
Ling’er couldn’t wait to start eating.
After the five left the Colorless Realm, the Golden Silkworm had already left on its own. The four of them temporarily traveled together. Along the way, though Ling’er had tasted many of the strange and exotic foods of the outside world, she never seemed to get enough, eating more than Shi Xiaole and the other two combined.
"That Fiery Flame Child Emperor is truly fearsome. I’ve heard he even publicly challenged the Kirin, but the latter has been silent. Do you think he might be scared?"
"It’s possible, considering the current power of the Fiery Flame Child Emperor, at the very least, he’s conservatively estimated to be in the top eighty of the Emperor List, it’s not impossible that he’s among the top seventy. His advancements in the last two years, might not be inferior to the Kirin, plus the empowerment from his two masters, tsk tsk..."
At a table not far away, several experts from the Martial World discussed without reservation, sparking a mix of agreement and opposition. Some even glanced repeatedly at Shi Xiaole’s table with a look of shock and doubt.
"In fact, besides the Fiery Flame Child Emperor, the Golden Rainbow Fairy is not bad at all. Within just one year of her debut, she defeated the 106th ranked hermit on the Emperor List. And then there’s Gao Kun of the Yiling Barrier, the top talent there. Although he’s young, his innate talent in Spiritual Path has been hailed by many experienced masters as the foremost of our age!"
"These three can be said to be the most prominent figures in the Martial World over the past two years, even overshadowing the Kirin."
This time, there was no opposition, as this was indeed the fact.
There’s no need to mention the Fiery Flame Child Emperor, whose current reputation is at its zenith. After defeating the Falling Star Emperor, a trend of public opinion even emerged in the Martial World that he had surpassed the Kirin, becoming the true genius leader of our time.
The background of the Golden Rainbow Fairy is a mystery, and so is her strength. According to the hermit she defeated, he simply couldn’t see through this woman. She may have used only half her strength to beat him!
As for Gao Kun, his strength may not match the previous two, but it’s not due to a lack of talent, but rather his age that limits him. Don’t forget, the early stages of Spiritual Path are more difficult to cultivate than the martial path; it’s only later that one can easily leap forward after accumulating strength over time.
Several Martial Emperors of the Spiritual Path have openly stated that Gao Kun’s future is immeasurable, and he might be the only person capable of suppressing Shi Xiaole in the Spiritual Path!
Looking at Shi Xiaole, after the battle with the Thri-Color Great Emperor, there was no further news of him; he seemed to have vanished into thin air. In the fickle Martial World, two years of silence means being supplanted. Many now suspect Shi Xiaole has chosen to lay low because he’s worried about his progress and thus his status.
"Gao Kun?"
Hearing this familiar name, Shi Xiaole laughed.
Back when he entered the Yiling Barrier, he had battled against this individual and had nearly tasted defeat. Since his debut, in terms of innate mental strength, the other was indeed an unmatched rival, even surpassing Mu Ling.
If Gao Kun has left the Yiling Barrier, then that proves he has truly mastered the Qiankun Eye, and his strength in Spiritual Path must have far surpassed what it was before.
As he was contemplating, the aftermath of a clash of strong forces suddenly came from outside the inn, and Shi Xiaole immediately judged that the two combatants were Invincible Earth Immortals.
When he extended his mental force, he was surprised to discover that one of the parties was an acquaintance.
"Hahaha, did I say something wrong? That so-called Kirin is merely a timorous rat. If he were a man, why would he shrink back and not dare to accept the challenge from the Fiery Flame Child Emperor until now?"
A thin young man wearing Western Region attire curled his lips in a sneer on the main street.
"What else could it be? He’s just worried about losing and having his title of genius leader taken by the Child Emperor. Haha, so much for the number one genius of the Martial World, all just empty praise."
The young man’s companions echoed the statement, which made all the Western Region warriors around them laugh.
Across from them, a sturdy young man carrying a long saber spoke coldly, "The Kirin is not someone you can insult."
"Insult? I’m just telling the truth; does that count as an insult? You people of the Central Plain are really conceited. It’s true, after all, that the title of the Kirin as the number one talent originated from you folk in the Central Plain."
The thin young man’s smile was full of mockery.
The remark offended not only the saber-carrying young man but also those around him, as it insulted the entire Central Plain.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman wearing a multicolored pleated skirt, whose figure seemed to burst through her clothes, said, "Take back what you just said."
"I’ve always spoken from the heart, and never take back my words,"
The lean young man stared at the stunning woman’s body, his eyes ablaze with passion.
Whoosh!
His response was a powerful slender palm strike, Vigorous Air not unleashed, yet blooming like countless flowers, beauty masking extreme danger.
"Hundred Flowers Palm, this woman is Qiu Yuchu, one of the top ten beauties of the Martial World!"
Someone nearby exclaimed.
"Get lost."
The skinny youth appeared lecherous, yet his vigilance was high; he struck out with his sword, instantly shattering all palm shadows.
Both were restraining themselves, not using Vigorous Air but clashing with their pure martial arts skill, for that was the rule of Cliff Peak City; to break it would incur the wrath of the crowd.
"You arrogant Central Plain folk, see how formidable we are."
Several Western Region experts also made their move, but a blade light intercepted them first, wielded by a young swordsman.
"It is indeed Huan Yundu."
Wherever Qiu Yuchu was, so was Huan Yundu. Both were now invincible Earth Immortals, just a step away from the Void Origin Realm. In the younger generation of the Central Plain, they were renowned masters.
However, the young men from the Western Region were clearly no pushovers. With their numerical advantage, it was they who gained the upper hand.
Clang!
Just then, a sword light struck from afar, followed by a woman dressed in white, noble and elegant. The name of Ji Morou, the Spiritual Bud Fairy, rippled through the crowd.
Compared to Qiu Yuchu, Ji Morou was evidently stronger. Together, the two swiftly held back the Western Region prodigies.
"You’re actually intervening?"
Qiu Yuchu looked at Ji Morou, no less beautiful than herself.
"They insulted the martial artists of the Central Plain; moreover, they outnumber the few. Mo Rou cannot stand idly by,"
Ji Morou said.
Is that truly so?
Qiu Yuchu was somewhat skeptical, considering the woman’s ambiguous relationship with the Kirin and the rumors that linked Ji Morou with Ren Mengzhen, the number one beauty of the Secret Sect, hinting at a secret entanglement from the past.
"What’s this? You Central Plain people think you can bully us Western Region people just because you have the home advantage? This poor monk won’t stand for it!"
A huge palm shadow suddenly struck towards Ji Morou, Huan Yundu, and Qiu Yuchu. Standing atop the palm shadow was a young Secret Sect lama, emitting an aura that clearly reached the Void Origin Realm.
"It’s Master Tuoxu Tuo!"
The Western Region youths rejoiced. The Secret Sect was not just about one prodigy, the Fiery Flame Child Emperor; below him were many other extraordinary talents, and Tuoxu Tuo was one of them.
As the palm shadow was about to crush Ji Morou and the other two to the ground, amid the crowd’s cursing at the faceless act, another sword light appeared out of nowhere, a gentle flash piercing the palm force.
"Who goes there?"
Tuoxu Tuo squinted at the three young men walking from the end of the long street. Judging by their aura, all three were swordsmen; one was water-like and gentle, another was like a thunderstorm, and the one in the middle exuded a swift and light sensation.
"Heavens, it’s Liu Xuantong, the Thunderbolt Swordsman Sheng Xingzhi, and Gong Thirteen, the Sword Emperor of the Thirteen Swords!"
In recent years, apart from Shi Xiaole, Zhang Xiangfeng and others, the Flying Horse Dynasty had seen no shortage of Martial Emperors under a hundred years old, with former Earth Immortal list masters taking up a good portion of them.
For instance, Gong Thirteen, formerly the top of the Earth Immortal list who narrowly lost to Shi Xiaole at Sword Evaluation Mountain, Liu Xuantong, the ninth-ranked "Cloud Water Swordsman", and Sheng Xingzhi, the fourteenth-ranked "Thunderbolt Swordsman", have all broken through to join Kirin, Young Dragon, and other leading young masters.
In this grand Martial World era, their fame had even spread to the other two great dynasties, Western Region, and Western Sea. Their appearance instantly heartened the Central Plain masters.
"Isn’t it beneath your dignity to bully the few with the many?"
Liu Xuantong, ever the gentleman, said with a faint smile.
"Despicable."
That was Sheng Xingzhi’s cold sneer.
Gong Thirteen was the most indifferent, remaining silent, but his icy gaze alone was enough to chill the air.
"If this humble monk defeats you, I shouldn’t lose any dignity then, right?"
Tuoxu Tuo, recalling the information on Liu Xuantong and the others, grew more solemn; with a slap of his hand, he directly challenged Liu Xuantong.
Boom! Boom!
"You think the Western Region has no one?"
"Fight!"
The commotion here was too great and quickly drew many onlookers. Shortly after, two more Western Region youths took action, impressively also Martial Emperors of the Void Origin Realm, targeting Gong Thirteen and Sheng Xingzhi respectively—who did not shy away but drew their swords to confront them.
The battle grew more intense, with various martial arts auras intertwining, making the sky hum with resonation. All the martial artists inside the surrounding inns, taverns, and teahouses were transfixed.
As the situation was about to spiral out of control, Shi Xiaole in the inn shook his head and unleashed a surge of sword intent.
