In a pure contest of True Qi Amount, even Bi Yuan might have proven slightly inferior to Xu Yunfan now.
Xu Yunfan slowly exhaled a breath of Dirt Qi, suppressing the roiling emotions in his chest.
His gaze swept around him. Below the stage, no more than a dozen Taoist Sect disciples had gathered during that time. Every one of them was wounded; some clutched bleeding arms, while others used their shattered weapons as crutches just to stay upright.
These were the disciples of the Taoist Sect, their faces etched with shock, anger, and indignation.
The sudden attack by the Great Zhou army had caught them completely off guard, resulting in heavy casualties.
In the distance, the setting sun was the color of blood. The bodies of dozens of Great Zhou soldiers lay strewn across the Bluestone Slabs. Their blood, not yet congealed, snaked through the cracks between the stones to form small streams.
With a crisp CLANG, the rust-spotted Iron Sword in Bi Sheng’s hand returned to its sheath. The blood drenching the blade seemed to move like a living thing among the mottled rust, staining the dark red patches a sinister, purplish-black.
He raised a hand to wipe a streak of blood from his cheek. His voice was like the striking of Cold Iron. "Take all the disciples and withdraw from Jade Capital. Leave at once. I will clear the way."
Bi Sheng looked away from the direction of the Imperial City. The blood groove on his mottled Iron Sword was still slick with fresh blood.
He turned to gaze at Xu Yunfan, who stood on the stage, his aura slowly receding. A rare trace of warmth entered Bi Sheng’s perpetually cold voice. "The rest of this path is one you must walk alone."
"I understand."
Xu Yunfan’s voice was as calm as a deep, still pool.
Bi Sheng nodded slightly. "Now that you carry the Dragon Qi, if the Empress dares to harm you in secret, she would be severing the fate of the Great Zhou dynasty with her own hands. Their only chance to get to you is on the arena. You... must prevail!"
Xu Yunfan’s eyes flashed like lightning. The True Qi around him abruptly condensed, transforming into a tangible golden light that flowed across the surface of his body before quickly receding within.
He cupped his fist in a salute, his voice as firm as iron. "Please rest assured, Martial Uncle. Now that I carry the Dragon Qi, I shall prove my path through the Martial Dao. This is my way."
Bi Sheng gave a slight nod. True Qi coiled around his fingertips before converging on his Iron Sword, causing the rust-mottled blade to emit a low hum from within its sheath.
As he turned, the hem of his black robe dragged through the wet blood on the bluestone pavers, leaving a dark red smear in its wake.
"All disciples, with me. I will clear the way."
His voice was not loud, yet it caused every disciple of the Taoist Sect to straighten their spine.
Xu Yunfan watched them go, his gaze lingering on Chen Hong’s retreating figure for a moment.
The round-faced disciple’s robes were caked with dust, but they didn’t have a single tear. He stuck out like a sore thumb in a group where everyone else was injured.
He narrowed his eyes, his knuckles unconsciously tapping the handle of his Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer. A cold sneer, almost too quiet to hear, mixed with the metallic vibrations.
He turned his attention away and looked down from the Martial Arts Arena.
The area below the arena had long since been cleared, the Bluestone Slabs now littered with crushed registration tokens and torn, colorful silks.
The only three officials who remained were huddled beneath a Tung Oil Umbrella. The one in the lead was frantically wiping bloodstains off his robes with a silk handkerchief.
When the official saw Xu Yunfan looking his way, the handkerchief in his hand dropped to the ground with a soft THUD.
A sharp glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. He grinned, revealing white teeth that looked as cold and sharp as a blade’s edge.
By now, the spectators below the arena had vanished. All that remained were a few officials from the Great Zhou Government Office, who were there to oversee the martial examinations.
"Sir."
Xu Yunfan stomped on the broken half of an arrow by his feet. The Profound Steel Arrow Shaft shattered under his boot with a cringe-inducing CRUNCH.
"I’ve advanced. When is the next match?"
’He had to keep fighting and see the examinations through to the end. Only then could a true victor be determined.’
’It was an essential part of the process, and one that Xu Yunfan had to see to its conclusion by himself.’
The official’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently as cold sweat trickled down from his temples, soaking the cloud-and-goose rank badge embroidered on the collar of his robes.
He opened his mouth, but before a sound could escape, a voice thick with the scent of iron and blood boomed like distant thunder. "The examinations will proceed as scheduled. Nothing has changed."
"Tell him the time."
The moment the voice rang out, the temperature around the Martial Arts Arena seemed to plummet.
Xu Yunfan’s pupils constricted. Below the arena, an iron-tower-like figure had appeared at some unknown point.
Grand Commander Chen Wei of the Imperial City Department held a twelve-foot, pitch-black Long Spear—a Tier Seven Divine Weapon. The tip was angled toward the ground, and its dark red blood groove glinted ominously, illuminated by the True Qi flowing from his palm.
Xu Yunfan’s right hand instinctively went to the twin hammers at his waist, his thumb tracing the rough, anti-slip grooves on the handle.
Suddenly, the CREAK of tightening bowstrings echoed from the surrounding rooftops.
Three hundred members of the Imperial Guard emerged in formation from the shadows of the streets and alleys. A forest of steel formed by their Profound Iron Spearheads glinted coldly. The bright yellow silk ribbons wrapped around the spear shafts proclaimed them to be the Empress’s personal guard.
Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow. "Did Grand Commander Chen bring these men to fill the graves?"
Chen Wei sneered, making no attempt to hide the killing intent in his eyes.
"’Those whom the heavens would destroy, they first make mad.’ You won’t be alive for much longer."
The official suddenly straightened his posture, his voice now laced with the confidence Chen Wei’s presence gave him.
"The next match is set for 7:00 AM tomorrow!"
His trembling finger pointed north. "The central plaza of Jade Capital City! The Black Tortoise Martial Arts Arena! At that time, the top three Martial Dao practitioners from all Six Paths and Seventy-Nine States will be gathered there!"
’The Six Great Sects of Da Zhou, of course, would not have to participate from the start. They would only make their appearance after these so-called Martial Dao champions had been whittled down to seven victors.’
’But Xu Yunfan was different. He had to fight his way through, step by step, to the very end.’
’This was exactly what the Taoist Sect had intended. Each victory would draw down the Great Zhou Dragon Vein Profound Yellow Qi to cleanse his body, increasing his power and augmenting his True Qi.’
Xu Yunfan nodded slightly. He stepped off the arena, and a web of cracks instantly spread across the Bluestone Slab beneath his foot.
When he came to a stop about thirty feet from Chen Wei, Chen Wei slightly lifted his pitch-black Long Spear. The tip of the spear rang with the sound of clashing metal, and several wisps of spear Qi shot forth, blasting several impossibly deep holes in the ground at Xu Yunfan’s feet.
"Does Grand Commander Chen want to fight me?"
Xu Yunfan’s voice was calm, but a flicker of eagerness appeared in his eyes.
’He was eager to test just how far his strength had come. The vast trove of Cultivation memories flooding his mind set him apart from other Martial Artists who had just broken through to the Ninth Realm.’
’In a way, Xu Yunfan was a peerless master who had been steeped in Nine Realms Qi Cultivation for at least 60 years.’
He noticed the tip of his opponent’s twelve-foot, steel-tipped spear remained angled toward the ground. This was the opening stance of the Earth Splitting Spear Formation, a killing technique used on the battlefield by the Imperial City Department.
Chen Wei suddenly gave a cold laugh and slammed the butt of his spear onto the ground, causing the Iron Armor of the surrounding Imperial Guard to clang. "By Her Majesty’s decree, I am here today to *escort* you back to your residence."
His towering figure pressed forward half a step. A muffled voice echoed from beneath his Mystic Iron Face Armor.
"After all... if something were to happen to you, it would be a terrible waste of the Taoist Sect’s Destiny, wouldn’t it?"
The soft sound of shifting roof tiles came from the distance. In the fading light of the setting sun, the cold gleam of three hundred Erosion Spirit Crossbows appeared and disappeared from view, their poisoned tips all aimed at Xu Yunfan’s vital points.
Xu Yunfan suddenly laughed and shook his head. "Look at you, getting carried away with all this nonsense."
He turned and began to walk away from the arena. Without even using his True Qi, relying purely on his physical might, each step he took caused the ground around him to tremble faintly.