"It was Baili Guan who said that."
"Hiss… judging from his tone, it sounds like he's trying to provoke the Crown Prince of Great Zhou."
"He's twelve and already at the peak of Martial Master. Even if he wins, bullying a toddler isn't exactly glorious."
All eyes turned toward Baili Guan in unison.
The elder from Taoshan's face changed, and he quickly said, "Your Highness, don't act on impulse."
Baili Guan frowned. "Elder, I'm perfectly calm. You don't need to worry. Even if I spar with the Crown Prince of Great Zhou, I'll control myself."
The elder could tell his words had only stirred up more resistance. If he kept pushing, it'd just make things worse.
So he shut up.
Yang Cheng also turned to look at Baili Guan now.
He recognized him right away.
After all, in his previous life, Baili Guan was a legendary figure across the Wasteland Realm.
One of the five sword talismans had been seized by him.
Eventually, he even became the emperor of the Skyfeather Empire.
Yang Cheng was thinking through all this, so he didn't respond immediately.
Seeing this, Baili Guan sneered. "Crown Prince of Great Zhou, no need to worry. I'm just curious about your martial skills. I don't mean any harm. Even if we spar, I won't hurt you. Of course, if you're really too scared, you can refuse."
Yang Cheng came back to his senses. He didn't get angry. He just said flatly, "Sure, think I'm scared."
In his past life, he could only look up to Baili Guan.
But now, he had already crushed Yang Xiu. Why would he waste time on Baili Guan?
As for the system's mission, he'd already waited a year and a half. A little longer wouldn't matter. Once he got inside the Ancient Desolation Tower, he could complete it just fine.
Right now, all he wanted was to tease Tang Xingyu a little, maybe joke with Shen Muxue and Lin Shu, and just enjoy himself.
This answer left many onlookers stunned.
So the Crown Prince had declined Baili Guan's challenge?
Was he really afraid?
But those familiar with Yang Cheng, like Yang Ye and others from Great Zhou, just chuckled.
Other factions might still believe that Yang Cheng slaying Tuoba Xiao was just propaganda from Great Zhou.
But they knew—it was real.
Yang Cheng was beyond monstrous.
He'd killed Tuoba Xiao a year and a half ago. He was surely even stronger now.
Baili Guan might be a match for Tuoba Xiao at best. There was no way Yang Cheng would be afraid of him.
Most likely, he just couldn't be bothered.
Baili Guan took his response as a sign that his plan was working—that he was already making Tang Xingyu admire him more.
"Crown Prince, you really don't need to be afraid," he said with a smile. "To make it fair, I'll suppress my cultivation below the Martial Master level. How about that?"
Yang Cheng sighed. He could already tell—if he didn't accept, this guy wouldn't shut up.
But before he could reply, Tang Xingyu stepped forward angrily. "Who do you think you are, challenging Chengcheng like that?"
"Tangtang, I just want to show you that in the martial world, everything comes down to strength…" Baili Guan explained.
"I don't care what you're trying to prove. If you want to fight Chengcheng, you have to get through me first!" Tang Xingyu snapped.
Baili Guan's face turned darker.
Tangtang was supposed to be his fiancée. How could she defend another boy?
Even if it was just a toddler, it still stung.
"Fine. Let's get this over with quickly," Yang Cheng sighed.
There was no way he'd let Tang Xingyu stand in front of him.
Tang Xingyu puffed up her cheeks. "How can we do that? What if he makes you bleed? I'd be heartbroken!"
"I promise I won't bleed," Yang Cheng coaxed.
Tang Xingyu thought for a moment, then reluctantly agreed. "Fine, I'll let it slide just this once."
She didn't even stop to consider how strong Baili Guan was.
Because Chengcheng never broke a promise to her.
If he said there'd be no bleeding, then there wouldn't be any bleeding.
The surrounding cultivators from various factions all shook their heads.
They'd thought highly of Yang Cheng at first, but now it seemed they'd been too optimistic.
A two-year-old was still a two-year-old. Immature and reckless—how could he possibly be strong?
Baili Guan was a top-tier prodigy.
Yang Cheng probably didn't even have a sliver of a chance. Saying things like "I won't bleed" was laughable.
Some even thought Baili Guan lowering himself to duel a toddler was beneath him.
"Ruoxi, now do you understand why I pulled you back earlier?" Yu Mengqi sneered.
"Why?" Yu Ruoxi blinked. "I think Yang Cheng talks super boldly. I kind of want to cheer for him!"
"Cheer your butt," Yu Mengqi's mouth twitched. "He may be the Crown Prince of Great Zhou, but our elders already divined it—the destiny of the Wasteland Realm doesn't lie with him. Seeing how childish he is just proves it further. You being involved with him won't end well."
Yu Ruoxi pouted. "Sister, I just think he's pretty. I wasn't thinking that far ahead."
"Being pretty isn't worth much," Yu Mengqi said. "Our Yu clan isn't from a major empire. If we want to grow, we have to be cautious. We need to follow where destiny truly lies. With the Ancient Desolation Tower opening, we have a good chance to observe the true Heaven's Chosen. Don't mess around."
Yu Ruoxi lowered her head and stayed quiet.
Meanwhile, Baili Guan laughed in fury.
These two toddlers… actually dared to mock him?
"Fine, don't say I didn't give you a chance. Not only will I suppress my cultivation, I'll even let you have three free moves. Go ahead," he said coldly.
Yang Ye and the others from Great Zhou looked at each other with strange expressions.
This felt familiar.
Back when Tuoba Xiao challenged Yang Cheng, he'd underestimated him too.
But what happened then?
Tuoba Xiao had been crushed.
"Out of kindness, I'll give you a suggestion," Yang Cheng said. "You'd better not suppress your cultivation, and don't even think about holding back. Go all out."
"Cut the crap," Baili Guan snapped.
Go all out? No way. He was afraid that if he truly unleashed his full strength, he might actually kill the Crown Prince of Great Zhou.
That would mean offending the entire Great Zhou Empire.
Yang Cheng shook his head. He had already warned him. If the guy wouldn't listen, then whatever happened next wasn't his fault.
"Crimson Flood Dragon Divine Fist."
Boom!
Yang Cheng threw a punch.
He hadn't even gone all in, yet it was already terrifying.
The air rippled as roaring flames surged out, forming a crimson flood dragon that lunged toward Baili Guan.
The blazing heat spread like wildfire, shaking trees miles away.
The trees behind Baili Guan even caught fire.
Everyone around was stunned.
No one expected Yang Cheng to throw such a terrifying punch.
Was this really the same two-year-old toddler they had in mind?
Just the power of that one strike was enough to rival the top prodigies present.
Baili Guan, who had completely looked down on him just a moment ago, instantly changed his expression.
"Impossible!" he blurted out instinctively.
This was beyond absurd.
How could the world have someone this outrageous?
He had never imagined Yang Cheng would be this strong.
In that moment, his heart pounded violently, and goosebumps covered his whole body.
He could feel a deadly threat.
"Zhu Heaven Divine Palm!"
Baili Guan reacted fast. Without thinking, he went all in.
All that talk earlier about suppressing his cultivation and letting Yang Cheng take three free moves—he'd already tossed that out the window.
In an instant, his body erupted with flames too, forming a massive blazing palm.
Almost at the same time, the crimson flood dragon slammed into the blazing palm.
Boom!
The fiery palm was pierced through and shattered into countless sparks.
The remaining force of the crimson dragon didn't slow at all—it slammed straight into Baili Guan.
Bang!
He was blasted backward, crashing into a thick tree and snapping it in half.
"Pfft."
As soon as he hit the ground, Baili Guan spat out blood.
In that brief moment, the whole place went silent—you could hear a pin drop.
All the gathered prodigies had their pupils contract as they stared at Yang Cheng with an intensity they'd never shown before.
The less impressive talents were straight-up horrified.
'What kind of monster is this?!'
No one thought Baili Guan was weak.
He'd made a name for himself long ago, defeating countless other geniuses over the years.
If not, he wouldn't have become a core disciple of Taoshan.
Yet such a powerful figure was just taken down by a single punch from Yang Cheng.
So just how strong was Yang Cheng really?
"Sis, maybe Yang Cheng wasn't being childish earlier. He really is that strong," Yu Ruoxi said.
Yu Mengqi didn't even have time to feel awkward. Her face was also filled with shock.
This Crown Prince of Great Zhou… was actually that terrifying.
But after a moment, she cooled down again and silently shook her head. 'Too bad...'
She had to admit Yang Cheng was outrageously gifted. It caught her completely off guard.
But even so…
No matter how monstrous he was, he wasn't the chosen of fate.
Yu Mengqi had already made up her mind. The one she would follow had to carry Heaven's Mandate.
"No one can go against destiny. The more talented someone is, the harder they'll fall without Heaven's protection."
This only made her more determined to keep her distance from Yang Cheng.
"That's the Crimson Flood Dragon Divine Fist from Great Yan?"
Baili Guan slowly got back on his feet, eyes locked on Yang Cheng. "I've fought Tuoba Xiao before. His Crimson Flood Dragon Divine Fist was nowhere near this strong."
"Tuoba Xiao was killed by my Crimson Flood Dragon Divine Fist," Yang Cheng said flatly. "Of course his couldn't compare."
The crowd started murmuring.
They'd all heard that rumor before, but few believed it.
Now, it seemed... it might actually be true.
"Whether that's true or not, we need to fight again," Baili Guan said.
Yang Cheng frowned. "Is that really necessary?"
"I underestimated you before. Now I'm getting serious. You need to see my true strength," Baili Guan said.
Before he even finished speaking, he suddenly attacked, clearly trying to catch Yang Cheng off guard.
"Shameless," Shen Muxue said with disgust.
Lin Shu frowned.
"What a bad guy!" Tang Xingyu puffed up in anger.
Even the other martial artists around started looking at Baili Guan with contempt.
Earlier he was boasting about giving three free moves. Now that he realized Yang Cheng wasn't easy to bully, he pulled this cheap trick.
"Outer Path Killing Sword!"
A short sword flew out from Baili Guan's sleeve, lightning-fast and deadly.
"Cheap tricks," Yang Cheng said.
Without changing his expression, he casually pulled a wooden sword from his back and blocked.
His Sword Dao level was something Baili Guan couldn't touch.
That strike, which looked fierce to others, was full of holes in Yang Cheng's eyes.
And though his sword looked like ordinary wood, it was infused with a Nine-Tribulation Star Tear—more terrifying than many divine swords.
Clang!
That "sure-hit" strike from Baili Guan was effortlessly blocked.
Without even pausing, Yang Cheng flipped his wrist and slashed back.