"Chu Qingyun, today, I'll show you the power of a Tier Two Martial Soul!"
"Flame Gun!"
A crimson longspear materialized between Zhao Yishui's hands. Flames occasionally erupted from its shaft, and a powerful, scorching aura instantly swept across the entire arena.
Even the people below the stage were overwhelmed by this aura and took a few steps back.
This was his Tier Two Martial Soul, the Flame Gun!
Chu Qingyun's expression grew more serious than ever before.
He had seen ordinary Artifact Martial Souls many times, but they were mostly common items like scythes and hammers. Weapon types like swords and sabers were rare.
But this Tier Two Martial Soul actually possessed its own element!
"I'll finish you in one move! Flaming Slash!"
Zhao Yishui roared, swinging his longspear down through the air. A crescent-shaped flame, as tall as a man, shot out from the spear's tip. It left a scorched black mark on the stage as it rushed menacingly toward Chu Qingyun.
"Arrogant!"
"Three-Star Vine!"
Facing this ferocious attack, Chu Qingyun didn't dare to be careless and immediately summoned his Martial Soul.
With a cold shout, he raised one of the vines high and then lashed it down at the Flaming Slash like a whip.
The vine, whistling through the air, shattered the Flaming Slash with a THWAP, turning it into scattered embers.
However, the vine itself was burned dry and yellow, and a large section of it broke off.
"A Martial Soul… it's the Three-star Vine Martial Soul!"
"So it's a Tier One Three-Star Vine."
Chu Qingyun had finally used his Martial Soul, causing another considerable stir among the crowd below the stage.
But Chu Lie, Chu Xingwei, and Chu Bo's eyes suddenly widened in shock.
"Xingwei, doesn't it look familiar?"
"It does… It's too, too similar…"
Chu Xingwei nodded mechanically.
Chu Qingyun on the stage, from his posture to his movements, was just too similar to the masked expert who had saved them that day!
"Hahaha, Chu Qingyun, I'm a level higher than you! And fire overcomes wood. My Flame Gun is the perfect counter to your Three-Star Vine."
"This time, your defeat is certain!"
Zhao Yishui laughed heartily, gripping his Flame Gun as he charged at Chu Qingyun. He thrust his spear, and three fiery spear-points bloomed, stabbing toward Chu Qingyun simultaneously.
'Counter my ass!'
Chu Qingyun tapped his feet lightly to evade the thrust, while his other two vines whipped out from tricky angles, attempting to strike and entangle Zhao Yishui from behind.
Meanwhile, the vine that had been burned was rapidly regenerating under the nourishment of his Primordial Power.
On the stage, the two instantly became a blur of combat.
Zhao Yishui held an absolute advantage in both his Realm and his Martial Soul.
Relying on his superior strength and rich combat experience, he consistently interrupted Chu Qingyun's Sword Momentum at critical moments, preventing him from accumulating enough power.
However, Chu Qingyun's control over his Martial Soul far surpassed Zhao Yishui's.
With his clever and flexible use of the three vines, combined with his Sword Technique that possessed Sword Momentum, he was no weaker than Zhao Yishui.
For a while, they were evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.
Ten minutes passed, and the battle on the stage remained at a tense stalemate.
Each of Chu Qingyun's three vines had been burned through twice, and a large patch of his clothing was scorched.
But Zhao Yishui wasn't faring much better. He had been viciously struck once on the back by a vine, and every major movement sent a tearing pain through it.
After fifteen minutes of intense fighting, both had consumed a great deal of their Primordial Power.
But now, the advantage of Zhao Yishui being a level-four Martial Artist became apparent.
If they continued at this rate, Chu Qingyun would definitely be the first to run out of Primordial Power.
'Hmph, you little bastard. Once your Primordial Power is gone, we'll see how I deal with you!'
Zhao Yishui's face was grim.
At this point, he was no longer looking for an opportunity to defeat Chu Qingyun. Instead, he chose to clash head-on repeatedly, doing everything possible to drain his opponent's Primordial Power.
"How despicable! Using such a method to drain Qingyun's Primordial Power."
"Zhao Yishui is too shameless!"
This tactic was clearly dishonorable. The young people from Chu Family Village couldn't help but curse out loud.
The people from Zhao Family Castle knew they were in the wrong and didn't talk back.
After another two minutes, Chu Qingyun's Primordial Power was nearly depleted.
He suddenly retreated a few steps, retracting his Martial Soul. He also sheathed his sword.
"Not even using your Martial Soul anymore? You want to surrender? It won't be that easy!"
Zhao Yishui thought Chu Qingyun was about to surrender. He tightened his grip on the Flame Gun and charged forward, intending to teach him a lesson.
A cold smile appeared on Chu Qingyun's face.
'Surrender?'
'Impossible!'
'This battle is for the dignity of my parents.'
'I would rather die fighting than surrender!'
"Sword Drawing Technique!"
A chilling, cold light flashed across the stage and vanished.
In the blink of an eye, the sword was already back in its sheath.
Chu Qingyun remained in his previous stance, while Zhao Yishui stood frozen on the stage, completely motionless.
"What's going on? Why isn't Zhao Yishui moving?"
"What was that flash of light just now?"
Many people hadn't seen clearly and didn't know what had happened.
But where the village chief was sitting, everyone shot to their feet at once.
Those seated there were the true experts of Chu Family Village.
They had vaguely seen it—it was a flash of white light. It was a sword strike from Chu Qingyun!
But the strike was too fast, so fast that even they had only seen an afterimage.
Perhaps only the village chief had been able to see it clearly!
"Such… such a fast sword…"
"Just a level-three Martial Artist, yet he can execute such a strike!"
Chu Hua and the others, including Zhao Zhimo, couldn't help but ponder a question.
'If it were us facing that strike, could we have dodged it?'
Everyone sighed internally.
Not even they could say with certainty that they could have dodged that strike!
Thud.
That soft sound was Zhao Yishui's Flame Gun breaking in two at its midpoint.
A line was torn across his body. The clothing from the left side of his forehead down to his right thigh was completely shredded, revealing a long, bloody gash underneath.
Chu Qingyun's single strike had severed his Flame Gun, shredded his clothes, and left a nearly two-meter-long gash on his body.
Snapping back to his senses, Zhao Yishui's heart was suddenly filled with lingering fear.
'If… if Chu Qingyun had been standing a little closer, if he had drawn his sword a moment later, I would have been sliced in two!'
"I… I surrender. I surrender."
Zhao Yishui said in a trembling voice, dejectedly dispelling his Flame Gun.
'In the face of that stunning sword strike, what did being a level-four Martial Artist or having a Tier Two Martial Soul even matter? It was all bullshit!'
After Zhao Yishui surrendered, the people from Chu Family Village below the stage were stunned for a moment before erupting into earth-shattering cheers.
They chanted Chu Qingyun's name over and over again.
The one he defeated this time wasn't Zhao Feilong or Zhao Huang, but Zhao Yishui—the man known as the number one of Zhao Family Castle's younger generation!
In the future, even if their village's strength was inferior to Zhao Family Castle's, they could still say with pride:
"Our village's younger generation is stronger than Zhao Family Castle's!"
In the world of Martial Artists, strength was capital, strength was glory, strength was everything!
As for Chu Lie, Chu Xingwei, and Chu Bo, they were now certain: Chu Qingyun was the masked expert who had killed Zhao Lan and his men, saving them that day.
"Heh heh, Xingwei, you had your arm slung around Qingyun's neck that day, telling him how amazing the masked expert was. I bet you never thought that amazing masked expert was right there under your arm, huh?"
Chu Lie and Chu Bo couldn't help but tease him.
Chu Xingwei's face turned beet red. "Lie, Bo, stop making fun of me! That guy Qingyun… being so strong and not telling us, that's just not cool…"