Ye Chu stood in the duel arena, looking silently at the Sand Kingdom cultivators who were preparing to charge at Pang Shao. Yet not a single one of those rushing forward dared to cross past Ye Chu easily. The shock of Ye Chu sending Sha Shan flying with one kick was too great. They simply had no courage to face him!
“Attacking a heavily injured person, is this the magnanimity of your Yao Kingdom?” The Sand Kingdom leader straightened up and roared furiously at Ye Chu.
“You want to talk to me about magnanimity?” Ye Chu suddenly laughed, a brilliant and dazzling laugh. He turned his gaze towards Su Rong and her group. “What is magnanimity anyway? Is it worth anything?”
Su Rong and the others flushed red and turned their heads away, pretending not to see Ye Chu’s gaze. But in their hearts, they could not help doubting the Sand Kingdom leader’s intelligence. They thought to themselves, you already know this is Ye Chu, the most infamous person in Yao City. Yet you still try to lecture him about such things? If he cared about any of that, would he have become the public enemy of Yao City in the first place?
The Sand Kingdom leader saw the Yao Kingdom crowd burst into laughter at his words and roared angrily, “You’ll regret this!”
“I never regret my actions!” Ye Chu stared at the Sand Kingdom leader and said, “Send your next warrior up. Once I finish playing with you lot, I still need to go home for dinner. It’s getting late!”
Ye Chu lifted his head and glanced at the setting sun. The sun was sinking towards the horizon.
“Sha Shi! You go up!” The Sand Kingdom leader’s face darkened. “Get Sha Shan back. Our people cannot be bullied by outsiders!”
“Yes!” A young man stepped out from beside the Sand Kingdom leader. He was massive in build and carried a pair of iron hammers. As he walked, the hammers dragged across the ground, producing heavy scraping sounds. He moved slowly towards the duel arena, giving off immense pressure.
“Ye Chu! This guy can’t take a beating. He’s passed out!” Pang Shao kicked Sha Shan a few more times until Sha Shan fainted completely. He spat in dissatisfaction.
“He’s just unconscious, not dead. Keep kicking if you want!” Ye Chu smiled at Pang Shao. His words made the people of Yao City exchange glances. They thought that although Ye Chu’s strength had changed dramatically, the ruthless disregard for human life deep in his bones had not changed at all.
Pang Shao shrugged. “No interest! I like beating people when I can see their pain and agony. What’s the fun in pounding a piece of dead meat? Heh heh, later help me get a few Sand Kingdom maidservants.”
Ye Chu turned his head as if he had not heard Pang Shao’s words. He looked at Sha Shi standing in front of him, glanced at the enormous iron hammers dragging on the ground, and smiled. “You think you can deal with me with two chunks of scrap metal?”
“You’ll find out once you try!” Sha Shi suddenly lifted his iron hammer. The hammer swung fiercely towards Ye Chu. It felt as heavy as ten thousand jin, smashing down with a heart-shaking force.
Ye Chu’s figure flashed and dodged the swing. The iron hammer slammed hard into the spot where Ye Chu had just stood. The bluestone ground instantly shattered into fragments. The terrifying power of the hammer was fully revealed.
“What terrifying strength!” Ye Tian and the others drew in a sharp breath as they looked at the huge crater left behind. They truly could not understand how the Sand Kingdom had produced so many powerful figures.
From this one strike alone, Sha Shi was clearly no weaker than Sha Shan, if not stronger.
Ye Tian could not help turning to Pang Shao and asking, “Can Ye Chu handle him?”
Pang Shao looked at the massive crater created by the hammer, swallowed hard, and after a long pause said uncertainly, “He probably can!”
Even Pang Shao sounded unsure. Ye Tian and the others immediately felt their hearts tighten. Ye Tian kept asking, “Ye Chu has no weapon in hand. He’s at a disadvantage. What kind of weapon does he favour? I’ll send someone to deliver one!”
Pang Shao shook his head. “I’ve never seen him use any weapon!”
Ye Tian and the others could not help frowning. Without a weapon to assist him, how could Ye Chu contend with such a powerful iron hammer? An ordinary mortal body simply could not withstand a single smash!
Everyone’s hearts were in their throats because of this, but Ye Chu merely smiled at Sha Shi and said, “Not bad! But still lacking a bit. I heard from Sha Shan that he was only ranked third. Call your leader up as well. Otherwise people will say I’m bullying you!”
Those words not only made the Sand Kingdom people stare in shock, but even the Yao Kingdom crowd widened their eyes. From Sha Shi’s stance and power, he clearly had the strength of the Eighth Layer of Intent Transformation Realm. Combined with such powerful hammer techniques, even a Ninth Layer cultivator would have a headache facing him. Yet Ye Chu was now calling for them to attack together. Could he have reached the Innate Realm?
The mere thought of that possibility made everyone’s mouths go dry. The Innate Realm! In small kingdoms like Yao Kingdom and Sand Kingdom, it was already the pinnacle of existence. Such people were like national guardian masters, lofty figures that ordinary people could only look up to!
For small kingdoms like Yao Kingdom and Sand Kingdom, the number of Innate Realm cultivators directly represented national strength. Yao Kingdom had fewer than five in total, while Sand Kingdom had even less.
Some small kingdoms had only one Innate Realm cultivator in the entire nation. And if a kingdom had none at all, it meant that kingdom was doomed to perish!
The Innate Realm was that important. They were the protective talismans of small kingdoms. Yet the young man standing before them had also reached such a level?
Even Pang Shao began to doubt. Although Ye Chu had told him he had not reached the Innate Realm, if he had not, where did he get the confidence to say such things?
But if Ye Chu had truly reached the Innate Realm, it was simply too unbelievable! Unlike the people of these small kingdoms, Pang Shao had seen many Innate Realm cultivators. After all, he came from an imperial noble family. The empire was a colossal entity with countless Innate Realm experts. But that did not mean Pang Shao was not shocked. The Innate Realm was a major bottleneck. Crossing it was extremely difficult! He believed Ye Chu could one day cross it, but he was unwilling to believe Ye Chu had already done so now!
Sha Shi was also stunned by Ye Chu’s words. He had not expected Ye Chu to show such disdain for the Sand Kingdom cultivators. After all, their current younger generation was the strongest in Sand Kingdom history. It was not because their talent surpassed previous generations, but because they had been fortunate enough to stumble upon an ancient ruin and gain an extraordinary opportunity inside. Their strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. This had created a terrifying lineup of two Eighth Layer Intent Transformation cultivators and one Seventh Layer. They had originally thought such a lineup could easily sweep the younger generation of Yao Kingdom. Yet Yao Kingdom had produced such a person.
“You really want us to attack together?” Sha Shi could not see through Ye Chu’s depths. Since Ye Chu was willing to let them come at him together, he was more than happy to oblige. As long as they dealt with this guy, the rest of Yao Kingdom’s younger generation would be theirs to toy with.
“Of course. I am a man of great magnanimity!” Ye Chu seemed to have completely forgotten that he had just asked Su Rong what magnanimity even was.
“Sha Feng! Since he insists so strongly, if we refuse, it would make us seem insincere.” Although Sha Shi was huge, his mind was sharp. He shouted towards the Sand Kingdom camp. A young man stepped out from among them, holding a long spear. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Sha Shi.
“Ye Chu is being too foolish!” Zhang Su’er and the others grew anxious. They thought one opponent was already hard enough to deal with, yet he was calling for them to attack together. Did he really think he was some war god?
“Pang Shao! What are Ye Chu’s chances?” Ye Tian could not help asking Pang Shao, the person who understood Ye Chu the best.
“He should have some chance!” Pang Shao said awkwardly. “Ye Chu never does anything he’s not confident in!”
“Has he reached the Innate Realm?” Ye Tian asked directly. If he had not reached the Innate Realm, it would be extremely difficult for Ye Chu to win. But if he had, these two would not be enough to pose a threat.
“He probably hasn’t!” Pang Shao thought for a moment and ultimately felt that what Ye Chu had told him was true. If he had truly reached the Innate Realm, helping the White Leopard dispel baleful qi last time would not have been so strenuous.
Ye Tian and the others’ expressions changed. Without having reached the Innate Realm, the chances of Ye Chu defeating two armed cultivators who might even possess Innate-level techniques were practically zero.
“Ye Chu is too reckless!” Many people shook their heads. Just like back then, he always loved stealing the spotlight! They had originally thought his nature had changed. Now it seemed nothing had changed at all. This made people sigh involuntarily!