After Sha Tianyun finished speaking, his body suddenly shuddered. His robes fluttered and billowed as surging qi erupted from him. The surrounding spiritual energy, drawn by his qi, swept outwards together with his arm like a venomous snake lunging towards Ye Chu.
This was a hair-raising terror. The true horror of the Innate Realm was finally laid bare. Sha Tianyun stamped one foot down, cracking the bluestone beneath him. His straightened arm shot forward in an instant, aiming to coil around Ye Chu and trap him completely.
“Ye Chu!” Zhang Su’er and the others’ faces changed drastically. They cried out in shock and horror. Seeing Sha Tianyun unleash his full power to ensnare Ye Chu, their eyes turned bloodshot, and they almost rushed forward. Yet they all knew very well that with their feeble strength, charging in would merely mean throwing their lives away.
The terrifying explosive force of an Innate Realm cultivator would gravely injure them even if they merely brushed against it. The soldiers clenched their fists tightly, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the centre of the arena. At this moment, all their earlier disdain for Ye Chu had vanished. In their gazes there was only admiration. Watching Ye Chu about to be torn apart by the Innate Realm power, their pupils reddened with fury.
Everyone understood that an Innate Realm expert’s ultimate move, which mobilised the surrounding spiritual energy, was their greatest weapon. Such a grand technique carried absolute destructive power against anyone below the Innate Realm.
“Hmph!” Sha Tianyun looked down on Ye Chu with contempt. Merely at the Intent Transformation Realm, yet he still dared to block him.
What a pity. A promising seedling was about to die by his hand today.
Sha Tianyun’s disdain did not affect Ye Chu in the slightest. Ye Chu burst into loud laughter. “Do you really think such a move can coil around and shatter me? You’re dreaming far too beautifully!”
As he spoke, Ye Chu’s figure danced. His eyes shone with brilliant light. The true qi of the Intent Transformation Realm converged from his entire body into his arm, erupting with an intent that could shatter everything in its path. The terrifying intent caused his robes to flap and snap noisily.
This was the first time Ye Chu had unleashed his full power since arriving in Yao City. His qi exploded to ten-tenths strength, repelling all external forces away from his arm and advancing with an utterly domineering momentum.
“Useless! You’re nothing but a toad. No matter how high you jump, you’ll never escape the bottom of the well and see the vast sky of the Innate Realm!” Sha Tianyun shook his head and sighed with a trace of pity. “You’re going to die here, and you’ll never climb out of this well!”
“That remains to be seen!” Ye Chu roared. “With the ferocity of unyielding force, reaching the pinnacle of intent — Vajra Fist!”
Vajra Fist was the introductory fist technique of Qingmi Mountain. It was a set of utterly unremarkable martial arts, with only one distinguishing feature: sheer ferocity! Back when Ye Chu was at Qingmi Mountain, the dead fatty had forced him to smash rocks with his bare fists every single day. At the time, Ye Chu had thought himself an utter fool. Who in their right mind would keep pounding stones with their hands?
But he had no choice. At Qingmi Mountain he was the weakest. The old madman had thrown him into the dead fatty’s hands. If he refused to obey, the dead fatty would toss him straight into a snake pit. Anyone who has never seen a pit swarming with thousands upon thousands of snakes cannot imagine how revolting and spine-chilling it is.
Compared to the snake pit, Ye Chu preferred to play the fool and spend his days smashing rocks to train Vajra Fist.
The results were obvious. The dead fatty had once said: “Although Vajra Fist is the most basic ferocious fist technique, as long as you fully comprehend its intent and practise until mastery, it can surpass even Innate Realm martial skills in raw power! When it comes to pure ferocity, no fist technique can stand beside it!”
“The more foundational the martial technique, the fewer miscellaneous intents it contains. That makes it easier to completely grasp its true essence. Many cultivators only dream of practising profound techniques, but they fail to understand that if the fundamentals are not mastered properly, even suddenly jumping to advanced techniques will limit the depth of insight they can achieve.”
“It’s like learning to read. You must first master the basic characters and understand the meaning of each one. Only then can you comprehend long passages and grasp the true meaning of a text. The deeper your understanding of individual characters, the deeper your understanding of the whole article will be.”
Although Ye Chu had often wanted to beat the dead fatty to death, he had to admit the man possessed a truly unique insight. Unable to refuse, he could only settle down and diligently practise every foundational martial technique, repeatedly playing the fool and pushing each one to its absolute peak.
Vajra Fist was one of the foundational techniques he had cultivated to the pinnacle of intent. Now, this ferocious palm of his collided head-on with Sha Tianyun’s strike, producing a dull, heavy boom.
But the shockwave was not what drew everyone’s attention. What made their eyes widen in disbelief was this: Ye Chu, by meeting the attack head-on, had actually blocked an Innate Realm strike that drew on the surrounding spiritual energy.
Ye Chu forcibly shattered the opponent’s venomous-snake-like assault, forcing Sha Tianyun to stagger back several steps. Even Sha Tianyun’s arm trembled slightly under the sheer ferocity of that fist.
Ye Chu was naturally not unscathed. Though Vajra Fist was ferocious, the gap in realm was undeniable. Excessive ferocity could easily harm oneself. Right now Ye Chu felt his blood and qi churning violently inside, extremely uncomfortable.
“The Innate Realm truly is terrifying. No wonder the dead fatty said never to provoke an Innate Realm expert lightly.” Ye Chu exhaled slowly. He had originally thought that with his deep understanding of the Intent Transformation Realm, he could at least avoid suffering a crushing defeat against an Innate Realm opponent. Now it seemed the disparity was still glaringly obvious.
“That dead fatty really is a monster. Rumour has it he killed three Innate Realm experts while still at the Intent Transformation Realm.” Ye Chu could not help but sigh. The dead fatty’s foundation far surpassed his own. That was understandable. After all, Ye Chu had only been cultivating for three years. The dead fatty’s basics were far more solid. It was said he had spent a full ten years reaching the Innate Realm.
It was not that the dead fatty lacked talent. He had deliberately spent those years tempering his foundation. What others could achieve in three or four years, he stretched out over six or seven extra years, making him far stronger than ordinary Innate Realm cultivators when he finally broke through.
Ye Chu had once thought that although he could not compare to the dead fatty, if the fatty could kill several Innate Realm experts back then, surely he himself could handle one now. Only now did he realise there was still a clear gap.
The onlookers had no idea that Ye Chu was still dissatisfied with his own performance. The people of Yao Kingdom, however, were dumbfounded, staring blankly at Ye Chu. Where did he get such terrifying power? It was ferocious enough to snap steel!
Whether soldiers or Su Rong’s group, all of them swallowed hard, throats rolling as overwhelming shock surged in their hearts.
A mere Intent Transformation Realm cultivator had withstood an Innate Realm expert’s full killing move head-on. If anyone had said such a thing before today, no one would have believed it.
“How did you manage that?” Sha Tianyun was shaken to the core. That earlier ferocity had been too terrifying. Moreover, he could clearly see that it was nothing more than the most basic martial technique. How could such a rudimentary skill erupt with an intent comparable to — or even surpassing — an Innate Realm technique?
“Just smash some rocks every now and then. Keep smashing and smashing, and eventually you get it!” Ye Chu grinned at Sha Tianyun.
Those words made Sha Tianyun’s face twitch slightly. Did he take him for an idiot? Who in their right mind would waste time smashing rocks for fun?
“I refuse to believe you’re really that strong!” Sha Tianyun roared furiously. With another explosive shout, he launched another ferocious attack, every bit as powerful as the previous one.
Ye Chu met it with the same ferocious counter, colliding head-on once more. Both were forced back, and Ye Chu solidly blocked Sha Tianyun again.
If anyone had still harboured doubts after the first clash, every last trace of scepticism vanished now.
“He… he… no wonder he said before that he was invincible below the Innate Realm!” Zhang Su’er’s mouth felt dry. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke to Su Rong.