Perhaps because of that day’s threat, Ma Tianzhi no longer looked for trouble with Ye Chu. But every time he saw Ye Chu, he carried a resentful gaze. Regarding this, Ye Chu naturally would not take it to heart, still eating when he should eat, drinking when he should drink, and when he had nothing to do, he would flirt with the Ma family’s maidservants, living a life of boundless pleasure.
This made Ma Tianzhi grind his teeth even more. In the end, he gave orders to the maidservants, telling them not to approach Ye Chu. Ye Chu shrugged indifferently at Ma Tianzhi’s behaviour, then said to Ye Jingyun in front of Ma Tianzhi, “If you dare pay attention to the Ma family’s second young master again, I will break your legs!”
Ye Jingyun cooperatively revealed a frightened look, and weakly said in an obedient and terrified manner, “I understand!”
Sure enough, Ma Tianzhi clenched his fists tightly, his veins pulsing. The resentment in his eyes seemed to become substance, as if it would skin Ye Chu alive and tear out his tendons.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Ye Chu spent each day leisurely amidst Ma Tianzhi’s resentment. On the third day, Ma Hua brought Ye Chu to participate in the arena competition.
The arena competition, as Dragon City’s most magnificent annual event, was already packed with people early on. By the time Ye Chu and the others arrived, the surroundings of the arena were already filled with crowds, incredibly noisy.
Ma Hua and the others travelled through the air, passing over the crowd’s heads and shooting toward a massive arena. The arena was entirely constructed from massive blue stones, magnificent and imposing, with many traces of battle upon it.
“This arena has existed for a hundred years, standing firm for a century without falling. Every generation’s arena battle has been held here. It has witnessed the rise and fall of Dragon City’s families generation after generation!” Ma Hua introduced to Ye Chu, while simultaneously bringing Ye Chu to sit on one side of the altar.
The Ma family’s people were already waiting there. Seeing Ma Hua arrive, they bowed and saluted, “Family head, the other three families have all arrived.”
Ma Hua nodded, his gaze looking toward the seating positions of the other three families, and said softly to Ye Chu, “The Huo, Huang, and Zhao families are the three strongest. Their representatives this time are all their family’s inheritors. Among them, Huo Nanzi is the strongest, his strength reaching the fourth level of the Profound Ancient Realm. The Huang and Zhao families, although not much weaker than Huo Nanzi, are only slightly lower in realm. Originally, my eldest son was also about to break through to the fourth level, but he was schemed against by Huo Nanzi. This led to… Sigh, anyway, be careful when you fight later. Their strength is all extremely formidable, almost catching up to us old fellows. This Dragon Token contest is also the strongest batch of people in the past twenty to thirty years.”
“He reached the fourth level?” Ye Chu could not help but be surprised, thinking that the Red Dust Domain truly was a prosperous place, and their strength was startling.
“Yes! By the way, I have not asked how strong your strength is. What realm are you actually at?” Ma Hua asked Ye Chu.
“Second level!”
“What?” Ma Hua’s eyes jumped. Originally, seeing that Ye Chu had defeated his son effortlessly, he thought Ye Chu had at least third level strength. But he had not expected that Ye Chu was only at the second level. People like Huo Nanzi could be considered the most outstanding figures in Dragon City in the past hundred years. Within the same realm, they rarely encountered opponents. If Ye Chu had reached the fourth level, he would still struggle to be a match for these people. Let alone being two realms weaker than them. Ma Hua had originally still harboured hope, but at this moment, his heart had already grown cold by half.
“Even if you lose, you must try to hold on for as long as possible, so that you can deter some petty villains!” Ma Hua sighed. He no longer held any thoughts about the Dragon Token, only hoping that they could still preserve the name of the four great families.
“Lose?” Ye Chu smiled and said, “No one knows without fighting!”
Hearing Ye Chu’s words, Ma Hua glanced at him sideways. Of course, he would not pour cold water on Ye Chu. But he knew how difficult it was for a second level to fight across levels against a fourth level. Moreover, fighting against outstanding talents like Huo Nanzi was even harder. Because Huo Nanzi and the others themselves could fight across levels against stronger opponents.
“Alright! Rest for now. At the beginning, it is all some small families performing up there.” Ma Hua turned his head to look at Ma Tianzhi, “If you want to go and play, you can also go up. The Sun family’s inheritor of this generation is not weak, and is quite fitting to be your opponent.”
Ma Tianzhi glanced at Ye Jingyun beside Ye Chu, then shook his head and said, “My opponent is not him!”
Seeing that his son still stubbornly wanted to pursue Ye Jingyun, Ma Hua shook his head and said nothing. His gaze turned toward the field, where cultivators were already fighting.
Ye Chu wanted to size up the other three families’ inheritors, but was blocked by the fighting figures, so he could only give up.
Although the fighting was not intense, the noise below came in waves, deafening, with continuous cheers.
These small family contests went on until dusk. The glow of the setting sun shone down, falling upon this magnificent arena, adding a layer of tension to it.
The originally noisy crowd also stopped, looking at the Sun family’s eldest son standing on the arena. They knew the most intense moment of the arena battle was about to arrive. This eldest son of the Sun family had fought until the various great families were convinced, and he no longer had any rivals. At this time, apart from the four great families, who else could shake him?
“The inheritors of the four great families are about to go up!” The crowd was excited, all staring intently at the four great families’ positions.
“Family Head Ma, I heard your eldest son is lying bedridden with serious injuries. I do not know if this rumour is true. If so, that is truly a pity. Your family cannot send out a decent cultivator. It seems the position of the four great families is not something you can hold steady.” Amidst the crowd’s waiting, a man stood up from the northern position, laughing loudly in Ma Hua’s direction.
Ma Hua’s expression was gloomy, and he said in a low voice by Ye Chu’s ear, “This is the Huo family head. The young man beside him is Huo Nanzi!”
Ye Chu fixed his eyes and looked over. A handsome-looking man sat there. Although he was only sitting quietly, the aura occasionally emanating from his body proved how terrifying a power was contained within him.
“Family Head Huo, you know full well what you did!” Ma Hua snorted.
“What did we do? I hope Family Head Ma will clarify!” The Huo family head laughed loudly, “It is just that, last time the Ma family ranked lowest. According to convention, it should be your turn now. If you cannot send anyone, then in the future Dragon City’s four great families will become three great families. In the future, remember to offer us spirit stones and minerals!”
“This does not trouble Family Head Huo to worry about. Although my son has a minor illness, my family does not only have my son as an expert.” Ma Hua looked coldly at the other party and said, “Although my son cannot come, a guest expert can still give you a headache.”
After speaking, Ma Hua turned his head and said to Ye Chu in a low voice, “Try to hold on for as long as possible!”
Ye Chu shrugged his shoulders and stepped toward the arena.
The Huo family was extremely surprised to see that someone was really going up on the arena. Back then, it was they who had schemed to make the Ma family’s eldest son unable to fight. Who else in his family could replace him? Ma Tianzhi? With his little bit of strength, coming up would only be humiliating.
When they saw Ye Chu’s young face, the Huo family members exchanged glances, then burst into loud laughter. The laughter was filled with ridicule and contempt.