Chapter 111: The

Ye Chen’s sword strike carried the ethereal grace of mountains and rivers, yet also infinite sharpness and ferocity!

“This is impossible!” At this moment, Kong Sheng’s face was filled with shock.

This was the first time since the Dragon Pool Rankings began that he had encountered something beyond his control!

Whether it was the terrifying realm Ye Chen had manifested, or the seven-tenths sword intent within it, both left him utterly stunned!

Yaozhidao ， Qichengjianyikeshiyijingmairulejianyishangjingjiede ， Jiusuanshinaxiexingjijingdejiankezhizhong ， Yehenshaoyourennenggoudadaozhezhongjingjie ！

BOOM!

At this critical moment, Kong Sheng’s body trembled slightly, and an immensely terrifying true qi surged skyward, sweeping across all directions.

Even outside his body, visible specks of starlight shimmered like diamonds—crystal clear and exquisitely condensed!

These were the half-step true origin he had long been refining!

With the enhancement of half-step true origin, Kong Sheng’s offensive and defensive capabilities had noticeably strengthened; combined with the many high-grade cultivation techniques he had mastered, he could even challenge true Star Level experts.

“Get out of my way!”

After unleashing half-step true origin, Kong Sheng’s aura intensified further, then he unleashed a punch that dominated rivers and rivers—its overwhelming power crashing directly into the sword light Ye Chen had slashed forth.

A metallic clang rang out as the brilliant sword light and the terrifying fist force collided head-on, momentarily holding each other in balance.

The shockwaves from their clash spread outward in all directions, instantly piercing through the blue energy barrier surrounding the arena.

If not for several Star Level judges joining forces to defend, many of the youngest geniuses closest to the arena would have been seriously injured!

“Seven-tenths sword intent?”

“Half-step true origin?”

Watching the two figures on the arena, nearly all spectators within Dragon Pool Ancient City froze in shock.

“What’s going on? Their strength is insane—just the shockwaves from their clash pierced through the arena’s barrier!”

“I never expected they were both holding back—one hiding his sword intent at six-tenths, the other disguising half-step true origin as true qi to fight. This is beyond comprehension!”

“Too strong! Their power far surpasses the entire younger generation!”

At this moment, everyone was stunned by Ye Chen and Kong Sheng’s strength.

Among the spectators, a Star Level swordsman who had once competed with Ye Chen for the Sword-Shape Grass showed a flicker of surprise.

After all, when Ye Chen fought him for the Sword-Shape Grass, his sword intent was only at six-tenths—yet now, in such a short time, he had risen to seven-tenths, which was even more incomprehensible to a man who had already reached nine-tenths himself.

“Ye Chen is undoubtedly a sword prodigy unseen in a hundred years!”

This Star Level swordsman couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: “I wonder if he can defeat Kong Sheng, who already possesses half-step true origin?”

“How is this possible?”

The master of Suspended Mountain, Kong Sheng’s grandfather Kong Ba, could not help but show a trace of seriousness.

He had always known Kong Sheng possessed half-step true origin and had never regarded Ye Chen or others as worthy opponents—even after they defeated Yan Chihuo.

But he never expected Ye Chen to hide such a powerful trump card!

Of course, if Ye Chen’s only trump was seven-tenths sword intent, Kong Sheng still had a good chance of victory—but Kong Ba’s greatest fear was that Xiao Yan, Pang Bo, and others also held hidden cards.

Though he still had great confidence in Kong Sheng, if Xiao Yan and the others still had secrets, they would surely devise countermeasures after witnessing Kong Sheng’s strength, making it far more difficult for Kong Sheng to defeat them all!

On the judging platform, Chief Judge Luo Jiacheng and several other Star Level judges all drew sharp breaths.

One judge couldn’t help but exclaim: “I originally thought Kong Sheng had this victory locked up, but now it seems the outcome is still uncertain!”

“Indeed, we’ve misjudged this match again!”

Another judge sighed: “I thought Ye Chen was the weakest among the remaining contenders, yet he’s hiding such a trump card!”

Another judge who had closely watched Ye Chen added: “It’s not just that! Ye Chen is under eighteen—far younger than most of the younger generation! To reach seven-tenths sword intent at such an age—he’s a sword prodigy unseen in our Nan Zhuo Region for over a century!”

“His youth is both his advantage and his weakness! Right now, with only seven-tenths sword intent, he still can’t match Kong Sheng! But we’ve failed to save such an incredible battle for the final match—we truly misjudged it!”

“Yes, after this fight, the remaining matches may as well be meaningless!”

…

On the arena,

Ye Chen’s seven-tenths sword intent burst forth, and the pressure from Kong Sheng’s half-step true origin felt like a gentle breeze brushing his face!

“Good!”

Kong Sheng finally lowered his arrogance and regarded Ye Chen as an equal: “I thought this would be a one-sided fight, but you’ve hidden such a trump card!”

“You’re now worthy of my full attention—though only that, nothing more!” As he spoke, Kong Sheng’s aura abruptly retracted, completely internalizing itself.

If he had been a volcano erupting moments before, he was now a towering, immovable mountain range.

Yet facing all this, Ye Chen’s expression remained utterly calm: “I’ll say it again—if you don’t use your full strength, you won’t survive my three swords!”

Hearing this, Kong Sheng no longer sneered as before; instead, he wondered whether Ye Chen still had more hidden cards.

Yet he felt no deep fear—after all, with half-step true origin, his current power was truly terrifying: “Ye Chen, take my first punch—Punch That Sets the Realm!”

BOOM!

Kong Sheng punched forward, and the entire arena trembled violently; cracks instantly spread across its surface.

Simultaneously, the space around Ye Chen collapsed, forming a prison-like cage meant to trap him.

CLANG!

At that moment, Ye Chen’s Star-Trace Sword flashed out again, and the seven-tenths sword intent swirling through the void, now with a vessel, revealed its invincible, merciless sharpness once more!

“Eternal Sky-Shattering Cloud!”

Ye Chen slashed, and a brilliant half-meter-long sword light shot forth, instantly cleaving through Kong Sheng’s terrifying fist force, then continuing its charge toward Kong Sheng.

SPLAT!

Seeing the sword light approach, Kong Sheng’s expression froze again—though he dodged in time, a sliver of sword qi grazed his left arm, drawing a streak of blood.

Kong Sheng had initially ignored this minor wound, but Ye Chen’s sword qi was strangely persistent; though only a sliver, it could not be destroyed—he could only counter it with his own powerful true origin!

Ye Chen looked at the wounded Kong Sheng, feeling a touch of exasperation.

He had warned him multiple times, yet the man still acted so overconfident—wasn’t this asking for it?

Of course, his warnings were also meant to test pressure from Kong Sheng, to see if he could push his own strength just a little further.

After all, he still had to face even more formidable opponents like Xiao Yan!

“Kong Sheng, you’ve slipped again!”

Ye Chen coldly said: “I wonder if you’ll even live to face my third sword!”

“Hmph! You won’t get another chance!”

Enraged by Ye Chen’s attack, Kong Sheng’s eyes turned icy: “Ye Chen, I never expected your strength to be this great—or your sword intent so strange! Now I’ll unleash my ultimate trump card—but I can’t fully control it yet. If you can’t survive it, don’t blame me!”

“Finally ready to reveal his trump? At last, some real pressure!”

A thought flashed through Ye Chen’s mind, then he said: “We’ll see if you have the skill!”

“If you want to die, I’ll grant your wish!”

Kong Sheng roared: “Punch That Shatters Heaven!”

This was a killing technique from the Heaven-Overwhelming Fist, and when wielded by Kong Sheng with half-step true origin, it roared toward Ye Chen like a force of unstoppable destruction.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen had already prepared his third sword!

He gripped the Star-Trace Sword with both hands, his spirit fully immersed in his sword intent, silently gathering a terrifying power.

As Kong Sheng’s fist force exploded, Ye Chen unleashed his ultimate strike: “Soul-Slaying!”

BOOM!

The terrifying sword qi collided with the fist force—the arena’s defensive barrier shattered instantly, and the violent shockwave surged outward, causing nearby geniuses to turn pale.

Fortunately, they had retreated far enough, and Star Level judges held the blast at bay, so they suffered little.

Opposite Ye Chen, Kong Sheng’s devastating fist force was pierced straight through by Ye Chen’s sword light; the remaining momentum struck Kong Sheng’s half-step protective true origin before he could dodge.

SPLASH!

The half-step protective true origin was instantly torn apart—Kong Sheng spat a mouthful of blood and was flung backward, clearly severely wounded!

…

CRACK!

In the spectator seats, Kong Ba, master of Suspended Mountain, crushed the armrest of his chair.

He had believed Kong Sheng’s overwhelming half-step true origin would secure him the top rank on the Dragon Pool Rankings—yet now this Ye Chen had appeared!

The elders of Suspended Mountain beside him also wore expressions of utter disbelief.

At this moment, Shen Tu Jue, the core elder of Suspended Mountain, suddenly whispered: “Master, Sheng still has hope!”

“Ye Chen is merely a disciple of a ninth-rank sect. If we subtly threaten or bribe him, we can make him lose on purpose—then after Sheng defeats the others, he’ll get another chance to fight Ye Chen, and we can reclaim the Dragon Vein Qi!”

Hearing this, Kong Ba’s heart stirred—but this was the sacred Dragon Pool Ancient City; even he dared not act recklessly, so he hesitated.

On the arena, after defeating Kong Sheng, Ye Chen’s dragon-shaped aura seemed to sense something, then immediately surged toward Kong Sheng.

After absorbing a portion of Kong Sheng’s Dragon Vein Qi, Ye Chen’s dragon aura instantly grew beyond nine zhang, reaching nine zhang and one inch!

This made him the first among all geniuses to reach nine zhang, instantly claiming the top rank!

Kong Sheng’s dragon aura, after being drained, quickly regressed back to eight zhang and nine inches!

Seeing this, the surrounding spectators were utterly stunned.

Who could have imagined that Kong Sheng, who had refined half-step true origin, would lose to Ye Chen!

Kong Sheng’s expression had been filled with despair, but suddenly, his grandfather Kong Ba’s voice echoed in his ear.

“Sheng, temporary defeat means nothing. With your strength, defeat the others, and I’ll secure you another chance to challenge Ye Chen!”

“He’s merely a disciple of a ninth-rank sect—he won’t dare defy Suspended Mountain’s authority. When the time comes, the top rank on the Dragon Pool Rankings and the first-place Dragon Vein Qi will still be yours—belonging to Suspended Mountain!”

After hearing Kong Ba’s words, Kong Sheng’s heart eased considerably.

He exhaled slowly, calming his inner agitation and resentment, his gaze hardening once more.

"Ye Chen, your strength is truly impressive!"

Sikong Sheng looked at Ye Chen again and said seriously: "Next time we fight, I won’t give you another chance!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen ignored him entirely and leapt off the combat platform.

The Star-Level judges, seeing this, proceeded to arrange the next matches.

Although they all believed the rankings were already decided, they still had to fulfill their duties.

During other competitors’ matches, Ye Chen received a voice transmission from Shen Tu Jue, the Grand Elder of Xuan Kong Mountain.

In the transmission, Shen Tu Jue either threatened or bribed him, even promising Ye Chen a chance to join Xuan Kong Mountain.

Unfortunately, with Lu Qingshan as his backer, Ye Chen felt no fear and flatly refused.

Unaware of all this, Sikong Sheng still dreamed of defeating Xiao Yan and others, then challenging Ye Chen again—but he didn’t know that what followed was the beginning of his nightmare!

…

In the sixty-eighth round, Sikong Sheng faced Pang Bo.

Having fully recovered thanks to Xuan Kong Mountain’s abundant spirit herbs after losing to Ye Chen, Sikong Sheng had clearly changed—he no longer arrogantly crossed his arms to fight, but had already donned a low-grade fist gauntlet, and his half-true qi was no longer diluted.

"Pang Bo, are you ready to face my fury?"

Sikong Sheng stared at this companion of Ye Chen, his aura surging upward relentlessly, as if without end.

The humiliation from his defeat by Ye Chen had not yet faded; naturally, he showed no mercy to Ye Chen’s friend.

Puff!

But upon hearing Sikong Sheng’s words, Pang Bo burst out laughing: "Sikong Sheng, you’ve already forgotten being slapped by Ye Chen? You haven’t even started fighting and think you’ve already won?"

As soon as he spoke, boundless blood qi erupted within Pang Bo, as if even the surrounding void were about to ignite.

"What?"

"This terrifying blood qi—it must already surpass those!"

At this moment, Sikong Sheng was utterly stunned, his expression like he’d just swallowed excrement!

How could he have imagined that after Ye Chen, another opponent capable of matching him had emerged—Pang Bo!

Though his strength could easily obliterate a sixth-rank beast lord, those beast lords never used any martial techniques, let alone the bizarre fist arts Pang Bo had displayed in battle.

Soon after, Pang Bo and Sikong Sheng clashed.

Though Sikong Sheng had learned from his previous mistake and unleashed his full power from the start, even deploying lethal techniques repeatedly, he was ultimately defeated by Pang Bo, who had unleashed the "Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor"!

Seeing this, everyone from Xuan Kong Mountain, other watching cultivators, and even the young geniuses on the leaderboard all stared as if they’d witnessed something impossible.

They simply could not imagine that Sikong Sheng, with half-true qi, had now lost consecutively to both Ye Chen and Pang Bo!

And none of them had anticipated that this was only just the beginning!

…

In the sixty-ninth round, Sikong Sheng faced Han Li, whose strength lay in defense.

Sikong Sheng had originally believed that with his half-true qi and lethal techniques, he could easily shatter Han Li’s defense—but he never expected Han Li to withstand his strongest attack.

Later, he thought his abundant half-true qi could outlast Han Li until exhaustion—but he never expected that he himself would collapse first!

Thus, Sikong Sheng lost again to Han Li, and the dragon-shaped shadow behind him shrank once more—to eighty-seven feet.

…

In the seventieth round, Sikong Sheng faced Xiao Yan—the very opponent he had feared most.

At the start of this battle, Sikong Sheng still felt confident, believing Xiao Yan’s two-colored fire lotus had been his ultimate technique.

But unexpectedly, Xiao Yan once again unleashed the two-colored fire lotus—yet its power was over ten times greater than before.

Under this terrifying power, Sikong Sheng had not the slightest hope of victory.

Thus, he lost again to Xiao Yan, and the dragon-shaped shadow behind him shrank further—to eighty-six feet.

…

In the final round, Sikong Sheng faced Meng Huan, who had always been the most low-key.

Although Meng Huan had defeated Yan Chi and others, he had surrendered whenever facing Xiao Yan and his group—so Sikong Sheng finally believed he could win at least one match.

But he never imagined that the most low-key Meng Huan was actually the most terrifying among Xiao Yan’s group!

Meng Huan hadn’t even used any lethal techniques, yet Sikong Sheng had no resistance against him whatsoever—like a child facing a two-meter-tall man who had trained in martial arts.

In the end, after being utterly humiliated by Meng Huan, he lost again, and the dragon-shaped shadow behind him had shrunk to eighty-five feet!

After this final battle, Sikong Sheng began to question his very existence!

After all, five opponents in a row had defeated him effortlessly!

One or two might be coincidence—but five in a row?

"Have I been nothing but a waste all along?"

After losing to Meng Huan, Sikong Sheng was completely dazed, his mind hollow, as if he had just awakened to the true world.

"Were all my previous opponents merely the weakest of the weak?"

"Have I been living in my own delusion? Is my strength truly average?"

At this moment, Sikong Sheng was utterly lost, even beginning to deny himself.

In a certain sense, Sikong Sheng belonged to the same category as Mo Yan, the eldest disciple of Feitian Demon Sect.

Simply put—he couldn’t bear to lose!

The only difference between them was that Sikong Sheng possessed greater talent and more terrifying strength.

In previous battles, Sikong Sheng had crushed opponent after opponent, so his flaws remained hidden.

Even in the original story, after being defeated only by Ye Chen, he had traveled to Liuyun Sect to challenge Ye Chen after reaching Star-Level, knowing Ye Chen could never reach Star-Level so quickly!

Now, having been repeatedly defeated by the Chat Group members, his flaws were fully exposed.

If he could awaken in time, he might still achieve greatness in the future.

But if he failed to awaken, his accomplishments might not even surpass those of Li Daoxuan or Bing Ling from this year’s Genius Tournament!

(End of Chapter)