Chapter 1846: Let's stop here

Seeing the flames filling the sky around Ye Zhangqing, Zhao Qinglin felt despair in his heart.

The difference in amount was almost double; in fact, no need to make a move, the outcome was already decided.

But Zhao Qinglin was unwilling to accept defeat, and couldn't admit loss; another loss would truly leave him no chance.

Either way it's death, so although he saw no hope of winning, Zhao Qinglin still acted rashly.

With Zhao Qinglin's control, the flames around him suddenly became like raindrops, shooting explosively toward Ye Zhangqing.

Seeing Zhao Qinglin make a move, many people present secretly shook their heads.

Knowing he would lose, yet still choosing to act—however, one can understand Zhao Qinglin.

He had now been driven to the brink of a cliff; besides a desperate all‑out effort, he had no other choice.

However, even though Zhao Qinglin had gone all out, his myriad flames hadn't even reached Ye Zhangqing's body before being completely blocked by Ye Zhangqing's flames in an instant.

The two's Línglì flames collided wildly, and a shocking scene appeared.

The flames around Ye Zhangqing not only vastly outnumbered Zhao Qinglin's in quantity, but their power was completely overwhelming.

When their flames collided, Zhao Qinglin's flames were directly shattered and dissipated in midair.

As for Ye Zhangqing's flames, they merely dimmed slightly, suffering no other effect.

Thus, after one round of collision, Zhao Qinglin's flames completely dissipated, while Ye Zhangqing's flames still filled the sky.

Not a single thread was reduced.

The quantity couldn't match, and the power was worlds apart; looking at his all‑out strike, he couldn't even extinguish a single thread of Ye Zhangqing's flame.

This drove Zhao Qinglin into utter madness, his face flushed, he roared angrily.

"Impossible, how can this be, I don't believe it, I don't believe it, ah....................."

With Zhao Qinglin's roar, one could see more and more flames appearing around his body.

Moreover, this time Zhao Qinglin acted recklessly, disregarding consequences, and the number of his flames had already broken through ten thousand.

This guy had already given his all, even not caring about a backlash of Línglì fire.

If it were another time, Zhao Qinglin's breakthrough would likely draw sideways glances from the crowd, who would secretly praise him.

But now, facing Ye Zhangqing, even if Zhao Qinglin had another breakthrough, he broke his limit again.

The extra one or two thousand flames would have little effect on the result.

It still couldn't change anything, and everyone knows that.

The gap between ten thousand and twelve thousand, before Ye Zhangqing's nearly thirty thousand flames, remains utterly powerless.

"Obstinate and insensible."

Indeed, that's exactly the case; Ye Zhangqing gave Zhao Qinglin no further chance and took the initiative to act.

Those sky‑filling flames instantly shot explosively toward Zhao Qinglin.

Faced with the dense, sky‑covering flames assaulting him, Zhao Qinglin exerted all his strength, gritted his teeth, but the final result was no surprise.

It didn't change at all because of Zhao Qinglin's madness and his all‑out effort.

Those over ten thousand flames were obliterated by Ye Zhangqing in a single glance.

Afterwards, numerous flames wildly struck Zhao Qinglin's body; in the blink of an eye he was engulfed in Línglì fire and turned into a fire‑person.

Under the scorching of the Línglì fire, Zhao Qinglin emitted waves of miserable cries.

With difficulty using Línglì to extinguish the fire on his body, Zhao Qinglin collapsed to the ground, looking utterly miserable.

Thus, the third round of fire‑control contest truly decided the victor.

As in the first two rounds, Ye Zhangqing still overwhelmed Zhao Qinglin with crushing superiority and won completely.

Zhao Qinglin still had no strength to resist; at this moment, sitting collapsed on the ground, his eyes were vacant, obviously unable to accept the result for a while.

His strongest fire‑control technique contest, he actually lost, and suffered such a crushing defeat.

The outcome was decided, and just as Zhao Qinglin hadn't yet come to his senses, Ma Qiankun slowly spoke.

"Let's stop here."

"Shīzūn....................."

Ma Qiankun ended the contest; as soon as he spoke, Zhao Qinglin, whose eyes had been vacant, instantly showed a flash of extreme fear.

His heart was also shrouded in despair.

Without caring for his disheveled appearance, he suddenly lifted his head to look at Ma Qiankun and blurted out.

But Ma Qiankun gave Zhao Qinglin no chance, coldly glanced at him, and interrupted directly without any emotion in his words.

"Just stop here, no need to continue the match."

Seeing this, Zhao Qinglin opened his mouth but ultimately couldn't utter a word; only endless despair spread wildly in his heart.

It's over, I'm completely finished.

Zhao Qinglin seemed to have lost his soul, while Ye Zhangqing didn't care at all.

Anyway, even if they continued, Zhao Qinglin had no chance whatsoever to win.

In the earlier fire‑control contest, Ye Zhangqing hadn't actually exerted his full strength; he had merely done it casually, yet it already made Zhao Qinglin feel hopeless.

Put it this way, not to mention Zhao Qinglin, even facing the top disciples of Cooking King Immortal City, Ye Zhangqing would have absolute confidence.

The older generation of Immortal Chefs wouldn't dare say so, but the younger disciples—Ye Zhangqing is full of confidence.

Without this confidence, he would be letting the system down.

At the same time, Ma Qiankun's gaze toward Ye Zhangqing also underwent a complete change.

The fiery light in his eyes couldn't be concealed; his gaze was like appraising an unparalleled treasure.

He hadn't expected such an unexpected joy, and he also encountered a piece of peerless jade.

Actually, Ye Zhangqing, having just arrived at Cooking King Immortal City, didn't know that among the elders, Ma Qiankun's situation was rather dire.

The reason is that none of Ma Qiankun's disciples could shoulder the main responsibility.

Recruiting some second-generation disciples and building ties with the major powers of the Immortal Realm is essential.

But besides that, they also need disciples capable of standing on their own.

But Ma Qiankun simply has no such disciple.

Even his most outstanding disciple, when compared to other Elders, shows a clear gap.

So, in many cases, when disciples compete and contend, Ma Qiankun's side is steadily suppressed.

Not even the Elders' disciples can match them, let alone the disciples of the City Lord and Deputy City Lord.

Therefore, Ma Qiankun has been deliberately seeking youths with good talent and aptitude.

Even if they have no background, as long as they have talent, Ma Qiankun is willing to take them in.

But true top-tier Yāoniè, Ma Qiankun has never found.

That's not surprising, after all, top-tier Yāoniè aren't something you can just run into.

But now, Ye Zhangqing's appearance has Ma Qiankun's mind racing; from these three rounds of competition, Ye Zhangqing can be called top-notch in every aspect.

At least, in Ma Qiankun's view, Ye Zhangqing is not inferior to those top disciples of the other Elders.

So, Ma Qiankun has little hesitation; he has already made up his mind.